by Danica Avet
“Now, you’re a Chieftain. Everyone is gonna want to get their grubby paws on you because you hold the entire hierarchy of two communities quite literally in the palm of your hands. You’ve met members of both factions already. You’ve already met Malachi. He’s so nummy.” Kali sighed deeply and closed her eyes. “He formed the Eturi. He’s one of their highest ranking generals, and he wants you.”
“But, why?” Ruby asked, flabbergasted. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing! I don’t know who these people are or what I can do for them, other than see where their lives are taking them and have taken them.” Which one had been Malachi, she wondered desperately.
“That’s because you haven’t come across a leader. The purpose of the Chieftain is to touch hands with many to weed out the ones who will not benefit their line and race,” Kali answered calmly. “You’ll have an important decision to make, Ruby Blue.”
Ruby looked up from where she’d been contemplating her hands. Kali’s eyes were opaque. A strange, warm breeze wafted towards Kali’s body from nowhere, causing her hair to flow about her face in eerie ripples. Ruby edged away from the table slightly, but Kali grabbed her wrists, turning her palms upwards.
“You will have to decide where your new life is headed, Ruby Blue of the Elkfire Line,” Kali said, her long fingers shackling Ruby’s wrists.
Ruby squirmed, trying to break Kali’s hold, but the Oracle held her as easily as an adult with an ill-mannered child. Pain pierced her right shoulder and, for a moment, Ruby thought she’d pulled the joint out of socket. The pain came repeatedly, but it was a stinging pain, quick and fleeting, attacking and retreating with every word that spilled from Kali’s mouth.
“Your past is shadowing your every move. You have met the man who can change your destiny, but you have to decide which is more important, being your own woman, or being his. Whatever you decide will be as a stone rippling through a puddle, for everyone will be touched by it.”
When Kali released her wrists, Ruby fell on her back and scrambled away from her. She grabbed her shoulder, panting with pain and fear. What man, she thought somewhat frantically. The smiling man or the growling man?
Kali took a sip of tea. She hummed with satisfaction. “So, now that you know what’s going on, are you planning to take off again or try to find out more about the Veil?”
Ruby swallowed a few times, trying to slow her heartbeat. This had not been a good week for her blood pressure, she decided. “Where do you fit in all of this?”
“First off, you’re sorta immortal. You’re not gonna have a heart attack.” Kali said with a roll of her eyes and an elegant flip of her hands. “Secondly, I’m an Oracle. I’m neutral territory, sweetie. Everyone needs us because, whether they admit it or not, everyone loses their way sometimes. So, if you want, you can come back later tonight and meet with some of the local Veilerians. We’re having a potluck supper before we go to a charity auction in Houma after. You’re more than welcome to join us.”
“Are you insane?”
“No. You really should get out more. Running all over the place isn’t good for you and, honey, you look awful,” Kali leaned forward as if sharing a secret. “I didn’t want to say anything because we just met, and I have a feeling we’re gonna be great friends, but you seriously have to do something with your hair. You look like a sheep after the shearing, and you definitely need some new clothes.” A light came to her eyes that would’ve scared Ruby if she hadn’t already had a rough week. “I know! Let’s do a makeover!”
Before Ruby could say yea or nay, she was deposited back on her pillow and Kali was on the other side of the room calling people all over town. Ruby shook her head with her face in her hands. “This it is a dream, right? People just don’t go into tattoo shops and fall into the hands of a fairy drag queen who tell them the future and then take them shopping.”
“They do if they come to Cypress Point,” a new voice said from the back of the building.
Chapter Eight
The newcomer was a young man carrying garment bags. With skin the color of teak, he couldn’t have been more than twenty years old, and he was dressed from head to toes in ice blue. His linen shirt was loose fitting as were his trousers. The color was striking with his coal black hair and eyes. He smiled at her brightly.
“I am Savio,” he said, bowing to her before hanging the garment bags on a few hooks. “Kali calls and says you need clothes for the auction tonight, and she says you are a tall girl. I tell her I specialize in tall girls, yes?” He walked forward and hustled Ruby towards the bathroom.
