River Road (35 page)

CHAPTER
35

I was debriefed in a freakin’ ass-out hospital gown, pumped full of painkillers that made me want to giggle at everything. The Elders brought in extra chairs and put a silencing charm on the room so no one could hear from the outside. A ward on the door convinced doctors and nurses not to enter. We were sealed up like a prete-filled Fort Knox.

Alex had shown up first, in full enforcer regalia.

“Is that a gun in your shoulder holster or are you happy to see me?” I grinned at him.

He stopped in the door and crossed his arms. “You drugged out?”

“Yup, big-time.”

“Good. You deserve it.” He came in and pulled a chair next to my bed. “Sexy lingerie.”

I looked down at the blue and white dotted cotton gown that tied at the neck. “Yeah, and it’s air-conditioned in the back.”

He laughed. “So, what’s the verdict?”

I tried to remember the numbers. “Thirty stitches left leg, forty-five right arm, sixteen class-A contusions—that’s bruises—and a hyperextended knee. I don’t know how I got that. Oh, and two cracked ribs from merman CPR that hurt worse than the rest combined.”

“Impressive.” Alex nodded. “I guess you’ll be earning that new salary.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I closed my eyes, frowned as his words sunk in, opened them again. “Huh?”

He smiled. “I wanted to get here first to tell you, but pretend you’re surprised when Zrakovi breaks the news. You’re the new sole sentinel of Southeast Louisiana.”

I felt the drugged-out high drain from me. This was what I wanted, right? Why did I feel like crying all of a sudden? “You’re being transferred?”

He took my hand and squeezed it. “Nope, I’ll be your number-one security consultant—and neighbor, of course. The Elders are setting up a new prete security division and I’ll be running it. Jake will work for me so I can ease him into field work. And we’re talking about bringing someone from NOPD in—probably Ken Hachette.”

His eyes were bright and he’d smiled more in the last few minutes than in the last year. “I can tell you’re happy about it.”

“Yeah and—”

The sound of raised voices preceded Elder Zrakovi and Adrian Hoffman into the room. They stopped speaking abruptly at the sight of Alex and me. “DJ, Alex.” Zrakovi, dressed in a spiffy black suit and striped tie, greeted us, then looked around the room. The navy-suited Hoffman ignored us, and we returned the non-salutation. That man deserved to be horsewhipped, in my opinion, and I might have just enough drugs in me to share that opinion, should he look at me wrong.

“We’ll be debriefing here, since you won’t be going home until tomorrow and business calls us to Edinburgh,” Zrakovi told me. “Ah, here are the others.”

Jake had stuck his head in the door, and Zrakovi motioned him in. Behind him, looking like he’d rather be just about anywhere else, walked Rene Delachaise. I almost didn’t recognize him in dark jeans, a white shirt, and a black sports coat.

You okay, babe?

I smiled at him and nodded.

We admittin’ we still got some of the brain thing goin’?

“Hell no.” I wasn’t aware I’d spoken aloud until everyone except Rene turned to stare at me. I coughed a little, holding on to my ribcage. “Sorry. Painkillers.”

During this time, Hoffman had been sealing the room and people had been finding seats. Alex shifted his chair closer to the bed. I felt like a half-dressed, waifish queen surrounded by her factotums.

Rene cleared his throat and shook his head.
Act right, you.

“We’ll keep this short,” Zrakovi said. “Drusilla, tell us what led you to suspect the nymph Libetta? Mostly, I’m looking for clues we should have picked up on earlier so that we’ll not make the same mistakes.”

I tried to sort through the events of the last two weeks. “I didn’t take her seriously, for one thing. Since she answered the phone at the River Nymphs’ office—did you know they had brought in satyrs as male escorts, by the way?”

Zrakovi frowned.

“Painkillers,” I said. “Well, since she answered the phone, I assumed she was one of them. I didn’t follow up to see if she was legit till I’d already figured out it was her.”

“How could you have figured it out faster?” Zrakovi asked, and I shifted a reptilian gaze to Adrian Hoffman. I had a bus I wanted to throw him under, but you couldn’t tank a guy in public just for being an asshole. I’d be writing a report full of buses, though.

“I honestly don’t know who knew what, and when. The thing that tied it together was linking Libby with Melinda Hebert, and unless the wizards change the marriage rules so non-wizard spouses submit to blood tests—there’s no way to know. Doug Hebert lied about what his wife was, probably out of fear of reprisals from her family, and he charmed her necklace to help her hide it.”

