Chapter 19
Igot sick. Thanks for nothing, magic. Once the liquor cycled out of my system, I stared at the ceiling until Gumbo moved. Then I managed a hobble to the bedroom, emptied the contents of my stomach, and stared at a different ceiling.
All the while, my mind replayed every moment of my weekend. Everything I possibly did wrong. The moments of almost. And, ultimately, how very different each of the dates had been. I was making this being-awake-all-night thing a habit. And not a good one.
Monday morning came too soon, and I had no idea what to expect with my next Cupid session. Hangover and fatigue aside, I was nervous. We were another week closer to Valentine’s Day, Cupid couldn’t fix the problem he’d created, and the office was in chaos.
Three separate batches of madness greeted me. Brianne was screaming into the phone. The Twins were screaming by their division doors. And Gumbo was screaming at Nina’s feet. Well, Gumbo wasn’t screaming. But the sound he was making was … close enough.
I approached Bri first, taking the empty seat she kept by her desk.
“I don’t care that he’s your brother, Nate. It’s time for him to go.” She gave me a rueful smile, flinching at the loud voice on the other end of the line. It continued, only getting louder, so she set the receiver on the desk to rub the bridge of her nose.
“Uh-oh,” I said. “That doesn’t sound good.” I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, mostly unrelated to my post-nacho queasiness. What had Zeke gotten up to after he left Illusion Square?
“Hold that thought.” She lifted one finger to me and picked up the phone, keeping it a distance away from her ear. “I’m not discussing this with you any longer, Nate. He goes, or I go.”
Brianne slammed the receiver down, dropping her chin into her hands to glare at me. “So, how was your date?”
“Um, which one?” I swear, Brianne had the whole mother thing down.
The look she was giving me made me feel three feet tall.
It took all I had not to apologize for forgetting to clean my room.
“By your look, I’m guessing you mean the one that ended in a vampire/wolf standoff in the middle of Illusion Square. ”
“He was piss drunk when he got back to the house last night.” She shuffled some papers around in a huff. “He stumbled in, reeking of blood and God knows what. The kids were terrified.”
“Yeah, it was … not good,” I managed. “He was skulking about, then made the bad decision to approach Ray and me. Ray’s wolf is … malfunctioning.”
“Is it?” There was more bitterness than intrigue in Brianne’s voice. “We’ve all got problems, don’t we?”
It wasn’t a question, and I was just wise enough not to respond.
She continued to shuffle, moving the same stack of papers from one side of the desk to the other.
Then putting them in a drawer. Then pulling them out of the drawer and adding them to a file.
Then removing them from the file and staring at them.
“Sorry, Mom.” I’d said it only half in jest, jutting my bottom lip out in a spectacular impression of a teenager’s pout. “Are you gonna dock my allowance?”
Despite her frustration, Bri’s lips twitched. “This isn’t funny.”
“No, it’s not.” I stilled her hands by taking them in mine. “I’ve never heard you speak to Nate that way.”
“We’ve never yelled before.” Her eyes filled with tears, so I handed her a tissue. After the daintiest nose blow ever, she looked at me. “This isn’t your fault, you know.”
My sweet Brianne, the gem of all PEARLs.
Worrying about how I was feeling when she’s in so much pain was second nature to her.
Brianne had, with minimal exception, been my biggest cheerleader and primary support system since I’d arrived.
And I hated to see her marriage struggling, particularly when it was due to something none of us could control.
“I know,” I said. Because I did know that much.
Cupid may have done this because I’d come into my full powers, but that didn’t make it my fault.
And Ray’s behavior? That was something he and his wolf were choosing.
Sure, maybe a stray arrow or two was exacerbating the situation, but we all decided our own paths, even when our emotions were in upheaval.
The more I considered it, the more frustrated with Ray I became. Even his wolf knew better than to shift, in a public setting, and challenge a vampire. That was Supernatural Being 101. Even in Treater’s Way.
All in all, it was a new feeling: being able to recognize that things around me were going wrong and not feel like I’d created the issues with some slight or misstep. I wasn’t holding the world on my shoulders.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t help it turn a touch more easily. “I’m going to talk to Cupid about you and Nate specifically in our session today.”
Brianne’s lips quivered, and a hope so raw entered her eyes that it broke my heart. Then she clamped down on it and shook her head. “I can’t ask you to put me ahead of the greater good.”
“I’m not.” It was pretty usual for my brain to catch up to whatever my subconscious had already thrown out into the world.
And sometimes, when it happened, I regretted the nonsense I’d blurted.
But that wasn’t the case here. “It’s a logical next step.
If we can’t completely resolve the issues, maybe focusing on one of them will help us figure out a better solution. ”
She squeezed my hand, her cute little chin trembling. Wow. I’d rendered THE Brianne Steele speechless. Go me.
“What’s that about?” I flicked my head toward the Twins, still in a heated debate in front of their divisions. In the public lobby. Like we’d discussed not doing. “Do I need to step in?”
