Deadly desire

For Evette Francois, falling in love is the end of the world—literally. A witch from a long and distinguished line, Evee wields power that comes at a devastating price. If she ever loves a human, all of humanity will suffer. Resisting the temptations of men has never been terribly difficult—until she meets Lucien Hyland. One member of a cabal devoted to preventing a race of interdimensional monsters from ruling the universe. Lucien is the most exquisite creature Evee has ever seen. If she succumbs to passion, death and chaos will follow. But she may not be strong enough to fight her desire.

Something inside Evee told her to move on. To go upstairs and shower as she’d proposed earlier.

Instead, she stood staring at him, neither saying a word. Before she knew it, Evee sensed what almost felt like human hands push her closer to Lucien, seemingly without her consent. Suddenly, Evee found her lips on Lucien’s, kissing him fiercely. His hands cupped the sides of her face and he returned the kiss, matching her ferocity.

The moment her lips touched Lucien’s, Evee felt such a thirst overtake her, it was like every ounce of moisture in her body had been depleted, her body suddenly dehydrated. So much so she could have drunk the entire Mississippi River and would still be craving more.

His full lips, so delicious, succulent.

Lucien’s mouth moved over her chin, down the side of her neck.

A moan escaped Evee’s lips, and she whispered, “Don’t let me go … don’t.”

DEBORAH LEBLANC is an award-winning, bestselling author and business owner from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is also a licensed death-scene investigator, a licensed private investigator and has been a paranormal investigator for over twenty years. Deborah is currently the house “clairsendium” for the upcoming paranormalinvestigation television show Through the Veil.

She served four years as president of the Horror Writers Association, eight years as president of the Writers’ Guild of Acadiana and two years as president of Mystery Writers of America’s Southwest Chapter.

In 2007, Deborah founded Literacy Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens. Deborah also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.

For more information, visit deborahleblanc.com and literacyinc.com.

The Witch’s Thirst

Deborah LeBlanc

www.millsandboon.co.uk

My heartfelt thanks to Rich, Meme and Roe—you help make so much happen!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

Evette—Evee—François watched as black and pus-yellow liquid flowed from Bailey’s arm when Daven clawed through it. Both were Nosferatu and hell-bent on destroying each other. Aside from Bailey and Daven, six more Nosferatu had paired off, each viciously attacking the other. Her head captain, Pierre, supposedly in charge of the two-hundred-plus Nosferatu they forced to remain in the catacombs and allowed out only for feedings, did his best to stop the fighting. He’d stretched his bulk of a body to its full eight feet, had morphed into his natural state—bald head with a large, throbbing vein that started at his forehead and then extended over the crown of his scalp like tree branches. His fangs, the longest and most lethal of all the teeth possessed by the Nosferatu within the catacombs, were bared. His hands had balled into fists. And when he shouted, the walls seemed to vibrate with the fierceness of his voice.

“Enough! As leader of this clan, I say enough! Return to your assigned spaces at once!”

Instead of listening to Pierre, more Nosferatu began to fight. They hissed and shrieked, and Evee let out a heavy sigh. She noticed that the Nosferatu who weren’t fighting were either hiding behind a crypt or had rolled onto a grave shelf, seemingly content to watch, but not wanting to engage in any brawl.

“We’ve got to get them under control before they kill one another,” Lucien Hyland said emphatically. He took hold of the two steel bars from a floor-to-ceiling gate that separated the outside world from the catacombs of St. John’s Cathedral. He shook them, then pulled the thick chain and padlock that secured the gates. Neither gate nor padlock budged.

“Cousin, get your hands away from the bars—” Before Ronan Hyland could finish his warning, two Nosferatu slammed into the gate. Both reached for Lucien.

Lucien sprang backward, away from the gate, then looked from his cousin to Evee, who was leaning against a stone column, arms crossed over her chest.

“Why aren’t you doing something?” Lucien asked Evee, his emerald green eyes ablaze with anger. “You’re acting rather nonchalant over this ordeal. Why? Can’t you see they’re going to kill each other? Can’t you see all the...blood?”

“No one’s going to die—unless you stick your hands back there again,” Evee said. “They’re fighting, yes, but it’s not to kill one another. It’s out of boredom. They’re not used to being cooped up at night.”

Ronan, who Evee had learned was the more serious of the cousins who’d been assigned to her, shook his head. “I don’t understand. The Nosferatu aren’t senseless beings. Don’t they know that keeping them here is for their own protection?”

Evee tossed him an exhausted look. “Imagine a room full of children and a huge storm is blowing outside. The children know the storm is dangerous, but that doesn’t stop them from getting antsy and squabbling with one another when they’re forced to stay indoors.”

Ronan cocked his head as if considering her words.

Lucien let out a huff of frustration.

Evee closed her eyes for a few seconds. She’d felt exhaustion before, but never to this degree. She wished she had the power to turn back time. Two weeks of time at least.

Two weeks ago, things had flowed normally in her life. Well, as normal as life went when you were the middle sister from a set of triplets, and the triplets happened to be witches. The fact that she and her sisters, Vivienne and Abigail, were responsible for the Originals, those being the Nosferatu, the Loup Garous and the Chenilles, twisted the definition of normal all the more. By human standards, of course.

Along with the Originals, throughout the centuries, sprouted their offshoots, like vampires, werewolves, and zombies, etc., each created from either crossbreeding, malicious intent by some sorcerer with a wicked streak, or possibly an off-the-radar, wayward coven. Fortunately, others were in charge of the netherworld offshoots.

Evee and her sisters only tended to the Originals. She and her sisters were known as a Triad, which were triplet witches born from a triplet witch. The first set had been born in the 1500s, somewhere in France. According to legend, the first Originals and the chaos that went with them occurred when the first set of triplets got pissed off at the men they were supposed to marry. Evidently, the night before the triplets were to wed, they found their betrothed fooling around with other women.

Women scorned, men be warned, Evee thought. She supposed that creed existed even back in the 1500s because the anger of the first Triad played a huge part in creating the Originals. This caused the Elders from their sect, known as the Circle of Sisters, to punish the first Triad and the punishment carried to each generation of Triads that followed.

Evee thought cursing whole generations of Triads for something someone had done long ago was bullshit. She and her sisters had nothing to do with what had happened in the past by the first Triad. To her, it was simple. If a puppy peed on its owner’s carpet, the owner might bop the pup on the snout with a newspaper to teach him “no.” However, that didn’t give that owner the right to go popping every pup born thereafter because the first one tinkled on a carpet.

Regardless, the creation of the Originals by her ancestors way back when must have been equated with peeing an ocean on a Persian rug, because Triads were still paying for the deed to this day. And there wasn’t a damn thing she or her sisters could do about it.

So they’d simply lived with it. The Originals were assigned—Vivienne, or Viv as everyone called her, and the oldest of the three by ten minutes, took care of the Loup Garous; she, or Evee as she preferred being called, handled the Nosferatu; and Abigail, whom everyone called Gilly, managed the Chenilles. Once their routines had been established, life hadn’t been so bad. Complex at times. But not terrible.

Until now.

For the last couple of weeks, they’d been stuck in a nightmare that wouldn’t go away, that no one seemed capable of waking them up from.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t run into issues with their broods before. Odd incidents were the norm when dealing with those from the netherworld. But for some reason, when the cousins—Lucien, Ronan, Gavril and Nikoli Hyland—arrived, all hell seemed to break loose.

They’d appeared at the Triad’s front door, four extraordinarily handsome men, claiming to be cousins—although only two were with her right now—and swearing to protect the sisters and the Originals with their lives. They called themselves Benders and claimed their purpose was to save the Originals from monstrous creatures that hid in dimensional folds. They called the creatures Cartesians and said these were bent on annihilating the entire netherworld, especially the Originals and the Triad. With each netherworld creature’s death, a Cartesian absorbed the powers of the creature it destroyed, then brought the essence of the kill to its leader, allowing the leader to grow stronger, which empowered him to create more Cartesians.

According to the Benders, the Cartesian leader meant to be the sole power of the netherworld, and once he had completed the task of absorbing the powers of every netherworld creature, humans were the next target. In essence, the Cartesians—specifically their leader—meant to control the very universe.

When Evee first heard the Benders’ claims, she thought all four of them were a few cards short of a full deck. But in the days that followed their arrival, she’d seen much more than she needed to for truth to set in. Cartesians and the danger they presented were very, very real. She’d yet to see one of the creatures for herself, but her sisters Viv and Gilly had, and their descriptions had been all too vivid. Huge beings that appeared to be at least ten feet tall and had the expanse of body to match their height. They were covered with matted brown, gray and black fur, which hid thick scales like armor beneath it. Their teeth were all needlepoint incisors, and their claws were none like they’d seen before on any creature. At least four inches in length and razor-sharp. And the worst part was that they seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

The Cartesians’ entry into this world came from rifts in the sky. The initial rifts were caused by natural disasters, odd cosmic alliances or an erred declaration. Their first experience with the Cartesians came after Viv, responsible for the Loup Garous, had told her brood in frustration that “she quit.” She hadn’t meant what she’d said, but exasperation could cause a person to throw caution to the wind. Once she’d uttered those two words, a small rift had occurred, and the Cartesians had gnawed, clawed and forced their hideous bodies through the opening and into this dimension.

So far, Viv had lost many Loup Garous to the Cartesians, and Gilly, some Chenilles. As if that wasn’t bad enough, even stranger occurrences added to the Triad’s terror. Something they couldn’t understand, much less keep from occurring. Some of the Originals had gone missing. Simply vanished from their safe zones, from places that she and her sisters had controlled with border spells for years with great success. To date, Viv had nearly one hundred and fifty Loup Garous dead or missing; Evee had ten Nosferatu on the loose; and Gilly, fifteen missing Chenilles, plus two dead.

The missing Originals planted their current situation in the dirt of dire straits. Humans were now in danger. If they couldn’t find the missing Originals and bring them over to the feeding grounds located at the North Compound in Algiers at their regular feeding time, which occurred in the wee hours of morning, they’d be seeking food elsewhere. They’d be looking at humans to satiate their hunger.

Adding to the dilemma, the wayward Nosferatu, Chenilles and Loup Garous were now open targets for the Cartesians. Evee had to find her brood so they could be watched over and kept safe from the enemy.

You would think that she and her sisters being witches could easily defuse the situation. But such wasn’t the case. Along with the mayhem and confusion they faced, their powers and natural abilities like clairvoyance, channeling and mirroring seemed to be diminishing or worked haphazardly. Even the Triad’s Elders, Arabella, Taka and Vanessa, appeared to be at a loss and utterly useless in helping them through the situation.

The only people they had to count on now were each other and the Benders, whom they’d decided to pair off with in order to cover more territory. Viv with Nikoli, she with Lucien and Ronan, and Gilly with Gavril.

So far the misfit teams seemed to be barely holding their own. At last count, Viv had located one of Evee’s Nosferatu, whom she had Pierre fetch and return to the catacombs. Viv had also located at least twenty of her Loup Garous, whom she’d teleported to the North Compound, where Viv had them encamped.

Without question, the François sisters were torn in far too many directions. The missing Originals had to be located before humans were attacked, and the Originals who were already confined needed protection from the Cartesians. It didn’t take a world of common sense to realize they couldn’t be everywhere at once.

