After our consultation with Harvey ended, I knew my family was up and stirring. “Go borrow some clothes from Lairah or Gia and get ready. I’m taking you out tonight.”
“How do I need to dress?”
I had not mentioned her birthday all day. I wasn’t sure if I pulled off the facade of forgetting or not, but I had grown tired of pretending. “How about something a 22 year-old would wear?”
“You remembered.” She pretended to be surprised, but I knew she really wasn’t.
“Of course, I remembered. How do you think I could forget the most important day in both of our lives?”
6 Do You Hear Me Coming?
Birthday dinners are usually a given for humans, but I didn’t want to take Chansey to just any ordinary restaurant. I took her to one of the finest in New Orleans. Our dinner was exceptional, but being with her trumped the food and I was happy simply because I was with the woman I adored.
Chansey wore one of Gia’s simple black dresses and it fit like a glove, hugging every one of her perfect curves. The thick black liner on her upper lid extended outward into a point and her charcoal eyeshadow had a sexy, smokey appearance. Her lips were stained her signature deep scarlet like the skin of a red delicious apple and they pleaded for me to taste them.
I propped my face in the palm of my hand and stared at Chansey’s lovely face as the candlelight flickered upon it as she talked about our wedding and the happy life we were going to have. Her words sounded like a dream. All of this felt like a dream and I was terrified I would wake up to discover that none of it ever existed.
“Curry, are you alright? Am I scaring you with the things I’m saying about the future?”
“I am scared, but not of anything you’ve said.” I placed my hand on top of hers across the table and confessed, “I’m terrified of losing you. My mind can’t fathom how you could be mine. I’m petrified of making my next mistake because I fear you’ll see all of this for what it is and decide you want no part of it.”
She leaned forward and said, “I love you, Curry Brennan, and there’s nothing that will change that. I’m going to marry you because I want to spend the rest of my life with you and love you until the end of my days. Hopefully, that will be through eternity as a vampire.”
I squeezed her hand and said, “You are everything to me and without you, I am nothing.”
“Ditto. Now, I’m changing the subject to something less serious...something like what you got me for my birthday?” she hinted.
“Who says I got you anything for your birthday? Maybe this dinner is your only birthday gift.”
She laughed and said, “It probably cost so much I shouldn’t get anything else.”
The anticipation of seeing her face when she opened her gift was almost more than I could stand. “I have a gift for you and you are going to love it. It’s been killing me to not just go ahead and give it to you.”
“Is that where you went this morning? To buy my gift?” she asked.
“Maybe.”
She was anxious like a child. “Am I getting it now or when we get back to the compound?”
“I didn’t bring it with me because I didn’t want to risk damaging it. Something told me that you might be a little snooper, so I hid it in my room when you were in the shower.”
“Hmm...It must be somewhat delicate if you thought it might get damaged,” she said as she began to narrow down the possibilities based on what I had said.
“Perhaps, but we have somewhere else to be before we go back, so you’ll have to wait a little bit longer to find out.”
I paid our check and we left the restaurant in search of the driver I hired, finding him on the street directly in front of the entrance. Already aware of our destination, he drove toward Bourbon Street where the club was located.
The driver took us as far as he could and stopped to let us out of the car. “I’ll call when we’re ready to be picked up,” I told him as we got out of the dark sedan.
“Yes, sir,” he responded.
We walked down Bourbon, passing some rather questionable looking establishments along the way. There were people outside the entrances trying to corral potential customers as they passed, inviting them inside to watch nude dancers and other unmentionable acts.
“I’m sorry I’ve exposed you to...this,” I apologized.
“Stop acting like you’ve scarred me for life by bringing me here. This isn’t my first time on Bourbon Street. I’ve been here with Shelby and Abby.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help myself from feeling like I’ve made you vulnerable by bringing you here. When I found you, this force to protect you was born inside me and I couldn’t contain it if I tried. It has intertwined with who I am and the two can’t be separated. We can’t be separated.”
She stopped walking and turned to look at me before saying, “I don’t know how to describe it because it’s hard to find the right words, but I think I feel my inner self embracing your protective nature for me. It’s like the Agápe in me tangibly intertwines with you and we melt within one another until we become one. I want to be closer to you because it’s what I want, but the Agápe within me drives me to be closer, more intimate with you.”
I was amazed at how well she described the sensation I had been feeling for her, but I didn’t realize she was experiencing the same thing. Although our relationship was still new, I should have known because the relationship between a vampire and an Agápe was never one-sided. “I didn’t know you were feeling that way.”
“I know, it sounds too bizarre to believe. That’s why I haven’t said anything about it,” she admitted.
“No, it doesn’t sound bizarre to me because it’s the way I’ve been feeling about you, too. I just didn’t know how to describe it.”
She smiled because she was happy and I understood. “Sebastian didn’t tell us about this part.”
