“We’ve considered you several times and are excited to see what you have to offer,” Dani replied.
As we settled into our chairs, Erika's expression grew more serious. "I assume we're dealing with more than just deciding between jambalaya and gumbo?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Dani said. "We need someone who can handle dietary restrictions and be prepared to help get guests to a safe zone should the need arise."
Erika nodded knowingly. "My grandmother was a traiteur, and my mother could read tea leaves like a newspaper. I've been feeding the supernatural community for twenty years. You're in good hands." That was interesting. Her grandmother was a traditional Cajun folk healer, her mother was a seer, and her powers were centered in the kitchen. Her family might be as mixed as ours was.
"The autumn menu features locally sourced ingredients," she continued, spreading sample menus across the scarred wooden table. "We can accommodate everything from vampire dietary needs to fae preferences, alongside traditional human fare."
I was about to ask what she fed vampires when my gaze landed on a woman near the entrance. She was maybe forty, well-dressed in that effortless way that screamed old money, yet what caught my attention was the amulet hanging from her neck. Even at this distance, I felt it resonating with the same oily malevolence we'd encountered at the cemeteries.
"I'll be right back," I murmured to my sisters as I headed toward the woman.
"Where are you going?" Dre hissed.
The stranger was studying the daily specials board when I approached. The amulet made my magical senses crawl. Upclose, I could see it was made of bone and had symbols carved into it.
"Excuse me," I said, putting on my most friendly smile. "I couldn't help but notice your necklace. It's beautiful."
The woman's head snapped up. For just a moment, her eyes held the same vacant quality we'd seen in Madame Celestine’s. Then her awareness flooded back. It was followed immediately by fear. "Thank you. I... I have to go," she stammered, backing away from me like I'd announced I had the plague.
I held up my hands in the universal sign that conveyed I meant no harm. "Wait, please. I just wanted to ask?—"
But she was already walking out onto Royal Street with the kind of desperate speed that suggested she was running from more than just an overly curious stranger. By the time I reached the sidewalk, she was gone. She had disappeared into the French Quarter crowds like she'd never existed.
"Well, that was suspicious as hell," Kota said as she and Dre appeared at my elbow.
"Tell me you got a picture of that amulet," I said with my fingers crossed. I hadn’t thought about it until she was gone.
"Sure did," she replied, holding up her phone. "Something tells me the symbol matches those runes we found in the cemeteries."
After another minute of searching, we went back into the restaurant just as Dani and the others were wrapping up the catering meeting with promises to get back to Erika soon. Menu selection was pretty low on my priority list when we were potentially dealing with more people under supernatural influence. Thankfully, Dani was on it or our business would have failed after the first week. I really needed to be better about prioritizing the events. They were our bread and butter.
The drive back to Willowberry was productive. Dani called Cyran and decided on the menu, allowing us to mark that off thelist. The worry I’d been harboring since seeing the woman with the amulet vanished when I turned into the parking lot of our home. I loved the plantation. Especially, the Spanish moss that draped the oak trees.
As we climbed out of the car, the afternoon heat hit us like a wall. I slammed my door and turned to my sisters. "We need to research that amulet," I said as I pulled my hair back from my face. "That woman seemed completely out of it at first, just like Celestine was initially. Then she snapped out of it and ran like she was terrified. Her behavior makes no sense."
Phi grabbed her laptop bag from the backseat. "You think the amulet was controlling her?"
"I think we’d better find out what the hell it does before we encounter another one," I replied, already heading toward the back door.
The rest of the day dissolved into research mode. We spread out across the ladies’ parlor. We had our laptops open and were surrounded by the detritus of our investigation. There were empty coffee mugs, dirty plates, scattered papers, and the growing sense that we were missing something important. But despite hours of digging through supernatural databases and cross-referencing symbols, we came up empty.
It was Jeff who inadvertently gave us our next lead. "I hate to add to your already insane schedule," he said when he called Kota, "but the parade float storage facility called. They need us to move some of the older floats to make room for this year's builds. I know it's not exactly supernatural crisis material, but?—"
"Actually, it might be exactly that," I interrupted, remembering something Cyran had mentioned about the old families' long history in the city. "Some of those floats date back generations. If our enemy has been planning this for over a century..."
"They might have hidden supplies in plain sight," Phi finished. "Brilliant. Let's go rummage through some musty parade decorations."
“Thanks, babe,” Kota told her husband before she hung up and got to her feet. “Better get down there.”
“I’ll hold down the fort here,” Cami promised. “And I will keep looking through things.”
After thanking Cami, we followed Kota down the hall. We all grabbed our go bags and piled back into my SUV for our second trip of the day. The late afternoon sun beat down mercilessly as we pulled away from Willowberry's shaded lot.
Kota grunted and shifted in the passenger seat. "It's like a hundred degrees, and we're going to go dig through decades-old parade crap."
"Could be worse," I said, cranking the air conditioning higher. "At least the storage facility will be climate controlled."
