Southern Secrets (The Southern Series Book 2)

by Shelley Stringer

  “Oh, what…appears? What does that mean?” She frowned as she looked at me. “So I definitely have the immunity? Hmm…Oh, Oh, all right. That’s fine. Yes, call me if you find anything else out. Thank you, Dr. Lane.” She flipped her cell shut.

  “Well?” I asked her, anxious for the outcome.

  “He said the genetic code is there, but it is slightly different than the SEALs. He said it is altered somehow, something about a different mutation of the gene, or such. I didn’t understand it; he wants to do some more tests. He also said he wants to run some tests on you again. He said he’d never seen anything like it.” She paused, a slow, cat-like smile lighting her face. “I don’t care if it means I’m part Wonder Woman, or have six toes on one foot. I’m a carrier! Ty can’t push me away, not for that reason, anyway.” She flipped her cell open again, and began to text.

  “Who are you texting?” I asked, watching her as she typed intently away. She finished and flipped her cell shut.

  “I sent you a copy, so you can see for yourself. Oh, and I sent one to Banton too, just to make sure Ty gets it…” She grinned triumphantly.

  My cell buzzed in my purse, and I retrieved it, flipping it open.

  Ha! Tests are positive, J I’m a carrier of the gene

  too. Now you have to find another reason to

  push me away, that one doesn’t work anymore.

  Deal with it, regroup, and come home soon. I miss you

  desperately, so fuel up! I’m lonely L…

  -Love,

  “You know he’ll just say it doesn’t matter. He’s putting you in danger even more because he’s drawing them in, you could still be killed if he’s not there to stop it, all that stuff,” I warned her as I finished reading the text.

  “I know, but he’s one more step closer to giving in. I just know it.” She dropped her cell in her bag. “Now, let’s get you home. You look tired and probably need to nap, and so do I. Let’s go and see what babysitter we have at the house this afternoon.” She picked both our bags up from the table and led me out to her car.

  “Oh, did Ty mention anything about going to New Orleans next weekend? The guys think they will be back in time, and the Gastaneaus want us to attend their krewe’s masque ball.”

  “He said something about a dance and Mardi Gras, but he wasn’t specific. He probably hasn’t made his mind up yet about us.”

  "Well, evidently, Banton has. So dig out a dress or two, and find a masque to match, because he is planning for all of us to go and stay at his parent’s house for a long weekend, and attend the ball together. He even wants Everett to go with us.” I grinned as I thought about all the fun we’d have.

  “Oh, sounds great! We’ve got to go by Mr. Philippe’s shop, I need a new dress!” she exclaimed, pulling away from the parking lot.

  Two hours later, we were neck deep in dresses. I texted Brie and she met us at the shop. We proceeded to have the best time trying on every dress in our sizes. Before the first hour was out, Everett joined us, and the wine began to flow for everyone but me. I was banned from everything but the sparkling water.

  Everett wouldn’t even consider letting me try anything on but jewel tones, until Mr. Philippe brought out a black velvet gown that hugged my torso, flared slightly at the hips, and puddled in a mass at my feet. The square neckline pushed my breasts upward, and with the added pregnancy boost, I looked sexy in it. The finishing touch was a black and white feather mask, with sparkling jewels around the face.

  “Chandler, you are perfect! Banton will have a coronary when he sees you in that dress. You definitely don’t look pregnant in it.” Constance grinned as she pulled the curtain completely back. She stood, with masses of deep plum fabric around her, draped and gathered every so often on the skirt and fastened at the point with Swarovski crystals.

  Everett came around in the corner to sit on the sofa across from the floor length mirrors.

  “Bebe, you will have every heart pounding in the ballroom, and if the men don’t break out fighting among themselves over your beautifully blooming bosoms, then they will definitely start World War III over Constance’s sex appeal in the backless number she has on. Ladies, you are enough to get my senses mixed. That’s hard to do, sweethearts!” He slapped his cheek with his hand, while holding his elbow with the other hand. It was classic comical Everett Lee Samuals.