I thought of what Sebastian told me about not wanting to place expectations on us. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more Sebastian hasn’t told us because he wants us to discover things for ourselves.”
I took her hand in mine. “Come on, we’re almost there.”
We walked the short distance until we reached the entrance of Club Infinity. She grinned and shook her head. “Where are you taking me?”
“Right here.”
She looked up at the flashing neon sign and looked a little bewildered. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. I paid for our cover charges then took her hand again and led her through the club until I saw my family sitting at several tables against the back wall.
My family stood when they saw us and passed Chansey around as they hugged her and told her, “Happy Birthday.” When they finished, we all sat down and she leaned over. “Did they all come here for me?”
She was humbled. I could tell by the look on her face. “Of course. They love you and wanted to celebrate with us because you’re a part of our family now.”
Jett’s band was alternative and did their own renditions. I recognized a lot of the songs they played, but none of them sounded like the original artist and I wondered what they might do with ‘Steal My Heart Away.’ To me, it seemed perfect the way Van Morrison did it.
Lairah walked up to the stage between songs and whispered into one of the guitarist’s ear, so I assumed he was Jett. She returned to our tables and gave me a wink, letting me know it was a go.
The next song was ‘Steal My Heart Away’ and I asked Chansey to dance with me. I led her onto the dance floor and cupped my right hand around hers as my left hand rested gently on her waist.
Before the vocalist began to sing the lyrics, he announced, “This next song is dedicated to Chansey from Curry and he says that every day you steal his heart away. Happy Birthday.”
Her face lit into a smile. “Thank you for making me feel so special. How did you manage to pull that off without me knowing?”
“Lairah, the eternal roadie, knows the band. She suggested I bring you her
e after dinner because she thought you might enjoy the music.”
She nodded and said, “She was right. These guys are great.”
“Lairah definitely knows music,” I agreed. “I...”
I couldn’t finish my sentence because there was something terribly wrong. I heard the whisper of a female voice as she chanted. I turned to my family to see if they heard it as well. None of them appeared phased by the soft sound of evil murmuring, which meant I was the only one hearing it.
Chansey was panicked by the look on my face. “What’s wrong, Curry?”
I felt myself break into a sweat, something I hadn’t done since I was human. My heart started racing and my head began to painfully pound behind my eyes as my vision began to blur.
“You’re scaring me. What’s happening?” Chansey demanded.
And then it happened without any warning. Twenty-two years without feeling her presence and I suddenly felt her again. It was Marsala.
My vision was worsening as the chanting became louder. I reached for Chansey’s arm. “Don’t ask me why because there’s no time, but I need you to take me to Sebastian.”
She did as I asked and didn’t question why she had to lead me toward my family and I wasted no time getting to the point, “I think Marsala is here. I don’t know how, but she has done something to me. I have an excruciating pain behind my eyes and I can’t see, but I hear her voice chanting something. It began as a soft whisper, but it’s grown louder. It feels like it’s getting closer and it’s beginning to drowned out everything else.”
I barely heard Sebastian ask, “What is she saying in the chant?”
I listened to the repetitive cycle and then repeated it for Sebastian.
“I use the bark of this white thorn tree,
To give my eyes freedom to cross the sea,
I use this spell to conjure the one I love, yet cannot find,
And like a nail, I drive my eyes into his mind,
So I may see what it is he sees,
Do you hear me coming? Soon, it shall be.”
I felt the slam of someone’s hand over my eyes. “Shut your eyes, now!” Sebastian roared at me. “Don’t open them. Someone is helping her use Black Magic to find you. She is using a spell to bind herself to you so she may take your vision as her own. That’s why you can’t see; she’s stealing your sight. She is trying to find you by identifying your surroundings. We need to look around the club to see if there is anything that would clue her to where you are.”
“Do you think this means she is close?” I asked, begging it to not be so.
“I don’t think she’s on this continent because the spell spoke of crossing the sea, but I think she will be soon if anything in this place can identify where we’re at. What were you looking at when this started?”
I thought back to the moment I noticed it beginning. “Chansey and I were dancing, so I was looking over her shoulder as we danced in a circle. That means she got a panoramic of the entire room. When I stepped back, I looked directly at Chansey’s face, so she knows exactly what she looks like. When we came to the tables, I was straining to see all of you. You know what that means.”
I heard Sully say, “Lairah and I weren’t sitting at the tables when Chansey led Curry to the tables. We were at the bar getting drinks, so she didn’t see us.”
I guess you can call it the big brother in me, but I was relieved to hear that because I didn’t want Marsala to know that Sully still existed.
I heard Sol’s voice next. “Guys, we have a problem. Look at the sign behind the bar.”
“What does it say?” I asked.
No one responded to my question.
“Somebody tell me what it says” I shouted.
Sebastian was the only one brave enough to reply. “Club Infinity on Bourbon.”
I reeled in my anger at Marsala and myself as I calmly said, “Will someone call the driver? Chansey and I have to leave New Orleans immediately.”
