Infernal Embrace

  Infernal Embrace

  Crescent City Arcana: Book One

  By Rachel Chanticleer

  Copyright © 2017 Rachel Chanticleer

  All rights reserved.

  Smashwords Edition

  With the exception of brief quotes used in reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments, or locales is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Smashwords License Statement

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover design by Julie Nicholls

  Copyediting by Serena Clarke at Free Bird Editing

  Acknowledgments

  Renée and Kat, Mom and Kaitlyn, and of course my Wayward Banshees, you all rock. Your support and encouragement means the world to me.

  And to Veronica Del Rosa and any author who’s ever taken the time to help out a newbie as they find their way, your guidance is more appreciated than you’ll ever know.

  For more information about the author and her work, please visit:

  rachelchanticleer.com

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  Rae’s Reading Room

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  It had been three weeks.

  Bethany Hayes swayed with the streetcar as it made its way along the St. Charles line. The backs of her legs stuck to the wooden bench seat and a red-faced couple complained to the operator about the heat. The tourists didn’t realize they were lucky their ride had even showed up at this time of night, let alone had functional air conditioning. She turned her attention from the ranting man and woman to pull a folded paper fan from her messenger bag’s side pocket.

  Three weeks since the mess in DC.

  Closing her eyes, Beth tried to tune out the chatter around her, the stifling air. Stretched her stiff neck muscles. Focused on the soothing whir of the metal wheels over the tracks and tried to ignore yet another impending headache. Concentrate away the chaos, like how Lucius had taught her. Lucius. Her mentor. The only person who truly understood what she was.

  It had been three weeks since she used her magic.

  A few blocks later she signaled for her stop in the Lower Garden District. She exited the train and jogged across the street ahead of a mule-drawn sightseeing tour carriage, its frame gleaming white under the streetlights. Though not too far from her aunt’s resale shop and the apartment above it they used to share, her new home was a world away from the backwater town in Jefferson Parish where she was raised.

  Tossing her keys aside as she shut the door to the rented townhouse, she called out to her new roommate and old friend. “Nikki, are you still here?”

  The bathroom door opened and Nikki peeked her head out, pushing the longer side of her asymmetrical chin-length bob from her face. “Yep, but I’m late!” She stuck a toothbrush back in her mouth and talked around it. “You sure you don’t want to come?” After she finished she shut off the sink and joined Beth in the living room.

  Already sprawled out on the couch and reaching for a throw blanket, Beth shook her head and immediately regretted it.

  “Nope. Sorry, but I’m beat,” she said, and tried to rub away the migraine ache settling at the base of her neck.

  Nikki’s pet Papillon, Bentley, curled up in a silky brown and white mass on the floor next to her. Beth slipped her hand from the blanket to scratch between the sweet dog’s large ears while Nikki sat next to her with a sigh, pulling her purse up from the coffee table.

  “Fine. It’s just that everyone would love to see you.” After combing her fingers through raven-black hair, she rummaged around in the Dooney & Bourke tote for lipstick and a compact, giving Beth a sidelong glance as she freshened up her makeup. “Especially Jonathan.”

  “Ugh, Nikki…” Beth groaned and covered her face with the chenille throw.

  “What?” Her friend yanked the blanket off, mussing Beth’s pixie-cut blonde hair. She pushed her bangs from her eyes and rubbed her temples, all too aware Nikki wasn’t going to drop the subject anytime soon.

  “I’m not looking to start a relationship right now, I told you that.” Beth glared at her. “Multiple times.”

  Her lips curved wickedly. “Who said anything about relationships? I just want you to have a little fun.”

  Beth gasped, her face affecting scandalized shock. For good measure she shoved Nikki’s thigh with the heels of her feet. “You’re terrible. Tempting the innocent like that.”

  “Innocent?” Nikki snapped the compact shut. “Psh. Pretty sure that boat sailed a while ago.” She tossed her makeup back in her purse and pulled a foot up underneath her thigh to sit on it. “J was hoping to see you on Mardi Gras but you left the party in such a rush. He was bummed he missed you, Bethie. And,” she stressed, “he’s been asking me about you ever since.”

  Leaning her head back on the arm of the couch, Beth stared at the ceiling. She couldn’t divulge the real reason she’d left Nikki’s family’s lavish Mardi Gras party so abruptly this past February. It was supposed to be a night of fun after several years of keeping to herself. Instead, the man who originally prompted her self-exile had appeared from the shadows warning about an ancient witch, of all things, who still had Beth in her crosshairs. Lucius came to her that night in an effort to save her from the woman who wanted her dead—a power-mad dark magic practitioner who expected Lucius to do it for her.

