“I’m dangerous in a good way.”
She curled up on her bed and pulled the blanket around her. She loved his smooth and deep voice. It touched a place deep inside her she had never known was there. It was the first thing she had noticed about him. Okay, it was the second thing she had noticed right behind how great he looked in a three piece suit. When they had met, she had spilled coffee all over him and then he had apologized so sweetly for running into her. Like a true gentleman, he had taken the blame for the accident. When he asked her to join him for dinner, she couldn’t refuse him. She smiled at the memory of their first dinner. “I didn’t know there were different kinds of dangerous.”
“Trust me, love. There are several kinds of danger out there in the world. My kind of dangerous is intriguing because you know that ultimately I’ll never hurt you.”
“How do I know that?”
“Look deep inside you and you’ll see what I’m talking about. It’s the little voice in your mind saying you should take a chance and go out with me. It’s the same voice making you unsure about staying involved with Delacourte.”
She wondered how he had known she was rethinking dating Vincent. It didn’t have much to do with the fact that Dominic was showing an unusual amount of interest in her now. She hadn’t been feeling the burning attraction to him she was looking for in the guys she dated. She had almost reached the decision to stop seeing him when Dominic returned home and started hitting on her.
“Dominic, what happened in Reno?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You’ve changed. I’ve never seen you as forceful as you were tonight.”
“I know and I’m sorry. I think I got scared.”
“Scared?”
“I never thought I’d really have to worry about you finding someone else. I didn’t stop you from dating other men because I guess I always thought you knew we were meant to be together. When I got back from Reno, all I heard about from our friends was how wonderful Delacourte was and that you made the perfect couple. All of a sudden, I saw all my plans for the future disappearing before my eyes. So I got scared.”
“Oh, Dominic.”
“I promise to move slower, Teresa. I don’t want to scare you away and if you want to keep seeing Delacourte, I won’t stop you.”
“It’s hard for you to let me choose, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is, but I’ve learned the value of free will.” A note of sadness touched his voice for a moment. “I’ve also seen the folly of free will, so I hope you don’t mind if I keep an eye on you if you decide to keep seeing Delacourte.”
She laughed softly. “I’m not surprised. You can keep an eye on me. I’ve grown used to you being around.”
“Sleep well, my love. I’ll see you for breakfast tomorrow.”
“Good night.”
She hung up and snuggled under the blankets. Warmth filled her and she knew it was because Dominic was home again. Tomorrow she would break it off with Vincent and see where this attraction between her and Dominic went. She fell asleep to dreams of her and Dominic entwined on a bed of white satin sheets.
* * * *
While she dreamed erotic dreams, she didn’t hear the strange sounds coming from the street below—the same sounds she had dismissed earlier as an alley cat. In the sudden cold wind that blew, a chuckle could be heard. If someone had glanced out their window, they would have seen a sharply dressed man standing on the street across from her window.
“She’ll be ours soon.”
“Yes.” Vincent laughed. “So will that lovely piece of property she owns. I want that for my hotel.”
“I want her. Her soul is pure. It’s perfect for me.”
A part of his soul not corrupted by the spirit balked at the thought of offering Teresa up as a sacrifice to this evil thing. “Why does it have to be her? Can’t any of the other women I’ve dated work?”
“No. There is something special about this one. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I know that she must be the one. The only thing that worries me is the man she was dancing with tonight. You didn’t tell me she had a business partner.”
“I didn’t know. Nothing in the research I had my assistant do told me she didn’t own her business and the building out right. LaFontaine makes me nervous.”
“As he should. You will never be in his league, no matter how much I help you. There is something strange about him. He doesn’t have the same feel as the rest of you.”
“What does he feel like?”
“He has a touch of the infinite in him, I think. It’s strange because I don’t sense the presence of another spirit in him.”
“That should be good. He shouldn’t be that hard to take down then.”
“You would think that, but I have the feeling he’ll be harder than anyone else I’ve dealt with. He will protect her fiercely as well. We’ll have to be cautious.”
“That’s a good plan. I’ll have my assistant start looking into his background. Maybe we’ll be able to find something to blackmail him with.”
“I don’t think we’ll find anything and even if we did, I don’t think he’s vulnerable to blackmail. He strikes me as a man who doesn’t care what others think of him.”
“But he might care what Teresa thinks of him.”
“Not enough to risk harming her. If it comes down to you revealing all his secrets and her getting hurt, he’ll take out the ad in the newspaper for you.” Another cold breeze blew down the street. “It’s time for us to go. We need to plan.”
Vincent walked away. He didn’t see the tall figure step out of the alley behind him. Eyes narrowed, the man watched the departing shadow and wondered about the blackness he felt in the man’s soul.
* * * *
“We might have a problem with Delacourte, LaFontaine.”
Dominic wasn’t surprised to see Mika’il show up later that night. The club had been closed for an hour. He was going over the receipts from the night. Not glancing up at the angel, he waved him to take a seat across from him. “Do you want something to drink?”