To aid in the matter, the Benders had established a plan and built an electric field charged by their scabiors, the weapons they carried. The field, which the Cartesians couldn’t penetrate, canopied each location where the Originals were kept. The North Compound for the Loup Garous, the Louis I Cemetery for the Chenilles, and, of course, the catacombs beneath St. John’s Cathedral for the Nosferatu. The idea was to keep the Originals they now had safe within these electric domes, which would give each team time to search for the Originals who’d gone MIA.

The first time Evee witnessed the Benders’ scabiors in action, she’d been nothing short of amazed. Alone, a scabior appeared toylike. A steel rod approximately eight inches long, its circumference about a half inch. A quarter-size bloodstone capped one end. But handled by a Bender, that which initially appeared benign turned into a weapon like no other Evee had ever witnessed.

A quick flip of the Bender’s wrist, and the steel rod twirled between their fingers with a speed that seemed to defy the laws of physics. Once the scabior was charged and aimed at a Cartesian, it shot a bolt of electricity that pushed the monstrosity back into the rift, out of one dimension and into the next. The Benders’ goal was to push the Cartesian back to as many dimensions as possible. The farther the dimension, the longer it took the Cartesian to find its way back.

With the electric dome charged, they could search for missing Nosferatu again.

It was dark outside, but barely, which meant she, Lucien and Ronan had plenty of time to search for the missing Nosferatu before feeding time arrived.

Suddenly, someone took Evee by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake, breaking her reverie. It was Lucien.

“Evee, you have to do something to get the Nosferatu under control,” Lucien said. “I realize they’re impatient and want freedom, but keeping them under the scabior dome’s protection is crucial. Do something. A calming spell, anything that will keep them from destroying one another.”

Evee took her time responding. She was overtaken by the depth of Lucien’s green eyes bearing into hers, his shoulder-length hair the color of a black stallion’s mane, his neatly trimmed beard and mustache that barely hid two prominent dimples that appeared whenever he smiled, something he definitely was not doing now. Evee guessed Lucien to be in his midthirties. He stood about six foot three and weighed maybe one seventy-five. Since she was only five foot seven, Evee had to look up at him, which she did feeling hypnotized. She couldn’t help it. It made her feel like a slug, ogling him despite the fighting going on inside the catacombs, but it seemed beyond her control. She wanted nothing more than to breathe in Lucien’s scent, a mixture of earth and musk doused by a fresh summer shower.

She was about to answer Lucien when Ronan suddenly appeared at her side. Another over-the-top hunk of a man who made it hard to concentrate on the task at hand.

“Evee, whatever malaise has overtaken you, you really need to snap out of it,” Ronan said. “I know things may seem hopeless to you right now, but if the Nosferatu continue fighting this way, I’m concerned it will weaken the electric dome over the catacombs again.”

“What makes you think that?” Lucien asked.

Ronan pointed to the dome. “Look.”

Sure enough, the sparks of electricity that came from the four bloodstone-attached steel rods in four different directions had begun to flicker.

“We must calm them down,” Ronan said.

Evee studied him for a moment. His collar-length black hair combed just so, his five o’clock shadow that accented a square jaw. His black eyes held such an intensity in them he could have melted a gold bar simply by staring at it and concentrating. Although he appeared a few years younger than Lucien, his height and build were similar to his cousin’s. The biggest difference between the two men was Ronan’s serious nature and the ease with which Lucien smiled.

Because there had been four cousins and three of the Triad, Evee had been paired with two Benders. Although they were two of the most handsome men she’d ever had the pleasure to meet, her initial intention had been to not allow attraction to enter into the serious business at hand. She’d never wanted to be drawn to either of the two men, although their good looks were second to none and each possessed unique qualities. But slowly and surely something other than the electric dome they’d created with their scabiors had begun to pulsate. Every time she looked at Lucien, she felt a jolt of electricity flow through her. When she studied Ronan, she felt sparks flutter through her, but not with the same intensity as she felt with Lucien.

Not that either mattered. They were men. They were human. She had no choice but to stay at arm’s length.

Lucien pulled Evee away from the pillar she’d been leaning against and stood her upright, facing him.

“Please do something now, Evee,” Lucien said.

Evee shook her head slightly as if just waking from a deep sleep. “I don’t even know if my spells will work. Even my sisters seem to have problems with theirs.”

“You have to at least try,” Ronan said. “It’s the only thing I can think of that’s causing the dome to fade.”

“What thing are you talking about?” Evee asked.

“The energy coming from the fighting Nosferatu.”

“That can affect the dome?” she asked.

Ronan pointed to the arcs over the catacombs. “What else could it be?”

With a sigh of resignation, Evee went to the gates of the catacombs, pressed her body against it and raised her arms up by her sides and began to chant.

“Quiet now, ye creatures’ mind,

Let thy actions turn from rage to kind.

See thy angst, fear and pain in vain,

So it is said.

So shall it be.”

No sooner had Evee finished speaking the words than the Nosferatu that had been ripping into one another broke apart. They looked about, seemingly confused, as if unable to comprehend what they had just been doing. Each shuffled off to a corner and sat licking wounds, which immediately healed. A quiet hum soon filled the catacombs, except for an occasional impatient grumble from one of the Nosferatu.

At least the fighting had stopped.

“Why didn’t you do that earlier?” Lucien asked.

“I—I don’t know,” Evee said. “I guess I was afraid it wouldn’t work. Just another failure.”

Lucien took hold of her chin with a thumb and forefinger and turned her head so she faced him. She had no choice but to look into his eyes.

“None of this is your fault. Whatever is causing the sporadic instabilities of your spells is not your fault. The Cartesians are powerful creatures, and their intention is to create havoc, to destroy the Originals and the Triad. Don’t give up on your powers. Don’t let the Cartesians see or feel your weakness, because that’s what they’ll focus on. We need to make sure you and your sisters stay safe, and the way you can help make that happen is to remain strong.”

Evee nodded, reprimanding herself silently for having succumbed to complacency. There was no room for it when it came to protecting her Nosferatu, for it was her job to keep them safe.

Ronan nudged Lucien. “We need to strengthen the canopy again, then go hunting for more Nosferatu before it gets any later. It’ll be feeding time before we know it, and the ones that are missing are going to be looking for food. That could mean attacks on humans if we don’t find them and bring them into the fold.”

Without a word, Lucien pulled his scabior from its sheath, which was attached to his belt, and Ronan followed suit. Together they did a quick flick of their wrists, twirled their scabiors around their fingers with lightning speed, then aimed them at the opposing poles. From the bloodstones that sat atop their scabiors shot a fierce bolt of lightning into the poles. They did the same with the remaining two poles, setting them alight until the catacombs lit up like a football field at game time.

Nosferatu scattered from the brilliance of the light, hiding behind crypts or crawling onto death shelves.

“Looks like that should hold them for now,” Lucien said.

Evee nodded and then motioned Pierre, her overseer, to the catacomb gates. She told him what they had in mind, and that he was to keep tabs on all the Nosferatu within the catacombs just as he had been doing prior to them getting out of control.

Although Evee trusted Pierre with her life, she feared that if they didn’t hurry and collect the missing Nosferatu and get all of them to the North Compound for feeding time, more fights would break out. Then they might lose the protection of the scabior canopy, and the Cartesians would find her Originals and annihilate them. Then it wouldn’t be long before humans throughout the city would die senseless, useless deaths.

Evee feared that might be going on even now with her Nosferatu. She felt in her gut that somewhere in the city more deaths had already taken place. She could only hope she and her sisters wouldn’t be next.

The Benders seemed very confident in their abilities and seemed to have a solid plan in place, or as solid as one might have in such a situation.

Evee, on the other hand, had not known this much fear—ever.

Chapter 2

Lucien didn’t like the idea of leaving the catacombs to hunt for the missing Nosferatu. Although he knew that finding them was a task that had to be taken care of, he worried about the scabior dome flickering out again. If it happened once, it might happen again. Despite what he had told Evee about the energy generated by the squabbling Nosferatu making the dome less effective, Lucien wasn’t convinced of that. That was just an assumption. He had no idea what had really caused the dome to weaken. The truth was that no Bender ever before had created a large-scale electrical barrier that locked in any creature. Having run out of options when so many Originals went missing, the cousins had found their task upon arriving in New Orleans more than overwhelming, and had opted to give it a try.

The first attempt had been at the North Compound to protect Viv’s Loup Garous. When that had proven successful, he and his cousins had used the same technique to protect the Chenilles in the Louis I Cemetery, then here in the catacombs under St. John’s Cathedral. The waning of power here concerned him greatly. Whatever hunting was needed must be done quickly and with specific directives so they wouldn’t be chasing their tails as he felt they had been doing for the last day or two.

As Lucien considered a game plan, he noticed that Evee had moved closer and was now standing between him and Ronan.

“I know we have to look for the missing,” Evee said. “But I want to apologize for zeroing out on the two of you earlier. All of the Nosferatu are my charge. You are here to help, which is much appreciated, and I had no business zoning out on you the way I did.”

Lucien put a hand on Evee’s shoulder and felt his pulse quicken when he touched her. Although Evee was dressed casually in jeans and a light blue T-shirt, she might as well have been dressed in a ball gown and tiara for all he cared. She was astonishingly beautiful no matter what she wore, and the simple act of touching her made his insides quiver.

“Don’t beat yourself up over that,” he said to her. “With all that’s going on, I think you’re handling yourself quite well. We just need to keep our heads about us.” He gave her a soft smile. “For all you know, I might be the next one to ‘zero out,’ like you said, so I’ll have to count on you and Ronan reining me back in.” He squeezed her shoulder gently. “Don’t worry, if you go to la-la land again, I promise to be there to bring you back.”

He saw a flash of gratitude in Evee’s eyes, and he felt his smile broaden. He forced himself to look away from her and down at his watch. “Time’s pushing. If we’re going to do any hunting for missing Nosferatu before feeding time, we’d better get started.”

Evee nodded, took a step back and squared her shoulders. “If we’re going to get this done,” she said, “we’ll need to split up. I know the two of you are here to protect me and my Originals, but look at what we’re dealing with now. Too many missing Nosferatu, and humans, innocent humans, unwittingly waiting to be an Original’s next meal. The closer we get to feeding time, the hungrier the Nosferatu will become. Humans will definitely be their target. So splitting up and hitting different directions only makes sense.”

Lucien held up a hand. “No way are we splitting up.”

“That would put you in too much danger,” Ronan said, the frown on his face deepening.

“That would make us utterly irresponsible in our task to protect and defend,” Lucien said.

Evee’s eyes narrowed. “So are you saying that going off on your own, knowing there are loose Nosferatu, Loup Garous and Chenilles, any of which could slaughter you within seconds, is irresponsible?” she asked Lucien.

“Yes,” Lucien said defiantly. “The bottom line is splitting more than we already have is ludicrous. We’d be asking for disaster.”

“Yes,” Ronan said. “Like we don’t have enough to deal with now. I think we should stick together.”

“Of course,” Evee said. “Any wuss would want to play the safe card. Look, if the two of you would just stop yammering and get to searching, we might actually get the job done.”

Lucien had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing. If anything, Evee was not short on piss and vinegar once she had her mind set on something.

Ronan, on the other hand, evidently felt different. Appearing dumbstruck, he looked away, his cheeks turning a shade of pink.

“Look,” Evee said to Lucien and Ronan. “I didn’t mean for that to come out so...bitchy. I apologize.”

Lucien looked up at her with a stoic expression. “Apology accepted.”

