by S. J. West
Julian graces me with one of his rare genuine smiles.
“You seem very determined to have me make love to you,” he says. “I hope I can live up to your high expectations.”
“I have no doubt whatsoever that you will,” I reply with a coy smile of my own.
Just as my lips are about to touch his, I hear Nadia clear her throat. I glance behind me to the stairs and see her standing there, dressed as though she’s prepared to go to war.
Reluctantly, I relinquish my hold on Julian and turn around to stand beside him, so I can take in my guardian’s outfit. I quickly realize it’s not so much the clothes that she’s wearing that’s the problem; it’s the accessories she’s chosen to have on full display.
Her attire is black. Not a real shocker there. It seems to be the alfar guards’ choice of color. Strapped to both of her thighs are black leather holsters, each equipped with the same type of pistol. I’m not a gun person, so I have no clue what kind they are. She’s wearing the same vest as she did the first time I saw her. It zips up the front and has various pouches with Velcro closures. I can’t see what’s in most of them, but I’m sure they’re all filled with something deadly. Across the left breast is a row of four red shotgun shells safely tucked into individual holders.
“Uh, where exactly are you hiding a shotgun?” I have to ask.
Nadia reaches directly behind her head, pulling out the shotgun from its holder on her back.
“Do you really think all of this,” I say, making a circular motion with my index finger to encompass her one-woman armory, “is necessary?”
“Considering what just happened here today,” she says, placing the shotgun back in its sheath on her back, “I believe it is.”
“You can’t wear all of that on the drive down,” I tell her plainly. “If a highway patrolman saw you, he would definitely pull us over, and we don’t need that considering the fact we have a dead body in the trunk of my car.”
I see Nadia’s initial stubbornness falter in the face of my logic.
“I didn’t think about that,” she admits.
“Do you have a bag you can put it all in until we get to Mira’s house?” I suggest. “Once we’re there, you can put it all back on before we meet with Damien.”
“I’ll take what can be seen through a car window off,” she concedes, “but I’m keeping my pistols on. We have no way of knowing if this is a setup.”
It takes me a moment, but I catch on to what she’s implying.
“If it is just a ruse to get us out of the house and on the road to New Orleans,” I say, “it was a costly one. I doubt the man in our trunk thought it was worth his life.”
“It could be that he wasn’t given a choice,” Nadia reasons. “For all we know, someone could have told him that if he didn’t do it, his family, or someone else he loves, would be killed. Until we get the full story, we have no way of knowing how much danger either of you are in.”
“She’s right,” Julian tells me. “This could be a trap. We have to be prepared for anything to happen.” He looks at Nadia and asks, “Do you have a spare Glock I can carry on me? Just in case?”
“Of course,” she says, looking pleased by Julian’s request. “I’ll go get you one from my room.”
As Nadia makes her way back upstairs, I gripe, “More like her hoard of weapons of mass destruction. She could probably protect a small country with what she brought into this house.”
“You really need to let your animosity about this go,” Julian advises, bringing me back into his arms as we wait for Nadia to return. “I don’t care if she has to bring a bomb in here. As long as she can help keep you safe, I have zero complaints.”
“I don’t like the idea of having an armed guard around me for the rest of my life,” I tell him, looking for at least a little empathy. “It’s suffocating just to think about, much less live through.”
“Why don’t we concentrate on one problem at a time?” Julian suggests, sounding aggravatingly reasonable. “Let’s find out why that werewolf was trying to kill me, and then we’ll try to think of a way to make you feel less claustrophobic about Nadia’s presence in your life.”
He leans his head down and kisses my lips lightly.
“If you’re trying to make me forget about her being around,” I say, “you’re going to have to kiss me a little better than that.”
Julian smiles and happily complies with my demand.
When his mouth covers mine, I feel the world around us slip away into nothing, until every one of my senses are completely consumed by him. All I can feel are his lips coaxing mine into parting as his silky warm tongue finds my own to play with. All I can hear are our mingled breaths becoming more labored as we both grow more aroused. All I can taste is the sweetness of his flesh against my tongue, making me wonder just how delicious the rest of him will be.
It’s only when I hear the loading of a magazine of bullets into a gun directly behind me that I remember there’s still a real world around us. Reluctantly, I pull away from Julian. As I look into his beautiful hazel eyes, I know our kiss has left him as devastated as I am. I make a silent promise to him that we’ll continue our kiss and delve even deeper into exploring what else our bodies have to offer one another at the soonest possible opportunity.
“Here’s your gun,” I hear Nadia say curtly to Julian.
I turn to face her, expecting to see a furious expression on her face, because I can certainly feel her antagonism. Yet when I look at her, her features are barely registering any emotion at all. She’s obviously become a master at hiding her true feelings from those around her. I assume she’s annoyed that she found me kissing Julian. Being that she’s alfar, I’m sure she expects me to marry an alfar, just like Viktor does. Speaking of my cat …
“I’ll be right back,” I tell them both as I head toward the kitchen.
I find my cat in the arms of Helen, being petted and pampered to the point of becoming spoiled rotten.