  Beth had known she was different for some time. In fact, it was her first brief interaction with Lucius years prior that initially brought out her abilities. The witch who eventually came for her had bound him with her magic centuries ago after rescuing him from the fighting pits of Rome and bringing him back from the brink of death. When the gladiator learned she only wanted him for his skills as a killer, he’d refused. Unfortunately for Lucius, Helena was proficient in the art of magical torture and had a way of making people do her bidding.

  Helena had set Lucius as her attack dog on numerous witches throughout her long life, fearing they would seek her out to steal her powers. That her only choice was to make the first strike. This was about as far from the truth as possible; most of the women Helena had murdered didn’t even know about the spark of magic inside them. Beth was one of those women
.

  Lucius had tracked Beth to New Orleans after his master saw her in a vision while scrying, and his orders were to bring her in like he’d done with countless others. Helena would absorb their power using a forbidden ritual and he would end their lives with as little pain as possible, since she was too weakened from the continued use of dark magic to kill them herself. But something about Beth had given Lucius pause, and he let her go.

  He’d left her bloody in a ditch after her car had flipped, sure, but she was still alive.

  Maybe it was how she fought back, her magic presenting itself for the first time in her life. Maybe he felt bad for her. Hell, maybe he’d just had enough of the killing and was ready to accept the ultimate punishment from Helena. Whatever it was, Beth was left alone and confused, but breathing. She withdrew from the life she knew, no longer talking to old friends and being more or less disowned by conservative parents who didn’t want to hear her absurd and blasphemous account of what happened, blaming her crash on too many drinks even though the Breathalyzer test had proven otherwise. She eventually found acceptance with her Aunt Mae, someone else who had never quite fit in within their family group.

  At that point in Beth’s life, things started to get back to normal. Or as normal as possible for a girl in her mid-twenties teaching herself how to deal with newfound supernatural gifts. She worked with her aunt in her resale shop, Mae’s Closet, and even made some money on the side creating custom jewelry repurposed from broken and unwanted pieces. So she’d finally felt comfortable enough in her own skin again to accept Nikki’s open invitation to her family’s annual Fat Tuesday party last winter, thinking she could ease back into her old routine. Making a living, spending time with friends, and just being normal.

  Lucius’ subsequent reappearance had turned everything on its head. Yet again.

  “Tell Jonathan I said ‘hi’,” she said finally.

  Nikki let out a dramatic sigh and stood up with her purse. “Fine.” She picked up Bentley and nuzzled the dog into the crook of her neck. “Do me a favor and walk him before you go to bed?”

  “Of course, Nik. No problem.”

  “Good,” she said, and placed him right on Beth’s chest. “Bye!” Now overexcited, Bentley barked and jumped as Nikki sprinted for the door.

  “If he pees on me—” Beth sat up and attempted to get him to settle.

  “Then you get what you deserve for standing me up!”

  With a laugh and slam of the door, Nikki was gone.

  The dog gave one last yip before hopping from her lap and circling her feet. He whimpered and lay down, a warm ball of fur on her toes.

  “I hear you, brother,” she commiserated, and grabbed the remote from the coffee table.

  It was just after eleven when Beth took the dog out to the courtyard behind the townhouse where she now lived. The man watched her from a distance, waiting for the right moment to carry out his plan. Her short hair was almost golden under the decorative outdoor lamps lining the walkway and the belted dress hugging her hourglass figure fluttered in the slight breeze. The apples of her cheeks had a rosy tinge from time spent in the sun, a warm contrast to her otherwise fair skin. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up, evidently enjoying the brief respite from the oppressive Louisiana heat. This was the perfect time—she was relaxed, unprepared. He’d strike now.

  He rolled a small leather pouch around in his hand. The bag was filled with yagé leaves, typically boiled after being freshly picked by Amazonian shamans to brew a hallucinogenic tea. But this Spirit Vine, or ayahuasca, was prepared neither as it is traditionally in Peru, nor as given to groups of adventurous celebrities and the bored elite of New York and Los Angeles willing to vomit for hours in exchange for a potentially life-altering trip. The leaves crunching within the leather in his palm had been dried and purified by a local brujo and sealed in the bag with a binding charm. But not before a few strands of Beth’s and his own hair were tucked inside. He needed to get her alone. Just the two of them.

  With his lips pressed to the pouch, he whispered an ancient verse, and then lit it with a silver flip-top lighter. As he held it away from his body, the bag burned cobalt blue, then the fire changed to a bright purple. The flames neared his fingertips and he scowled. In the back room of the botánica shop he’d been warned not to release the yagé a moment too soon or both he and Beth could become trapped in el Velo Entre los Mundos.

