CHAPTER SIX
A steady trickle of witches made their way into the house, and we greeted each party in turn as they arrived. When Harvey and Nina arrived together, I almost couldn’t believe it. It was difficult to shake the memory of how they had been bickering only a few months ago, but seeing them now—arm in arm, each smiling behind their masks, clearly infatuated with one another—lent credence to the idea of opposites attracting.
“So, that’s a thing,” Nicole said, as Nina and Harvey swept into the ballroom.
“I know!” I said, “It’s kinda cute, in a weird way.”
“I guess it’s good to see witches pairing off.”
“It makes sense. They went through something terrible, along with their covens. Adversity tends to bring people closer together.”
The doors opened again, and then Jared stepped through the doors with a smile planted on his face. His suit was black, and he was wearing a matching black waistcoat, a white shirt, and a red tie. His mask was also red with gold edges and trimmings. The smell of his masculine cologne followed him in on the breeze, and it was intoxicating.
A silver tray floated through the air toward him with three champagne glasses sitting on top of it. Jared’s eyebrows rose when he saw it, but he took one of the glasses of champagne anyway and watched it float back to its position just inside the house.
“Hey,” he said, “Wow, you both look… amazing.”
Hot blood flushed to my cheeks. “Well, thank you,” I said, extending my hand, which he promptly took and kissed. I hadn’t expected him to do that. It was a joke, a mock gesture, something to break the ice, but it had backfired greatly. Now my hand was tingling, and all of the air in my lungs had somehow escaped. I took a breath and smiled. “What a gentleman,” I said as he kissed Nicole’s hand. He can’t kiss mine and not hers, I guess.
“The pleasure’s all mine, ma’am,” he said, putting on his best southern drawl.
“Please don’t,” I said, placing my hand over my mouth to stifle the laughter. “That’s an awful southern accent.”
“Yeah, I’m no good at accents. I don’t even know why I tried.”
“Yeah, I don’t get it either. But you are good at picking a suit. I’m impressed. I asked you to bring your A-Game, and you did.”
“I’m not one to back down from a challenge like that one,” he said, tugging on the lapels of his suit jacket.
“Yeah, well, I should have known better than to challenge you,” I said.
“That’ll teach you. Do you want to get a drink?”
“Now? I have to greet guests…”
“I can hold the fort,” Nicole said. “It’s no big.”
“Oh… well, then I guess—”
I was stalling my answer, and I wasn’t quite sure why. Jared looked hot in his suit, but I couldn’t give him a firm yes, sure, I’ll have a drink with you to save my life. But the point was moot, because through the front doors came Jean Luc followed by his family of vampires. The strange chill their mere presence brought with them was enough to cause even Jared to turn around and look.
I noticed first the lack of a prominent glow in their eyes, as if they had somehow subdued their unnaturalness. There were two vampires at the head of the group—Jean Luc and a woman I didn’t know, but I found myself wanting to know. She was possibly the most stunningly beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. She had a slender frame and wore a maroon gown that flattered her milk-white skin, with a tumble of black curls that fell all the way down her back, and sharp, crystal-clear green eyes the color of a field in spring.
“Holy shit,” Nicole said, loud enough for me to hear.
“Holy shit is right,” I said, feeling so hot now the urge to fan myself was almost impossible to ignore. Luckily, the supernatural chill in the room was helping. I turned to look at Jared. “Why don’t you go inside?” I asked, “I should say hi to them.”
Jared turned his head and looked at me. “Oh,” he said, his eyes only slightly masking the disappointment within him. “Alright, I’ll… see you inside.”
He slipped out of my grasp and headed into the main dining room without glancing back. He hadn’t been happy with my response, but I would see him again in a minute; the party was only just getting started, and I had to play host to these vampires. I wasn’t about to leave Nicole alone with them, not after what she had confessed to me earlier.
“Jean Luc,” I said, approaching with a smile on my face. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Bon soir, Madison,” he said, with that charming French accent of his, “You are looking wonderful tonight. Allow me to please present to you, mademoiselle Delphine Thomás, my sister.”
“Sister,” I said, eyes widening, “Welcome, my name is Madison Collins. This is Nicole Harriman.”
