by V. A. Dold
Ten minutes later, Willa made her way down the hallway. She took her time stopping outside each room to take a look inside without intruding on the occupants’ privacy by entering.
She couldn’t get the basement out of her mind and scanned the walls of the main floor for a door that might lead to the secret area of the house as she descended the staircase. She leaned over the railing and craned her neck to see into the kitchen. If the house followed most floor plans, it would be in there. She sighed when she didn’t see the door. Where the heck could it be?
As her feet hit the tile of the central hall, she paused. A raised voice of a woman caught her attention. Then Etie growled something inaudible. What the heck?
She tiptoed quietly toward the library and glanced in. The instant Etie caught sight of her, the argument ceased. Holy crow. She had expected to find a woman and Etie in the room, but there were several substantial men, and a second woman as well. Seven heads turned to stare.
She thought the men at the bayou house were handsome. These men were stunning. Then the woman in front of Etie caught her gaze. If looks could kill, Willa would be dead. The emotions slamming into her were angry, dangerous, and cold.
Instinctively, she took a step back. Before she could turn and run, Etie shot across the room and grasped her wrist. “Don’t,” he whispered right before he pulled her back into the library.
She was unprepared when Etie moved to stand behind her and wrapped his whole body around her, but she welcomed his support. “Xander, Gray, Trey, Max, and Angel, this is my muierimei, Willa.”
The silence was deafening. One second. Two. Willa sucked in an alarmed breath when all five vampires stood in unison and stalked toward her.
Her gazed shot from one grave face to the next as she pressed back into Etie’s embrace for protection. When they kept coming, she forced down a scream. Were they angry? Was she about to die? But then she realized the emotions of the five warriors didn’t match their fierce expressions. She sensed awe. And was that reverence? What was going on?
All five stopped in a straight line, not three feet from her feet, manifested a lethal looking sword, fell to one knee, and slammed its tip into the hardwood with a resounding thunk.
Unable to stop herself, Willa dropped to her hands and knees to inspect the damage to the floor. “Oh my God. This flooring is going to be hard to replace.”
All five of his warriors frowned and turned their stares on Etie.
“Willa, forget the floor. I’ll have it repaired.” She struggled but quickly subsided when he gripped her shoulders, pulled her to her feet to stand at his side, and she saw five confused faces staring back at her.
“My people are giving you their pledge of fealty.”
She glanced from the ruined floor to him, confusion in her eyes. “They’re what?”
“Accepting you as their queen and pledging their sword arm and lives to protect you.”
“Thank you?” she said to the five who remained on bended knee at her feet, heads bowed.
The men’s and woman’s heads lifted. Their fierce expressions broke into smiles. One by one, they rose to take her hand and kiss her knuckles. Even Angelika. Which was a little weird. Who was she kidding? It was all weird.
Willa expected the five vampires to go back to what they were doing when she walked in. Instead, she saw Etie nod to the tallest man who then bowed to her and said, “It’s my pleasure to serve you, my lady. I’m Alexander Beck or Xander.”
He grinned and added, “In another life, I was a peace officer. But now I work with my team to keep this great city safe. On occasion, I also do private security on the side when Etienne has a job that requires my unique skills.”
“Hello, Xander.”
He gave her a charming smile and turned to take a seat at the far end of the library.
Next, a man who was just over six-foot stepped forward.
“I’m Tragar Fraser. I hail from Inverness, my lady. But you can call me Trey.”
“Hello, Trey.”
Trey stepped back, and a six-foot heart stopper took his place.
“Grayson Davis from Georgia, ma’am. Please call me Gray.”
“Hello, Gray.”
Then the dark-skinned, black-eyed earnest man bowed to her. “It is my pleasure to meet you, my lady. I am Maximilian Monet from Paris, France. But that was a very long time ago. It would please me if you called me Max.”
“Paris! Oh my stars, we need to talk. I want to hear all about life in Paris when you were young.”
Max grinned and took a step back. “Anytime. I love talking about the old country.”
Finally, the lithe, willowy dark-haired pixie took her hand. “I’m Angelika Archambeau, but most people call me Angel.” She glanced at Etie and screwed up her face. “Well, everyone except Etienne. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have another woman in the house.”
Willa couldn’t help but smile back at the exuberant woman. “I’m happy to be here. I hope you like cats. I brought Shadow with me. He’s a big, fat, fluffy, love bug.”
Etienne snorted.
The woman who had been arguing with Etienne and who Willa had forgotten made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sputter. “Don’t get too comfortable. You won’t be here long. Will she, Etienne.” she said with a smirk.
Her five new friends stiffened and went for their weapons, but Etienne held up a hand. “It’s time for you to go, Camilla.”
Camilla narrowed her eyes at him and then glared at Willa. She gave Willa the once over and rolled her eyes. “Really, Etienne? You chose this over me?”
Willa inhaled sharply which pricked his temper.
He wrapped his arm around Willa and pulled her against his side. “You were never more than a dinner partner, Camilla.”
Crossing her arms, Camilla glowered at him. “She’s met everyone else, aren’t you going to introduce me? Or would you rather I did that myself?”
