Page 4 of Langiappe & Lost Legends (Twisted Sisters Midlife Maelstrom #13)

CHAPTER 4

DAHLIA

D riving across New Orleans when reality was having a nervous breakdown was about as fun as you'd expect. Every traffic light we passed had a fifty-fifty shot of either working normally or sprouting legs and doing the can-can. I'd already had to swerve around three different time periods worth of horse-drawn carriages. Then there was a group of flappers who were determined to teach proper Charleston techniques to confused tourists. The thing was, I couldn’t tell if the women were from a hundred years ago, or now. That wouldn’t have been an uncommon thing in the Quarter.

"Take a left here," Phi directed from the backseat. She had her nose buried in her phone. "The old Canal Street power station should be just ahead. Assuming it hasn't decided to time travel back to its glory days."

"Or fast-forward to its eventual demolition," Dani muttered from behind me. "Because that would be just our luck."

"At least the GPS is still working," Dre offered from behind Kota. "Though I'm pretty sure we just passed the same jazz club three times, and it was in a different decade each time."

"That's just Big Al's," Kota said. "Though I have to admit, seeing it cycle through the prohibition era, complete with a secret knock and everything, was kind of cool."

“Damn, I missed that,” I whined as I checked my rearview mirror to make sure Dea was still following us in her car. The last thing we needed was to part with our magical firepower because a temporal rift decided to play hide and seek with our vehicles.

The building loomed ahead like something out of a steampunk nightmare. Its brick walls were stained with decades of industrial grime. Vines had claimed large sections as their personal territory. The metal framework showed through broken windows like the ribs of some ancient mechanical beast. The whole place radiated the kind of energy that made me want to call in sick.

"Remember when we thought ghost hunting was going to be the scariest part of our job?" I asked as I parked next to Dea's car. "Those were simpler times."

"You mean a few months ago?" Dani laughed. "Before we knew about time-bending crystals and historical figure flash mobs?"

I laughed at that as we gathered our supplies from the back. After over a year of supernatural firefighting, we'd learned to come prepared. Our emergency bags were packed with everything from protective charms to energy drinks. I chugged the rest of my Monster, ignoring Dre's disapproving look. Then I moved my dagger to the back of my waistband.

"That's your third today," she pointed out.

"It's actually the second. I'll probably need a few more before this is over," I replied. "Besides, our enhanced metabolism means I'm technically operating at normal human caffeine levels."

"Does everyone remember the plan?" Dre asked as she checked her weapons. She was wise to change the subject. It was pointless to fight now.

"You mean the 'try not to die' plan?" Kota replied as she pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. "Or the 'don't accidentally rewrite history' plan? Because honestly, both seem equally important right now."

"Both," Phi said firmly. "And remember. We're looking for a crystal that supposedly cries time. How hard can that be to spot?"

"You had to say that," I groaned. "Now we're definitely cursed. I did it to us last. Now you’ve done it."

"I brought protection charms," Dea announced as she joined us with her bag slung across her chest. "After this, we need to create some kind of temporal stabilization clock or something. We’ve got to have something to stop shit when it goes down.

“If only we were badasses like Céleste," Dani lamented.

“Are you kidding? We’re better,” I countered as we approached the front.

The entrance to the power station was partially blocked by fallen debris. It took some maneuvering but we managed to squeeze through. The interior was a cathedral to industrial decay. Enormous turbines sat silent like sleeping giants. Catwalks crisscrossed overhead. Their metal grates created strange shadows in our flashlight beams. It smelled like rust, old oil, and something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Does anyone else hear ticking?" Dani asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

We all stopped to listen. Sure enough, I heard what she was talking about. It grew as we stood there until it sounded like thousands of clocks, all running slightly out of sync. It echoed through the empty spaces and then bounced off metal and concrete until it seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"It's like being inside a demented clock shop," Kota muttered. "Or when we had to clear out the attic at the plantation.”

Dea shuddered and shook her body. “The space doubled as a haunted antique store."

"Don't remind me," Phi shuddered. "I still have nightmares about seeing Cami’s mom come out of the grandfather clock."

"Split up?" Dea suggested. "We can cover more ground."

"Absolutely not," I replied. "Have you never seen a horror movie? That's like asking to get picked off one by one by whatever temporal nasties are lurking in here. The Six Twisted Sisters stick together."

"For once, I agree with Lia," Dani said. "Besides, supernatural safety one-oh-one says the buddy system always wins."

A skittering sound drew our attention to the shadows beneath a nearby turbine. Red eyes gleamed in our flashlight beams. Dozens of them. The rats emerged like something from a nightmare. They were bigger than any rodent had a right to be. They even had fur that shifted to clothing. Several wore Victorian top hats and waistcoats while others had on next disco-era bell bottoms and sequins.

"Magically altered rats," Dre said with a sigh. "I cursed us with that comment, didn't I?"

"At least they're not speaking French," Dani offered helpfully.

One of the rats stood up on its hind legs and adjusted its monocle. " Je trouve cette remarque plut?t offensante, mademoiselle ."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," I muttered as I charged up a containment spell. "Really? French-speaking rats? What's next? Shakespeare-quoting cockroaches?"

