“You mean they don’t just walk around, trying to eat people’s brains?”
He rolled his eyes. “You watch too many movies. They’re reanimated, and the person who controls them tells them what to do and they go out and do it. In this case, to follow us around and find out what we’re up to. Then they go back and report what they see.”
“They can talk?”
“Some better than others. Depends on how long they’ve been dead I guess. This is only the second one I’ve ever dealt with. Like I said, they don’t like to use them. This one’s been following us for a while.”
“She has?”
“Since yesterday at least. I knew it would be following us tonight, and I didn’t want to lose her in the car, so that’s why we walked. I’d had enough and wanted to take her out. That’s why I wanted you waiting in the bar for me. They don’t like to draw attention to themselves, so I knew she wouldn’t bother you there.” After a hesitant second he added, “Believe it or not, that bar is the nicest one in this part of town.”
“Yeah. I believe it,” I said, still angry over what happened.
He noticed the tone of my voice and, after a minute, said, “I didn’t know that was going to happen to you. I really thought you would be safe there.” I took that as an apology of sorts, but refrained from telling him it was okay. We drove another half mile in silence.
“Zombie,” I muttered. “I guess I was wrong about who wins ghoul of the year.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Noah try to hide a smile.
“I’ve always heard about vampires in New Orleans. Are they real, too?”
He chuckled softly, but did not answer me. I decided to let that one go. After tonight, trying to wrap my brain around vampires would make it explode.
When we got back to Miles’, I followed Noah into the kitchen. “So, what’s next? Do we go to Pontchartrain Beach?” I asked.
“You’re not, but I will. Probably me and Miles.”
“Why can’t I go?”
“Too dangerous.” He carefully removed his jacket and winced, letting out a shallow breath. “End of discussion,” he said, strained, as he tossed his jacket on the table and started running water in the sink. I noticed there was a deep spot of blood on the lining inside the jacket.
I reached out to him and turned him gently around so that he faced me. His long-sleeved shirt was ripped in the stomach area, and the dark plum color of the material was turned black from the blood still trickling out from his wound. “Oh, God,” I whispered.
“No major organs. It’ll be fine,” he said, wetting a wash cloth. I started to lift up his shirt but he stepped back. “I said it’ll be fine,” he said through his teeth.
“Let me try.” I gently lifted his shirt again and placed my hand softly on his wound. At first, nothing happened. I began to get frustrated, but I tried to remember my training and pretended like I was at the convent doing my rotations. I kept visualizing a blue flame and, very slowly, my hand began to warm up. Noah’s breathing got deeper, and he leaned back against the counter, closing his eyes as I kept my hand pressed against his hard stomach. The blood started to congeal under my fingers and soon stopped from escaping altogether. Noah opened his gray eyes and looked at me with a combination of relief, gratitude and— fear? Why would he be afraid of me?
For a moment, neither of us knew what to say. We were both suddenly so awkward and unsure of ourselves. At least I was. But being this close to him, his face inches from mine, wasn’t as uncomfortable as it should have been. Instead of the dense atmosphere of mutual disregard that surrounded us lately, there was something else in the air—some kind of miniscule charge. Our eyes locked on each other, and it occurred to me that maybe he wasn’t afraid of me. Maybe he was afraid of himself.
That tiny charge in the atmosphere was doused almost as soon as I detected it, because Ruby walked in at that moment. The look in her eyes was confusion, plus hurt, plus jealousy. Those three things added up would turn into one giant slingshot, and I knew that I would be the target sooner rather than later.
I removed my hand and inspected the wound on Noah’s stomach. It was ugly, but no longer bleeding. “You should take some antibiotics just in case,” I said.
Ruby looked alarmed. “What happened?” she said, more to Noah than to me.
He put his shirt back down and suddenly couldn’t look me in the eyes. “Had a run-in as we were leaving the contact,” he said, as he turned back to the sink to wash up. He handed me a wet towel to wipe my hands.
