17. Seventeen
SEVENTEEN
Margie was foot-stomping angry once the dust settled. If she’d been smarter she would have let it go. I mean, acknowledging me as the one who stole the show at her own séance was stupid. I hadn’t set out to steal her thunder, but sometimes things just did happen.
“What did you do?” she hissed. “What did you do?” she shrieked a second time.
“I didn’t do anything,” I replied calmly. All eyes were on us, and I did not like being the center of attention. “I was just standing here.”
“The Axeman was focused on you even though we were its masters,” she hissed. “You did something.”
I was still debating how to respond when Knox stepped in.
“She didn’t do anything,” he snapped. “She was standing there minding her own business.”
“Listen, I get that you’re bamboozled by the wonder that is Freya,” Margie said with the exact opposite of amusement.
“It’s been that way since we were kids. All the boys went woo-woo for her.
It’s the half-breed thing. Do you all believe that she does crazy things in bed because of who her parents are? I’ve always wondered.”
Knox cocked an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Perhaps he didn’t know what to say. I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t know what to say with a deranged Margie staring me down.
“I am not bamboozled,” Knox said. “I happen to know she didn’t do anything. She was just standing there.”
“If she didn’t do anything, why do you feel the need to stand up for her?” Margie obviously believed she’d won the argument because she turned triumphant.
“You were attacking her for no good reason,” Knox fired back.
“Our ghost talked to her,” Margie argued. “How is that no good reason?”
“Oh, please,” I snorted. “It wasn’t your ghost. You might have called it here, but it was never under your control. Didn’t you feel that hum of magic under yours? That thing was always in charge.”
I didn’t call it a ghost because I wasn’t certain it was one. It might have been something else, but I needed time to think.
“Plus, we don’t know if that was the Axeman,” Charlie said. She’d been listening, frowning through Margie’s rant.
“Of course it was the Axeman.” Margie drew herself up and turned haughty. “What else would it be? We specifically called to the Axeman.”
“Yeah, but there’s more than one Axeman now, isn’t there?” Charlie challenged. “Or there’s the potential for more than one. There’s the one in the here and now and the one in the past. You have no idea which you called.”
Margie opened her mouth, but Charlie wasn’t done.
“I hate bullies,” Charlie continued, barely taking a breath. “You have no idea how much. Just because you chose to make a fool of yourself by calling a bunch of people to watch you conduct a séance — who does that by the way? — doesn’t mean you get to treat people like crap.”
Margie gripped her hands into fists at her sides and took a menacing step toward Charlie. She wasn’t the type to get into a physical fight — I could only remember coming to blows with her once or twice in elementary school, fights she’d lost — but she looked furious enough to try.
I was fully prepared to step between them. There was no way I would let Charlie take a punch meant for me. Jack was already handling it.
“You want to be very careful,” Jack said in a low, menacing voice. He had gravitas when he spoke, and people listened to him when he took control. “If you lay one finger on my wife I’ll make you regret ever walking over here.”
Margie looked taken aback. “Was that a threat?”
“Yes,” I replied, drawing her attention. “But he won’t be the one hurting you.” I folded my arms over my chest and stared her down. “For the love of the Goddess, Margie, you embarrassed yourself here. If you touch my friend, it’s going to be like fourth-grade recess all over again.”
Toni, who was approaching with her gaggle of art acolytes, snickered upon hearing the threat. “Oh, I remember that fight. You called out Freya, and she beat your ass.”
Margie swiveled quickly, her eyes narrowing to slits as she regarded my best friend. “I definitely wasn’t talking to you.”
“Well I’m talking to you.” I didn’t consider Toni a bully — mostly — but when she faced off with other bullies she was a sight to behold. “None of this was Freya’s fault. Heck, most of the stuff you’ve blamed her for has never been her fault. It’s a result of your jealousy.”
Margie sputtered. “Jealous? Of her? That’s ridiculous. She’s just a mongrel hybrid.”
“No, she got the best of two worlds,” Toni countered. She’d always been my strongest advocate, even in the rare times I couldn’t find the strength. “That thing you called here acknowledged Freya and not you because you’re no threat to it. But Freya is. How can you not see that?”
“That’s nonsense.” Margie vehemently shook her head. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” She said it, but didn’t sound all that certain.
