Rose, Charlotte - Bayou Flood [The Shifters of Alligator Bend 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Charlotte Rose

  “Well, Narcisse was the one that noticed it,” Adele said. “We each took a boat out yesterday to do some data collection, with the intention of comparing and contrasting in an attempt to piece the puzzle together.”

  Narcisse was practically bursting with pride at the desire to share her findings. She pulled up some photos she’d taken. “I saw some people dredging up a bunch of mud and water around the city. They were doing some sort of construction project, too. Of course, I wasn’t surprised to see the Villemont Construction Industries sign on it.”

  “Construction?” Sophie asked. “I thought that Villemont ran a research lab.”

  Virgil laughed. “He has a business in just about every possible field, honey. If he thinks he can make money off of it, he’s gonna try to use it.”

  “I radioed Adele to have a look, we shot some more pictures, and then she went to take measurements around the rest of the coastline while I came back here and did some digging. You are not going to believe what Villemont is planning.”

  “He’s tryin’ to drown the entire city so he can turn it into his personal water park?” Virgil couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

  “No, nothing that insidious. It’s ridiculous, though. He’s developing an overpriced housing development made of stilt houses, you know, the kind where—”

  “What?” Virgil spat out. He could feel his blood boiling. “He’s gonna build million-dollar palafitte’s?”

  “Looks like it. He’s dredging up part of the coastline to build there.”

  “Who the hell is gonna pay for those?” Gabriel asked.

  “Someone with a million dollars, who ain’t got no common sense,” Xavier said, rolling his eyes. “Hush now, let ’em tell you the rest.”

  “While Narcisse was doing that research, I was collecting data about the rest of the coastline. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the sediment is distributing itself anywhere else. Narcisse’s photos indicated that they were putting the sediment they dredged up on boats. Meaning it wasn’t settling and accumulating elsewhere.”

  “So where they puttin’ the stuff they put on boats?” Virgil asked.

  Adele shrugged. “I have no idea, but they don’t appear to be putting it back into the ecosystem. If they were, it would be building up in another location, and if we could stop the construction, we could work on bringing that stuff back and building the land back up. But I have no idea where they’re putting the sediment.”

  “Shit. So what do we do?”

  “Well, first I’m going to put together a report to show the damage that Villemont’s construction is causing and try to put a stop to it. And if that doesn’t work, I guess we’re going to have to use some magic.”

  Virgil shook his head. “I hope the report works first. I don’t like the thought of havin’ to use magic again.”

  “Yeah, it’s gonna require a big spell,” Gabriel added. “And Serafine is havin’ a harder an’ harder time recoverin’ after the big rituals. I’m afraid of what would happen if we had to use it this time.”

  Adele sighed. “I wish the new voodoo queen would grace us with an appearance. Then Serafine could retire and we wouldn’t have to worry about this sort of thing.

  Sophie looked confused. “Wait. Magic? Voodoo queen?”

  Gabriel laughed and put his arm around her. Virgil took her hand.

  “Baby, there is so much you need to learn about us.”

  Sophie didn’t look pleased at their laughter.

  “Okay, okay,” Virgil said. “You have to have noticed by now that we’re magical.”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “It would be pretty hard not to have realized that.”

  “Well, Serafine’s our queen, and she’s the one with the most magic. She’s the one who leads all the rituals, casts all the spells. But she’s agin’, and her power drains a little more each time. I’m honestly afraid havin’ to do a big spell would kill her.”

  “Serafine has visions of a new queen comin’ soon to take her place,” Gabriel added. “But she hasn’t shown up yet, and we don’t know when it’s gonna happen. Serafine seems confident that it’s all gonna work out, but most of us can’t help but worry.”

  “Okay,” Adele said. “I want to get into the city to get some things done on this project. “Sophie, do you want to follow me back so you don’t get lost again?”

  “Sure, that would be great.”

  Virgil’s heart sank. He tried to shake the feeling off. This was the first time Sophie had visited the bayou. He couldn’t expect her to simply surrender her entire life and stay based on one wonderful time. But he wished she would have, anyway. He didn’t couldn’t help but be illogical when it came to her.