"Don't give the universe ideas," Phi warned as the rats scattered. Their laughter echoed around us.

"Did that one just flip us off?" Kota asked. I followed her gaze to a particularly large specimen sporting a nineteen-twenties gangster outfit. It was complete with a tiny fedora. "Because I'm pretty sure it gave us the bird."

"Focus," Dre barked. "We've got bigger problems than rodents with attitude problems. And in case the universe really is listening, clear your minds. Don't pull a Ghostbusters and accidentally manifest a hundred-foot Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the French Quarter. The tourists are confused enough as it is."

We pressed deeper into the building. We were following the increasingly intense ticking sound. Our flashlight beams caught glimpses of temporal distortions. "The energy's getting stronger," Phi said as she consulted some readings on her phone. "Whatever they're using to power these temporal effects is messing with my phone. These readings are off the charts."

"Define 'off the charts'," I asked, even though I didn’t really want to know the answer.

"Remember when we thought the magical storm Baron Samedi conjured was bad? This is worse. In very different ways." Phi’s brow furrowed more, and she shook her head. “There is enough power to wipe out the entire city if things go sideways.”

"Fantastic," Dani muttered. "Because that's exactly what I wanted to hear."

We emerged onto what had to be the main generator floor. And holy mother of all things, it was massive. The ceiling vanished somewhere up in the darkness. It was probably hiding all sorts of nasty surprises. Ancient machinery towered around me like some demented artist's view of the Industrial Revolution gone wrong. Everything was coated in enough rust to make a tetanus shot cry.

My flashlight beam caught on warped metal and broken gauges. The shadows created by the light danced and shifted like they had minds of their own. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. You know that feeling when you just know something's watching you? Yeah, this was about a hundred times worse.

"Does anyone else feel like we're being sized up for dinner?" I asked. I tried to keep my voice steady despite the way my heart was hammering against my ribs.

"I thought it was just me," Kota muttered. Her eyes scanned the darkness. "Something's definitely off about this place. We're walking through someone else's territory, but I don’t feel any powerful relic nearby. Do you?"

Phi shifted closer to us. Her usual confidence wavered just slightly. "No. I’m not giving up yet, though. We need to check everywhere. Lia’s right. This place feels wrong. Maybe time itself is watching us."

I heard a sound like something being torn apart as she spoke. Something massive shifted in the shadows. It turned my blood turned to ice. The creature that emerged looked like it had been pieced together from a thousand different nightmares across time.

A bear's head topped a body that rippled and twisted like oil on water. One moment, I saw the sleek muscles of a mountain lion. The next, it was the hulking form of a dire wolf. But the wings. Sweet baby Jesus, the wings. They stretched out like broken mirror shards caught in twilight. Each movement sent rainbow fractals dancing across the walls. Its tail snapped through the air like a leather whip wrapped in lightning. So much for our simple artifact hunt. Somewhere, the universe was laughing its ass off at my plans.

"What the actual fuck?" Dani breathed.

"That’s one helluva history guardian if you ask me," Phi said, already backing up. "The question is if this is here to protect the crystal.”

“Maybe those wings are made of the same material as the Larmes du Bayou," Dea suggested.

"Because regular guardian monsters weren't enough of a challenge," I said. "They had to make one that is all nightmares at once."

The creature's roar hit us like a physical force. It vibrated through multiple octaves that shouldn't exist in nature. The blast knocked us all back several steps. My magic flickered and sputtered like a candle fighting against a hurricane.

"Form a circle!" I shouted, falling back on our experiences. My sisters moved instantly, creating a defensive ring. "What do you think, Phi?"

"It's got to be drawing power from the crystal," she reported as her fingers flew over her phone. "The energy readings are off the charts. Traditional magic is useless. Our hits just pass through it like it's made of smoke and shadows. I wish we could find the relic and shatter it."

"Wonderful," Kota muttered. "Any other good news?"

The guardian charged with impossible speed. Its form shifted between solid and ethereal, like mist in the moonlight. Our first volley of spells passed harmlessly through it as though they were nothing but mirages. "New plan!" Dre called out as I dove away from a swipe of those crystalline wings. "We need to bind it to a single form before we can hurt it!"

Dea was already moving. Her hands glowed with power as she began drawing Fae symbols in the air. "Working on it! Keep it busy! I need about two minutes to complete a binding spell!"

"Two minutes?" Dani shouted as she rolled away from the guardian's tail. "Might as well ask for two years! That thing isn't exactly going to sit still and wait!"

Kota and Dani split off to the left while Dre and I went right. Phi stayed back and coordinated our efforts while searching for weaknesses. The guardian tracked us all. Its head spun completely around like some possessed owl.

"Duck!" Dre yelled as one of those wings swept overhead. It left trails of rainbow fractures in its wake. Where the energy touched metal, it crumbled to rust and dust.

