Bewitched on Bourbon Street Read Online Free

open, and I grappled with the door, looking for the window button.
    “Oh, goddess above,” Bea mumbled.
    My fingers finally found purchase, and the window lowered. Cool air rushed in, settling me.
    “If you get sick, you’re cleaning it up,” Bea said, her voice harsh.
    “Don’t worry,” I forced out between gulps. “I won’t.”
    “I’ve heard that before.”
    I turned to squint at her but couldn’t focus. “We’ll be to your house in a sec anyway.”
    “No. We won’t. I’m taking us to my shop. That’s where my potions are.”
    “Oh, crap.” My world tilted as she took a sharp turn, and I had to grip the door frame to keep from slumping over.
    She chuckled. “Keep it together, Jade. We’ll be there in a few.”
    I concentrated on breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Time got away from me, and I thought I might have blacked out for a moment, because all of a sudden we were parked in front of her shop, the Herbal Connection.
    My door swung open, startling me. I glanced up into Bea’s exasperated face.
    She held out her hand. “Let’s go, party girl.”
    I clacked my tongue on the roof of my mouth and let her pull me from the car. “I’m not feeling so great.”
    “No kidding.” She deftly unlocked the front door of her witch supply store.
    The scent of fresh rain and sea-salted air washed over me. It was Lailah’s spell on the shop that put all patrons at ease by triggering their favorite scents. My stomach settled just a touch, the spell working its magic.
    “Take a seat.” Bea deposited me on the stool behind the counter. “I’ll be right back.”
    I did as I was told, trying my best to keep my eyes from crossing. The air conditioning blew down, and gooseflesh popped out over my arms. Suddenly everything came into focus, the wooziness vanished, and my alcohol haze fled.
    Bea stood in front of me, holding an empty glass vial, a self-satisfied smile claiming her lips.
    “What was that?”
    “Elemental magic. It’s something I’m experimenting with. Looks like it worked.”
    I raised one eyebrow. “Healing air?”
    She nodded and held up the small vial. “I prepped a ginger bath, spelled the steam, and then trapped it in here. All I had to do was ask it to encircle you, and there we have it.”
    “So air and water?”
    “Actually, air, water, earth, and fire. Each was present. The ginger for earth, and the fire to heat it.”
    I slumped back on the stool, my energy completely gone, and stifled a yawn. “That makes sense. So simple.”
    Bea smoothed her elegant sheath dress. She looked so conservative standing there in her New Age shop. Had she ever looked the part? Not since I’d come to town a year and a half ago. She was always dressed in classic styles as if she was ready for tea at any given moment. The one exception was when she was digging in her garden. Then she wore overalls and cotton button-down shirts.
    “I’d love to experiment with the elementals with you.” I grimaced and waved a hand at myself. “I mean, once we get past my current personal crisis.”
    She patted my hand patiently. “I’ll get you my notes. Now, let’s go into the lab, where we can get down to business.”
    I followed her through the tight rows of merchandise and into the back room that she’d turned into a research lab. There were two stainless steel workstations, both orderly, with hardly a thing out of place. Shelves of potions and herbs lined one wall, while leather-bound books lined another.
    Bea snapped her fingers, her magic lighting the candles nestled in the wall sconces. The warm light glowed in the small room. She walked to the middle of the lab. “Stand right here while I get the potion ready.”
    Nervous apprehension ate away at my stomach. My energy and ability to shield myself from outside forces had disappeared. Faint traces of excitement seeped in through the walls, no doubt from the tourists walking the streets of the Quarter. At least Bea was once again able to mask her own emotions