With a sigh of relief, Evee looked from Ronan to Lucien. “We have to be levelheaded about this. I know what to look for where my Nosferatu are concerned. And believe me, as far as rifts are concerned, if I see so much as a deformed cloud in the sky, I’ll be running to find you guys quicker than you can blink.”

Lucien blew out a breath and glanced from Evee to Ronan. In his mind, Lucien knew Evee was right. They’d be able to cover much more ground if they separated. But his heart refused to let the words out of his mouth. He feared for her life and couldn’t stand the thought of Evee heading anywhere alone.

Finally, Ronan said, “I hate to admit it, but what she’s saying makes sense. I can head north into the Quarter and search there.” He looked at Evee. “You’ll have to tell me what to look for, though. Since it’s already dark out, the Originals will have taken human form to blend in. They certainly won’t have bald heads with thick veins and sharp fangs like the ones here. How do I tell what human is truly Nosferatu?”

“Good question,” Evee said. “You can typically spot them easily if you know what you’re looking for. I can usually locate a Nosferatu by scent. In your and Lucien’s case, look for anyone standing about simply watching people, either an individual or a small crowd. If interest sparks, the Nosferatu will start following that person or crowd, keeping tabs on their every move. Also their skin will be much paler than the average human’s. Some have eyes that are extremely light-sensitive, so they’ll be wearing sunglasses inside buildings, even at night.”

“What about clothing?” Lucien asked.

“No different than anyone else around them. Remember, they’re trying to fit in and go unnoticed so they can scout out their next victim. And remember, too, the both of you are in as much danger as any human out there. I’m the only one who can control the Nosferatu. Don’t confront them head-on or you might wind up being a meal. Should you find one, you need to come and get me or call for me. You can’t fight them alone. They’re too strong.”

“This is sounding worse by the moment,” Ronan said, sweeping his hands through his hair. “I’ve changed my mind. I really don’t like the idea about splitting up.”

“I know,” Evee said. “And I agree that this plan is putting us a bit out there, raising the stakes and ratcheting up the danger, but think of what might happen if we don’t do it. Let’s at least give it a try. We can go in separate directions, hunt for half an hour, then meet back here in front of St. John’s. That way we can report on what we’ve seen, then go our own ways again, each of us taking a different direction. At least that way we won’t be apart for hours at a time. Thirty minutes, not that long, and if one of us doesn’t show up, the others will know the direction to head to look for him...or her.”

Lucien bit his bottom lip, rubbed a hand across his chin. “I don’t think what I have to say about the plan matters. You’re going to do what you want to do, right?”

Evee gave him a lopsided grin. “Pretty much.”

“I figured as much,” Ronan said.

“Fine, Ms. François, we’ll do it your way,” Lucien said with a half smile, which was the best he had to offer. He still thought the entire plan was a mistake. “Let’s get it done and over with, then. Ronan, you head north to the Quarter. I’ll take the riverbank west.”

“Guess that leaves me with the east riverbank,” Evee said.

“All right,” Lucien said. “But what if something comes up and one of us needs help? We don’t carry cell phones because they interfere with your spells and our scabiors. We have no way of contacting one another. You may have telepathic abilities with your sisters, but I don’t have that ability with Ronan, Gavril or Nikoli. We have to find a method to reach out for help if we need it.”

“Can you whistle?” Evee asked.

Lucien looked at her quizzically.

“Simple question,” Evee said. “Can you whistle?”

Lucien pressed his bottom lip against his bottom teeth and let out a loud, ear-piercing whistle.

Evee clamped her hands over her ears until he finished, then said, “Sounds good to me.” She turned to Ronan. “How about you?”

Without preamble, Ronan pressed two fingers against his bottom lip and let out a whistle just as shrill as Lucien’s, if not louder.

“Good,” Evee said. “If either one of you gets into trouble, whistle long and loud, and I’ll come for you right away.”

“No matter where we are?” Lucien asked. “Your hearing’s that good?”

“Better than a hound’s,” Evee said.

“What about you?” Lucien asked. “What if you get into trouble? You plan to whistle, as well?”

Evee gave him a small smile. “Nope, sorry. I can’t whistle my way out of a bucket. If I find my Nosferatu, I’ll take care of them myself. I know how to deal with them. And if I run into a Cartesian, trust me, I’ll run like hell and find you.”

“You can’t outrun a Cartesian,” Lucien said. “If you see a rift appear, the best thing for you to do is hightail it into the nearest building. Stay out of sight. When the half hour mark comes around, and you don’t show, we’ll at least know what direction to head to find you.”

“What exactly does a rift look like?”

Lucien thought for a moment, stroked his beard. “Think of it as a black wound, one blacker than black. You can see it even on a moonless, starless night. When it first appears it’s like a black strip, a stitched wound in the sky. Then, as the Cartesians work their way through it, it begins to widen, like the stitches are being ripped away from the wound.”

Evee shivered at the thought. “Believe me,” she said. “Any of those ugly mothers won’t have a chance to get a hand out of a rift before I haul ass. Don’t worry. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for anything odd in the sky.”

“Doesn’t sound like much of a plan,” Lucien said.

“I agree,” Ronan said, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

“Suppose you’re so focused on finding the Nosferatu that you don’t notice a Cartesian until it’s halfway through a rift and reaching for you?” Lucien asked.

Evee gave him a stern look. “I’m not stupid.”

“I in no way assumed or meant to imply you were,” Lucien said, and arched a brow.

“I’ll be alert,” Evee said.

“But how can you look for your Nosferatu and watch for rifts overhead?” Ronan asked.

Evee scrubbed a hand over her face as if to wipe away frustration. “Remember, I have a slight advantage over the two of you. I can sense my Nosferatu. I’ll keep my Spidey senses tuned to them while watching overhead.”

It took another fifteen minutes before the three of them finally agreed to the divide-and-conquer method Evee had proposed.

When they finally left the catacombs, Ronan immediately headed for the French Quarter and Lucien started walking west, down the riverwalk. He watched Evee take off for the east bank of the river, watched her long, lean body stride with confidence, her shoulder-length black hair blown back by the wind. He remembered how her copper-colored eyes glinted with determination as they’d discussed their search-and-rescue plan. Lucien worried about her, more so now than ever.

Although the Triad looked similar, they weren’t identical. Their eyes told different stories, as did their personalities. Evee always seemed to be the peacemaker, the one to handle things more logically than her sisters. She was also more apt to follow than lead. At this point, Lucien feared Evee had reached the point of desperation. That was why she had suggested they split up to search for her Nosferatu. He still felt like it was a big mistake.

As Lucien watched Evee’s body fade off into the distance, his pace slowed. He continued heading west but kept looking back for her every few seconds. She continued heading east, and when he could barely make out her silhouette, Lucien suddenly felt like he was trudging through knee-deep mud.

He wasn’t as worried about Ronan. His cousin was sharp and knew how to fight no matter what he faced. Ronan could easily take care of himself. But if a Cartesian attacked Evee, she’d be helpless. All the bravado she’d displayed in their conversation in the catacombs was one thing, but Lucien feared that dealing with a Cartesian, especially the unreliability of a Cartesian, would be far beyond her powers.

As crucial as it was to find the missing Nosferatu before any humans were attacked, he felt it was a greater priority to keep the Cartesians away from the Originals and especially the Triad he was responsible for. He would never be able to live with himself if something happened to Evee.

Lucien trudged another block west before suddenly doing an about-face and beginning to head east, in Evee’s direction.

Something about the woman drew him, called to him. Lucien couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he just knew that he had to take care of her above all else.

He picked up his pace, almost to a run, wanting to at least catch sight of Evee as soon as possible. He heard the calliope of a steamboat in the distance as it chugged along the river. He smelled burgers and fries, pizza and pralines, all of which made his stomach rumble. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten.

The farther he headed east, the more the crowds began to dissipate, and the cacophony of music, talking and laughter muted to a distant hum.

It felt like he’d walked five miles before he finally spotted Evee walking along the river’s edge, just as she had been before. He noticed her gaze shifting from left to right, then up, obviously trying to sense her Nosferatu and watching for Cartesians at the same time.

Suddenly Evee came to an abrupt stop, and even from where Lucien stood he saw a quizzical look cross her face. She looked up again, turned her head to one side, and Lucien saw her mouth drop open. He followed her gaze and saw it—a widening rift in the sky right above her. A Cartesian was hanging out from it at the waist.

“Run!” Lucien shouted to Evee, then yanked his scabior out of its sheath.

The Cartesian, evidently hearing Lucien’s yell, threw Lucien a piercing, evil look, narrowing its monstrous eyes.

Obviously determined to complete the task before it, the Cartesian turned away from Lucien, stuck one of its long, furry arms tipped with four-inch razor-sharp talons out of the rift, then lifted its arm up and out, aiming for Evee.

It wasn’t hard to determine that Evee had seen the same, for she let out a heart-stopping scream, then took off running—right into the river.

Lucien charged his scabior and shot a bolt of lightning at the Cartesian, hitting it square in the head. It shrieked and flew backward into the rift, and Lucien heard a distinct pop that indicated he’d shoved the monstrosity into the next dimension. The rift remained open, however, and Lucien kept his scabior aimed there, pushing the Cartesian farther and farther back.

By the time Lucien was able to sound off two more pops, a more crucial sound reached his ear. Evee screaming for help.

Like a wild man, Lucien spun about on his heels, tracking the sound of her voice. Evee was still in the river, her head bobbing up and then going under the murky water. Each time her head poked out of the water, less and less of it appeared. She flailed her arms frantically, coughed and sputtered whenever her mouth broke the surface of the water.

Lucien was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was obvious Evee needed to be pulled out of the river, but the rift overhead was still open. If he ignored it and went after Evee, another Cartesian could easily make its way through the rift and take her.

Praying Evee could at least dog-paddle, Lucien put all his energy into the open rift and held on to his scabior with two hands. Although only seconds passed before he heard yet another explosive sound, which meant the Cartesian had been pushed into another dimension and the rift was finally closed, it felt like hours.

For the entire time he fought the Cartesian, all Lucien heard was Evee sputtering and screaming, “H-help! I c-can’t swim!”

Chapter 3

Evee knew she was about to die. Panic-stricken, she paddled with hands and feet as hard as she could to stay afloat in the water, but it was only enough to get her nose and mouth to break surface—every once in a while. Each time she got sucked down below the surface, her mouth and nose filled with muddy silt from the river. Bad enough she couldn’t breathe, it made her want to throw up. The few seconds she broke the surface of the water she spent coughing, gagging, trying to cøapture as much oxygen as she could before slipping helplessly downward.

She tried moving her arms like she’d seen swimmers do, out and down, kicking furiously, desperate to move up and forward. But her body refused to stay horizontal. It felt weighted with stones and determined to pull her feetfirst down into the depths of the Mississippi.

Evee didn’t know what scared her more: the realization that she was about to drown or having seen the Cartesian take aim for her. Either way, she didn’t plan to go quietly into any dark night. All she knew to do was to keep fighting, struggling, hoping.

For the life of her, Evee had no idea why she’d run into the river instead of in the opposite direction toward land and buildings. Surely she would have found a safe, dry place to hide. But something seemed to overtake her logical brain as soon as she saw the Cartesian’s arm cock and aim. Her brain immediately screamed, RUN! And in that horrifying moment, the only direction that made sense to her was away.

