Coffin Girls (Elegantly Undead: Book 1 of the Coffin Girls Witch Vampire Series) (20 page)

Resigned to their nosiness, Anais inwardly sighed. She’d
spill alright but not because of the food or them cornering her in a meeting.
She’d spill because Miss Suzette had struck a nerve. They’d all nearly risked
their lives for her the previous night and whilst her evening, or rather early
morning, had ended in the most pleasurable orgasms in her recollection and she
felt better than ever due to the transformation, they were still a bit raw from
the shock her ordeal had given them. “Okay, but pass me the first slice of pie,
with ice-cream and I’ll have a glass of that mint julep too. If you insist on
feeding me to get the deets, I might as well indulge.”

Marie whooped with excitement making the others chortle in
glee. She handed Anais an extra huge helping, “Here. You must need the fuel
after the round you had. Now tell us about that round.”

“For beautiful women, you certainly lead the dullest
romantic lives and until recently that had included me too. We all work too
hard if an account of my super-steamy sex with hottie Conall has you all
jumping with excitement.”

“Super-steamy? That good, huh?” V raised an enquiring brow.
“Do you think it is the witch thing? Maybe Niul or Sylvain are willing to put
that theory to the test. I wonder if Sylvain’s available. He certainly looks
like he’d be a naughty one.”  V thought she’d stir things in Sophie’s
direction too. At the mention of Sylvain, the impish beauty frowned but said
nothing. Yes, thought V, that’s where that wind lies too. Things were getting
pretty warm on Papillion Plantation.

“Y’all need to get out more. Living vicariously through my
sex life is not healthy.” Anais looked at V and slid a quick glance at Sophie
who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. “I think Sylvain would be happy to put
the theory to the test.”

“I did notice that.” V grinned teasingly. “That leaves Niul
but he doesn’t look like the type to wanna get down and dirty. He’s so serious
and quiet.”

“Boo, they’re the best ones!”  Miss Suzette’s booming
counterpoint had them all jumping and then laughing.

“So, you reckon that Niul is like that?”

Miss Suzette shot Marie a glance, “Oui, those quiet men are
like that great big Mississippi,” she pointed out the window to where the river
ran beyond the oak alley. “Quiet on the surface but full of life underneath.
They’ll grab you and roll with you and take your breath away so that you feel
like you’re gonna die from their good lovin’.” The others burst out laughing
again.

“Miss Suzette, you give sound advice as always. I guess Niul
is a likely contender then.” V nodded in mocked solemnness. She flicked her
gaze towards Anais, “Your Conall is also a bit on the serious side. Tell us; is
Miss Suzette’s theory true for you too? ”

“
Oui
, he was! And better, so very much better. In
fact, it was so good that no words can describe the height of steaminess that
were reached.” Placing her plate and glass down on the occasional table next to
her, she cast her gaze over them, grinning like the cat that got the cream. The
rest of them also saw the magickal glow layered over her brighten as her mood
lightened.

“Now y’all talked business, had a bit of fun poking at
Anais, so I guess it’d be time for some serious talkin’.” Miss Suzette leveled
a look filled with firmness and care at Anais.

Anais squirmed in her chair, she didn’t like talking about
her emotions any more than the next vampire.  Her discomfort heightened
when they all turned to look at her. The chandelier lights turned on and off.

“Nick, cut that out!” shouted Marie to an empty room. “I
love you Nick but you’re testing my patience.”

“It’s not Nick,” said V, pointing at Anais, “It’s her!”

At that point, the lights shattered! “Darn! Fuck! I didn’t
mean to do that. I didn’t even know that I’d done that. Fuck! That chandelier
is irreplaceable.” Anais looked at ceiling in despair.

“Jeesh, if that’s what nervousness does, what will anger
do?” Marie stared up in wonder. The magick Anais had let out not only blew the
lights but mangled the gilded gold as well. “Ow,” Marie yelped when Rose
stabbed her in the ribs.

“Don’t worry, Anais,” Rose came over. It’s just a light and
we can find another.”

“An antique, priceless piece of French history ‘just a
light’, yeah.” Anais’ face was filled with remorse.

“Oh, don’t be fretting,” Fianna came into the room, followed
by her sisters. “She’s come into a lot of power in a burst of time. It’ll take
time and training to control.”