  Adele hurried off to change her clothes, and Virgil and Gabriel waited with her on the docks.

  “You sure you don’t wanna stay a little longer” Virgil asked, taking her hand.

  “I’m sure. Look, I had a really great time last night, but I definitely need to think some things over. I think I need a few days to myself so I can collect my thoughts and try to figure out where all of this is going.”

  “Of course,” Virgil said. He gave her a deep kiss, savoring her taste, not knowing when he’d have the chance again.

  “We’ll miss you,” Gabriel said before he devoured her lips. When he pulled away, he kept his forehead pressed against hers. “We’ll see you sometime next week?”

  “Definitely.”

  Adele walked out, and Sophie broke away to join her. They each climbed into their boats, and before Virgil knew it, his mate was just a speck on the horizon.

  Chapter Six

  Sophie sighed as the green button on her phone flashed off and on, indicating yet another message. She knew Georgina was texting her to see if she was doing a show that night, but she still wasn’t ready to face her friend with the story that Virgil and Gabriel had given her. She felt guilty about the fact that she’d spent a week giving Georgina the cold shoulder, but she was completely overwhelmed by both the stories and emotions swirling around in her head. The only thing she knew how to do was retreat.

  Checking the venue address one more time, she cringed. She wasn’t thrilled about having to drive all the way out to Metairie to do a gig. On the plus side, performing out in the suburbs meant that the venue was likely to have an actual parking lot, and she wouldn’t have to worry about how low the meter would get during her set.

  Plus, she was doing a favor for an acquaintance. Toni had just started Café Bella a month before and was trying to drum up business with a Friday-night concert series. Tonight was the inaugural event, and the opening act had backed out the night before. Toni called Sophie, asking her to step in to warm the crowd up for one of the more prominent local jazz artists. Although Sophie was getting sick of being a perpetual opening act and wasn’t especially excited about playing in Metairie, the extra cash would come in handy, and she did want Toni to have a good first night. And any gig was better than no gig.

  Finally, Sophie decided she couldn’t just keep Georgina in limbo. Picking up her phone, she texted back. Wasn’t planning on it, but something came up last-minute. Nothing major, just doing a favor for a friend. Won’t need more than my guitar and my mic. Have a good night. Text me tomorrow?

  After she sent the message, Sophie wrote a quick message about the gig and posted it to her website. She hoped someone would see it and she’d get at least a few fans out to support her.

  “Thank you so much,” Toni said as Sophie rushed into the coffee shop and began setting up her equipment. “I owe you big time. I’ll give you double the usual cut for opening acts to make up for it.”

  “No problem,” Sophie said. Maybe this night won’t be such a letdown after all. It’s nice to be playing at a venue where the owner appreciates my presence.

  When Virgil and Gabriel walked in the door and settled at a small table near the back, Sophie knew the night was definitely not going to be a disappointment. The second they turned their gazes in her direction,
her cunt started to pulse with desire. She knew she was going to struggle to get through the show when she was uncontrollably horny after being in their presence for a mere thirty seconds.

  Sophie glanced at the clock and wished she had time to run across the room and talk to them, but it was time to start the show. The flirtation would have to wait until after she’d done her job. She was shocked to realize that this was the first time that she’d rather be doing something other than playing music. What stunned her even more was that she wasn’t remotely nervous. This was the first show in her life where she didn’t have to take deep, calming breaths or shake out her hands to try and settle down enough to play. With Gabriel and Virgil there watching her, she felt centered, safe, and peaceful.

  Checking her tuning one last time, Sophie stood in front of the mic and began to play one of her favorite songs. Although she typically began with fast numbers, this time she sang a slow one, a love song. She kept her eyes focused on them the entire time she played, and as she did, she realized that while the words were sensual and romantic, they didn’t quite encapsulate what she felt about them. She knew she’d have to write them their own song soon.