Even as she bobbed up and then underwater, fighting for air, for her life, she still saw the gruesome face of the Cartesian in her mind’s eye. Monstrously huge head covered with scraggly fur. Long, pointed ears that flapped over at the tips. A flat nose with no bridge, and nostrils that looked canyon-size. Eyes solid black, without pupils, and the size of saucers. And its teeth, the most horrible of all—each tooth a thick pointed incisor, a mouth equipped to shred and masticate anything it got hold of. She shuddered, thinking about it.

Trying to keep her wits about her and forcing herself to think of the water, the enemy trying to destroy her now, Evee kicked harder, moved her arms and hands overhead, then down one at a time, hoping for progress. She heard herself crying out for help, but the voice sounded like it came from far away and from someone else. She didn’t know which was worse: drowning or being chewed to death by a Cartesian. Both carried the same weight of fear in her heart.

Exhaustion sat atop her like concrete blocks, forcing her lower into the water. She barely had the energy to care anymore.

As she sank lower into the dark water, Evee suddenly felt an arm wrap around her waist. Freaked, she twisted and turned, trying to get away. Opened her mouth to scream, only to have it fill with silt. She only had a few seconds of breath left in her lungs, and she used it to struggle all the more. The more she fought, the tighter the grip grew on her waist.

Finally, after what seemed to take an eternity, her head surfaced above water. Evee coughed, spat and gasped. When her lungs filled with air, her brain suddenly went into overdrive. She screamed, looking left and right, then up, searching for the Cartesian. Then the pressure around her waist registered once again, and all she saw in her mind’s eye were long black talons ready to gut her from stem to stern. She screamed, whirling about, shoving her elbows backward, trying to pummel whatever held her.

“Stop, it’s me, Evee. It’s me.”

Evee heard the voice, but her fear overrode recognition. She tried frantically to get away. “Let go, you ugly son of a bitch! Let me go!”

Arms wrapped around her waist tighter, and she felt her back pressed against...a man?

“It’s me, Evee. Lucien. You’re safe. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Startled, Evee turned her head sharply to the left. Lucien’s face loomed beside her. A whimper of gratitude escaped her.

“The C-Cartesian,” Evee said. “I—I...it...” Before any more words could form, she burst into tears that quickly turned into sobs, her body shivering against Lucien.

“I know,” he said softly against her ear. “But you’re safe now. I’ve got you. The Cartesian is gone. You’re safe.”

Evee put her arms around his neck, and Lucien swam closer to shore. Before long, he stood upright, leaned over and scooped her into his arms.

Without another thought, she wrapped both of her arms around his neck as he walked onto shore, and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She shivered as if she’d just been dunked into a tub of ice water.

“I’m taking you home so you can get into some dry clothes,” Lucien said matter-of-factly.

“I—I can walk from here,” Evee said through chattering teeth. She removed her arms from around his neck, and Lucien set her tentatively, seemingly reluctantly, on her feet.

The minute her feet touched the ground, it felt like every muscle in Evee’s body suddenly turned to mush. She felt her body go limp, but before she hit the ground, Lucien had her back in his arms again.

Neither of them spoke as Lucien walked the long distance to her home. She clung to him once more, buried her face against his chest. She felt safe in his arms, as if the bulging muscles in his arms and chest, his soft breath against her hair and face, was the safest place on earth. He never once broke stride or panted for breath as he cradled her.

It wasn’t until they’d crossed the threshold of the three-story Victorian that Evee and her sisters called home, which they’d inherited from their mother, that Lucien set her feet back on the ground. He held on to her arm, as if making sure she’d stand steady before fully releasing her.

Evee had no sooner leaned against the kitchen table to catch her breath than Hoot, her horned owl familiar, came flying into the room at full speed. He flew straight toward Lucien, swooped down onto his left shoulder and dug his talons into him.

“Let go of him now!” Evee shouted hoarsely at Hoot, shooing him away.

“He has no business being here, Evette. Make him leave,” Hoot demanded.

Evee was grateful that she was the only one, besides the Elders, who could understand her familiar. Everyone else, including Lucien, only heard squawks, squeals and chirps. She shooed at Hoot again. He remained on Lucien’s shoulder, talons digging in deeper until Lucien grimaced.

“You had no business bringing him here alone,” Hoot said. “And look at you. Just look at you. Soaking wet. What did he do to you? Did he hurt you? Are you bleeding anywhere? Have you been bruised? Damaged?”

Unable to answer Hoot’s questions without sounding like a loon, Evee said sternly, “No! Let go of him right this minute or I’ll put you in your cage.”

With a shrill shriek of anger, Hoot finally released Lucien’s shoulder and took flight, leaving the kitchen and heading for the foyer.

“That’s some pet you have there,” Lucien said, rubbing the shoulder that Hoot had dug into.

Evee sighed. “He’s my familiar and overprotective.”

“What exactly does a familiar do? Does every witch have one?”

“Most of the witches I know do. Familiars are supposed to be our eyes and ears when we’re not around. Their purpose is mostly to warn us of pending danger. Hoot does that for me, but he’s also bossy and gets carried away at times.”

Lucien gave her a small smile. “It’s nice to know you have someone looking after you.”

Their eyes locked for a moment, and Evee felt her knees grow weak. Not from exhaustion this time, but from desire. It felt like desire, anyway, but could have been the aftermath of shock from the Cartesian attack and near drowning. She shook her head slightly, trying to clear her thoughts. It was then she noticed that she and Lucien were both soaking wet and dripping water all over the floor.

“There’s a shower down here if you’d like to use it,” Evee said. She pointed past the kitchen toward the front of the house. “Just past the foyer and living area is a hallway. Take a left there and you’ll find a bathroom. Last door on the right. I’ll use the one on the second floor.” As an afterthought she put a finger to her lips, then said, “I’m sorry I don’t have any dry clothes to offer you. House full of women, you know. But there’s a robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door that you’re welcome to use. And back here...” Evee led him to a small room located at the far end of the kitchen near the back door. The room held a washer and dryer, utility sink and folding table. “You can just toss your clothes in the dryer while you shower.”

“Thanks,” Lucien said. “Dry sounds like a great plan. I’ll wait to shower when I go back to the hotel.”

“Y-you’re going back to the hotel?” Evee asked, then mentally admonished herself for sounding so needy.

They stood so close together in the small room that she felt Lucien’s breath as he spoke. Just being this close to him calmed her. She forgot about the wet clothes on her own body and the chill that had her shaking since Lucien pulled her from the river. His presence sent heat radiating through her body, chasing away any semblance of cold.

“If you don’t mind,” Lucien said, “I’ll dry my shirt first so you can direct me on the dryer settings.” He grinned. “Too many buttons and gadgets on that machine. Left to myself, I’d probably shrink my shirt down two sizes or nuke it into ashes.”

“No problem,” Evee said, then held her breath as Lucien reached behind his head with both hands, grabbed the back of his T-shirt and pulled it over his head.

Seeing him bare-chested with rippled abs and sculpted, muscular arms stole what little breath Evee had left. She gasped to refill her lungs. An embarrassing sound at such a wrong time.

“Are you okay?” Lucien asked, his brow knitting.

“Huh?” Evee had been so absorbed with the sight and scent of Lucien so close to her, she hadn’t heard what he’d said.

He handed her his wet shirt. “I asked if you were okay. You gasped. I was concerned it might have come from residual water from the river in your lungs.”

“No, no, I’m fine.” She took his shirt, threw it into the dryer and set the dryer on its gentle cycle so the T wouldn’t shrink, then pressed the start button.

Evee glanced back at Lucien, trying not to focus on his chest. “Your jeans are heavier material, so set the dryer on time-dry for them.” She pointed to the appropriate knob. “Both shirt and jeans will be dry before you know it.” Evee didn’t tell him what cycle would be best for his underwear. For all she knew, Lucien might be flying commando. Either way, she felt confident he’d figure it out.

Since the incident with the Cartesians and the near drowning, Evee felt out of sorts and confused. She found herself wanting, aching to feel the safety of Lucien. Just like when he’d carried her home.

She felt heat radiating from Lucien’s chest, which was lightly matted with dark brown and black hair that formed a narrow path to the top of his jeans.

Evee felt awkward as she watched him remove his watch and set it on the washer. She had no business standing here. She had to shower and dress, as well, yet felt glued to where she stood. Unable to take her eyes off him.

Lucien turned to her, and she studied his strong, chiseled face, his eyes greener than the depths of the Pacific Ocean. An unspoken question flickered across his face, and Evee fumbled for something to say.

As Lucien stared at her, his eyes soft yet piercing, she said, “I—I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Sorry about what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Evee glanced down for a few seconds before looking back up at him. “I forgot to say thank-you.”

“For?”

“Saving my life. You know, from the Cartesian, from drowning.”

“My pleasure, I assure you.” Lucien tilted his head slightly. “If you don’t mind me asking, don’t you control the element of water?”

Evee nodded.

“Yet it frightens you. Why is that?”

She shook her head. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know what the water thing is all about. I never did get it. I’m supposed to control the element of water, and I can, but from a distance. I don’t know why I have such a fear of it. All I think about is drowning. Maybe it’s a former life thing. Maybe I drowned in some other life and hold repressed memories about it. Then again, it could just be a weird phobia.” She shrugged, feeling all the more uncomfortable. She was rambling like an idiot. She felt her cheeks grow warm. “I think not understanding it frightens me most of all.”

“Life has a lot of unanswered questions,” Lucien said, his voice low and husky.

She nodded and watched as his amazing eyes turned to a smoldering forest green.

“Whatever the reason,” Evee said, trying to get her wits about her, “please accept my gratitude for your help.”

“Accepted,” Lucien said with a soft smile.

Something inside Evee told her to move on. To go upstairs and shower as she’d proposed earlier. Instead, she stood staring at him. Neither of them said a word.

Before she knew it, Evee sensed what almost felt like human hands push her closer to Lucien, seemingly without her consent. Suddenly, she found her lips on Lucien’s, kissing him fiercely. His hands cupped the sides of her face and he returned the kiss, matching her ferocity.

The moment her lips touched Lucien’s, Evee felt such a thirst overtake her, it was like every ounce of moisture in her body had been depleted, her body suddenly dehydrated. So much so she could have drunk the entire Mississippi River and would still be craving more.

His full lips, so delicious, succulent.

Lucien’s lips moved over her chin, down the side of her neck.

A moan escaped Evee’s lips, and she whispered, “Don’t let me go...don’t.” She tangled her fingers into his collar-length black hair and pulled him closer.

Without warning and in one fell swoop, Lucien dropped his hands to Evee’s waist, then lifted her up onto the dryer. He cupped the back of her head and kissed her long and deep.

Evee wrapped her arms around his neck, tangled her fingers into his hair. Her hair and clothes were still soaked from the river, but neither seemed to notice or care.

Lucien’s hands moved at what felt like an infinitesimally slow pace, from her waist to the top of her thighs.

She groaned reflexively, and Lucien broke their kiss, studied her face, his eyes smoldering green, hypnotic.

Their eyes remained locked, their faces only a few inches away from each other. Lucien’s eyes seemed to call on something deep inside her.

Locked in that moment, Lucien moved his hands to rest near the top of her thighs. He placed his thumbs between her legs, and she felt heat roll from her with the fierceness of a bonfire. He pressed his thumbs down a bit harder and began to rub his right thumb left and his left thumb right in the center of her legs.

Evee gasped loudly. She heard a loud humming in her ears and suspected the sound to be her own blood rushing hot and fast through her body. She arched her back, pushed her hips toward him.

Evee’s mouth found Lucien’s again and she took his tongue into her mouth and sucked hard as his thumbs moved faster, pressed harder against her.