  “Ev, you’re so theatrical! And by the way, I haven’t heard anyone say “bosoms” since Maw Maw Irene died. You’re showing your age, Darlin!” I warned him as I pointed to the cast on my arm. “This takes away from the look just a touch, don’t you think?” I frowned, looking back up at the two of them.

  “We’ll just wrap it in fabric to match the dress, or bedazzle it, or something.” Mr. Philippe waved his hand in the air as if he were waving my concerns away. Then Brie emerged, wearing a stunning emerald green velvet dress with a sweetheart neckline and flared A-line skirt. She looked as if she was straight out of a “Hello, Dolly” musical.

  “Once again, I just have to take pictures of you three for advertising for my shop. Chandler, I’m thinking your front porch with the peeling paint on the pillars would be perfect.” Philippe clapped his hands, circling the three of us.

  He began to make notes as we passed around an array of masques he had on hand. Brie settled on a peacock number which matched her dress, and Constance found a beautiful mask in amethyst surrounded by crystals matching the ones on her dress.

  “I’ll bring the dresses by this weekend, and we can take the pictures then. Would it be all right with you? I’ll bring supper, and we’ll make a party of it!

  “It sounds great, Philippe. Thank you for helping us on such short notice, you’re a doll!” Constance exclaimed as she kissed him on the cheek. He rolled his eyes skyward, and then moved over to me.

  “Oh, and you and Everett are invited, of course! Please say you’ll come? We’re to make a weekend of it.” Philippe nodded affirmatively as Everett chimed in.

  “We wouldn’t miss it, Bebe! Of course, we have our own Krewe, and we have to make our appearance at Grandmother Wellington’s…You simply must come and meet them while you all are in N’awlins. Grandmother will insist I bring you to meet them.” Everett chattered away as he made more plans, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Brie followed Constance and me home; she’d admitted to us she’d been curled up in her lonely apartment for days and longed to get out and shake her doldrums off. We stopped by her place long enough to pack a bag and get her books, and then we all continued home to Dauphine Street. Mr. Grant’s car was parked in the driveway; he’d apparently drawn the short straw this afternoon.

  “Chandler, I was beginning to worry, I expected you a couple of hours ago. I tried to text you, but you didn’t answer.” Claudia met us at the door, sounding irritated, but relieved. Beau pushed out beside her, and ran over to greet me before he began circling the yard.

  “I’m so sorry, Claudia, I should have called you. I spoke with Banton, and he told us about next weekend and the Mardi Gras Ball. We stopped at Mr. Philippe’s and time just got away from us.” I realized she’d been worried, not knowing if we were with anyone who could protect us. I pulled my cell from my purse, and found the battery dead. I rushed to put it on the charger on the table in the foyer, and glanced into the dining room just as Grant stood and shut his laptop.

  “Well, Ladies, I’m off. Everett should be here any moment, and I’m sure you’ll be quite safe until he gets here. I’ll see you all later.” He rushed out the door to his car. Constance stood watching him through the mottled glass of the front door.

  “He is the strangest little man,” Claudia muttered.

  “I’m sorry, but there is something about him. He just gives me the creeps!” Constance exclaimed, shaking dramatically.

  “Would you two stop? Everett trusts him, so we should too,” I replied adamantly. I walked down the hallway and into the kitchen to see what I could whip up for di
nner. I opened the refrigerator and scanned the contents, nothing looked promising.

  “What do you think you’re doing? You’re not cooking, your arm is broken,” Claudia exclaimed, walking over to the window.

  “There’s nothing to cook anyway, I haven’t been to the grocery store since we got back from Aunt Sue’s.”

  “Well, Ava Grace and I will go tomorrow, we’ll just order in tonight. How does that sound?” She crossed her arms, and glanced out the kitchen window. “Andie, there’s someone in the alley by the back gate! Do you know him?”

  I leaned over the sink to see what she was talking about, and I spotted him – a tall muscular man with a toboggan, and dark stubble on his face. He wore coveralls similar to the kind mechanics wear. He turned green eyes toward the window.

  “Do you see his eyes?” Claudia gasped.

  I flipped the lock hurriedly on the back door. Without warning, two other men appeared beside him, their eyes glowing the same intense green. I turned and ran down the hallway as I called to her.

