“Nola! What is your problem?!”

Enola ignored her cousin and continued to drag her, by the wrist, down Bourbon Street. She couldn’t answer Margo’s question if she wanted to. One minute she was compelled to stay, and the next, everything in her told her to run. She wasn’t afraid, and the man was fine enough to make a woman’s eyes bleed, but his intense gaze was too much for her to handle. He’d imprisoned her with his stare. He had wavy, dark hair and had to have been close to six and a half feet tall. His lips were the biggest of temptations, and his muscular body was a work of art. But it was his icy, gray eyes that were the most compelling. Afraid that she would be hypnotized by the intensity of his stare, Enola had high-tailed it outta there.

Before she realized it, she’d turned a corner, dragging Margo with her down a dark street.

“Nola, stop!” Margo demanded, pulling from Enola’s grasp. “What the hell! You see one hot guy and take off running. What gives?”

“I don’t know, Margo. There was something about that man. I don’t know, okay?”

“All right, okay. Let’s just go.”

“Why so soon?” a deep voice called out in the darkness.

Enola looked around, searching for the hidden figure in the dark. Margo reached out, grabbed Enola’s hand, and pulled her towards a busier street.

“Nola, run!” she shouted in a whisper.

Without so much as a question, Enola, holding tight to her cousin, took off running down the street. But in a flash, Enola was pushed to the ground. Her face was pushed into the dirt, but she struggled to lift her head. She needed to see if Margo was okay.

Enola clawed the dirt and tried to crawl away, but her attacker was too strong. She screamed as he flipped her on her back and straddled her. Because of the dirt in her eyes, Enola struggled to see. But when she was finally able to focus on her attacker, she thought for sure that she wasn’t seeing what she thought she was seeing. Her attacker had a distorted face, red eyes, and huge fangs. Like a…vampire. Enola had to be hallucinating. Had she been drugged?

The monster growled and opened its mouth wide. Nasty, hot saliva fell from its mouth to Enola’s face. Enola was frozen with fear, but too frightened to scream. Somewhat resigning to her fate, her body went limp against the ground. It wasn’t until she heard Margo’s screams did Enola feel renewed ambition to fight.

“So easy. I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I’m gonna drain the weak blood from your body.”

Margo’s screams seemed to fuel a fire from within. Enola finally found her voice and screamed as loud as she could. For some reason, it seemed as if the intensity of her scream shook the ground. Even the monster on top of her startled. For the brief second that he was caught off guard, Enola pushed hard against his chest. White-hot fire radiated from her palms and Enola gasped when her attacker suddenly burst into flames. She scrambled and crawled backward in order to get from beneath the flames. She would have bet her life that she was having a nightmare had she not been reminded that she was wide awake by the sound of her cousin’s cries.

Margo!

Enola hurried to her feet and searched in the dark for her cousin. When she found Margo, she was on the ground, struggling beneath a monster of her very own. Enola ran towards Margo, prepared to do battle. As she ran, she searched for a weapon. A bottle, a pipe, anything would be better than her bare hands. She wasn’t able to find a weapon, but that wasn’t gonna stop Enola. She was going to fight, until her end if need be to save her cousin. But, luckily, she didn’t have to because a giant black dog, no, a wolf leaped out of nowhere and attacked the monster.

Loud growling and the monster’s screams didn’t stop Enola from snatching her cousin from the ground and pulling her towards Bourbon Street. Margo was struggling to run, but Enola kept pulling. She didn’t turn back to see the fate of the attacker. Her only concern was getting her and Margo home safe.

They ran non-stop until they made it to Margo’s car. Enola opened the door and shoved Margo in the passenger seat. She ran around the car, hopped in the driver’s seat, and pushed the button to start the BMW. She stepped on the clutch, shifted into first gear, and took off like a bat out of hell.

Once there was a good distance between them and the French Quarter, Enola checked the rearview mirror to make sure they weren’t being followed. She looked over at Margo who was covered in dirt, staring straight ahead. She seemed to be in shock. Enola reached over and placed her hand over Margo’s. Enola swerved a bit when Margo nearly jumped out of her skin. Enola slowed the vehicle, but she didn’t dare stop.

“You’re okay now, Margo,” Enola assured.

