She meant business thought Sophie. Meant it, but didn’t necessarily feel it. Beneath the bravado, Sophie detected a hint of hesitancy of her welcome. It disguised deep-seated, well-hidden insecurity.
“Hello, sister,” Sylvain nodded at their unexpected guest, breaking the shocked silence. She was undoubtedly fae and powerful. Her beauty was too surreal to be anything, but that. That she was Sylvain’s mysterious Unseelie sister explained the power coming off of her.
“Brother,” she acknowledged with a near identical nod.
“What are you doing here?” He bit out.
“Oh, for goodness sake!” Miss Suzette huffed, cuffing the back of Sylvain’s head. They all grinned at Sylvain’s look of controlled outrage. He would never hurt the Cajun mama, but he was still a prince and no one cuffed the back of his head.
“Don’t you be lookin’ at me like that, boy,” Miss Suzette glared at him. “Getting yourself into a het will only make it worse. Prince or not, no one treats family like that in this home!”
Outrage quickly turned to chagrin. He glanced at his sister just in time to see the smirk she’d been sporting turn to a look of masterful innocence. His eyes practically twitched to narrow. He looked at his friends. The grins they were wearing like daft fools didn’t waver under his glare. His ego caved and he strategically admitted defeat. Turning to his sister, he stated more solemnly, “My apologies, sister. My inadequate excuse for my rude behavior is that I was shocked at your appearance. I hadn’t thought that you’d entered the human realm for millennia.”
“I hadn’t,” Vérène confirmed. “I felt that you were in danger and came to help.”
Hearing that made him feel more like a douche bag; their separation had hardened him. Guilt consumed him. He doubted that he would have felt it if she was in danger as he had perfected the skill of blocking her out over thousands of years.
Sensing Sylvain’s internal conflict, Sophie stepped forward and extended her hand in greeting. “Hi, I’m Sophie.”
“Vampire, witch, empath,” Vérène categorized her.
“Yes,” Sophie said brightly, putting all the welcoming she could muster into her smile. She waved a hand at the rest of the room’s occupants. “Anais, vampire, head of the household and royal witch. Rose, fire-witch, and vampire. Miss Suzette, our kitchen magician and friend.”
“Voodoo queen,” Vérène acknowledged with a nod. She received the same from Miss Suzette. The Cajun mama did not stand on ceremony in her own house and stood her ground.
“Conall is the Prince of Witches and Anais’ blood-bonded fiancé,” Sophie ended the introductions.
“There are more supernatural beings here,” Vérène stated looking upwards as though sniffing the air.
“Yes,” Anais confessed, stepping into the awkward greeting. “We have many weres who are both allies and neighbors.” Anais decided to omit the presence of the girls for now. She did not know Sylvain’s sister and given their obviously tumultuous relationship, she erred on the side of caution.
“What is your name?” Miss Suzette asked bluntly. The pussy-footing happening in the room put her uncomfortably on guard and she hated feeling awkward in her own home. The one concession was Yves. She suppressed a shudder at her memories of Anais’ maker.
Vérène gasped and glanced in shock at Sylvain.
Smiling suddenly, he stepped forward and faced her, “They do not want to know your faerie name, sister. I’ve explained that our true names are like a spell and hold power so they cannot be spoken.” He looked to the others who confirmed his statement with a round of nods.
“Oh,” she shrugged then blushed. “Forgive me, it has been too long since I’ve been amongst others. The name I use is Vérène.”
Miss Suzette felt her heart go out to the woman. She was so strong, yet just as equally vulnerable, nursing an old hurt, she reckoned. If she wasn’t right about that, Miss Suzette continued her mental monologue, then she wasn’t Cajun or worthy of her gift. Sylvain’s sister reminded her of her own girls when she’d first met them. They were all stubborn, beautiful, and in need of a good dose of mama.
“Last I heard,” Miss Suzette interrupted the silent mulling, “we had a wedding to prepare for. Vérène,” she stated in a voice that would brook no argument, “you can come sit in the kitchen while I cook and I’ll fill you in on the shenanigans that happen in this place.” Miss Suzette sent the rest of them a look to demand that they trust her judgment. “The rest of you get to work. I’m with Sophie. I need a bit of romance and happy endings myself.”
Holding onto Vérène’s hand, half-dragging her along, Miss Suzette passed by Sylvain and cuffed him a second time against the back of his head.
“What was that for?” Sylvain scowled, rubbing the back of his head.
“My girls have manners,” she huffed proudly. “Best you learn some from our Sophie.”
The others laughed at his expense and he let them, joining in. He had caught the look of understanding in Miss Suzette’s eyes and darn if he didn’t feel like a kid who got the class award.
Chapter 11
Sophie was seated at the large, oak kitchen table at Papillion with Anais, Rose, and Miss Suzette.
“Why, if he knew he had a severe pollen allergy, would he agree to a wedding in a plantation garden? In the Bayou!” Sophie clutched her stomach as she laughed.
“I don’t know,” Anais said in between barks of laughter. “One minute he was saying his speech, quite a sweet and romantic one, and the next he sneezed. It wouldn’t have been that bad except that his sneeze was big and the chunk of green that flew out of his nose was bigger.”
