“What happens then?” Narcisse asked.
“Well,” Nelson said, “our prices go up even higher, and we risk losing business because nobody wants to buy.”
“If the fish population is down, wouldn’t other companies be struggling, too? I mean, wouldn’t you all have to raise your prices?”
Armand shrugged. “Don’t know. We haven’t heard about widespread problems with the fish population in the Gulf area. It could just be in our part of the bayou. ’Course, we also don’t talk too much with other companies, so they might be havin’ problems but haven’t made them public.”
“So why don’t you ask?” Narcisse asked.
Nelson cleared his throat. “In case you haven’t noticed, we ain’t exactly human. Our ancestors made it a practice of tryin’ to avoid people as a whole. Some of the younger generations like getting out into the city as often as possible, but we’re safest when we’re out in the bayou, keepin’ our heads low. We don’t talk to people too much.”
Narcisse nodded. “I guess if I decide to stick around for the long haul I’m going to have to get used to that, aren’t I?”
Nelson immediately wanted to turn around and scoop her up into a hug, but she held her body rigid, and the nervous expression had returned. He figured she didn’t want to be touched.
“I’m sorry about this, Narcisse,” he said. “We didn’t mean to make things so confusin’ for you. It’s not supposed to be this way.”
Armand jumped in. “Even though we’re destined for each other, the decision to mate is a big one. You were supposed to have time to make that decision on your own. If we’d known how easy it was to mate and change you forever, we wouldn’t have let things get carried away on the dock.”
Narcisse sighed. “It’s nobody’s fault, really. I can’t imagine you guys are exactly thrilled by being mated for life to someone you barely know.”
“Yeah, but at least we get to keep our home,” Armand said. He immediately clapped his hand over his mouth, as though trying to contain the words, but Nelson saw Narcisse wince.
“Yeah. Yeah you do.” She began to curl up in a ball.
Nelson hurried to change the subject. “Narcisse, what do you do for a living?”
She sighed again. “Well, like I said, I’m actually pretty unhappy with my job, so I’m actually looking forward to extending my vacation for a little while. I have a biology degree, but I didn’t get into any of the graduate programs I applied to. My standardized test scores weren’t that high. I know that’s not the only thing they look at, but apparently, it brought down the rest of my application enough that nobody was interested in taking me.”
“So what have you been doing since then?”
“I’ve spent the past year and a half lending my scientific knowledge to a patent law firm. I absolutely hate it.”
“What would you rather be doing?”
“Go back to grad school so I can get more research experience, and then work for environmental conservation. Heck, if I could stand lawyers, I wouldn’t mind getting a JD and going into conservation law. But I was feeling pretty stuck. Patent law doesn’t pay well for the underlings who don’t have law degrees, so I’ve been struggling to save money to go back to school. I felt like my life has completely stalled out. This trip was supposed to be a nice break, but even that didn’t go the way I planned. I’ve been spending too much money, and my so-called friends have been driving me crazy. I’m completely miserable.”
“So you studied ecology?” Armand asked.
Narcisse’s face finally brightened. “It was my specialty.”
Nelson chuckled. “Maybe you can help us figure out why our fish population is disappearing. Xavier and Oscar’s mate is also a biologist. Maybe the two of you could put your heads together and figure it out.”
“That would be nice,” Narcisse said, and her lips formed a genuine smile. But her expression vanished as they pulled up and docked in New Orleans.
“This is going to get interesting,” she whispered.
* * * *
Narcisse was nervous as she led Armand and Nelson down the hall to her hotel room. She half-hoped that her friends wouldn’t be around, that they had gone out to spend some time in the Quarter after she’d parted ways with them that afternoon. Although Narcisse didn’t want her friends to worry about the fact that she’d disappeared, she was still smarting from the argument they’d had earlier that day. Plus, she had no idea how she was going to explain her current situation. If nobody was around, she could leave a note explaining things as best as she could, and not have to worry about the awkward confrontation.
