“Nope.”
“Oh, Leigh. Oh, Leigh … I’m so sorry. How did you find out?”
“Cee Cee’s niece, Ruby, told me.”
“Oh my God, Leigh. Did Clothilde know?”
“Yeah.”
“Honey, I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s okay,” I lied, a few tears forming in my eyes. “I’ll be all right.” I was already sorry I told her. I always found it very difficult to break down and cry to someone else, even my best friend. I could tell she was struggling with what to say next.
“Hey, you know what?”
“What?”
“We should have lunch tomorrow. My treat. Bring Lyla.”
“Thanks, but I thought you had to work all weekend.”
“Well, I can break for lunch, can’t I? C’mon. Please? Y’all come to the hotel. We’ll eat at the restaurant inside.”
I smiled. “Okay. Thanks, Care.”
“Anytime, girlie. I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Night.”
We hung up, and I set my phone down on the nightstand, turned off the light and drifted off to sleep, grateful for good friends.
19
A Request
The next day was Friday. Lyla only had half a day of school since it was Mardi Gras weekend. I took her with me to have lunch with Carrie at the restaurant in the hotel where she worked.
After lunch, I took Lyla to Girard Park next to my old college, U. L. Lafayette. We fed the ducks in the pond and played hide-and-seek among the giant oaks. At first, she didn’t want to play, claiming that game was for babies, but she soon turned around. After we played, I saw I had three missed calls from Noah. I didn’t call him back.
Later, we did a little retail therapy at the mall. Lyla was amused at my purchases, but buying nice, new underwear always made me feel better. My phone rang again. This time I heard it and checked the ID. Again, it was Noah. I rejected the call and turned my phone on silent.
When we got back to Clothilde’s, it was just after dusk, and there was a dark gray Charger parked in the driveway. Once in the house, I saw Noah sitting on the couch, visiting with Clothilde. He smiled politely when he saw me. My mouth was agape, but I closed it quickly and muttered, “Hey.”
“Hey,” he replied. “I hope you don’t mind. Your grandmother asked me if I’d like to stay for dinner, and I accepted.”
“Uh, no, that’s fine.”
“Lyla, this is Mr. Noah,” said Clothilde.
“Noah’s fine,” he said.
“Mr. Noah, please,” said Clothilde. “She needs to know her manners.”
Noah softly laughed, got up and shook Lyla’s hand. “Hi,” she said, staring at him. She sounded a little nervous. I could tell she thought he was probably the cutest guy she’d ever met. I almost laughed out loud, but held my tongue.
“Lyla, take your bags upstairs and get ready for supper,” said Clothilde.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, picking up her mall shopping bags. I handed her mine, too, which she hauled upstairs.
“Leigh Leigh, would you please go out to the kitchen outside and get me a roll of paper towels? I’m all out in the house,” said Clothilde.
“Sure,” I said, still confused as to why Noah was here.
I went out to the back yard, turning on the back light on the way out. Noah followed me.
“Leigh Leigh?” he asked, amused.
“Old nickname from when I was a kid,” I said. “So, why are you here exactly?”
“You haven’t been returning my calls.”
“So you drove all the way out here?”
“The mask is gone.”
I stopped walking and turned to him. “Gone?”
“Stolen. And Ruby’s missing, too.”
I smirked. “Well, there’s your culprit.”
“This is serious, Leigh. Miles went back to Paris with Gretchen and Felix so he can bring the mask back to Charmagne. He said he had the mask with him, but when they got to Paris it wasn’t in his bag.”
“Why didn’t he just give it to Gretchen and Felix to bring back?”
“He wanted to see Charmagne again. Kind of like a vacation for him. Ruby took them to the airport. That’s the last time I saw her.”
I started walking toward the outdoor kitchen again. “Sorry, but what do you want me to do?”
He followed me inside. “Miles is trying to get a flight back to New Orleans. Everything’s booked up right now, but when he gets back, we need you to help us.”
