Under the Burning Stars (6 page)

“Oh I’m sure we could get you in.”

“It’s okay.” Ava turned to Gabriel. “If you wanna take me back so you all can go, you can.”

Joss waved her hand. “Nonsense.”

“Why don’t we visit Sophia and Caroline?” Eric asked. “We’ve not seen them in a while.”

“Ooh, good idea.”

“Who are they?”

“Old friends of ours.” Joss smiled.

They walked this time and entered the Garden District. Ava couldn’t get over the beauty and timeless designs of the double-gallery homes. They came up to a beige home with arched wrought iron balconies. An iron fence surrounded the house and the gate squeaked as Joss opened it. There were two windows the size of a door on the right side of the entrance, and upstairs there were three windows with green shutters.

Ava followed behind them and climbed the concrete steps. Joss knocked on the door and a tall woman with bushy curly black hair answered shortly after. Her large brown eyes lit and she smiled widely showing perfect teeth. She had dark skin and a pretty face.

“Joss.” She pulled her into a hug, then Eric. “Oh, how is my Gabriel?” She planted a large kiss on his lips and seemed to linger for a second. It made Ava shift uncomfortably. “Mmm. Oh it’s so good to see you all. And who is this?”

“Ava.” Ava shook her
hand and the woman nodded and a sudden recognition washed over her face.

“Ah, you are one of the special ones.” She smiled. “I’m Caroline.
” She moved aside so they could enter.

“Does everyone know about us?”

“No, honey, but I do talk to Joss quite often.” She walked as if she was a model and her lips were pouty. The heels from her shoes clacked on the hardwood. The house was rather dim with beautiful chandeliers and portraits scattered all over the old walls.

“I hear Jos
s,” a raspy voice with a thick Southern accent came from upstairs. A woman with dark red hair descended the stairs. She wore a black off the shoulder blouse with jeans and high-heeled boots. She collided with Joss in an embrace and they held onto each other for a few seconds. When they broke apart, she hugged Eric and then Gabriel.

“Hey handsome.” She smiled, and then turned to Ava. “I’m Sophia.”

“Ava.”

“Good to meet you. You
guys are just in time. We’re going to the club in a few minutes. Well, some of us. Rene isn’t the dancing type.”

“Neither am I,” Ava murmured.

“It’s easy. Just shake your hips and if you can eye a guy just right, he might buy you a drink.”

Ava smiled. She was ready to go home and was feeling incredibly out of place.

“I thought I heard familiar voices.” A man emerged from the back of the house and joined them. He had shoulder length brown hair and green eyes. His nose was long and hooked at the end. “Julien.” He shook Ava’s hand.

“Nice meeting you.”

“Where are Marcel and Rene?” Eric asked.

“Probably trying to wake the dead.” Sophia murmured and rolled her eyes. “But I’ll go get them.” She climbed the stairs calling out their names. Ava had no idea what Sophia possibly meant by that remark
, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

They moved into a parlor and took seats on old plush furniture. It looked as if they were college students with no money. How often had they cleaned this place? Or did they spend all their time and money clubbing? Ava
dropped down onto the loveseat next to Gabriel, feeling completely awkward. She somewhat listened to the pleasantries and conversation between Joss, Eric, and Caroline.

A few minutes later, Sophia entered with two men behind her. One had blond hair and a scar down the side of his face and was dressed all in black. For some reason, chills tickled Ava as his eyes watched her. The other man had a shaved head and dark glasses. He looked like a hipster in his skinny jeans and sweater. Ava hated the
hipster trend for guys.

“This is Rene,” Sophia said as the man with the shaved head raised his hand. “And this is Marcel.”
He nodded, and kept staring at Ava. He gave her the creeps.

“So, how does it feel to be the woman who killed
Devon Maunsell?” Caroline asked Joss.

“Okay, I guess. If it wasn’t for Ava, he probably would still be here.”

“I think we should celebrate.” Sophia smiled. “We should do shots.”

Ava wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay there. She wasn’t much for socializing with people she didn’t know.

Eric, Joss, Caroline, and Julien followed Sophia to the back of the house.

Ava looked at Gabriel. “No shot for you?”

He shrugged. “Not really that much of a drinker.” He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Besides, I can tell you’re very uncomfortable.”

She felt bad and
sensed her cheeks redden. She didn’t want them thinking their friends weren’t any fun. It was just that she didn’t know them. “I’m sorry.”

H
is thick eyebrows drew together. “For what? Let’s go hang out on the porch. You can hear the music playing.”

She nodded and followed him outside and they sat on the iron bench that rested underneath the windows. Marcel and Rene followed.

“Pay no attention to them.” Rene dropped down in one of the chairs. Marcel sat next to him, but kept his eyes trained on Ava. “They always want their drinks before they do anything.”

Ava could hear the
lively jazz music playing from Bourbon Street and got up to look around at the clear night and the vibrant lights in the distance. Gabriel and Rene engaged in a conversation behind her.

“What’s it like being an Elemental?” Marcel asked.

Ava jumped from his sudden appearance. She didn’t hear him get up. She crossed her arms and bit her lip. “Fine, I guess.”

“Which one are you?”

“Water.”

“What would
Devon or whoever started this want with you all?”

“To use our powers. But
Devon is dead so there is no one else out there.” She only said that for his benefit. No way was she going to let a stranger know what she really thought.

“I don’t believe it. And I can tell neither do you.”