Fire roared through her until Evee broke their kiss and arched her back, crying out, “Yes! Lucien, yes!” And in that moment a tsunami of all orgasms overtook her, washing away the fear that had held her captive earlier, shoving away every insecure thought, every inhibition she’d ever known. Shaking, she clung to Lucien once more.

“I need you,” she said unabashedly. “I need you inside me.”

Lucien took her face into his hands. “There’s nothing I want more. You’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever known, Evee. But taking you now, after all you’ve just gone through, would make me feel...” He smoothed her hair with a hand. “Not now. Trust me. We’ll have our time together. When and if it’s right. I promise.”

With that, Lucien gently moved his hands from between her legs, wrapped them around her waist and lifted her off the dryer and placed her on the floor.

Evee wobbled once, and he caught her. He held on to her arms until her feet felt steady beneath her.

“Go now,” Lucien whispered in her ear. “Shower. Get into some dry clothes. I’ll let Ronan know what happened—except for this part, of course. We’ll regroup.”

Evee nodded slowly, then made her way clumsily back into the kitchen and through the foyer. As she headed up the stairs, her body still humming from Lucien’s touch, she was grateful Hoot had made himself scarce. The last thing she needed was her familiar giving her a morality lesson and killing her buzz.

Three steps up the stairway Evee suddenly realized she’d stepped into a huge pile of shit. For it was then that she felt just how badly she wanted Lucien.

She walked slowly. Each step brought different emotions. The need for Lucien. God, he must think her a slut. She’d all but attacked him. All but begged him to screw her right there on top of the dryer.

Evee started to feel ashamed of herself. She should have shown more restraint. She had no business wanting any of the Benders. They were human, and her body hungered for more than a one-time fuck. That Evee could make happen at any time. But the Benders were different. Not only were they handsome, intelligent and powerful, but any woman would be stupid not to desire their heart along with their body.

And there lay her downfall.

No Triad shall marry or live intimately with a human.

The curse of the ages. If it was broken, they were assured it would cause the destruction of the world. That was the purpose for the mirrors inside their Grimoires. They replayed each day since they were created, scenes of Armageddon.

Except as of late. Over the last week, the mirrors inside their Grimoires had stopped replaying the destruction of the world. All three showed nothing but swirls of gray smoke. And no one, including their Elders, had any idea as to why. When Evee stared at the mirror in her Grimoire, she felt hopelessness, helplessness. As far as any of them knew, the end of the world might already have begun.

Heaven help her if she had had sex with Lucien. It might have been the match that lit the fuse to a bomb that would blow the hell out of everything.

Herself included.

Chapter 4

Once his clothes were dry enough for him not to look like a drenched rat, Lucien quickly dressed while Evee was in the shower. He felt guilty for leaving without saying goodbye, but after the incident on the dryer, he thought it best to be on his way—quickly.

Lucien couldn’t quite wrap his brain around what exactly had happened on Evee’s dryer. One moment they were staring at each other, and the next her lips were on his. Her body so close to his sent more messages than he’d been able to sort through. He sensed passion pent up like a pressure cooker without a release valve inside her. So he’d provided one. Anything beyond that, and he’d have forever considered himself a schmuck. It had taken what felt like superhuman strength to control the need he had for her. Sending her off to shower while he waited for his clothes to at least half-ass dry, then leave, made him feel like chicken shit. But he figured better chicken shit than regret.

Instead of going to the hotel to shower as he’d told Evee he would, Lucien decided to scout for Ronan first and give him a heads-up on the Cartesian attack. With that in mind and visions of Evee burned into his brain, Lucien automatically reached for his left wrist to initiate the locator implanted in his watch. It took a second for him to realize it wasn’t on his wrist.

Lucien stopped abruptly. “What the hell...?” Then he remembered. He’d taken it off at Evee’s, right before tugging his shirt off and tossing it into the dryer. Why the hell did he remove it in the first place? The only time Lucien ever removed his watch was before stepping into the shower, even though the watch was waterproof.

Habit, he assumed. Clothes came off to shower, thus off with the watch. But now his butt was in a sling. He couldn’t just walk back to Evee’s after what had happened a short time ago. She might view his return as an excuse, get the wrong message. Not that she’d have gotten the message wrong. Not completely anyway.

Hell, who was he kidding? He was the one who’d have the problem if he had her alone right now. How was he going to get his watch back without it being awkward for either of them?

Nikoli, the oldest of his cousins, always reminded them of the Benders’ mantra whenever they headed out on a mission. Keep your dick in your pants and your mind on the mission.

Normally that wasn’t an issue for Lucien. Women flirted certainly, and, occasionally, he’d reciprocate. But that was as far as it went until the mission was over and all they’d gone there to accomplish had been completed.

This was different, though. The mission wasn’t “normal,” as it involved the Triad, whom they’d never protected before. It slid off the normal scale with the number of Cartesians they’d encountered so far and the Originals they had to find and protect. All new challenges for them.

As Evee was for him. What he felt for her whenever he was near her was far from normal. She was an extraordinary woman who always smelled like gardenias and daffodils. Her smile melted his heart, and her copper-colored eyes grew so bright when she got excited they could’ve lit up a quarter of the universe. Evee might have come across as the gentlest and quietest of the Triad, but she carried an innate strength that was unmistakable.

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” a man asked, yanking Lucien from his thoughts. The voice came from behind Lucien, which caused him to clap a hand on the sheath of his scabior and spin about.

It was Ronan.

“Aren’t you supposed to be hunting the west side of the riverbank?” Ronan asked.

Lucien slapped a hand over his thudding heart. “Man, don’t you know better than to sneak up on me like that? I could’ve fried you.”

Ronan gave him a lopsided grin. “Nah, your reflexes are too sharp for you to make that kind of mistake. So, what are you doing here?” He took a step closer to Lucien and sniffed. “And why do you smell like...fish and dirty gym socks?”

Uncomfortable with the number of people milling about Toulouse Street, Lucien motioned for Ronan to follow him into an alley just off Dauphine.

“What’s going on?” Ronan asked. “You’re acting weird.”

In the muted silence of the alley, Lucien relayed to Ronan what he and Evee had gone through on the east bank. As he wound down the telling of the incident, even in the faint glow of streetlamps, Lucien saw Ronan’s face turn beet red.

“I told you!” Ronan said. “Didn’t I tell you it was a bad idea to split up? Evee could have died. On our watch, she could have died!”

“Shh,” Lucien warned. “If your voice gets any louder, we’ll start attracting a crowd.”

“Shh, my ass,” Ronan said. “The Cartesian, the water...” He ran a hand through his charcoal-black hair and started pacing in a tight circle. He stopped abruptly. “Where is Evee now?”

“Still at her home, as far as I know,” Lucien said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Ronan stepped closer to Lucien. “Hang on a minute. What were you doing on the east bank when you were supposed to be scouting the west?”

Lucien lowered his eyes for a second, then shrugged. “Instinct more than anything. I just got a sudden urge to follow her. I’m glad I did.”

Ronan’s eyes narrowed. “So you saved her from the Cartesian?”

“Yes.”

“And from drowning?”

“Yes.”

“Then what?” Ronan asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What happened after you pulled her out of the river?”

Lucien glanced away for a millisecond. “I carried her home. She was in shock, shivering. Couldn’t stand on her own two feet.”

“Then what?” Ronan asked, taking another step closer to Lucien. “What did you do when you brought her home? Just drop her at the front door? Make her tea? Get her a warm, fuzzy blanket to wrap around her shoulders?”

Lucien stared at the fury evident on his cousin’s face. “What’s with the twenty questions and why are you so pissed?”

Ronan turned away, folding his arms across his chest. “You broke protocol. It’s not like things aren’t screwed up enough here. Breaking protocol confuses things all the more.”

Lucien frowned. “Protocol for what? Rescuing a woman from a Cartesian and then from drowning?”

“Splitting up in the first place,” Ronan said, pounding a fist into the palm of his hand. “I could have saved her from that Cartesian and from the water.”

A neon light suddenly went off in Lucien’s head. It answered a lot of questions and made him sick to his stomach at the same time.

“Ronan?” Lucien said.

“What?” Ronan turned to face him, his expression roiling with anger.

“You like her, don’t you?”

“Who? What the shit are you talking about?”

“Evee. You like her, don’t you?”

Lucien saw Ronan’s shoulders slowly relax from their defense position. He unfolded his arms and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. “Keep your dick in your pants and your mind on the mission,” Ronan said, his voice low, resigned as he stated the Benders’ mantra.

Even in the darkness of the alley, Lucien saw defeat dull his cousin’s large black eyes. In all the years they’d known each other, not once had Lucien ever seen Ronan make such a fuss over a woman.

It broke Lucien’s heart to see his cousin look so dejected. The words that came out of his own mouth milliseconds later rattled him to his core.

“If—if you’re interested in Evee,” Lucien said, “you should let her know. Eventually this mission will come to an end and so will the Benders’ mantra. So, good, bad or indifferent, at least Evee will know how you feel.”

Ronan blew out a breath. “I can’t. I’m not good with women the way you are.”

“Well,” Lucien said, “you can either let your shyness rule your heart or take a chance and tell her how you feel.”

Ronan looked him in the eye. “And what if she rejects me?”

“Then she rejects you, and you’ll move on,” Lucien said. “But you’ll never know where you stand or if you can stand beside her unless you try.”

Ronan slowly nodded, yet remained silent.

Now that he’d offered his heart up for slaughter, Lucien squared his shoulders and said, “Let’s make another run through the Quarter, and then we’ll go to the hotel so I can shower.”

Ronan nodded again, still silent.

Although he hadn’t uttered a word, Lucien knew his cousin well enough to know he was pondering what they’d discussed about Evee. Even now he was probably formulating a plan.

With a heavy heart, Lucien steeled his jaw and reminded himself that he was a Bender. He had to find the missing Originals, watch for Cartesians and take care of the Triad. That was his purpose, his innate ability.

And that’s all there was to it.

Squaring his shoulders, he began walking again, and Ronan followed him. They moved along the streets of the Quarter, Lucien using hand signals to guide Ronan in one direction or another.

Lucien looked over the faces of the people on the streets. Surveyed those who stood or sat in the bars and restaurants he strolled into and out of. He tried to remember the things Evee told them to watch for. The whiteness of the Nosferatu’s skin, sunglasses in the dark because some couldn’t tolerate any form of light. The problem was, after much searching, everyone started to look the same. Men—women—drunk.

After an hour of looking, they still hadn’t turned up anything. Lucien tried thinking like a Nosferatu, one hungry, away from its clan, not knowing where its next meal would come from or how it would get back to the catacombs. Maybe the missing Nosferatu didn’t want to connect with its clan again. Maybe it wanted the newly found freedom.

Lucien clearly remembered what Evee had said about the lost Nosferatu. If they weren’t reunited with their clan for feeding time at the compound, they’d find something or someone to drain of blood.

Once again, putting himself in the shoes of a Nosferatu, Lucien knew he’d go to a place with the most noise, the biggest cluster of people it could find. Once it defined its prey, it’d probably lead them down some dark alley.

The one place Lucien knew that fit this compilation, with many offshoots and empty, dark alleys, was Bourbon Street. First they had to study the street with the beat—Bourbon. A place whose streets and sidewalks held the footsteps, vomit or piss of some of the most rich and famous people from around the world.

