Kass followed them inside but glanced back at me.
I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. One I’ve had memorized for centuries.
“How is she?” the voice on the other end asked.
“On her way to you.”
“Why?” he yelled.
“Because she knows part of the truth. You can’t keep it from her anymore. She needs to know.”
“He’s going to come for her, isn’t he?” the voice asked.
“He already is. This is our last resort before he sends one of his own personal guards up here for her.”
“Have you been covering your tracks?”
“The best I can. She pulled a spell from a book.”
The voice on the other end cursed.
“What am I going to tell her?”
“The truth. And hope that it’s enough to get her on your side.”
“Call me when you get to town.”
The phone went dead.
“You told him,” Colt’s voice came from behind me.
I nodded and turned to face him.
“I had to.”
“Well, this will be fun.”
I followed him inside to the girls.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as they whispered about something.
“There is a man over there staring at us,” Lela explained.
I glanced over. I didn’t recognize him.
“Maybe he just thinks you two are pretty?” Colt shrugged.
“I have a weird feeling about him,” Lela replied.
I looked at Kass, and she nodded.
“Usually her feelings are pretty valid.”
“We can go then,” I said.
“No, we are here, let’s eat; just let’s do it quickly,” Lela said.
“Okay.”
I walked outside and noticed the guy following us.
I turned around and faced him.
“Can I help you?”
“Nope.” He pushed past me and walked to Kass.
“You have something I want.” He grabbed her arm, and I could see his fingers going into her skin.
I moved to do something, but she stopped me.
“What do you want?” she questioned him.
“To see it.” He hissed pulling on her arm and spinning her around.
He gasped.
She pulled herself out of his grasp.
“You saw what you wanted, now go,” she growled.
He shook his head. “You don’t deserve to live.”
He pointed his hand at her, but Colt was in front her and Lela before I could be.
He blasted the guy backwards into the side of a car. The alarm went off. I grabbed Kass’s hand and pulled her toward our car.
We piled in quickly and were back on the highway before we started to hear sirens.
“What the hell was that?” Lela questioned.
“No clue.” I sighed.
I looked over at Kass who wasn’t saying a word. Just staring out the window watching the trees pass us by.
“You alright?” I whispered to her.
She didn’t say anything, but I could see a tear rolling down her face.
I directed my attention back to the road and kept driving.
New Orleans was only another three hours away, and we would easily be there before it got dark.
I looked back at Colt who was in quiet, deep conversation with Lela.
Great. I thought. They were hitting it off quite well, and that could really prove to cause some issues for us in the future. The last time a demon wanted to be with a witch, it caused more problems. Then, we had two demons who were following that same path.
We’re screwed. I thought.
I PULLED INTO A GAS station just a few miles out of New Orleans.
“Why did we stop?” Lela questioned looking around.
“I just need to run in and grab something,” I said.
I walked inside and pulled out my phone.
“Theo?”
“We are just a few miles from the city limits.”
“Does she know yet?”
“No, but we did get stopped earlier. Someone wanted to see her tattoo and tried to kill her.”
I heard him curse under his breath.
“Alright, well I’ll meet you at the lounge.”
“Sounds good.” I hung up and slipped the phone into my back pocket.
I got back into the car and pulled away.
“Everything good?” Colt questioned.
I nodded.
We checked into the hotel, and I suggested we head down to Bourbon Street.
“Isn’t that where everyone parties?” Kass questioned.
I nodded. “But that doesn’t mean we need to. There is a place down there that a lot of people like us go to.”
“Demons?” Kass asked.
“Not just demons. Witches, vampires, some other creatures.”
“And no one kills each other?”
“Nope. It’s one of the rules before entering. It’s a neutral space. We are all on the same level.”
“Let’s go!” Colt smiled.
I let them walk ahead of Kass and me. I reached down and grabbed her hand.
“What are you doing?”
“What I should have done days ago. Got a problem with that?”
She blushed and shook her head.
“Good.”
I knocked on the door to the lounge.
“Name?” the man asked.
“Theo Webb.”
“Guests?”
“Three. One demon, two witches.”
The man looked up immediately and stared at us. His eyes moved down to my hand and Kass’s hand intertwined.
“Okay. For those of you who haven’t been here before, no killing. You want to do that; you take it to the streets. Keep your dislike of others to yourself.”
“Agreed,” everyone said.
The man opened the door and motioned for us to go down the stairs.
I let my hand slip from hers as we reached the first room.
“Holy shit,” Kass gasped.
“Yeah.” I looked around and smiled at the room.
It smelled like fried wings and recycled air.
“Let’s go sit in the back,” I suggested.
I lead them through the room and into another room.
“How big is this place?” Kass asked.
“Pretty much it’s half of the street but underground. They’ve reinforced it quite a bit since the last time I was down here,” I explained.
We took a seat at a table and waved over a waitress.
“Just you four?” she questioned.
“No. Five,” a man’s voice said from behind her.
He stepped into view.
Roderick stood in front of us, his eyes locked on Kass.
“Nice to see you man!” I said standing up and shaking his hand.
“Colt, you remember Roderick?” I asked.
Colt nodded toward him.
“Kassandra, Lela. This is Roderick.”
He smiled at them.
“Nice to meet you.”
“You look so much like her,” he said.
Kass looked up at him. “Excuse me?”
“Your mother. You are almost like her twin.”
Kass shook her head.
“Colt, why don’t we leave them to chat?”
Colt stood up and walked with me over to the bar. I told the waitress to give them a few and to bring them some waters.