“Impressed?” he asked.
“It’s beautiful.” I meant it. “I didn’t get to travel much when I was younger for obvious reasons. I’ve always wanted to come here. This city has the most amazing history. Between the voodoo culture, the proximity to bayou country and the above-ground cemeteries, this place has always been on my bucket list.”
“Well, hopefully you won’t die while you’re here,” he teased. “If you do, I promise to keep your zombified form with me forever.”
I furrowed my brow.
“That came out creepier than I intended,” he admitted after a beat. “I didn’t mean I would do gross stuff with you or anything, just that I wouldn’t leave you behind. I mean ... I’m going to stop talking about that.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” I agreed, lifting my head to gaze at the ceiling. “I can’t wait to look around. But ... we probably have to work first, huh?”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to do both.” He briefly ran his hand down my arm before moving back. “I’m going to take a look at the room situation. Don’t wander around without me, okay? This isn’t the sort of city where it’s safe for you to be all ... Charlie.”
I was certain there was an insult buried in there. “Believe it or not, I’ve been taking care of myself for a really long time. I think I can handle New Orleans.”
“I’m sure you can.” Jack remained stoic. “But New Orleans does have a high crime rate.”
“Most urban areas do.”
“Yes, but New Orleans is different. It’s a tourist hub and parts of it never really did come back after Hurricane Katrina. You’re not to wander around with a purse. Put your identification and some cash in your pocket. There are a lot of pickpockets and muggers around, and you make an enticing target.”
“Because I look weak?”
“Because you’re adorable and people will assume that makes you an easy mark.”
Despite my initial bridling at his remarks, I warmed all over at the “adorable” comment. “Okay. I’ll do what you say.”
“That would be a nice change of pace.”
Once he was gone, Millie meandered over to me. She seemed almost as excited as me, though I had a feeling it was for different reasons. “There’s a carousel bar at the Hotel Monteleone,” she announced. “It actually moves. I want to go there while we’re in town. I love that place.”
“You’ve been here before?” I was jealous. “That’s cool.”
“This is my favorite city in the world,” Millie admitted. “If they didn’t have bugs the size of my head in the summer — and enough humidity to steam cruciferous vegetables — I would consider relocating here when I retire.”
“And when will that be? I was under the impression you were going to work forever.”
“Not forever,” she corrected. “I want to earn my keep and not live off the money I got from Myron in the divorce. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still spend that money, but I like making my own money.”
I could understand that. “I have a lot of things I want to see. Like, for example, St. Louis Cemetery has three locations and two of them are registered historic landmarks.”
“That’s a lovely knowledge base you’ve got going on there,” she said dryly.
“There’s also LaLaurie Mansion. That’s where Delphine LaLaurie supposedly tortured and killed her slaves in horrendous fashion. There’s debate over how much of the stories are true, but even if only a quarter of them are real that means she was still one of the worst serial killers ever.”
“And that sounds like a happy visit.” Despite her dour words, Millie smiled. “You look happy, girl.”
“I am happy. Am I not supposed to be happy?” I glanced around to see if people were eavesdropping. “I mean ... I know we’re here investigating dead bodies that supposedly got up and started walking around, but it’s not as if the people in question were murdered.”
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about Jack.”
“Oh.” I wished I could control my blushing. I felt the heat creeping up my cheeks. Millie was a good person, but she enjoyed embarrassing me. “Things with Jack are good.”
“I can tell. You guys were obviously together before we got the call. Are you finally doing overnight visits?”
The question made me ridiculously uncomfortable. “That’s private.”
Millie narrowed her eyes. “Oh, geez. You’re not, are you? What’s wrong? Does he look bad naked or something? Wait, what am I saying? There’s no way that guy looks bad naked. I’ve seen him with his shirt off. Even if he has a tiny twig he has other attributes to make up for it.”
I was mortified. “Millie!”
Several heads turned in our direction, including Jack’s. He frowned for a moment and then shook his head before resuming his conversation with Chris.
“You need to chill out,” Millie admonished. “There’s no reason for you to get so worked up. It was a simple question.”
“It was an invasive question.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the same thing.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Well, I don’t care if it’s invasive.” Millie folded her arms over her chest and looked me up and down. “You’re not a virgin, right?”
I wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. I couldn’t believe she had the audacity to ask me that in front of people. Sure, none of those people appeared to be listening, but that didn’t make it any better. “Of course not.”
“So, what’s the issue?”
“There is no issue.”
“There has to be. You and Jack have been dating for weeks and you still haven’t done the naked tango. That’s not normal ... at least in my world.”
“It doesn’t matter what’s normal in your world,” I snapped, annoyed. “We’re taking things at our own pace.”
Millie held up her hands in capitulation, obviously surprised by my tone. “I was teasing you, Charlie. There’s no reason to get upset.”
“I’m not upset.” I rubbed the spot between my eyebrows and looked away from her. “Things are good. Why isn’t that enough?”