“You will take your clothes off so I can measure you,” he informed her. “I must make sure I do not have to alter the dress too much. My assistant will come later with shoes.” He pushed her in the bathroom.
“I’m not taking my clothes off,” Ruby sputtered once she was in the bathroom. She glared at the door. These were the pushiest damn people she’d ever met in her life. Maybe this was all a trick, she thought with a shiver. Maybe they were going to lock her in the bathroom and leave her in here until one of those men showed up.
Panic crept in and she studied her surroundings carefully. It was a bathroom. There was nothing in it she could use as a weapon unless she wrapped them in toilet paper. There was no window. There was only the sink, the mirror above it, and the toilet. Her shoes were in the other room, so she couldn’t even throw one of the heavy steel-toes at the mirror to shatter it for a sharp weapon.
“Hurry up and get out of those clothes so Savio can measure you, Ruby,” Kali’s voice said from the other side of the door. Then there was a muffled squeal. “Girl, you should see these shoes! Watch out, Jimmy Choo! Savio, for a fairy, you’re a genius.” Kali’s excited chatter faded away as she moved away from the door.
Biting her lip, Ruby couldn’t make up her mind what to do. Since she’d stepped foot in Kali’s shop, her internal alarm hadn’t gone off once, not even when Kali had gone all Oracle on her. Leaning forward on her hands, Ruby looked into the mirror, studying her blacked out eyes.
“Who are you, Ruby Blue?” she whispered. The person staring at her in the mirror was nowhere near the same person she’d been before she opened that shed door.
So many things had happened she didn’t feel equipped to process it all. She wanted to know who those men fighting in the alley were and which one was Malachi and which one of them was going to change her life. Considering how much her life had changed already, Ruby wasn’t too keen on the idea of more things to come.
Heaving a deep sigh, she pulled her shirt off and saw a design on her right shoulder. It was in the spot that had begun to hurt during the foretelling. So Kali had tattooed her. It just hadn’t been the traditional way. Ruby made a face at herself and studied her new ink.
On her right shoulder blade was a lotus flower. It wasn’t very large, though the pain had seemed massive at the time. Nestled as it was in the joint, when she moved her arm, it almost looked like the flower was rippling in a breeze. The pinks and greens of the tattoo were startling against her pale skin, and Ruby couldn’t help but stare at it. It was completely different from what she was sporting on her face and hands. It was delicate. Sweet and innocent looking. Sexy, even. She loved it.
Ruby stripped down to her underwear. There was no way she was going out there with nothing on. Opening the door, she peered out and saw only Savio and Kali.
“Finally!” Savio said, throwing his hands up. “If you do not hurry, I will not have the time to get the dress back here before dinner.”
He pulled her out of the bathroom and into the middle of the room where he immediately made free with her body. Not like he thought she was a female, but like she was a dress form.
Kali stood off to the side and just smiled at her. “Don’t mind Savio, hon. Fairies are notoriously bitchy when their reputations are at stake.”
“Bah, my reputation is not at stake. She will be a masterpiece. I can promise you that,” he muttered under his breath.
“You’re a fairy?” Ruby asked, looking at Savio curiously. He didn’t have wings as far as she could tell, but maybe they were under his suit.
“Sì,” he said, his measuring tape draped over his neck as he wrote down her measurements. “My mother, she say I should become an actor. I did not want to act. I wanted to design.”
“He’s fabulous,” Kali said cheerfully, pouring a glass of wine. “Everyone uses him, from the Veil to Hollywood, though most of the human actors can never figure out why he won’t work with them.”
“They lose too much weight!” he shouted, his eyes glowing with passion. “I tell them if they want to wear a Savio Design, they must gain weight. I tell them, if I want to dress skeletons, I go to graveyard, but no, they refuse to eat.” He swore in Italian and Ruby grinned.
“See why we all love him?” Kali asked, sharing the grin with Ruby.
“If I can find a job on this side, I’m going to get all of my clothes with him,” Ruby vowed as Savio moved away to sort through his garment bags.