Could he read her mind? She didn’t feel comfortable around him. “I never said anything otherwise.”

“You’ve seen death.”

She looked up and met his eyes. “What?”
He certainly has a knack for conversations
, she thought sarcastically.

“I know you’ve seen death.”

“I was there when Devon died. So yeah, guess you can say I have.”

He shook his head. “It’s deeper than that. Emotionally.”

She tensed and her pulse quickened. “What are you getting at?”

“It was your mother wasn’t it?
”

“I don’t like talking about it.”

“She was murdered.”

She clenched her fists and tried to calm her breathing. Who was this
guy? Why was he so interested in her mother’s death? “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“There’s something else.”

Ava was getting angrier.

His eyes
went blank and he stared off into space. Okay, so this guy was seriously not right in the head. Then, his eyes turned a ghostly white, almost as if his eyes glowed. Her breath hitched and she stepped back.

“
I see her standing next to Corbin,” he said.

“What?”

“She was a Cimmerian.”

S
he slapped him across the face. “How dare you?” Why was he spouting off nonsense as if he was some sort of possessed demon? She wanted to attack him but she felt arms behind her holding her still.

“Ava, calm down,” Gabriel whispered in her ear.

“What happened?” Rene asked.

She
watched Marcel, whose eyes had returned to normal. He looked at her apologetically. “How dare you? My mom was not one of them.” She struggled against Gabriel’s grasp but he jerked her against his hard chest and held her still.

“Breathe,” he
murmured.

She
inhaled a deep breath and let it out.

“Marcel, sweetie, why would you
say that?” Rene asked him.

He shook his head. “I saw something. It wasn’t clear though.”

Ava began to relax and Gabriel loosened his grip. She batted away tears. “Please take me home.”

“We are so sorry, dear,” Rene said.

“I’ll be back,” Gabriel told them. “Tell Joss and Eric.”

“Of course.”

Gabriel took Ava’s hand, and like an automatic reaction, she closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were standing in the backyard of the Manor. They stood for a moment, Ava gripping his hand trying to calm down.

“I’m sorry for that,” he said.
His voice comforted her and she realized she was still holding his hand.

She let go. “It’s not your fault.
Why would he say that about my mom? What did he mean he saw something?”

“Marcel is a Percipient.
He perceives images or memories from a person. The images he picks up doesn’t necessarily have to be something that that person has experienced or even knows about. And they aren’t always true. Sometimes he tends to take it a little far. Like you experienced tonight.”

Ava shook her head. “How does
he pick up images that sometimes aren’t real?”

“I think sometimes the images just get jumbled.”

“He made me feel so uncomfortable. He kept staring at me.”

“Yeah, he unfortunately does that with new people. It’s kinda his way of getting to know someone, but he comes off as being very forward.”

“That’s an understatement.”

Gabriel
gave an easy smile. “I really am sorry. We should have warned you.”

“It’s okay. Thanks for bringing me back.” She walked by him, and then turned around. “And Gabriel?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks so much for today. It really was fun. I needed it.”

“Anytime.” His eyes held a heavy gaze, and then she looked away. A second later, he was gone.

When she walked inside,
she thought about going to the library but didn’t feel like it. She was tired and just wanted to rest. Or maybe she was feeling a little off after what just happened.

Why would Marcel say that about her mom? There was no way she was a Cimmerian. Maybe Gabriel was right about the images getting confused.

She opened the door to her room and jumped once she saw Peter sitting on the window bench. Her heart skipped a beat. “Peter.”

“Hey.” He stood and
crossed the room. “Where’ve you been?”

“New Orleans.”

Peter arched an eyebrow. “Oh? For what?”

She shrugged. “Just needed to get away.”

“How did you—.”

“Gabriel.”

“Oh.”

She wasn’t sure why she felt awkward around him all of a sudden
.

Peter sighed. “I’m not mad at you, Ava, and I don’t regret this at all. I freaked out and I’m sorry. I just never thought I’d have to protect myself against people I’
ve always known. And then they looked at me like I was diseased or something once they saw my necklace.”

“I know.
That’s something we’ve had to deal with for a long time. But you can’t just leave like that when something happens. I told you this wasn’t going to be easy. I warned you. I thought you understood—.”

“I do, Ava. It’s just different than what I expected.” He
moved closer. “I don’t know how to explain it. I’m sorry for how I acted. It won’t happen again.”

“This isn’t over, Peter. I don’t care what the Elders say.
We haven’t seen the end of all of this and I need to know that you’re really committed to this.”

He reached up and held her head in between his hands. “Yes. I am. I love you, Ava and I will protect you.” He
kissed her. The electricity buzzed inside her. She had missed the way his warm lips moved against hers. And the way he touched her face. She felt his want and desire.

His lips trailed along her jawline to her neck.
Her heart pounded faster with each kiss. “I’ve missed you.” Peter wrapped his hands around her hips and pressed her against the door. Her necklace warmed against her skin as she let out a low moan.

And then Thomas’s anger set in.

Peter groaned and pressed his forehead against hers, their heavy breaths mixing. “This sucks.”

Yeah, it did. They had to figure out how to hide it from everyone. Or maybe Thomas needed to learn to deal with his anger.

“So how was the trip?” Peter asked.

“It was good up until the end. I’d never been to New Orleans. It’s so beautiful there. And alive. Like you can feel the energy buzzing all around you.” She looked up and he was smiling. “What?”

“You’re so adorable when you talk about something you like.”