Wolves at the Door - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,2

by an enchantment, so I guess I had to give her a break.

“Well, we’re at two hundred and twenty thousand dollars,” Kiersten said.

“Okay,” Billie said. “I’ll play.”

Billie had that much money? Well, damn.

I was starting to sweat. My ghost lover was in that house, along with perhaps the magic that could help him. I had been trying so hard not to get too attached to Byron but the prospect of losing him was making me realize how much I couldn’t stand the thought.

“I’ll call her right now,” Billie said.

“Well, I will call my team also,” I said.

“I’m going to call and offer her two-fifty right now,” Kiersten said sweetly. “Caleb, honey, you stay here. Girls, have either of you seen the house? Because, how about this? I suggest you drive over and take a look. We’ll wait.”

“If it’s in such bad shape, why are you paying so much for it!?” I cried. “We had a deal with Blanche Greenwood. One hundred grand. Done. Then you blow in and suddenly she’s changed her mind. Something is very wrong here.”

“Is that so?” Billie said. “I don’t know you, Kiersten, but it sounds like you’re a long way from home.”

I glanced at Billie. Are we allies in this? Maybe I had a chance to redeem myself.

“Yes,” I said. “And then, after she drove up the price, we made another deal with Blanche. She told my business partner yes and arranged a meeting to close, and then these two showed up here.”

“So you were just going to take advantage of an old lady?” Caleb chuckled. “Helena, I like you, and I know you’re just mad because you thought you had a bargain before anyone else found out.”

“Why do y’all want this house?” Billie said, in a tone that was not exactly friendly.“You’re not from here.” Now she looked at me.

“Um…”

“There’s something in it,” Billie said. “Something none of you should be bothering with. The darkest magic is in the south.”

I wouldn’t argue with that. Every place had pockets of dark magic, but between the bayous, the swamps, troubled history, curses, and whatever the deal was with Florida, the mojo in the south was a little weirder than the rest of the country. But in this case, I was just continuing a journey that began in Pennsylvania, so it had nothing to do with the usual New Orleans vibe. I wasn’t sure Billie knew either. Or she was just trying to scare us off.

“Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” Billie said. “That’s my offer and either of you two try to match it, you’re going to have a lot more trouble than repairing some wood rot. Y’hear me?” Her vivid green eyes were bearing down on Kiersten and Caleb, who started laughing a little nervously.

“Wow,” Caleb said. “You’re good, I gotta tell you, you actually had me scared for a second.”

“Good,” Billie said. “You should be.”

Yow.

But I’m not scared of her. Not at all. Nope. I was definitely a more skilled witch than her in school, so…nothing to be scared of. She was bluffing.

“Oh shit!” I breathed aloud as she suddenly whirled toward me.

“Helena,” she said, an unfriendly smile twisting her full mouth, “the same goes for you. This is my house. It isn’t for you. Go back north.”

Enchantment laced her words. I could feel her spell sapping my will. It might have worked, under normal circumstances.

It was working on Kiersten and Caleb. They looked hesitant, murmuring to each other.

“Go. Back. North,” Billie repeated.

Her skill was evident as Kiersten and Caleb clutched their hands together and Kiersten let out a groan of resistance.

“You don’t like it down here,” Billie said. “You know this is a dangerous place. You don’t want to be here. You want to go home.”

Maybe I should have intervened, but I didn’t want Kiersten and Caleb to get the house either.

“Well…it is a long time to leave the kids with your mom,” Caleb said.

“I know. Lacey is only two weeks old,” Kiersten said, shaking her head a little like she was waking from a dream. Oh, right. She was pregnant last time I saw her.

“You were going to leave behind a two week old baby to flip a house in Louisiana?” I must have sounded genuinely appalled.

Kiersten rubbed her cheeks. “We need to go home, babe. It’s not worth it. I must have been out of my mind to think this was a good idea.”

“Of course we can.” He put his arms around her. They kissed. He cupped her ass. Okay, this