Suzanne Johnson - Elysian Fields

“Perhaps I could offer you a drink before you leave,” Terri said. She spoke to both of us, but only had eyes for Adrian, who practically preened.

“Who is she?” I gestured toward the departing blond woman.

“Lily? Just a new acquaintance who wishes to do some business with Etienne.”

And she was neither human nor vampire. “ What is she—?”

But Terri’s focus had shifted to Etienne. He had walked away from us toward a scene unfolding at a table in the opposite corner. A dark- haired young woman was fangs-deep into the neck of what looked like a college boy, who was having a public orgasmic experience and attracting a lot of attention.

Etienne touched the vampire on her shoulder, and even from halfway across the room I could feel his power swell. Every vamp in the place fixed eyes on him. The girl immediately pulled out her fangs, sealed the wounds, and sat back in her chair, looking dazed. Etienne spoke to her in words I couldn’t hear, and she gave him a fearful look before walking past us toward his office. The power level in the room dipped, and a wave of relaxation swept over the vampires. The humans hadn’t seemed to notice anything.

“Glad it’s her and not me.” Terri watched the boneless college boy as Etienne grasped his chin and forced his glazed eyes to focus.

“He’s erasing the kid’s memories?”

“Definitely, and will be on the lookout for anyone else who might have seen too much. The boy will go home, fall asleep, and won’t have a clue. But Dani will be punished. We have rooms upstairs for feeding. Nothing’s allowed down here.” Terri shook her head. “Stupid cow.”

Enough vampire weirdness. Adrian was watching Terri with hooded eyes, so I poked him for the second time tonight. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

He frowned and blinked at me. “You hurry along. I think I’ll stay a bit longer and do some . . . research. Besides, Terri promised to treat me to the special house Bloody Mary.” Adrian smoldered at Terri, and just like that I ceased to exist.

If Adrian wanted to drink a Bloody Mary that probably had blood in it, followed by a fine dining experience in one of the upstairs rooms, it was no concern of mine. Maybe he’d be too tired for an elf lesson day after tomorrow. Plus, I’d have leverage. If I’d learned anything from Jean Lafitte, it was that knowledge led to power.

I considered stopping for ice cream comfort on the way home, but decided against it. I didn’t want to be a chunky loup- garou, something to consider since I’d be running around wearing only a fur coat. There was an outside chance I might not shift, but from what I’d been reading it was probably inevitable. The virus was active in my system. I was healing fast. Running a fever. Feeling excellent.

Alex’s lights were on in his little shotgun when I parked out back and made my way into my darkened kitchen, using my new password to get past my enhanced wards: Galadriel . A famous elf queen.

Sebastian barreled into my shins about halfway to the light switch, so I stopped and dumped some cat food into his bowl. He was only affectionate at mealtime.

I took a shower, made myself a cup of cocoa, and turned on the upstairs TV, but couldn’t settle down. Maybe it was all the sex in the air at L’Amour Sauvage or maybe it was loup-garou panic, but my mind kept going back to Alex and that kiss at the park.

We had done a lot of flirting in the years since he’d come blasting through my front door—literally—right after Katrina. The attraction was intense, but we’d always held back from seeing where a relationship could take us. We’d even talked about it, about how it could hurt our friendship and our working partnership—both of which I cherished. I was so afraid of screwing it up, of losing him, that changing the status quo terrified me. As long as we’d been cosentinels, Alex wasn’t willing to stir the pot, either. Since he’d been moved to DDT duty, though, his whole vibe had changed, and given my circumstances, I couldn’t help but consider what he meant to me.

I’d clean the house instead. I mopped the kitchen and put Sebastian’s bowls in the sink to wash. The bowls had come from Gerry’s house, where I’d grown up sheltered and clueless as to how to have a relationship. My experience with men consisted of a meaningless fling during college at Tulane and one disastrous affair with another wizard right after I’d made Green Congress. Pathetic, in other words.

Gerry had taught me many things about magic and self- preservation and thinking on my feet. He hadn’t taught me a damned thing about being a mature adult who could care for someone and be cared for in return.

I gathered the dish towels that needed washing and took them to the guest bathroom, where I had a compact washer and dryer. From the window, I could see Alex’s house. His lights were on, and I saw a shadow move behind the shade in his dining room.

When Alex walked into a room, women watched him, and he wasn’t oblivious to it. Jake said his cousin had been quite the womanizer when he worked at the FBI field office in Jackson, but I knew he hadn’t done much dating since moving to New Orleans. Just enough for me to admit I wasn’t nearly experienced enough or sophisticated enough for somebody like Alex Warin.

But if I turned loup-garou, I was going to lose him anyway. I’d be too dangerous.

Tears threatened again, and I sucked them down even though it felt like a stone in my throat. I shook out way too much washing powder for my light load, but poured it in anyway. In a week, what would it matter if I had clean dish towels? Why was I wasting my time cleaning?

I had to be brutally honest with myself. If I only had a week or so until the full moon, how did I want to spend it? Not crying, that was for sure. Not cleaning house. What would be on my pre-werewolf bucket list?

I wanted to wear boots and go out dancing to zydeco music under the stars, in one of those little river parish towns like Lutcher or Paulina.

I wanted to spend time with Eugenie doing stupid girl stuff like going to the mall and playing at the makeup counter.

I wanted to lie on the grass in the mild autumn sunshine before I moved into a lifetime of night in the Beyond or incarceration in Greenland.

I wanted Alex.

My heart rate sped at the admission, and all the fear flushed to the surface. God, what I would give for Tish to still be here, to help me sort through these alien emotions. She and Gerry had been together so long, and somehow they’d made their relationship work. Why hadn’t I asked her about it before it was too late?

Losing her last month, having her murdered because the killer couldn’t get to me, was still raw. But Tish had liked Alex. If I only had a few days left before the virus took hold, Tish wouldn’t want me to spend them alone. She wouldn’t want me to go into a hazy future wondering what I’d missed by being afraid.

I had a bad habit of overthinking things. I should just go to him. The worst that could happen was I’d humiliate myself and have to move to the Beyond with Jean Lafitte, which I was considering anyway.

Sometimes, when there’s nothing left to lose, you have to stop thinking and take that hard first step.

Or at least that’s what I told myself as I brushed my hair with hands that shook, fumbled with the buckles on my boots, and reached for my keys. Don’t overthink. Feel.

I had a sense of unreality as I walked out the front door and locked it behind me. Crowds sat at the outdoor tables at Marinello’s Pizza across the street, laughing and clinking glasses despite the chill in the air. I tripped at the end of the sidewalk when I noticed Rand at the table nearest the door of the restaurant, sitting with a book and a glass of wine. He wasn’t reading, but watching me intently. At least I only pinwheeled once and hadn’t fallen on my butt.