The Witch's Thirst

by Deborah LeBlanc

  And from the looks of things, he was well on his way to great success. Who would’ve thought it would come so easily?

  A couple weeks ago, it had taken only one of the Triads to utter a handful of words to begin their demise. The oldest Triad, Vivienne François, in a moment of weakness, had made claim to her Originals that she’d quit. No longer wanted anything to do with them. Although those words might have been spoken in anger or frustration, it didn’t matter. The words had been uttered, sent out into the universe and had called his name.

  He’d heard it quite clearly, and sent his Cartesians racing in her direction before they lost compass of her. Wherever that Triad was, so were her Originals.

  Prior to that, they had seemingly searched for the Originals, as well as the Triad, for what felt like forever. Then in one swoop of good fortune, the Triad had uttered her words of denying her brood, which opened the door for him so widely it allowed him to pursue his ultimate dreams.

  Words indeed were powerful things. The Triad had simply been too naive to realize just how powerful. Now all was in his favor.

  As much as he hungered to accomplish his goal, he couldn’t help feeling a twinge of understanding for the wayward Triad. It had to be difficult, keeping track of the Originals day after day. Feeding them, maintaining them under the radar of the humans. It most certainly was a full-time job. It didn’t allow them lives of their own.

  Now that he thought about it, wasn’t that in fact his case? He had spent centuries going after the subspecies, attacking wherever and whenever he could find them, gaining power so he might grow more Cartesians. His dream had always been to find the Originals and Triad, so wasn’t his world, his so-called life, just as singular and linear as the Triad?

  Their job was to protect, his was to destroy. Same singular lifestyle, only serving different purposes.

  For now, while the Triad and their rogue companions, the Benders, attempted to protect the Originals they still had in their possession, he’d made sure to throw chaos their way to keep the ball in his court. In the meantime—and without the Triad’s knowledge, he suspected—he’d had his Cartesians picking off subspecies in the city as often as possible.

  He needed whatever power he could get right now. His army now counted well into the thousands, but to accomplish his ultimate goal of world and universal domination, it would take an army of millions.

  Each netherworld creature gave him the power to create one new Cartesian. But an Original, the ones his Cartesians had tasted in what the Triad called the North Compound a couple of weeks ago, had allowed him to create a hundred in an instant. How could anyone blame him for wanting them all? They would produce an army beyond any number he might hope for.

  And promised a far, far greater reward.

  Chapter 20

  Leaving the Hotel Monteleone in the clothes Gilly had lent her, Evee headed for the docks.

  It was past time to get the family’s ferry ready to cross her Nosferatu and Gilly’s Chenilles over to the North Compound for the feeding. She imagined her sister Viv, pacing and cursing, wondering where the hell they were. On a regular day, her Nosferatu would already be in the compound by now.

  But for the last hour, she’d been otherwise detained. Fully and completely and happily detained.

  Although Evee and Viv had both been warned by the Elders to stay away from the Benders, Evee had been unable to do that with Lucien. She’d known from the get-go that going to his hotel room to shower was tempting fate. Asking him for shampoo, then instead of allowing him to place it outside the bathroom door for her to fetch, she’d all but coaxed him inside. She’d acted like a wounded female, not wanting to step out of the shower and face the cold. For Pete’s sake, how pathetic.

  The last person she had any nerve to lie to was herself. She’d wanted him to come into the bathroom, wanted him inside the shower with her...wanted him inside her. The Elders’ warning had been the furthest thing from her mind. She was determined to hold on to her concrete belief that the curse attached to all Triads had been literal. They weren’t to marry or live intimately with a human. She’d done neither. So what the hell?

  It had been difficult leaving Lucien. She’d felt like a pool of melted butter, unable and unwilling to solidify to anything reasonably worthwhile. Evee had never felt so satiated, so...so complete. And, if truth be told, she needed, wanted more. In a way, it frightened her because she didn’t think she’d ever have enough of Lucien.