Kali looked uneasy. “Oh. About that. I guess I should tell you. When Julius made you his heir, he left you his belongings as well.”
Ruby’s forehead furrowed. “All he had on him was his robe, which is in my hotel room.”
Choking on her wine, Kali put down her glass and placed a hand on her chest. “You need to sit down in that case,” she told Ruby once she caught her breath. Taking Ruby’s hand in hers, she patted it gently. “Honey, Julius was a multimillionaire.”
“But he was hiding in my shed,” Ruby said in confusion. “Couldn’t he have, I don’t know, jumped a plane and gone to some deserted island somewhere to get away from everyone? Why did he end up in my shed?” she nearly wailed, fear and confusion finally catching up with her.
Kali sighed. “Sometimes Fate guides us, just like she led you here. Whether you want it or not, you were meant to be the next Chieftain, Ruby. What you do with it now is up to you,” she said, patting Ruby’s hand in a maternal gesture so at odds with her appearance. “Now, I strongly suggest you spend a good bit of Julius’ money on a new wardrobe.”
Ruby let out a watery laugh.
* * * *
Lucian wanted to growl in frustration. He’d spent the entire day waiting for word from their scouts. So far, no one knew where the Chieftain was, except all of them agreed she’d left town at dawn.
Five hours after waking up, he was dressed and headed to the garage attached to The Pit. Jackson was already waiting for him, leaning against Pagan’s 1970 Chevelle SS.
“You’re not going out,” Jackson informed him, crossing his arms and looking like he meant it.
Lucian snorted and put his duster on. “Don’t get in my way, Jackie. I have a job to do and only so much time to do it in.”
Jackson growled, his brown eyes bright with determination. “I can’t let you go out there, Luc. It’s hotter than hell and the sun won’t go down for another two and a half hours. If you get fried on my watch, I’ll never hear the end of it from Grayson and then I’ll owe the Council again,” he said referring to the Guardian Elite Chief, Grayson Snow.
“I have to find her, Jackie,” Lucian said quietly and with great dignity. He looked around even though his senses told him no one else was around. “I’m going to tell you something that, I swear, if it gets out, I will find you and make you pixie bait.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I think she might be my friggin’ life-mate.”
There, he’d dropped the L bomb. The garage was silent. Outside, afternoon traffic roared and tourists chatted as they walked the Quarter, but inside it was quiet as a church.
“You’re shitting me,” Jackson breathed, his eyes wide. His gaze flicked over Lucian as though trying to see if there was a difference in him.
“No, I’m not shitting you. I felt something different when I first saw her. I have to get to her before Malachi finds her again. I can’t wait for sundown, Jackie,” Lucian said firmly.
Jackson nodded with a thoughtful face. “Okay. You’re not going alone, though, and we’re not taking Pagan’s baby. She’d castrate both of us, and then where would the future Mrs. Oculum be?”
Lucian winced. He shouldn’t have told Jackson. The bastard was going to ride his ass for the next hundred years or so. Especially if the woman didn’t turn out to be his life-mate after all.
* * * *
“This was your bright idea?” Lucian asked Jackson and cursed as they were slammed into each other for the fifth time. “We’ll be lucky if we make it out of the city in one piece.”
Jackson had arranged for them to ride in the back of a hearse sans coffin since both of them thought that was too much of a cliché. The paneled-in back of the car wasn’t comfortable, but there wasn’t any light either, so they were protected from the sun. However, they probably weren’t going to survive Marie’s driving.
“Where are we going again?” Jackson grunted as he slammed against the front panel of the vehicle.
Lucian waited until they seemed to be in steadier traffic before he answered. “Going back to talk with Kali. She’s neutral, but sometimes she’ll let information slip.”
Jackson shuddered. “Kali freaks me out. Hell, Oracles freak me out, period. All that knowing but not knowing bullshit.”
Lucian agreed but didn’t tell Jackson that. The last time he’d gone through Cypress Point, Kali had said he would see a woman who would change the world. She’d neglected to mention the woman might also change his mating status. Oh, and that she’d be the Lineage Chieftain. Fucking Oracles.
