Blue Voodoo: A Romantic Retelling of Bluebeard (The Hidden Kingdom Series Book 2)

by Jennifer Blackstream

  Dominique’s head thrashed from side to side, the moans falling from her mouth bleeding into one another until it was one endless keen. Her magic beat against her skin, thrumming against his touch. The well of her power inside him rose in response, rubbing against his insides like a purring cat. The sensation that would have frightened him only yesterday, would have had him escaping to his ship and the freedom of the waves, now soothed him.

  He pressed deeper inside her, straining as though he could meld them into one form, one body. Passion sizzled along his nerves like a thousand bolts of lightning. Her hips moved with his, meeting his thrusts with a wild abandon of her own. They raced together for the shining edge in the distance, the release that had been too long coming.

  Dominique’s scream exploded into the warm air of the bayou, her body going rigid in Julien’s arms seconds before his own release tore through him with gale wind force. Power echoed in her dying scream and it beat against his body like the rays of a strange sun, hot and cold at the same time. He dropped his face to her neck, alternately biting, kissing, and licking as the ripples of pleasure washed over him, left him without coherent thought. There was nothing but pleasure and her warm, sweat-glistening body beneath him.

  They lay together on the grass, limbs tangled as their breathing evened out. They might have dozed off, Julien couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t until his skin twitched with the sensation of being watched that he stirred, realized he held a sleeping Dominique in his arms.

  He scanned the darkness, all senses on alert, ready to shed his human form at a moment’s notice. He’d never been so invigorated, so rested, so alive with power and vitality. If there was danger nearby, it had picked an unfortunate time to make itself known.

  Shadows danced all around him, slivers of moonlight spearing the canopy above their little clearing and revealing pieces of their surroundings in brief puddles of silver light. The trees swayed in the soft breeze, stirred by air laden with moisture from the surrounding water. Julien listened closely, forcing himself to focus until the noises that had been nothing but background became clear. Buzzing insects, rustling animals, sighing wind. Rippling water.

  Julien blinked, stirring his power, letting his eyes shift slightly so he could use the improved vision of his other form. The colors that had seemed so monochrome a moment ago sharpened into vibrancy. The muted blues and blacks splintered, exploded, and the brownish green water ceased to be a single sheet of shadow, morphing into a blanket sprinkled with leaves, twigs, dead insects…and scales.

  Parlangua.

  As if the beast had somehow sensed it had been discovered, it opened its eyes. Twin orbs gazed at him, a kaleidoscope of greens and yellows dancing together in a stare that pierced the soul. Unlike the last time Julien had seen those eyes, this time there was no hatred in them, no burning fury. They were just eyes. Watching. Waiting.

  Julien glanced down at a still sleeping Dominique, debating on whether to wake her. Her face, so recently bright with the most beautiful smile he’d ever been blessed to see, was now smooth as new silk, peaceful in sleep. The tension that held her prisoner when she was awake, that forced her to maintain such tight control lest her people see that the voodoo queen they so feared was merely human herself, was gone. She was free, if only for the span of a night. He wouldn’t take that from her.

  He glanced back at the water, watching as Parlangua raised its head. He half expected the monster to bare its teeth, to threaten him, call him out. But it merely floated there in the water, seeming content to wait however long it took. Curiosity piqued, Julien made his decision and gently extricated himself from Dominique’s arms. She sighed and rolled over, the warmth of her skin and that one breath of sound almost tempting him back into her arms. Parlangua’s stare grew heavier, a firm reminder that his presence was requested. Smothering a sigh, Julien turned.

  One step was as far as he got before Dominique’s warning came back to him, reminding him what would happen if he left her again. Even though he wasn’t going far, Julien decided precautions were called for. He took a moment to gather his clothes, carefully laying them in her line of sight, a sign that he had not left. Another moment of consideration prompted him to take his sword with him to meet Parlangua, but he didn’t take it from its sheath.

