Chapter 3

Dreya

Phi grunted and tried to step away from the spirit. "We can"t just stand here and let them. If I can see them, I can use my freezing to stop them."

I'd almost forgotten about that ability of hers. She didn't use it often, so it rarely came to mind. "How do you suspend a ghost?" I gritted my teeth and dug my heels in so they couldn't shove me over the edge. "They don't have bodies."

Lia snorted and rolled her eyes. "It sure feels like they have bodies to me," she grunted.

"I think I can help her. I have power over spirits." Dea"s voice ground out. "Phi, you need to freeze the ground around us right now. It'll slow them. After that, I will create a bubble around the ghosts, and you can hold them in that. It"s our only chance to get free of them."

Phi nodded, determination flickering in her eyes as she bent her knees and stretched out her hands to channel her magic. I watched intently, a knot forming in my stomach as my feet rooted in place. Thanks to Phi, it wasn't necessary to fight against the ghosts anymore because they couldn't move us.

Dea"s voice was calm yet firm as she guided Phi through the process, her instructions clear and concise. "Focus, Phi. Feel for the magic around the spirits. Channel your magic into that."

Phi closed her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration as she tapped into her magical abilities. A soft blue glow enveloped her hands, spreading outwards in a shimmering wave that cascaded across the ground. The air grew colder as a tangible chill settled over us as her spell took hold over the spirits.

As Phi"s spell took effect, the spirits reacted with a cacophony of anguished wails. Their ethereal forms became visible to us for the first time. They thrashed and flailed against the barrier. Their movements grew increasingly frenzied as they struggled to break free. Relief washed over me as the pressure on my back lifted thanks to the spirits being held at bay by Phi"s powerful magic. I exchanged a glance with Lia, her expression mirroring my own mixture of gratitude and awe.

We couldn't stand around there trying to figure this shit out. "We need to go see Kaitlyn," I declared, breaking the tense silence that hung over us like a shroud. "Dealing with this well isn"t going to be as easy as we thought."

"Let's get the hell out of here," Kota said as she stepped away from the cursed well.

The journey to Kaitlyn"s house was quick at that time of night. She lived in the heart of the Garden District. Given that Lia hadn't had anymore of her smell-o-visions, I tossed her the key so she could drive while I texted and gave Kaitlyn a heads up. Pulling up at the curb outside of her house, I was surprised to see the walkway lined by lights. When I stepped out of the car, I squinted to get a better look and could swear they were enchanted lanterns that adorned the path.

Crossing to her property felt like stepping through pudding. The wards didn't make it easy on us. I had to push to move anywhere. It was so different from the last time we had been there. She'd stepped up her game, which made sense given what we'd had to deal with lately.

Lia leaned into me and asked, "Do you think Kaveh has helped her with these new spells? It's never felt like that before."

"I was thinking the same thing," I replied as I looked around.

Aside from the lights, everything else looked the same. The scent of night-blooming jasmine mingled with spices from whatever she was cooking inside. As we approached the porch, a curious assortment of fireflies flittered about. Initially, I thought they were pixies, but as we got closer there were no tiny people fluttering about. These were unlike anything I'd ever seen. They looked like a firefly but they were different colors.

Kota strode up the stairs and knocked on the door, making me stop gawking. I hurried up the stairs and reached my sisters right as Kaitlyn answered the door with a smile. "It's good to see you six. I was going to call you about the well after dinner." We followed her into the living room.

"We just came from the well. We need to know more about Agnes Cornwall and her curse. It felt sentient," I explained.

It was a relief to see that the inside of her house felt the same. The air hummed with the resonance of incantations, and there was residual power from potions she'd created. Her family had lived in the house for generations, and their magic had seeped into the structure.

Dea took a seat at the table and nodded. "And then there were spirits that were hellbent on pushing us into the damn thing so we could keep Agnes company," she grumbled.

The table around which we gathered had to be a family heirloom. It was old. I'm talking more than a couple of centuries. It was a trestle table and built to last. And it contained marks from her ancestors on its surface. They told the story of a family steeped in magic. The armoire in the corner had just as much history. It was where Kaitlyn stored some of her herbs, crystals, and potions.

Kaitlyn's brow furrowed as she looked back at us from the door leading into her kitchen. "There were spirits trying to push you in the well? Why the hell would they do that? By the way, would you like some lasagna soup? I'm starving and can't wait to eat."

