"Don't wanna talk about it," he said, cutting her off, voice flat. "Not yet. And I plan to talk to her first-who-ever she claims to be-when I do."

Kallie couldn't blame Dallas. Divinity had lied to him too. And her lie had slashed a knife across his throat. "I hear you, cher," she said softly.

"I know you do, hun."

Kallie told Dallas about the tainted wards, but not about Jackson. Knowing how fond the root doctor was of her wayward cousin, she worried that he'd try to haul himself out of his hospital bed to aid in the search.

In many ways, she, Jackson, and their aunt were Dallas's family.

"Y'all keep safe, y'hear?" Dallas said. "If the problem with the wards doesn't get fixed, this blowdown is gonna be a motherfucker."

Kallie's gut knotted. "I know. You keep safe too. I'll talk to you later."

She stared at the ceiling for a long moment after the conversation ended, heart pounding, Felicity's words rolling along the edge of her thoughts like a hurricane warning at the bottom of a newscast.

What do you believe is causing it?

The raucous and nerve-jarring buzz of the dryer brought Kallie to her feet. Hoping the damned thing hadn't awakened Belladonna, she hurried down the hall. A quick glance into Belladonna's room revealed her friend facedown and still drooling on her pillow. A smile twitched across Kallie's lips.

Stopping in the doorway, she used her cell phone to snap a picture of Drooling Beauty. After checking the screen to make sure she'd captured the moment, Kallie continued on to the dryer.

But as she yanked Layne's warm jeans, socks, and black Inferno T-shirt out of the dryer, her thoughts returned to the storm and her gut feeling-despite Divinity's words to the contrary-that she, or rather the loa inside her, was somehow responsible for the magic misfires and the hurricane's rapid approach.

What do you believe is causing it?

Me.

Kallie couldn't help but wonder if this was what her mama had tried to unleash when she'd pulled the trigger nine years ago.

Sorry, baby. I ain't got a choice.

The old familiar anger seared the back of Kallie's throat. Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit. Gathering up Layne's clothes, pressing their lingering warmth against her chest, Kallie marched for the door, pondering her options.

One: Do nothing. Allow the hurricane to destroy cities, ecosystems, and lives-both human and animal-and devastate the Louisiana coast and economy. Oh, and the best part of this particular option? More hurricanes would follow Evelyn, since the goddamned wards would still be broken and broadcasting a Welcome! signal. The fun would continue nonstop.

Two: Summon Baron Samedi and hand herself over. Let him yank the loa out of her body and allow him to do whatever he needed to do to stop the hurricane, restore magic's natural flow, and save everyone and everything she loves-people and land. The cost? Her own life.

Three: Try to remove the loa herself. Of course, she would have less than thirty-six hours to accomplish it if she hoped to stop the hurricane. Otherwise, she'd have no choice but to summon the Baron. Provided he didn't find her first.

Kallie mentally exed out option number one, since it wasn't even in the running. Do nothing. Yeah, right. But before she did anything, she needed to find Jackson, pull him out of the fire Doctor Heron and a mistaken identity had tossed him into.

As she unlocked and opened the apartment's front door, a sleepy voice asked, "Where you off to, Shug?"

"I thought you were still droo-I mean, sleeping," Kallie replied, swiveling around, her hand still resting on the doorknob. "I'm running Layne's clothes downstairs and checking on his progress. You should go back to bed."

Belladonna eyed her dubiously. "Did you sleep?"

Kallie never even blinked. "Yup. And I plan to come back up to get a little more."

"Oh. Okay." Belladonna flapped a hand at her, dismissing her, then yawned. "Maybe another hour wouldn't hurt."

As Belladonna shuffled back to bed, Kallie quietly left the apartment and headed downstairs to the botanica.

TWENTY-SEVEN.

FAMILY NEVER DOES.

"How is he?" Kallie asked as she walked into the darkened consultation room, Layne's clothes in her arms.

"Resting," Gabrielle said with a smile. She sat in the rocker beside the bed.

"He took a nasty knock to de head, him," Divinity replied from where she sat at her worktable, her gaze focused on the table's surface. Candlelight flickered against her face, casting shadows. "But his helmet saved him from a broken skull. Concussion, bruises, and road rash from his spill, but boy will be living to ride anudder day."

Kallie exhaled in relief, a smile warming her lips. "ca c'est bon."

"Mmm-hmm. Dat it is. I always heard dat nomads got t'ick ol' stubborn skulls. Must be true."

Kallie laughed, low in her throat. "Another good thing," she said, then amended, "Except when he's being man-stupid."