“I wouldn’t.” Brianne wiggled her shoulders, as if shaking off her troubles, and sat up straight. Miss Efficiency was on the clock. “The contractor, who’s been incredibly patient, I might add, gave them a one-week deadline to finalize designs. It’s not going well.”
“That’s an understatement.” I stood up, watching them for a moment, then shook my head. “I’m going to let them figure that out.”
“Good for you.” The phone rang, so Brianne gave me one last grateful smile, then turned her attention to the Magnolia.
I checked my watch. Cupid would be here any minute. I had just enough time to get a drink and prep in my office. Nina was still on her hands and knees, cooing at Gumbo. Her feet stuck up in the back, toes pointed toward the ceiling. Really, Simone, how did you not notice that the first time around?
I chuckled on my way to the kitchen, hoping Cecelia would make me some kind of miracle hangover cure. Had I really wanted to tough this out in the name of penance for drinking too much? That was dumb.
Then I heard a strange sound. No, it wasn’t a sound.
Sounds were too earthly for what this was.
This was ethereal. A combination of laughter and humming, as if angels were dancing in circles around me, hands clasped in merriment.
It was alive, that noise, and it wanted to wrap me in a safe blanket and hold me close.
Like physical hands, I could feel it traveling through my body, wandering up my legs and back to caress my hair.
I turned toward the sound to find Nina standing not far from me.
Gumbo was gone, not that I cared. The room narrowed between us until only Nina and I stood there.
She crooked a finger, bidding me closer.
And while I wanted to go to her with my entire being, a small voice told me that if I let her hold me, destruction awaited.
But the voice was too small, and my want was too big. Nina was beauty and purity, and she would make everything easy. Her song was sacred. It was mine.
I took a single step, dopamine flooding through me as Nina gave me an approving smile. I’d made the goddess happy! At my second step, she extended her arm. I could touch it, and follow her, and everything would be wonderf—
“NO.” My own voice echoed in my head, erasing every happy thought I’d ever had. Sirens blared, and a cold blast of air pushed me backward. I stumbled, landing on my ass, my head slamming against the side cabinet. Tiny birds tweeted before my eyes.
Then Cecelia glued my butt to the floor. Just as Cupid walked in.
“Hi.” Cupid sauntered over, stood next to Nina, and looked down at me with an amused expression. “How was your weekend?”
“We can talk about that inside,” I said. I placed my palms on either side of me to hoist myself up. And Cecelia sealed them to the floor. “Um, I just need a minute.”
They both stood there, staring. Nina looked haunted, a strange combination of fear and sadness shadowing her features. She twirled her long black braid in her hands. Cupid crossed his arms over his bare chest and grinned.
“Why don’t you go into my office, Cupid?” I smiled as if me sitting on the floor was a totally natural and professional occurrence. “I’ll be right in.”
“You got it, Doc.” His grin widened. “I mean, Simone.” With a wink at Nina, he walked toward my door. But he stopped there, scanning Nina again, and a hint of a frown furrowed his brow.
“Nina, did you need something?” I kept the fake smile pasted on.
Really, it was all I had at the moment. Cecelia was showing no signs of letting me free.
I pushed against the floor to no avail. I crossed one leg over the other in a casual let’s-talk position.
And my foot sank into the hardwood floor.
Until Cecelia decided to let me up, I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Oh.” Nina looked nervous. More than nervous, actually. She looked guilty as hell. Her eyes darted from side to side. She gnawed on her lip like it was a piece of meat. And if she twirled that braid any tighter, it was going to spring right off her head. “No, I was just going to ask about …”
She trailed off.
“Yes? About what?” My tailbone was beginning to ache. But worse than that, uneasiness wormed its way through me. I didn’t feel safe around Nina. And I suspected she was the reason Cecelia wasn’t going to let me up. She’d been trying to lead me somewhere.
Probably somewhere very, very bad.
Cecelia sent a blast of cold air. It lifted goosebumps on my arms and pushed Nina back a full foot.
She let out a terrified gasp before scurrying away from me and escaping through the Physical Therapy door.
Because of her backward feet, she was facing me as she ran away, her eyes never leaving mine, her mouth forming a small O.
“Well, that was disconcerting.” The cold air receded, and my hands detached from the floor. Apparently, Cecelia agreed. “Can I, uh, get up now?”
There was a slight burping sound, the noise an airtight lid makes when it’s detached from a sealed container. But with it, I could move about. I stood, looking over to Brianne’s office. She was back on the phone, engrossed in the conversation. She hadn’t noticed any of it.
I’d have to tell Lauren. Really, all of them.
But Lauren had been so happy lately, and I hated to take that away from her, particularly since there was so much unknown.
I wasn’t sure what Nina’s abilities were or what species of supernatural she claimed.
All I knew was that she wanted something from me.
Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing?