by G A Chase
Their clothes still lay scattered around the bedroom. Being naked with her carried with it an intimacy he’d longed for in other relationships but never quite achieved. The last thing he wanted to do was suggest an activity that would hide her body under her daily bulky attire. “What would you say to a trip to the beach? The Florida panhandle is only a four-hour drive. I could rent a convertible. We could find some cheesy hotel next to the water, spend the day basking in the sun, and fall asleep to the sound of the waves.”
She skimmed her hard, cylindrical, brown nipples across his chest as she lay on top of him. “Are you secretly made of money? Some of us have to work to pay rent, buy food—all those pesky little things that make life possible.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but so far at least, I haven’t detected any energy from some hidden pot of gold. I just don’t spend much. I’ve never felt the need for a grand place to live, cars are just nuisances to maintain, and unless I’m taking a lovely woman whom I’m deeply in love with out to dinner, I don’t spend much on food. Working as a bartender, I bring in good tips from the drunk tourists. I don’t know. Money just never seems to be a problem.”
She squinted at him as if trying to read his soul. “It just finds you like antiques with intense histories?”
“I’ve never used my psychometric ability for profit. Maybe I should, but we got a little sidetracked with our last experiment.”
She rolled off him to lie on her back. Seeing her hands clasped over her head, it was all he could do not to ravish her again, but he doubted his body had the energy for another sexual adventure.
“I guess that’s true,” she said. “We proved you can read an object’s history if the human component is strong enough. Maybe if we spend some time on the water, you could explore its depths mentally like you did when you found that airplane.”
He hadn’t intended his suggestion to be a working vacation. “Really, I just wanted to get you on the beach in a bikini with an exotic drink, but if you need an excuse to say yes, then I’ll happily rent a dive boat for the day.”
“I suppose I could skip another day or two of work. We did rake in amazing tips from the dual-group performance. One of the girls would happily look after Cheesecake. They do owe me.”
He leaned over and gave her a passionate kiss. Drained body be damned.
* * *
If he had to drive every day, Myles knew he’d come to resent the time behind the wheel. But as he only rented cars for special getaways, the power of them gave him a special thrill. The five-year-old Mustang wasn’t the snazziest on the road, but with Kendell’s hair flying in the wind, he nearly wanted to own the car just so he could see her smile on weekend outings. He knew it wasn’t the life either of them wanted. She just looked so damn good he nearly pulled off the road to once again physically express his desire.
The miles flew by in the waning light. Cars filled with people making their way home mixed with those who made traveling the road their profession. He didn’t envy any of them. As he and Kendell crossed out of Louisiana, the traffic thinned out such that he didn’t have to give all of his attention to those around him. They could leave it all behind. If he’d let her talk him into bringing Cheesecake along, he might well have taken the exit to someplace north, far away from New Orleans and the curse that threatened their happiness. He knew she’d object. The stakes were too high. But just for a fleeting moment, he enjoyed the prospect of freedom.
“What do you want to do first after we check in?”
He supposed telling her he wanted to rip her clothes off—again—might not be the best answer. “I’d like to find some little restaurant on the beach. A place that has steamed crab and drinks served in small buckets. I want to get drunk and pass out with you by my side in the sand while we listen to the waves.”
She reached over and pulled his hand from the steering wheel into her lap. “Can we fuck first?”
He grabbed her leg underneath her cutoffs. “I didn’t want to sound obsessed, but that was my first thought.” He enjoyed sex every bit as much as any other red-blooded, horny twentysomething, but never before had it been so all consuming. It wasn’t just the physical aspect, though the thought of her body grinding against his gave him a constant erection. Months ago, they’d shared a psychic bond over the cursed pipe tool. Ever since that day, he’d wondered what sex with her would be like. Now he knew—earthshaking.
It was dark by the time they pulled into Pensacola. She slept curled up against the door, her bare leg bent up onto the seat. The salty breeze off the gulf made him turn away from the hotel toward a beach parking lot half covered in sand. She woke from his hand on her leg. “Hey. I thought we’d get a walk along the shore before checking in.”
She uncoiled from her sleep. “Perfect.”
The snow-white sand made crunching sounds as they walked along the water’s edge in the light of the full moon. He was as happy as he’d ever been. “I can’t imagine a more perfect couple of days.”
“It seems like a dream, or the abduction and rescue was a dream. How can life change so fast?”
He was wondering much the same thing and dreading that their contentment wouldn’t last. “We should have brought Cheesecake. Then there’d be no reason to return.”
“I intend to enjoy every minute of this vacation, but New Orleans is still my home. You know that. I won’t give in to those bastards.” Her resolve was clear.
“I suppose we’d get bored with each other if all we did was hang out all the time. Superheroes must find it awfully difficult between missions.”
“Fortunately, we don’t have to right all wrongs. I’d give up my history if I could. Some days, this obligation to balance what my ancestors created feels like a boat anchor around my neck. The Laroques crave power. They’ll never have enough. I don’t think they’ll stop until they rule the world by any means possible.”