Zrakovi made some marks in his notebook, and I wondered if he had to write reports for the Congress of Elders like we had to write them for him. I bet he did. Poor guy.

“Mr. Warin”—he realized both Alex and Jake had snapped to attention—“Mr. Alexander Warin. What happened when you met Libetta after intercepting Ms. Jaco’s phone call?”

Alex shifted in his chair. “She tried to enthrall me, got piss … uh, got angry when it didn’t work, came after me with a knife. I shifted, thinking I could chase her down better, but she hexed me. Not really sure what she did, but I couldn’t shift back. DJ found me an hour later and reversed the hex.”

“He turned pink,” I said. Alex kicked the bed, jarring my ribs. “Painkillers,” I gasped.

Zrakovi stared at me a moment, then went back to his notebook. “Ms. Jaco, why did you decide to go without backup to confront Libetta?”

“Uh.” Now things were getting dicey. “Alex was still out from his hex reversal, Jake had gotten tied up at the Villeres’, Rene was on his way. I didn’t realize”—I mentally apologized to Rene—“that Robert Delachaise had been enthralled and would help her.”

Zrakovi looked at Rene, who sat next to him. “My condolences on the loss of your brother, but I have to ask—did you know what the nymph had done, or that your brother was helping her?”

Rene’s anger rose fast, like a tidal wave. “No. Robert was a victim here, just like the wizard. Wasn’t like Denis Villere, who knew what was goin’ on and kept his trap shut. If you gonna hold my brother accountable, you gotta hold them accountable too.”

I frowned as Zrakovi put a conciliatory hand on Rene’s arm. I hadn’t known that Denis was involved. “You are right, Mr. Delachaise. We have issued an explanation and apology to your father, although I know that will be of little comfort, and we also have given the Villeres the choice of relocating back to their former homestead in the Atchafalaya Basin or going into the Beyond. Their business dealings have been curtailed, and they will no longer be allowed in Plaquemines or St. Bernard parishes, near you or any of your family.”

I felt Rene’s anger morph into deep pain, and I knew he was trying not to cry in front of a roomful of wizards.

“Does Rene have to stay for the rest of this?” I asked. “He’s been through enough, and he’s been a big help in repairing the river breaches.”

“I told you, Willem,” Hoffman said. “I suspect she has done elven magic with a non-wizard. It can’t be tolerated.”

Zrakovi gave Hoffman a look that would curdle cream. I laughed, at least until Alex kicked the side of the bed again.

“Yes, Mr. Delachaise. You can go. We all appreciate the work you’ve done with Ms. Jaco to restore the river water. I heard this morning that two elderly humans had died in Plaquemines, but that number would have been much higher if you hadn’t been willing to assist.”

I smiled at Rene as he eased around Adrian Hoffman and headed for the door.

We still on for another power-transfer, babe? Still got that last rift to repair.

Give me a week to get my strength back—use the temporary charms till then,
I told him. We were having to really concentrate to communicate now, so I felt pretty sure it would eventually wear off.

Gotcha. Outta here.

I relaxed back on my pillow as the door closed behind him.

Jake’s report was short. He’d gone to talk to Denis Villere, and had been told the senior mer was in the shed. When Jake went to look for him,
Grandmère
had locked him in. He’d shifted to loup-garou, broken his way out, and ran home.

He didn’t mention stopping in Pointe a la Hache, and neither did Alex. Even in my drugged state, neither did I.

Zrakovi closed his notebook with a snap. “That should about do it. I have to file a report about Libetta’s death—she passed away shortly after re-entering the Styx. I assume, Mr. Warin, that the missing-persons cases will be suitably wrapped up?”

“Yes, sir,” Alex said. “They’ll both be declared cold cases and I heard this morning that Melinda Hebert’s body mysteriously disappeared from the CDC.”

“Imagine that,” Zrakovi said drily. He stood and everyone else stood with him, as if on cue. Except me. I giggled again, wondering what they’d think of my gown if I stood with them.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Zrakovi told me with a grim smile. “We’ll talk soon about the plans we’re making for the future.”

“Oh, it’s okay. Alex told me,” I said, smiling, then gasped as Alex kicked the bed on his way out.