“I thought I would take Viktor along with us,” I tell Helen. “You know how pouty he can get if I don’t take him everywhere I go.”
Helen hands Viktor over to me.
“Be careful,” she begs. “Keep in mind that you have no friends in New Orleans, even though Julian still seems to believe he can rely on Mira as an ally. Just because she’s his sister doesn’t mean she can be trusted. Do you understand?”
“I’ll make sure to keep my eyes and ears open while we’re there,” I promise.
“Good,” Helen replies with a firm and satisfied nod of her head.
I can feel the faith and trust Helen has in me to do what I just said, and I don’t intend to let her down. Having already met Julian’s sister, I know for a fact that she will always do whatever serves her interests the most.
Helen’s right. Mira can’t be trusted, and I intend to make sure she doesn’t make matters worse to serve her own agenda.
The atmosphere in the car on the drive down to New Orleans is tense, to say the least. Nadia doesn’t speak a word to either Julian or me. In fact, I can still feel her anger. There’s even a hint of jealousy mixed in, but I have no idea why she’s still angry or what she could possibly be jealous about. Sure, she caught us making out, but come on, shouldn’t she be over that little indiscretion by now? What the hell is her problem?
For all intents and purposes, I am her ruler, and she really doesn’t have a say in how I conduct my personal life. I suppose she’ll tattle to my aunt the first chance she gets about what she suspects is happening between Julian and me, but I truly don’t see what concern it is of Shael’s how I conduct my private affairs. I haven’t formally agreed to assume the throne of House Moonshade upon her death. Until I do that, I view my life as my own.
I plan to make it clear to my aunt that I do not intend to marry any alfar she might try to pawn off on me. I know I’ll eventually need to have a face-to-face conversation with the queen of the alfar on the subject, but today is not that day. Or so I hope …
“Are we only meeting with your sister and Damien about the assassin?” I ask Julian, keeping my eyes on the road while I drive.
“No. She said she would be calling in the entire Council of Elders to discuss what needs to be done about the situation.”
I glance in the rearview mirror to look at Nadia as I ask her, “Does an alfar have a seat on the council in New Orleans?”
“Yes,” she answers, meeting my gaze in the mirror.
When she doesn’t provide me with any more information than that, I ask, “Is it Shael?”
“The queen doesn’t have the time to devote to something so trivial,” Nadia replies. “She appointed an emissary by the name of Alden Highborn to act on her behalf.”
I breathe a small sigh of relief. Seeing my aunt today wasn’t something I was prepared to do. I know I need to speak with her sooner rather than later, if for nothing else than to ask if she will rescind her orders to Nadia about guarding me. I know Julian wants to keep her around for the sake of my safety, but I at least need to know that I can send her home if I get tired of her hovering around me like a mama bear. The only problem with asking Shael the question is the fact that my aunt will more than likely want to discuss my plans for the future in more detail. I can’t do that yet. The rest of my life hinges on finding a way to rid Julian of his ghost problem. Until that happens, I can’t make any definite decisions about anything in my life.
When we reach Mira’s fortress of intimidation, I can’t say that I’m too surprised she chose to have the council meeting at her home. I’m sure she wants to remind everyone that she’s the queen bee of New Orleans and that the whole world is supposed to bow to her wishes.
Standing outside on the large front porch of Mira’s home are six well-armed guards. They’re all equipped to the hilt with weapons, just like Nadia.
“Are they here to protect us or protect Mira from us?” I ask, eyeing the display of force with open distrust. I remember Helen’s words of caution to me quite clearly. I have no friends here in New Orleans, and Mira’s show of force is a clear reminder of that fact.
“I’m sure they’re here for our protection,” Julian says, but even I can hear the doubt in his voice over his assumption about his sister’s true intent.
“Can I put my vest back on now?” Nadia asks, even though she’s already reaching for it on the floorboard in front of her.
“Yes,” I say. “Looks like we might actually need what you brought while we’re here.”
I drive my Camry to the front of the house and park it. The large, ornately carved, wooden front doors open as if the occupants within were impatiently awaiting our arrival. Mira and Adrian step out onto the steps side by side and walk down to meet us.
“I’m happy to see you again, brother,” Mira says, giving Julian a brief hug in greeting, “but I wish you could have returned to us under better circumstances.”
Mira turns her attention to Nadia and me. Her eyes narrow on Nadia in slight confusion.
“Aren’t you a part of the alfar Valengard?” Mira asks her.
“Yes,” Nadia answers without freely offering up any more information. She looks over at me as if to say that if I want Mira to know more about my rank among the alfar, I need to be the one who divulges the information to her.
Viktor meows to remind me that he’s nearby and jumps up from the ground, expecting me to catch him. I do, but just barely.
I notice Adrian looking between the cat purring contentedly in my arms and Nadia.
“My, my, my, Sarah,” he says, looking at me in undisguised surprise. “Why is it that you’re suddenly so important to the alfar?”
“We have a lot we need to discuss,” Julian tells both Adrian and his sister. “Do we have time before the others arrive?”
“We have a few minutes,” Mira replies, staring at me with a puzzled expression on her face.
