Lucas turned around, keeping Cecelia behind him.“Rayne, it’s always a pleasure to see you.” He said this with as much sarcasm as he could put out right now. The past little episode with Cecelia had left him a little breathless.
“Oh Lucas, let’s not play games. We ended badly and have moved on, but I believe you may have something that I’ve been looking for.” Rayne pointed her long-tipped red finger to Cecelia, who still stood behind him.
Lucas tried not to let the flash of confusion of the matter cross his face as he turned his head towards the woman behind him. “Do you know her?” He whispered to Cecelia even though he knew Rayne could clearly hear him.
Cecelia peeked out around Lucas and saw Rayne standing before them both. She still took Cecelia’s breath away with her beauty and power emanating from her. Her hair was a deep golden blond and hung down to her waist. It was perfectly straight without the use of any conditioners or irons, and her eyes were the shade of a bright blue summer day sky. Her body was one that both men and women would kill to have, men to have their way with her, and women were always envious of her perfection. She was a self-assured, confident, arrogant, and high-powered enchantress. Cecelia didn’t say anything but held Rayne’s stare down.
“I was surprised to hear that you had left West Lakes, Cecelia.” Rayne’s tone indicated that she was not pleased about having to look for this woman. “And you left Madison all alone, you know her mother is not one of watching what happens with her own daughter.”
“I’m sure that my niece is fine.” Secretly, Cecelia began to panic. She knew that Rayne had the power to cover up anything that she may have done or planned to do concerning Madison and her group.
“Ah, yes.” Rayne gave Cecelia a wicked smile. “After I saw there was no one to watch over little Madison, I made sure to tell Brindle to watch out for her.”
Cecelia’s stomach began to turn. She knew Rayne’s daughter Brindle was about as evil as her mother. There had been previous incidents in the past couple of months that involved something bad happening to Madison, and they seemed to have stemmed from black magic, which would indicate that Rayne and her coven were involved.
“Well, as nice as it’s been to see you again,” Lucas gripped Cecelia’s hand, which he noted was clammy and hot. You’ll have to excuse us, Rayne. We would like to continue our time alone.” He pulled Cecelia past the woman he once desired and headed for the back stairs that led up to his apartment.
Rayne gave them a small hand wave. “I will see you both later. I plan on being in the Bayou for some time.” She walked down the sidewalk and seemed to disappear into the fog rolling in off the water.
Lucas ushered Cecelia up the stairs on the side of the building. It was his own private apartment over the store, which rarely anyone ever saw. It was time he got some answers about how she knew Rayne and what exactly both of them were doing in the Bayou.
Cecelia waited while Lucas fiddled around with the three locks that he had on his door. She walked into the apartment when he waved his arm for her to enter. She heard the door close and lock behind her. The room came to life when Lucas flipped the switch that turned on the main light of the room they were in. It seemed it was a spacious place with one great room in the center, the kitchen was off to the left and there were two doors on the other side of the room that most likely led to the bedroom and bathroom.
“Please, take a seat.” Lucas motioned for Cecelia to take a seat on the black leather sofa. He sat on the opposite end but turned so that he would have a visual on her. “Would you care for something to drink?” He had forgotten his ‘I have company’ manners as his mindset was now focused on who, what, and why Cecelia was here.
“No thank you, I’m good.” Cecelia felt his stare and knew the questioning was going to start. If she had to answer what he wanted to know, then damn it so did he. How did he and Rayne know each other, and what type of relationship did they have?
Lucas nodded his head and waited a few moments before pressing on. “Can I ask how you know Rayne?”
Cecelia let out a deep sigh. “She lives in West Lakes.” She looked over at Lucas, and he nodded his head once. “We both have lived there for a while.”
“I’ve known Rayne for a long time. She’s not one who is very sociable. So tell me, Cecelia, what makes you so special that Rayne came looking for you?” Lucas stared intently at the woman on his sofa. She was fidgeting with her fingers and looked as though she was trying to decide what to tell him. “Just tell me the truth, Cecelia. I’m not the enemy.” He tried to calm her and get her to open up.
