"We're going to look into this," Lia promised Celestine. "Whatever did this to you, we'll find a way to stop it."
“This will help protect you,” Phi said, confirming my suspicions. Celestine accepted the bag gratefully.
"And we'll figure out how to protect you from it happening again," I added with a smile.
Celestine nodded as she clutched the protection charm Phi had hastily assembled from materials in her kit. "Please be careful. Whatever that thing was, it's powerful. And it's hungry."
"We always are. Before we go, can you still help us with some herbs for Cami?" I asked gently. "She wants some for protection spells.”
“We should get extra,” Dre suggested. “Seems like we're all going to need them."
"Of course," Celestine said, moving carefully around the corrupted gris-gris bags to gather the requested supplies. "And please—call me if anything else strange happens. I have a feeling this is far from over."
“No, this asshole is just getting started,” Lia replied as we moved to the front of the store.
We left with our arms full of herbs, crystals, and the uncomfortable knowledge that whatever was happening in New Orleans was escalating faster than we could keep up with. The poor woman promised to close her shop and avoid any magical work until we could figure out how to protect her from further possession. I could see in her eyes that she knew as well as we did that hiding might not be enough.
"We need to try a communication ritual," I said as we walked outside. My empathic abilities were still jangling like wind chimes in a hurricane. "If spirits are being manipulated on this scale, some of them have to be fighting back. Maybe we can find some supernatural allies who aren't completely terrified."
"Back to the plantation?" Lia asked.
"Nope. After we get candles next door, Congo Square." The suggestion felt right the moment I said it. "It's probably got the strongest spiritual Wi-Fi signal in the city."
Lia nodded, and we hurried into the shop and grabbed the candles we needed. Once done, we hurried to Lia’s car. We were loaded up, and she was pulling onto the street in under five minutes. We were only a few blocks away. She found parking a block away. We hurried through crowds who were making their way to the bars in the opposite direction.
Congo Square after dark was like a completely different dimension. During the day, it was just another part of Louis Armstrong Park filled with tourists and street musicians doing their best to make rent. But at night, the shadows pooled beneath ancient oaks and the echo of centuries of spiritual practice hummed through the air. It felt like standing at the crossroads between life and whatever comes after.
“We should set up a ritual circle near the center of the square,” I suggested.
Lia pulled several baggies from her bag. “I’ll spread the salt and blessed herbs.” That would create a protective barrier to keep the nasty things out.
I knelt in the middle while she worked, and my other sisters took positions at the cardinal points. Each was holding a crystal that would help amplify and focus the spiritual energy. Our go-bags came to our rescue once again.
“Spirits of New Orleans,” I called out as I accessed the powers that gave me dominion over the spiritual currents flowing through the city like supernatural plumbing. “We're asking for your guidance here. Help us understand what's threatening the balance between life and death. Honestly, we're flying blind and it's not our best look.”
“New award,” Dre called out. We’d begun doing that on a vacation where we kept getting bad food and even worseaccommodations. It was Dea’s way of keeping the mood and trip positive. “Dea gets the best spell on the fly for that one.”
For a moment, nothing happened. All I could hear were the usual nighttime sounds of the city. Then the temperature dropped like we'd suddenly been transported to Alaska. Then the familiar tingle that meant spirits were gathering spread down my spine. I crossed my fingers and toes for what I hoped would be a productive supernatural conference call.
When I tried to reach out to them, my psychic touch hit something that felt like an oil slick wrapped in barbed wire. It was slippery, ancient, and utterly malevolent. "That is all kinds of wonderful," I gasped as I pulled back before whatever was guarding the spiritual channels could get its hooks into my consciousness.
“What happened?” Lia asked as she dropped to my side.
"The channels are blocked,” I explained. “Someone's running supernatural interference across the entire city."
"Can you break through?" Dre asked.
With Lia at my side, I tried again. This time, I pushed harder against the barrier. It was like trying to open a jar of pickles with greased hands. The effort left me dizzy and nauseated. My empathic abilities were overloaded by contact with something that felt like the opposite of everything good and decent in the world.
"Nope," I admitted as I swayed on my knees like a drunk person trying to pass a sobriety test. "Whatever this thing is, it has cut off every normal channel of spiritual communication.”
“It’s like some kind of supernatural dictator,” Kota said grimly. “We’re flying blind.”
I was about to agree and suggest we pack up when the pain hit me. It wasn’t physical pain. It was an empathic overload that felt like every spirit in the city was screaming at once directly into my brain.
"Oh, come on!" I doubled over and pressed my hands to my head as waves of anguish crashed through my consciousness. It gave me the world's worst migraine. And it was mixed with a horror movie soundtrack.
"Dea!" Lia’s hands were on my shoulders, but her touch only made it worse. Her power amplified the psychic storm battering my defenses.