  Forced to bend to obligation, Evee walked toward the dock to ready the family ferry to cross the river to Algiers, where the cattle were kept at the North Compound. The compound was the standard feeding area, and the feeding order had been established for years.

  Viv had three ranch hands, Charlie Zerangue, Bootstrap and Kale. Their primary job was to keep the front forty acres filled with cattle, sheep, pigs, etc., then send a designated number of animals down a chute that led them past the ranch to the feeding area, which had always been off-limits to the ranchers. As far as she knew, from what Viv had told her and Gilly, not once had the ranch hands ever asked about why the animals were sent through the chutes nightly but never returned. They simply did what they were told. Such a rarity in today’s world.

  Once the cattle were in place, the Nosferatu were sent in to feed first, since they drained the animals of blood. Once they had their fill, they were ferried back to the city, and then Viv allowed her Loup Garous in, to feed on the meat. When the Loups were sated, Viv moved them to a different area of the compound, then signaled for Gilly to ferry over her Chenilles. They completed the feeding by draining the bones of the animals of every drop of marrow.

  Evee had warned Lucien to stay behind the back of the cathedral when the Nosferatu were led to the ferry. He was human, after all, and at this time of morning, the Nosferatu were beyond starving. Once they were on the ferry and on their way to the compound, it would be safe for him to come to the docks.

  And Evee would be with him again. Because of her absolute fear of water—the fear had been bad enough before her near drowning earlier, but now she was positively petrified—she never rode the ferry with her Nosferatu. She had no idea where or when her phobia of water had come from. It was possibly from drowning in a former life, but regardless, the fear was as real as the nose on her face.

  Even prepping the ferry made her nervous. It made her think of when she’d run into the river to escape the Cartesian. Had it not been for Lucien, she would surely have drowned.

  The family ferry was moored near the east of the riverwalk, where it was dark and there was rarely any foot traffic. This morning, predawn, it lit the riverwalk like a thousand Christmas trees. Viv, her Loup, and Nikoli had accomplished what they’d promised to do. The ferry now had an electric dome on top of it to protect the Originals riding to or from a feeding. The relief that sent through Evee was huge and physical.

  Evee checked the engine, then checked the gates along the sides of the ferry as well as the one in the back that closed the ferry, forming a sort of pen. This was to make sure the Nosferatu, no matter how rowdy they became, stayed safely aboard.

  Once the Nosferatu were stacked onto the ferry, she usually started the engine and, by incantation, sent the ferry across river to the compound, where Pierre, Evee’s lead Nosferatu, made sure they were off-loaded into yet another chute to keep them from running wild in the five-hundred-acre compound. Their chute led directly into the feeding area.

  After the Nosferatu were fed, Viv invariably sent out a loud whistle and cawing sound, which let Evee know they were done feeding.

  Pierre, having fed himself, usually brought the Nosferatu back onto the ferry and then signaled to Evee with a howl that the loaded ferry was ready to head back.

  At Pierre’s call, Evee usually issued an incantation to restart the ferry motor and lead it back to the city. When they returned, she would lead t
hem back to the catacombs.

  This time, however, she was concerned. With her incantations seemingly choosing when or whether to work, she feared things might not go so smoothly today.

  Forcing herself to think more positively, Evee tried to limit her concerns to one issue. The Nosferatu had been cooped up for too long because of the Cartesian attacks. When things had been normal, many of them had worked jobs in the Quarter, in handsome or beautiful human form, serving as bartenders, dancers, street performers or hotel clerks. All of them, however, returned to the catacombs for feeding time, where they quickly transformed to their natural state. Tall, lanky, with a large white, bald head that had a large vein across their forehead. The vein led to the top of their heads, where it branched off to smaller yet still prominent veins. Their eyes bulged out, large and black and red-rimmed. Every one of them lashless. Their noses were long, the hooked end nearly meeting their upper lip. The fangs, the tools they used to puncture and feed with, were their two front teeth, both long, crooked and yellow. Their fingers were twice the length of an average man’s, and their fingernails, yellow and twisted, extended at least three or four inches past their fingertips. They remained in their natural state after the feeding, when daylight shortly followed, and it was their time to sleep.

