Bound, An Arelia LaRue Novel #1 YA Paranormal Romance (17 page)

“
You shouldn’t be here.” My
voice hadn’t come out as strong as it had sounded in my head.
Physically, I’d never been attracted to someone as much as I was to
him, but I had to get a grip on it and focus on why I was here. I
had to make money not spend the summer drooling over some
guy.

Before I could take another step
backwards, he grabbed me and pulled me towards his hard chest. I
could feel his heart beating almost as fast as mine. I wanted to
yell at him, but a part of me felt exhilarated to be so close to
him. “Let go of me,” I demanded even though a larger part of me
didn’t want him to.

“
Arelia, please listen to
me.” His eyes were full of fire and sorrow.

“
Maybe if you let go of me,
I will.” I struggled to regain my composure.

Slowly, he set me free, and I sat down
on the bed making sure that I maintained a considerable distance
from him. “Go on,” I ordered. I was curious as to what was making
him so anxious.

“
I don’t know how to start
or what words I can use without scaring you,” he began. “Since the
first time I ever laid eyes on you, I knew that you could help me.”
He paused and took a deep breath. “I need you,” he spat
out.

That was unexpected. “You need me for
what exactly?”

“
Lucus, there you are!”
Sabrina stood in the doorway, dressed in a black and white floral,
Prada evening dress. I had been with her when she had bought
it.

Knowing that Sabrina was already angry
at me, Lucus lied. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I figured
you must have come in here.”

“
I was just in the bathroom
freshening up sugar.” She gave him a little wink. Had she really
just called him sugar? Seriously. Sugar? Not wasting an opportunity
to make a snide remark to me in front of Lucus she said, “Arelia,
feel free to borrow some of my pajamas. Those shorts look like they
could turn to dust any second. Now, Lucus, you promised me a tour
of the garden.”

“
It’s quite late,” Lucus
halfheartedly replied. “Perhaps it would be better if I showed you
the gardens with all of the other guests?”

“
Don’t be silly, I love the
smell of flowers in the evening,” she twisted the truth. The only
flowers she liked to smell were the ones crushed and made into
expensive perfume.

“
Yeah, she really does.” I
hoped that Lucus would pick up on my cue and take Sabrina to the
garden. If he didn’t, she would get even angrier at me and at this
point I had enough drama for the day.

“
Alright then, I’ll be happy
to show you the garden. Good evening to you Arelia,” Lucus warily
gave me a small nod. He understood that I wanted to keep the peace
and the only way that it was possible at this point was him giving
Sabrina a stupid tour of the garden.

Once they left, I couldn’t stop
thinking about what Lucus had said to me. How the hell did he need
me? Was he some kind of player, pitting Sabrina and I against one
another by making each of us like him. Not that I did like him or
anything even though he was attractive. It was all so strange, but
I wanted to find out more, I kind of had to. If he was dangerous, I
needed to warn Sabrina. Even though, we were fighting, I understood
that we would be okay eventually, we always were. I hoped we would
be anyways. I glanced out of the window, and in the distance, I
could see Lucus and Sabrina as they made their way to the main
garden. Sabrina had her arm linked with Lucus’s, and for just a
split second, I imagined what it would feel like to be in her
place.

I had been staring out the window for a
few minutes when I heard another knock at the door. “Hey queen, are
you up? Open the door.”

“
Go away, I’m
sleeping.”

“
If you were sleeping, you
wouldn’t be talking, open the door. I’ll make an embarrassing scene
if you don’t.” Ivan started pounding on the door loud enough that
the guests who were sleeping probably were wide awake by
now.

“
What do you want?” I was
furious as I flung the door open.

“
Hello to you too.” He let
himself in and sprawled out on my bed.

“
Gross, you smell like a
mini-bar, get off of my bed.”

“
What are you reading?” He
ignored me and picked up the LaRue spell book that I had left open
on my bed.