I stopped looking for the paper towels and turned to him. “You don’t need me to help you get that mask back. My grandmother called you and told you to come here to convince me to go back to New Orleans, didn’t she?”
He took a deep breath. “Actually, it was Cee Cee,” he said, a little embarrassed. “But I really do think you can help.”
I rolled my eyes. “How?”
“If there are more Grigori in New Orleans, there’s a good chance they’re the ones who have it. You’re a really good healer. Cee Cee and I can’t find Ruby. We can’t do it all by ourselves. We need all the help I can get.”
I looked down at the dirty floor of the kitchen. I heard the chickens softly cooing in their coop outside. It was cold, but not bitterly. I looked out the window and saw the last strip of indigo hang onto the horizon as the velvet night sky threatened to overtake it.
I shook my head and looked at Noah.
“I just don’t have any fight left in me. Not after everything that’s happened. I’m sorry, but I just can’t go back there.”
He regarded me earnestly. “I’m sorry that … well, I’m sorry about Miles and especially Ruby. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”
I looked down and almost held my tongue, but said it anyway. “I still feel bad about Nadia.”
He looked away from me and softly said, “It’s not your fault. I should have been there to protect her—both of you.”
I put a hand on his shoulder to console him. “You’d done so much for her already.”
He looked back at me, his gray eyes questioning.
“Cee Cee told me,” I said.
“What did she tell you?”
“About you and Nadia. About how you brought her back. You became a dark paladin for her.”
Tears started to form in his eyes. He tilted his head back to keep them from falling. “It’s okay,” I murmured.
“It’s not okay,” he whispered, as he turned around and, frustrated, rubbed both hands against his cheeks.
I let him collect himself for a moment, and then I said, “You knew you’d become a dark paladin—a line walker, like Cee Cee calls it. I’m sure you loved Nadia, but—”
“—how could I do it?” he finished.
I nodded.
“You’ve never loved anyone that much before, have you?”
I started to say yes, but couldn’t bring myself to. “I still don’t think I could do it. I could never cross that line, not after everything I’ve come to know about paladins and the afterlife and …” I trailed off as Noah shook his head in defeat.
After a moment, he said, “What else has Cee Cee told you?” I hesitated, and he picked up on that. “Has she told you about my past?”
I nodded. “About your parents—”
“You mean my mother and the son-of-a-bitch that raped her?” I looked away, down at the floor, not wanting to see the fresh hurt in his eyes. “She talks too much,” he softly added.
“She said you had wings. Why did you cut them off?”
He thought for a moment. I looked back at him, awaiting his answer. “How do you feel about Miles right now? Do you want to be like him in any way?” I didn’t answer, but I didn’t need to. “Well take that and magnify it a thousand times,” he finished.
There was nothing left to say between us. We just stood there, each intensely aware of the anger and sadness harbored behind the other’s eyes.
But, in that
moment we understood each other—a spark of understanding that created a bridge of electricity between us. His eyes stayed on mine as he leaned closer to me. I didn’t stop him. I took a shallow breath of anticipation. He paused briefly, and that electric bridge felt at full voltage. As soon as his lips touched mine, I felt fireworks shoot through my body. His kiss was soft at first, and then he pulled back, his breath deepening as I ran my hand down the back of his neck.
He kissed me again, but harder, more intensely. I was backed against the wall, feeling the animalistic presence of him, enjoying it. I had never felt so vulnerable. It frightened me, but I liked it. It was perfect. Everything about him was so beautifully, tragically, perfect.
A flash of light shot through the window and across the shed as a pair of headlights turned into the long driveway, scaring what I assumed was Lyla’s gray tabby cat that sprinted out from his hiding place in the corner of the room and out the door. I jumped back, frightened for a moment. Noah suddenly pulled away from me, unable to look me in the eyes. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, heading out the door as fast as he could.
“Noah,” I started, but he was gone in an instant. I stepped out of the shed to see Lucas’ truck stop in the driveway, near the front door.