  The Veil Between the Worlds. A place for neither the living nor the dead. Somewhere Beth would have no choice but to use her magic.

  The fire had darkened to a deep plum and the searing heat now toyed with his thumb and index finger, but he didn’t dare drop it. At last the space surrounding her began to fade away, black and empty at the edges like a photo taken with a pinhole camera. Beth must have seen the margins of reality falling into shadows as well; she took several steps back and looked around frantically. Before the courtyard vanished completely, she found him in the darkness and met his eyes.

  “Lucius,” she breathed.

  All at once the gloom became light, though washed out and gray. The yagé pouch had disappeared, as had everything else except the two of them, and they now walked toward each other in the infinite, overcast wasteland.

  “Hello, Bethany.”

  “Where’s—” She looked around at her feet then back to him. “What happened to Bentley? His leash, I think it slipped from my hand.” When Lucius didn’t answer right away, she steeled her delicate features and dropped her brows as she stepped toward him. “The dog, where is he? And where the hell are we?”

  “The dog’s fine. He’s back with our bodies.”

  “Back with our what?”

  Lucius clasped his hands behind his back and surveyed the area. It was difficult to focus here, like dusk—not quite day yet not quite night. “We’re in the Between. Or,” he amended, “our spirits are. Our physical bodies are still on earth.”

  She widened her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. “Uh, okay. Great. Thanks for the trip. Now put me back together.”

  Sighing, he began a leisurely stroll. “I’m afraid I can’t.”

  She caught up to him quickly and stood in front of him. “What do you mean, you can’t?” Her smoky, brown quartz-colored eyes flared darker with her question.

  He sidestepped her and continued walking, regarding the endless void as he did so. “I can’t send us back. You can though.”

  Laughing, she threw her hands up. “Fantastic. Just perfect. And by the way,” she continued, catching up to him again. “This whole ‘vague and cryptic, answering me without answering me’ thing you’re doing right now? Yeah, it’s not cute.”

  He suppressed a smile and canted his head down. Opening his mouth to explain how she would go about using her magic to bring them back, he paused as a dark figure took shape in the distance. Instinct took over and his body went rigid. He slipped his hand to the small of his back, retrieving the three-sided Tibetan ritual blade kept in a concealed leather sleeve on his belt. Beth jumped and he put his body between her and the thing slowly advancing toward them.

  “What is that?” she whispered.

  “Whatever it is, we don’t want to hang around long enough to find out. I know you haven’t drawn from your abilities since that night in the Metro tunnel, but now you must.”

  “I—what? No, Lucius. I won’t.”

  After stealing another glance at the being approaching them, he turned to face her, both hands gripping her shoulders. A frown line appeared on her forehead and he immediately released her.

  “You can, and you must. You mustn’t be afraid of your powers, Beth. They’re a part of you.”

  “I just can’t do it, alright?” Her breaths came faster and she backed away from him, her skin taking on an ashen tone.

  He looked over his shoulder. The figure was closing in but he still couldn’t quite make out its shape, other than it was large.

  “What happened that night, it could have gone better. But despite the…m
ishap, we still put an end to the dark mages that attacked those women. What we did was a good thing. Don’t forget it.”

  “I know!” She raked a hand through her hair, watching the indistinct thing slowly nearing them. “Look, I know.” Pinching the bridge of her nose, she winced as if in pain. “Those mages, they weren’t even human any longer. And the city is safer with them dead, but—” She looked up to him with pleading eyes. “I lost control. My magic, all the progress I’d made up to that point was…gone. It was just gone. Don’t make me do this. I don’t know what I might become.”

  He narrowed his eyes, considering her last statement but unsure of what she meant.

  “I know you’re scared, but you shouldn’t feel—”

  “Don’t!” The ground shook with the weight of her voice and the power behind it as a flash of blue danced across her irises, a shock of color in the diffused light of this plane. “Don’t tell me what I should be feeling, Lucius.”

  The tremor must have carried all the way to the intruder; it paused briefly before continuing, closing in even faster now.

  Beth let out a growl of frustration and squared off in front of him. With their height disparity and his muscled frame compared to her soft curves, it might have been comical had he not been fully aware she had the magical strength to back up any threats she made against him.

  With power to spare.

  After a quick glance over her shoulder to gauge the being’s approach, she pushed up her cardigan’s sleeves. “Fine then, damn it. What now?” She made eye contact with Lucius, her gaze unyielding. “If this thing kills us, I will find your spirit or whatever we are right now and make you pay. You know that, right?”

  He kept his smile to himself and nodded. “I understand.” Sheathing his knife before pushing her hair from her eyes, he spoke quickly. “I need you to focus, to picture in your mind the courtyard where our bodies are.”