Witches of Bourbon Street by Deanna Chase

liqueur.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I can see that. But why do you have such a small bottle of it?” The club next door was full of regular-sized bottles. Usually she swiped whatever she wanted from the stock room. Kane never said a word about it. Not that it would stop her if he did. They were best friends, but they acted more like brother and sister.
    “I got it a few days ago from a hotel on Royal when I was out with Ian.”
    “You did?” Surprise rang in my voice. She’d told me the night he’d walked her home they’d only kissed good night. That had been less than a week ago.
    She poured a generous amount of chocolate liqueur into my drink and nodded. When she looked up, she laughed. “Yes, but it’s not what you think.” Her lips curved into a sly smile. “At least, not yet.”
    I took a sip of my drink and waited. I knew she was waiting for me to react. I just wasn’t in the mood.
    After a few moments, she relented. “Oh, all right. I was on a ghost hunt. One of the hotels asked Ian to check out some paranormal activity and ward it off if he could. Seems someone was freaking out one too many guests in the middle of the night.”
    A smile broke out on my face for the first time that day. “That’s wonderful. I know Ian’s been dying to check out some of the businesses around here. And he got paid for it too.”
    Pyper nodded. “Not much, though. They paid a consultation fee, and if the haunting stops, they’ll pay him a bonus.”
    My smile vanished. “Who decides if it was successful?”
    “That’s the rub. No one really knows for sure, do they?” Pyper picked up the tiny liqueur bottle and poured some into her coffee. “The hotel is keeping a log of customer complaints. After three months, Ian can go take more readings, and if there aren’t any more incidents, he gets paid.”
    “That doesn’t seem fair. Ian should get paid a flat fee for services.”
    “I agree, but he said he was willing to compromise for the opportunity to gather data.”
    “That sounds exactly like something he’d say.” I drained my spiked chai tea. “And what did you think of the hunt? Anything unusual happen?”
    She laughed. “Not unless you count Ian not paying one speck of attention to me.”
    “Was he supposed to?”
    The expression on her face told me everything I needed to know.
    Laughing, I raised both hands palms up. “Sorry, I forgot. All men, especially cute school-boy types, should be fawning over your every word.”
    She snorted. “Maybe not every word, but they should acknowledge I’m there, even if they are caught up in their life’s work.” She leaned back and fixed me with a stare. “Now, what happened last night that’s got you in a funk? I know Kane spent the night. I saw him take off up the stairs to your place. Usually you’re disgustingly chipper after the two of you bump uglies all night.” A mock look of alarm transformed her face. “Don’t tell me he’s having equipment issues.”
    My neck grew warm and I spread my palms on the table, trying to relax. Pyper used to manage Wicked. Talking about sex never embarrassed her. Unlike me, who up until three months ago only ever had one friend to talk to about such things. I took a deep breath and prayed my face wasn’t turning the color of a tomato. “No. Actually, I passed out in a red wine haze before he got there.”
    “Hangover?” Before I could respond, she shook her head. “No, you would’ve just said so. The customers around here are intimately familiar with that particular issue.”
    “Well, I did wake up with a craptastic headache, but one of Bea’s herbal packs took care of it.” That morning, with my pounding head and queasy stomach, I’d broken down and taken a smidge of one of her all-purpose healers. The instant relief told me they were, in fact, enchanted. At once I’d felt both comforted and heartsick. I’d grown up with all sorts of similar herbal cures, but after Mom had disappeared, I’d sworn off all