CHAPTER
36

“Does this dress look stupid with my leg bandaged?” I asked Eugenie, frowning at myself in the full-length mirror that hung inside my bedroom door. Sebastian sat beside me, probably trying to figure out the worst possible time for him to jump up and latch his teeth and claws onto my short billowy skirt.

The dress in question was red and white checked, had a fitted waist, short capped sleeves, and the ridiculous poufy skirt. Eugenie had rented it from a costume shop in Metairie. I was still barefoot, not because it was warm enough to go without shoes but because I couldn’t find any that didn’t look ridiculous with this outfit. It also hurt to bend over far enough to reach my feet.

“Honey, that dress looks stupid no matter what you do to it, but live with it. You’re the one that wanted to dress up like Little Red Riding Hood. I was pushing for Britney—you know, the whole sexy schoolgirl thing.”

“Yeah, well, you’re one to talk, hippie chick.”

We were getting ready for Alex’s housewarming/Halloween party—costumes required. I’d been home from the hospital two days after a lot of fabricated bloodwork, memory erasures, and malfunctioning monitors.

“This must have been a bad case,” Eugenie said, adjusting her tie-dyed bandana. “What I don’t understand is why you thought you saw Quince—why in the world would he be there?”

“I told you I was hallucinating.” Although there was still something fishy about that guy, and thanks to the fast-fading mind-meld with Rene, I knew all about fishy.

“Well, keep your hands off my man, DJ. He’s taken.”

“Yeah, he’s something, that’s for sure,” I muttered, looking for the red hooded cape that fit over my gingham dress.

Going to the party as Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf had been Jake’s idea, and nothing I said would talk him out of it. Rand and Eugenie were going as Deadheads. Eugenie had been forcing me to listen to Grateful Dead music all week.

The doorbell sent Sebastian trotting down the stairs with his rubber rat dangling from his mouth, followed by Eugenie. I thumped along much more slowly with my stiff leg and sore ribcage.

A situation brewed by the time I got to the front parlor. Eugenie was having the pants charmed off her, possibly quite literally, by Jean Lafitte. He was dressed in his usual garb. Like a pirate, in other words. Indigo shirt half-buttoned, tight black pants, boots, curved knife gleaming from its spot under a wide belt. His dark blue eyes had fairly twinkled Eugenie into a swoon.

I hated to break the mood, but I couldn’t walk into the room quietly. Just call me Peg-leg. Maybe that could be my pirate wench name.

“Honey, you didn’t tell me you had a new man friend.” Eugenie turned on me, practically quivering with excitement. Maybe she wasn’t as serious about weird Quince/Rand as I feared. Not that Jean would be an improvement.

He looked at me over her head with a smug smile. “
Oui, Jolie,
I cannot believe you have not shared our relationship with your friend Eugenie. Such a pretty name for such a pretty friend.”

Oh brother. He was spreading on the French charm like butter on a croissant, and Eugenie had lined up for second helpings.

“Yes, I’m sure he’s introduced himself.” What name he gave her was anybody’s guess.

Eugenie tittered. “He insists he’s Jean Lafitte, so I told him he could get away with that today since we’re having the costume party.”

Egads. Jean wasn’t invited to the party. “Well, then, Jean Lafitte he is,” I said. As soon as it was vaguely polite, I shuffled Eugenie out the back door.

Before she’d gotten to the driveway, Jean had reached me in two long strides, frowning, no doubt ready to have his turn yelling at me for putting myself in danger. These guys were just going to have to get a life. I was a lone sentinel now.

He gripped my upper arms in his big hands.

“Ow!” I yelped, slapping him away. “Stitches. Hurts.”

He frowned and tugged the neck of my ugly red gingham dress aside to bare my right shoulder and upper arm, and his expression softened. “My apologies,
Jolie
. Where are you injured?”

I wasn’t expecting Jake for another half hour and Alex was busy with party preparations (with the able and willing assistance of the lovely Leyla, not that I was paying attention). So I’d sop up some sympathy where I could get it. I ran through my list of injuries, head to toe. I’m sure Jean had seen much worse. He’d probably inflicted much worse.

After that, he wanted a blow-by-blow of the events, so we sat in a couple of armchairs in the front parlor. I told him about Rene fishing me out of the river and giving me CPR, although admittedly most of that story came from Rene because I didn’t remember much. Then I finished with a colorful recounting of my experience with Jake’s wolf and Alex’s smooth mouthful of lies with the EMTs on the ride to the hospital.