It wasn’t the first time they’d had the discussion, though the idea that they alone could stand in the way of the powerful family still astounded him. But it wasn’t just the threat of world domination that drove her.
“That power can be addicting,” he said.
Her bare feet kicked at the sand as she walked. “You’re afraid I’m growing to like the dark energy. I guess lying would be a bad way to start off our relationship, even if I could deceive you. Up on stage with that power flowing through me, I feel like I could conquer the world.” She reached out to him as if trying to take back the words. “Not literally. But it is a force I ride like a wild stallion.”
“It doesn’t worry you that it may be playing you as much as you’re controlling it?”
She stopped and turned to the starlit night sky above the light-tinged wave crests. “I was worried. I’m not now. Making love with you grounds me. There’s a sense of calm I haven’t had for a long time. You gave that to me. I won’t say I couldn’t handle the curse without you, but with your help, I think we can be assured we’re using it for our purposes and not succumbing to its hatred.”
* * *
The next day, on the small dive boat, Myles would have been happy to just stare at Kendell in her skimpy black swimsuit, but she’d insisted on spending some time in the water. The craft sped through the waves so fast he thought the captain secretly aspired to be a jet boat racer. Reading any potential energy under water was laughable. But the smile on Kendell’s face as she braced herself against the railing made it all worthwhile.
When the powerful engines shut down, it took a moment for the ringing in his ears to subside. “You’re sure this is safe?”
The captain laid out the SNUBA equipment. “You’re a certified diver, so if you want tanks, I can hook you up. This would let Kendell go down twenty feet. That’s a hell of a lot better than snorkeling. If you both go with the remote breathing gear, I can keep an eye on you from up here.”
She was already fastening the harness around her chest. “Stop trying to protect me.”
The SNUBA harness was less
bulky than carrying around a tank strapped to his back, but the long hose that led to the small raft that housed the oxygen tanks made for limited movements. In the relatively shallow waters, all he really had to worry about was not tangling the lines.
The sunken tugboat made for a natural reef. Fish of every size and color swam through the broken windows of the wheelhouse. If Myles floated free on the gentle current, he could almost detect the hurried but organized evacuation of the vessel as it took on water more than fifty years earlier, but so many divers had used the location since then that he picked up as many excited children’s experiences as those of the original crew. He smiled behind the mask as Kendell pointed out a pod of dolphins that played on the surface.
As was frequently the case while diving, he experienced the irrational desire to swim far out into the beckoning blue water. Somewhere out there, beyond what he could see and feel, was the unknown. With his abilities, he could find what others couldn’t. But to do so would involve risking his life in the unpredictable ocean currents.
Time underwater never lasted long enough. The unwelcome tug on the line indicated they’d spent their allotment and they had to head in. Even without hearing her voice, he could tell from Kendell’s movements that she wasn’t any happier to be finished with the adventure than he was.
She waited until they’d removed their equipment and the boat was headed back toward shore to ask, “Did you find anything interesting down there?”
“Just a lovely sea nymph in a black bikini.”
* * *
The steamed crab legs and boiled shrimp went perfectly with the overly alcoholic margarita. Sitting in the restaurant in his cargo shorts and tropical print shirt, Myles wondered how any college student managed to earn a degree so close to the gulf. Based on the number who waited tables, he suspected more than a few found exactly what they were looking for after high school, and that wasn’t higher learning. “I like visiting here, but I’m beginning to see your point. We have work to do.”
She seductively sucked the meat out of a crab leg. “It’s peaceful here, but not in the way I imagined. It’s like what you taught me about reading energy, about how you have to go all quiet on the inside to hear the depths. There aren’t any depths here. It all feels superficial.”
“And you find that peaceful?”
Liquid from the seafood ran everywhere as she ate. Fortunately, she’d only thrown a wrap around her waist over her bikini. He found her buttered breasts hard to ignore. “At home, history and culture assault me from every street corner. The stimulation is as pervasive as creole seasoning. But I’m so used to it I don’t notice it until it’s missing.” She waved a boiled shrimp at him. “I love the simple way food is prepared down here, but after a day or two, I think I’d find it monotonous.”
He could see her metaphor. “For food to be interesting, it has to have some bite. So the curse we’re dealing with is important to New Orleans—is that what you’re saying?”
“Let’s just say I may be one of the only kids who never wanted to live in Disneyland. New Orleans is real. Walt’s Creole Square family-friendly interpretation bores me.”
For a moment, he considered offering to drive home after dinner, but he longed to have her one last night all to himself. “It’s just nice to know we have options should we need the break.”
30
For an overweight dog, Cheesecake did a remarkably agile Irish jig when Kendell returned home.
“I was only gone two nights.” But it was no use. She was putty in the dog’s paws each time Cheesecake showed such enthusiastic love. Kendell got down on the floor to let her canine companion roll around next to her.
It wasn’t just the exuberant welcome home that warmed Kendell’s heart. Cheesecake had acted suspiciously for days. She always came around, but her actions reminded Kendell of when she’d been sick as a little girl. Dr. Cake, as she called her puppy on those days she stayed home from school, would sniff her from head to toe until she found the area of pain. Cheesecake had the same worried countenance whenever Kendell returned from a paranormal outing, but after their trip to the beach, she was once again the happy, playful dog that brightened Kendell’s days.
