Coffin Girls (Elegantly Undead: Book 1 of the Coffin Girls Witch Vampire Series) (31 page)

Conall, fully sensing her thoughts and feelings too,
chuckled and kissed her frown away in turn.

Sylvain perked up and went to pucker up to Veronique. He
leaned down and teased, “Seeing all this love and lust is making me a bit
horny, care for another experience with me V?”

 Veronique swatted his hands away as he made to grab
her face, playfully. “Oh, go away with you Sylvain,” she scolded, “I know a
man-whore when I see one, no matter how talented you may be.”

“You wound me, V,” he said, laughing with the others.

“This is nice,” said Anais, “good to be home, even if it is
a magickal replica and good to laugh.”

After they’d eaten and laughed some more, the mood turned
somber. They’d all with unspoken agreement put off de-briefing during dinner.
Nursing whiskey, bourbon and coffee, they waited expectantly. Sylvain, Conall,
Anais and Raulf spoke at the same time, which resulted in tentative laughter
that broke the ice.

 “You’ve done well, my children,” a beautiful voice
echoed in the room.

Anais looked in the direction that it had come from and saw
Conall, Sylvain and Niul kneel at the most beautiful sight she’d ever beheld.
The woman was what Sylvain was in his fae form – amplified a thousand times
over.

Anais followed suit and kneeled along with the rest of the
coffin girls, Miss Suzette and Raulf.

“Goddess,” spoke Conall, his voice filled with reverence,
“you honor us with your presence.”

“Yes,” responded Sylvain in a similar tone to Conall’s, “it
has been millennia since you’ve graced a hollow. Welcome to my humble home.”

Musical laughter tickled the air and Anais felt herself
gladden just for the sound of it.

“Sylvain,” said the bemused Goddess, “my fae prince and
still the charmer, I see.”

“Conall,” the Goddess continued, “you’ve done me proud and
so have your friends,” she indicated Sylvain and Niul first and then the
others, “all of them. You’ve begun restoring balance to the supernatural
world.”

“Begun, Goddess?” asked Conall.

“Yes, there is much still to be done,” she flicked an
elegant hand, sparkling with unknown, spectacular jewels. “But I have every
faith that you all will accomplish what is required.”

“What is still to be done?” enquired Anais carefully. She
didn’t know if she could be this forthright but damn it, if it touched her
family she had a right to know.

“Ah, Anais,” the Goddess acknowledged her, “my courageous
leader of the Coffin Girls.” At Anais’ dumbfounded look, the Goddess chuckled,
“Don’t look so surprised, my child, I see and hear all.”

“My apologies, Goddess,” Anais bowed her head.

The Goddess waved the apology away. “Don’t fret, child,” she
said gently, “you cannot be blamed for your ignorance any more than the Voodoo
queen or wolf can be for theirs. Your ancestors forgot me,” the Goddess
inclined her head towards Raulf and Miss Suzette, “and your vampire masters
defy me,” she said to Anais.

“But, you have passed the first test,” she stated.

“Test, Goddess?” asked Conall.

The Goddess inclined her head. “Yes,” she stated regally,
“humans have forgotten us – those we need to believe, those of us who live
amongst humans have forgotten our purpose – balance and good – to use your
gifts wisely. Greed and power-hunger persist amongst the vast majority of the
supernatural world, mimicking that of the human world and thus upsetting the
balance of our very existence. There wasn’t enough of your type, Conall, Niul
and Sylvain, to ensure balance. So, this was a test to see if others would
realize their true purpose – the privilege, honor and responsibility to fight
for the good of all worlds – to keep evil at bay.”

“You have good souls,” the Goddess spoke to the rest of
them, “but you have each built bubbles around yourselves, your families, your
pack. I needed to see if other supernatural creatures were willing to sacrifice
themselves for the greater good.”

The Goddess beamed at them. “I’m glad to say that you have,
now I no longer need to end the existence of supernatural beings,” she
said. 

They were shocked. Anais noted the same emotion reverberate
through Conall, though his face remained a passive mask as he asked, “So, this
was not so much to do with the missing witches but a test of valor, of self?”