“Then I suggest we go somewhere private to speak,” Julian says. “The body of the werewolf who tried to kill us is in the trunk of the car. You should probably have one of your men take it somewhere for safekeeping.”
Mira nods and turns around to order one of her guards to retrieve the body and place it close to the room where the meeting is supposed to take place. She then proceeds to ask us to follow her into the house.
We all walk directly to a sitting room located near the back of the mansion. Nadia stations herself in front of the ceiling-to-floor wall of windows in the room that frames the backyard like a picture postcard. I presume her strategic positioning is a precautionary measure against other would-be shooters, since she places her body directly in line with mine.
Julian remains standing, while the rest of us sit and watch him pace back and forth. First, he tells Adrian and Mira about my true heritage. To say both vampires are shocked by the news is an understatement. Julian quickly moves on from the topic of my royal status among the alfar to what happened to him and Petru in Destin. Outwardly, Mira and Adrian look calm about this newfound knowledge concerning the curse each of them are under, but they can’t hide their true feelings from me. Mira is scared and worried. Adrian is scared, but there’s also a small spark of hope emanating from him that I didn’t expect to sense. I would have thought he would be of the same mind as Mira and want to maintain his status as a vampire, yet from what I’m detecting, the possibility of ending his affliction is making him hopeful about his future.
“I need for you to get in touch with the others and organize the conclave sooner than your original plan,” Julian tells Mira. “We need to warn everyone else that this woman is targeting us before they fall victim to one of her traps.”
“And you’re sure you never saw this woman before? You didn’t recognize her at all?” Mira asks.
“Positive,” Julian replies. “You know I never forget a face.”
“And how exactly did Petru locate her?” Adrian asks.
“We’ve had a series of private investigators searching for anyone who is a relative of Dorka. One of them located her for us.”
Adrian looks at Julian skeptically. “It sounds more like she hunted you down than the other way around, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?” Julian asks.
“I think it’s more likely that she led this PI of yours to her on purpose.”
“It’s possible,” Julian concedes. “She was prepared for us, so I would have to say your suggestion is very likely what happened.”
“It doesn’t really matter,” I add in. “You need to warn the other vampires what’s going on before it’s too late. If she is devising traps for you all to fall into, like Julian and Petru did, everyone needs to be warned.”
“I agree,” Mira says unexpectedly. “I’ll get in touch with the others and see when they’re all available.”
“Make sure you tell them that it’s urgent we meet soon,” Julian stresses. “I’m not sure if telling them over the phone is the best course of action either. You know how skeptical the others are about things that involve witchcraft.”
“They probably wouldn’t believe such an incredible story if it came from me anyway,” Mira says. “It would be better if they heard it from you directly. You’ve never been prone to lying like the rest of us.”
“I have no problem telling them my story,” Julian says.
“Will they ask for proof?” I inquire. “If the others are that skeptical, will Julian’s word be enough?”
Mira gives a delicate shrug of her shoulders. “I have no way of knowing exactly how they will react. If you have any proof to give, that would certainly help matters.”
There’s a knock on the room’s door. After Mira instructs the person to come in, one of her guards sticks his head inside the room.
“The others are here, Ms. Movila,” he announces.
“Tell them we’ll be right there,” Mira orders, already rising from her seat on the couch in the room. She looks back at Julian and says, “Let’s go handle this situation with Damien’s pack. After thi
ngs are settled, I’ll begin arranging the details of the conclave. I’ll tell the others to come to New Orleans, since four of us are already in the area.”
Julian nods his head in agreement.
Mira and Adrian lead the way out of the room while Julian and I follow after them. Nadia stays behind us, keeping close but not too close. I hate to admit it, but I like knowing Nadia is watching my back. If we have any problems with the werewolves, we might need her if a fight breaks out. Mira has a ton of guards stationed around her house, but I have no idea how well trained they are. For all I know, they could just be window dressings to make her appear more formidable than she actually is. I remember Julian telling me that it was the alfar present at Mira’s party who put an end to the fight that broke out. If I learned one thing from my altercation with the woman in Destin, it’s that you can’t plan for every eventuality. You should always try to be prepared for the unexpected.
We end up not having to travel very far from where we were. Mira walks down to the end of the hallway before entering a room. We find the members of the council waiting for us in what appears to be a ballroom. The interior wall is composed of a series of mirrors. The tops of the walls are trimmed in an off-white, ornate molding flecked with gold. The outer wall has four large doors that lead to the veranda at the back of the house. The hardwood floor is laid out in an intricate basket weave pattern with alternating light and dark wood planks.
When we walk into the room, I falter in my steps when I see who’s waiting there for us.
My Aunt Shael stands front and center in the small gathering of New Orleans’s supernatural elite. When she notices us enter the room, her eyes immediately focus on me.
“Queen Shael,” Mira says in surprise, answering the question I was asking myself about whether or not my aunt’s presence here was expected. “I wish I had known you would be joining us today. I would have personally greeted you when you arrived.”
Shael smiles. “That wasn’t necessary, Mira. I’m simply here as an observer to today’s proceedings, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to visit with my niece again.”