  Lately, because of the Cartesians, Evee had kept all her Nosferatu in the catacombs even after dark, allowing them out only for feedings. This had caused them to become extremely restless. More than once, Evee or Pierre had had to break up territorial fights. She couldn’t blame the Nosferatu. With nothing else to do, it was only natural that they got on each other’s nerves.

  She’d have to be hypervigilant in moving them from the catacombs to the ferry. The fact that they’d been stuck in the catacombs for too long might cause some of them to bolt. The lure of freedom might be too irresistible for some. That could mean more missing Nosferatu. More danger for the humans in the city. If any did bolt, the chances that she’d be able to call them back into tow would probably be slim to none. She hadn’t been successful calling to the ones who were already missing. Although she’d tried more times than she could count, not one of them had responded and returned to her.

  Finally, after triple-checking the ferry and starting its motor, Evee left the ferry and went to the catacombs, where she signaled Pierre it was time to bring them out.

  With a simple nod, Pierre called to the Nosferatu, lining them up near the catacomb gates.

  Before she opened the gates, Evee said a calming spell, hoping it would keep her Originals in tow, at least enough to get all of them onto the ferry.

  “Quiet thee, oh creatures mine.

  Let these words turn thy rage to soothing wine.

  Angst and boredom, fear and pain.

  Bring to thy mind now that ’tis all in vain.

  So it is said.

  So shall it be.”

  Once she was done, she peered through the gate and saw that the Nosferatu were still fidgeting nervously, refusing to follow Pierre’s orders. Some had started yanking on the catacomb gates as if wanting to rip them open. Some snarled, others whimpered.

  Evee glanced at Pierre, who appeared at a loss and just as concerned about opening the gates as she was.

  “Once more,” Pierre said. “The calming spell. Louder. More forceful maybe.”

  Nodding, Evee held her hands against the gate of the catacombs, ignoring those who were still pulling on them. She overlooked her brood. Staring each one in the eye, she hardened her expression. And this time she shouted, allowing fury to carry her voice.

  “Quiet thee, oh creatures mine.

  Let these words turn thy rage to soothing wine.

  Angst and boredom, fear and pain.

  Bring to thy mind now that ’tis all in vain.

  So it is said.

  SO SHALL IT BE!”

  Evee spoke the last line of the spell so loudly her throat hurt.

  Surprisingly, loud worked. The Nosferatu gathered as directed without another whimper or snarl.

  Evee gave Pierre a nod, then opened the gate and led the Nosferatu out of the catacombs. She walked quickly, with Pierre bringing up the rear, and steered her Originals to the ferry, where they boarded without hesitation.

  Once Pierre stepped aboard, Evee closed the back gate of the ferry, latched it, then with a wave of her hand, sent it chugging across the water.

  As she watched it creep along the muddy Mississippi, Evee thought about Viv. Viv always stayed on the feeding grounds until all the Originals had been fed. Although she knew to make herself scarce while the Nosferatu and Chenilles were off-loaded from the ferry to the chute that took them to the feeding area, Evee couldn’t help worrying.

  The calming spell had worked, but only after she’d used it twice. Evee hoped it would hold. She had no control over the Loup Garous or the Chenilles. Her brood consisted solely of the Nosferatu. If her Nosferatu suddenly decided to go rogue while on the compound, that would put Viv in danger. Not only her personally, but it would screw up the entire feeding process for the other Originals.

  Evee tried desperately not to think that way, but the thought kept niggling at her brain. That and the thought of Viv and Nikoli.

  When they’d met with the Elders, Viv had confessed, just as Evee had, to having been intimate with one of the Benders. Evee couldn’t help wondering if her sister fought with the same constant desire for Nikoli that she did for Lucien.

