Under the Blood Moon

by Tracie Provost

  I smiled and shook my head. “I do not wish to be a bad guest and drink all of your vitae.” I had consumed all of the bottles in my own home and several more here as I listened to Josh play. By no means was I back to full strength, but at least I was sure I could now walk unaided.

  “You won’t. I called Sophie while you were sleeping and she sent over a double shipment,” Josh said as he stood and put the book on the coffee table. “Come on, have some more.”

  I smiled at his cajoling. He made me feel like a reluctant four-year-old. “Alright, Father.”

  The look he gave me was anything but parental. “Oh, you’ll call me Daddy one of these days, but not tonight,” he said before he went into the kitchen, leaving me wondering what exactly he meant by that. The smoldering gaze he gave me provided a fair idea, however.

  Josh came back two minutes later carrying a mug of warmed vitae and a beer. Handing me the mug, he asked, “How ya feelin’?” before resuming his seat on the couch.

  “Better,” I said after I took a sip. “I am still weak, and doing magic is out of the question, but I am nowhere near as helpless as I was when Jaime found me.”

  “I talked to her again, too. She’s worried about you.”

  “I just need time and rest.”

  “Ain’t sure how much of either you’re gonna get. Stuff seems to be happening fast and furious around here.”

  I took a long sip of vitae. “Well, someone else is going to have to. It is Honore’s job after all. She can damn well do it. She wanted to be Coven Mistress. It is time she start taking on the responsibility.”

  “Can she?”

  I took another long sip and contemplated my answer. Should I voice my doubts? Especially to an outsider? I stayed silent about Andre and look where that got me. “I am unsure. Magically, she is more than competent to deal with the troubles, but I am not certain she has the leadership skills. Two hundred years ago she did not, but much can happen in that time.”

  “How is it that you’re a good leader but she ain’t?”

  “I’m not sure I am a good leader, but I do have experience that she does not.”

  “How so?”

  “I was the mistress of a large coffee plantation on St. Domingue. I oversaw hundreds of slaves. I am not sure that makes me a leader, but I do manage very well. Honore was a house slave that found elevated status on her back.”

  “Little catty there, Juliette?” Josh gently chastised.

  I grimaced. I knew better than to make judgments like that. She’d had no choice in the matter and made the best of a bad situation. “You are right, that was unfair. Honore does not bring out the best in me.”

  “You have had sort of a rough day. Best get us both tucked away here, right quick. Sun’ll be up soon.”

  Josh drained his beer as I finished my blood, and then he took the bottle and mug into the kitchen. “Do you need help getting back to the bedroom?” he called over running water.

  “No, I’ll be fine,” I said and slowly walked down the hall to the bedroom Josh had showed me earlier. I stopped in the doorway but did not enter.

  Josh was not far behind and saw me stop. “Everything alright, Juliette?” he asked.

  I turned to face him. Worrying my lower lip, I wondered if I could be so bold, and then mentally shook myself for being a ninny. You are not some virgin on her wedding night.

  “I do not want to be alone,” I said simply.

  Josh did not say anything. He just nodded and took my hand, leading me down the hall to the master suite. Silently, he pulled back the covers and helped me into bed. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said before he disappeared into the bathroom. I heard water running, and a few minutes later Josh emerged wearing red silk boxer shorts with little white hearts on them, and nothing else. After turning out the light, he climbed into bed beside me. Cautiously, Josh drew me into his arms. “I promise I’ll protect you,” I heard him whisper just before dawn claimed me.

  I AWOKE IN THE soft cocoon of Josh’s embrace. One arm served as my pillow while the other gently held my hip. I felt the cool length of him spooned behind me and his chin resting on the top of my head. I felt safe. I realized that it was the first time since my return that I had felt so.

  Josh shifted, and his lips brushed my temple. “How ya feelin’ this morning?”

  “Better than last night, but I do not have much magic. The incubus took nearly all of it, and physically I am still weak.”

  “I’m guessing it’ll take a couple a days for you to fully recover.”

  “I am lucky that I will recover at all. That creature drained my life force nearly dry before my magic banished him.”

  “I don’t know much about incubi or succubi, but I am sure I’ve never heard of anybody getting rid of one before. I do know they’re powerful, but obviously you’re better.”

  I rolled on my back so I could look at him. “Just barely, but thank you. For everything. I would not have survived if they had sent something else for me.”

  “So you think this wasn’t just something random? That this incubus was sent by someone?”

  “Don’t you?”

  “Well it seemed mighty strange to be random, but this is New Orleans.”

  “This was sent. He acted the way the old Andre had,” I said.

  “The old Andre?” Josh asked. “Wait, it looked like your sire?”

  I nodded. “I was so surprised that it took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t Andre. That was how it got so close. As soon as he touched me, he began draining my power.”

  “Who do you think sent it?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Josh nodded. “Why don’t you stay here and I’ll go rustle up some breakfast for us. Do you drink coffee or is it just vitae?” he asked as he got out of bed.

  “I would love some coffee. I owe you a great debt.” I reached out and touched his arm.