Following that logic, Lucien signaled Ronan to his side, told him his game plan. Then they parted, each man taking a side of Bourbon.

Just as Lucien expected, as they walked the crowded street, glancing down one alley after another, they were faced with large groups of people laughing, talking, cramming the bars. How were he and Ronan supposed to identify a Nosferatu in this cluster? It felt like an impossibility.

An idea struck Lucien and gave him pause as he allowed himself back into the mind-set of a Nosferatu. He knew it would find an alley to make the kill. Its prey might be found in the crowded streets, but the kill would be done in seclusion. Not public.

So what made sense to Lucien was to walk Royal Street, which ran parallel to Bourbon, then straight ahead, checking out every alley between Iberville to Esplanade, which crossed the parallel streets. He signaled for Ronan, told him to focus on the alleys between the streets he felt were the likeliest place a Nosferatu would strike. They’d walk in tandem as much as possible.

It wasn’t until Lucien reached Barracks Street that something caught his attention. Sucking sounds, mouth to flesh. He looked across the street for Ronan and saw he was ahead, near Esplanade, dodging into yet another alley. He didn’t want to call out to him and warn whatever he’d have to face in his own alley.

Lucien removed his scabior from its sheath and made his way toward the sounds he’d heard.

The only streetlights he had to work with were the weak streaks shooting from pole lamps on Royal and Bourbon. So the farther he walked down Barracks, the darker it became.

He heard a woman moan. “Oh, baby, yes! Put it in now!”

Lucien walked faster, zeroing in on the woman’s voice. As he made his way toward the voice, a skinny, haggard-faced woman approached him, a hooker looking for a john, wanting a good time, a night’s wage. He ignored her and had walked another half block when a drunk stumbled out of a side alley and bumped into him. The drunk threw a punch at Lucien as if he was the reason he’d misstepped.

Lucien dodged the fist and quickened his pace, his ear still tuned to the woman’s voice.

“Oh, yeah, baby. Give me more. I want more.”

By the sound of her voice, Lucien suspected she was already copulating, or was about to, with whatever man she’d picked up on the street. From where he stood, Lucien noticed the woman had her back to him in an alley that grew darker with every step he took.

Even in the darkness, however, Lucien noticed something white just over the woman’s left shoulder. No question, it was a Nosferatu in midtransformation.

“What the f-fuck?” the woman said.

There was no mistaking the balding white head, the large vein that bulged from its forehead. Quite noticeable even in the dark.

Despite her slurred speech, a testament to heavy alcohol consumption, the woman evidently didn’t care for what she witnessed, either. That white bald head, the cauliflower ears, the pointed fangs that should have been front teeth. Her screams, when they came, told Lucien she had suddenly turned stone-cold sober. But her cries for help were drowned out by revelers shouting, laughing, talking up in the Quarter, where the action was at an all-time high.

Lucien remembered what Evee said he should do if he spotted a Nosferatu. Yet he stood mesmerized, watching the Nosferatu’s clawlike hands wrap around the woman’s arm, holding tight. Its head tilted back, fangs showing, ready to strike.

Suddenly snapping out of his stupor, Lucien placed two fingers against his bottom lip and let out a loud, shrill whistle.

So far, the only thing his whistle did was create a diversion for the creature. It turned to Lucien, hissed, then sank its fangs into the woman’s throat. Its eyes rolled back in its head as it drank, sucked, consumed the meal before him. As much as he wanted to do something to save her, Lucien knew he was no match for a Nosferatu. He didn’t have the weapons or the magic to send it to its knees.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, he found Ronan at his side.

“Son of a bitch,” Ronan said, looking at the Nosferatu feasting on the woman.

“No shit,” Lucien said.

Evidently irritated by the sound of Lucien and Ronan’s voice, the Nosferatu abruptly threw the woman it had been feeding on to one side. And a second later, it stood right in front of the Benders, a hand on each of their throats.

“You stupid, little men. What were you whistling for? Your dinner or mine?” the creature said.

Its grip on Lucien’s neck felt like a band of steel. Its fangs were exposed, twisted and yellow, and dripping with blood.

In a flash, Lucien did the only thing he knew to do. He kneed the Nosferatu in the groin. He didn’t know if it would have the same effect as it would’ve had on a human, but he didn’t care. In that moment, he had to do something.

Fortunately, Lucien’s effort threw the creature off balance, which caused it to release Ronan and Lucien, giving them time to unsheathe their scabiors.

Although he had his weapon in hand, Lucien wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. There’d be no pushing the creature back into another dimension, because it belonged in this one.

When the Nosferatu regained its balance, it grabbed for Lucien again. Instinct kicked in, and Lucien used the bottom, steel part of the scabior and quickly skewered the Nosferatu’s right eye. Lightning fast, as if on the same brain frequency, Ronan jumped into the fray and jabbed the steel rod of his scabior into the creature’s left eye.

The figure wailed and screeched, clawing at its own face. Lucien knew the Nosferatu would heal itself soon enough, and its eyes would be as good as new or better than before they’d been destroyed.

Although pus ran from its eye sockets, Lucien and Ronan witnessed the regeneration process firsthand. The Nosferatu’s eyes grew larger. Empty sockets at first; then new orbs appeared, black pupils. As suspected, the creature was regaining its sight.

Not knowing what else to do, Lucien prepared to attack the eyes again, once it got a bead on him. He held his breath, waiting.

Suddenly, the Nosferatu jerked backward as if bashed with a two-by-four from behind. It fell on its side onto the ground, and Lucien saw a long, ornate silver dagger jammed into its back and extending out of its chest, right through the heart.

Shocked, Lucien looked about in the darkness and spotted Pierre, Evee’s head Nosferatu. He stood beside his felled creature, brushed his hands together and shook his head.

“Such a waste,” Pierre said. “He should have followed orders and stayed with the group in the catacombs.”

As Pierre spoke, Lucien heard the voices of people gathering at the intersection of Barracks and Bourbon. The sound of sirens wailed in the distance, and in a flash, Pierre disappeared into the night, leaving Lucien and Ronan to face the crowd, the dead woman, the dead Nosferatu who, in death, had reverted to human form, and the police, whose sirens Lucien heard in the distance.

Lucien felt like a mouse stuck in a trap. He heard chatter coming from the crowd, each telling a different story, yet carrying the same theme. Lucien and Ronan were going to be fingered as murderers.

How the hell was he supposed to explain this to the police? And where was Evee? She’d specifically said to whistle for her and she’d come. Pierre had shown up instead. And although Lucien was grateful that he’d arrived in time to save them from the Nosferatu, it infuriated him that they’d been left alone to face the consequences of something and the someones they’d been sent here to protect.

Chapter 5

After showering, Evee threw on a pair of jeans, a maroon scoop-neck sweater and work boots. The entire time she’d stood under the water, Lucien had been on her mind. Although she really didn’t want him to leave when he did, Lucien had been strong enough to stop things before they’d gotten out of hand. He would probably have blamed himself for taking advantage of her under duress—and he wouldn’t have been that far off the mark. She’d been so petrified, had felt so vulnerable that more than anything she’d needed to feel strength and a sense of someone being in control. Lucien provided both in spades.

Knowing that didn’t keep Evee’s body from shivering as she went to her closet for a light jacket. The cold didn’t cause her shivering. The need for Lucien did.

A short, loud screech had Evee spinning about on the balls of her feet and her heart racing up to her throat.

It was Hoot, her familiar, who stood perched at the foot of her bed frame.

Evee slapped a hand to her chest. “Don’t do that!” she said. “You scared the hell out of me.”

The horned owl’s large eyes blinked slowly. “Good,” he said.

Evee scowled at him. “What do you mean good?”

“At least I have your attention now.”

“What the hell is your problem?” Evee asked, slipping on her jacket.

“Problem? I’m not the one with the problem, Evette François. You are.” He blinked, turned his head around at a ninety-degree angle, then whipped it back in her direction.

“I’m fine,” Evee said. “So how about you mind your own business for once?”

“That’s not my job, and you know it.”

Evee sighed and glared at Hoot. “Then spit it out. I’ve got things to tend to.”

“Spit it out? Have you no brains left in your head?” Hoot asked. “You damn near get killed by one of those hideous monster things, jump into the river when you can’t swim for shit, then not only lead but encourage that Bender guy to put his hands on your privates.”

“I don’t need you riding my ass about any of it right now.” The last thing Evee wanted or needed was Hoot giving her some type of moral-code lesson when all she wanted to think about was Lucien. The musky, wet smell of him. How his hands had felt on her body. How even through her wet clothes she’d felt their heat burst into a furnace so hot it would have melted an eighteen-wheeler loaded with rebar.

“As your familiar, I’m allowed to ride whatever the hell I want to protect you,” Hoot declared. “You had no business being with him in that intimate way.”

“How do you know there was any intimate anything?” Evee asked. “You disappeared. If you were so against me being with him, why didn’t you do what you always do—stick your beak in where it doesn’t belong?”

The owl let out a short, angry screech. “Unlike you, I’ve been out searching for the Nosferatu.”

Evee put a hand on her hip. “And what do you think I’ve been doing? Playing solitaire all this time? I’ve been looking for them, too.”

“You weren’t while you were playing touchy, feely with that Bender.”

“How can you make that claim when you weren’t even here?” Evee asked.

“Oh, I was here,” Hoot said, whipping his head about as if checking for intruders behind him.

He turned back to her. “Here just in time to see the games you two were playing.”

“Oh, shut up,” Evee said. “Nothing happened.”

“From the groaning and moaning you were doing, that sure was some kind of nothing.” Hoot chirped.

“Enough,” Evee warned.

“What’re you going to do, tape my beak shut?” Hoot asked. “Look here, missy. You’ve got a lot on your plate right now. You may be paired with him, which is a ridiculous idea in my opinion, but that doesn’t give you the right to act like a harlot.”

“Stop,” Evee warned again. “Or I’ll not only tape your beak but clip your wings.”

Hoot squawked. “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

“What good are you as a familiar if all you’re going to do is chew me out for every little thing I do?” Evee said.

“My job is to help you see straight in case you go crosswise, and you, Ms. François, have gone crosswise big time.”

“What part of ‘enough’ don’t you understand?” Evee said, heading for the foyer.

“The part where I tell you humans are dying,” Hoot said, and blinked twice. “And one of your Nosferatu.”

Evee froze in place, and her body temperature suddenly felt like it had dropped twenty degrees. She turned slowly to face Hoot, who was now roosting on the stairs’ newel post.

“What humans? Where? Which Nosferatu?” Evee asked, her questions coming out rapid-fire.

Hoot fluttered his wings as if ready to take flight, then settled back into place. “Two humans in Chalmette. One in the Quarter.”

Evee felt her mouth drop open. She snapped it shut and swiped a hand over her face. “Chalmette? You mean the Nosferatu have gone beyond the city proper?” She leaned against the front door for support.

The bird gave her an affirmative squawk. “Not only that, it seems like some of the missing Loups, Nosferatu and Chenilles are attempting to form their own feeding pattern.”

Evee held her breath as he continued.

“Some of the Nosferatu, in human form, of course, lured a couple out to one of the abandoned areas in the ninth ward. Sucked them dry, then left. The Loup must have been hiding in wait. As soon as the Nosferatu left, two Loups ran in and devoured the corpses, leaving nothing but bone, which, of course, the Chenille finished off. Every drop of marrow.”

“You’re sure about this?” Evee asked.

Hoot blinked twice. “Witnessed it myself.”

“Any other witnesses?”