“Mmm…” Ida said, cocking her head thoughtfully while staring
at Anais.

Anais could feel her prick at her mind and automatically
pushed her out in self-defence.

“That’s good,” nodded Ida. At the confused looks from the others,
she explained, “I tried to do a mental scan and Anais kicked me out. I’m a
pretty strong mind witch, so she’d have to be powerful to do that. Also, that
she knew instinctively to do that bodes well for her training.”

“Speaking of training,” Brigid joined the conversation.
“We’d like to offer our tutelage to you. Not just Anais – all of you. You all
have an innate gift but it needs to be honed. We think that you might all have
great power. A power not understood and not controlled can be dangerous.”

“Miss Suzette,” Fianna addressed their voodoo counterpart.
“Perhaps we could work with you too. Not to teach you but to learn from you – I
find your gift fascinating and I’m sure there’s correlations between our magick
and yours.”

“I think that’s a great idea and a generous offer. One we’ll
gladly accept,” Anais replied after a quick look of confirmation from the
others.

“Great,” Brigid rubbed her hands anticipation. “Now for your
first lesson, Anais, let’s fix the light.”

Anais looked dubious, so Brigid interrupted the doubtful
thinking, “The most important thing in magick is to believe. Look at it this
way - if you broke it with magick, fixing it should be easy. I’ll walk you
through it.” She looked at the others, “you should all link with her. Sophie,
can you link Miss Suzette in too?” At the affirmative nod, she continued,
“Good. Then you can all watch and learn. Sophie, you have some telekinetic
powers so this will be something you will need to pay attention to.”

After the light was fixed, they all gazed in awe at Anais.
Fianna commented, “I admit that we knew you were powerful, but there must be a
leverage you have because of the combination of vampire and royal witch magick.
That was a quicker lesson than anticipated.” Not only had Anais restored the
light, she’d unknowingly added an element of fantasy to it, so that it sparkled
– it looked like a fae artefact.

“
Mon Dieu
! That scares me. This power. You’re right,”
Anais looked at the witch sisters. “The sooner the lessons start the better.”

“How do you feel, boo?” asked Miss Suzette.

“Wonderful,” answered Anais truthfully. “Lighter. Like
something’s been lifted. And…”

“And…” prompted Sophie. She knew how Anais was feeling
because she’d linked with her but the others needed to hear and Anais needed to
voice it.

“And,” Anais shrugged, “I don’t know. Like I’ve drunken some
potion and have become some type of super-hero.” Anais joined the giggles. “You
know how our senses were heightened when we turned? Well, this time, it is more
accentuated. And I have all of this new knowledge churning around in my head of
magick and of others. It’s like I have Google encrypted in my brain but it is
just so much information I don’t know what to do with it.”

Ida nodded, “It’s the royal witch magick. When we unbound
it, given your age and time on earth, it came in flooding. With us, it comes
over time until we reach adulthood, then we have all that was known in the
past.”

V considered that, “if you know all that was in the past,
why are you scholars?”

“Knowing what was in the past isn’t the same as knowing all.
We’re royal witches, not gods,” Ida responded. We know what our ancestors knew
– not everything of all creatures and for those of us, like me, that have
psychic ability, you get glimpses of the future – you don’t know it all. We’re
witches with gifts. We’re not omnipresent.”

“Makes sense,” nodded V.

“So, is Anais more a witch now?” asked Marie.

“No, I don’t think so,” Anais responded, looking at
confirmation at the witch sisters. Receiving their nods, she continued, “I
still feel like a vampire – like myself – but there’s as though something’s
been added to it. Something awesome, but just an addition. Besides, I’ll always
be a coffin girl,” she grinned at her sisters who returned the expression.
That, thought Anais, was what mattered most – that bond.

 “So,” Anais addressed the witch sisters, “we have the
event tonight so can we start the magick lessons tomorrow?”

The witch sisters nodded, “Yes, but for the event, you can’t
mingle amongst your guests glowing like that. Conall’s waiting in the library
to help you mask it.”

“Speaking of Conall,” Fianna’s eyes glinted, “we couldn’t
help but catch some of the replay to the others. How is my dear brother?”