I rolled under a low-hanging pipe and came up firing. My spells caught the creature in its ever-changing flank. The damage vanished instantly as its form rippled and reformed. I understood what Dea was trying to do now. I was several steps behind so it wouldn’t do any good to try and help her now.

"This is like trying to punch a ghost!" Kota shouted in frustration as another of her attacks passed harmlessly through the guardian. "A really angry, seriously pissed-off spirit!"

"The binding's almost ready!" Dea called out. "I just need a few more seconds!"

The guardian seemed to sense the threat. It turned toward Dea with frightening focus. Energy gathered around its jaws like bottled lightning. I didn't want to know what those teeth would do to human flesh. "Oh no you don't," I growled.

I drew on every ounce of power I could muster. I hurled a bolt of pure energy at the creature's head. It connected just as Dani and Kota hit it from the other side. The combined assault staggered it long enough for Dea to complete her spell. Magic snapped through the air like a steel cable pulled too tight. The guardian roared as Dea's spell locked it into a solid form. Its shifting essence crystallized into something we could actually hit. Able to actually hurt it now, I shouted, "Hit it with everything! And don't let up!"

"Not like we were planning to offer it tea and beignets!" Kota yelled back as her magic joined ours in a concentrated assault.

This was where we excelled. It was what set us apart from others. We attacked as one. Six different types of magic converged on the guardian from all angles. It fought back with terrifying strength. Its attacks left gouges in concrete and steel. But without its ghostly shifting ability, it couldn't repair everything we threw at it.

The final blow came from an unexpected source. One of the bizarre rats scurried between the guardian's feet. It was sporting a Revolutionary War uniform. Its presence caused the creature to stumble. We took advantage and threw more at it. This assault struck it squarely in the chest, making it explode in a shower of rainbow shards.

Something clattered to the ground in the aftermath. My gut told me it was the crystal we'd been searching for. It rolled across the concrete. It was impossibly graceful for something so jagged. It was about the size of my fist. Someone had captured the essence of a New Orleans storm and frozen it mid-lightning strike. Dark clouds swirled in its depths. Threads of purple-white energy crackled along its facets. Even lying there on the dirty floor, it had a presence. The kind that made your skin prickle and your magic stir restlessly.

The silence that followed was deafening. Even the constant humming of the machinery had stopped. "Is everyone okay?" I asked as I scanned my sisters for injuries.

"Define 'okay'," Kota replied as she brushed glittering fragments off her jacket. "The one day I actually go casual with a ponytail, my hair's giving off major 'stuck my finger in a magical socket' vibes. I should've kept the helmet hair. At least that wouldn't have moved."

"Hey, you finally achieved that 'lived-in look' you're always talking about," Dani smirked and then dodged Kota's half- hearted swat. "Though I think you overshot 'lived-in' and landed somewhere between 'struck by lightning' and 'touched a Van de Graaff generator'."

"We need to secure that crystal." Phi changed the subject as she approached where it had fallen. "The energy bleeding from it is intense. If we don't contain it properly, half of New Orleans could end up seriously warped."

"Not so fast." The voice came from behind us. It was as smooth as aged bourbon and twice as dangerous. We turned to find a woman standing in the shadows. Holy hell, she was something else. Her dress was a masterpiece of impossibility. It was an antebellum hoop skirt met prohibition-era beading flowing into modern leather and lace. But it was her face that caught you, held you, and made you want to look away but couldn't.

Her high cheekbones were sharp enough to cut glass. She also had skin like polished mahogany. Her eyes shifted between deep purple and storm-cloud gray. A cascade of tiny braids adorned with gold cuffs and crystal beads framed her face. Each ornament caught the light like tiny stars.

Power rolled off her in waves that made my teeth ache and my bones hum. She wasn't just magic. She had old power. It was the kind that came from when New Orleans was nothing but swamp and secrets.

"You're one of them," Dre said. "One of the Lost Legends."

"Smart girl," the woman replied with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. They were now purple. They also held centuries of calculated patience and something darker and hungrier. "But you're too late. The Larmes du Bayou is ours." She gestured with one arm, and the crystal vanished in a flash of iridescent light. "You've won this small victory, but the real battle is only beginning. The world is a cage, and we are its liberators."

"I’m pretty sure the world prefers its current arrangement," I shot back. "Most people like their lives just fine without your liberation ."

She disappeared before we could stop her. She left behind the faint scent of magnolias and brimstone. And about a million questions. "That was highly unexpected," I muttered as I kicked a piece of debris. "Now what? They've got the crystal. Half the Quarter is probably still experiencing weird magical hiccups, and we're no closer to stopping them."

"At least we know they can be hurt," Dea offered. "The guardian wasn't invincible once we figured out how to bind it."

"Yeah, but we can't exactly go around casting binding spells on every Lost Legend we meet," Kota pointed out. "We need a better solution."

"And we need it fast," Phi added, checking her phone. "The magical disturbances aren't stopping just because we took out their guard dog. If anything, they're spreading."

Dre holstered her weapons with a grim expression. "Now we need to talk to Marie. If anyone knows what her ancestors did with that relic the first time, it's her. We need that information before they finish whatever they're planning."