Witch's Wrath (Blood And Magick #3)(11)

“Can you believe I almost forgot about the ball?”

“Don’t you dare; I need your help getting the final things ready.”

“Don’t you have staff setting this up?”

“I do, but have you ever hosted a masquerade ball where the attendees were going to be witches, vampires, and a demon-blood?”

“I guess not,” he said. “Still think that’s going to work out well? You know, after what happened to Nicky.”

“What happened to Nicky was bad, but Jean Luc brought him to the bar and we were able to stabilize him. He turned out fine.”

“Yeah, but don’t witches hold a grudge?”

“Vampires hold grudges for longer, and since Nicky hadn’t had a chance to hurt any of them, they can hardly complain. Anyway, it’s been three months. It’ll be fine.”

“I trust you,” he said, nodding. “And I’ve got the day off, so whatever it is you need, you can count on me.”

What I need is for you to make sure you look damn fine in that suit of yours.

That was what I felt like saying, but I held back. Despite all that had happened between us, nothing had happened between us. Not a kiss, not a passionate embrace, not even that date we were supposed to go on. He had asked, but I had turned him down, and if I was being honest, saying no to Jared hadn’t been easy. I had made the mistake of jumping into bed with Jean Luc without thinking about it, and my relationship with him hadn’t become a relationship at all. In fact, the specter of that night haunted most of our encounters, placing a veil of tension between us which was all but imperceptible, while at the same time preventing us from just having a conversation.

I didn’t want that to happen with Jared.





CHAPTER FIVE


Sitting in Remy’s library was nothing like sitting in Lumière’s. For one, this library was large and vaulted; the kind where you need a ladder to reach the upper shelves. There was much more room to move around in here than in my library back at home, and the seating choices were way more comfortable. This was the kind of library I had always wanted; a true haven for books of every kind where you could get lost for days at a time.

Moving the books from Lumière’s library to here had made sense. There had been a lot of old, irreplaceable books in my library, many belonging to Eliza—the witch whose legacy I was now continuing. And while the house’s magickal defenses made it a great place to store them, I couldn’t share their wealth of knowledge with the witches of New Orleans without allowing them to come in and out of my house whenever they wanted to. That just wasn’t practical. But also, moving our shared library to this house meant witches from all over the city could contribute their own books to our growing collection, which—much to my delight—now numbered in the thousands.

And that was where I found myself now, sitting on a chair, dressed to the nines, with a book in my hands.

I had spent hours getting my look just right with a teal, floor length, backless dress, which was longer at the back than it was at the front, creating a kind of flowing train as I walked. It was held up in spaghetti straps, had a slit with a slit down the front, and had been fitted to my build exactly so that the dress clung to my curves, keeping me tight but comfortable.

I hadn’t paid too much attention to my hair—there hadn’t been enough time. Lucky for me, I happened to be having a good hair day, and everything looked on point. But instead of sharing this fantastic look with the people already in the house, I had chosen to sequester myself in the library.

Why?

Because somewhere in here, I was convinced I would find the answer to the question that had been eating me up inside since last night. What the hell was it that had attacked me out there on the road? The details of what had happened were still hazy and difficult to make sense of, but what facts I could remember—amorphous as they were—had been enough to set me off on this research mission, leaving Nicole to handle hospitality duties.

There was a knock at the door, and then Remy walked into the library. “Mind if I come in?” he asked.

“Of course,” I said.

Remy shut the door and walked over to where I was sitting. He was wearing a deep purple suit with a black shirt and black tie, and he was carrying a gorgeous cane that was blood red and topped with a small gator’s skull. A musky cologne that I hadn’t smelled before entered the room with him.

“I hope you like how we set the library up,” he said, gesturing with one hand. A silver watch beamed from his wrist.

“I do,” I said, “Everything’s easy to find. I think the books will have a happy life here. Thanks again for donating the space.”

“Nothing to it. Made sense, didn’t it?”

“Yeah… it did.”

“Why aren’t you wearing your mask?”

I turned my eyes to the mask on the table. It was gray and lined with teal gemstones. Beautiful, and handmade. “Just trying to get some last-minute reading done before the party,” I said, showing him the book in my hands.

“You know, there’s a time and a place for study. You’ve earned yourself a chance to let loose and enjoy yourself. Take it.”

“I will, I promise. I’m just… I can’t shake what happened last night.”

Remy approached and, from over my shoulder, glanced at the pages I had been reading. “The rougarou,” he said, bemused. “You think you saw the rougarou last night?”