“It’s more than enough.” Millie adjusted her tone quickly. “I didn’t realize you were so nervous. It’s okay. You and Jack will figure things out on your own. I just thought I would give you a little push if it was something minor. Apparently it’s more than that.”
“And what do you think it is?”
“Your magic.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose to ward off what I was sure would be a whopper of a headache if I let it get a foothold. “Don’t say that word.”
“No one is around.” She adopted a soothing voice. “I’m the only one who knows and I promised to take your secret to the grave. I meant it. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Which is why we’re having this conversation in the middle of a crowded hotel lobby.”
“No one is listening,” she reassured me. “I get it. From your perspective, you’re in a tough spot. You have to tell Jack the truth before things go too far and you’re dreading it. It’s easier to wait than jump him ... even though he is all kinds of hot.”
I wanted to admonish her, but she wasn’t wrong. Jack was definitely hot. “I just don’t know how to tell him. I’m afraid it will mean the end of us before we even really got started.”
“I know.” Millie patted my arm. “The thing is, you don’t have anything to fear. Jack will be surprised at first and then accept everything you are with the grace I’ve seen him exude since he joined our group. That’s simply who he is.”
I wished I could believe as easily as her. “And what if he doesn’t?”
“I don’t think that’s a possibility.”
“Anything is possible. I believe you told me that not long before you saw me in action. You can’t say that you weren’t surprised by what went down that day. You were probably afraid of me, too.”
“Not afraid. I was surprised. But after I thought about it, it made sense
. You’re a good person at your core, Charlie. You can do some extraordinary things. There’s nothing wrong with that. Jack will see it the same way.”
Hope washed over me in a wave before I managed to tamp it down. “I’m going to tell him. I just don’t know how to do it.”
“Follow your heart.”
“That’s not very good advice.”
“It’s the only advice I have. Jack is a good man. You’re a good woman. Fate brought you together for a reason. It’ll work out.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so.”
JACK SPENT SO much time at the front desk because he wanted to make sure I got a good room. His room was across the hall — and because it didn’t have a view I had a sneaking suspicion it was originally supposed to be my room — but the one he pointed me toward as we reached our floor was absolutely breathtaking.
“Wow!” I didn’t know what else to say as I dropped my bag on the floor. “This is a suite. There’s a sitting room and everything.”
“There is.” Jack smiled at my reaction. “It looks nice, huh?”
“Nice?” Was he joking? “This is straight out of a dream.”
“You haven’t even taken the full tour yet,” he said, gesturing toward the huge set of balcony doors on the far side of the room. “Look out there.”
He was obviously looking forward to my reaction, so I didn’t make him wait. I swept in that direction, fumbled with the lock for what felt like forever, and then practically skipped onto the balcony. Once outside, I pulled up short.
“Is this ... ?”
“Bourbon Street,” he acknowledged. “I wanted to make sure you got the good view because you seem to be in love with the city.”
That’s when I knew for sure. “This was supposed to be your room because you’re head of security.”
“I’m fine where I’m at.”
“Yeah, but ... .”
“No buts.” He swooped in and gave me a kiss before I could muster the energy to argue. “You deserve this room. I’m right across the hall. I can come over and enjoy your view when I need a fix.”
“Yeah.” I stared into his eyes for a long time. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.” He gave me another kiss and then reluctantly pulled back. “We don’t have much time. We’re all supposed to meet in the lobby in an hour, but I figured we could do a quick turn around the block so you can get a feel for the city before we have to start working.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“Somehow I knew you would say that.”
EMELINE LANDRY owned the Royal Dauphine. The hotel had been in her family for decades. She and her husband ran it together for thirty years before he died last year. She was sad talking about him, but she clearly loved sharing her knowledge of New Orleans history with anyone who wanted to listen.
“This area was hit hard during the hurricane, but we got off lucky compared to others,” she explained. “We refurbished all the rooms in the aftermath and now I think the hotel is even grander than it was before.”
“It’s beautiful,” I enthused, glancing around. “I absolutely love it. Although ... you haven’t seen any zombies walking around, have you?”
Jack shot me a quelling look. “She didn’t mean for the question to come off so weird.”
“It’s not a weird question,” I argued. “It’s a legitimate question.”
“It’s a weird question.” Jack moved his hand to my back and rubbed it up and down. “We are here for a specific reason, though. Apparently people have been reporting the bodies of their deceased loved ones walking around. Has that made the news down here?”
“It has.” Emeline made a face. “It’s all over the television and in the newspapers, too. Everyone and their brother have been out looking for signs of their loved ones. It’s ridiculous.”
“I guess that means you don’t believe in zombies?” Jack asked, his lips quirking.
“I know it’s probably not nice to say given how many in the community believe in nonsense like that, but I definitely think that someone has been smoking some funky hash.”
