Better jazz than voodoo.
Claire stuck by her parents’ side, the drumbeat vibrating under their feet as they crossed the threshold to the ballroom. It wasn’t as big as the name suggested, but it did look beautiful, softly lit by the chandeliers that hung from the ceilings and the old-fashioned candle sconces that lined the walls. Tables were set up in a circle, the center of the floor kept clear for ritual dancing, and the room was decorated with elaborate floral arrangements combined with lush feathers. Everywhere Claire looked, headpieces caught her eyes, an explosion of colored feathers, jewels, and beads.
The room was packed with people she didn’t recognize. While the Guild leadership was part of her everyday life, the Priestesses’ Ball was one of the only times she saw the other Guild members, people who ran smaller stores throughout the South or wholesale supply houses online and were deemed important enough to receive a coveted invitation.
Percussionists played in the corner, and Claire’s shoulders loosened a little with the beat. She didn’t have to believe in voodoo to enjoy the music. It was a sound as familiar to Claire as her mother’s voice. She’d probably heard it in the womb.
“Let’s find a table,” her mother said over the drums.
Claire wasn’t surprised when she led them to a table at the front, near the dance floor. She might have been poor by birth, but Pilar Kincaid was no wallflower. She smiled and raised a hand in greeting to a few people as they passed.
Claire and her mother put down their bags while her father went to get them drinks. After taking a sip from the crystal goblet, Pilar announced that it was time to “mingle.”
Claire nodded, but she had no intention of mingling.
She just wanted to find Xander.
She made her way upstairs, looking for a quiet place where she could text him without seeming rude. She knew the Toussaint house as well as her own. Most of the Guild’s big events were held there, and Claire had been roaming its halls since she was a kid.
She headed for the east wing, as far away from the staircase as possible. Her hopes were dashed that no one else would bother to go that far for a bathroom when she saw Allegra St. Martin in the hall, leaning toward an antique mirror and reapplying her lip stain. She wore a simple white dress that hugged her every curve. It stood in contrast to her exotic coloring and was topped off by an elaborate swan’s feather headpiece, her glossy dark hair twisted up around it.
Feeling the twinge of self-consciousness that Allegra always inspired, Claire prepared to turn around and creep back the way she came.
“Hey,” Allegra said, catching her eye in the mirror.
Claire sighed, continuing reluctantly toward the bathroom.
“Is someone in there?” Claire tipped her head at the closed door of the bathroom.
Allegra nodded, pulling back from the mirror. “Laura.”
“I’ll find another,” Claire said, relieved for the excuse to leave.
Allegra’s voice stopped her as she was turning around. “Claire.”
“Yeah?”
Allegra bit her newly stained lower lip. “You’re not as alone as you think, you know.”
The words took Claire by surprise. She searched her mind, trying to figure out what Allegra was talking about. They weren’t enemies. But they weren’t friends, either.
“What do you mean?” she finally asked.
Allegra leaned against the ornate, gilded table under the mirror, one bare leg exposed in a slit that extended well above her knee. “Listen, I know you don’t believe, but that doesn’t mean the craft isn’t real. And it doesn’t mean you don’t have the power, either. It’s yours to call on whenever you need it.”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Claire said softly. But even as she said it, she was unnerved. Rumor was that Allegra had a proven gift for precognition and had predicted all kind of things—good and bad—since she’d been old enough to mix recipes and cast her own spells.
Allegra stepped toward her, stopping when they were only a foot apart. Claire flinched as the other girl put a gentle hand on her arm.
“You’re in trouble,” she said. “We all are.”
“We?”
“The firstborns,” Allegra clarified. Her eyes seemed to cloud over, her voice growing distant. “I can’t see the threat clearly, but it’s out there.” She hesitated, seeming to return from some far-off place. “I know we’ve never been close, but I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone. We’re here for you, even if you don’t want us to be.” She smiled. “Kind of like family.”
Claire was mesmerized by Allegra’s eyes, an icy blue that stood in contrast to her Creole coloring, and a soothing quality in her voice that Claire had never noticed before. It took her a few seconds to step back and break the spell.
“Thanks. I appreciate the concern.”
The door to the bathroom opened and Laura stepped out. She smiled in surprise.
“Claire! You look so pretty!”
Claire had to force herself to smile as she headed for the bathroom. “Thank you. So do you.” And she did, though Claire barely had time to register the black dress that set off Laura’s shimmering copper hair as she made a beeline for the bathroom. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
She shut the door even before she turned on the light. Then she braced herself against the sink, taking big deep breaths and trying to resist the urge to puke. She told herself it was irrational. That Allegra was just drinking the voodoo Kool-Aid.
So why did she have a sinking feeling that Allegra was right? That something was coming for them—for her. That whatever it was had been put in motion by the order of the panther blood and the presence of the people on Dauphine.
Turning on the cold water, she used her hand to drink. She dried off her mouth with one of Estelle’s fancy hand towels before fishing her phone out of her bag.
WHERE ARE YOU? she texted Xander.
ARBOR.
She left the bathroom, relieved to see that both Allegra and Laura were gone. The upper hallways were quiet, the noise from below growing louder as she came to the staircase.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she worked her way through the crowd, leaving behind the rhythmic drumming and heading for the less insistent sounds of the jazz band in the backyard.
She was at the edge of the terrace when Sophie spotted her through the crowd. Her eyes lit up, and she ran toward Claire with a gap-toothed smile.
“Look, Claire!” She pointed to the empty spot on the top row of her teeth. “I lost a tooth!”
Claire laughed. “You definitely did! Did the tooth fairy leave you money?”
“Five dollars!” she exclaimed.
“What?” Claire feigned shock. “No way! You’re totally treating next time we get ice cream.”
Sophie beamed. She held out the skirt of her lavender dress, giving Claire a better look at the elaborate pleating. “Do you like my dress?”
“Love it,” Claire said. She looked down at her own gown. “Do you like mine?”
Sophie nodded, grinning. She gestured for Claire to come closer and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“You look beautiful. Xander will think so, too. He’s waiting for you in the arbor.”
Claire leaned back, unable to hold back her smile. “Thanks, kiddo. See you later.”
Stepping off the terrace, she headed for the back of the property. It was just as beautiful outside as it was inside, the trees strung with white lights, multicolored lanterns hanging from their branches. Candles flickered on the tables that dotted the landscape, and torches were lit along the pathways that wound through the Toussaints’ property.