"Oooh, is that the recipe going around on Instagram?" Dea asked.

Lia's eyes perked up as she said, "I've wanted to try that."

Kaitlyn chuckled. "Normally, I don't fall into the trends, but this one looked so good."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Kota replied. "My girls showed me th..." She trailed off when we felt the familiar energy.

The subtle shimmering of the air heralded Kaveh"s arrival. His gaze traveled over the six of us and landed on Kaitlyn. "Hello, Angel Eyes. I'm so glad the six of you are here. There have been numerous distress calls from the new hotline."

Kaitlyn held up a hand. "Let me grab dinner. This conversation is going to take time, and I'm bordering on hangry."

Lia jumped to her feet. "I'll help you."

The two of them disappeared, and Kaveh started recounting the latest incidents plaguing the French Quarter. "I"m going to share what's been happening while they get the food. I made sure they can hear me without me yelling," Kaveh began in a somber tone, "the council hotline has been inundated with calls today. It seems like the supernaturals of the French Quarter are having a meltdown."

I exchanged a glance with Phi, who raised an eyebrow in silent agreement. It sounded as if it could be related to Lia"s vision earlier. Man, this was shaping up to be a typical day in our chaotic lives.

"What's been happening?" Lia asked as she and Kaitlyn came back into the room with dinner. "I had a smell-o-vision earlier about supernaturals acting out." Lia set the tray she was carrying down and started passing out bowls. I reached over and grabbed the spoons to help while Kota moved the basket of bread into the middle of the table.

"Well," Kaveh replied, "we"ve received reports of a rogue vampire terrorizing tourists near Jackson Square. Apparently, he"s been indulging in a bit too much of the local cuisine, if you catch my drift."

Dea snorted, her lips curling into a smirk. "Vampires have a penchant for indulging in the finer things in life. Is that out of character for them? It doesn't seem to be."

Kaveh took the pot from Kaitlyn and dished out a serving, handing it to her. "I"m in full agreement with you, Dea. I don't think this is out of character for them, but it is something we should start tracking so we can be sure in the future." Kaveh snapped his fingers and drink choices filled the middle of the table.

I nodded in agreement as I got a bowl of soup. "That's brilliant. I'd hate to dismiss something that is important. Doing so could mean us missing a window to react to something."

Kaveh inclined his head as he served himself and grabbed a coke. "Precisely why I copied one of Phi's spreadsheets and adapted it. All calls will track the type of paranormal and what the call was about. I didn't want to single any one species out. We"ve also had reports about a group of werewolves causing havoc in the Marigny. Witnesses claim they"ve been howling at the moon like it"s going out of style."

Dani and Lia shared a look, and then Lia said, "Have you let Lucas know? He and Noah would be the best ones to investigate it." Kaveh nodded and continued listing the various supernatural shenanigans. It seemed like every time we thought we had a handle on things, another crisis reared its head.

"That doesn't complicate things at all," I muttered sarcastically, earning a wry smile from Dani beside me. "Looks like we"ve got our work cut out for us, as usual."

"Do you think this is related to the well?" Kaitlyn asked. "While no one has mentioned paying the thing a visit, that doesn't mean they haven't."

The six of us lifted a shoulder in unison, making everyone at the table laugh. "Speaking of the well," Phi interjected. "We came here to find out what you knew about it. We can't get close enough to unravel the curse without learning more."

Kaitlyn chewed the bite in her mouth and dipped her garlic bread in the broth. "I came home and looked through family journals after our earlier meeting. My great many times grandmother was involved in binding Agnes Cornwall. She led the coven back then. According to what I read. It was a time when witches and shifters existed in a delicate dance of harmony and discord. Something happened to cause strife between the groups and it culminated in Agnes turning dark."

Lia finished off her soup and pushed her bowl away. "Let me guess, Agnes was rejected by her shifter lover and decided to get revenge."

Kaitlyn shot her a look that could have curdled milk. "Worse," she retorted. There was a power struggle. A contest for dominance in the city that bled into the very roots of magic here."

I leaned forward as my mind tried to unravel the puzzle. "And the well became the epicenter of this supernatural battleground."

Kaitlyn nodded solemnly, her gaze fixed on the flickering candle in the middle of the table. "It was a sacred conduit of power for the coven to use in their spells and potions, and it was turned into a nightmare. Tainted witches sought to control it, and shifters sought to sever its connection to the power in the area when the torment started."