“And of course,” Rose interjected, wiping at her eyes, “Murphy would see that it landed square on said Bride’s face!”
Sophie choked on her café and snorted, bringing more howls of laughter. Anais handed her a tissue. “We don’t want a repeat,” she said, her tone dry and lips twitching.
Miss Suzette stopped laughing long enough to admit, “I’m trying not to puke, picturing it. I kept wondering why all the oysters came back and why y’all didn’t want to eat them too. It’s good Raulf’s weres will eat anything so that took care of it. Made sure good food didn’t go to waste. Not that I blame y’all. Darn idiot.” She shuddered at the image even as she chuckled.
Chuckles came through on the spider-phone in the middle of the table. “Man, am I glad that I called in earlier,” Marie laughed. “I sure miss all the craziness.”
“At least we know she is in love,” V noted. “I’m not sure I would’ve agreed to ‘until snot us do part’.” A collective “eeeww” broke out around the table.
“Wait,” Marie’s voice came through, “did V just crack a joke?” A moment of silence followed, and then roars of laughter ensued. V grumbled then chuckled along.
“I’m glad we didn’t cancel our post-wedding de-brief,” Anais smiled once the laughter had died down. “But let’s try to not postpone it again.” The evening of the wedding had been preceded by the events concerning the changeling and Vérène’s unexpected visit. The wedding had had some challenges – created by human foolishness, so by the end of it, they had all elected to break tradition for once and postpone the recon session.
“How did the meeting go with Yves and Conall?” Sophie asked.
Anais shrugged, “Same old. I don’t know why he insists on the formality. It’s pointless. We zap off to wherever he is in the world, then sit, and exchange pleasantries for a few hours. We’re no nearer to figuring out how involved he was in Akeldonna’s blood bottling venture.”
“V,” Anais called out. “Well done on rescuing those girls and on finding their families.”
“Yeah well,” V responded, “it would be better if we could find this darn operation and intercept them before they kidnapped the witches.”
“Agreed,” Anais stated, “but don’t underestimate the good of what you and Raulf are doing?”
“How’s my nephew doing?” Miss Suzette cut in. “Why i
sn’t he on the phone?”
“He’s good,” V assured her. She knew that Miss Suzette’s gruffness hid concern. “He went for a run. There were some weres there Miss Suzette. Their pack had all been wiped out, so they’re orphans. They’ll need a home.”
“I’ll speak to them,” Miss Suzette offered, referring to Raulf’s pack. “Niall can make the arrangements to have them transported back?
“Already on it,” V confirmed.
The atmosphere had mellowed somewhat around the table. They’d found and intercepted every kidnapping they had gotten wind of. So far, they knew that what V stated was what was needed. And they still needed to try and figure out the greater game Yves was playing. Kidnapping young witches and she-weres was evil and selling their drained blood was enterprising, but it was too small an operation for Yves. It did not fit the authoritative, power-mad, Vampire Council leader.
“I think Akhilleus is the key,” Sophie broke the contemplative silence, referring to the ancient vampire that they had rescued. A member of the Vampire Council and ruler of the Greek fraction of vampires, he had become nothing more than a mindless puppet when the Coffin Girls and their friends had rescued the first group of witches. “He may have been under Akeldonna’s spell,” Sophie continued, “but he is ancient and strong. His subconscious, if tapped, may reveal critical information.”
Anais tipped her head to the side, thinking. “I can buy that,” she agreed. “Will you talk to Niall about it, Marie? He is with you at the Enchanted Island and so is Akhilleus. He has access to magick we may not know of. Maybe he can shed some light on how we can do this without further harming Akhilleus.”
“Yes,” Marie responded. “Good idea. I’ll also chat with Conall’s sisters. The witches are like walking encyclopedias of magick.”
Anais shuddered, thinking back to when the sisters had helped unbind her powers. “They are that,” she concurred. “Good,” Anais tapped the table with her hands. “I’ll fill Conall in and Sophie, you see Sylvain more than we do, will you let him know? We want to all be on the same page as far as possible.”
“Sure,” Sophie nodded.
“Okay,” Anais stated, ticking things off her mental agenda. “That takes care of the wedding and the vamp businesses. Onto our magickal education.”
Taking their lead from Anais, they took turns reporting back to the group. Anais turned to Sophie, “How is your empath training going?”
“Good,” Sophie replied then gave a quick rundown on the progress she’s made and the arrangements she’d made with Brigid, Conall’s sister, to join their weekly sessions post her training.
“And how are things at the hollow, Sophie?” Rose prompted, trying hard to seem innocent.
“Great, thanks,” Sophie politely replied. She’d been played, she realized. They did not want to know about the hollow, but rather its dashing prince. So, they’d suffer first before she satisfied their reality.
Miss Suzette, Anais, and Rose began staring at her, making her feel like a worm under the scrutiny of a hungry bird. Yep – they were dying to know the details. V and Marie were still on the speaker phone. Apparently grilling her about her love life was a serious enough affair to keep V from her witch-saving missions and Marie from her necromancy training.