“How does it feel?” Jackson asked about ten minutes later.
Lucian nearly groaned. He’d known this conversation was coming. Most male vampires went their entire lives without meeting their life-mates. Those males settled with arranged marriages and procreated. However, every vampire knew life-mates were priceless.
“Remember those blondes who were eyeing me last night at the club?”
Jackson nodded and smiled, his face showing pure male appreciation. “Becky and Jenna. They were lonesome after you left.”
Lucian snorted. “Well, I lusted after them, but I’m obsessed with the Chieftain.” Lucian smirked at himself. “Just seeing her in that alley with Malachi made me go crazy. I wanted to fuck her right then and there and it wouldn’t have mattered if Malachi and the gang stayed around to watch.”
“It sounds crazy, man. No wonder none of the old guys talk about finding their life-mates in front of their females. Could you imagine my mother hearing my dad felt obsessed with her?”
The two men looked at each other and guffawed at the image. Francois and Yvette St. Marie had the coldest marriage of their race. Thinking of the two of them in a heated embrace was like imagining the sun rising from the west.
An hour later, the hearse came to a sharp stop and then began to back up. Lucian and Jackson tensed, unsure if this was their final destination or another one of Marie’s shortcuts. She was a wily werewolf, but she was the craziest driver Lucian had ever ridden with before.
“How long has she been driving?” he asked Jackson for the fifteenth time.
“Since 1934,” Jackson said as he glanced at his watch. “It’s only six fifteen, so hopefully she found us a good spot to get out. I’d really hate to disappoint the ladies by turning to dust before I can get back to the club.”
Rolling his eyes at his companion’s inflated opinion of himself, Lucian got ready to dart for shadows when the hearse gate opened.
Marie knocked on the door. “We’re in a garage, guys. You’re good to go.” She opened the hatch to let them out. Beaming at them, she said, “Sweet ride, by the way. A few guys challenged us through Paradis and we totally kicked ass. You should’ve seen it!”
“That’s okay, we felt it,” Lucian informed her wryly as he and Jackson got out of the vehicle.
They were rumpled from flying all over the hearse and Marie’s eyes widened. She bowed her head. “Oculum-se, my apologies!”
He waved
his hand and chuckled. “Kid, that ride was better than The Zephyr at Pontchartrain Beach used to be.” He chucked her under the chin and headed for the deeper recess of the garage.
Marie gaped at him, and Lucian heard Jackson whisper, “He’s in lo–ove” before following. Lucian frowned. He wasn’t in love with the Chieftain. He hadn’t even talked to her yet. He had no idea what kind of woman she was other than a resourceful one who knew how to hide well. He also knew he wouldn’t mind setting the bed on fire with her for a little while at least. Would he like her conversation? Would he feel the same for the rest of his immortal life? Was she his life-mate? He wasn’t sure. She had that dog, and he didn’t care for dogs.
What if he found out she preferred Malachi to him? A slow burn infused his body, starting in his heart. He wouldn’t allow that to happen, he vowed. If he had to, he’d keep her confined at his estate before he’d let her fall in Malachi’s hands. And he wasn’t even thinking as the Oculum-se.
He waited for his companions to catch up with him at the end of the seven car garage. He recognized their destination now. The garage ran the length of Kali’s building, so they walked through with no risk of being caught in the dwindling sunlight.
“Looks like they’re having one of their dinners,” Lucian said idly as the passed Mortimer’s Jaguar, which had illegally blackened windows, but since he was one of the Fairchilds, the cops left him alone. Mortimer was also Pagan’s twin brother, and he did not approve of his sister’s lifestyle. “I hoped to avoid running into a lot of people this afternoon,” he said wearily.
Once the Veilerian society in South Louisiana had grown to the point that races intermingled more, Kali had come up with the bright idea to host potluck dinners once a week. For the most part, it was the same group of people each time, but every once in a while, folks from out of town were invited to meet the locals. The potlucks were Kali’s way of making everyone welcome in her corner of the world while at the same time keeping abreast of all the latest gossip.