I looked over at the back door that had just swung shut as Noah entered the house. I saw Jonathan excitedly get out of the truck and run to the front door. When Lucas got out, I waved at him, but he didn’t wave back. He looked at me peculiarly and closed the door of his truck. It occurred to me that he might have seen Noah leaving the shed in a hurry.
I entered the house through the back. Clothilde was in the utility room when I entered. She was putting some laundry in the dryer. From the utility room, I could see into the living room. Lyla had run down stairs to greet Lucas and Jonathan.
“What’s Lucas doing here?” I whispered.
“I invited him for supper.”
“You invited him and Noah?”
“Mais, what’s wrong with that?” she snapped.
There was nothing wrong with it, really, except that it could lead to a total disaster. I was pretty sure Clothilde didn’t know that Lucas already wasn’t a fan of Noah because of his prison conviction. Even though I knew Lucas knew that Noah killed a bad guy, he still saw things as mostly black and white.
“Where’s the paper towels?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“The paper towels!”
“Oh. I forgot to get it.”
“Well, go back and get it and then get washed up for supper,” she said, miffed that I forgot.
I ran outside to the outdoor kitchen and searched for the paper towels. I found a roll behind a row of bagged herbs on the top shelf over the stove. When I went back inside the house, I handed the roll to Clothilde and headed for the downstairs bathroom to wash my hands as Noah entered the living room from the kitchen. He avoided eye contact with me. Lucas stared at him, a little surprised. Noah greeted him with a smile.
I bit the bullet and made the introduction. “Uh, Lucas Castille, this is Noah Dallion.”
Noah extended his hand to shake. Lucas hesitated but shook anyway. “Hey, how you doin’?”
Noah nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
When we were all seated at the table, it was small talk all through dinner. Noah kept it cool and nonchalant, but Lucas was having a harder time. I noticed him suspiciously eyeing Noah now and then, listening carefully to his every word, trying to figure him out.
Can anyone say awkward, I thought.
When dinner was finally over, Noah said he had to go back to New Orleans. Clothilde told him it was too late for him to drive all that way and offered him to take the extra bedroom. In the corner of my eye, I noticed Lucas tense up. I eyed Clothilde and made sure she noticed that I was not happy with her offer. Noah seemed to pick up on that because I noticed a hint of a smile before he politely declined.
I walked him to his car while Lucas helped Clothilde with the dishes, and Jonathan and Lyla watched TV. Noah walked over to the driver’s side. I stood across from him near the passenger door. He was still having a difficult time looking me in the eyes but he managed well enough.
“I meant what I said about needing your help.”
I threw my head back in exasperation and then looked back at him. “I can’t go back there. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.”
“Okay. Just think about it. Please?”
I hesitated.
“Please?” he repeated.
“Fine. I’ll think about it.”
He nodded, got in his car and left. I stayed there for a few moments longer, contemplating New Orleans, Miles, the mask. But mostly I thought about that kiss. When I thought about it, I had a nervous, excited feeling in the bottom of my stomach.
Behind me, I heard the front door open, the sound of footsteps on the wooden porch and then the familiar, comforting creek of the chains on the porch swing going at a calm, steady pace. I turned to see Lucas in the swing, looking out at the night sky. I joined him on the porch. He patted the seat next to him on the swing. I sat down, and he glanced back up at the sky.
“What are you looking at?” I asked.
“Hercules.”
“Hmm?”
He pointed to a set of stars in the sky. “The constellation. I told Jonathan that he was like Hercules now. Then I told him the myth story, and he liked that. Now he already has his Halloween costume picked out.”
I laughed. “It seems like you’re getting better with this whole thing.”
“Well, it’s hard to ignore when he keeps picking me up over his head. But I got him to stop. Now I just threaten him that Miss Clo will come over and switch him if he doesn’t behave.”
I laughed harder at that. “Good idea.”