“For the woman in the Quarter, yes. Chalmette, no. Sooner or later somebody is going to find those bodies back there, though. Police are going to get involved. There won’t be much of the bodies left to identify, but still...”

Evee felt tears suddenly burn against her eyelids. The Triad’s problems had just multiplied a hundredfold. If the Originals had trekked all the way to Chalmette, they could, for all intents and purposes, travel into another state. That wasn’t something she and her sisters had considered. The Originals had been cared for and fed for years in the same way, the same place. Dealing with that, the Triad used logic and assumed they’d remain close.

So much for logic.

“What about the Nosferatu?” Evee asked.

“Which one?”

Evee let out an exasperated sigh. “The one you said was dead, damn it.”

“Don’t be snapping at me,” Hoot warned. “I’m just the messenger. The Nosferatu was Chank. You know, the redhead when he’s in human form. He lured a drunk woman into an alley in the Quarter. Two of those Benders and Pierre stopped it, but not before the kill. The drunk woman didn’t stand a chance. And if those Benders keep sticking their noses where they don’t belong, they’ll wind up sucked dry and chewed through to their fingernails. Lucky for them, Pierre came around and rescued them. Had to run a silver dagger through Chank. From the looks of things, no other way to stop him.”

“Which Benders were involved?” Evee asked, worry suddenly flooding over her. She thought of Lucien.

“What does it matter which? They’re all nosy busybodies who have no business here.”

“Which ones?” She all but yelled the question this time.

Hoot screeched loudly. “How the hell do I know? The one with the short black hair. The quiet one. And the one you were playing house with earlier.”

Ronan, Lucien, Evee thought, grateful they were safe, but still feeling like she needed to throw up.

She felt her brow knit and glared at her familiar. “If you knew...saw all this going on, why didn’t you summon me?”

Hoot screeched loudly. “Summon you? I tried when I saw what was happening in Chalmette! But you were obviously too busy playing hussy with one of the Benders to hear me. That’s why I had to come back here, hoping to find you!”

Evee rubbed her forehead, left the foyer and went into the kitchen. Feeling lost, she shrugged off her jacket and tossed it over a kitchen chair. She grabbed the kettle from the stove and without thinking brought it over to the sink and filled it with water. She placed the kettle on the counter, not bothering to bring it back to the stove for heating. Instead, she sat at the kitchen table and placed her hands over her face. Shook her head. Her world had become an impossible place in which to function, to live, to think.

“Evette, you have to listen to me,” Hoot said.

Evee lowered her hands and looked up. Saw her familiar perched on top of the kitchen chair opposite her.

“I think I’ve heard enough from you for one day,” Evee said, forcing back tears, fury and uncertainty.

“Too bad,” Hoot said. “You’re going to listen.”

“I don’t have to listen to shit. You’re not my boss or my father.” Evee scowled.

“No, but I am your familiar. Same thing. And you’re going to listen.” Not waiting for Evee to respond, Hoot hurried through his words. “You’re heading off a cliff with that Bender. And it has little to do with sex and you know it. What you have to guard is your heart. You have Nosferatu missing, others killed, and the rest locked in the catacombs. You keep hunting for your missing Nosferatu, just like your sisters are looking for their Originals, and none of you are being successful at it. I don’t know why you can’t hone in on your brood like you usually do.”

Evee swiped a strand of hair out of her eyes. “You think I don’t know that? I feel like I’ve been running in circles and don’t know how to straighten any of this out. And for your information, you horny-eared copperhead, don’t you think if I could hone in on my brood I’d have done it days ago?”

“Okay, given, but you have to admit, this has gotten way out of hand. Much bigger than anyone suspected.” The bird blinked and bobbed his head. “You’re going to have to devise some other system to feed your brood.”

“Another system?” Evee looked at her familiar with incredulity. “It took years to set up the one we have now.”

“Maybe so, but how are you going to get the Nosferatu out of the catacombs and safely to the North Compound with so much going awry? They’ll be out in the open. Have you forgotten about the Cartesians? And now humans are being killed. Police are going to get involved soon. You and your sisters could be found out.”

“No shit.”

“Just saying.”

“So what’s the answer?” Evee asked, feeling her cheeks heat with anger. “You’re sitting on top of that chair spouting all that verbiage like you’re high and mighty. Do you have an answer for these problems?”

Hoot turned his head until he nearly faced backward, then turned back to Evee and blinked without saying a word.

“I didn’t think so.” Evee scowled. “Don’t you think that if I knew how to stop all this crap, how to get my Nosferatu back and turn things back to normal, I wouldn’t have done it by now? And as far as the Benders are concerned, forget it. We’ve got to worry about humans now. Dead humans.”

“Have you considered that what you’re doing with that Bender might have something to do with what’s happening?” Hoot asked.

“I didn’t do anything with the Bender,” Evee said, knowing she was bordering on a technicality. “Look, give me time to think, will you? Go. Leave me.”

Hoot squawked, and without another word, left his perch on the kitchen chair and flew out of the room.

Evee dropped her head back into her hands. She felt guilty about having been here, in this house with Lucien, experiencing his touch, her explosive orgasm. All the while humans died by the Originals, and one of her Nosferatu had to be taken down.

Wearily, she got out of her chair and was about to head to the bathroom to wash her face when the back kitchen door opened with a bang.

Elvis, Gilly’s ferret familiar, scurried into the house followed by Socrates, Viv’s Bombay cat and familiar. Both ran around the kitchen table, claws clicking on the wooden floor. As they skittered to a stop near Evee, Hoot evidently decided to join the party because he swooped into the kitchen from wherever he’d been roosting moments earlier. He settled onto the kitchen counter and eyed the other two familiars. Within seconds, Hoot started shrieking and squawking at the top of his lungs. Elvis responded with loud chitters and chirps, and Socrates began to caterwaul so loudly it hurt Evee’s ears.

No sooner had Evee put her hands over her ears than Gilly and Viv hurried into the house behind their familiars. Viv closed the door behind them, and both turned to Evee wide-eyed.

Evee felt her heart skip a beat, fearing by the look on her sisters’ faces that something more had come to torture them.

Dropping her hands from her ears, Evee yelled over the brash symphony of animals, “What’s wrong?”

“What?” Gilly shouted, obviously having a difficult time hearing over the noise.

“What’s wrong?” Evee asked again over the cacophony of animal noises.

Gilly looked over at Viv questioningly.

Frustrated, Evee held both hands out, glared at the familiars and shouted, “Y’all shut the hell up now!”

Elvis gave one last titter, Hoot a short squawk, and Socrates let out one innocent meow.

When all was quiet, Evee asked once more, “What’s wrong?” She swiped a strand of wet hair out of her face. She hadn’t had time to dry it after her shower.

“You haven’t heard?” Viv asked.

Evee frowned.

“About the humans,” Gilly said, then stomped a foot. “The dead ones, Evee.”

“Yeah,” Evee said, looking away. “Hoot filled me in a few minutes ago. He saw the whole thing.”

Viv did a double take. “What? He saw it? What about Pierre and Chank?”

Evee nodded. “That, too.”

“You mean your familiar saw all this going on and didn’t summon you?” Gilly asked, putting a hand on her hip.

“He claims he tried, but I didn’t hear him, didn’t feel him,” Evee said. “I didn’t know about the humans or Chank until Hoot came here to tell me.”

Gilly eyed her. “How can you not pick up an emergency summons from your familiar? What were you doing while all that was going on? And why is your hair wet?”

“Shower,” Evee said, feeling her cheeks flush. “Didn’t have time to dry it.” Before her sisters pummeled her with more questions, she shot out her own. “Why are the two of you here?” Aren’t you supposed to be looking for Chenilles and Loup Garous?”

“We were,” Gilly snapped. “Found out about the humans and Chank and have been racing around like fools trying to find you. Wanted to make sure that you knew and that you were okay. Is that a crime?”

“I didn’t say it was,” Evee said. “Why are you being so bitchy?”

Gilly held her arms out. “This isn’t bitchy. It’s pissed. We’ve been out there busting our humps and you’ve been here taking a shower.”

Evee turned away from her sisters and went to the counter, picked up the kettle she’d filled with water earlier and headed for the stove. She didn’t want to explain to them that she’d needed a shower after the whole Cartesian and river ordeal. She feared if she did, she’d spill the beans about Lucien, as well. As upset as they appeared now, even dropping a hint about her sexual encounter with Lucien, albeit one-sided, would have thrown both of her sisters into cardiac arrest.

“Well?” Viv said. “Explanation please.” She pursed her lips.

Ignoring her, Evee put the kettle on the stove and turned on the burner. She really didn’t want tea, but at least this gave her something to do.

“Evee, you know the death of the humans and the witnessing of the Nosferatu takes our situation to a whole new level,” Viv said. “The police will get involved, which is going to make this catastrophic. This situation is bigger than I think even the Benders realize. We need to figure out some kind of workable game plan. All we’ve been doing is chasing our tails, looking for Nosferatu, Chenilles and Loups.”

Gilly nodded. “Agreed. Dead humans. We’re way over our heads...wait a sec. What’s up with that?” Gilly walked over to Evee and touched her right shoulder, just near the edge of her scoop-necked sweater, and tugged it down an inch.

“What?” Evee asked. She felt Gilly pull the back of her shirt lower.

“What the hell?” Viv said, and hurried over to Gilly’s side.

Evee tried looking over her right shoulder to see what her sisters were gawking at. She couldn’t see anything. “What? What, damn it?”

“Your absolutus infinitus,” Viv said quietly.

All Triads since the 1500s were born with a black absolutus infinitus birthmark on a certain part of their body. Evee’s was on her right shoulder, Gilly’s on her right ankle, and Viv’s on her right hip. The mark was part of the curse carried by all Triads.

“What about it?” Evee asked, still trying to look over her shoulder.

“It...it’s gray,” Gilly said, her voice soft with astonishment.

“Get the hell out,” Evee said, and took off to look in the foyer mirror.

When she reached the mirror, she turned sideways, reached back and tugged on her shirt. Her sisters stood beside her, silent. Frustrated, Evee yanked her sweater up and over her head, not caring that she stood only in her bra and jeans. She turned sideways again, and felt her mouth drop open. She saw it, plain as the nose on her face. Her once charcoal-black absolutus infinitus had faded to an ashen gray.

“What happened to it?” Viv asked.

“I don’t know,” Evee said, still staring at her shoulder in the mirror. “I never felt anything, never noticed any change to it until you mentioned a minute ago.” She turned to Gilly. “What does it mean? The color change?”

Gilly glanced over at Viv and they both shrugged.

“It’s gray, like the mirrors in our Grimoires,” Gilly said. “Maybe they’re tied together somehow.”

The Grimoires were books of spells that had been handed down from one Triad generation to another. As part of their punishment, the first set of Triad had been forced to write every spell known to the Circle of Sisters and the Triad, along with the purpose of each spell, and the consequence of each spell once cast. The spells had been written on parchment paper and bound in elderwood. Inside the front cover of each Grimoire, a notch had been cut out of the elderwood, just big enough to hold a fist-size mirror. The mirror had been purposely set into each Grimoire so that whenever a Triad opened her book, the first thing she saw was the reflection of an apocalyptic destruction of the world. A reminder of what would happen should a Triad shirk her responsibilities and duties of the Originals assigned to her. It showed blood and gore, and the world as a wasteland. Viv, Gilly and Evee read their Grimoires daily, right before a feeding, noting new spells that might be needed should something go awry with their Originals.

