Shades of Gray: A Jude Magdalyn Novel (27 page)
“Go over,” he murmured in my ear, never changing his pace. “Go over for me.” How could I resist when he asked? Not long after I came for him, Theo moved quicker, deeper. Not much, but just enough to feel myself building again, so soon after the last orgasm.
I turned my face to find his mouth with mine. My hands slid off his slick back to clutch at the sweat dampened sheets. I opened my eyes to find him watching me, fingers tangled in my hair spread across the pillows. He raised his mouth from mine, breath shuddering in and out, our pulses pounding almost in unison.
“Say it again, Jude.”
No hesitation. “I love you.”
He sighed and gave one final thrust, deeper than any before. It shocked my system, jolted me completely, and through the crash of my own body I recognized the shudders which ran through his. He slid down to rest his head in the curve between neck and shoulder, his breathing as labored as mine.
“I love you, Jude. Now and forever.” After long moments he chuckled.
“What?”
“Do you think that if Gillian had known what reading her letter would lead to, she’d have delivered it sooner?”
It didn’t rain, despite
forecasts to the contrary. Theo said not even the elements would mess with Gillian’s final resting plans. Given her temper, I’d agreed with him. I could see Gillian raising hell if things didn’t go the way she’d planned.
Now I knew where I got my stubborn streak from.
I don’t know how much sleep Theo got, but I slept most of the day. Elizabeth didn’t even come in to wake me until around one. I’d taken a single glance at her face and decided to do whatever she wanted. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize she and Rian hadn’t made up from their argument. I was going to do my best to be the target of as little anger as possible.
Gillian had picked out my clothes for the day, with another little note reminding me not to argue. It was so little to ask considering all we’d lost. Even if Gillian had picked the ugliest thing in the world I’d still have worn it. But Gillian knew me better than I’d ever know her, and she’d chosen another snazzy little suit, this one a purple dark it looked almost black.
“Gillian always said you wore too much black. With your hair, you resemble the original Goth pretender.” Elizabeth’s voice broke into my thoughts, and I glanced up as I pulled the zipper shut on my boots. She flushed and probably would have apologized if I hadn’t spoken.
“Izzy always said I wore too much black, too.” I brushed my hair back from my face, turning my head side to side. “I could always go blonde.”
“Only if you want a serious fight on your hands.” Elizabeth planted her hands on her hips at my snort of disbelief. “Jude, I’ll beat you myself if you show up with blonde hair. Not to mention what Theo would do.”
“What I’d do about what?” I looked in the mirror to find Theo leaning against the door frame, as comfortable in his black suit as in jeans, or nothing at all.
“Jude made mention of bleaching her hair.” Elizabeth sounded disgusted. I’d thought out loud, nothing more. Something I would apparently not do again in the future.
“Jude’s hair is her own.” Theo had his easy smile in place when he crossed the room to stand behind me and rested his hands on my shoulders. He ran his fingers through my hair, twirling pieces until the strands seemed to float down my back and over my breasts. “Although why she would want to change something which makes her unique, I have no idea.”
“Clever,” I murmured, catching one of his hands with mine. “I suppose if I said something about cutting it, a real battle would break out.” He stood me up, straightening the suit jacket. Elizabeth watched in silence, although I caught her biting her lip out of the corner of my eye.
“Smart woman. If you get tired of brushing it, I’ll take over the chore.” Theo took a deep breath, and I admired the way the suit moved with every little movement. “It’s nearly three. We need to leave.”
“Shouldn’t I pull my hair up? Aren’t you supposed to be formal at a funeral?”
Elizabeth spoke up, sure of herself once more. “Gillian never wore her hair up. Not once that I can remember.”
Theo nodded, and I smiled slightly. “Well then, I don’t see why anyone has a reason to complain.”
I heard Elizabeth muttering as she left the room ahead of us. It sounded suspiciously like, “And that’s ever stopped anyone before?”
St. Louis Cathedral is
always beautiful, even when the day is absolute crap, and it’s huge, which was a really good thing. Even in such an immense space, Gillian’s Funeral Mass was standing room only. There were a few murmurs and whispers when Theo, Rian, Elizabeth and Celia accompanied me into the pew set aside for family. I stood in the center aisle, scanned the entire chapel and the crowd settled down.
I’d always wanted the ability to silence a room with little effort. Too bad Gillian had to die for me to get it.