  “You don’t owe me anything. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want to.” He gave me a lopsided grin.

  I sat up against the pillows as he lowered himself to sit beside me. Taking my chin in his hand, Josh looked me directly in the eye. “You don’t owe me anything, Juliette. I give my protection freely. If you ever come to my bed for anything other than sleeping, I want it to be because you want to be there, not because you think you have to be. I’m real serious here, Juliette.”

  “I understand.”

  “Good. You take anything in your coffee?”

  He laughed at my contorted expression. “I’ll take that as a no, then. Be back in a few minutes.”

  I realized as he walked out the door that while physically I might be safe, my heart was in great jeopardy.

  Chapter 17

  I CONVALESCED AT Josh’s for the next three nights. The second night after the attack, Marc, with Gabe and Sophie in tow, paid us a visit. I’d had a shower, with Josh anxiously waiting in the bedroom in case I’d needed help, and changed into another one of Josh’s shirts. Josh had then tucked me into the couch, swaddled in an afghan. I felt a bit ridiculous. Physically, I was much stronger than I had been the night before; although I was prone to bouts of lightheadedness and great fatigue. Josh insisted on treating me like an invalid and it took too much energy to fight him.

  Josh had just brought me another mug of warmed blood when the doorbell rang. I jumped, startled by the noise, and nearly spilled my drink. Josh chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s just Marc and Gabe. Didn’t ya feel them?”

  “I can feel them now but for some reason, I did not notice them before the bell,” I said. This worried me. Sensing auras had always given me a huge advantage when dealing with danger or uncertainty. It was my early warning system, and if I had lost it, I was in big trouble.

  Josh went to open the door while I tried to disentangle myself from the af
ghan. I was still struggling out of the cocoon when Josh, Gabe, Marc, and Sophie entered the room. Marc stopped me before I could stand. “Please, you have been through a great ordeal. Do not rise. I will not take it as a slight,” he said.

  I quickly pulled the afghan back up, acutely aware that all I had on under it was one of Josh’s plaid shirts. Why am I forever appearing before the Grandmaster in anything but suitable clothing? Marc was considerate enough not to comment. He and Sophie sat in the two leather chairs closest to the sofa that I reclined on. Josh resumed his seat at the other end of the couch as Gabe restlessly prowled the room.

  “How are you feeling, Juliette?” Marc asked.

  “Much better. Most of my strength is back—at least physically,” I said.

  “And magically?”

  “I do not think I will be able to do much magic for several days,” I answered truthfully.

  “But you will recover the ability?”

  “Yes. The incubus drained much of my essence but not all. I still have my magic.”

  “Josh told Sophie that you thought this was a planned attack on you, rather than a random encounter?” Marc’s statement was couched as a question.

  “Yes. The incubus appeared as Andre and let himself into the back courtyard. Even his aura was imitating Andre’s. It was off, but very subtly.”

  Gabe spoke from near the fireplace. “Maybe the attack at the gallery was meant for Juliette, too.”

  “Why do you say that?” I asked.

  “You were the only magic user at the party, the only one who could banish the demon. You would be the one to go out to meet it,” he explained.

  “But no one knew that I was going to be the only mage there. It was a party for the Aether Mistress. The entire coven should have been there,” I protested.

  “Unless they were the ones who summoned the demon,” Gabe pointed out.

  “My own coven summoned a demon to kill me? I cannot believe it,” I said, but even as the words left my lips, I knew Gabe was probably right.

  “Makes sense. Tousaint had talked to Honore personally earlier in the evening, Master to Mistress, and offered to host the party. She accepted. Told him she was looking forward to it but never showed up,” Josh said.

  “Never? Not even after I left?” I asked. I had assumed that Honore and the other Aether had arrived late and made a grand entrance just as they had at the Gala.

  “No, and now she won’t take Tousaint’s calls. Her assistant claims ‘she’s busy.’ He was on quite a rant when I talked to him earlier,” Josh said. Marc raised an eyebrow at this.

  “But why Juliette?” Sophie asked.

  “Because Honore is afraid of me,” I said. “No, afraid is not the right word. Concerned. I am an unknown variable that she cannot control. I offer a viable alternative to her leadership. Perhaps even a preferable alternative. Jaime said something the night I met her about there being rumors that someone was planning a coup to oust Frederique from Aether leadership.”

  “Honore?” Marc asked.

  “Jaime did not say. At the time it seemed moot because I was the only Aether left. Now I wonder if the fire was some sort of cover-up for the coup,” I confessed.

  “How so?”

  “Diana Langdon told me that Honore had Frederique’s ring. I believe that Honore killed Frederique and Andre, as well as those loyal to them, so she could become Coven Mistress. She set the fire to cover her crimes, but something went wrong and she and her followers were injured. They were forced to go into torpor to heal. Me stepping into the Regent position was not something that Honore had anticipated,” I said.

  Gabe and Marc exchanged a look. “We did not know about the ring, but we have wondered if the entire incident had not been engineered by Honore,” Marc admitted.

  “But summoning demons to kill me? That is a bit much even for Honore,” I protested.

