Léopold's Wicked Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans) (31 page)

“I’m going to kill it.” Laryssa’s face grew serious. A dim sadness flickered in her eyes, but they no longer held tears. The seed of hate had been planted and she planned to let it grow.

“Maybe you need to rest,” Dimitri suggested, looking to Léopold for support.

“No, I need to find it. Now.” Laryssa paused, glancing to Dimitri and then to Léopold. Her voice never wavered as she spoke with conviction. “I’m going to find that knife and drive it so deep in its heart that it’ll never be able to dislodge it. When it’s relegated to the pits of hell, it’ll spend an eternity wishing it never met me.”

Léopold and Dimitri let the silence fill the room, not responding. Everyone knew the situation would come to a head soon. They also knew Laryssa was right. She was the only one who could kill it. They had to spend the day reading the book, researching every last possibility in an effort to locate the artifact. If the demon had found a way to make itself tangible, worldly, able to strike at flesh, Laryssa’s days were numbered.

Three days had passed since the demon had attacked Laryssa. Yet as she ran her fingers over her bare stomach, it was as if she still could feel it crawling all over her. Even though Léopold had read the book from beginning to end, he’d found absolutely nothing to indicate where the Tecpatl was located. She’d spent hours on the internet researching both naiads and the Aztec civilization. Calls to experts at the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History and several other prominent institutions proved futile. While they all knew of Tecpatls or kept them in their collections, none had been specified as the Tlalco Tecpatl. Even more disheartening, most denied its very existence.

Exhausted, she and Léopold had made love only a few times since the night they’d committed to each other. Laryssa suffered insomnia, worried the demon would call on her again in her sleep. As depression set in, she considered how unfair it was of her to insist that Léopold only feed from her. It was likely that she’d be dead by the end of the week. She’d asked that he choose her, yet what right had she to give herself to him when she knew she would die? The guilt made her want to push him away so he wouldn’t care for her, wouldn’t miss her when she died. After the devastation he’d endured from the death of his wife and children, she refused to be responsible for killing him a second time.

Returning to the lake had been Laryssa’s only refuge. The more time she spent in it, the more she wondered what it’d be like to just live there like a mermaid in a sea. Rising through the water, she glided along the waves, pretending not to notice Léopold sitting in his chaise longue on the dock. She hated the book, the very one glued to his hands. Like a worthless newspaper, she wished she could throw it in the fireplace and light it up in flames. She let the satisfying fantasy float around in her head for several minutes before gathering the nerve to approach Léopold. It tore her apart to suggest that he call on a donor, but she resolved to talk with him….to prepare him for her death. Terrified of his reaction, she swam slowly toward him, keeping her eyes lowered to the water.

“How are you, my beautiful naiad?” he asked, never taking his eyes off the pages.

“I’m okay…I’m wet. Anything new?”

“‘Fraid not. Just more of the same jumbled mess of water facts…insane, really. I know this was written several hundred years ago, but seriously, it’s nothing but babble.”

“Garbage in, garbage out,” she muttered.

“Hmm?”

“I said, garbage in, garbage out. Did you ever consider that Ilsbeth just, I don’t know, got it wrong? Fucked up? Maybe she’s full of shit too,” she seethed.

“Temper, temper, ma chérie. We’ll figure this out.” He took a deep breath and sat the book on his lap, adjusting his sunglasses.

“Yeah, well, you’re not the one destined to become the bride of Satan in a few days. No, that’d be me. Lucky, lucky me.” Laryssa flopped to her back, moving her hands and legs back and forth, floating on the surface.

“A demon,” he corrected.

“What? Did you just seriously say that?” Laryssa lifted her head to yell over at him. “What the fuck difference does it make whether it’s a demon or the real king of hell, or not? It told me it was a king. Believe me, where it took me, it was hell…hell for me anyway. Do you know what happens when I don’t have water?”

“Oui, I do. And I’m well aware that you’re scared. I don’t blame you. Don’t you think that I’m pissed off that we can’t find anything in this damn book? That I’m scared to death that I’m going to lose you? Jesus Christ, Laryssa, I just found you…I need you. But we’ve gotta keep focused. Keep our eye on the proverbial prize. We can’t get distracted. You’re letting your fear blur your thoughts.” Léopold hadn’t adjusted to the trepidation Laryssa had projected since she’d been attacked. No amount of cajoling had helped to alleviate her spiraling descent into hopelessness.