"And here we are, centuries later," Phi interjected with a grimace, "grappling with the fallout."

Kaitlyn"s lips curled into a wry smile. "Indeed. The echoes of ancient conflicts have a way of lingering in the magical fabric. I think the spirits you encountered might have been some of Agnes's shifter victims. It wasn't mentioned in the journals, but I suspect Agnes bound them to her and has been using them to continue wreaking havoc."

Dea"s eyes brightened as she looked at Kaitlyn. "You"re struggling with guilt over what happened. Did your great-whatever-grandmother force Agnes to hurt others? She couldn't have been responsible for a grown woman's actions."

Kaitlyn"s gaze turned inward. "She tried to seal it. She wanted to lock away the darkness. But some curses have a way of seeping through the cracks, especially when the boundaries between the afterlife and this realm were blurred."

Kota braced herself on her elbows. "So, how do we fix this mess?"

Kaitlyn sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Agnes was a dream walker. That means she was able to do things others couldn‘t while asleep. Several entries indicated the coven didn't believe the shifters when they said Agnes was using the well and killing their kind. Because they couldn't find any hint that was the case. Long story short, it wasn"t until a shifter escaped and reported her that the coven discovered this. This incident opened discussion between the witches and shifters. Eventually it led to the coven binding her to the well while the shifters tossed her in. Hearing about the spirits, I'd bet money Agnes bound them in her dream realm."

Sipping my iced tea, I pondered her comment. "And you think we should find Agnes's lair in our dreams."

Kaitlyn stood and started piling empty bowls together. "It would be where I would start. There, you will be able to locate the hold she has and release the spirits. You have to understand that the well"s curse craves chaos. Now that it's been unearthed, Agnes will use everything at her disposal to gain more power and feed her curse. She's clearly still pissed about being blamed for the war. The amount of time she was restricted seems to have made her desperate. She's using mundies now where she never did before. You six know better than anyone what it's like when innocent mundies are pulled into our world."

That was an understatement. One of Lia's childhood friends had been killed as a way to get to us. The melding of the supernatural and the mundane created a carnival of pain. And somehow we were made the unwilling ringmasters. Navigating the tightrope between the magical world and the oblivious human society was turning into a spectacle of acrobatic diplomacy. And that largely had to do with the party planning side of our business. This situation with mundies being infected by the well was so much harder.

"We"d like to pass off the baton," Lia remarked with a roll of her eyes. "Maintaining the magical masquerade is more exhausting than facing down a hoard of demons."

Phi sighed, "Considering the alternative is humans armed with broomsticks trying to banish us, I"d say the masquerade is a necessary evil. And there's no doubt that we're the best suited."

Kota stood and shot Kaitlyn a grateful smile. "Looks like we need to go take a nap. Thank you for the delicious soup. That's going into the rotation for sure."

Kaitlyn frowned and looked over at her living room, where two sofas and a recliner sat. "It might be best if you do it here. That way Kaveh and I are on hand if something goes wrong."

Lia sucked in a sharp breath, and her eyes went wide. "I"m not even going to ask what could go wrong. I'd rather not know. Can you pull us out if we get into trouble?"

Kaitlyn looked to Kaveh, who inclined his head. "As Djinn's vast powers are driven by requests and negotiation. Some things I can do without needing to secure favors in return. I can do it if Kaitlyn asks, unless you six would like to offer something in return."

I shook my head. "We can't afford to owe you. Do the same rules apply to Kaitlyn? We can't ask her to take on a burden for us."

"All Kaitlyn needs to do is ask. Because of what she it to me, I require nothing more," Kaveh replied.

Kaitlyn smiled at us. "Kaveh, I'd like you to be on hand and pull the sisters out of their dreams should they get into trouble. Now, I have a sleeping draught that can help."

Kota moved to the couches and waved the rest of us on. "Come on. Let's do this. We should hold hands and cast a spell tethering us to each other in our dreams. I don't want to wander around searching for you guys."

"Word, sestra," I said as I sat next to her on the sofa. The others squished onto the cushion with us. We were crammed together, but we clasped hands to be sure. After ensuring we would stay together, we took the potion from Kaitlyn.

"Don't forget to focus on going to Agnes's lair. That's where you will find her magic," Kaitlyn said as a strange heaviness settled over me, like my limbs were made of lead.