"Ain't you supposed to be sleeping?" Divinity asked, voice sharp. "I t'ought we had an understanding, girl."

"I know, I know." Kallie sighed. "But I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking of Jackson and I was watching the news about the hurricane and ..." She shrugged. "I just couldn't."

Divinity swiveled around on her stool and eyed Kallie in the dim light, arms folded underneath her breasts. "Mmm-hmmm." Her tone of voice suggested that she intended to do something about that particular little problem.

Kallie promised herself not to drink anything her tante offered. Resting the folded pile of clothes on the night-stand, she slowly sat down on the bed beside Layne, careful not to jostle the mattress and wake him.

Layne's face looked peaceful, the lines of pain that had tightened his features gone, his skin no longer chalk-white. He was half turned onto his side, facing the wall, one athletic arm draped along his hip, his long blond dreads trailing across the sheet and over his muscled bare shoulder.

Like a sleeping Greek god or an enchanted Viking warrior awaiting the kiss that would open his eyes. Heat pulsed in Kallie's veins.

Leaning forward, Kallie breathed in the sandalwood and sweet orange scent of Layne's thick, coiled hair. She also smelled sage and myrrh on his skin, mingled with something astringent.

"Comfrey?" she asked, glancing at Divinity. "A health wash?"

"Dat's right, along with salve for his abrasions."

Resisting the urge to press her lips against Layne's, Kallie reluctantly straightened and shifted her attention to her aunt. "Have you had time to do a reading? About Jackson?"

"Dat I did, me. Just finished one." Divinity nodded at the table.

Gabrielle stood. "If you don't need anything else, then I'll be heading to Crowley for this Addie Martin's conclave of local conjurers."

"A meeting?" Kallie asked, glancing from one woman to the next. "What kind of meeting?"

"A meeting to figure out how to fix de mess we all be in," Divinity replied, candle flame highlighting her grim expression. "Before it be too late." She inclined her head at the mambo. "Gabrielle's going in my place, since we got yo' cousin and yo' dreaming nomad to contend with."

Dread and guilt twisted through Kallie. "Yeah," she said, voice low. "We need to talk about that."

"Dat we do. But in due time, child." Divinity looked at Gabrielle. "You got de address and directions?"

"I do, yes." Gabrielle crossed to the doorway, cords whisking with each step, then she paused. "I'm heading home first. I've got my own place, my own people, to worry about. Once I have things squared away, I'll head over to Crowley. I'll let you know what happens, but I'm not coming back-not right away."

"Dat's understood," Divinity said. "I can't t'ank you enough for everyt'ing."

Gabrielle half turned and looked at Divinity, one hand on the threshold. Her face was composed, cold. But Kallie saw fire simmering in her eyes.

"We're not finished, you and me," she said. "We got stuff to work out. Big stuff."

Divinity met the mambo's gaze and held it. "True, dat. I ain't going nowhere. When dis nightmare be fixed and done, I'll take care of my debt to you."

With a curt nod, Gabrielle strode from the room and out the botanica's back door. A few moments later, Kallie heard the VW's engine start up.

"How do you plan to make it up to her for stealing her identity?" Kallie asked.

"I'll t'ink o' somet'ing," Divinity replied. Rising to her feet, she went to the rocker Gabrielle had just vacated and plunked down into it. "Go take a look at de reading. Tell me what you see."

"Okay." Easing up from the bed, Kallie padded over to the worktable. Perching on the stool, she studied the cards and shells arranged on top of the table. She smelled fragrant frankincense from the white votive candle placed at the head of the cards, its light dancing across their slick surfaces.

Seven rows of six cards each formed a square that was read from left to right, then from top to bottom, again going down from left to right. She scanned the layout-so many goddamned spade cards-several cards in particular capturing her attention.

King of diamonds: An older man or a green-eyed man with blond or red hair Nine of spades: Disappointment and failure, sorrow or tears Eight of spades: Controversy, conflict with others or even family members King of spades: Bad luck coming from a man Queen of hearts: A woman with blue or gray or hazel eyes Jack of clubs: A male child or a flirtatious person of either sex Jack of hearts: A female child or a proposal of marriage; a promise Ace of spades: A change of residence or unexpected, rapid events; death Queen of spades: Bad luck coming from a woman Ace of hearts: Home and environment An icy blade of fear pierced Kallie's heart when she realized that the ace of spades was nestled against both the queen and king of spades, altering the meanings of the cards.

A woman will die. A man will die.