  Sophie launched into her second song and soon lost herself in the music. Before she knew it, she was coming up on the end of the hour. She’d never been so deep in her own performance that she’d lost track of time. She couldn’t believe the effect that Gabriel and Virgil had on her.

  “Thank you very much!” she called, waving into the audience. “You’ve been a great crowd. Now please give it up for the great Fozzy Davenport!”

  This time, Sophie rushed through her gear-packing process. While she usually enjoyed the time as a way to decompress from a performance, she found she didn’t need any time to relax. If anything, having to pack up her stuff was just distracting her from what she really wanted to do.

  Once she was done, she rushed to the back of the coffee shop. Virgil and Gabriel grinned and stood up as she approached.

  “You were fantastic, baby,” Gabriel said, giving her a tight hug.

  “Yeah, you were amazing. You shouldn’t be the opening act. You should be the star.”

  Sophie blushed. “It’ll happen someday. Thank you two so much for showing up. I didn’t expect to see you all the way out here. It’s kind of a hike, isn’t it? Especially for a last-minute gig.”

  Virgil gave her a soft kiss. “It’s a bit of a distance from the shore, yeah, but we haven’t seen you all week, and we love to see you perform.”

  “Wasn’t no trouble to rent a car for the night,” Gabriel said. “It wasn’t a bad drive.”

  “I don’t know ’bout you, but we’re starvin’,” Gabriel said. “How ’bout headin’ back to the Quarter for dinner?”

  Sophie’s stomach rumbled at the very mention of food. “That sounds perfect. What did you have in mind?”

  Virgil grinned. “Galatoire’s. We even rented ourselves a convertible so we could travel there in style. We’ll load up your gear and then come pick your car back up after we eat. Sound good?”

  “Do you think we could even get a table there on a Friday night?”

  “Oh, sure we can,” Virgil said. “Besides, I won’t mind havin’ to wait in line a little bit if I get to wait with you.”

  “I don’t suppose you have a dress for me waiting in the back seat of your car. I’m not exactly dressed for Galatoire’s.”

  Virgil laughed. “And here we were trying to surprise you. Come on, let’s go.”

  Without waiting to be asked, Virgil and Gabriel picked up her gear and hauled it out to the parking lot.

  “Hey, Toni, I’m going to leave my car here for a few hours. Is that cool?” Sophie asked.

  Toni nodded from behind the counter. “No problem. It’ll be safe here. Keep it overnight if you need to. I want you to be safe.”

  “Thanks, Toni. See you later.”

  “Of course. And thanks for filling in at the last minute. Let’s talk later about you headlining next month.”

  Sophie was so excited by the offer that she practically skipped out of the coffee shop. By the time she arrived, Virgil and Gabriel were almost done loading her things into the trunk. Once it was packed up, they guided her across the pavement to where they’d left their vehicle. Popping the trunk open, Gabriel reached in and pulled out a luscious silk dress, green with silver piping around the hem. It was short, with a strapless, heart-shaped bodice and a flared skirt.

  He also handed her a shoebox. Opening it, Sophie discovered a pair of silver stilettos.

  “Oh my goodness. This is far too much. You shouldn’t have.”

  Gabriel shrugged. “Why shouldn’t we do nice things for our woman?”

  Sophie blushed. She wasn’t sure how to respond. On the one hand, she wasn’t sure how she felt about them describing her so possessively when she hadn’t even decided whether or not she wanted to be mated yet. On the other hand, she liked the attention. No, she loved the attention. And she couldn’t help but wonder if she was developing similar feelings for the men.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go change.” She hurried back into the coffee shop, locked herself in the bathroom, and shimmied into her new dress and shoes. Taking a quick turn in the mirror, she couldn’t help but gasp. Not only was it beautiful, but it fit perfectly. She couldn’t believe they’d managed to guess her size so well.

  Walking as quickly as she could in the stilettos, she rejoined Gabriel and Virgil in the parking lot. Gabriel held the passenger side door open. Once she was settled in the car, he slid into the backseat. Virgil revved the engine and put the top down. As he sped toward the Quarter, Sophie leaned back and gazed up at the gorgeous stars, enjoying the feeling of the wind in her hair.