“No. I don’t need to make myself feel mortal by pretending to drink. Did you hear what I said?”
“What’s got you so uptight?” Dominic’s eyes glazed over for a second and then cleared. A smug smile crossed his face. “Right at the moment, Teresa is curled up nice and warm in her bed having sweet dreams of me.”
Mika’il twitched his shoulders. “I don’t like this town. There are too many spirits still existing here. I also get nervous when I’m around Vodou practitioners.”
“Vodou? What do you have against that?”
“Nothing except it freaks me out. I prefer the clean and traditional Catholic ceremony.”
“Ah, all smoke, incense and Latin. It’s a little stuffy for me.” Dominic waved a hand and two glasses of bourbon appeared on the table. “Have a drink, Mika’il. It won’t affect you, but it’ll give you something to do besides obsess about this town. That’s the magic of New Orleans, my friend. It’s beautiful and ugly. It’s deeply religious, but the mixture is exotic and pagan as well.”
Mika’il sipped his drink and watched Dominic with enigmatic silver eyes. “Is that why you like this place so much? I never thought you would settle down in one town for so long.”
“I do like the feel of the faith that permeates this town, but there is also the decadence and the feel of anything goes. I don’t have a problem with all the different religions here.”
“Good, because I think our problem with Delacourte doesn’t have anything to do with the usual religions, but the fringe ones.”
“Has Delacourte done anything to her?” Dominic started to stand. “I’ll go over and check her.”
Mika’il waved him to sit back down. “No, she’s fine. I just left her apartment. Vincent was standing outside on the street. He was mumbling to himself. I can usually see the souls of the mortals. The odd thing about him was it looked like he had two souls inhabiting his body.”
“Spirit possession?”
“Yes. It’s not a true demon though. Both you and I would have sensed it when he was here earlier. I haven’t had any experience with this type before. We’re going to have to learn as much as we can before they do anything to Teresa.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Dominic shrugged. “I might have some employees that know about Vodou. I’ll check with them first.”
“I’ll look up a few sources I have. I’ll get ahold of you if I find anything.” Mika’il disappeared as Randy came around the corner from the bar.
“Hey, boss man, are you talking to yourself again?”
“I must be. I need to ask you something.” He waved his manager to take a seat.
“Sure, boss.” Randy didn’t glance at the second glass on the table. He had gotten used to the unusual ways of his boss.
“Randy, do you believe in God?”
The big man looked at him. “Sure. I believe in God, but I practice the island religion.”
“Island religion?”
“Vodou. The real kind, not the tourist bullshit they sell in the French Quarter.” Randy’s lip curled in disgust.
“So you believe in the power of spirits?”
“Yes. Good and bad. The spirits of our ancestors are all around us.”
“So what do you think of Vincent Delacourte?”
“Why are you asking me? You usually have better judgment about people than I do.”
“You’re closer to the ‘other’ world. Your Vodou religion gives you more of a sense for evil than I.” He knew he had lost some feeling for the spiritual world. Living for centuries, he had become more like the mortals he had once ridiculed. I’m more experienced with demons than spirits, he thought.
“Delacourte is bad news. I’ve seen him at some of the ceremonies. He came looking for something. I was hoping he didn’t find it, but the feeling I got from him tonight said he found exactly what he was looking for.”
“What do you think it was?”
Randy shrugged. “If people don’t know the true power of Vodou, they come looking for zombies and Vodou dolls. They expect us to be doing curses and things like that. I’m not saying that stuff doesn’t exist. It does, but for any of the bad stuff, you have to go find a sorcerer or bòkò. I don’t know any of my people who would tell him where to find one.”
“If the stuff being peddled to the tourists isn’t the real Vodou, why aren’t you and the religious leaders trying to educate them?”
“This isn’t a religion for the man who has always been free, Dominic. There are reasons why it’s called the religion of the slaves. My ancestors practiced it in Africa before they were sold by their enemies to the white men. Vodou isn’t even the true name for it. It’s a form of ancestor worship.”
Dominic started to ask another question when Randy held up his hand.
“I’m not saying anything more. I trust you, man. You’ve been a good friend and you won’t use anything I tell you to get me in trouble, but for anything else, you’ll need to talk to a mambo or oungan.”
“Do you know one I can talk to?”
“I’ll ask mine and see if he knows anyone who will talk to you. It might take a little while to convince him.”
Dominic pulled out some cash. “Take him a token from me. If he can use the money for his community, that’s fine. If not, get something he can use. Maybe by showing respect, he’ll be willing to talk to me.”
“Thanks, man. I know just what he’d use it for.” Randy took the money and stood up. “I’ll head over and talk to him right now.”
“Isn’t it a little late to be dropping in on someone?”
“He doesn’t sleep much anymore. I think he’s on his way to the ancestors’ land.”
Dominic watched his friend head out of the club. He wasn’t sure what would happen, but he would keep a close eye on Teresa. If the Father’s warrior angel was worried, things weren’t looking good.
