Redemption Song [Midnight, New Orleans Style 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  It became clear that the snake was turning into a damned horse, unbelievably. Its hooves hit the earth with a dull thud. Its nostrils flared, producing steam, and it whinnied so loudly it shook the ground. This isn’t good.

  “Enough of this shit,” Niko thought he heard Rémy say.

  The man strode forward purposefully and manfully, just as Michel would have. He swooped down to snatch something from the ground. The glint of metal let Niko know Rémy had grabbed an axe, and he swiped at the horse’s shoulder powerfully, just as Niko had cut Leclerc.

  Would it be a flesh and blood horse? Yes and no. Rémy’s strong stroke had little effect, slashing a shallow cut about a foot long, just enough to enrage the horse even more. It reared up on its hind legs and was set to stomp Rémy, but the man made a nimble sprint to one side and chopped at the horse’s other shoulder. It was dashing and romantic to watch, if one wasn’t in immediate fear of being trampled to death.

  Again, the axe only made a slight dent in the creature’s withers, and Niko was in complete agreement when Heidi screeched, “Rémy! Let’s get out of here!”

  The witch, Colette, turned on them then, pointing an accusing finger. “You are all witnesses! You are forever entwined because you saw his reanimation!” She pointed at Niko when she screamed “his,” and it chilled Niko to the bone.

  Rémy turned to them. Bold and panting, muscular and powerful with the axe gripped in his hand, he was imbued with a halo of fire. Niko wondered whether the egun of his ancestors had somehow possessed him, because he certainly resembled a wild pirate with strands of hair flying around his fierce face.

  “Rémy, get out!” screamed Heidi.

  A looming rider reared up on the horse’s back, ten thousand times more fearsome than the horse had been. Niko had an impression of a knight in red armor with a golden helmet. Suddenly all drumming ceased as the drummers held their breaths, waiting to see what the demon would do.

  As Heidi leaped out and snatched Rémy from the rider’s path, the knight spoke in a surprisingly clear, refined voice. “All three of you seek redemption in different ways. To succeed, you must place stones on nine points of the pentalpha. Only then will Elegua accept your atonements and reconcile you with your egun.”

  And then, in one vigorous swipe of the arm, the demon lopped off Colette’s head with a sword.

  “Run!”

  Niko’s ears rang with the force of Rémy’s order. Crunching coconut and cowrie shells beneath their feet, the trio ran like the wind in the first direction that would give them escape from the red horse demon’s presence.

  Chapter Four

  Heidi stretched luxuriously, unfurling every muscle in her spine with delight.

  She even sighed with contentment to feel the Egyptian cotton sheets against her naked body.

  Wait. Naked…?

  Her eyes popped open and she sat bolt upright, clutching the sheet to her breasts.

  Filtered light came through a floor-to-ceiling window framed by thick red velveteen drapes. She appeared to be in some kind of a museum. Burnished real wood floors gleamed richly, and gilt-framed paintings hung by cords, tilted down at an angle at the mortal viewers below.

  Other than that, a bed and dresser were the only furniture in the room. It had the sepulchral, dusty feel of a museum exhibit, and Heidi looked around for the surveillance camera.

  She relaxed a little when she saw her familiar clothes draped across the dresser. That still didn’t explain how she came to be naked, and with no memory of it. No champagne glasses on the nightstand, no bottles of rum on the dresser, not one clue.

  Birds chirped outside the window that was open to a back garden. The distant, calm talk of two men outside assured her last night had been real. Tentatively, Heidi emerged from the comforting bed and walked sideways like an escaping convict to the dresser. Those two men. All of those bizarre occurrences in the cemetery. Had all of it been a dream? But this was most definitely not her usual room at the French Market Inn.

  Even her panties had been laid carefully on top of her loose-fitting summer dress. With utter mortification, she stepped into them, trying to recall her last memory of the night before—Mischief Night, she had always called the night before Halloween.

  My purse. Heidi rifled through her purse for her phone, which thankfully wasn’t dead. Weird thing was, there weren’t any messages. She’d been gone an entire night! She’d been lost in a fucking graveyard for God’s sake, and she hadn’t gotten one message from her friends?

