The Babet & Prosper Collection II: Beware the Bogeyman, Celt Secrets, The Trouble With Voodoo, and A Friend in Need (The Babet & Prosper Collections Book 2)

by Judith Post

Babet gripped her under her arms and pulled her into the house, then shut the door and locked it. She turned out the lights and said quick chants to bolster her wards. She sagged on her knees beside Virgine and propped the girl's head on her lap. "Tell me what happened."

  "The bogeyman tried to take me." Her voice sounded parched, feeble.

  "You? You're an adult, a vampire." Babet shook her head, trying to clear it. Why would a bogeyman attack a grown woman?

  "He came after me and kept saying, 'You've deserted your father to live in a whore house. What's wrong with you?'"

  The bedroom door opened, and Prosper came to join them. He took one look at Virgine and sank down beside Babet to help support her. "Can we get you anything? Food? Water?"

  Virgine shook her head. "I'm a vampire. I'll heal. But it hurt more than I expected."

  "What did he do to you?" Babet could feel her magic rise. She wanted to find the bogeyman and make him regret coming to River City.

  "When he opened his bag, I started to turn to shadows too. First my feet, then it worked its way up."

  Prosper stared. "That's how he does it? He makes them shadow spirits like him, then stuffs them in his bag?"

  Virgine nodded. "But I'm a vampire. My feet would start dissolving, and then they'd grow solid again, healing themselves, until it hurt too much and I grew angry."

  "What did you do?" Babet couldn't imagine Virgine angry. She didn't think the girl had it in her.

  "I screamed at him. I told him that my father sent me here. It was his idea for me to live with Lillith, to keep me safe. And that he wasn't as smart as he thought he was, because I am a good daughter."

  Babet would have jumped up and down and cheered, except that Virgine looked so utterly miserable. "Did he listen to you?"

  "I think it surprised him. He didn't know what to do then, and I ran."

  Prosper leveled a serious look at her. "What were you doing out in the middle of the night when you know there's a bogeyman in town?"

  A flush crept up Virgine's neck and stained her cheeks. "I can't make myself feed from humans. I go to the river walks and feed off the vermin and strays."

  "But surely…." Prosper faltered to a stop, unsure how to word his sentence.

  Virgine guessed and nodded. "Lots of mortals have offered to let me sip from them. I find it unappetizing."

  "Perhaps, for right now…." Prosper stumbled to a stop again.

  Virgine shook her head. "Not from people. I just can't."

  "But it's not safe for you to leave Lillith's house."

  "I'll order steaks for now and eat them raw," Virgine promised. "Not as good as fresh blood, but it will do."

  Prosper stood. "I'll drive you home. You can't be out alone tonight."

  Babet helped Virgine to her feet. The girl could hardly stand. No wonder she didn't make it the few more blocks to Lillith's. "I'll go with you."

  Together, they drove Virgine to the brothel and helped her to the door. Colleen greeted them at the back entrance, saw Virgine, and slid an arm under her friend's arms to support her.

  "I can take her from here. Thank you."

  A hint. Don't come in. Noise and laughter drifted from the house. Deep bass mixed with higher-pitched tones. Clients and associates. Babet had no desire to visit during business hours. She and Prosper turned and drove home.

  "Well, I'll be damned," Prosper said when they locked the courtyard gate behind them. His movements lacked their usual grace. He scratched his head, trying to stay awake.

  "But we have answers now. We know how he takes them." Babet rubbed at her eyes.. She ignored the lawn chair and went into the house, straight for the bedroom.

  Prosper raised a hand to hide a yawn. "He makes mistakes. We know that too."

  Babet shook her head. "It was a close call. I'm guessing Virgine's father misses her and thinks of her often."

  "And that's what the bogeyman picked up on?"

  "That, and she's living in a whore house." They flopped onto the bed together.

  She expected an answer. She heard soft snores instead. And then it didn't matter. She fell asleep too.

  * * *

  It didn't surprise Babet when she was summoned to Lillith's house two days later. It was late afternoon. Lillith rarely rose before noon. This time, she didn't rush. She carefully arranged her dark hair in an updo. She rimmed her eyes with black eyeliner. And she dressed in a flowing, butter yellow skirt that showed off her tanned legs.