Chapter Three
Dominic was sitting at their usual table at Pierre’s Bakery, a tiny shop tucked in the French Quarter of the city. He had ordered her a cup of chicory coffee. He didn’t know how she could stand drinking the thick rich liquid this early in the morning. He sipped his tea and looked out at the crowd of people passing by. They all seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. He envied them having the dedication to keep going every day, but he knew the truth. There was no point in rushing because nothing ever came of running around unless it was an early grave. These mortals couldn’t afford to die any sooner than they had to.
Maybe he was just getting tired after all these centuries of living. He never got up early unless it was for breakfast with Teresa. He didn’t rush anywhere because he did have all the time in the world. He smiled to himself. He heard the bell over the door ring and he looked up to see her walking towards him. His heart constricted as he thought of how much he loved her.
She wasn’t fashionably thin. She was always complaining about her hips and her thighs. He had told her several times he loved her the way she was. When he held her, he wanted to feel curves and softness, not bones and angles. She smiled and laughed at something Pierre said to her as she made her way through the crowd. He couldn’t help the smug little grin he gave the other men in the bakery as they shot jealous glares at him.
He stood and pulled her into his arms. Crushing her to him, he kissed her hard. She gasped and he took advantage by sliding his tongue in and stroking hers. Melting against him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. As he devoured her lips and caressed her back, he wondered in the back of his mind how long it would take before she remembered where they were. Then he lost himself in her touch and the soft moans coming from her throat.
The sound of clapping broke into their fogged minds and they pulled apart. He smiled down at her as she blushed. She slugged him as the other customers cheered. He held out her chair and brushed her hair out of the way to kiss her neck. She shivered.
“Dominic, I thought you said you’d take it slow.”
“I don’t think kissing you is really rushing things. Actually, I’ve wanted to kiss you like that since I first met you.”
“But here in the middle of the bakery?”
“I couldn’t help it. You make me glad to be alive and no one has done that in a very long time.” He pushed her coffee over to her.
“You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you?” She took a sip and sighed. “My coffee never tastes like this. Why is that?”
“You’ve never made coffee.” He grabbed a beignet the owner of the bakery had brought over for them.
“I’m sure if I ever did, it wouldn’t taste like this.”
“So have you done any thinking about Delacourte and whether or not you’ll be seeing any more of him?” He was casual about asking. As much as he wanted to demand she stop seeing the man, he knew there was no better way to make her mad than issuing an order.
“I’ll call him later and let him know I don’t want to see him again. I think after the way he acted last night, he’ll understand why.”
“I’m not sure. Do you want me to be there when you tell him?”
“I can take care of myself. I don’t need you there to hold my hand.”
Take a step back, my friend. Pushing her isn’t the way. Tell her how worried we are for her, Mika’il’s voice cautioned him.
Dominic sighed and pushed his tea away. Grabbing her hands, he lifted them to his lips. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t need me to take care of you. You’ve proven you’re more than capable of taking care of things by yourself. I’m worried about Delacourte. I don’t think he’s quite the nice guy you seem to think he is.”
“Have you had someone gathering information on him?” She didn’t sound happy.
“Not any of my people. My business associate, Mickey O’Flynn, has been doing a little digging of his own. I didn’t ask him to.” He shrugged. “You don’t really ask Mickey to do anything. I guess there was something about your date that he d
idn’t like. So he checked a few things and let me know.”
“What things?”
“It seems he’s into Vodou.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. A lot of people practice that religion.”
He could tell she was a little nervous about that news though. “Of course, it wouldn’t mean anything if he was into the regular Vodou, but he’s into the bad mojo, Teresa.”
“Mojo?”
“The black charms that can harm you if he wants them to.”
“I didn’t think those things happened. I thought all that stuff was just for the movies.”
“It has its good and bad side just like every other religion. If he knows what he’s looking for, he’ll be able to find it.”
“You really think he’ll harm me in some way?” She wasn’t convinced.
“Not really. I just want you to be careful while you’re around him. Don’t make him mad.”
“It wasn’t me making him mad last night. It seems to me someone else was pushing his buttons.”
Leaning forward, Dominic caught her gaze with his. He hoped she got the point he was making. “You and I could have made love on the dance floor. Even that isn’t an excuse to attack you like he did.”
“Are you telling me you wouldn’t be angry?”
“Sure, I’d have been furious if my date starting kissing some other guy, but I wouldn’t take my anger out on her. I’d probably be tempted to punch the guy moving in on my territory,” he admitted.
She laughed. “Totally a male response.”
“Is it? How would you feel if some woman came over here and started hitting on me, especially after seeing that kiss?”
“I’d want to scratch her eyes out.”
“See, it’s a territorial response, not just a male reaction.”
“What would you do or say to your date if she did something like that?”
“I’d chalk it up to fate and walk away. She obviously isn’t the right one if she’s kissing someone while she’s on a date with me. I’ll take her home if she wants me to and say good-bye. Life’s too long for me to waste my time on women who don’t want me.”
“Don’t you mean life’s too short?”
Fallen: Dominic Page 3