The cheer squad ran back to the center of the gym. He recognized all the girls – but one. Adrienne.
She was small, slender and gorgeous. The camera zoomed in on her as she strode to the microphone. The music for the National Anthem started. She began to sing, and then suddenly, coughed loudly.
“Whoa,” he said, trying not to smile. He immediately felt bad. The look on her face made him sad for her.
She tried again and again, finally running out of the gym. Tara followed her into the locker rooms, and the clip ended.
“I don’t remember this,” he murmured. “Why?” He looked to Candace.
“Because, Jayden, you’re under a curse. Put these back on,” she instructed, handing him the dog tags. “Your grandmama is as powerful as Marie Leveau was. No one near here can do what she can.”
He accepted his necklace and pulled it on, expecting to feel different once he did.
He didn’t. He still loved Kimmie, still didn’t know who Adrienne was or why he felt like he should know her.
His phone rang. Kimmie’s name flashed, and he grinned, thrilled to hear from her. Without caring what Tara and Candace thought, he answered.
“Hey, baby,” he said.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Picking up Tara. I’ll be back soon.”
“Hmmm. Okay. I feel like you’re ignoring me.”
“No, Kimmie. We’re leaving now,” he said, waving at Tara. “Hey, do you know an Adrienne St. Croix?”
There was a pause, then a tight, “No.”
“Oh. I thought she was on the cheer squad. I saw the video from the pep rally.”
“Oh, that Adrienne. She was on the cheer squad,” Kimmie said. “She’s a scholarship student and decided not to stay at school. Are you with someone?”
Scholarship? His dad would have a fit. The tense note in Kimmie’s voice troubled him. She was too perfect to be jealous or upset over some other girl on the cheer squad.
Even one who looked like Adrienne.
“Just Tara and one of her friends,” he replied. “I’ll give you a call in a few minutes.”
“Okay. Hurry.”
“I will.” He hung up, perplexed, and looked at Tara. “I’d never date a scholarship girl.”
“You would this one,” Tara retorted. “She’s nice. I like her.”
He raised an eyebrow. Tara didn’t like any other girl she hung out with enough to compliment her.
“Will you sit down with us?” Candace asked.
“No. I’ve gotta get back to Kimmie,” he said. “Tara, if you want a ride, you better come now. I’m not coming to get you later.”
“Let me send you back with some tea,” Candace said quickly. “You will love it. Straight from Africa.” She rose and hurried behind a second curtain leading deeper into the store.
“All right.” Jayden glanced at the time. He was beginning to feel like he was suffocating in the back room. The images from the pep rally played over and over in his mind. Before she started coughing, the girl Adrienne had sung in the same voice he heard in the back of his mind.
He knew her. The feeling was stronger, just like his concern over the missing time and blackouts grew more demanding.
Normal people didn’t black out and wake up at a gas station. He couldn’t believe Kimmie would do anything like put a curse on him, but he couldn’t explain it either. Or why he’d brushed it off before, like it was no big deal when it could be indicative of a disease or illness.
Or a curse.
He was sweating. Jayden left the stifling back room for the café. It, too, felt too warm. He lingered in front of the counter, taking in the voodoo supplies and trinkets around the café.
“You okay, Jayden?” Tara asked, following. “You look pale. For you.” She peered up at him.
“Yeah, just … dehydrated, I think.”
“Candace says you can ask Kimmie to remove the hexes she put on you and Adrienne.”
“That stuff isn’t real.” Though he was beginning to think something unnatural was going on. He just wasn’t certain what. “Where did this Adrienne girl go? I didn’t see her at school today.”
“Kimmie ran her out this morning. I came here with her. She left a couple hours ago, and I stayed to learn more about voodoo from Candace,” Tara answered. “She’s really cool.”
“Right. Daddy will throw a fit if he catches you getting involved in this stuff.”
“Like you with a poor, superstitious girl?”
I’m with Kimmie. He kept quiet. Tara was convinced he was dating Adrienne. His head was hurting a little, the heavy air of the café bothering him too much to start another argument with Tara.
A couple came in, and Jayden looked twice. The man had painted his face like a skeleton while the blonde woman with light blue eyes appeared dazed and too pale.
Druggies. He eyed them, wondering why Tara was on this side of town anyway.
A flash of red from the corner of his eye caught his attention. Jayden twisted his head to look but saw nothing there.
“Here you go, Jayden. Sip some each night before bed,” Candace said, reappearing from the back rooms. She held out a small tin he assumed was filled with tea.
“Thanks,” he said. “How much I owe you?”
“Nothing. Just promise me you’ll drink it and keep your tags on.”
“Sure.” He accepted it.
“Come back whenever you’re in the neighborhood,” Candace said with a bright smile.
He lifted the tin in a silent salute.
Tara hugged Candace, talking quietly, while Jayden started towards the door.
The woman who had just entered was staring at him. The couple had moved to a table in the middle of the coffee shop. The man sat, but the woman didn’t.
Jayden offered a quick smile and stopped at the door, waiting for Tara. He studied the plain tin then popped off the top. The light scent of jasmine and something woodsy reminded him of the garden behind his father’s house. It was a pleasing, light smell, and he took a deep breath.
“This ends now.”
He looked up, surprised to see the woman standing just two feet from him. Her glazed eyes looked just over his shoulder, and he glanced back without seeing anyone behind him.
“You won’t take me.”
“I’m sorry, what –” he started.
The woman raised a knife. Jayden’s whole world slowed down. Someone across the room shouted. Instinctively, he raised his hands to block the knife. Fire tore through one hand, and blood splattered him. Shocked by the sensation, he didn’t have a chance to defend himself a second time, yet he threw his shoulder forward and tackled her, trying to knock the woman off her feet without hurting her.
The knife pierced his back once, twice, before they hit the ground.
Jayden smelled blood, felt the fire spreading throughout his body. He rolled off the woman, gasping for air. Why did he feel like he was drowning? There was no water around him.
“Jayden!” Tara’s scream was the last sound that registered, before the world grew too blurry for him to make out.
Jayden’s eyes closed, his grandmama’s warning about someone killing him drifting through the darkness in his mind..
A damsel in distress. A white girl with white hair and eye like jewels.
Adrienne?
Chapter Twenty Two
Jayden’s world grew darker before it began to lighten. Shapes formed, and then he felt the warmth of the sun, heard the sound of a small creek. Grass tickled his feet.
“It is almost ready, Charles.”
Jayden blinked to clear his vision. The surroundings bloomed into light and color. He sat on the ground, leaning against the rough bark of a tree, in a grassy field that smelled of wildflowers. The trickling stream was a few feet away, its clear water reflecting the sunlight.