Narcisse pulled the keycard out of her still-damp pockets, and then stopped.
“My eyes are really gold?”
Armand and Nelson nodded.
“How am I supposed to explain that?”
The men glanced at each other, and then Nelson’s face lit up.
“C’mon, let’s run back to the lobby.” He turned and hurried along. Armand grabbed Narcisse’s hand and followed.
They caught up with Nelson in the gift shop, where he was pulling a pair of aviator sunglasses off of a rack.
“These should help,” he said with a grin, and went to pay for them.
“Thank you,” Narcisse said when he handed them to her. “Really, you didn’t—”
Nelson placed a finger against her lips. “I know I didn’t. But I was happy to. I just wanna make this easier for you.”
Narcisse gave him a small smile as she put on the sunglasses. Armed with more confidence, she returned to her room, took out the key, and slid it in the lock. To her surprise, all three of her friends were in the room.
Janelle jumped off of the bed. “Oh, my God! Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!”
“Yeah,” Sarah said. “Would it have killed you to call us and let us know you were okay? Or at least pick up your phone one of the thousand times we called you? And what’s with those sunglasses? I don’t remember those.”
Narcisse sighed. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t call.” She fished her dead cell phone out of her pocket. “My phone got wet. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a new one.” She hoped that if she let the question about the sunglasses go, they would be forgotten in light of everything else she was about to say.
“Shit, that sucks,” Alyssa said. “Still, don’t payphones still exist? And who are these guys?”
“I wasn’t near a payphone. It’s–it’s a pretty funny story, actually. After we—after we got in that argument, I moped around the Quarter for a little bit, and then I went on a swamp tour, figuring it would help me take my mind off of things. And that’s—that’s when things got a little crazy.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Crazy how?”
Narcisse looked back at Armand and Nelson, hoping they might have come up with some semiplausible excuse. But they just shrugged at her with completely blank expressions.
She rolled her eyes on them and turned back to her friends. She briefly considered shifting, because they’d believe it if they saw it, but then she realized it would be a bad idea if she didn’t have control over her power yet. Instead, she decided to go for something that at least resembled the truth.
“Well, the thing is, I sort of got left behind in the swamp. I know, I can’t believe it happened, either. But I survived! And then I met Armand and Nelson here. As it turns out, there’s quite the connection between us. In light of that, I’ve decided to just, uh, stay in the bayou with them.”
Alyssa raised her eyebrows. “What? You’ve known these guys for what, three hours, and all of a sudden you’re just going to abandon us? What, are you going to just give up on our plans to hang out with them?”
“And what do you mean, stay in the bayou?” Sarah asked.
“They have a houseboat, uh, somewhere.”
“So you’re just going to leave us for the rest of the trip and show up when it’s time to go home?”
“Well, I was thinking I might even sta
y here a little longer,” Narcisse said, scrambling to come up with something that didn’t sound too ridiculous. “I’m sure if I could get ahold of Dave he’d extend my vacation a bit. I still have plenty of time left.”
“You’re going to ditch this trip in order to go fool around on some houseboat in a swamp with two guys you barely know?” Janelle’s voice got higher with each word. “What on earth has gotten into you?”
Narcisse felt her knees start to tremble slightly, but she took a deep breath, determined to keep her composure. “Well, uh, I mean, it’s not like we’re getting along so great anyway, right? So maybe it’s for the best if I save everyone some grief and just do my own thing. I’ll just get my stuff and be off with them. I hope you guys have a great trip. And I’ll see you all back in Houston once I’ve had my fill of New Orleans.”
“You’ve lost your mind,” Alyssa said, her voice suddenly quiet. “You’ve completely lost your mind. How do you know they’re not serial killers or something?”
“And what about us?” Sarah suddenly said. “You can’t just abandon us for two guys you barely know. We’re your friends!”