  Colleen nodded her head in approval when she greeted her. She raised a copper eyebrow. "Have you seen your friend lately?"

  "Hatchet? He's working a case. Pulling long hours."

  Colleen's expression relaxed, slightly mollified. "Lillith's expecting you." She led the way up the stairs.

  This time, Virgine sat in one of the silk-covered chairs in the center of the room. Babet took a sofa across from her, and waited for Lillith to begin their meeting.

  Lillith raised a hand to push back a strand of honey-gold hair that dared to fall too far forward. She licked her lush lips. Dressed in a gauzy, apricot-colored gown, she looked more gorgeous than usual. As the first woman, before Eve, she was intended as perfection. Someone got it right. She got straight to the point. "It seems that the bogeyman is still interested in our Virgine."

  Babet's breath caught. Fear stuck in her chest. "He tried to take her again?"

  "No, a different sort of interest." She nodded to Virgine. "You tell her, dear."

  A flush colored the girl's cheeks. She took a deep breath. "He stands outside the house all night long. If I look out a window, I catch him watching me. He leaves dead rats on the back step."

  "Dead rats?"

  "Like a cat that leaves a mouse on your stoop. He leaves Virgine her evening meal." Lillith grimaced. "I think he's formed an attachment for her."

  Babet was at a loss for words. She'd never seen this coming. A bogeyman with a crush. Who knew? She shook her head, trying to sort her thoughts. "And you?" she asked Virgine. "Have you tried to shoo him away?"

  Virgine sounded bemused. "I opened the window to shout at him, and he pressed his fingers to his lips and blew me a kiss."

  Babet studied the girl, small and thin, plain and painfully shy. What did the bogeyman see in her? Perhaps he was drawn to someone genuinely nice. "This could be a good thing," Babet said. "If he's watching you, he's not grabbing children. You're buying us time."

  Virgine straightened up from her slouch. "I am?"

  "Why don't you smile at him occasionally? Maybe wave? Encourage him a little. But never leave this house."

  Lillith watched Virgine closely. She narrowed her eyes. "What does he look like? I've never seen him."

  Virgine considered the question carefully. "I have a feeling that his looks change to fit the occasion. At first, he was hideous—more of a monster than a man. But later, he reminded me of a tutor I had when I was young. And then he just looked…like a rather homely man."

  Lillith tilted her head, thinking. "Plain, like you?"

  Virgine nodded.

  "Perhaps that's why he chose you. Maybe you make him feel comfortable."

  Virgine pursed her lips. "When he was homely, he seemed nice."

  "But he's not." Babet didn't want Virgine to read something into the bogeyman that wasn't there. "He hurts children."

  "Yes, I remember that." She put a hand to her lips, covering her mouth. Was that a sign of anything? Babet tried to remember the few things Prosper had told her about body language. No use. It was gone.

  Babet rose. "I'll tell Prosper and Hatchet what's happened. I'm not sure if we can capture him. He's shadows. I'll go through some of my spell books to see if I can learn anything new."

  Lillith nodded, still watching Virgine. "Thank you for coming. At least now, we don't have to search for him, do we? We know where he'll be."

  * * *

  Babet drove straight to Prosper's station when she left Lillith's. She found him in his office, tapping a pencil on a sheet of paper while
he talked on the phone, with Hatchet pacing nearby, waiting for the call to end.

  They both looked at her expectantly. When the call was finished, she told them about Virgine.

  Prosper shook his head. "This case just keeps getting crazier."

  "What do you mean? What happened?" Babet took the chair across from him.

  "All three kids have been returned."

  "Returned? From where?" Babet rubbed her forehead. A headache was building behind her eyes.

  "None of them know. The last thing they remember is a shadowy man opening a bag, and then they watched their feet start to dissolve. By the time their knees were mist, they must have passed out. And it hurt. They were cold."

  "That's it? Nothing else?"

  "The eighteen-year-old dreamt that he was in a classroom, and chalk moved across the blackboard, writing the same things over and over. You will never strike your family again. You will be a good person."