With the queens of spades and hearts both in play, the doomed woman could either be dark-haired or one with blue, gray, or hazel eyes.

As for the doomed man ... Kallie's gaze flicked from the king of spades to the king of diamonds. A dark-haired man or maybe a blond or red-haired man with green eyes. Her heart skipped a beat.

Blond. Green eyes. Layne.

"You stiffened up," Divinity said from the rocker. "I'm guessing you saw it. De reading be for Jackson, so de man and de woman marked fo' death be known to him. But de cards only show possibilities, child. Not certainties."

"I know," Kallie replied. Even so, the chill wouldn't leave her. So many of the women in Jackson's life possessed dark hair-as far as she knew, anyway-Belladonna, Divinity, herself, among them. And now she was determined to keep Layne as far away from Jackson as possible. Just in case.

"But did you notice de pair of jacks?"

Kallie nodded. "Yup." Separately, the cards meant one thing, and another thing entirely as a pair. In this case, the two jacks indicated the return of what was lost or the return from a journey. "I think we're gonna find him, Titante."

"Tell me what else you see."

Kallie's gaze flicked across the cards, piecing together meaning and connections. "The pair of aces indicates trickery from enemies-I think Cash and Kerry fall into that category. Jacks was forced from his home, betrayed, caught in conflict and facing failure and possibly death. And I think one of his captors is a woman."

"Mmm-hmm." Divinity's tone was noncommittal.

"But, except for the queen of hearts, I don't see anything here that we didn't already know." Kallie glanced at her aunt from over her shoulder, frustration kinking her muscles. "I don't see a single thing that points to where Jackson is."

"Keep looking. You ain't getting the whole picture."

Kallie sighed, knowing Divinity was right. Exhaustion blurred the sharp edge of her thinking, muffled her intuitive sense. She knew she needed sleep, but had too much on her mind and heart to keep her eyes closed.

Returning her attention to the table, Kallie caught a faint and bitter whiff of vervain from the Green Blood of the Earth potion her aunt had used to consecrate her shells before the reading.

To the right of the square of cards, five cockleshells rested on a straw mat marked with a cross shaped out of powdered egg shells. To the practiced eye, the apparently random positions of the shells revealed a potent pattern brimming with meaning.

Kallie's breath caught in her throat as she read that pattern: Strength. South. Fierce animals. "This is talking about undeserved and unnecessary punishment and judgment from others," she said. "Says Jackson needs to do whatever's necessary to protect himself from it. That he might become someone's scapegoat."

Thinking of Doctor Heron, Kallie's jaw tightened.

"True, dat. It also mentions dat de boy needs to rely on his inner strength, dat if he hopes to survive, he can't allow himself to rest. He be in a fight fo' his life."

"Did the fifth shell land as negative or positive?" Kallie asked.

"Negative," Divinity replied, voice low.

Kallie's heart sank. "So he's in a bad way. Hurt."

"I been saying Psalms o' protection for yo' cousin. Trying to send him all de strength he needs to see him tru."

"Strength," Kallie murmured. "South. Fierce animals."

Sliding off the stool, she returned to the bed and sat down carefully so as not to disturb Layne's healing sleep. She looked at her aunt's gloom-shadowed face. "I think I might have a lead on Jackson. But which do we wanna discuss first-Jackson or what we're going to do with me ... with the loa."

Divinity's gaze slid past her to Layne, and something Kallie couldn't quite name rippled across her aunt's face-a sharp-planed grief, a stoic resolve, she couldn't be sure. But whatever it was, it left her uneasy.

"Let's start wit' yo' cousin," Divinity said finally. "What's dis lead?"

"You ever heard of a place called Le Nique?"

Divinity's chair rocked as she considered, frowning. "Oui. I heard of Le Nique. It's about forty miles southeast, out toward Chacahoula."

"Southeast," Kallie whispered. Strength. South. Fierce animals. She was more sure now than ever. Certainty and hope blossomed within her.

"But de place ain't marked or nothing," Divinity added.

"Because it's hidden, right?" Kallie asked. "A loup-garou village."

Divinity tilted her head. "Dat's de rumor. What dis have to do with Jackson?"

Kallie held her aunt's gaze. "A long time ago, Jackson told me that Nonc Nicolas was a loup-garou and that he himself was a half blood. Told me they used to go to Le Nique all the time." As her aunt's mouth snapped open, an accusation in her eyes, Kallie held up a Hold on, I ain't finished yet hand. "He swore me to secrecy. We were little kids and I thought it was just a game. He never mentioned it again and I forgot all about it."