  That was it. It! What the fuck! Heidi was so angry she yanked her dress down over her head, ran a brush through her hair, and used the old-fashioned bathroom attached to the bedroom.

  Well, if this is a dream, it’s a damned exciting and entertaining one.

  Both Rémy and Niko were smoking hotties, in completely different ways, of course. Raoul paled in comparison to their individual smokiness. Rémy was a tall, cool drink of water. His pointed nose and aristocratic cheekbones made Heidi believe in every sense that he was a descendant of Jean Lafitte. He towered over Heidi with authority, strands of hair coming loose from his ponytail, framing his face. He was almost too beautiful to be true, and Heidi knew he was way above her station.

  The immortal Niko was a hot, exotic number. Heidi thought he had a sly, devilish look, until she remembered where he was from. That’s not a good way to think of him. His almond-shaped eyes, the narrow bridge of his nose, his shockingly white teeth all marked him as an upper-class Free Person of Color. His French accent was even tinged with the Spanish of his native Havana. Of course, Heidi didn’t know what to make of his whole undead story. She’d seen him emerge from the mausoleum, but he could’ve just been a drunk trickster, or even part of Colette’s gang. How could he prove he was really from 1855?

  Knowing my luck, I probably have a better shot at the undead guy.

  She went to the window and saw that the two men were, indeed, sitting at a wrought iron table and chatting over coffee. The garden was elaborately designed, with sculpted topiary separating it from the neighbors. A lovely three-tiered fountain near the men wasn’t turned on, overgrown with a blooming passionflower vine. Beds of dead lilies followed the curve of the hedges, and spent blooms of angel’s trumpet littered the bricks where the man sat, deep in discussion. The garden gave the impression of a forgotten time, in keeping with the old-timey clothes Niko still wore.

  She walked down a curved staircase, impressed with the soaring ceilings and natural light. In San Francisco, well, this house would be beyond the reach of even the best stockbrokers. Heidi wondered what Rémy did for a living aside from search for his ancestor’s bars of gold. She reflected on some images from last night, mainly Niko stumbling from the mausoleum like one of the walking dead, only to sink to his knees before the masterful Rémy. She knew as well as Niko knew what happened next, although Rémy seemed in utter denial.

  Heidi knew it would be forever burned into her brain when Niko lifted that heavy cock and lavished it with big, sloppy licks. Maybe Rémy had been carried away by the ceremony Colette was putting on. Maybe it had been too dark to see who was giving him a blowjob to rival any porn star’s. But Rémy had not objected when the Afro-Cuban man had suckled him passionately. Not by any means. And Heidi surprised herself by realizing she was eager to see it happen again, too.

  The French doors to the garden were open, and Heidi stole through them soundlessly. She admitted to herself she wanted to eavesdrop on the men before they saw her.

  Niko was saying, “My sister is calling to me from Everlost, I tell you. It’s as though I can reach out and touch her. If you believe that I am really raised from the dead, why will you not believe that I can resurrect Sabine also?”

  Rémy snorted skeptically. He was even handsomer in the light of day, if such a thing was possible. With his long chocolate hair tied back in a ponytail, he could have been at home in Niko’s time as well. But he looked scrumptious in his faded 501s that conformed to every plane of his long limb
s, the large cock and balls Heidi had gotten an eyeful of nestled there, outlined by the faded denim. “I didn’t say I believe you came back from the dead. Just because you know the layout of my house doesn’t prove a damned thing. There are plenty of Greek revival homes like this in the Lower Garden District.”

  “Then how did I know this fountain with the lion head would be right here?”

  “There are hundreds of fountains like that.”

  Infuriated, Niko threw up his hands and stood. “You are the most frustrating man I have ever met! Not only can you not admit you enjoyed having your cock sucked by another man, you can never admit that I have been to this house before. You know that to admit it would be to admit that you and I are more closely intertwined than we thought.”

  Rémy, too, stood so abruptly that he knocked his wrought iron chair back onto the bricks. “All I’m admitting is that you’re a trickster and a fucking scam artist! I don’t know who you are or where you came from, but you probably want a piece of Lafitte’s gold bar action!”