“
It’s none of your
business.” I tried to grab the book from his hand, but he was
holding on to it too tightly and I was afraid it might
rip.

“
Black cats and graveyard
dirt, I was right, you are a voodoo queen.” He looked awfully
pleased with himself.

“
Even if I were, it’s none
of your business.” I sat down on the bed next to him as he
proceeded to flip through the book. It would be my only chance to
grab it from him.

“
So what kind of tricks can
you do?” He took off his black t-shirt and tossed it on the
floor.

“
This isn’t your house, and
I’m not your maid.” I picked up the shirt and tossed it back at
him.

“
Hey, it’s a hot night, and
I thought you’d appreciate the view.” He demonstrated his perfectly
cut abs. “Now tell me what kind of stuff can you do?”

“
Nothing,” I replied
wearily, not quite telling the truth. I didn’t trust Ivan, he was
too interested, always lurking around and showing up at odd
times.

“
You can’t be serious, you
say you’re a voodoo queen, but you can’t do any magic?” His
laughter filled the silent room. “You’ve got to be kidding me, that
is hilarious.”

“
I never said I was a voodoo
queen, you did.” I pointed out.

“
Hey, it’s okay, if you want
to talk about it.” His voice took on a thoughtful tone for
once.

“
With you? Thanks, but I’ll
pass.

“
Hey, I’m a pretty
trustworthy guy.”

“
Any guy that says he’s
trustworthy probably isn’t. Now, give me back the book.”

“
You know the LaPlantes are
scum, don’t you?” He said out of nowhere. Darkness filled his grey
eyes. For an instant, I saw much more than a jerk. I saw a guy who
was deeply troubled and tormented over something that he had not
gotten over.

“
Why? You don’t even know
them.”

“
I’ve heard rumors, plus any
family that builds their wealth off the back of slaves is pretty
much scum in my books,” he proclaimed adamantly.

“
Why should you care how the
family got their money? Plus, by the looks of it, your family
probably did the same thing.”

“
Don’t be so quick to judge
queen,” he snarled.

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?” I inquired.

“
Nothing,” he replied. “So
why are you at Darkwood anyways?”

“
A vacation. What does it
look like I’m doing here? I’m just trying to pay the
bills.”

“
I guess we do have
something in common after all. Just two working class people trying
to scrape by, watching the rich kids play.”

“
I’m not watching anyone
play.” I knew he was referring to Sabrina.

“
Oh please, you wish you
were Sabrina, don’t you? You would just love hanging off Lucus’s
arm.” He stretched out further and put his hands under his
head.

“
And you would love to be
Lucus and have Sabrina hang on to your every word,” I fired
back.

“
Yeah sure,” he laughed.
“Trust me, that’s one guy I wouldn’t want to be, and that’s one
girl that I could easily have. So have you lived in New Orleans
your whole life, when did you find out you were a
queen?”

“
Oh lord, how many times do
I have to tell you that I’m not a queen,” I threw my hands up in
the air in frustration. “Yes, born and raised in New Orleans.” Why
was I even bothering answering his questions?

“
There’s no need to snap,
I’m just trying to make small talk. I guess I better let you get
your beauty rest, it looks like you really need it.” He glanced
over my shabby shorts and smirked. “Once you learn a few tricks I’d
be so happy to see them.” He finally got off of the bed and let
himself out of the room. What a weirdo.

Chapter 13

Summer School

Keeping good on my promise to Ms. Mae
and Erzulie, I hauled myself out of bed early the next morning in
order to attend my first lesson in voodoo. The weather was an
accurate reflection of my mood, dark and gloomy, a sure indication
that it was going to start pouring any second. Sabrina’s snores
filled the entire room as usual. I was surprised to see that she
actually managed to sleep in the same room as me and hadn’t crashed
in Lucus’s room again.

Downstairs the kitchen smelled inviting
as always and since I was too mad to eat dinner last night, my
stomach was begging for something made out of chocolate.