7 I’ve Got This
I wore a blindfold on the ride home since we didn’t know the details of the spell being used by Marsala and her accomplice. Chansey was silent and it terrified me because this was exactly the type of situation I was waiting for to drive her away.
I felt her reach for my hand and I didn’t know what it meant, but I was flooded with relief. I spoke into the pitch black in her direction. “Love, I am so sorry. This is all my fault.”
I felt her slide across the seat and she laid her head on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault. It’s that monster’s fault.”
This was a lot for anyone to be forced to face. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to leave me.”
Since I was blindfolded and still hearing the chanting, I didn’t see or hear it coming when she hit me in the chest with her fist. “You really piss me off when you say stupid stuff like that. I don’t want to ever hear anything like that come out of your mouth again. I mean it. You feel me?”
Because she made me more human, I really did feel her and her fist. “Yeah, I’ve got it.”
She relaxed again and leaned her body over onto mine. “Now, what are we going to do about this?”
“We’re going to leave New Orleans, like yesterday,” I explained.
“No. we’re not leaving tonight. We’ll leave tomorrow as planned. Marsala isn’t going to find us tonight and she can’t travel in the sunlight, so there’s no reason to cut our visit short with our family.”
I laughed under my breath and Chansey felt my chest vibrate. “What are you laughing at?”
“You said ‘our family.’ and I liked it. I’m laughing because you are like an unstable stick of dynamite. I’m not sure Marsala would stand a chance against you.”
“I hate bullies and that’s exactly what she is. I want to tie her to a tree at dawn and watch the sun fry her ass.”
I rubbed my hand up and down her arm. “That’s my badass girl.”
“What do you think Sebastian will tell us we should do?”
I reached for her head and gently encouraged her to lay it against me. I rubbed her hair and whispered, “I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll have a solution.”
Chansey became quiet and I thought she was asleep until she asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“About how broad Sebastian’s knowledge is. He recognized that Black Magic spell immediately and I’m wondering how.”
“He’s a scholar and he’s been around a minute,” she reminded me.
“Yeah, I know, but that isn’t your typical realm of vampire knowledge.”
“I don’t care how he knew. I’m just glad he did and it does my heart good to know that Marsala didn’t win this round.”
She didn’t know how much I hoped she was right because this wasn’t over. I could still hear her in my head.
≈ ≈ ≈
I was pissed. This wasn’t how I planned to spend Chansey’s birthday. We didn’t have a choice but to discuss what we would do about Marsala with the family, but it wasn’t going to happen before Chansey and I finished celebrating her birthday. I refused to let Marsala ruin this time for us.
My family arrived at the compound before us and were all waiting in the living room when we got there. Although I couldn’t see them, I felt their stares on me and I didn’t like it one bit. I stood at what I thought was the entry to the living room and said, “There are definitely things we need to discuss, but Chansey and I have some business to tend to first. I need a little time alone with her and then we’ll be back to discuss what it is we’re going to do about this.” I didn’t even want to say her name. I hated the way it felt rolling off of my tongue.
As we left the living room, I called over my shoulder, “Feel free to discuss it without us and come up with a solution to this mess while we’re gone.”
I reached blindly for her hand. Although I couldn’t see a thing, I led her to my bedroom. I stopped at my door and turned to her before I opened it. “Once we’re on the other side of this door, we will not di
scuss anything pertaining to her or this situation. We’re going to finish celebrating your birthday. Agreed?”
“Absolutely.” She was smiling. I could hear it in her voice and the way her voice sounded when she answered me.
We entered my bedroom and I shut the door once we were inside. It felt good to tangibly shut the door on the problems we had outside of this room. In this room, we were free of problems, or at least we could pretend.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to help me. My senses are all thrown off here,” I explained.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked.
I hoped Gia and Lairah were listening when I told them what to do. “There should be something on my desk for you.”
“There’s a birthday cake with a lot of candles. Like at least 50.”
Damn, could I not depend on them for anything? “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I am,” she said as she rubbed her hands up and down my arms. “You need to loosen up.”
Whew! I would get her back for that one later. “Good. That means Gia and Lairah were paying attention to my directions.”
“It’s a beautiful cake, but I don’t think I want any right now. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the trouble you went to to get one for me, but...”
I didn’t want her to feel bad, so I interrupted, “No, you don’t have to explain.”
The chanting was getting louder and I needed a distraction. “Let’s move on to your gifts. They should be on the bed.”
“There are two gifts on the bed. Which one do I open first?”
”The big one in the polka dot paper and bright bow.”
“Okay. I’m opening it now.” I heard the sound of paper ripping and I wanted to yell angrily because I wouldn’t see her happiness. “It’s killing me that I can’t see the look on your face. It was one of the things I was looking forward to when you opened this gift.”
The sound of paper shuffling and tearing stopped. “I can wait until all of this is over to open these. It’s really not necessary to open them now.”