  Heidi chose this moment to stride forward from the shadows. She addressed the irate Niko. “You were here before? When?”

  Niko was confident in his conviction. “I know this house well because this is where Leclerc shot me to death in 1855.”

  Wow. Heidi had not expected that.

  Rémy ranted, “He thinks that because he knew where my kitchen was, knew there was a crystal chandelier, knew the fireplace irons and grate, that would prove he’d been here before. Any fool could fake that. Heidi, tell me you’re with me on this. Don’t you think it’s suspicious this guy stumbles out of a crypt the second I’m trying to find some gold bars?”

  Both men glared at Heidi with jutting jawbones, both self-righteous in their own beliefs. Heidi was on the spot. “Well, I suppose it could seem that way, Rémy. But from where I was standing it all looked—and smelled—very real.”

  Rémy jabbed a finger at the ground. “Anyone could get old-timey clothes like that and put some dirt clumps on their shoulders! I’ve got my private investigator checking into this guy, and until then I’m not letting him out of my sight.”

  Heidi guffawed. “Checking how? Does he have a driver’s license?”

  Niko protested. “I have never driven a hack! The hack drivers drive me!”

  Heidi went to Rémy, putting a soothing hand on his upper arm. It actually felt good standing that close to him, as though they literally had good chemistry together. “Listen. It should be easy enough to prove. Niko, you say this house was owned by this Leclerc asshole?”

  “Paul Antoine Leclerc, the one and the same!”

  “There you have it. Your PI doesn’t have to check very far. In fact, I’m sure we could easily google it.”

  Niko cried, “You do not even have to ask this Google fellow. Come!” He raced away to the French doors Heidi had just emerged from. “I have told you my story, no? The story of my own death, in this very foyer. Come!”

  Rémy took Heidi’s arm and kept her from following Niko. “The story of his own death, my ass. Heidi, you’re a smart, savvy woman. You’re a stockbroker, practical, levelheaded. You tell me how it’s possible for a reanimated corpse to be walking, talking, and breathing.”

  Heidi raised an eyebrow. “Are you embarrassed that a walking, talking corpse gave you an excellent blowjob?”

  Rémy visibly reddened. Heidi felt she had won the challenge, and she broke free of his grip to follow Niko. Maybe because she knew she could never win the heart of anyone as breathtakingly handsome as Rémy Lafitte, she had decided to throw her lot in with a rejuvenated stiff. The Rémys of this world, even prettier than the Raouls, had all women eating out of their hand. Rémy thought he could manipulate her because she was plain and would fall for any old crap he handed her? Think again, pretty boy.

  Besides. She rather liked the idea that Niko was truly back from the dead.

  Niko was standing in the foyer pointing at the stairs. “See? See? Is this not solid proof?”

  Heidi reached him first, and she bent to inspect where he pointed at the banister.

  Niko continued, “How could I know beforehand there would be a bullet hole right here in this newel post? It is just as I told you last night! This is irrefutable evidence, Monsieur, and I demand an apology!”

  “He’s right,” said Heidi, standing up straight. “That’s a damned bullet hole.”

  Niko cried, “From his Colt’s Navy thirty-six caliber!”

  Rémy practically shoved Heidi aside to inspect the hole. He rose slowly, regarding both Niko and Heidi carefully. “If I do decide to believe you—”

  Niko blurted, “Leclerc was a thorn in my side for a long time. I knew his family from Havana, where both of our clans owned sugar plantations. My father, a great poet, was executed in 1844 after an unfortunate uprising, so my mother shipped me here to the Vieux Carré, where I could live free as a member of the gens de couleur libres. I was a tutor of children. I lived in peace. Only Leclerc’s increasing interest in my sister ruined my serenity. I tell you, I was reanimated for a reason. I’m being given another chance. Maybe it is to find your gold bars, or you, Madame, to make peace with your friend.”

  Rémy wasn’t willing to suspend disbelief entirely. “If it wasn’t for you, that fucking demon on the snake-horse wouldn’t have appeared last night. First Colette raised you, and then she raised the snake-horse. That fucking thing chopped off her head. We could be held liable for that.”