Margo, still staring straight ahead, was shaking uncontrollably. Enola was coming up on a traffic light. She was having an inner debate about whether or not to stop the car. Like Margo, Enola was terrified, but she knew that she wouldn’t be safe until she was in her grandmother’s house. Reluctantly, she stopped at the light, only because she didn’t know the best route to take. She needed Margo to snap out of it.

“Margo, which way? Right or left?” When Margo didn’t respond, Enola shouted, “Margo! I need your help! Which way?”

Margo looked over at Enola, wide eyed and terrified. “Enola, what was that thing?” she whispered.

Good fucking question.

“I don’t know, Margo. But what I do know is that we need to get home. Now, which way?”

“Right,” Margo mumbled before returning her attention to the dark road ahead.

They rode in silence until they were safely on their family’s land. Enola drove past the multi-vehicle garage and pulled directly in front of the house. Before she could place the car in park, Ruby tore out of the house and ran down the stairs. Margo hurried from the front seat and flew into her mother’s arms. Ruby held one arm out for Enola, urging her to join them. She approached slowly. Her fear had subsided enough to allow her the realization that she and Margo had just been attacked by something that could not possibly have been human.

Once at arm’s length, she reached out for her aunt. Even though Ruby initiated the embrace, Enola noticed the brief glint of fear in her eyes. But it disappeared as quickly as it came when Ruby pulled Enola close.

“I’m so glad that y’all okay,” Ruby breathed.

Margo had never touched her phone, so Enola was confused as to how Ruby knew that they’d been attacked.

As if reading Enola’s mind, Margo asked, “Mamma, how do know about what happened?”

“Mamma told me. Come on in the house. She’s waiting for you.”

Ruby turned and walked towards the house. Enola and Margo shared a questioning glance before following her inside. They entered the foyer, and for the first time, Enola realized that she’d lost her purse. She was grateful that she didn’t have a set of keys to her grandmother’s house in her purse. However, she did have her driver’s license in her bag. She could only pray that the monsters wouldn’t travel all the way to Chicago to finish her off.

“That won’t be a problem,” her grandmother said from the parlor.

Enola narrowed her eyes at her Aunt Ruby and hurried into the parlor, where her grandmother was sitting in her favorite chair. She was wearing a golden nightgown with a matching robe. Although her face was etched with concern, she had the air of regality.

Enola walked towards her grandmother.

“Don’t worry about your driver’s license, chér. You won’t be returning to Chicago.”

“Wait…what? Grandma, are you read—”

Enola, frozen by her grandmother’s declaration, looked at her aunt and cousin for some sort of confirmation that her grandmother had somehow gotten into her head. Ruby said nothing, and Margo simply shrugged and muttered, “She does it to me all the time.”

“Does what?” Enola asked, turning to her grandmother. “Are you reading my thoughts?”

“Yes, Enola. I’m reading your thoughts.”

Enola recoiled as if she’d been smacked. “How are you doing that?”

Weird things began to happen the moment Enola had arrived at her grandmother’s house—things that couldn’t be explained. Things that no one would believe even if Enola dare tried to explain them.

“Sit down, chér. You may ask your questions, and I will answer them. Then I will attempt to explain, but you mustn't interrupt.”

Enola sat down in a chair facing her grandmother. Ruby and Margo sat on the sofa. Eager for an explanation, Enola fired away.

“How did you know that we were attacked?”

“I’m a seer.”

“A seer?”

“I see things that most don’t. Things that happen in the past, the present, and sometimes the future.”

“What was that…that thing that attacked us?”

“Come now, Nola. What do you think it was?”

Refusing to believe her own eyes, Enola frantically shook her head. If she hadn’t been so sure that vampires didn’t exist, she would have sworn she had just gone up against one.

“They do exist, chérie. And you did just go up against one. An ally defeated the other.”

“An ally?”

Marie nodded, and then it registered.

“The wolf,” Enola whispered.

“The wolf,” Marie confirmed.

“Gran?” Margo interrupted.

Marie turned her amber-ish eyes to her other granddaughter.

“When that thing…umm…that vampire was on top of Nola, it looked like she turned into fire, or something.”

Enola whipped her head towards Margo. “What!”

“You did, Nola!” Margo squealed.