Ruby went to Noah and lifted his shirt to inspect the wound. “Are you okay?” she asked, worried.
“Yeah,” he said, backing away from her. “It’s nothing.”
Ruby looked at the wound and then at me. I stared at the floor, not being able to take her glare. She let his shirt drop back down and quickly changed the subject. “Y’all come in the living room when you’re finished up in here. Miles needs to talk to us.” She quickly turned and left the kitchen with a slight angry twitch to her non-existent cat tail. If she had fur, it would have been bristled.
“I’m going to run next door and change. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” said Noah, still not looking at me.
“Okay. I’ll let them know,” I said, and nervously bit the corner of my lower lip as I washed my hands.
Noah exited through the side door of the kitchen and out through the back yard. As he walked out the door, he started to take off his shirt. I noticed two old scars on his shoulder blades before the door closed behind him. Being a paladin appeared to be harder work than I realized.
I dried off and then crossed the foyer and into the living room. When I went in, Miles was at a mahogany desk in the east corner of the room, going over some documents, and Ruby was lounging on the couch, one leg extended across the cushions and one leg on the floor. She had a drink in her hand—brandy, it looked like—and her cat-eyes were brooding as she stared across the room at a painting of old New Orleans. I suspected she wasn’t studying the artwork at all. She could have been looking at a thumb tack for all she noticed. It was just something to avert her eyes from me.
“Noah’s changing his shirt. He’ll be right back,” I announced to the room. Ruby didn’t even blink as she kept her gaze forward toward the painting. Miles barely grumbled an “Okay,” as he was distracted by whatever he was doing at the desk. Fun times in the Garden District, I thought sarcastically and took a seat in one of the antique chairs by the door that led to the foyer.
The three of us said nothing while we waited for Noah. I kept myself busy staring mindlessly into the crackling fire in the huge fireplace opposite the couch. My mind, however, soon started to replay the scene in the kitchen before Ruby walked in. Was I imagining that look in Noah’s eyes or the way he reacted? No, I quickly answered myself. Before I could continue my thoughts, he entered the room, wearing a fresh shirt.
I felt he intentionally avoided looking at me and possibly Ruby, too. He looked only at Miles and seemed he just wanted to get this little meeting over with so he could go back home to bed and try to forget this night. “Ready when you are, Miles,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the frame of the foyer door a couple of feet from me.
Miles finished writing something down, cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. He looked at Noah and me and then at Ruby, who was still in the same position on the couch, facing away from everyone, brandy still in her hand. He paid no attention to her mood, and I supposed he was used to it. “What did the two of you find out?” he asked us.
Noah reached into his pocket, took out his wallet and pulled out the tickets. “Got two of them.”
Miles nodded thoughtfully. He lifted his stack of papers and pulled out a manila envelope from beneath them. “I was able to get a hold of some tickets as well.”
Noah’s jaw dropped. “How?”
“At St. Geneviève’s. I went back after I dropped off Leigh. One of the men I healed wanted to thank me. He said they were offered to his niec
e, but she couldn’t go. Two tickets.” He smiled a little, pleased with the luck of it. “Poor soul had no idea what they had planned for her. Lucky for us, right?”
“Am I missing something?” asked Ruby, sitting up and facing us. “Why do we need tickets to their ball?”
“If you had come to the meeting the other day when I asked you, you’d know that Noah already searched the house and couldn’t find the mask. Our only other alternative is to infiltrate them and wait for them to bring it out at the ball.”
“Are you kidding?” chided Ruby. “That’s like walking right into the lion’s den.”
“If we don’t get that mask back, there will be plenty of lions coming for us and many innocent people, too.”
She stared down at the floor, angry, but realized that Miles was right. I, on the other hand, had my doubts. “How do we even get to the mask with all of them surrounding it?” I asked.
“No,” said Noah, sternly. He faced Miles. “She can’t go. She’s not ready.”
