one of the Voodoo queens had one for a while. If you think I’ll need medical care or any sort of prescriptions, she can work with you on those details. The Voodoo queens control everything in New Orleans.”
“Even who lives and dies?” she asked.
“Especially that. The harsh truth is? It’s a tough place to live, made tougher by how magic works there. I was having trouble with my Voodoo, so I went to New Orleans to learn. And if you can’t control it, you’re killed, because if you can’t control it, you’ll kill. It’s harsh, it’s brutal, but it’s often necessary.”
“I don’t understand.”
Sandro sighed. “I do. Magic’s heavily amplified in New Orleans. It’s like the entire place is a sinkhole where magic accumulates. A hummed song can have the power of a choir. If you don’t know how to control it or you can’t sing without magic being born, it’s possible to destroy everything around you with a few notes. Discordance—or the ability to disrupt music mages—is highly prized there because it’s the difference between life and death. I’ll bring Jade a great deal of prestige because she controls me, even more so because I’m a quadrant master. Beyond that, I’m not really familiar with the politics of New Orleans—I wasn’t allowed to stay long enough.”
He’d learn about the politics of New Orleans soon enough. “I guess our next step is New Orleans, then.”
“No, our next step is making sure you’re healing well, and then we’ll be headed to New Orleans. Unless we deal with the choir, there’s no way we can help Tulsa.”
“You believe me? About the choir?”
“Why wouldn’t I believe you?” he asked, his tone curious. “Those storms aren’t natural. I never thought they were. But, who would I tell? I kept my mouth shut because I’m not blind—and Mansfield has been locking up anybody he thinks can scry, which leads me to believe he knows about the choir. Do I think he’s behind them? I really don’t know. I do believe he benefits from them, so he wants to silence anyone who might speak the truth.”
That I could believe. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m going crazy.”
“You’re not going crazy. Storms don’t show up like clockwork like that, growing stronger and circling the city in a death march. No, there’s nothing natural about those storms. Hadn’t you noticed? The storms circle the city, marching around it to the beat of a funeral dirge. I just hadn’t been able to put together just how. But a choir makes a great deal of sense to me. And since the South is the only place a choir can sing, then we need to go the South. And if I have to wear a collar for a while, well, turnabout is fair play. It seems fair to me I bow to you, especially considering your situation.”
“I’ll leave you two to discuss Jade’s situation and make arrangements for you to go to the South. Until it’s time to go, rest, pack everything you need, and make the plans you can, Sandro. New Orleans is the one place where our name means nothing.”
I hid my smile at the woman’s incorrect belief, as I had no doubt her name had kept her son safe, alive, and collared rather than killed when he’d sought entry to New Orleans. I could only assume the Voodoo queens viewed Stephani Moretti to be a queen of the East, thus treating her eldest son as a prized prince.
My situation would earn me a great deal of ribbing from Ryleigh, and she’d test Sandro to make certain he was worthy of me. Because of his mother, he stood a chance. Because of me, he would undergo the scrutiny of a woman no sane man in New Orleans crossed. It would be a challenge making sure he survived his visit to the city belonging to the Voodoo queens, where music could kill and ghosts wandered the streets and whispered to those foolish enough to listen. I would do my best and hope for the best.
I wasn’t foolish enough to pray, not in a city where belief often became reality.
For Tulsa’s sake, I would enter the lion’s den or die trying.
It was all I could think of to do.
Thanks for reading!
The next story in the Fox Witch trilogy is entitled Up in Smoke, release date to be determined. (Expect end of 2021 or in 2022, but this has not been set in stone.)
Outfoxed is the start of the Fox Witch World stories, to be released in sets of trilogies and quartets with one longer series, which will be announced at a later date.
About R.J. Blain
Want to hear from the author when a new book releases? You can sign up at her website (thesneakykittycritic.com). Please note this newsletter is operated by the Furred & Frond Management. Expect to be sassed by a cat. (With guest features of other animals, including dogs.)
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A complete list of books written by RJ and her various pen names is available at https://books2read.com/rl/The-Fantasy-Worlds-of-RJ-Blain.
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RJ Blain suffers from a Moleskine journal obsession, a pen fixation, and a terrible tendency to pun without warning.
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When she isn't playing pretend, she likes to think she's a cartographer and a sumi-e painter.
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In her spare time, she daydreams about being a spy. Should that fail, her contingency plan involves tying her best of enemies to spinning wheels and quoting James Bond villains until she is satisfied.
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RJ also writes as Susan Copperfield and Bernadette Franklin. Visit RJ and her pets (the Management) at thesneakykittycritic.com.
Follow RJ & her alter egos on Bookbub:
RJ Blain
Susan Copperfield
Bernadette Franklin
Upcoming R.J. Blain releases
The Flame Game: a Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) (featuring Bailey and Quinn) releases on November 24, 2020. (Moved from October 27, 2020 to preserve the author’s flagging sanity.)
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License to Kill, the concluding novel in the Balancing the Scales duet, releases on December 22, 2020.
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Murder Mittens: a Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) releases on December 25, 2020.
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Dirty Deeds: an Urban Fantasy Collection (featuring a Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) novella, releases on January 12, 2021.
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Wild Wolf, the second novel of the Wolf Hunt trilogy, releases on January 19, 2021. (Moved from December 22, 2020 to preserve the author’s flagging sanity.)
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Client from Hell: A Magically Hellish Comedy (with a body count), releases on July 27, 2021.
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Booked for Kidnapping: Vigilante Magical Librarians #2, releases on September 7, 2021.