  “Maybe a little bit of overkill, but not really,” Gabe said. “She needs to not have your death traced back to her. A demon would give her that. Plus demons have been running around the city for weeks and they are easier to summon and control than a werewolf. Hell, the Master Gatekeeper was skull-fucked by one not a week ago. A demon is perfect if she doesn’t want your death linked to her.”

  “You don’t think she had anything to do with the werewolves, do you?” I asked.

  “No, but because of the constant werewolf and demon attacks, someone seemingly dying because of one of those would be taken at face value.”

  I conceded that he was right. “So my coven wants to kill me. What can we do about it?”

  “I can put you under my protection,” Marc said. Under normal circumstances, a Grandmaster’s protection was sacrosanct and none would dare harm me. Unfortunately, these were not normal circumstances and I said so.

  “Will that really stop her?” I asked.

  “In the long run, no, I don’t think so. However, it may force her to become more creative, and that should buy us some time,” Marc said.

  “But the next full moon is less than a week away, so I have a coven meeting coming up,” I said. While other covens were less formal about their meetings and scheduled them to meet a specific purpose, the Aether held their meetings every full moon. I had been exempted from September’s meeting because of the ritual on Chris Gautier, but I would not be able to miss the October meeting.

  “Honore will not harm you at a coven meeting. It is far too public and easily traceable. It would also bring my wrath down on the entire coven, and Honore would never risk that. No, the one place you will be safe is the coven meeting,” Marc said.

  What Marc said made sense, but I did not trust Honore to act in the best interest of the coven. She certainly hadn’t to this point. Still, I did not have much of a choice. Missing that meeting would carry dire consequences. I would have to hope Marc was right.

  “I don’t think we should say anything about the attack at Juliette’s house,” Gabe said.

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Throw ‘em off guard. I’m guessing that they know by now the attacks didn’t work. I mean the demons did not return to whoever summoned them, so they have to know, right?” Gabe said.

  I nodded.

  “Everybody at the party knows about the first attack and that you banished the creature. Big topic in the vamp community. But if no one says anything about a second demon coming to your house, whoever sent it, presumably Honore, will begin to wonder. Hopefully, she’ll make a mistake.”

  “Also we don’t want anyone to know how weak you are. That would just encourage them to attack again,” Josh said. I found that to be a much more compelling argument.

  Our conversation drifted to the more mundane matters of the city, and eventually Sophie, after consulting her watch, reminded Marc they needed to go or they would be late for his next appointment. As they took their leave, Marc leaned over and gave me a fatherly kiss on the forehead. “Do not worry, Juliette. Everything will be fine.”

  Easy for him to say. The Aether coven wasn’t trying to kill him.

  I WISHED I COULD hide forever at Josh’s house. Eventually, however, I needed to return home. I had a coven meeting that night starting at midnight and I needed to prepare. Despite Marc’s assurance that I was now under his protection and thus safe, Josh was reluctant to see me leave.

  “Why don’t you come back here after your meeting?” Josh offered.

  “You are kind to offer, but I fear that I have already trespassed enough on your hospitality,” I said.

  “Darlin’, you can trespass for as long as you want. I really kinda like having you around.”

  “Don’t you need to work?” I asked. He had barely left my side since the second attack.

  “I’ll swing by The Cowboy while you’re out. I talk to the manager every night and he keeps things
in good order.”

  “I will call you when my meeting is over,” I promised.

  “Alright. Just be careful tonight, Juliette,” Josh warned.

  “I will,” I said and kissed him goodbye.

  I DRESSED CAREFULLY for the evening, choosing garments that I could move easily in and that allowed for a wide range of motion. I did not know what to expect at the coven meeting, but I wanted to be prepared for anything. I greatly regretted not being able to take the gun Josh had given me, but if it was discovered, the Grandmaster’s protection would be null and void. It would be easy for Honore to claim that I had been the aggressor and she was simply protecting herself. I had to satisfy myself with the protection afforded me by my ceremonial dagger, my magic, and the cell phone case that Sophie had given me two days ago. The case apparently transformed the iPhone into something called a military grade taser. Even though I did not really understand it, Sophie had assured me that it would render my opponent, even a vampire, immobile for several minutes. My magic was not fully back, but more returned every day. I hoped by the end of the week to be back to full capacity.

  At 11:00, I called for a cab to take me to Honore’s house in the Garden District. When the car arrived a short time later, I grabbed my tote bag and purse. I carefully locked the door and set the alarm. Traffic was not heavy and I arrived in plenty of time to change for the meeting. The cab had barely stopped in front of the house when my door opened and Jaime stuck her head inside. “Move over, Juliette,” she said and proceeded to get into the back seat. Seeing no other option than to comply or have the young woman sit on top of me, I slid over. She closed the door behind her and ordered the cabbie to drive to Gautier House.

  “I have a meeting tonight,” I protested as the car pulled away from the curb.

  “It ain’t safe. You can’t go,” Jaime said in a low voice so the driver would not hear her.

  “What do you mean ‘not safe’?” I demanded. Jaime cast a meaningful look toward the front seat.