Cecelia slightly waggled her head back and forth as she tried to figure out how to tell him what he wanted to know. “Are you connected to Rayne in any way?” She looked over at him so that she could interpret if he was telling the truth by his expression.
“I was at one point in my life, but I learned that Rayne wasn’t the person who I thought she was.” Lucas didn’t want to divulge too much information until he found out what Cecelia’s association was to her.
Cecelia nodded her head. It was a brief and basic answer. She wanted to know more about how much he knew about their kind.
Lucas saw the looks of conflicting emotions cross over Cecelia’s face. It seemed she was torn between telling him the truth or making up some outlandish lie. “I know all about the enchantresses of both black and white magic if that makes this all any better.” He hoped he just didn’t open up a whole new box if she had no clue what he was talking about.
Cecelia breathed a partial sigh of relief. He may know about enchantresses since he had his store, but what would he do if he found out that she had been on both sides. “What do you know about the enchantresses that you haven’t learned from being in your line of business?”
Lucas situated himself more comfortably on the sofa. “I have a strong inkling that you are a white enchantress opposed to Rayne, who is dark all the way.” He saw a look of surprise cross over Cecelia’s face, and he knew he must have gotten it right.
“I am an enchantress who practices white magic, but I also have done black magic in my past. That is how I’d met Rayne and why she is probably looking for me now.” Cecelia hated to give away all of her little secrets that not too many people knew about. It wasn’t like the people in West Lakes knew about any of the paranormal entities that were right under their noses. They were normal people who just went on with their ordinary lives, never expecting that shape shifters, seers, witches, and vampires all resided in the same town as them. “Have you ever practiced any sort of magic, Lucas?” Cecelia now did as Lucas had done earlier. She made herself more comfortable on the sofa as she was unsure of how long this conversation was going to go on.
Lucas laughed quietly to himself. “I have.” He glanced over at Cecelia and she looked as though she was waiting for more of an explanation. “I was born into this way of life as my mother belonged to a coven here in the Bayou. They were ones that believed that magic should only be done to help and not hinder.” He saw Cecelia nod her head yes that she understood that philosophy. “I met Rayne about fifteen years ago. I was sixteen at the time and quite taken aback that someone as beautiful and powerful as her would find a small-time witch, one who practices completely opposite to her, so interesting.”
“Do you still practice, or have you just settled your ways into selling for those of our kind?” Cecelia made sure to emphasize that she and Lucas were on the same page with their abilities.
“I stopped practicing years ago.” Even though there was a great deal more to the story behind the reasoning why, that was all that Lucas felt he needed to share at the moment concerning the question. “What about you, Cecelia? It’s obvious that you still feel the need to dabble in the side of darkness with the items I remember you had purchased.” Lucas leaned a bit more closely to her in hopes of intimidating, but also because he felt a strong pull to this woman.
“That’s untrue.” Cecelia stood up and walked over to the windows that looked down over the storefront. There was no sign of Rayne or of anyone else that she may have had with her. “I…” She stopped herself before continuing with the story. She could tell him the truth or make up some outrageous lie that he would definitely know it was such and lose trust in her from the get-go. “I need to stop Rayne and her coven from doing the evil that they are up to.”
Lucas tilted his head as he awaited more explanation of what that particular coven may be up to now, but it seemed as though Cecelia had nothing else to say concerning what they were up to. “Well, I know Rayne and her need and ability to be controlling.” Lucas leaned back once more against the sofa pillows. He knew getting information out of Cecelia was going to be difficult, as she was tense and seemed to have been through the drill of never divulging too much information and only enough to keep the other party interested. Most likely he was going to have to be the one to reveal some of his own past in order for her to do the same. “Like I said before, I had met her years ago and of course being young, naive, and a bit of a rebel at the time, I gave into her tempting ways.”
The seconds seemed to click by slowly before Cecelia began her story. “I met Rayne a little after you did. I’m guessing after she left here, she came to West Lakes, the town that I have just come from. I was around the age of seventeen when she took me in and told me I would make a great coven master someday. Since she is the grand coven master of their chosen, then I assumed I was being told the truth and would move rapidly up the rankings.” Cecelia chuckled to herself about how young and stupid she was back then. “She used me just like she uses everyone. I did the dirty work, almost got banned from my coven, which has been family for over a hundred years, and yet still let Rayne control me like a puppet for almost a year.”
