The Haunted Sultan: Sultry New Orleans Ghost Stories, #1

By Gillian Zane

The Sultan's Palace is one of the most horrific tales of New Orleans' historic French Quarter. The Sultan, a Turkish man who lived there in the late 1800s, is said to be seen staring down at people on the street from the third-floor balcony of the house nicknamed The Sultan's Palace. On most nights in the French Quarter, haunted tour groups traipse past the majestic house while tour guides weave tales of mass murder, thieving pirates and jealous brothers…but none know the real truth.

Sierra is spending her twenty-first birthday with her best friend in New Orleans. It's Halloween and what better way to celebrate the night than on a spooky haunted tour? Sierra has to have the whole package though, and with her best friend leading the way, they find a costume shop down a dark alley and a mysterious shopkeeper who has the perfect costume for her. She doesn't want money though, only a favor, help the one that asks. Clothed in a breathtaking costume, with a mysterious key around her neck.

Sierra goes on the haunted tour and quickly forgets the strange shopkeeper, especially as she strikes up a conversation with Owen and sparks begin to fly. She doesn't remember the words of the shopkeeper until someone asks for help…and the key around her neck opens the door to the Sultan's Palace.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gillian Zane
• Release date: Sep 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386721703

Book preview

I

A Sultry New Orleans Ghost Story

1

The Haunted Sultan

It was Sierra’s first night in New Orleans. Her first night in the City That Care Forgot . The first thing she realized about this place was that it was so different from other cities she had visited. It was definitely a unique area. The only time she had felt this way about a place was when her mom had taken her to Spain.

She was so far away from her home in Idaho. But instead of feeling homesick she felt excitement. She wanted to explore every part of the city. She wanted to put on a tight skirt and flirt with a stranger. She wanted to let her hair down and act a little crazy. She had even contemplated flashing someone for a pair of beads. Thought about it only, she hadn’t decided yet if she was that bold. She wasn’t denying that it might be in her future, though. Would she be up for it? Could she be that audacious?

She was ready to get this party started. Yet, instead of getting a little wild in a city that encouraged reckless behavior, her best friend and travel companion wanted to go on a haunted house tour. Boring.

It’s New Orleans. We’ve gotta go on a haunted house tour. This is like the most haunted city in the country. Cecilia tried to pronounce New Orleans like they were instructed in an online video, but her pronunciation made Sierra cringe. Not quite like the locals.

Leeanz, Sierra corrected. Not or-lee-ands.

Whatever. I want to go on a haunted tour, Cecilia pouted. Sierra and Cecilia were the best of friends, having being socially engineered as besties before they were born. Their mothers befriended each other in a prenatal class and the rest was history. The same birth date, three schools, a million play dates, a few tragic life choices later, and they were still friends and now celebrating their twenty-first birthdays in a city that never stopped the party.

A ghost and history tour wasn’t exactly what Sierra considered a party. She didn’t want to spend her twenty-first birthday shuffling around with a bunch of geriatric tourists staring up at houses, listening to the histrionics of a grown man dressed in a cape and pretending to be a vampire.

Not my idea of a good time, Sierra mumbled under her breath. Cecilia either didn’t hear her or pretended to ignore her. Cecilia was good at that. She had been bullying Sierra into doing what she wanted since kindergarten.

Sierra wanted to be on Bourbon Street drinking her way from Pat O’s to Lafitte’s in the most epic of epic pub crawls. She’d plotted it out, mapped it and even researched each bar’s signature drink. She had read countless ‘Best of New Orleans’ lists about the bars in the French Quarter, and documented them all on her phone, in case she went off path. Sierra never did anything half-assed. Unfortunately, Cecilia didn’t think her plan should be implemented.

This is the best one they offer. We’re doing the VIP tour. Stop giving me that look, Si, it’ll be fun, Cecilia continued to plead her case, holding up a pamphlet and doing a little shimmy. Fun, fun, fun!

Cecilia had been obsessed with the paranormal for the last couple of years. It had all started with a binge watching event involving the Ghost Believers show and a week stuck home with the flu. She had come out of it with the firm belief that ghosts existed and a weird obsession with the British host of the show, Marcus Tallon. Sierra, on the other hand, liked a good ghost story, but had no such belief in haunted houses, or an after-life of rattling chains and manifesting spirit orbs. She also thought that grown men who dressed in capes and thought they were vampires shouldn’t be followed around at night while in a strange city. Instead, they should seek psychiatric care. She plucked the pamphlet from Cecilia’s hand and frowned down at the dude on the front.