  "Do you think that was real?"

  Prosper shrugged in bewilderment. "All I know is that all three kids have done an about-face. The girl's mantra is Thou shalt not steal. The first boy kept telling us that his body is a temple."

  Babet's headache settled into her gumline. "And if they refuse to change?"

  Hatchet answered. "The first boy told us that you stay until you're ready to return."

  Babet dug in her purse for a bottle of aspirin. Prosper opened the top drawer of his desk and handed her some. Hatchet went to get her a paper cup filled with water. She swallowed the pills and said, "So this is some sort of bad kids' boot camp?"

  Prosper popped two pills too. "It sounds like it."

  "And if a kid's incorrigible?"

  "The girl said you fade until you start to listen, to gear in. I'd guess if you wait too long, you fade away."

  The three of them looked at each other. "So what now?" Babet asked. "The kids are back. They can't remember enough to press charges."

  "We go to the bogeyman and politely ask him to leave." Prosper reached for his cell phone and started for the door.

  Babet held back. "He doesn't come until dusk."

  Prosper pointed to the sun painting the horizon every shade of rose outside.

  "No, it can't be." Babet looked at her watch and sighed. Where had her day gone? "I didn' realize it was so late."

  Prosper grinned. "Time flies when you're having fun."

  "Don't go there." Hatchet started for the door. "Time to kick some bogey butt."

  Babet and Prosper weren't far behind. They climbed into Hatchet's unmarked car. People waved at them as they drove by.

  "I think you've been made," Prosper teased.

  "I like being recognized. Then people know they're being watched when I'm around." Hatchet drove to Lillith's and parked a little distance away on a side street. No use causing panic if they didn't have to. They got out of the car and went in search of the bogeyman. They circled the entire block, expecting to find him gazing at a window, but he was nowhere in sight. Finally, they went to the back door of the Victorian house and knocked. Lillith herself opened it and invited them inside.

  They crowded into a small parlor, meant for employees only.

  "She's gone," Lillith said.

  "Gone?" Babet couldn't believe it. "Did she run home to her father?"

  Maybe the girl didn't feel safe. Maybe she was tired of hiding in Lillith's bordello.

  "She ran off with her knight in misty armor."

  Prosper's voice showed his surprise and panic. "With the bogeyman?" Lillith's sigh was almost inaudible. "The girl's been waiting a long time for the right someone to find her. He finally did. She deserves a chance at happiness."

  "And you think he'll give it to her?" Hatchet's tone was harsh.

  Lillith slanted him a look. "What do you do with criminals? How do you handle the incorrigibles in our society?"

  "We catch them and lock them up, where they can't hurt anyone…." Hatchet hesitated. "You're comparing us to the bogeyman."

  "I don't see a lot of difference, only his odds for rehabilitation might be better than yours. Virgine will love that. He snatches bad children and tries to make them better."

  Babet looked around the room, at the beautiful furnishings and wallpaper. "But what will she do? What kind of life will she have with him?"

  Lillith squared her shoulders, all business. "What did she do here? She cooked and cleaned. She served us. She doesn't want anything more."

  "And her father?" Prosper asked. "Will he be angry?"

  "I've talked to him. He's relieved. What could he do with her? His enemies are powerful. Virgine wouldn't stand a chance against them. That's why he kept her hidden. Who's going to kidnap the bogeyman's true love? Would you?"

  "And have him track me down? Haunt me with mists?" Babet shook her head.

  "There it is, then," Lillith said. "A happy ending."

  "Is it?" Babet needed to sort it out before she felt sure.

  "Virgine left me a note. She and Dongola won't return here. River City will be off limits. She asked us to be happy for her."

  Babet leaned against Prosper. It was all too much. Her headache settled behind her right ear, into her neck. The aspirin only dulled it. "I'm tired. I want to go home."

  He wove an arm around her and started for the door. Hatchet said a quick thank you and started after them when a voice stopped him.

  "Detective Hatchet?"

  He turned and stared. Colleen stood in the doorway, dressed in a diaphanous gown that accented every good feature she had…which were many. "Yes?"

  "We have business to discuss."

  "We do?"