“
Arelia, you made it.” Ms.
Mae greeted me looking radiant as usual in an aquamarine blue dress
with a matching headscarf. The colors made her green eyes appear
even brighter.

“
You’re not looking too
well,” Henri noted as he sipped what smelt like French
coffee.

Ms. Mae came over to me and put her
hand on my forehead. “Temperatures alright, you haven’t been eating
well, that’s the problem. You’ve been running around and neglecting
to put anything in that tiny stomach of yours.”

I rolled my eyes. Did I really look
like crap? It was early, and my eyes were puffy in the morning,
they didn’t have to make me feel bad about it. Plus, it was way too
hot to eat. “It’s too hot to eat full meals,” I complained. “I can
really go for iced coffee and chocolate though.”

“
Pierre, make my niece some
iced coffee and some Creole Pancakes,” Ms. Mae ordered the plump
chef who was standing over the stove. “Ivan, please bring them to
my office when you’re done.”

“
Yes, ma’am,” Ivan
responded. Oh great, I was never going to hear the end of this.
Ivan smirked at me from the corner of the kitchen, he was fully
aware that I was embarrassed by Ms. Mae bossing him around and
asking him to bring me breakfast.

“
Arelia, come with me,” she
commanded. Henri gave her a kiss and excused himself to attend some
chores.

“
I’ll be right there,” I
replied lingering back, so I could tell Ivan that I could get my
own breakfast.

“
Don’t worry, queen your
breakfast is coming right up.” Ivan gave me a curtsy like people
probably gave Will and Kate.

“
I don’t need you to do me
any favors. I’m waiting here, so I can get it myself.”

“
Sure, I hear you. Pierre
don’t keep the queen waiting.”

“
Pierre don’t listen to him,
take all the time you want.” When Pierre was done with breakfast, I
helped myself and headed towards Ms. Mae’s office. “What is all
this?” I asked as I examined the various substances that filled the
jars on the shelves.

“
Have a seat,” Ms. Mae
directed pointing to a wooden chair and managing to ignore my
question. “I assume that you’ve started reading the book I gave
you.”

“
Yes,” I started last night.
I had brought it downstairs with me, but it was so heavy, I was
relieved to have a place to put it down.

“
So what have you learnt so
far?” She sternly asked.

“
You know the usual. Black
cats, voodoo dolls,” I retorted still not taking the whole thing
seriously.

“
Please, be serious Arelia,”
her voice filled with irritation. I had to admit I was being a
little immature, but my iced coffee hadn’t kicked in yet. “What is
the difference between hoodoo and voodoo?”

“
They start with different
letters,” I shrugged.

Ms. Mae repressed a laugh and tried to
maintain her somber expression. “Yes, but there are more
differences than just a letter. Hoodoo is pure magic without the
help of the spirits while voodoo is magic with the aid of the
spirits. The LaRue family tradition uses both voodoo and hoodoo. We
ask the spirits for help and guidance but also rely on the earth’s
natural properties to conjure and carry out other magical
rituals.

“
Okay, what does that mean
exactly? I don’t really believe in all of this or anything like
that.”

After examining me for a moment, Ms.
Mae eventually spoke. “You can choose to believe or not to believe,
in the end what you are meant to do eventually will find you. You
can spend your life running and living in denial or be brave and
accept the reality of your destiny. This isn’t something you
choose. It selects you.”

“
Why should I accept it? Why
me? What makes me different? I don’t get it.” I could feel myself
getting frustrated. “Why do I have to be a voodoo
queen?”

“
You have to accept that not
all souls are equal. Some are strong while others are weak. It
doesn’t matter how long a soul has been roaming around, some will
never be as influential as others. It’s a just a myth that we are
all equal. People go running around thinking that they can offer
their soul to the Devil, and he will come and shower them with
riches,” she paused for dramatic effect. The Devil’s no fool and he
doesn’t want any old soul, he wants the powerful ones. The spirits
also only help the ones that are strong enough to accept their
gifts.”