Narcisse sighed. “Things between the four of us have been tense ever since we arrived in New Orleans. And I know that Alyssa agreed it would be best if I went on my own for a while. I don’t doubt that some of you felt the same way.”
Alyssa blanched. “I didn’t mean you should abandon us for the rest of the trip!”
“I didn’t intend to. This is just sort of the way things turned out.”
“Well, you still owe us for your portion of the hotel and gas,” Janelle retorted. “You can’t just leave us in the lurch for what you owe.”
Armand reached into his pocket and pulled out his soaked wallet.
“Would two hundred bucks cover it?” he asked.
Janelle suddenly seemed frightened. “I–I guess so.”
Narcisse tried not to gawk as Armand emptied his wallet and handed the wet money over to Janelle. She didn’t know anyone who carried that much cash on them at once.
Janelle reached out and grabbed it with her fingertips, as though she thought he was going to bite her.
“We all square now?” Armand asked. Janelle gave a small nod.
“I still say she’s crazy,” Sarah snapped.
“Don’t go,” Alyssa pleaded. “I know things have been weird, but we’ll turn it around. Don’t throw your life away for two guys you barely know.”
Narcisse took a deep breath. “I have to. I’m sorry, I can’t explain it in more detail. I just have to.”
“Have you been kidnapped?” Janelle shrieked, suddenly getting her courage back. “Like, are they holding you hostage or something? Do we need to call the police?”
“You guys, stop making such a big deal about this,” Narcisse said, though she knew it was fruitless. “This is just something I have to do. It’s the direction my life is taking me. Enjoy the rest of the festival.”
She turned and hurried out of the room, Nelson and Armand following close behind her.
Alyssa popped her head out. “We’re calling the police!” she called.
The three of them started to run.
* * * *
“That didn’t go as well as I hoped,” Armand said as the three of them piled back into the boat.
Narcisse sighed. “I was hoping for better myself. Though I’m not sure why. Leaving out the shape-shifter stuff didn’t even help. That story made me sound completely crazy. Or maybe like I’d been kidnapped and already developed Stockholm syndrome.”
“Well, it’s over now,” Nelson said. “It’s about an hour and a half back to the congregation.”
“If you two don’t mind, I think I’d like to take a nap,” Narcisse said. “It’s been a very long day, and I’m drained.” She moved toward the back of the boat and curled up into a ball.
At first, Armand was unsettled by the silence. His mind was racing, and he wanted to discuss the events of the day. But whenever he opened his mouth, he found he didn’t actually have much to say. Nobody had any clue how to fix the fish problem, and they were all still processing the experiences of the afternoon. Finally, Armand settled back in his seat as Nelson steered the boat back through the bayou.
He stared down at Narcisse’s sleeping form and couldn’t help but worry about her. He felt guilty that he and Nelson had mated her without permission, even though he hadn’t known what he was doing. The fact that he’d changed her life so drastically, even though it was unintentional, weighed on him. Even though she was free to be banished if she hated it there, Armand didn’t like that he’d caused so much disruption. He resolved to do his best to ensure that she enjoyed her time with them.
As a way of solidifying that promise, he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. She stirred slightly but didn’t wake up. He squeezed gently and hoped that he’d be able to make her happy, even if their time together ended up being limited.
As they approached the collection of houseboats where the congregation lived, Armand gave Narcisse a gentle shake.
“Wake up. We’re here.”
Narcisse shook her head and blinked. “What if they hate me?” she asked. “I’m sure I’m not exactly going to be popular.”
“Naw,” Nelson said. “They’re gonna love you. You’re our mate, after all.”
“We’re the ones who are gonna catch hell,” Armand added. “Since we went ahead and changed you.”
“But you said so yourself that you didn’t know.”
“Yeah, we didn’t. But if Serafine’s reaction was any indication, we’re still gonna catch some flak about it.”