Backed up in both directions
as far as the eye could see, brake lights glowed in the late afternoon gloom along Canal. Royal had been shut down completely. The only traffic on the street was the funeral procession making its way slowly Uptown.
Rian carried Celia, under protest from Elizabeth. When she snapped at him about being perfectly capable of carrying her sister, Rian ignored her. Celia advised Elizabeth - unless she was nicer, Celia never get to wear the yellow dress. Elizabeth responded by telling her sister neither one of them had yellow dresses; Celia smirked, and responded, “Not yet.”
It’s hard to argue with a five year old who knows more about the future than you do.
The wind started to pick up and I glanced at the sky. Dark clouds had rolled in, and I heard the rumblings of thunder in the distance. “It’ll rain before this is over.”
“Have faith, Jude.” Theo smiled at me when I raised his hand to my lips to copy the gesture he was so fond of.
“In you, yes. In the weather, no. This is New Orleans, Theo. If one thing is constant, it’s the weather will change at the drop of a hat.”
“Maybe.” Theo’s smile grew at my snort. “Just keep the clouds at bay a little while longer, Jude. Consider it one more of Gillian’s lessons.”
You’re not supposed to laugh when you’re walking in a funeral procession. Anyone who had a problem could stuff it.
I’d always liked
the cemetery Uptown, and saw why the Covenant chose Lafayette No. 1 as their burial ground. The tourists go there, but they’re respectful and it’s a quiet, more residential neighborhood. You don’t need to worry about people trying to contact voodoo queens in the same place you buried your family.
It’s the little things to keep in mind whenever you think about where you’ll spend the remainder of eternity.
Theo told me the area of Lafayette in which we stood contained former members of the Covenant, which explained the engravings on some of the tombs. You don’t find a picture of a roaring inferno on most tombs. It’s usually weeping angels and things along those lines.
Lies told me Gillian’s crypt housed all the former leaders of the Covenant, with the exception of my mother. In a sense this was my family plot. In two weeks I’d gone from having no family to speak of to a whole history. Most people would have drunk themselves under the table by now.
I wasn’t sure if I should envy or pity them. Probably a little bit of both.
Father O’Brien led the service but other than offering condolences and hope for a better tomorrow I have no idea what he said. I scanned the Council members, right at the forefront of the Covenant. Weighing. Measuring. Who could be trusted? Who couldn’t? I met Great-grandmother Lisette’s eyes and knew the answer to some questions.
The bigger question was how far did the betrayal go? Did I not trust her because of what she’d helped do to my family? Or a more clear and present reason?
Clinging to my leg, Celia patted it nervously. I looked down, startled at the tears on her face. I hadn’t once seen her cry, not even after the few hours she’d been left alone with Hart and company. She lifted her arms and I picked her up, shifting my stance to take her weight on my hip.
“You won’t let them die, will you?”
I didn’t ask who, because I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to worry any more than I already did whenever people left my sight. I opened my mouth to say of course not, but I couldn’t.
“Of course she won’t, Celia.” Theo moved and we supported Celia between us, a bright light against our darker hair and skin. Elizabeth looked at me and I shook my head. I don’t think any of us needed to know what Celia saw.
We had enough death to deal with at present.
“Do you think Gillian would have worked with her for two weeks if she thought Jude wouldn’t win?” Color me shocked, amazed, and every other shade of dumbfounded. Lies must have changed her diet, found God, or gotten laid, because I couldn’t think of a single damn reason why she’d be saying positive things about me.
Apparently her sister didn’t either. Guile scowled at her sister and muttered something under her breath while grabbing her arm. Lies jerked away, her face reddened, and moved to stand on the other side of me beside Elizabeth. Elizabeth looked at me and mouthed
What the fuck,
but I didn’t have a clue either. Lies had been nicer the past couple of days, but a complete one-eighty personality shift?
I made a mental note to check the liquor cabinet when I got home. Find out if someone had been dipping in on the sly.
Father O’Brien bowed his head and crossed himself and I followed out of habit. After a brief moment of silence a tiny wave of sound began to sweep through the crowd. By the time those closest to me parted and Williams and his followers came into view the wave had turned into a wall of angry murmurs.
Somebody at the reading of Gillian’s will had talked out of school.
Williams’ face held its usual blankness, like he didn’t hear the rosaries being prayed and the sarcastic requests for a lighter. More than a few of his followers looked uncomfortable.
“Thank you for allowing me to come and pay my respects.”
