Chapter Forty Six
Ophelia’s tiger leaped onto her bed and stood over her and Etienne’s sleeping bodies.
Etienne was still holding her in the crook of his arm, and Ophelia consciously understood that her body was still asleep, even though she had a bird’s-eye view of her room.
The bedroom was dark, and nothing in it moved besides the rise and fall of the tiger’s chest and stomach, inhaling and exhaling.
Wake up, wake up, she chanted to herself. You’re in danger. WAKE UP.
Ophelia sat up in bed, wide awake. Her tiger was gone. She turned, and Etienne was sitting up too, concern etched on his face.
“I just had a dream about my tiger,” she whispered. “I think we’re in danger.”
Etienne nodded. “I had a weird dream too. I’m going to check the house. Stay here, and don’t move.” He got out of bed and placed his index finger over his mouth to signal her to remain quiet.
He walked quietly through the bedroom door. All Ophelia could hear was her panicked breath as she waited. Three minutes passed that felt like an hour until Etienne finally walked through the door again.
“Nothing in the house, and nothing outside,” he said as he walked toward her. “You okay?”
“No…I don’t know. Every time I see my tiger, something bad happens. Usually, to someone in proximity to me or to me. I saw my tiger a lot when I was with Mateo and during the serial killings.”
Etienne rubbed her back. “I know. I don’t know what this dream meant. I’m guessing we’ll find out tomorrow.” He held her for a while longer, then kissed her. “It’ll be okay.”
Ophelia nodded as Etienne unraveled himself from her and stood. “I’m going to the bathroom, then we can try to get some sleep.”
Ophelia’s nerves were shot, and she wasn’t sure how she’d be able to fall asleep after seeing her tiger.
She walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
Ophelia took out a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water from the fridge.
When she turned around, a figure was standing on the other side of the island.
Her body jumped in fear. She opened her mouth to scream, but her yell died on her tongue.
“Jack? Is that you?” she exclaimed and ran to turn on the kitchen lights. What the hell was her cousin doing in her kitchen in the middle of the night? “Jack. What the fuck? You scared me half to death! What are you doing here?”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I knocked, but you didn’t answer, and when I turned the doorknob, it just opened.” Ophelia glanced at her front door, which was now closed. “You really should lock your door.”
“Yeah.” Ophelia was taking stock of Jack’s appearance. The way he fidgeted with his hands made him seem unhinged, and Ophelia noted the circles under his eyes. She wondered if he was having another mental episode like he’d had in high school. “So what brings you here?”
“I just need a place to crash,” he said, walking around the island. “You don’t mind if I stay here, right?”
“Oh, is everything okay at your apartment?”
Suddenly, Etienne busted through the kitchen and pushed Ophelia out of the way so that his body was fully blocking hers. “What the fuck do you want?” he growled menacingly. His presence was intimidating, and pure rage was emanating from his body.
“Wait!” Ophelia reached both arms around his center to hold him back from attacking Jack. “It’s Jack! You’ve met him before. It’s my cousin, Jack.”
Etienne did not stand down.
“Hey, man,” said Jack with an overly confident smile. “Sorry about the middle-of-the-night wake-up. But I was telling Ophelia here that I need a place to crash.”
Something was so off with him. He was trying too hard. Changing his mannerisms to mimic Ophelia’s fear one minute, then Etienne’s masculinity the next.
“Why didn’t you call?” said Etienne gruffly. If this was any other situation, Ophelia would have been appalled by his rudeness. But this was weird. He had every right to be concerned.
“Let me get you a glass of water, Jack, and you can tell us what’s going on,” Ophelia said soothingly.
The two men ignored her plan and remained standing, sizing each other up.
Ophelia grabbed another glass and filled it with water.
She walked to Jack, and as she was handing him his water, her tired eyes caught sight of a silver cross necklace peeking out of his button-down.
She froze. She couldn’t see the whole necklace, and Jack was religious.
It wouldn’t be weird for him to wear a cross.
In fact, he had probably been wearing this exact one his entire life, and Ophelia was just paranoid.
But she wanted to see it again just to make sure.
“Pretty. Where did you get that cross necklace?” she asked, forcing a smile. “Looks vintage.”
Jack swallowed a sip of water. “It’s from a church group I’m in.”
“Oh. Cool,” she said and discreetly eyed Etienne. Etienne’s half-second glance relayed everything she was already thinking. Etienne moved to hold Ophelia at his side under his heavy arm.
“So you two are dating?” asked Jack. Ophelia wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Technically, they were going out on dates, but Etienne had not explicitly asked to be her boyfriend.
“We are,” Etienne replied. His grip on Ophelia tightened.
Jack drained his glass of water. “Do you mind getting me another glass, man?” Ophelia and Etienne were blocking the fridge, so Etienne stepped forward to grab his glass from him.
When the glass was placed in Etienne’s hand, Jack grabbed his wrist, pulled him forward, and stabbed him in the right shoulder with a knife.