With a sigh, Etienne did the honors. “Willa, my love, this is Camilla Jones.”
“His ex-girlfriend,” Camilla added before he could stop her.
“As I said before. You were nothing more than a warm body to have dinner with.”
“Is that so?” Camilla bit out with a thunderous expression. Then she focused her glare on Willa. “If you don’t believe me, just ask around. You’ll find that ex-girlfriends are all Etienne has. I have yet to find a woman he had a serious relationship with. And I’ve asked everyone.” She cocked a brow and glanced at the bare wall over the fireplace. “Why is that, Etienne?”
He’d had enough. “It’s time for you to go. You can leave on your own two feet or be carried out. Decide.”
With a righteous glare, Camilla leaned toward Willa and hissed, “Ask him about the blank spot on the wall, then we’ll talk.”
“That’s it.” Etienne put Willa behind him and pushed Camilla toward the door.
“I’m just warning her,” Camilla snapped back, her gaudy earrings flashing. “What’s wrong, Etienne? Are you afraid she’ll leave you when she learns the truth?” Suddenly, Camilla’s eyes went wide, and she fluttered a hand at her throat. “You’re afraid you’ll get another woman killed.”
She stretched her neck to see around Etienne and stare at Willa. “If you think he will ever have feelings for you, he won’t. In his words, I already gave my heart away a long time ago. He’s incapable of loving again. If you want to know who really holds his heart, go up to the attic and take a look at the painting of Amalia. Imagine how much he must have loved his wife to have a prominent place over the mantle for the past hundred and fifty years.”
Willa put her hand on his arm and stepped from behind him. Then she flashed her daylight ring at Camilla. “You seem to have confused yourself and all of those ex-girlfriends with me. I’d say I’m sorry things didn’t work out between you and Etie, but as you can see, I already have a commitment from him, so he’s taken. He gave me his heart the first night he met me. Besides, based on your level of irratio
nality, I’d say he is an excellent judge of character. The psychiatrists may have to name a whole new classification of crazy after you.”
Camilla’s jaw dropped. Her mouth gulped air like a fish out of water. When she started to sputter, Willa shooed her hand toward the door. “It was almost nice to meet you. You have a good night now.”
As soon as Camilla was back on the street, Etienne picked Willa up and swung her around. “That was incredible. I have never seen that woman speechless before.”
He kissed her and swung her around a second time.
The moment her feet were back on the ground, she stepped out of reach. “I’m glad you enjoyed the show. People like that exhaust me.”
She smoothed her rumpled clothing and refused to look at him. Willa was much too quiet for his liking. The silence stretched to the point of breaking. Crap, he thought he had dodged the Amalia bullet. He gulped and waited for her to speak or give him a sign.
When she cut her eyes at him, he knew he was in trouble.
“Willa. Speak to me, sweetheart. Are we all right?” he asked, amazed at how even his tone was when he was shaking with trepidation inside.
“I don’t know. Are we? Who is Amalia, and why haven’t you told me about her?”
He followed her gaze to the fireplace mantle and swore under his breath.
When he didn’t answer her questions, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Where’s the attic?” she demanded as she headed out of the library toward the staircase.
Etienne debated with himself on what to do. She was right. He couldn’t hide the past from her, but was this the best way to break it to her? It didn’t look like he had a choice. He caught up to her on the second floor and grabbed her hand.
“I’ll show you what you want to see. But please give me the chance to explain things to you.”
He led her up a second flight of stairs, then stopped in front of an ancient tapestry. Etienne took a deep breath before he pushed the fabric aside to expose a door. He unlocked it to reveal a hidden staircase that led upward into darkness.
He took another deep breath and flipped the switch. “Take care. The treads are narrow, and it is a steep climb.”
They ascended in silence into a large vaulted space filled with priceless treasures. “Are you sure you want to do this? I can tell you everything without subjecting you to seeing the painting.”
Willa raised her chin defiantly. “Yes. I need to see it.”
He nodded reluctantly and took her hand to lead her through the space. “As you wish. Amalia is over here in this stack of paintings.”
Willa’s heart withered when he pulled the image of an incredibly beautiful woman from under a protective sheet. How was she supposed to compete with a woman like that? No, it was worse. She had to compete with the memory of the woman. This was an impossible situation.
Gathering her courage, she glanced at Etie’s face. Shit, he wouldn’t even look at her now. She was going to have to repack her things and take Karen up on her offer to live at the witch house.
She could do this. No matter how much it hurt, she could end this with class. “You obviously loved her very deeply.”
He raised his eyes to hers, then glanced at the painting and pulled the sheeting over it again. Without responding he cupped her face with both of his hands and kissed her hard.
After a long minute, he pressed his forehead to hers. “Cared for.”
Willa tried to gather her scattered thoughts. “What?”
“I cared deeply for her once. No more. Not for a very long time. I love you, Willa. What I feel for you is so much more than I ever felt for Amalia. She wasn’t my muierimei, and, as such, never held my heart. More than anything, I felt guilt over her death.”
She glanced at the sheet and frowned. “Then why did you marry her?”