“Gillian trusted you, in a professional sense.” My voice was cool, almost clipped. “Whatever my personal feelings, I trust Gillian’s judgment. She would be upset if we allowed our disagreement to prevent you from being here, and working together in the future.”
Williams stepped forward until he was so close our clothes touched. I felt Theo bristle beside me, but with Celia between us there wasn’t a great deal he could do. The fact we were in front of my grandmother’s crypt probably put a slight damper on the inclination to beat the crap out of him.
“I told you before this was over you would hate me.”
It was surprising how calm I felt. Like whatever feelings I might have had for him had shriveled until I could tuck them down inside me and lock them away. I wouldn’t forget them, but whatever might have been between me and Williams wasn’t something which touched me anymore.
“Congratulations, Williams. You win. What’s the grand prize?”
For barely a second regret flashed through his eyes. Williams stepped away and motioned one of his followers forward. I recognized him as one of the men I’d seen the first night, the one who’d be twenty for all eternity. I hope he lied on his license and claimed to be at least twenty-one.
The boy held a carved wooden box, its surface dark and glossy from years of being handled. He passed the box to Williams, who held it for a moment before speaking. “Gillian gave this to me before we left to retrieve Celia. She told me to make sure you received it when the time was right.” He looked over his shoulder at the open slot, waiting for Gillian’s coffin to be slid inside. “I can’t imagine when a better time would be.”
I nodded, and Elizabeth stepped forward to take the box from Williams. She stepped back and out of the corner of my eye I caught Rian drawing her further back to put more distance between her and Williams. A little overprotective, but if his nerves were anything like mine, I couldn’t fault the gesture.
“We’ll be in touch.” I held my tongue, because there really wasn’t anything left to say. Williams nodded and gave one of his short, stiff bows. He waited for a moment, as if expecting me to reciprocate in some way.
I was the leader of the Covenant. Gillian’s granddaughter. I didn’t bow to anyone.
Williams nodded again, as if he understood what I wasn’t saying. “We’ll be waiting.” Between one heartbeat and the next he vanished and I sucked in a relieved breath.
“There’s a lock built into the box, Jude.” Rian’s voice was quiet, almost reverent. “I don’t suppose you have an idea of where the key is?”
“In my parlor, on the side table, under Gillian’s letter.” I rested my check on Celia’s head, rubbing against the silky curls. “This is Gillian. She made sure I had clothes to wear to this show. Do you really think she would’ve locked something away and not given me a key?”
“Point taken.” Rian took the box from Elizabeth without a single word of protest from her. Since Elizabeth was used to carting Celia around, I knew whatever was in the box had to be pretty heavy. I craned my neck over to look at the designs etched on the top, not shocked to find a pentagram and a trinity knot. If the box was as old as it seemed, it must have been passed down for a few hundred years. Something Theo said earlier popped into my head.
Whenever the former leader of the Covenant passes on, their Book of Shadows is locked away.
“It’s Gillian’s Book of Shadows.” A murmur rose from the crowd behind me and I turned to glare at them. “I don’t give a damn about your rules before now. I’ll take whatever help I can get. I’m tired of people dying, and on top of that, she was my grandmother. If she wants to leave me a book, she can leave me a fucking book.”
“The former Council rescinded her rights as your grandmother.” Of course someone had to be a bitch. What a shock, it was Great-grandmother Lisette.
“The former Council can go fuck themselves.” I smiled sweetly while Theo clapped his hands over Celia’s ears. Great-grandmother Lisette’s sightless eyes went big with shock. “Last time I checked, I was the leader of the Covenant and if I want to claim Gillian as my grandmother I damn well will, and anyone who doesn’t like my decision can go fuck their self.”
“You’re repeating yourself, Jude. You usually have more imagination.” Theo sounded amused. I noticed he didn’t tell me to stop cursing at his great-grandmother.
“You’ll have me mind my language, but not the common slut next to you?”
“Language, Great-grandmother Lisette. Children are present.” He didn’t say it outright, but in a way he did. Theo chose his side.
He chose me.
Great-grandmother Lisette harrumphed to herself. Turning around to push through the crowd, Guile, Christophe and a few others followed her. The rest of the Covenant remained, watching, waiting, wondering what I would say or do to shock them next, but I didn’t say anything. Celia did.
“Lizzy, Great-grandmother Lisette is such a bitch.” If Theo hadn’t been helping hold her, I would’ve dropped Celia right then and there. I waited for Elizabeth to correct her. And waited. And waited. I turned my head to stare at her, and she shrugged.