  Holding on to his enhanced vision, Julien easily navigated the marshy land without tripping over the myriad of extended tree roots or losing his balance by stepping into one of the several small sinkholes left by the fluctuating water. He arrived at the bank without incident, attention firmly locked on his toothy guest.

  “Are you here to congratulate us, then?”

  Slime green eyes rolled up to meet his. “Should I be?” Brownish liquid sluiced over the scales of its snout. “If you wanted my congratulations, it seems to me an invitation to your wedding would have been called for. I refer of course to the second wedding that you had over yonder amidst those trees. The first ceremony was a farce, and a pathetic one at that.”

  “Dominique didn’t want you there.” He could have made some excuse, told Parlangua that they’d wanted it to be a private ceremony, that no one had really been invited and those creatures who had shown up had done so of their own initiative, but he didn’t. Parlangua knew Dominique was angry, pretending she wasn’t would be a waste of both their time. After a moment of consideration, he added, “I did try to change her mind.”

  Parlangua raised a claw from beneath the water, lifting its head to scratch lightly at the pale yellow scales of its throat. “She will regret her decision later. We have been friends for far too long for her little grudge to stand. With that in mind, I decided to make things easier on her by being at the ceremony anyway, hidden just beneath the water not more than ten feet from where you shared your lovely vows. It will make the coming apology easier on us both.”

  Julien tapped his still-sheathed sword against his leg. “I thought I saw you.” Fortunately, Dominique hadn’t. Her beautiful brown eyes had been locked on Julien, holding him in their own little word as they said their vows before the loa and a few creatures who’d managed to learn of the voodoo queen’s second wedding ceremony. He would have missed Parlangua himself if his avian half hadn’t stolen a moment to look through his eyes at the blushing bride. Eyesight that sharp didn’t miss anything. He’d almost said something to Dominique, but he hadn’t wanted to ruin the ceremony—again. “She will get over it. Eventually she will admit to herself that they had to die. We never would have been truly safe, could never have completely relaxed as long as they lived. You did her a favor by taking the choice from her.”

  “Indeed.” Parlangua licked its lips with a bloodstained tongue. “They tasted terrible.”

  “They would.” Julien tightened his hand on the hilt of the sword. “I wish I could have been there. I would gladly have sliced them into convenient bite-sized pieces for you.”

  “Wouldn’t have helped. Evil has a taint worse than any poison. Sticks to the palette.” As if remembering a foul taste, Parlangua dipped its snout under the water, opening and closing its jaw a few times to wash out its mouth. “I cannot say I appreciate the double standard. I ate the women to protect Dominique while simultaneously feeding myself, two birds with one stone so to speak. For this I’m treated as a monster. And yet, I see no rebuke for you for killing Narcisse—and you didn’t even eat him.”

  “There was nothing left to eat. The wind scattered Narcisse’s ashes to the four corners of the world the moment after my lightning did him in.” Satisfaction warmed Julien’s tone and he smiled. “Besides, Dominique agreed that I could handle him. She has no reason to be put out with me because she failed to stipulate any restrictions on what constituted just punishment.”

  Parlangua snorted. “A double standard.” Suddenly its eyes sharpened. “You are her husband in truth now.”

  “Yes.” Julien glanced back at Dominique, hardly able to believe it himself. “I’m surprised she agreed to have me.”

  “A weakness gained at a y
oung age often pursues one through life.” Parlangua’s voice was mild, conversational. “You were her first love. Few ever recover from that.” Parlangua made a strange sound in its throat, halfway between a grunt and a chuckle. “I see you’ve bonded.”

  Julien froze, realizing he’d been rubbing his fingers over his chest above his heart. The thrum of Dominique’s power lingered against the pads of his fingers, a strange sensation that wasn’t at all unpleasant. He dropped his hand, annoyed that Parlangua had witnessed his distraction. “We have.”

  “Not so scary anymore then?” Parlangua slid its head back and forth in the water, almost playfully. Ripples grew, surrounding the beast in a center of undulating waves.