The silence stretched out uncomfortably. Sophie let it continue. She was a vampire who had remained a virgin for over a century. This was nothing she smirked inwardly.
“Uurgh,” Marie growled in frustration. “Sophie, I swear, if you don’t give, I’ll sic Nick on you.”
“Why, Marie is that anyway to speak of our charming resident ghost?” Sophie asked, feigning shock.
“Thank you, my dear,” Nick popped into view. “It warms my spirit heart to hear you speak so of me. But, I too, want to know of your…” Nick wiggled his eyebrows, illustrating why he was affectionately referred to as Naughty Nick.
“So are you still a virgin?” Marie blurted out.
“Subtle, Marie,” Anais grinned with the rest of them. “So are you, Sophie, or have you sampled the fine offerings of the fae?”
“You’re becoming corny,” Sophie grumbled. “You spend too much time with Conall.” She huffed, and then glared at them, including the phone. “Feel my grumpiness, Marie and V,” Sophie growled.
V chuckled, “That I can. Your empath training is going well if you can send emotions through a phone line.”
Better to get this over and done with, Sophie thought. “Fine,” she said on a breath, “we did it.”
“Yay!” Marie and Rose exclaimed eliciting giggles all around. Sophie groaned in response.
“Sophie, cher, we’re just teasing you. And, happy for you! How are you?” Anais asked, her tone gentle, caring.
“Great,” Sophie replied, smiling. “Sylvain is great.” She shook her head in amusement at her inability to articulate correctly when talking about him. “He was definitely worth the wait,” Sophie grinned.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from that hunk of blonde manliness,” Rose piped in.
“Uh-huh,” V agreed, “if his kiss was anything to go by, I can only imagine what the whole shebang was like!”
Sophie growled at V, “He’s off limits.”
The others whooped. “Jealous, boo?” Miss Suzette joined in the teasing. “I told you all you needed was a man to warm your bed. It ain’t natural for a woman to be without some for so long.”
“Oh Goddess,” Sophie groaned, laying her head in her hands on the table.
“No details,” Marie yelled before anyone could ask for just that.
“Why the hell not?” Rose scowled.
“You need to ask?” Marie sounded baffled. “Sophie losing her virginity and snagging that hot piece of fae ass is monumental! We need to celebrate! So we’ll do that when V and I are both there and we have drinks, food, and each other for one uninterrupted night.”
Anais looked around the table and saw the nods - even from Sophie. “Sounds perfect,” she smiled. “We will have something else to celebrate too.”
“We wondered when you’d tell us about the babies.” Sophie smiled.
“You knew?” Anais asked in surprise.
“Of course,” Sophie nodded, “we’re connected through blood and magick, remember? Besides, they’re healthy little ones. We can hear their hearts beating a mile away.”
Anais grinned broadly, “I guess I have porridge brain.” She seemed so excited by the supposed symptom of pregnancy that they all laughed.
“Congrats on the porridge brain and babies,” V’s voice came through.
“We are going to have ourselves one helluva celebration when V and I are back.” Marie’s smile could be felt in the room. “Congrats, Anais.”
“Thanks,” Anais inclined her head, her lips curved widely. “We had no idea I could become pregnant. I am a vampire, after all. But it seems that the witch half of us negates that. We’re a bit scared about what our joint powers will do to the baby and Conall is scared for me too, hovering like a guard. I refuse to think negatively though. By Goddess, this is a miracle and one I’m going to enjoy.”
“Hear, hear,” Rose stated then went to the kitchen to pull out bottles of sparkling grape juice and champagne glasses. Sophie watched Rose in amusement; sure, that she was already concocting ideas for non-alcoholic blood beverages in her head.
As excited pregnancy talk ensued, Sophie sat back as she customarily did, and soaked up the feelings of love that abounded. She was ecstatic for Anais, but it reminded her of her unfulfilled promise to her maman. Arianna had told her recently that empaths felt deeply and that when they fell in love, it happened swiftly. Sophie thought that the warning came a bit too late. She’d already fallen for the fae prince. She hoped that under the many masks he wore, that love for her could find a way to his heart.
xxx
Sylvain woke up to the sound of whimpering. He looked at Sophie, splayed out in next to him. She was crying in her sleep. He touched her gently, shaking her awake. “
Sophie, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.” When that didn’t result in any change, he shook her more firmly, “Sophie, ma chérie, wake up.”
Sophie’s eyes opened a fraction, her blues swimming in tears and face streaked with red. It was odd waking up from such a vivid memory of the past to look into Sylvain’s face. His blonde hair was a bit mussed from their activity after their date the previous evening. He had kept them up for a significant part of the evening in the most pleasurable ways imaginable. His blue eyes shone with concern and lines of worry marred his impishly handsome face. It was a face that tugged at her heart and one she’d come to look forward to seeing in such a short time. Wanting the worry gone, she raised her hand to his cheek and ran it along the stubble-covered surface – apparently, the Prince of Fae was not immune to requiring a shave. Sophie smiled and reassured him, “Don’t worry, cher, I’m okay.”
Supernatural Seduction (Book 2 of the Coffin Girls Series) Page 15