“Oh, dear,” Anais clasped her hand to her heart
dramatically, “Look at that. I’ve finished the pie and conversation. Thank you
ladies, this was most welcome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to see Conall
to work off those calories you bribed me with.” Anais giggled in delight at their
vexation.

“But you haven’t said much!” Rose protested, moving to block
Anais’s way but Anais had anticipated the move and used her vampire speed to
slip away.

Anais shouted as she moved away, “You filthy minded women!
Y’all need to get out more. Conall’s going to help me learn how to cover up the
magickal glow before the event. I can’t work tonight while being lit up like a
Christmas tree, can I?” 

“You need your head examined if you do actual work while
alone in a room with that one,” mumbled a chagrined Marie, feeling robbed of a
juicy story as she heard her friend’s laughter trill down the hallway.

“Oui, Marie.
Certainement
!” agreed V, sipping on the
mint julep. “You are quite insightful today.”

“I’m afraid that there was an urgent matter at home that
arose and my sisters had to return immediately.” Conall announced, walking over
with Niul to where the vampire ladies sat under the shade of a large pecan tree
in the garden.

“Is everything all right?” asked Anais, moving towards him
to comfort. Strange, she thought, how natural it seemed to do that so soon, so
comfortably.

“No,” was the simple response. “We,” Conall swept a hand
over all of them, “seemed to have formed a bond – more than an alliance – and
you have shared many of your secrets with us. So now it is time that we do the
same.”

Anais sat down, so he joined her and addressed the
apprehensive crowd, “It has nothing to do with you.”

“We don’t know that,” was Niul’s response.

Conall glared at him, “Okay. It may be something you could
help with but it is not your fault.” Conall’s correction won a nod from Niul
and a sigh of relief from the others.

“We agreed to the vampire alliance because we suspect that
the Vampire Council is behind the mysterious disappearances of a number of
young witches in Ireland – all women – girls, really.”

“How many?” asked V. “And why do you suspect the Vampire
Council?”

“Remember the story that Sylvain told?” Conall prompted.
“Well, the Vampire Council are old enough to know what they’d gain from
drinking witch’s blood. In short – power. Our blood, combined with vampire
power creates a creature with unimaginable magick.”

“And power corrupts those not selfless enough,” added Anais.

“Aye,” nodded Conall. “And because I’m responsible for the
well-being of witches, I have to find them and put a stop to the kidnappings.
The fate of these young girls is dire if what we suspect is true. It is not the
best time for me to be away from home. There are some witches who are old
enough to have heard tales of old, of how their ancestors were hunted, drained
and held captive until they became mindless Renfields – Dracula’s puppets.”

Anais shuddered next to him, “Yves never controlled me fully
after he turned me, but he tried and eventually gave up because of what he
termed as my insolence. I can’t imagine how horrible it must be to be under the
full control of such an ancient vampire.”

“Exactly,” Conall agreed. This is why we are here. We
thought that if we get close to the vampires then we might gain a clue to their
whereabouts.”

They were listening and did not show signs of betrayal, so
he continued, “We received word that there have been more kidnappings. My
mother needs support, so my sisters have gone home to give it. Sylvain has
escorted them to a place close by where they can teleport back.”

“You said we could help,” Anais interjected, “how?”

“The Goddess of Magick appeared to us and said that we’d
find the key in New Orleans. She maintains that we’re on the right path, so,
after finding out about your mixed magickal heritage, we think that it might
have something to do with you.”

“But we don’t know any of this? How can we help when we’re
still learning?” Anais looked at Conall and Niul for clarity.

“We’re not sure. The Goddess is often cryptic but always for
a reason. We know that the answer will come when the time is right for it,”
responded Niul.

“Aye,” responded Conall. “As frustrating as it is to feel
like you have to wait when we need to act and find those missing witches, we
have learned that there is method to the Goddess’s plans. So, for now, we’ll
teach you, help you grow into your magick and hope that the answers come soon.”

“Okay,” nodded Anais, “teach away.”

“Thank you,” Conall stated softly, taking her hands in hers
and placing a quick kiss on her cheek, to the giggling delight of the others.
He looked at his new partners in good, “first a quick theoretical lesson and
then Niul and I will divide you into groups and begin the training.”