Lucas nodded his head to indicate that he understood what she was referencing concerning Rayne. He, too, had been a pawn of hers for several months until his sister came and practically pulled him back home by his ears. “I know Rayne can be controlling and manipulative.” Lucas saw Cecelia nod her head that she agreed with his speculation. “But can you tell me why you became involved with her and why she came back to the Bayou, obviously looking for you?” The tension in the room seemed to increase tenfold once Lucas opened up those cans of worms for Cecelia to spill.
In her own thoughts, she was arguing with herself. Half of her wanted to let Lucas in; maybe he could help her fight against Rayne and save her niece and the rest of West Lakes. The other half was apprehensive; she’d only known him for a few days, and Cecelia wasn’t that innocent anymore to believe that everyone had her best interest in mind. She slowly shook her head no. “I can’t tell you everything right now. I don’t know who to trust anymore.” Cecelia glanced quickly up at him, but then lowered her eyes back down to the floor when she saw his stare was penetrating. She stood up from the sofa. “It’s getting late.” She motioned towards the clock that just chimed on the midnight hour. “I have to get back home and hope that Rayne isn’t hiding out somewhere waiting for me.” She knew Rayne didn’t need to be anywhere near her to cause any trouble, but she also knew Rayne liked to wreak havoc that she was able to create with just a simple spell and wave of her hand.
Lucas jumped up from the sofa and stood in front of her, blocking the way towards the door. He put his hand on Cecelia’s shoulder. “Why don’t you stay here tonight…you know, just so there is some time for everything to calm down.”
“Rayne won’t calm down over what happened. I might have to find another place to figure out what I need to do next.” Cecelia leaned her forehead on Lucas’s chest in hopes that maybe he would be able to calm her racing heart. Unfortunately, being that close and breathing in his scent offered the opposite effect, as her heart rate seemed to speed up even faster.
“Maybe after a restful night’s sleep, we can try to figure out a solution together.” Lucas took hold of Cecelia’s hand and led her towards the door across the room. He felt her pull back and stop them before they got any further. “You can sleep in my bed and I’ll take the sofa. I know Rayne won’t be back around here anytime soon.” Lucas gave her hand a gentle pull towards the bedroom door once more. Cecelia scooted her feet behind him like she was a child being ordered to go to bed.
The flick of the light switch and Lucas’s room sprang to life. The room was clean and a bright white in coloring. The king-sized bed was centrally located with overstuffed pillows bordering the top and a large black satin comforter that Cecelia just wanted to automatically wrap herself in. Lucas picked up the remote that was lying on the nightstand and turned on the large, screened TV, which was built into the wall. “I can’t take your bedroom. How about I take the sofa instead?” Cecelia felt guilty for making Lucas give up his room to her.
“Nonsense.” Lucas went over to the closet and walked inside. Cecelia was still in the same spot when he returned. “Here, these should get you through the night.” He held up a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt.
Cecelia reluctantly accepted the attire. She would rather sleep unclothed, with Lucas beside her, but knew that sort of scenario wouldn’t be occurring right now. “Thank you.”
“The next room over is the bathroom. You will find clean linens and a fresh toothbrush in the closet.” Lucan took Cecelia by the hand and led her to the bathroom door. “I’ll wait out in the living room if you’d like to join me in a late-night movie.”
Cecelia nodded and retreated to the bathroom for a quick change and freshening.
Ten minutes later, Cecelia sank into the sofa beside Lucas, who had put on an older eighties movie. It seemed it was for noise only as his mind seemed to be elsewhere. She knew more questions were going to come, but she didn’t have the energy or reassurance that Lucas was totally on her side.
Lucas put his arm around Cecelia’s shoulders and pulled her closer. He felt her resistance, but she finally gave in and leaned her head on him. “Shh. No more talks tonight. Let’s finish our evening on a positive note before we figure out what we are going to do about Rayne tomorrow.”
I've got a bad feeling about Rayne. There was something about the way she disappeared into the fog. It's not natural. I should know-- I've been in a fog for years... 😅