“Girls, once you’re done with your questions, I will explain that too.”

“The wolf,” Enola started, still looking at Margo, “was that a…a, umm…werewolf?”

“A shifter,” Marie corrected.

“Shifter?”

“I will explain the Rougarou, or more accurately, the Loup Garou to you later. But shifters can go from man to beast and back whenever they deem necessary.”

Enola fell against the back of her seat. Enola was going over her travel itinerary in her mind. It was time to go home. She hadn’t been in New Orleans for a full twenty-four hours, and already she’d encountered seers, shifters, vampires. And apparently, she had turned into fire. Enola was living a bad horror movie, and apparently, her grandmother was the female lead.

“Actually, chérie, you’re the female lead,” Marie said with a chuckle.

“Gran, can you please stay out of my head?” Enola asked with a scold.

“Sorry, bebe, bad habit. I’ll try.”

“Wait…how am I the lead?”

Marie and Ruby shared smiles.

“Margo already knows this, but I’m sure that you were never taught our ways.”

Enola wrinkled her brow, shifting her gaze between her grandmother and her aunt.

“Nola, you are a direct descendant of Auriette Moreau,” Ruby offered.

“Okay, and? I knew that.”

“Chér, Auriette Moreau was the most powerful Voodoo priestess in the world. More than a century ago, she was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake.”

“Voodoo?” Enola blurted. “Like Voodoo dolls and stuff?”

“Grow up,” Ruby scoffed.

She was clearly offended by Enola’s elementary knowledge of the religion.

“This was your mother’s fault. She was so afraid of what you were, she all but rendered you helpless.”

Enola narrowed her eyes. She was immediately offended at the mention of her mother’s name in association with anything other than praise. She loved her aunt, but she need not ever use that tone when speaking of her beloved mother.

“Ruby! That’s enough!” Marie scolded.

Ruby looked over at Enola. After realizing that she had provoked her ire, her expression turned apologetic.

“Je suis désolé, mon chér.”

Enola nodded, accepting her aunt’s apology.

“Tomorrow you will learn your entire history. But for now, I will explain what happened to you tonight.”

“Okay.” Enola’s voice was small. She didn’t know how many more revelations she could take in one night.

“More than a century ago, your ancestor, Auriette Moreau, cursed her persecutors with the same fire that was used to execute her.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Enola gasped.

Ruby stood and walked over to Enola. She placed her hand on both cheeks, and looked her straight in the eye.

“Nola, baby, Auriette Moreau was the most powerful Voodoo priestess in history. When she places a curse, it sticks.”

“Oooh...kayyy? I don’t get it,” Enola admitted.

“My dear child, it’s you. Margo was right. When you were attacked, you turned to fire. You, Nola, are the curse that Auriette bestowed upon her enemies.”

“Wait…what does that mean?” Enola asked with tears forming in her eyes.

“It means,” Marie verified, “you are not only a powerful Voodoo priestess, with unimaginable abilities, but you’re also a—”

Enola was irritated by the mysteriousness in her grandmother’s tone. She just wanted everything on the table. She felt as if she was going to choke on the fear and anger that consumed her.

Enola rubbed her neck and pushed loose strands of hair from her sweaty forehead. She tugged at the ties of her halter dress. It was so goddamned hot.

“I’m a what?” she yelled in a voice that even she didn’t recognize.

“See, Gran!” Margo squealed.

“Enola, baby, calm down,” Gran said in a soft, soothing voice. “Nola, baby, look at me.”

Enola looked into her grandmother’s eyes as she spoke softly to her. It was then that she realized that her grandmother wasn’t speaking aloud. She was in her head.

“My sweet child, calm yourself. Breathe.”

Enola inhaled a deep breath and exhaled. As she looked into her grandmother’s eyes, she noticed that they’d gone from hazel to pure gold. Enola began to feel a cool breeze, and she knew that her grandmother was doing something magical to her.

‘What are you doing to me?’ she asked with her mind.

‘I’m helping.’

‘What am I, Gran?’

‘You are the most powerful magical being in the world.’

‘And what is that?’

‘You are not only the most powerful Voodoo priestess, but you are unstoppable! You’re a…

‘A what?’

‘A Phoenix.’