The room around me blurred and wavered, and I could feel myself slipping away into the depths of unconsciousness. It didn't take long after that for sleep to claim me. The next thing I knew, I was standing in a vast expanse of shimmering mist. Colors swirled and danced around me. I took a hesitant step forward, my senses tingling with the unfamiliar sensation of being in the dream realm.

Before me stood a magnificent house, its towering spires reaching toward the sky like fingers seeking the heavens. The architecture was grand and ornate, reminiscent of a bygone era. It felt simultaneously familiar and surreal, like something out of a fairy tale. The foliage around me matched the look and feel.

Where were the others? My heart didn't get a chance to start pounding when my eyes landed on Dani, Lia, Kota, Dea, and Phi spread throughout the trees where I was standing. Lifting my arm, I realized I glowed faintly like they did.

"Dre!" Dani exclaimed, her voice echoing through the dream realm. "Get over here. We need to make a plan."

I complied, a sense of wonder and awe washing over me. "I... I can"t believe this is real," I murmured, my words barely audible over the dreamlike whispers that filled the air. We were now in the tangled web of a Tainted witch"s cryptic dreamscape. It was like being caught in a surreal painting where reality wore a psychedelic cloak.

"It's incredible. But what do we do now? Search her house?" Phi asked when I joined them.

Lia lifted a shoulder. "Yep. Do you think there are wards here we need to worry about?"

Dani shook her head. "No idea. The only way we will know is to try and sneak in."

I kept my eye on the towering spires of the castle that cast ominous shadows as we made our way through the moonlit courtyard. I swear they were trying to reach out and grab at us as we passed. Moving with clumsy stealth, my sisters and I approached the castle"s imposing door.

"I don"t like this," Lia whispered.

"None of us do," Dea hissed at Lia. Her fear was making her snappy. I could relate.

Silently, we pushed open the door and slipped into the castle. The darkness was oppressive inside. It pressed in on us from all sides. We moved cautiously through the entryway and snuck down one of the halls on the first floor. The place was like nothing on Earth. We quickly got lost in the labyrinth of corridors.

"We need to silence our footsteps," I said with a wince as they echoed loudly off of the stone walls.

"Shit," Lia cursed and cast a dampening spell that muffled the noise we made.

"Keep your eyes peeled," Kota muttered in a low voice. "We don"t know what"s lurking in these shadows."

As we turned a corner, a sudden chill ran down my spine. Before us stood a figure. Its spectral form shimmered in the dim light.

"A ghost!" Dani exclaimed, her voice trembling with fear.

Dea moved forward and addressed the spirit. "We're looking for a way to free you from her hold. Can you help us?"

The ghost pointed to the wall about fifteen feet from us. We walked over there and she became frantic, stabbing at it with her hand. I scanned the thing from top to bottom, not seeing what she was pointing at. "Maybe there's a hidden latch?" I asked my sisters. Lia started running her palms over the stone. The rest of us joined her which only made the ghost more agitated.

"What is it?" Dea asked her. The ghost shook her head and continued pointing. Dea grimaced, and her expression turned pleading. "I don't understand. I can feel lots of spirits here. Can you get another who can talk to us?" In response, the ghost gestured wildly and continued pointing to the wall.

"I swear," Phi muttered, "if the dream realm came with subtitles, life would be so much simpler."

"She"s trying to tell us something important. Or maybe she"s just really into interpretive dance," Dea added.

Kota raised an eyebrow. "Should we be worried that interpretive dance might be the preferred mode of communication in Agnes's realm?"

"The real question is if we are having a bonding moment or a breakdown. Because I"m prepared for either, really," I said.

Lia gave me a look. "Dre, this is serious. We need to find her magic and free the ghosts."

"Serious is my middle name," I replied, waving my hand like I was signing an imaginary autograph.

Phi rolled her eyes. "I"m pretty sure your middle name is probably "Irreverent.""

"As long as it"s not "Incompetent," we"re good," I shot back, earning a chuckle from the others.

Kota turned and thrust her hands on her hips. "Would you like to explore whatever is behind this door or stand here trading quips?"

Five pairs of eyes glanced over, and smiles split across our faces. I walked over and clapped Kota on the shoulder. "Good job, sestra."

Kota snorted and pushed the panel open to reveal a staircase that would fit in any of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. Just freaking peachy. "You think Agnes was a crazed serial killer?" I asked as we stood on the precipice. Why else would she have a killing basement?