Léopold decided that he was done being nice. He’d push her to the edge, incite her anger. He needed her to fight. Leaning over, he placed his forearms on his knees, holding the book with both his hands.

“Did you hear me? Are you listening, nymph? Because I need you to stop feeling sorry for yourself. This is far from over. I’m telling you that you need to shove all that woe-is-me crap down deep and get with the game. I don’t know what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, but whatever you’re getting ready to tell me, I know I’m not gonna like it. So what’s it going to be? Are you going to just lay back and die? Because if that’s the case, we might as well just call the demon now.” Léopold thought he may have gone a little too far, but he was getting desperate to shake her out of her funk.

“You, you…” Laryssa saw red. Did he really think she’d given up? Mad at him, angrier at herself, she went on the attack. Her voice got louder as she swam toward him. “You condescending ass! Do you really think I survived all this time to just roll over and let some fucking demon take me? God, I hate this,” she screamed. Hauling her palm back into the water, she shoved it forward.

A deluge of cold spray splashed over Léopold. He jumped up and threw off his sunglasses, wiping at his face and hands. In the process, the book fell to the deck.

“And there ya go. That’s the spirit,” he laughed. Unfolding a towel, he wiped his face.

“You’re mean,” she spat back at him, finding it difficult not to laugh. The sight of her debonair vampire, hopping up and down as if he’d been doused in holy water brought a smile to her face.

“I prefer the term, ‘motivational’, no?” He shot her a broad smile before searching for his shades. They, too, had fallen to the ground. As he reached to snap them up, he noticed the book. Its brown leather cover was covered in a speckled glow, similar to the color that Laryssa emanated when she submerged.

“Laryssa, come here,” he called, his voice tense. “The book.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed. But as she pushed up onto the warmed wooden planks, she, too, saw what had captivated Léopold’s attention. “What is it? How? It’s sparkling.”

“No, ma chérie, it’s glowing. Glowing just like you. Don’t you see? It’s the water,” he exclaimed. “We should have known.”

“What should we do?” Laryssa asked excitedly. Reason quickly set in and her mind began to turn with possibilities. “If it’s the water, maybe I should take it in with me. Wait. No. We can’t just throw it in the water. The pages are paper. I’m certain of it. There’s no way that would work. Maybe brush it on there…carefully or something. But look at it. There’re a thousand pages. I mean, how would we know where to start?”

“Come.” He patted the dock. She gave him a look, raising her eyebrow at him. Realizing how much she disliked being bossed around, he corrected his words in a sweet tone that told her he understood her perfectly. “Would you please join me?”

He laughed as he said the words aloud, aware of how ridiculous he sounded. Léopold Devereoux didn’t ask. He ordered. Sometimes nicely, sometimes, not at all. Being with Laryssa was changing all of that, teaching him a set of manners he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to learn. But as her laughter filled the air, he shook his head, knowing he’d done the right thing. The sound of her joy was becoming the most delightful part of his day.

“Yes, darling,” she drawled, smiling up at him. “I do love sitting next to you.”

“Mais oui. I’m a catch.” He winked and gave her a lopsided grin, chuckling as she shoved on him gently with her shoulder. “Look, it’s starting to fade.”

Leaning forward, he captured a bit of the water in his hand and flicked it over the cover, but the spots continued to vanish. He blew out a breath.

“Wait. Let’s just think. It’s my book, right? If anyone could make it work, it would’ve been discovered already. So maybe,” she hesitated, then dipped her fingers into the basin and ran them across the cover. Instantly, it lit up again. A broad smile broke across her face at the victory. “I’m the one who has to do it.”

“Excellent. Now….we start at the beginning,” Léopold said, flipping the cover open to the first blank page. “The table of contents. Fifty chapters. I’ll hold it. Go ahead, touch it,” he urged.

Laryssa did as he said, carefully brushing her wet finger across the paper. She shook her head, disappointed nothing was revealed. Léopold carefully pulled over another sheet. Half way down, a line began to appear.

“Leo, look,” she whispered, astonished it was working.