  The sly satisfaction in Parlangua’s tone made Julien itch to thump it on the head with the broad side of his sword, but he resisted the urge. Barely. “It was simply pointless to put it off. Once I realized that denying the bond didn’t save me from feeling a connection to her, it just seemed futile to keep fighting it.” He bit the inside of his cheek, firmly keeping himself from adding that he’d finally realized he loved Dominique—truly, foolishly, completely loved her. The bond was merely a technicality.

  “Your brethren do not seem so foolish now, I’d wager.”

  The happy afterglow Julien had planned to wallow in for the rest of the night threatened to crack in the face of Parlangua’s smugness. He needed to leave now before his mood was irreparably soured. “I should be getting back to my bride.” He pivoted on one heel to leave, and smirked at the crocodilian monster over his shoulder. “By the way, I’m so pleased to see your eye has grown back.”

  Parlangua growled and Julien started whistling, as he proceeded to return to his still-sleeping wife. He’d taken three steps toward Dominique when Parlangua’s voice slithered across his ears.

  “You have a debt to a god now. I sense his mark on you.”

  “A petty attempt to upset me, Parlangua, I’d have thought better of you. Yes, I have a debt, and I will serve Ogou as I promised. It is a small price to pay for his help saving Dominique.”

  Parlangua chortled, unsettling glee in the hoarse sound. “It is not Ogou’s spirit that marks you, foolish pirate.”

  Julien whirled around, his heart suddenly in his throat, his breath hardened to ice in his lungs. “What do you mean?”

  He received no answer to his question. Only the gently rippling water of the bayou and the memory of a green-gold gaze that would haunt his sleep.

  Epilogue

  “They’re here.”

  Saamal, god, prince of the Kingdom of Mu, and member of the ruling council for the Hidden Kingdom, put down the goblet of wine he’d been twirling in his grip for the last hour. The gold made a soft metallic clink as it touched the polished wood of the side table, glowing as the firelight danced over its intricately carved sides. Not for the first time, Saamal wondered where Kirill had found the funds for such rich furnishings. The vampire wouldn’t reveal his sources, saying only that reputation was everything and if they wanted to be a true ruling council, they had to present themselves as rich and powerful.

  The vampire in question stood against the wall near the large window. Moonlight turned his long white-blond hair silver, catching his eyes and lighting them like twin pits of cerulean flame. As always, he was careful not to place himself where he could be seen from the outside. Ever mindful of possible assassination attempts, even here in a kingdom few even knew existed yet, the undead prince was the picture of caution.

  “I should have gone to retrieve them.” Kirill’s blue eyes remained firmly on the door, his face a map of severe lines. “Letting them wander in on their own is a worse idea than having them both here.”

  Saamal shook his head. “You would not have gotten the impundulu to come without his bride. Dominique knew as much as he did about our impending offer and it would have been perceived as a grave insult to deny her an invitation.”

  “It was not the impundulu I would have invited,” Kirill muttered. “The woman is the one with real power, real influence.”

  “We should be inviting them in pairs anyway.” Adonis, demon prince of Nysa, wagged a clawed finger at Kirill. “We only invite them into our little world in pairs, there’s no reason to extend the invitation to just one of them.”

  “We cannot get their acceptance or their oath before revealing the existence of the new kingdom,” Kirill ground out, words hissing between his fangs. “The least we can do is limit the number of people who know about it by inviting one person at a time.”

  “You say that as though they wouldn’t immediately go home and tell their wives anyway,” Adonis stood and dropped the bulk of his shoulders against the wall in an attempt to scratch an itch between his large, leathery wings. Hazel eyes glittered with mischief and he opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the werewolf prince’s gruff insult.

  “Typical vampire.” Etienne wrinkled his nose at the vampire. “He can’t understand anyone who doesn’t think with the same mercenary mindset that he does.”

  Kirill’s shoulders bunched, black cloak bunching with the movement. “In this case, it doesn’t matter anyway, since Tenoch so freely shared the information with them the first time he spoke to them.”

