Read Cajun Magic 02 - Voodoo for Two for Free Online

pinched her nostrils together and gagged.
    “Stump water?” Lucie finished, then clamped her hand to her mouth. “Shoot, Calliope, you weren’t supposed to say anything during the ingredient-mixing.”
    With hunched shoulders, Calliope pressed her hand to her lips and muttered through her fingers. “Sorry. It won’t happen again.”
    Lucie rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. As if! Calliope couldn’t shut up for more than thirty seconds at a stretch. She’d likely explode if she did.
    Cup in hand, Lucie dumped the contents into the cast-iron stockpot, the smell triggering her own gag reflex. Back at the book, she read the next line out loud. “With the fire set low, add to the soup, a quarter teaspoon of ground alligator tooth.”
    Lucie twisted the knob on the stove and the acrid scent of propane filled the air. Then, as she’d seen Mamère LeBieu do a thousand times, Lucie scraped a match against the rough wooden wall and the head burst into flame. After lighting the burner, she settled the pot over the fire.
    Now for the next ingredient. She opened the brown jar marked alligator tooth. The odor from the jar reminded her of her last visit to the dentist—the pungent smell created when drill meets tooth assailed her nostrils. She shoved the measuring spoon inside, retrieving a quarter teaspoon, as the recipe called for.
    Careful not to spill or sneeze, she dropped the powder into the water. “Then with a touch, ever so light, add a pair of crawfish eyeballs to sharpen love’s sight.”
    “Ewwww!” Calliope squirmed and shuddered on her stool.
    “Shh!” Alex jabbed her elbow into the redhead’s rib cage.
    A contrite-looking Calliope sat with her hand still over her mouth.
    With a warning glower at her friend, Lucie moved on to the next item on the list. “Five drops of spit from a tailless raccoon will ensure the magic lasts until the ten thousandth moon.” She unscrewed the cap off a small vial, and dripped five drops of raccoon spit into the stewpot.
    Yuck . Some of the ingredients were really disgusting. How did her grandmother work with this stuff day after day?
    “I wonder how Madame LeBieu got raccoon spit,” Calliope said. “Suppose she bought it off the Internet? Or did she wrestle a tailless raccoon to the ground and knock the spit out of it?” A smile lit her face and she sat up straighter. “Maybe some of the stuffed coons in the Raccoon Saloon are from her spit-gathering.”
    Alex smothered a giggle.
    An answering giggle leaped up in Lucie’s throat, but she squelched it before it escaped. She really shouldn’t encourage Calliope’s interruptions. Instead she sent a withering glance at the two seated women and moved on to the next instruction. “The fragrant blossom of the magnolia tree will enhance the romance, just wait, you’ll see.” Lucie opened a plastic bag filled with dried flower petals marked “Magnolia Blossoms.” She dropped one petal into the pot.
    Before Lucie could reseal the bag, Alex jumped up, grabbed it from Lucie and dumped the contents into the pot.
    “Hey, the recipe only called for one petal, you just dumped four in there,” she said.
    “You’re long overdue on romance.” Alex hugged her and sat back on the stool.
    Her vision blurred, Lucie had to blink several times and swallow the lump in her throat before she could go on with her work. God, she loved her friends. When she left Bayou Miste, she’d hate leaving them behind. But she needed a new start away from her past—especially from a past that included Ben . Straightening her shoulders, she got back to business.
    “Two tablespoons of cayenne, to top it all off, as all Cajun cooking includes the stuff.”
    “Um, now you’re making me hungry,” Calliope whispered.
    “Bring to a boil and then count to ten.” The handwriting scrawled at the bottom of the page. Lucie had to squint to see the words “turn over” written in tiny letters. She flipped the sheet and read on.
    “Turn off the heat and