  Bourbon Street was already closed down for pedestrian traffic, but Virgil found a side street not far away. After a quick walk down the crowded sidewalk, they took their places at the end of a sizeable line. Sophie’s stomach growled, but she tried to ignore it. This was part of the Galatoire’s experience. Everyone waited. Even celebrities.

  At least, that’s what she thought when the maître d’ stepped out and saw them.

  “Virgil! Gabriel! Good to see you again,” he said, shaking their hands. “How’s the rest of the family?”

  “Doin’ great,” Gabriel said. “We’ll give ’em your regards.”

  “Wonderful. And business is good?”

  “You should know,” Virgil said with a laugh. “You’re servin’ it tonight.”

  The maître d’ laughed and then turned to Sophie. “Forgive me for not greeting you properly.” He took her hand and gave it a soft kiss.

  “This is Sophie Deco,” Virgil said. “She’s a musician.”

  “Lovely to meet you, Ms. Deco. I hope you enjoy your evening here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really do need to get back to my duties.” He hurried off back into the restaurant.

  * * * *

  “He—he doesn’t know the truth about you, does he?”

  “Nope,” Gabriel said. “Nice job keepin’ cool.”

  They looked out into the neon-lit night of Bourbon Street, watching the people out and about, carousing and enjoying the beginning of the weekend.

  “So how did you get started in music?” Gabriel asked after a few moments of silence.

  “My parents were both musicians. Not professionals but enthusiastic amateurs. My dad gave me a ukulele when my hands were still too small to hold a guitar. As soon as I was old enough, I was taking music lessons. It’s always been my life. I wrote my first song when I was ten. I did my first open mic when I was fourteen, and I’ve been working at my career ever since.”

  “When did you decide you want to do music?”

  “There was never a conscious decision. It’s just been what I’ve always done. I can’t imagine being happy doing anything else.”

  Sophie was excited to share her experiences, the highs and lows she’d experienced in her career so far. Before she knew it, nearly an hour had pass
ed and the maître d’ was coming out to guide them to their table.

  She opened her menu and instantly began salivating at the wealth of options. She hadn’t been to Galatoire’s since before her parents had died—her musician’s income didn’t allow for it—and she kept wondering if she wasn’t dreaming.

  Gabriel ordered a plate of oysters Rockefeller and a round of champagne for everyone. Sophie busied herself with obsessively studying the menu. Finally, when the waiter arrived, she decided on the crabmeat Sardou.

  “A toast to us,” Virgil said, lifting his champagne flute into the air. They clinked their glasses, and Sophie savored the expensive liquid bubbling around in her delicate glass.

  “Wow,” she gasped. “This is amazing.”

  “Nothin’ but the best for you, baby.”

  “In fact”—a grin broke out on Virgil’s face—”I just have to say, I’m really damn happy that you’re here with us, Sophie. I know some of this has been stressful for you, but we’re glad you’re willin’ to trust us and spend time with us.”

  Sophie blushed. “Thank you. I’m really happy, too. I was so excited when I saw you two at the show tonight.”

  “In fact, I’m so happy that I want to share some of that with everyone else here.”

  Sophie felt herself blush even harder. “What exactly do you mean?”

  “You’ll see,” Virgil said as the waiter brought out their food. When the table was set, he pulled the waiter down and whispered something. Their server walked away chuckling.

  Sophie dug into her food, savoring each decadent bite. She found herself so lost in the delicious food and lush atmosphere that she almost forgot that Virgil had been plotting something. At least, she forgot until she saw an entire cadre of servers walking around with bottles of champagne in their hands. Their own waiter walked up and handed Virgil a microphone.

  “Ladies ’n gentlemen,” he began as the servers started pouring glass after glass of the bubbly liquid. “I’ve been comin’ to Galatoire’s ever since I was a kid. New Orleans is my home, and this is my favorite part of the city.”