Only a few days ago, when they opened their Grimoires, the sisters had been shocked to find that the mirrors no longer showed the apocalyptic vision. They only reflected gray swirls. Nothing more.

“When did your absolutus turn gray?” Gilly asked.

“I told you,” Evee snapped. “I don’t know. I’d probably still be oblivious of it if you hadn’t noticed it. It’s not like I check on it every day.”

Gilly turned to Viv. “What about yours?”

Viv glanced around the foyer as if to confirm that no one was around but her sisters. Then she unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. She wiggled her jeans down just enough to bare her right hip, where she carried her absolutus infinitus.

It, too, had turned gray. Viv’s hands shook as she pulled up her pants, zipped and buttoned them back into place.

“What the fuck?” Gilly blurted. “It’s gray, too.”

“You think I didn’t notice?” Viv snapped.

“You didn’t notice the change before?” Gilly asked.

“No.” Viv looked up at her sisters blankly.

“But you shower every day, right?” Gilly said. “Wouldn’t you have seen it in the mirror?”

“Well, I didn’t,” Viv said. “This is the first I’ve seen it like this.”

Evee and Viv looked at Gilly simultaneously. “What about yours?”

Gilly’s eyes widened, and then she nodded. She leaned over and lifted the right leg of her linen pants and twisted her right foot slightly inward. Her absolutus infinitus sat right above her right ankle as usual, its color unchanged—charcoal black.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Evee said. She shivered. “I’m freezing here. I’ve got to dry my hair before I get pneumonia. You two go back to the kitchen. Get something to eat. I’ll dry my hair and meet you back there in a few.”

When Evee got to her bathroom, she saw Hoot perched on the counter near the bathroom sink.

“I told you,” Hoot said.

Ignoring him, Evee opened a vanity drawer and pulled out her blow-dryer. She plugged it in, turned it on and aimed a blast of warm air at her familiar.

Hoot screeched and flew off the counter and out of the bathroom, all the while yelling, “Told you, told you. See what you get for being a hussy?”

“Shut up,” Evee said, aiming the blow-dryer at her hair. If Hoot snapped back a reply, she didn’t hear it. Blessed be the dryer.

By the time she finished with her hair and made it back into the kitchen, her sisters were seated around the small kitchen table, each with a steaming bowl of gumbo in front of her and a cup of tea.

Gilly motioned for Evee to sit next to her, where another bowl of gumbo and cup of tea had been set out for her.

Evee sat and picked up a spoon, ready to dig into her food. The first bite drew a sigh from her. “This is so good,” she said, and quickly dug in for another spoonful.

“Thanks,” Viv said. “Made it a couple weeks ago. Put it in the freezer for a rainy day. Or shitty day, whatever works.” She shrugged.

“Uh, by the way,” Gilly said to Evee. “Before I forget to tell you. We’ve been summoned by the Elders. I’m sure they’ve heard about the humans and want an update from us.”

Evee felt her shoulders droop. “When?”

“This evening. Before the feeding.”

“That late?” Evee said. “Don’t they usually go to bed around seven or something ridiculously early like that?”

Viv shrugged. “It’s not usual times right now.”

“Oh, and something else,” Gilly said. “We were wondering...” She looked at Viv.

Viv arched a brow at her sister while spooning more gumbo into her mouth.

“What were you doing here showering when you were supposed to be out looking for your Nosferatu earlier?” Gilly asked.

Evee stared down into the bowl in front of her. “I, uh... I had a situation with a Cartesian.”

Viv and Gilly dropped their spoons into their bowls simultaneously.

“When? Where?” Viv asked.

“What did you do?” Gilly asked.

“Were you hurt?” Viv asked anxiously. “You don’t look hurt.”

Evee held up a hand to stave their questions. Ate one more bite of chicken and sausage gumbo, then readied herself for the inquisition.

Finally, she said, “We split up. Me, Ronan and Lucien each went separate ways to cover more ground and look for Nosferatu. I was headed downriver, Lucien upriver, and Ronan took the Quarter.”

Her sisters stared at her bug-eyed.

“Anyway, I was walking riverside when a rift opened in the sky out of nowhere and a Cartesian hung out of it so low it could have scooped me up in one grasp. Luckily I caught him out of the corner of my eye and took off running. Only ran the wrong way. Right into the river until I couldn’t feel the bottom anymore.”

Gilly gasped. “You can’t even swim.”

Viv reached out and touched Evee’s arm. “You must have been terrified.”

Evee nodded, her eyes brimming with tears again as she recalled the event. “I didn’t know what was going to happen first. The Cartesian attacking me, or me drowning.”

“Obviously neither happened, since you’re sitting right here,” Gilly said, sounding grateful. “What did happen? The Cartesian, you stuck in the water...?”

“Lucien showed up,” Evee said. “Must have doubled back, because the next thing I knew the Cartesian was gone, and Lucien was pulling me out of the water.”

Gilly cocked her head. “And did he bring you back here to the house?”

Evee swirled bits of chicken and sausage around in her gumbo with a spoon, knew what was coming next. Finally, she said. “Yes, he brought me here.”

“What about Ronan?” Viv asked. “Where was he during all this?”

“I told you,” Evee said. “In the Quarter. He wasn’t anywhere near the river.”

“Where are they now?” Gilly asked.

“Who?”

Gilly rolled her eyes. “Lucien and Ronan.”

“Far as I know, Ronan’s still in the Quarter,” Evee said. “Lucien may have gone after him, I’m not sure.”

“In soaked clothes?” Viv asked.

“Yeah,” Gilly chimed in. “You said he pulled you out of the river. Surely he’d have gotten soaked doing that, right?” Suddenly, Gilly’s head popped up and she sniffed the air, turning her head slowly from left to right, sniffing the entire time, like a cat tracking a mouse. A few seconds later, she got up from her chair, following her nose into the utility room at the back of the kitchen.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Gilly said, which caused Viv to jump up from her seat and head to the utility room.

Evee took off right behind them.

“What’s wrong?” Evee asked when she finally caught up with her sisters.

Gilly twirled about and faced her. “You had sex in here, didn’t you? I can smell it.”

Evee felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. “I did not have sex,” she proclaimed.

“Oh, yeah?” Gilly said, then reached for an object on the washer and handed it to Evee. “Then what’s this doing here?”

Evee turned Lucien’s watch over in her hand, wondering how it had gotten there. Then suddenly remembering him taking it off before stripping out of his shirt.

“Fess up,” Viv said. “What happened?”

There were too many other things going wrong now for Evee to start playing fifty questions with her sisters. “Okay, all right, but I didn’t have, like, real sex with Lucien. He helped me home so I could shower and get into dry clothes. We happened to kiss. He sat me on top of the dryer, then put his hands...his thumbs between my legs, and before I knew it fireworks happened.”

Gilly’s mouth dropped open, as did Viv’s.

“What were you thinking?” Gilly asked. “We barely know these men, and you let one of them touch you like that? You should know better—”

“I knew better,” Viv interrupted. “But it still happened.”

Now it was Evee and Gilly’s turn to stare at their older sister.

“Except we went all the way. Nikoli didn’t just touch me.”

“You mean like the real deal?” Evee asked, feeling a bit envious.

“Yeah.” Viv nodded, and a small grin spread across her face. “And more than one time.”

Gilly placed a hand on her forehead and groaned.

“What?” Viv said to her. “You mean nothing’s happened between you and Gavril?”

“No,” Gilly said gruffly. “Nothing.”

Viv looked over at Evee. “Why Lucien? Why not Ronan? Convenience?”

“Not really,” Evee said, feeling slightly offended that her sister had made the question sound like she screwed everything in sight every chance she got. “I mean Ronan is a really nice guy. Good-looking, too. But there’s something about Lucien that...well, draws me to him. I couldn’t have stopped that first kiss even if I’d have wanted to. Couldn’t have stopped him touching me.”

Gilly slapped her hands on the table. “Maybe that’s why your and Viv’s absolutus infinitus turned gray. Because of what happened between you and Lucien, Viv and Nikoli. You know the curse says we can’t marry or live intimately with any human.”

Evee and Viv looked at Gilly simultaneously before Evee said, “I didn’t marry Lucien.”

“And I’m not living intimately with Nikoli,” Viv shot back. “We simply had sex.”

Gilly sat back in her chair. “I think the both of you are working with semantics here. It’s all in the interpretation of what the curse actually meant. Do we know that for sure? I mean, we’re talking the 1500s here, when the curse was cast. What if the original Elders considered living intimately together to mean just having plain old sex? Back in that day and age, the only women who screwed just to screw were harlots in bordellos. If that’s the case, wouldn’t that mean that just having sex without being married was part of the curse, as well? What if the two of you having sexual encounters with those Benders caused all this chaos to happen? The missing Originals, the attacks on humans?”

Viv scowled at her. “Man, oh, man, you really stretched that one out of your butt. Regardless, it’s not like I can take it back now, right? We didn’t oppose the curse. We didn’t defy it by marrying those men, and we’re not living intimately with them. Period.”

“As I said,” Gilly said. “Semantics.”

Despite the reprimand coming out of Gilly’s mouth, Evee could’ve sworn she saw envy and longing in her sister’s eyes. Had she had the chance, she’d have slept with Gavril. Evee knew it as well as she knew her own name.

“Not,” Viv retorted.

Evee put the tips of her fingers from her right hand against the palm of her left, calling for a time-out. Viv and Gilly stared at her, anger still popping in their eyes.

“Who did what, when and where is not what’s important right now. Dying humans are. We’ve got to find our missing Originals and get them confined, and the ones who are confined need to be protected from the Cartesians.”

“That’s all we’ve been trying to do,” Viv said. “With not much success, I might add.”

“Maybe once we fill the Elders in, they’ll have some ideas. Especially about why our spells are weakening. Hell, we can’t track our own behinds, much less our own broods. We need backup. Serious backup.”

“No way on the Elders,” Evee said. “The sex part with the Benders will come out, and that’s the last thing we need.”

Elvis, Gilly’s familiar, suddenly raced into the kitchen, tittered, then let out a short screech as if in agreement.

“Hush,” Gilly told him, then turned to Viv. “I don’t think it’s going to do us any good to go back to the Elders. They were supposed to contact the others from the Circle of Sisters to help with spells from different locations. If they did, I certainly haven’t seen any evidence of it. Have you?”

Viv and Evee shook their heads.

“Look,” Evee said, “we have to keep our heads and hands about us, and no more panty play with the Benders.” Even to her own ear, the last part of what she’d just said sounded flat, unconvincing and regretful. “I think one of the biggest challenges we’ve got coming up is feeding time. It’ll be here before we know it, and I have a feeling that the Cartesians are going to attempt a strike while we’re transporting our broods to the North Compound.” She turned to Viv. “Your Loup Garous are already there, but I don’t know how we’re going to get the Nosferatu and Chenilles out there without a Cartesian attack.”

“Maybe there’s a different way for us to set up the feedings,” Viv said. “What if I had my ranch hands drain the cattle’s blood and then we can pick it up and bring it to the Nosferatu instead of bringing the Nosferatu to the compound? The corpses will be there for the Loup Garous, who are already in the compound to eat. When they’re done, I can have my ranch hands, Charlie, Bootstrap and Kale, gather up the bones...damn, never mind. I’ve never allowed the ranch hands to go into the North Compound, and I can’t have them go there now. Too big a risk. Can’t chance a Loup attacking any one of them.”

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