“Now, you’re catching on,” said the Goddess. “You did need
to rescue those girls but it was a test, your first test. You all have a path
to walk and it will take courage of the mind, fearlessness of the body and risk
of the heart. After having seen the positive strides you’ve all made, I look
forward to watching the journey before you. You will succeed or the existence
of your race and your magick will be at stake. I have faith in each of you; now
find that faith in yourselves.” With that, the Goddess disappeared.

“Okay,” stated Marie, “I now get what y’all meant by
cryptic.” Marie swore she heard a tinkle of laughter in the distance.

“Aye,” stated Niul so gravely that the others laughed – the
manic defensive response automatic as he’s tone was indicative of exactly how
they each felt.

“In my experience with the Goddess,” Conall stated,
interrupted the chatter that erupted, “the best way to go on is to take things
as they come, deal with each situation at hand. The situation we now find
ourselves in is the aftermath of rescuing those girls. There are a number of
questions that need answers.”

“He’s right,” agreed Sylvain. “We could try to decipher what
the Goddess means and never find out. What we have left is to carry on and to
heed her advice while we do so. The next task or test will reveal itself as we
go along.”

“Okay,” said Anais, “I’m all for that logic.” Anais didn’t
particularly like the ‘risk your heart’ business the Goddess had spoken of,
even though it rang true to her very soul. “What are we going to do about the
girls?” she asked them.

“I’ve already set up task teams to investigate their origins
but not all are from Ireland, so it’ll take some time,” Conall responded.
“They’ll have to scour the earth – literally. My sisters are coming to fetch
those whose parents we have found. They’ll be here tomorrow morning.”

“And Faith?” Anais asked.

Conall shook his head, “I’m afraid that her parents are dead.
She and a handful of the other Irish witches were of those whose families
Akeldonna and Ayden slaughtered when they kidnapped them.”

“Poor darling,” Anais exclaimed sympathetically.

“They are all welcome at my home,” he stated.

“And mine,” echoed Anais, Raulf and Sylvain simultaneously.

“A generous gesture, for which I thank you,” responded
Conall. “But they’re witches. They need to be with their own kind to learn and
nurture their craft. It will give them a sense of belonging.”

“Anais is a witch too,” said a voice coming from the
doorway. They all looked up bewildered as Faith entered the room. She shrugged
apologetically, “I’m sorry for eavesdropping but I thought that you might be
speaking of us and I needed to know what you were planning.”

“She’s trying to take back control of her life,” Anais sent
a mental broadcast to Conall.

“Aye,” Conall sent back, “that’s a good thing – it shows
healing.”

“And Conall,” Anais responded, “it is her way of ensuring
that she’s never ‘captured’ again – she wants to make her own decisions.”

“That she does,” Conall acknowledged wearily, “but she’s
just a child.”

“She’s no younger than I was when I came to New Orleans from
France and got married!” Anais argued.

“You two do know that we can all hear you, don’t you?”
enquired Sophie with a raised brow. “The magickal communication system you two
set up has not been disconnected.”

Anais and Conall stared at them all with mouths agape.

V snickered, “Funny how they resembled parents fighting over
what to do about their kids.”

“Shut it, V,” came Anais’ waspishly defensive response,
earning nothing more than a knowing look from V.

Fighting her irritation at being ‘caught’, Anais faced
Faith. “What we didn’t do is ask you what you want. Now’s your chance to inform
us.”

Faith grinned like a plotting teenager and then quickly
wiped the smirk off her face, replacing it with a solemn, rather adult-like
look. “I’ve spoken to the others and we’ve all agreed that if our families
aren’t found that we’d like to stay here.”

“You’re welcome, of course,” answered Sylvain smugly. He’d
never doubted the power of the fae to lure.

“No,” said Faith, shaking her head. “Sorry, Sylvain, the
hollow is beautiful but we’d like to stay with the Coffin Girls. We want to be
Coffin Girls.”

“You’re welcome to stay with us,” responded Anais,
squelching Conall’s argument with a matriarchal glare. “But I’m not sure about
you being Coffin Girls yet. A Coffin Girl is a witch vampire and you’re young
witches that need to finish schooling, go to college and find your place in the
world. We’d be there for you, raise you as best we can but I’m not comfortable
with the idea of you fighting whatever task or test we still have coming.”