“Lucky number twenty-seven.” Léopold took out his cell phone as the writing appeared on the page. When she lifted her hand, he snapped a picture. “Calle del Arsenal de las Ursulinas? Mères des filles. La clé.”

“The historical signs? Rue des Ursulines. Ursuline Avenue. What does the rest mean?”

“Mères des filles translates to mothers of girls. La clé. The key.”

“I was hoping for something along the lines of: ‘follow this map to get the knife’. Guess I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.” She blew out a breath and looked out to the lake, deep in thought. “Mothers. Girls. I don’t know. Is there a school on Ursuline? Maybe it’s hidden there.”

“Filles du’ Casket.”

“What?”

“Filles du’ Casket. The casket girls. The convent on Ursuline.”

“You mean the one that tourists visit? Rumors of scary vampires?” She laughed.

“Oui. That’s the one. But as you know, my pet, vampires have been around for the millennium. The Ursulines came over in the early eighteenth century. Perhaps the good sisters protected the Tecpatl? They were known to take in young girls, the poor and the like. Maybe a naiad sought safe harbor and hid the relic within the convent walls?”

“But where? I guess we could get in on a tour, but where would we even begin to look?”

“Not worried about how we’ll get in…I’ve got that covered.” He shot her a knowing smile. “It’s the where that’s a problem. The place’s fairly large, and the item is probably small. Maybe we should try chapter twenty-seven…to see if there’s more.”

Laryssa turned the pages, her anxiety rising.
Two days.
It was all she had left to find the Tecpatl. Why couldn’t the naiad who wrote the book be direct about its location? She had an inkling of worry that the enigmatic words would only lead them on a wild goose chase, but they were out of options. She shrugged and shook her head in frustration, searching for the chapter.
Let the chase begin.
Again, she dipped her fingers in the water, running them over the wafer thin folio, her eyes widening as more letters surfaced.

“Le waterleaf tombe donne la clé,” Léopold read.

“What’s it mean?” she asked.

“The waterleaf falls bestows the key…which makes absolutely no sense at all.” He sighed and plowed his fingers into the hair on the back of his head.

“Maybe it’ll make sense once we get there?”

“Maybe.”
It fucking better
, he thought. He’d just spent time trying to convince Laryssa they’d find the Tecpatl, yet the text made no mention of it. “Try the next page, there’s got to be more.”

She repeated the process, but this time a primitive drawing appeared. A series of lines hovered above what looked to be scales, a fish. Below the fish was a key. Laryssa sighed, unsure of how it tied in with the Tecpatl. Immediately she pictured the river.

“Un poisson,” Léopold commented, looking at the picture. “Like you, no?”

“Did you just call me a fish?”

“Oui. But in a good way.” He laughed and placed a kiss to her cheek. “Surely this is tied to you? It’s a fish. And water. I’m not sure what it means yet but at least we have a clue.”

“So, uh, how do you feel about breaking into a convent later?”

“Sounds good. I take all my dates there,” he teased.

“Thought you didn’t date?” she countered.

“Touché. That was true, but I do now.”

“A convent, huh? You sure vampires don’t burst into flames at the sight of a cross?”

“Easy there. You’re going to insult my delicate ego.”

“Delicate ego? Now that’s a good one, Leo,” she jibed.

“Come now, we must get ready to leave. Sun will be down in an hour. We’ll take the car then, you know, pop in,” he suggested.

“About that…you promised to warn me first, right?”

“Promise, mon amour,” he purred, kissing her neck. This woman would break him, he knew. He had to figure out a way to save her. If she died, he might as well stake himself.

“Nice wheels. Can I drive it?’ Laryssa asked, trying to distract herself from the fact that they were about to break into a convent.
Yep, if there is a more direct path to hell, I can’t think of one….well, aside from the damned demon.

“You know I’m very fond of you, no?” Léopold deflected her question, staring at the cream-colored plastered wall that surrounded the old convent.

“So you’ll let me drive it?”

“You’re the most beautiful little naiad I’ve ever met.”

“I’m the only naiad you’ve met. Can I drive home?” She smiled at him, realizing he was avoiding answering.

“Well, aside from Ava, that’s true. You ready to go inside?”

“I’ve never been in a Lamborghini before. How fast does it go?” she continued.

“Do you recall me telling you that I don’t share?” he countered.