Ophelia screamed, and Etienne lunged for Jack. The two men were wrestling on the floor while Ophelia stood in stunned silence. Jack ripped the knife out of Etienne’s shoulder, and his growl of pain sent her into action.
She ran to her room, found her phone under the sheets, and called 911.
She placed the call on speakerphone, so she could use both hands to unlock the revolver under the bed while she relayed the necessary information.
She loaded the gun. The operator was asking too many questions.
She needed to go help. Ophelia yelled her address into the phone and told them to hurry and that the intruder had a knife.
She hung up and threw her phone on the bed.
When she reentered the kitchen, the men were fighting sloppily.
There was no sign of the knife, but Etienne’s shoulder was bleeding profusely.
He was pale and looked on the verge of passing out.
Jack stepped away to get some distance, and Ophelia knew he was trying to wear Etienne out in hopes of him passing out soon from blood loss.
It would be Jack’s only chance at actually beating Etienne in a fight.
“Stop!” Ophelia yelled as she rounded the kitchen island. “This gun is loaded, and I will shoot.” Jack laughed. He laughed like it was all a big joke to him. “Jack. I’m serious. The cops are on their way.”
“You’re lucky your big, bad boyfriend was here to protect you; you would have been rotting with your precious Mawmaw in Hell. Although now this devil-worshipper is on my list too.” He nodded to Etienne, who was leaning on the couch, attempting to hold himself up. “He can join you as well.”
“You…Did you kill Mawmaw?” Her heart was pounding, and her world felt like it was tipping over. Ophelia needed to know. She needed to hear it from his mouth.
“Yes.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she continued pointing the gun at him. “Did you kill Delphine?”
“Delphine?” repeated Jack in confusion. “Oh, the old Voodoo bitch. No. That wasn’t me.”
Etienne slid to the ground and groaned.
“What?” asked Ophelia. “It was you. I know it was you who killed all the others.”
“Oh, Ophelia. How little you know.” Jack took a step back and turned like he was heading to the door.
“Leave, and I’ll fucking shoot. You’re staying here till the cops come.”
Jack froze. For a second, she thought he would listen, but then he leapt toward the door, and a deafening sound echoed around the room.
When her ears stopped ringing, her mind caught up to what she had done. Jack was on the ground, screaming, holding his hip where she had shot him.
“Move again, and I’ll shoot the other hip,” she yelled, although she was quite certain he didn’t hear her over his yelling.
Ophelia ran to Etienne. His eyes were closed, but he was still breathing.
“Thank God,” she whispered. She hurriedly examined his body and noted the large knife wound in his right shoulder, skin lacerations on his arms from the fight over the knife, and swelling on his face from what Ophelia assumed were punches.
“E, it’s me. You’re going to be okay. I’m going to treat you.
” Ophelia held his face, waiting for him to acknowledge her.
“Etienne, I’m going to need you to tell me that you can hear me.
Please, babe.” He grunted. “Good. Stay with me. I’m going to take the pain away.
” She hated that she couldn’t take it all away for him, but she had to leave some evidence for the cops.
Ophelia shut out Jack’s pathetic screams and focused on the burgeoning love she had for this man.
She placed her hands gently around the sides of his shoulder wound and pulled on her magic like she never had before.
The intense need to heal him and make him whole coursed through her.
Her magic didn’t flow through her body like normal, but instead rushed through her like an open fire hydrant.
Her magic regrew the tissue and muscle the knife had sliced through, so she could close the wound and wipe away his pain.
Leaving his skin lacerations and facial injuries were necessary to account for Etienne’s blood wiped around the floor.
Her magic coursed through him like the most nutritious food and water and the most restful sleep.
She evened out his nervous system and prayed that he could feel her love and gratitude.
As she finished, she dropped her hands in exhaustion.
“Ophelia,” said Etienne, staring up at her in wonder. He now boasted a healthy glow and bright eyes. “That was amazing. You treated like…like…I didn’t even know what you did was possible. Thank you, O.”
The cops rushed into the house, and more chaos erupted as the police assessed the situation.
The scene was a gruesome one with blood smeared across her kitchen floors.
Ophelia and Etienne explained to the cops how Jack had attacked them with a knife, which the cops later found under her couch, and confirmed that the knife was a dagger.
An ambulance followed shortly and carried Jack off to a hospital.
Another ambulance arrived to evaluate Etienne and Ophelia.
Once they were cleared, Ophelia and Etienne went down to the station for statements and interviews.
They left the station after the sun rose, just as commuters were leaving for work.
Ophelia’s life was a mess. She fielded police questions and calls from her family and friends all night.
She didn’t even want to know what Aunt Susan thought of everything.
She wondered if she would even believe what Jack was being accused of, what he so willingly admitted to her.
Ophelia couldn’t go back to her house yet. Not in its current state of disarray. So she went to Etienne’s home, where they held each other all day through bouts of sleep, conversations, and tears.