We were quite for a couple of minutes, just gazing at the stars. “So, what’s with that guy Noah?” His question caught me off guard.
“What do you mean? You know why he was in prison.”
“Yeah, but there’s something else going on.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why do you say that?”
“Just the way he was a little too smooth at dinner.”
I laughed. “I’d be worried if you weren’t suspicious of anyone.”
Lucas didn’t laugh. His hazel eyes found me and regarded me earnestly. “What are you getting yourself into, Leigh?”
I wanted so much to tell him about what had happened over the last couple of weeks, especially about Miles and my mom. But how could I explain everything to him when I was still trying to wrap my head around it? I wasn’t ready to open the wound.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I said at last. I gave him my most sincere smile and patted his knee. He nodded, willing to accept my answer for now. He put his arm around me, and we watched the stars for a while longer, enjoying each other’s company like the old friends that we were.
Not long after our visit on the swing, I said goodnight to Lucas, but, much to my surprise, instead of leaving, he went to his truck and brought back two overnight bags. He informed me that he and Jonathan were spending the night because we were all going to the Courier de Mardi Gras early the next morning. Clothilde had invited him and, apparently had spoken for me by saying I’d drag myself out of bed at five o’clock on a Saturday morning to tailgate a bunch of drunk men on horseback chasing chickens.
Later that night, when the house was quiet and the kids were in bed, I crawled into my own bed and went to turn off the lamp, but I reached for my phone instead. Before I realized what I was doing, I had pulled up Noah’s number. My thumb lingered over the call button for a few seconds. I thought about that kiss again. Truthfully, I had thought about it all night.
There was a knock on my door. I put the phone down on the nightstand. “Come in,” I said.
Lucas entered, smiling. “You excited for tomorrow?”
“Sure,” I said, faking a smile, which he saw right through. He laughed.
“You don’t have to come i
f you don’t want to. I can meet up with you and Lyla later for a parade or something.”
“That would be nice,” I said, relieved.
He took a seat down next to me on the edge of my bed. He looked like he wanted to ask me something but didn’t know how to go about doing it. Finally he said, “You seemed distant tonight. Everything okay?”
What could I tell him? I couldn’t tell him about Noah’s impromptu actions in the outdoor kitchen. And I still wasn’t ready to talk about Miles. I smiled at him like I did on the swing and said, “I’m fine. Thanks for being a good friend, though.”
He frowned slightly at that, but then nodded with a defeated smile. “Friend,” he murmured.
I patted his hand, and then he held my hand in his, our eyes locking on each other. He wanted to kiss me. Lucas, always the gentleman, would not take any liberties with me unless he knew good and well I wanted him to. He kissed me once before, last summer when I needed someone to help me deal with the terrifying strangeness going on in my life when we were facing Savoy. We had slept in my bed, him holding me and nothing else, but nothing else needed. And I loved that about him.
“You have to get up really early,” I reminded him sweetly.
He smiled at me for a moment longer, not taking his eyes away from me. For a painful moment, I wanted him. I felt my hand squeeze his a little, and he picked up on that. He started to lean in to me and I almost let him. For a moment I wanted him to go for it, just as Noah had, but I had to remind myself that they were not the same person at all.
Before I got carried away, I took a deep breath and took my hand away. He looked hurt for a second, but nodded his understanding. He got up, smiling sadly and said, “Night, Leigh-Leigh.”
“Night.”
After I had turned off the little lamp by my bed and long drifted off to sleep, I was jolted awake by the sound of my phone vibrating on the nightstand. I opened my eyes to see half my room bathed in the soft, blue glow from the phone’s screen. I reached out for it and held it up, squinting from the glare. When my eyes adjusted, I saw the caller ID showed an unknown number. It was almost three o’clock. I hesitated for a few moments before answering it, thinking it was a wrong number and how I didn’t want to get into an argument with some drunken moron at this hour.
Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 02 - Dark Carnival Page 19