  Evee knew Nikoli was with Viv now, and wondered if Viv had gotten distracted like she had with Lucien. Not that Viv would shirk her responsibilities when it came to getting her ranchers to send food through the feeding chute. But as Viv waited for the Nosferatu to arrive, was she kissing Nikoli? Was he touching her? Did Nikoli touch Viv in the same way Lucien touched her? Did her sister crave being near her Bender?

  Or had she listened to the Elders and, even at this moment, was keeping an arm’s length away from Nikoli? Out of the three of them, Evee had to admit that Viv was the most levelheaded. But that didn’t mean she was the strongest emotionally. Maybe Gilly was. She’d claimed nothing had yet happened between her and Gavril, which was hard to believe. Gilly was so out there. She always said what she meant and meant what she said. How on earth had she not slept with Gavril yet? His looks were exquisite, and Evee had seen the way he looked at Gilly, like she was a walking goddess. Evee had seen them laugh easily together, noticed how they always stood near each other. A team. A couple. Who’d yet to have sex? It was mind-boggling.

  From birth the Triad had been taught that they had one and only one crucial task to tend to in their lifetime. To take care of their Originals. No one, not their mother before she died or the Elders as they trained them, had taught them to stay emotionless in the face of an impossible attraction. No matter how firmly the Elders’ order had been hammered into them about staying away from the Benders, it seemed to Evee that the directive had slid off her like water off a duck’s back.

  She could no more deny what she needed or wanted from Lucien than she could deny she was one of the Triad. And, knowing her sister Viv, she seriously doubted she could deny what she felt for Nikoli.

  What the hell were they supposed to do? What kind of Triad were they? Purposely defying their Elders’ commands. Hearing that their attraction to the Benders might be causing the trauma happening with the Originals and Cartesians just didn’t seem to stave off their desire. If what the Elders had said was true, how could she simply not care? Why didn’t she feel one ounce of guilt?

  Evee figured, as the Elders had mentioned when they reamed them out, that it was all in the interpretation.

  A member of the Triad wasn’t to marry or live intimately with a human. And they weren’t doing so.

  All Evee had to do was keep repeating that to herself, and like a magic spell from some unknown source, guilt never stood a chance in her br
ain.

  She wondered if the same was true with Viv.

  Logic. It all had to do with logic.

  The only problem Evee had with that bit of logic was the roller coaster she rode with Lucien. Would she ever be able to get off it?

  What was she supposed to do once their mission was complete, and the Benders moved on to their next mission? How would she survive?

  Would she survive?

  No one and nothing had ever touched her, satisfied her in the way Lucien had. He’d not only touched her body as if he read her mind but he had grabbed her heart, her soul, without her permission and before she knew it was happening.

  And although Evee wasn’t sure what that exactly meant, she feared she wouldn’t be able to do without it ever.

  Which meant she’d truly have to break the rules of the Triad curse, and her Originals, all of them, would be lost to her forever.

  Could she—would she...ever let it go that far?

  Chapter 21

  “Don’t you ever ride the ferry with them?”

  At the sound of a man’s voice, Evee spun on her heels, terror in her eyes.

  Lucien quickly walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry I frightened you. You’re always so alert. I figured you’d seen me walking over to you.”

  Evee let out a shaky breath. “No problem. I was daydreaming while watching the ferry. Guess I was lost in thought.”

  “Good thoughts?”

  She gave him an easy smile. “Started with some worrisome. Ended with very good ones.”

  Lucien returned her smile, still holding her shoulder. He’d been watching Evee at work from around the corner of St. John’s Cathedral. Although she’d warned him to stay out of sight until the Nosferatu had been loaded onto the ferry, he’d already known to do so. Since he was human, it was far from wise to be within view of a group of hungry Nosferatu heading out to be fed. The last thing Lucien intended to be was a snack before they reached the compound.