  It was true. Heidi couldn’t shake the image of that witchy Colette’s head rolling across the grass while her body continued to stand, like some updated version of Sleepy Hollow. “Was there anything in the news about it this morning?” she asked.

  “No, surprisingly. Maybe Colette’s associates cleaned everything up, not wanting some big Santeria scandal.”

  Niko said, “And I would not have been raised if you had not been there trying to further your own selfish ends, Monsieur, by demanding gold bars! And that demon on the snake-horse is the Duke of Demons, Baal-Berith. He can turn metal into gold and can tell anyone anything about their past, present, or future if he chooses to, but if shown disrespect he will lie to you. You showed him no respect, Monsieur, by attacking his mount.”

  Suddenly Rémy hung onto Niko’s every word. “No shit! So he’s not such a bad guy after all?”

  “Not such a bad guy?” cried Heidi. “He killed that poor woman!”

  Niko explained, “If he likes you, he can get you job promotions, bestow you with titles, improve your reputation. I fear he does not like you, Monsieur. He helps humble the self by illuminating your faults with difficulties in life that help you grow stronger.”

  Rémy cursed. “Fuck humbling myself! I’m not here to learn any damned life’s lessons, if that’s what you mean. I pay money, I put in the work, I expect to find the gold.”

  Niko said solemnly, “I’m afraid it’s already too late for it to be that simple. When people live according to their destiny and die at the proper time, their spirits don’t stay around on earth. When everything is functioning properly, the dead stay in their realm and the living in theirs.”

  Heidi said, “Obviously, things aren’t functioning properly. Wait. What did ol’ Baal-Berith say last night? ‘All three of you seek redemption in different ways. To succeed, we must place…’ That’s where my memory gets foggy.”

  The undead Niko apparently had the best memory. “We must place stones on nine points of the pentalpha. Only then will Elegua accept your atonements and reconcile you with your egun. Only then can we apologize”—he shot Rémy a bitter look—“and make amends for the wrongs we’ve done.”

  “I’ve done no wrong,” said Rémy with a tight jaw. “I founded a software empire that employs five hundred people in Austin. I bought this house to be closer to my ancestor Lafitte. I’m not just some bounty hunter, some crass treasure seeker. I pay respects to Lafitte. In fact, some of my research is giving me ideas. Over in the Lafitte Visitor Center there’s an o
ld copy of The Testament of Solomon. It’s some kind of self-help manual against demonic activity. I seem to recall something about a pentalpha in there. It’s basically a pentagram, but a sort of puzzle.”

  Heidi was impressed with Rémy’s thinking. “That’s a good place to start. We have to put stones on nine of the ten pentagram points. Now we just need to figure out where or what this pentalpha is.”

  Rémy’s voice softened when he looked at Heidi. “You don’t need to come, Heidi. I know you’re on vacation and probably want to get back to your friends.”

  Heidi was glad when Niko stepped in. “No! We’re all three bound together, Rémy—branded, stamped. All three of us witnessed the events of last night. Baal-Berith’s power will only increase in strength as Halloween progresses, and it will take all three of us to fight or beseech him.”

  She eagerly agreed. “Yes. I wouldn’t mind stopping by my hotel to get fresh clothes and maybe check in with my friends, but I agree with Niko.” She looked fondly at the tutor with the flawless café au lait skin. “Besides. Who can pass up the opportunity to help an undead man redeem himself and save his sister? This is better than a romance novel.”

  In her excitement, she took Niko’s hands between hers and held them to her chest. His look was warm, ardent, and distinctly alive. He must have showered because even the musty graveyard odor had given way to a flowery scent that was much more pleasant. Niko actually had a sultry aura, a vibration distinctly his own. Heidi felt naughty, yet thrilled to the core, and she wondered if he truly was gay. Would he, could he, ever do it with a woman? She wanted to find out.

  He said, “I’m glad you’re staying with us, Mademoiselle.”

  “Heidi.”

  “Heidi. I think this journey will be much more stimulating and interesting with you on it. I feel a sensitive but happy spirit in you…Heidi.”

  She was so pleased she said nothing, and they stared into each other’s eyes for several long seconds. Finally Rémy came between them, clapping a hand on Niko’s shoulder, practically jerking him from Heidi.