  She walked forward, took his keys from his hand, and tossed them to Prosper. "I'll make sure he gets home okay."

  "Hatchet?" Prosper wasn't sure whether to leave or stay.

  "See you in the morning." Hatchet didn't look back. He went with Colleen.

  Prosper paused a moment, but Lillith waved him away. "She won't eat him, even if he asks her to."

  That was enough. Prosper pulled Babet close and got the hell out of there.

  On the drive home, he kept his hand over hers. His touch calmed her whirling thoughts. By the time they made it into the kitchen, she'd come to terms with what happened. Tomorrow, who knew? She might be able to put a positive spin on everything. She could see how that could happen, once all the pieces fell into place.

  Prosper must have felt the same way. He patted Morgana's head, then headed for the bedroom. "I'm talked and thought out. I need to sleep."

  They dropped their clothes to the floor, then spooned their bodies together. Babet had worried she'd replay the days' events over and over in her mind. She didn't. As soon as Prosper's breaths came in a steady rhythm, hers matched them. And before long, she drifted away, Prosper's arm thrown over her shoulders to keep her safe. No bogeyman could claim her. And no dreams came. She drifted in blissful peace.

  Celt Secrets

  The Sixth Babet & Prosper Novella

  A Lunch Hour Read

  by

  Judith Post

  To my John

  My daughters, Holly & Robyn

  Tyler & Nate (grandsons extraordinaire)

  & to Heidi—as close to a daughter as a girl can get

  It was bad enough, meeting a vampire for dinner. They kept late hours, couldn't come out in the daylight. But then…to have that vampire be half an hour late…was pure misery. Babet fidgeted enough that Prosper nodded to the waiter for a second glass of wine. He buttered another slice of bread and handed it to her.

  "Eat. Drink. Be merry," he growled.

  He didn't sound merry. Her stomach rumbled.

  Christmas carols jingled in the background. It was that time of year. She and Prosper had agreed not to buy each other presents. After many lifetimes, what did a witch or Were need? She'd be happy with a naked Prosper under her tree with a red bow pasted on anything he wanted. Every part of him looked good.

  Prosper looked at his watch. A scowl furrowed
his brows. Her handsome Were didn't like to be kept waiting. It wasn't like Hatchet to be late. But Prosper's partner was bringing Colleen with him—their first public date. Maybe the beautiful vampire believed she should be fashionably late.

  The minutes ticked by. Babet raised an eyebrow. How long should they wait? True, it was a pleasure seeing Prosper in a gold, silk shirt that made his bronze skin glow in the candlelight, and his brown, dress pants hugged his muscular thighs. He, alone, was enough to make her drool—but the aromas wafting from the kitchen promised her gastronomic nirvana. She was going to jump on a passing tray soon, and it wouldn't be her fault.

  Finally, Hatchet entered the restaurant and sliced his way through people milling in the foyer. As tall as Prosper, but lean and sinewy, he wore a dark, wool coat and dark slacks. His short-shaven hair and stiff posture gave him a military air. Waiters and busboys stepped aside as he strode to their table. He pulled out a chair and dropped onto it. "Colleen's gone missing."

  No greetings, no lead-in. Not Hatchet's style.

  Prosper leaned forward. "What does that mean, that she took off without telling anyone or that she's in trouble?"

  "Lillith's beside herself. She's worried."

  Lillith rarely worried, usually had no reason to. The original succubus, she'd ditched Adam in the Garden of Eden to make out with an angel. Who knows what else she'd gotten up to before settling in River City to open a brothel?

  Babet blinked. "Who, in their right mind, would grab one of Lillith's girls? She makes a dangerous enemy, and her girls know most of the powerful men in town."

  Hatchet pushed his menu and dinnerware out of the way. "All I know is what Lillith told me. Someone called the house this morning, asked for Colleen, and a few minutes later, she went out, while it was still dark, and never returned. Lillith didn't worry at first because she thought Colleen might be spending the day with a special client, but she didn't write a name in the book or leave a number where she could be reached. Not standard procedure. And when Colleen didn't come home tonight for our date, Lillith tried calling her cell phone. No answer."