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.” Toni patted Margie’s shoulder in condescending fashion, which was her way. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going out for drinks.” She sent me a smile and then turned to Knox, which had my heart sinking. “You’re coming with us, right, hot stuff?”
Knox’s eyebrows hopped at the nickname, but he nodded. “Sure. I could use a drink.”
“That’s what I thought.” Toni took two steps, then stopped long enough to give him a long, slow once-over. “You know, I don’t go in for the things you’ve got — like a penis — but if I did, I’m pretty sure I would find you impressive.”
Knox opened his mouth, confused. “Thanks?” he said. There was nothing else to say, and he seemed to realize it.
“Cool beans.” Toni grinned, then looked at me. “It’s going to be a fun night.”
I recognized what she was doing. She hadn’t given up on the idea of Knox and me getting freaky. This was one game she wasn’t going to win.
“Let’s go to Ghost Bar,” I suggested. “I could use a stiff cocktail, or seven.”
“Sounds great.” Knox flashed a smile, but confusion lurked in the depths of his eyes. “I could use a drink.”
GHOST BAR HAD BECOME A FAVORITE for Toni, Lex, and me. It was kitschy, with themed drinks and overblown decorations, but it was fun.
“I like this place,” Charlie said as we settled at a table. Toni had set up at the adjacent table with her art snob friends, knowing that being stuck with them would have sent me home early. She was pulling out all the stops in her attempt to match Knox and me.
“Is this considered a cool place?” Charlie asked as she looked around. Her eyes were wide with delight, which was weird, because I’d been with her at this bar before. Of course, it had been a little more tense that time. Perhaps she hadn’t given herself room to enjoy the location back then.
“Charlie, stop worrying about what others think is cool,” I admonished. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, just what you think.”
She didn’t look as if she believed me. “Do you think this is a cool bar?” she asked Knox pointedly.
The big shifter bounty hunter didn’t look as if he knew how to respond. “Um … .” he stammered, looking to me for help.
“She’s determined to be seen as a local,” I explained.
“I don’t want to look as if I don’t belong here,” she clarified. Then she hopped to her feet. “I’m going to go check out the bar.” She practically scurried away from us.
I cast Jack a curious look.
“She’s never felt as if she belonged anywhere,” he explained, his eyes soft. “Her parents left her when she was little because they had no choice. She loved her adoptive parents, but they were freaked out by the things she could do.”
He paused, then blew out a sigh. “They died when she was still young, and she had to make her own way in the world, while holding a big secret. She was always afraid. It wasn’t until she joined the Legacy Foundation that she finally felt as if she belonged somewhere.”
I nodded for him to continue.
“We weren’t unhappy in Boston, but she fell in love with New Orleans when we came here a few times for work,” Jack volunteered. “She wants to be here. She needs to belong. As soon as she feels comfortable, her parents and brother will join us. She needs this to work. She’s a little manic about it.”
I felt inexplicably sorry for her. “I didn’t know all that. I look forward to meeting her parents. I can’t wait to talk to them about how they abandoned her.”
Jack’s gaze was sharp. “Don’t do that. I get the inclination to want to blame them — I’ve been there, believe me — but they did what they had to do. If they’d kept her, Sybil would have wiped out the entire family to get to her. Charlie wasn’t strong enough to fight her as a child.
“Erzulie did what she had to do to protect Charlie into adulthood,” he continued.
“Her parents did, too. All of those things had to come together so Charlie wouldn’t die.
So, yeah, her parents irritate me occasionally.
Thinking of her being alone breaks my heart, but I wouldn’t have her if that hadn’t happened. ”
I vaguely knew Charlie’s story. An evil witch had wanted her powers. Charlie’s birth had been foretold, and when she arrived her parents had tried to keep her. Members of their family were slaughtered trying to protect Charlie. Ultimately, they’d hidden her in the system. It was their only option.
“I won’t say anything to them,” I promised.
“As for fitting in, Charlie needs to realize that she already does. New Orleans is about being your authentic self. Her authentic self is weird and fun. She’s already one of us.
” I took a deep breath. “She wasn’t born here, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
She has to be less rigid to fit in. Tell her to stop worrying about what the locals do.
We don’t follow rules. If we did, no one would eat at the tourist trap restaurants, but that’s where I get the best biscuits and gravy in the world when I’m hungover. It’s just about being you.”
Jack nodded, then got to his feet. “I’m going to go talk to her. I’ll order drinks. What do you guys want?”