  “Claudia, get Ava Grace! Everyone, get in the living room, and lock the front door!” I grabbed my partially charged cell off the table; it wasn’t charged enough yet to dial a number.

  “Chandler, what’s wrong?” Constance asked nervously.

  “Get your cell, dial Everett, and tell him and Mr. Philippe to get here, now!” I yelled. I ran around the room, checking the locks on the windows. I realized Beau wasn’t in the house; he hadn’t come back in with us. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t barking at the Orcos, he must have wandered down to the cemetery.

  Constance pulled her cell out of her bag and dialed Everett. It occurred to me as I caught a glimpse of one of the men walking past the living room window and the side of the house, just locking the windows wouldn’t keep an Orco out. They’d come straight through. I had to get the others to a safer place.

  “Okay, everyone upstairs. NOW!” I screamed as I saw two of them through the side living room windows. I hurried up the staircase behind Brie and Claudia, who carried Ava Grace clutched to her chest. Constance followed behind me, talking to Everett.

  “Yes, get here quick. Grant already left, and someone is trying to get into the house! Okay, we’re headed upstairs to barricade ourselves up there.” She turned the cell off as I herded everyone into our bedroom, and then into the little bathroom nook.

  “Lock the door behind you. Don’t open it for anyone until you hear me or Everett!” I exclaimed, pulling it shut.

  “What are you doing? Get in here!” Claudia exclaimed as I fought to shut the door behind them.

  “I’m the only one who’s already been bitten. I’ll be fine. I can hold them off till Everett gets here!” I pulled the door shut, and heard Constance flip the lock.

  “Chandler, NO! Get back here!” I could hear Brie and Claudia yelling for me.

  “Shhh! I don’t want them to know where you are. Be quiet!” I called through the bathroom door. After shutting the bedroom door as well, I crept back down the stairs, the sound of glass breaking in the kitchen hastening my steps. I ran around the doorway into the living room, and then crawled over behind the sofa under the sofa table.

  I could hear footsteps coming down the hallway, pausing in the foyer. I could hear my own heart beating, so I was sure the Orcos could hear it as well. If they couldn’t, they would surely pick up my scent anyway, and find me momentarily. I only had seconds to come up with something to do. I glanced around and spotted the fireplace tools. Crawling over silently, I reached out and took the poker out of the slot on the holder, and then held it to my chest as I stayed crouched behind the sofa. Fat lot of good this thing’s gonna do…I thought, but it was all I could find. I couldn’t hear any noise coming from the hallway, so I leaned around the sofa…there was no one there. The foyer was empty; he must have gone into the dining room.

  I stood and hurried around the end of the sofa, over to the corner of the room next to the fireplace. I flattened myself up against the wall beside the staircase, and slowly eased down the wall, leaning my head around. I couldn’t see anyone in the dining room. I knew he hadn’t gone up the stairs, I would have heard them creaking. I moved slowly through the foyer and glanced out the mottled glass in the front door, but I could sense no movement on the front porch. The hair on the back of my neck began to stand up…I whirled, and I could see an outline of a man against the wall beside where I had just been standing. The Orco faded into view, standing a foot away from me on the bottom step of the staircase. He began to laugh as I caught a movement in the hallway--the second Orco began to materialize in front of me.

  “Do you think you can protect yourself with that? Oh, let’s have some fun! I do so enjoy prey that fights back!” He leered at me, his fangs sliding down below his top lip with a hiss.

  “She’s off limits. You know what we have to do,” The second Orco spoke to him in low tones.

  I was shaking so badly I could barely hold on to the fireplace poker with my good arm. I began to back up toward the front door as I heard a car pull into the driveway. I knew it had to be Everett, so I dropped the poker as I grabbed the latch and turned it, unlocking the door. Something rattled and banged in the kitchen behind the second Orco, and he turned to see what it was. A low growl erupted behind him as Beau had apparently made an appearance through the kitchen doorway. The Orco laughed a deep, throaty haunting laugh.

  “What is it?” The first Orco asked his companion.

  “An appetizer. Just what we need.”