“A pleasure to meet you both,” she said, that same French accent present in her voice as in Jean Luc’s. Siblings they were, from a time when they shared the night more than two hundred years ago, bound by the blood of whatever turned them. But physically they couldn’t have been more distinct. She, petite and the definition of delicate; he, broad shouldered and tall. They probably wouldn’t introduce themselves as siblings to anyone who wasn’t a vampire or a witch.
“This is Sebastien,” Jean Luc said, “And this is Philippe.”
The other vampires bowed their heads. Sebastien was taller than his brother Philippe, and had much darker hair. They each had bright blue eyes, alabaster skin, and wiry frames, and the more I looked at them, the more I wondered if they were siblings born of the same mother.
“Right, well, if you’ll follow me,” I said, “I’ll escort you into the main room where the rest of the guests are waiting.”
The group of vampires followed me into the main room. I felt a little morbid leading a train of the undead into a room full of living, breathing people, but once I finished my first glass of champagne, the apprehensions I had been feeling quickly disappeared.
I wasn’t sure if it was the crowd of vampires or just Delphine who drew the eye of everyone in attendance. The room hadn’t quietened down dramatically or anything like that, but attentions had been sliced in half at the very least. Vampires, it turned out, were way more used to blending in with a crowd of witches than I had given them credit for, especially as the appetizers, champagne, and now fancy martini glasses filled with blood from blood packs, seemed to be flowing more freely.
“You have thrown quite the event,” Jean Luc said as the vampires dispersed to mingle and socialize. “This is a beautiful house.”
“It is,” I said, “I mean, I love my home, but this house has just as much character.”
Jean Luc started to talk about the history of the Garden District, but I couldn’t keep my eyes on him. No matter where my eyes went, they always came back to Delphine and her maroon dress. She moved as if she were standing on a cloud, floating from person to person, smiling brightly, her elongated fangs clearly visible against matte oxblood lipstick. Her grace, her quiet confidence, these were areas I never knew I sucked in until meeting her. When she stopped next to Jared, and I saw the way he smiled that bedroom smile of seduction, I wanted to be better than her.
“Delphine’s looks like an interesting woman,” I said, “I’m pretty excited to finally meet her.”
“Yes, she is quite formidable. And I am sorry you have not met her before tonight. I thought things were already complicated enough, and I never found the right moment, especially after what happened to Nicky.”
“It’s okay. I guess I’m not surprised she’s formidable, as you put it; she’s your sister. Not birth related, though, right?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “She was turned after me, some years after me, in fact. But our creator did not want her, and so she clung to me for support and guidance.”
“Oh… that’s awful,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
I let go of his shoulder and cocked my head. “Just out of curiosity, why did your creator not want her?”
Jean Luc seemed to analyze Delphine from afar, and as he stared at her, she turned to look at him and smiled, almost as if she could sense his eyes on her. “When she awoke from death, that very night, a cacophony of moans and groans erupted from cemeteries across New Orleans. The grounds keeper at Saint Louis Cemetery number one was found dead at the foot of a vault which had been broken open from the inside.”
The skin on my arms began to rise. “That’s not a terrifying thought at all,” I said, with the sarcasm dial cranked all the way up to ten.
“Eight more vaults were found open in this manner will help. Or that one man was reported to have been found in the middle of the night, naked and wandering the banks of the Mississippi river by two steamboat crew members. He was covered in ash, and claimed to have risen from the very caveau his ashy remains had been swept into years earlier. He could only remember his family name, but it was cross-checked with the name on one of the broken tombs.”
I shuddered lightly, my skin responding to the phantom finger that story had conjured now working its way down my back.
“What happened to the guy?” I asked.
“He ate one of the crew members. The other only barely escaped with his life.”
“He what?”
“The victim’s body was found tangled in moss at the bank of the river the following morning, with two puncture wounds in his neck.”
“So, the guy was a vampire?”
“If the story is to be believed, yes.”
“And… your creator thought Delphine had woken him up?”
“He and the other seven, yes. But Delphine was young and scared. She had done nothing wrong, so I took her in as my own.”
“I’m… incredibly intrigued by all this.”
“Good,” Jean Luc said, smiling. “I am sure she will tell you more if you ask her.”
“Maybe I will.”
The room was really starting to fill up, and that was a good thing—it meant most, if not all, of our witches had shown up. All that was left now was for me to give the signal, and for Remy to come out and speak to the gathered crowd… and to hope they didn’t eat him alive.