A top hat, cape, and vampire teeth appareled man was on the cover with photoshopped spirited lights in the back. Sierra rolled her eyes and handed the pamphlet back. She had called that one.

Why’s he dressed as a vampire if he does ghost tours?

They do vampire tours too, vampires aren’t real though. Cecilia opened the trifold and pointed to an advertisement for the Vamp Special and rolled her eyes.

C’mon Sierra, it’s going to be a blast and then we can head to Bourbon Street and do your mapped drinking thing. The tour ends at a bar. The most haunted place in the French Quarter. She again pointed to something in the pamphlet.

Favorite haunt of the infamous vampire Pierre, she said in a dramatic voice, rolling her eyes again.

Sierra couldn’t get into vampires either. She had come to New Orleans for one reason – fun! But, the crux was Cecilia wanted to do this tour thing and what Cecilia wanted, Cecilia got. She also happened to pay for the room and had offered to pay their cab fare and meals while they were here, so how could Sierra complain?

Wow, thanks for compromising. Sierra sat down on the plush sofa in their suite and threw a pair of underwear at Cecilia who stuck her tongue out in response and frowned at the underwear. Cecilia’s family was loaded and she had a pretty fat trust fund that had recently become available to her. She wasn’t holding back for this trip. Sierra should be grateful Cecilia had brought her. Just suck it up and go on the tour with a smile, she thought.

Gah! Stop being a downer, Si, it’s gonna be fun. Plus you get a hurricane for the tour. Whose are these? She kicked at the underwear.

Ew, those aren’t yours? And wait, did you say we get a hurricane? Sierra perked up. Now Cecilia was talking her language. Really? She popped up from the sofa and pulled the advertisement out of her friend’s hand again, she had missed that. It was the special October edition, a bloody Hurricane for each tour booked. The city had gone all out for the spookiest month of the year. They had gotten in this afternoon and were overwhelmed by the decorations and festivities happening all over the French Quarter. Everyone was in full Halloween mode.

Zombies shambled down the street. Ghouls peaked out from behind shutters. Spider webs crisscrossed the ironwork that wrapped around the buildings. It was fabulous to look at and Sierra wanted to be a part of it. But, it wasn’t all spooky. It was also a tad bit sexy too. Women strutted around in barely there costumes, sexy kitties and slutty Snow Whites pranced down the street in four-inch heels. Elaborate fairies in nothing more than bikinis had been twirling in the lobby when they checked in. Sierra had stared in wonder at the intricate detail of the wings, at the women’s perfect make-up and the see through tops they wore displaying their surgically enhanced nipples.

Sierra regretted her decision to not bring a costume as she watched Cecilia slip on a short and tight pirate get-up. She didn’t own anything good enough and hadn’t had the money to buy a nice one. She had blown most of her savings on the airfare to get here. And the rest was her drinking money. Sierra tried to hide the frown that slipped across her face as she watched Cecilia dress, but the girl noticed everything, especially her friend’s moods.

Oh wait, those are mine. She plucked the underwear off the floor and stuffed them into her luggage, then thought better of it and let them dangle off her finger and looked at Sierra. "You can use these as a costume. We can paint little fleur de lis’ on your titties. You’ll be a hit."

Oh bite me, Cee, and I’m not wearing your dirty underwear. I’m going out in my drab jeans and Superman tee, I’ll be a tourist. She cocked her head to the side trying not to look bitter.

Sierra, we have an hour before the tour starts. We can get you a costume. There’s a shop a block down, I saw the advertisement when we came in.

It’s going to cost me a fortune, Sierra whined taking in Cecilia’s finished look. She was a sexy little pirate. She had on a pair of tight leggings with a faux buckle belt strapped around her waist. Her shirt was a leather half sleeve number with lace cuffs and it exposed her belly. The front was held together only by buckles over her cleavage. She had accessorized the look with a head scarf and sexy buckle boots that went to her knees. Sierra tried not to be jealous of Cecilia’s look, but it was hard to rein it in.

We’re in New Orleans during Halloween, you have to have a costume. We’ll find you something inexpensive, it doesn’t have to be fancy, Cecilia said as she dragged her out of the suite and into the elevator.

The elevator stunk of cigarettes and beer when the doors closed. It wasn’t pleasant, but couldn’t be avoided. The hotel they were staying in was located directly on Bourbon Street. They knew what they were in for. It was part of the charm.

When the elevator opened into the bustling lobby, Sierra again took the time to take in everything. The lobby was gorgeous, so different from the ancient elevator and