  Saamal rubbed at his temple, trying to ease the headache threatening to consume him.“Kirill, I have tried to tell you. Tenoch does not believe in manipulation of any kind. If asked a question he knows an answer to, he would need a very good reason—a very good reason for him—not to answer honestly.” He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I did tell you that before we sent him.”

  Patricio straightened suddenly, pushing off the oak-paneled wall he’d been leaning against. “The pirate is in a mood.” The other four princes turned to look at the angel. The prince of Meropis gestured with his chin toward the door, his wings shifting behind him. “They’re in the hallway. I can feel his thoughts from here.”

  “He’s thinking sinful thoughts?” Adonis leaned forward. “What sort of sins is our proposed inductee considering?”

  Patricio’s eyes shone with a brief flicker of brilliant blue light and the feathers of his hulking white wings ruffled. “Murder.”

  “Odd,” Adonis mused. “He’s just had his honeymoon. I would think lust would have been his sin of choice tonight.”

  “Unless Parlangua let slip a hint about his debt to Ogou.” Saamal leaned his head back against the thick cushion of his chair, bracing himself for the outburst he knew was coming.

  True to form, Kirill snarled, both hands vanishing under his cloak, no doubt to grip a weapon of one kind or another. “Naturally. Why wouldn’t the monster be forthcoming with such information? What need have we for secrets, or the leisure to make our revelations in our own, considered time?”

  “I’m sure they would all be very ashamed of themselves if they only knew how much it upset you when people deviate from your plan,” Adonis soothed. He scratched a hand over thin air, producing a cigarette from some astral pocket. “Smoke? It might make you feel better.”

  Black velvet parted to reveal the silver blade of a dagger—Kirill’s personal favorite, if Saamal wasn’t mistaken.

  “Do not press me, Adonis,” the vampire said in a voice as smooth and cold as old bones. “This situation has been—”

  A knock on the door ended whatever Kirill had been about to say. Everyone turned their focus to the door, each preparing himself to greet the pirate and his voodoo queen. Patricio especially was looking intent, the spark in his eyes hinting that he’d scented sin and was feeling…hungry. Only the fact that his giant broadsword remained sheathed and untouched assured Saamal that the angel posed no threat to their guests.

  Saamal rose first and strode forward, gesturing for the others to stay back. He opened the door, welcoming smile at the ready.

  “Julien, Dominique, I’m so pleased you could make it.”

  “Did you purchase my debt from Ogou?”

  The question burst from Julien’s lips as though the man
had been holding it on his tongue for the entire journey here. The words were sharp, flung like shrapnel to hide the panic that fueled them. The pirate’s long dark hair flared around his face and shoulder, deep treks in the waves suggesting its current state was the result of hands being shoved through the tresses as opposed to being tossed about by the wind.

  Not wanting to agitate the man further, Saamal kept his face stoic, unthreatening. “Yes I did. I take it you have spoken with Tenoch?”

  Julien’s face blanched at Saamal’s affirmation, nearly matching the ghostly shade of Kirill’s undead pallor. Beside him, Dominique remained calm and composed, her head scarf expertly wrapped and folded, her throat decorated with a simple gold chain necklace. She held herself with the bearing of a true queen, shoulders squared, back impeccably straight. Still, Saamal didn’t miss the tightening of the skin around her eyes.

  “I mean you no harm.” Saamal kept his hands at his sides and his movements slow. “If you’ll just let me introduce my companions and then I will explain—”

  “What do you want from me?”

  Julien’s demand was robbed of some of its force by the rasp of a dry throat. He hadn’t moved from the doorway, hadn’t accepted the invitation to come inside. His feet remained rooted to the floor just outside the room, a testament to his determination to get answers before entering into the discussion he’d been invited here to have. Saamal watched with interest as Julien met his gaze. Few who knew Saamal’s true nature could look him in the eye with such bravado, and the gesture earned Julien a hefty amount of respect.

  “I will explain, if you will but allow me. My companions and I have a proposition for you.” Saamal gestured behind him. “Julien, Dominique, I would like you to meet Prince Etienne of Sanguennay—a familiar face to you, no doubt.”