Narcisse took a deep breath as Armand helped her off their small speedboat into an opulent houseboat. The deck was a rich, dark brown, which stood out in contrast with the smooth white railing that ran around the perimeter. Bright paper lanterns wrapped around the railing and the roof, casting a multicolored glow.
There was a small cluster of people gathered on the deck. Serafine smiled as she approached the group.
“Welcome home,” she said. Then, she focused her gaze on Narcisse. “I know it don’t feel like home yet, but I think you’ll grow to like it. I promise, we don’t bite. Well”—she raised her eyebrows at Nelson and Armand—“except for those two.”
Narcisse blushed, and Armand’s fathers jumped in. “Serafine, don’t embarrass the girl her first night here.” The taller of the two men reached out his hand. “I’m Manuel, and this is Andre.”
“These two gentlemen are my fathers,” Armand said. He indicated toward the tall, elegant woman standing between them. “And this is Rosaline, my mother.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Rosaline said, shaking her hand.
Nelson jumped in. “And here are my parents. I’d like for you to meet Gerard, Simon, and Evangeline Rey.”
As her new in-laws smiled at her and shook her hand, Armand breathed a small sigh of relief. Nobody seemed angry.
“Hey, Serafine, is Adele around? I thought she and Narcisse might hit it off,” Armand said.
“Did somebody call me?” Adele asked, hurrying onto the deck. Her jaw dropped open when she saw Narcisse. “Oh, my God. Are you the one they’ve been talking about all afternoon?”
Narcisse blushed again. “I suppose I am. And I assume you’re the biologist. I–I didn’t know you were a gator, too.”
Adele laughed. “It’s a very long story.”
“You two know each other?” Armand asked.
“Narcisse was one of my students a few years ago,” Adele said. “Wow, it’s great to see you again.”
“Adele, why don’t you go get Narcisse set up in Armand’s cabin?” Serafine asked. “I assume that’s where they’ll be livin’ for now, since it’s bigger than Nelson’s. You show her around a little bit and get her settled. We gotta have a talk with these boys.”
Adele nodded, and didn’t seem to notice the edge in Serafine’s voice. She grabbed Narcisse by the hand and picked up one of her suitc
ases. “Come on, we have so much to catch up on. And I have other people for you to meet.”
Armand thought he saw Narcisse get slightly paler. “Other people?” she asked.
“Don’t look so scared,” Adele said. “The community here is great. You’ll fit right in. I promise.”
Narcisse looked slightly shell-shocked but allowed Adele to lead her into the boat. As soon as they were out of sight, everyone on the deck turned toward Armand and Nelson. The pit that had formed in Armand’s stomach grew a little bigger. He decided that this was the problem with living in such a close-knit community. He’d never lacked love or support, but when he screwed up, everybody knew about it, and they all made it their business to set him straight.
“Do you two have any idea what you did?” Manuel asked.
“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Armand said. “We already told Serafine that. Maybe if the whole mating thing wasn’t such a secret, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Maybe you should have thought things through,” Evangeline said. “A woman makes you feel that crazy, maybe you have to think that there’s more than meets the eye. Maybe you should have held back.”
“A woman makes you feel that crazy, there’s no way you can hold back,” Armand said.
Andre frowned. “Watch your tongue.”
“We can’t be the first people who have mated accidentally,” Nelson said. “With all the secrecy, this has to happen sometimes.”
Serafine suddenly went grave. “You’re right. It’s not the first time. But the last time it happened, things didn’t go so well. That’s why everyone is so upset. We don’t want another tragedy.”
“Well, maybe you should’ve thought about that the last time it happened,” Armand said. “Maybe you should have rethought the whole secrecy thing so it didn’t happen again.”
“Wait a second, what tragedy?” Nelson asked.
Simon sighed. “Last time it happened, the mates couldn’t bond properly. Everyone was too upset. The woman ended up running away.”
“But the curse won’t allow it,” Armand said.
Rose, Charlotte - Bayou Famine [Shifters of Alligator Bend 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 4