Ruby chuckled softly from the couch. “None of us is ready for that, but put her in there and we’ll be spending all our energy trying to keep her from getting killed.” She stared me down with a wicked half smile and downed the rest of her drink.
I tried to ignore her, but she made me uneasy. “I’m not worried about myself, but I don’t think I can heal anyone quickly enough in a battle situation,” I said, recalling the painful memory of what happened to Nadia. I felt Noah’s eyes on me, and I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, so I dropped my gaze to the floor.
Ruby laughed. “Not worried about herself. See? That’s what I’m talking about, Miles. She can’t do this.”
“You’ve gotten much stronger,” said Miles, ignoring Ruby and sounding very pleased with my progress.
“But I have to be concentrating really hard. I can’t—”
“It’s up to you. Everything about what we do is a choice, but you know that already. I think you can do this, and we need the help.”
I had lied when I said I wasn’t worried about myself. I was scared. Terrified was more like it. It was a situation where I felt like I was jumping in without a net, and I certainly didn’t feel like Ruby would bother to help me if I needed it in a dire situation. Noah might, but I didn’t know if I could count on that, either. At the last second, his emotions over what happened to Nadia might overtake him and he could let me die; ultimate payback, though I doubted he would. That just left Miles, who was still practically a stranger to me. But there was something else to consider. If Les Foncés gained power, that would shift the balance for the paladins, and it would very much be the lions coming for us, as Miles put it, and all the innocents who would suffer, Lyla included. If something happened to me, I knew that Lucas would take care of her. If the Grigori recruited more to join Les Foncés, then I could never protect Lyla or anyone I loved.
“Okay,” I said at last. “I’ll do it.”
“Splendid,” said Miles, getting back to business. From the stack of papers, he pulled out a blueprint of the Grigori House. He rose and went to the large table at the back wall, where he spread out the blueprint flat on the smooth surface. Noah and I followed him to the table and stood next to him, studying the layout of the property. “Ruby?” he called. She sluggishly got up from the couch and joined us.
The Grigori House appeared huge. It covered nearly two acres of land, and that was just for the building. The estate was fifteen acres, complete with a small vineyard, stables and a six-car garage. “We’ll pair off, arriving separately. Ruby, you’ll escort me. Noah and Leigh, you two go together.” I winced when Miles said that. I knew Ruby would protest and possibly Noah, too.
I avoided her eyes, but I felt them thrust into my skull. She said nothing, but I could see her face in the corner of my eye, and to say that she wasn’t pleased is a great understatement. It was Noah who vocalized his objection. “I think it would be better if I went alone and you and Leigh and Ruby could—”
“It looks more normal to go as pairs,” said Miles. With his tone, it sounded like the subject was closed. Noah said no more, but he, too, looked displeased. Being the new kid in school is never easy, no matter what your age, and I felt like I was getting picked last for a deadly game of kick-ball.
“How are we going to stop all of them by ourselves?” asked Ruby, studying the map. “They’re going to be everywhere.”
“We’ll wait until they’re ready to crown their new king and then take it from them.”
All three of us looked at Miles as though he were crazy. “That’s suicide,” said Noah.
Miles shook his head. “Most of them will be mortal. We can handle them. It’s the Watcher angels that we’ll have to worry about.”
“There’s bound to be a dozen of them there,” said Ruby with a huff. “We’ll never make it out alive.”
“The trick is to trap them in one room. You can set up a barrier, Ruby. That will keep the mortals enclosed.”
“Will it hold the Watchers?” I asked.
“No, it won’t” said Noah. “Miles, there’s no way we can take out all the Watchers in one swoop. We’d need at least five more paladins. Fighting paladins too, not just healers.”
“Well, we’re getting two more at least.”
“What do you mean?”
“I phoned Charmagne this morning and asked her to send backup. She’s sending Gretchen and Felix.”
Noah flashed a devilish half grin. “This might work.”