  The first Orco lunged at me, grabbing me roughly around the waist as I fought to keep him off me. Beau lunged at the second man, trying to get around him to me. Grabbing him in mid-air, the Orco grabbed Beau and slammed him to the ground, and then knelt to bite him. Beau yelped in pain, unable to move.

  The third Orco yelled at the one holding me, “Take her upstairs and get the blonde one. We want them unharmed.”

  Everett flew through the front door, crashing to the floor on top of the third Orco. Philippe was close behind, encountering the Orco who’d just bitten Beau. I could hear ripping and tearing noises behind me as the one who held me continued to drag me behind him up the stairs. Just as we reached the top of the staircase, I broke his hold on my waist, striking him hard across his arms with my cast.

  Think, Andie, self-defense class – the first line of defense on a man… I managed to get my foot up high enough to kick him hard between the legs. Evidently, even Orcos have the same soft spot, because he roared in pain and fell backwards. I ran into John’s bedroom and slammed the door, flipping the latch. He recovered quickly, however, and he hit John’s door full-force, sending splinters of wood flying through the room, and knocking me to the floor. Everett and Philippe raced up the staircase behind us, apparently having disabled the two they’d fought with downstairs. As the Orco reached me the second time, Everett flew into him, hauling him up from the floor away from me.

  “YOU!” Everett exclaimed in disbelief. Locked in a sheer test of will, they both went crashing out the window and to the ground below.

  Mr. Philippe rushed over to the window, and watched as the Orco raced down the sidewalk toward the cemetery, the darkness enveloping him. Realizing I stood behind him, he turned and rushed to my side.

  “Chandler, are you all right? Did he harm you?” He held my shoulders as he looked me over for injuries. Shaking my head, I tried to catch my breath to answer him.

  “Is Everett all right?” I asked as my voice returned, my heart resuming a normal rhythm.

  “He’s fine. You need to stay upstairs until we clean the mess up downstairs,” he cautioned me. “Are the others in there?” he motioned to my bedroom.

  “Yes, how did you know where they were?” I asked, and he turned to look at me.

  “I can smell their trail. Go let them out, but keep them upstairs. They don’t need to see this,” he replied as I turned curiously to look down the staircase.

  The scene at the foot of the staircase sickened me. It ha
d all the markings of a murder scene out of a movie, with large pools of blood on the floor and body parts strewn around, the Orcos having been dismembered in a matter of seconds. I glanced back up at Philippe, apprehensive about being so close to him. The brute strength and force that had to have caused the damage to those bodies…I shuddered, backing toward the bedroom. The look in his eyes, still faintly glowing with the power of the Aldon, told me he felt my revulsion.

  “We took care of them,” he replied softly. “After we’ve cleaned up, we’ll come and get you. Now, go and let the others out and stay in your room,” Mr. Philippe instructed me firmly, turning me toward my room and giving me a push. I paused, remembering Beau. “He bit Beau! Is Beau…did he kill Beau?” I choked back a sob.

  “Beau has lost some blood, but he was still breathing when I left him. Venom won’t hurt him, it’s similar to a snake bite to a dog. We’ll tend to him, he’ll be all right,” he reassured me gently. I did as he asked. There was something about his voice that told me not to disobey him. I closed the bedroom door behind me, and then knocked on the bathroom door.

  “Constance, it’s me. Open up, it’s all right.”

  The door opened slowly, and a teary-eyed Constance stepped out, followed by Brie and then Claudia, still clutching a sleeping Ava Grace to her chest. Their faces were pale with fear. Claudia flipped her cell shut and slid it in her pocket; she’d evidently been trying to call Will.

  “It’s all right, they’re gone. Mr. Philippe and Everett are here, and they instructed us to stay up here until they’ve cleaned up downstairs,” I spoke softly as Brie began to cry quietly. I pulled her closer to hug her as Claudia sat down on the end of the bed, laying Ava down beside her.

  “I heard you fighting with them, are you all right?” Constance asked, looking me over.

  “I’m fine, they never intended to kill me, I think they were trying to …” I began, and then decided not to finish my thought.

  “They were trying to what, Andie?” Constance urged me to finish.