Myles, however, earned a solid growl as he brought in Kendell’s small luggage bag. “Hey, what’s with that? I thought we were friends. Do I really have to earn your trust all over again?”
“She’s still sore at having to sleep on the ottoman the other night.”
At least he had the good sense to get down to the dog’s level instead of expecting her to just come around. “I do appreciate the privacy. Some things, a dog shouldn’t see. I promise that once we’re done with our person time, I won’t object to you taking your rightful place on the bed.”
Cheesecake continued to eye Myles with suspicion until Kendell handed him a dog treat. “I know I told you she can’t be bribed, but a peace offering is different.”
She smiled to see his offering gratefully accepted.
Having adequately greeted the real woman of the house, Myles grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge and sat at the small kitchen table. “So if we’re going to confront the Laroques, what’s our first move?”
He could be so logical at times—not often, but occasionally. She feared he wasn’t going to like what she knew she had to do. “They started this by kidnapping my friends. We countered by rescuing them. I’d say we were even, but that only means it’s now their move. Clearly, they have a desire for the baron’s things. If that’s their end goal, I think I need to continue my sessions with Madam de Galpion.”
To her surprise, he didn’t object. “They asked for seven things. Maybe we can negotiate them down now that they don’t have any leverage.”
“They still have all the power. I think that’s what they really wanted me to know. They had Cheesecake dognapped, and then they upped their game by taking seven of my friends. So far, no one’s been hurt, but this escalation has to stop.”
He drew lines down the condensation on the bottle. “So you’re just going to give them the objects? Even if Madam de Galpion is able to modify the curse, those things are still dangerous. I’m not convinced she really knows what she’s doing.”
“Neither am I.” It wasn’t a confession she’d wanted to make, but he deserved to know the truth—even if she was just admitting her secret apprehensions. “It’s a risk. If what she’s doing works, though, it’ll be like handing them a remote-controlled bomb that only I can detonate.”
He stared at the bottle as if he didn’t want to make eye contact. “Could you use it, though?”
She wondered if his fear was that she was too weak to use it or not strong enough to resist the urge. “I’m stronger than you think.”
“I never believed otherwise. But I’ve seen you on stage under the influence of that magic. Say you are able to convert the objects to only your use. Then we put you in a room with that woman you saw on the paddle wheeler. What happens when you think she has the upper hand? I’m not saying you shouldn’t use all the tools you have available, but will the ends truly justify the means?”
He was looking out for her as always. Like Cheesecake, he had her best interest at heart. Hard as it was, she needed to listen to him. “Are you worried that they’ll do something to me, or that I’ll be lost to the dark power?”
“Both.”
* * *
After the adventures of the previous week, work seemed like some kind of alternate reality. She didn’t mind serving coffee to friends and strangers, but increasingly, she felt like the Diana Prince side of Wonder Woman. Being the flirtatious barista made it easy to overhear careless conversations. At least seeing her job in that light made it a little easier to get through the typical boring shift.
As she finished cleaning up, the man she’d both feared and hoped for entered the coffee shop. Best to get on with it. She poured coffee into two to-go cups. Civility was one thing, but being able to make a hasty escape wasn’t a bad contingency plan.
<
br /> She did her best not to toss the coffee into his lap and forced herself to set the cups on the table. “What do you want this time?”
“Same as last time—seven of the baron’s personal possessions.”
She left the lid on her cup. “You no longer have anything to bargain.”
“We’ve proven that you’re vulnerable. Neither of us wants to see this negotiation escalate. You know about the curse, and you know we’re willing to use it. But don’t for a minute think it’s our only means of causing harm. We can get what we want through other methods.”
Cleaning up past family skeletons involved risks. Using the curse might create the fewest questions. If she made it too difficult, unfortunate accidents could easily become unsolved homicides. In New Orleans, such things weren’t hard to pass off as gang or drug related. But that might not be so easy if the victim was someone more powerful than a socialite reporter.
“How do I know once I give you what I have that I’ll never hear from you again?”
“You don’t. I could lie and make promises you might want to believe, but I’d rather have you as an ally.”
She took a long, careful drink of her coffee. Nothing the family had done indicated they wanted to work with her. “You have a funny way of establishing cooperation.”
“We believe in dealing from a position of strength. You stumbled into our world with that pipe tool. Unfortunately, our initial interaction wasn’t as productive as I would have liked. My cousins have a bad habit of taking things into their own hands without fully consulting me. I blame their time playing college football. All they see is the play in front of them and not the game as a whole. Had we known of your ancestral connection, I’d have seen to things personally. But that’s in the past. We’re a powerful family. We’re on the rise. And you have something we value.” He pulled a business card from his shirt. “This is my private cell. Give some thought to what you could do with our support. No one makes the big time all on their own.” He picked up his coffee and left without waiting for her reply.