“You bet your ass it’ll work!” came the sound of a young woman’s voice from the foyer. In stepped a pretty, petit woman of about thirty with tanned skin, small brown eyes and wavy, brown hair. Beside her was a tall, lanky guy of about twenty-five, brown skin, black hair and, when he spoke, had a thick French accent and sounded very effeminate.
“Hey, everyone!” said the young man.
Noah’s grin got wider, and he embraced both of them. There were smiles all around, even from Ruby, who hugged them both. Miles was smiling too when he looked at me and noticed my perplexed glance.
“Leigh, I’d like you to meet Gretchen and Felix,” he said.
I shook their hands.
“Charmagne is the woman who trained me to be a healer,” explained Miles. “She’s in France. She and her paladins fight The Dark Ones there. Gretchen’s ability is fire. Felix can produce electricity.”
“Got that right,” said a confident Felix.
“They’ll be great assets to us,” continued Miles. “We’ll have them waiting near the stables, on the south side of the property.” He tapped his index finger at the location on the map. “Plenty of hiding space there for an ambush. Since they took over the property, they don’t keep horses there, so there’s lots of fighting space with nothing to get in the way.”
We discussed the plan further. Despite the nervous tension with our plan, I found Gretchen and Felix to be comforting and fun. They definitely livened up the atmosphere with their stories of fighting Les Foncés in Paris.
When we were finished, Noah and Ruby left, while Gretchen and Felix went upstairs. Before I headed out, something suddenly occurred to me. “Father Ben had said something about a paladin’s light shining brightly and that Les Foncés can see it. Won’t they suspect us?” I asked Miles.
He shook his head. “They don’t pick up on dark paladins.”
“I’m a light paladin, though,” I reminded him.
“Yes, but we’ll have Cee Cee give you a special protection spell. You’ll be fine,” he assured me.
“Can’t she put one on herself, too? That way she can help.”
He shook his head again. “We need someone on the outside in case we don’t make it.”
I nodded uneasily and told him goodnight. Before I left the living room he said, “What happened to your face?” He said it without much surprise as he rolled up the blueprint and put a rubber band around it.
I touched my cheek and winced from the bruise I received in the bar fight. “Don’t know,
” I said, not wanting to recount the story.
Miles walked over to me and gently placed his hand on my cheek. For the first time, I saw a tenderness in him, a contrast to his down-to-business manner. After a moment, I no longer felt the dull throb of the bruise.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Get some sleep.”
But sleep would not be easy that night.
13
A Sacrifice
“Close your eyes, my baby. Just relax and feel yourself being protected.”
I leaned my head back against the tub as Cee Cee spoke from the other side of the bathroom door. I was a little scared to take a bath again, choosing to take showers since I woke up screaming underwater the day after Nadia died. But Cee Cee assured me I would be okay. The water was an intensely calming indigo color. She had added lavender and rosemary and instructed me to wash with a handful of sea shells she had given me. I had given her an are-you-serious look, and she laughed, saying I just needed to pass them over myself in the water. A blue candle and a white candle were lit on the counter; between them was a burning stick of incense. I felt more relaxed already.
When I was done, I joined Cee Cee in the living room. She was at her altar, praying for everyone’s safety for our upcoming task. I didn’t want to interrupt her, but she saw me in the corner of her eye and beckoned me to sit beside her.
“How was your bath?”
“Very relaxing.”
“Good. Now one more thing.”
She picked up a small bottle of oil with something resting at the bottom of it and tipped the bottle onto her thumb. She marked my forehead with her thumb, making a cross three times.
“What is that?”
She put the cap back on the bottle and placed it back on the altar. “Just a little Angelica and Rosemary oil. That’s bay leaves and mandrake root at the bottom of the bottle there.”
I nodded, hoping all of this protection would help. This brought on fresh nerves.
She picked up on my mood. “What’s the matter, my baby?”
I shrugged. “Oh, nothing. Just about to throw myself into the pit of hell in a few days.”
Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 02 - Dark Carnival Page 13