“I agree,” responded Faith, throwing them off once again.
“Some of us are young but we deserve the opportunity and the choice.” Faith
looked pointedly at Anais, “If we stay with you and learn human education, you
can also teach us supernatural education – not alone,” added Faith looking at
Conall, Sylvain and Raulf, “all of you can teach us.”

Anais opened her mouth to argue but was surprisingly cut off
by Conall. “She has a point,” stated Conall. “As much as I’d like you all to go
home with me and integrate into the witch community there, you are right in
saying that Anais and the Coffin Girls are not only witches but with their
hearts, will be more than capable foster mothers. You’re also right that
Sylvain, Raulf, Niul and I, amongst other possible teachers, have the can give
you supernatural lessons.” Conall turned to Anais and said, “One step at a
time. Let’s get the orphaned witches settled, give them what we can and when
they’re finished their ‘human education’, as Faith puts it, we can give them a
choice – after a test of course.” Conall grinned at the scowl that drew from
Faith.

“A test…mmm…” Anais contemplated, loving the man even more,
“we could certainly do that. After all, nothing we can simulate will be half as
dangerous or taxing as the real thing – as we all experienced first-hand
yesterday. Unless,” Anais threw Faith a challenging look, “you don’t think
y’all will be up to it?”

“Bring it on,” Faith replied, raising her chin
determinately.

“Fine,” responded Anais, “then that’s settled. To the human
world we’ll continue to be Papillion Plantation, venue extraordinaire and
hospitality school. To the supernatural world, you’ll be orphaned students
learning a human skill and how to blend into society. To us, you’ll be part of
the Coffin Girls Academy, school for potential warriors of good.”

The rest of the room’s occupants bemusedly voiced their
agreement.

“I’ll get hold of Miss Suzette’s old flame to restore the
rest of the slave cottages,” stated Rose, drawing a blush from their Cajun
mama. “We’ve ample land where the old sugar cane fields were – we could build school
rooms, lodging and whatever buildings we need.”

“I’ll offer some of the pack, on a rotationary basis, to
help with security and fight teaching,” Raulf offered.

“You also have Eva whose a teacher,” Miss Suzette added.
“Maybe she’d like a transfer – if y’all offer her a better deal.”

Raulf nodded his ascent, “That’s a good idea.”

“We have teachers here too,” offered Sylvain, “of magick.
It’s time my fae give back. And you’ll need financing too, which I’ll gladly
donate.”

“As will I,” said Conall, cutting off Anais’ objections,
“they’re my responsibility too and will remain so. I am their prince. So, we’ll
be joint-guardians.”

Anais didn’t need the money – as vampires they’d amassed a
sizeable fortune over time but knew when to give in and nodded.

“Good,” responded Conall, “we also have fine teachers of
both human and supernatural education. We can work out a rotation schedule with
Raulf and Sylvain’s subjects. The Goddess said to unite, so I recommend that we
do so with this. Who knows,” he shrugged, “we might be pioneering the way
supernaturals should live.”

 “In the meantime,” stated Sylvain, “they can continue
to recuperate here until the plantation is ready for their occupation.”

Anais started to thank him and then decided against it – no
thanks were needed – they were all in this together.

“Okay,” stated Sophie, “now that that’s settled, I’m taking
Faith back to her bed.”

“And I’m making us more drinks,” said Rose. “It’s going to
be a long night. We still need to figure out what to do about Yves.”

The penny she dropped echoed around the room.

“God, I hate saying this,” said Anais, “but there’s the
other issue of Akhilleus too.”

“Wipe that frown off your face, love,” Conall said
gallantly. “I have a plan.”

The women of Papillion, sans their pending young occupants,
sat in the big kitchen like old times. Miss Suzette was putting the finishing
touches on a jambalaya – determined to best the one she’d had at the hollow,
Marie was experimenting with a new dessert that smelled enticingly sweet and
Rose was pouring them all a passion-fruit-infused mint julep. While Anais had
great respect for the good original and was wary of the concoction, the return
of Rose’s habitual tinkering and blending, was good to see. Anais and V had set
the table and were discussing forthcoming events at the plantation.

This was how the gentlemen found them; beautiful women, a
picture of harmonious domesticity.

Anais looked up with surprised delight, “Yves, what an unexpected
and welcome surprise.”