He sighed and shook his head. “I was young and stupid. I mistook lust for love and told myself I was giving her my heart and soul. In truth, I was just a horny young vampire who gloried in the love and attention I was offered by a beautiful woman.
“Our marriage was so short lived I didn’t have time to realize the mistake I had made in taking a woman as my wife who was not my muierimei. That mistake, along with her murder, put me in a very dark place for a very long time. It was only recently that I forgave myself and allowed myself to emerge from the self-imposed hell. Thankfully, I did that in time to find you.”
“That must have been awful. What happened?”
“She was across town volunteering at a hospital. While walking home, a mob of humans attacked her and ended her existence. It was the height of the witch hunt, and someone started the rumor that she was practicing black magic.”
Willa placed her palm against his cheek and stroked her thumb back and forth. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you. It was a long, long time ago.” He placed a hand over hers and gazed into her eyes. “Are we okay?”
“We’re more than okay.”
He exhaled a gust of air. “Thank the goddess above. Are you ready to go downstairs?”
At that instant, she sneezed. “Absolutely. The dust is getting to me.”
Chapter Twelve
Willa yawned and stretched her sleepy muscles awake. A soft snore told her that Shadow was somewhere on the monstrous bed with her. She turned her head toward Etie’s side of the bed and wasn’t surprised to find it empty. The man was an early riser. At least he didn’t expect her to get up with him because that was never happening. She was a night owl and liked it that way.
Etie was an intuitive man and instinctively knew that she needed comfort more than sex last night. He had held her until she fell asleep and more than likely long after that. After the attack, his crazy ex, and then the whole Amalia thing, she needed to be cuddled. And lordy, he was a champion cuddler.
She understood his past with Amalia, but that didn’t lessen the ache in her heart. She knew it was irrational to be jealous of a woman who had died before she was even born, heck before her grandmother was born. But dang it, she wanted to be the only woman he had ever wanted enough to pledge his love to.
Then she frowned. Why hadn’t he mentioned Amalia sooner? Would he ever have told her? Had he kept his first wife a secret because he still had feelings for her?
“No. Etienne doesn’t love me,” a voice said from the other side of the room.
Willa shot to a sitting position and clutched the covers to her chest. “Who—? Who are—? Amalia?”
“Yes. I’m Amalia.” The hazy, transparent image shrugged. “My spirit anyway. I loved Etienne with all my heart, but I assure you, he never loved me the way he loves you. About six months ago, I told Etienne I wanted to reincarnate. It was time. I also told him to let go of his guilt and get on with life.
“You see, I knew you were his true soulmate, and I didn’t want him to miss out on the happiness I could never bring him. He’s a good man and will always put your happiness before his own. Please, don’t be too hard on him. He’s only a man after all.”
Amalia’s ghost smiled. “I’m about to be reborn to a lovely family in Wisconsin. I can hardly wait to meet my new parents.”
“Congratulations. Thank you for telling me all of that. I know I’m being ridiculous about the whole thing.”
“We’re women. I understand how you’re feeling. I would have reacted exactly the same way. Give Etienne your heart and live your life to the fullest. You never know when you’re out of time. Have a great life, Willa.”
Before she could say more, the ghostly figure faded away.
Willa flopped onto her back again, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she had just had a conversation with a ghost. Well, this was New Orleans after all.
As she fluffed her pillow, she spied Shadow curled nose to tail on Etienne’s pillow. She rolled over to scratch his neck. “Your mother is talking to ghosts now. What do you think of that?”
Not even a whisker twitched.
“Keep it down over there. You talk too muc
h,” she said, as she gave him one last scratch and threw back the covers.
Willa took a quick shower and was pulling on her socks when her phone vibrated. That’s what had woken her. The sound of her phone must have triggered the stupid dream about jackhammers right before she woke up. She picked up her phone and glanced at the screen, three text messages.
First one was from Karen. Correction, they were all from Karen. What the heck was up?
She opened the first one. Call me asap.
Okay? She tapped the second. Where the heck are you? Call me!
She decided to check the third before calling. If I don’t hear from you in the next thirty minutes, I’m coming over.
Crap.
“Hello? Willa? Where have you been?” Karen shrieked.
“Um, sleeping?”
“Shoot. I should have thought of that.”
“So what has your panties in a wad?”
“You’re in danger. Big danger.”
“Big danger? I think that already happened last night.”
“What! What the heck happened?” Karen shrieked again.
Willa gave Karen an edited version of what went down at her apartment. There was no reason to freak her out more than she already was.
“Good grief. You’re a trouble magnet. But that isn’t what I’m referring to. Carolyn had a vision about you this morning. You were kidnapped, and there was a terrible fight. She couldn’t see who took you or how it ended, but she did say she saw a lot of blood. It really scared me, and I had to make sure you were okay.”
“Great, I have more fun to look forward to. Well, as you can see, I haven’t been kidnapped. Yet.”
“That isn’t funny. The visions are always about the future, and she’s never wrong. You’re in real danger, Willa.”
“Based on what Etie said, there’s someone in the city causing trouble, and they have a hard-on for me, so I already knew that. But thanks for the warning.”
“Tell me that you will watch your back. I have a really bad feeling about this.”