The woman was blunt, I had to give her that. Still, I was curious about the phenomenon. “What are people saying? I mean ... have the authorities stumbled across any of these bodies?”
“No, and that’s what everyone seems to be ignoring. If it were really happening, it seems to me the cops would’ve assumed at least one of those so-called zombies was a drunk lurching around on Bourbon Street. That’s not the case.”
“What about the family members who claim to have seen them? Has anyone tried talking to them?”
“That I don’t know. I can’t remember reading anything like that in the newspaper. I think that’s what I would try to do first. I mean, my poor Barry died a year ago — God bless his soul — and I would definitely like to see him again. If he showed up outside the hotel I’m pretty sure I would ask him a few questions.”
“And no one has been attacked, right?” Reconciling the zombies Chris was talking about with the ones I’d seen on television wasn’t easy.
“Definitely not,” Emeline replied. “Trust me. If the dead had risen and started attacking, that is not something the authorities could keep under their hats. That’s not how it works here.”
I left Jack to continue asking questions and moved to the front door. Even though he warned me about walking around alone, I couldn’t stop myself from stepping outside.
The street smelled of ... something ... I couldn’t quite identify. Spices of some sort. That’s the only word I could think to describe the scent. Sure, I smelled alcohol, too. I guess plenty had been spilled over the years thanks to the notorious revelry on the bustling street. It was the spices that struck me, though.
I inhaled again, deeply, and smiled. Big cities sometimes threw me ... and not in a good way. Because I had a few psychic abilities — including the occasional flash from someone’s past if my defenses were down — I tended to avoid huge throngs of people. It wasn’t Mardi Gras season, which was good, but the area was still full of people.
Some were artists selling their wares. Others were on vacation, having a good time. Still others looked to be pickpockets, and when I focused on the young face across the way that was watching to see where I would go, he flashed me a sheepish smile before slinking away. The only person who seemed to be completely unaware of his surroundings was a barker standing in the middle of the road holding up a sign. It read “The world will end in fire,” and he wore a toga of sorts as he yelled out words I couldn’t quite make out to passersby.
As if sensing my eyes on him, he turned. His skin was a dusky shade that signified to me he was probably mixed race. In a city as racially diverse as New Orleans, that seemed normal. His eyes were an electric shade of gray, almost blue but not quite, and they locked with mine across a sea of people.
“The end is coming,” he intoned.
“Oh, yeah?” He was a good fifty feet away, but I had no problem hearing him despite the din. “Why do you think that?”
“The dead are rising.”
“That’s the rumor.”
“When the dead rise, the rapture comes.”
I focused on his sign. “What does that have to do with fire?”
“You’ll see, magic girl.” His grin made me uncomfortable and I shifted from one foot to the other. It was possible he called every woman “magic girl.” It was also possible he sensed something about me. Often, special gifts are assumed to be lunacy, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what was happening here.
I didn’t get much of chance to dwell on it because Jack appeared at my side, his expression grim.
“What did I say about wandering away?”
I shot him a withering look. “I’m an adult ... and I was just looking around the street. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Oh, if only that were true.” He smirked at my dour stare. “Don’t wander too far from the others in the group, okay? You look l
ike the world’s easiest mark.”
I thought about the pickpocket. He didn’t seem to feel the same way. I could hardly point that out to Jack, though. “I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble. That’s all I can promise.”
“I guess that will have to be enough.” His gaze lingered on me and then he turned to the barker, who was staring at us intensely. “What’s his deal?”
“He says the world is going to end in fire because the dead are rising.”
“Ah.” Jack didn’t look particularly perturbed. “Every town has its crazies. He’s an example of someone you want to avoid.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Come on.” He grabbed my hand and tugged. “We have thirty minutes. We can’t go far, but we can go around the block. I’ll take you to see more later.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
Four
The brief trip around the block wasn’t enough. There were so many things to see ... and hear ... and smell.
“What is that?” I lifted my nose.
Jack chuckled. “You look like a dog trying to find a bone.”
I frowned. “That doesn’t sound very complimentary.”
“I’m sorry. As for that smell, I believe that’s gumbo. We’ll get some later. You’ll like it.”
I wasn’t exactly picky when it came to food. “I’m sure I will. When I was a kid my parents were obsessed with making me a well-rounded eater. I had to eat things I absolutely hated. I can eat almost anything now.”
He slid me a sidelong look. “Well, I would prefer you stuck to things you actually like. That’s just me, though. If you don’t like gumbo, there’s also red beans and rice, etouffee, jambalaya and a host of other things like po’ boy sandwiches and seafood broil. You’ll find something you like.”
“I’m sure I will.” He was hard to read sometimes. Now was one of those instances. “I didn’t mean to offend you with the comment about the food.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t offend me. I don’t like thinking about you being forced to eat things you don’t like or starve. That makes me angry.”
The Undead Uproar Page 3