Supernatural Seduction (Book 2 of the Coffin Girls Series) (5 page)

“Miss Suzette,” Sylvain called out after
taking a sip of the heavenly taste of the New Orleans styled
caffeinated milk beverage. “If I was a younger man, you wouldn’t
stand a chance. I wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

To Sophie’s disgusted embarrassment, Miss
Suzette tittered like a teenager. “Oh, go on with you,” Miss
Suzette swatted the air in Sylvain’s direction, “I know a player
when I see one.”

“I prefer V’s term for him,” Sophie
interjected, “man-whore." Sophie mentally admonished herself for
the verbal slip. He might be a flirtatious gigolo, but he was also
their friend and had helped them eagerly, on many occasions. Most
recently, when he caringly served them warm blood and most notably
when he’d fought alongside them in a battle that had little to do
with him. But, he also had the tendency to get all sorts of rises
out of her—including the scintillating kind that she didn’t need or
want. As Prince of Fae, he was used to women falling at his feet
and not just to bow or curtsy or whatever the fae term was for
subjugation. Nope they literally threw themselves at him. If he'd
been unattractive, she could put it down to them gold-digging, but
no, he had to go and look like a flippin' movie star with his
honey-colored hair and those gorgeous baby blues of his. She’d
argued many times with herself that she'd found him so attractive,
because he was so different from her late husband. He wasn’t as
handsome or as brawny as Pierre had been, but he was devilishly,
‘naughty boy’ gorgeous with a body that was toned and sylph-like in
grace.

Sylvain regarded Sophie again in surprise.
She was definitely not in the best of moods as her eyes shot
daggers at him while she sat in sullen silence. Instead of being
irritated by it, he found it amusing and decided to give it a prod.
“Ah, but then V could say that because she spoke from experience.
You cannot, which is something that can most certainly be remedied
ma petite chérie
.” Sylvain noted her lips pressed in
disapproval again at the mention of the kiss V and he had shared in
front of their friends. The kiss had not been one that stemmed from
lust, although it had been enjoyable. Sylvain had used the kiss as
the quickest means of providing V with the secret to locating the
bayou fae hollow. He’d literally transferred the information from
tongue to tongue.

When Sophie didn’t succumb to his goading, he
pushed a bit further. “You get up on the wrong side of the bed,
Sophie? Back to Miss Suzette’s earlier point, a beautiful woman,
left long unattended by a man will succumb more easily to well …
petulance. Maybe you should experience this man-whore for yourself.
It might make you rise and shine instead of rise and screech.”

Sophie observed Miss Suzette’s shoulders
shake in silent laughter and bit out, “Miss Suzette, you might just
as well let that out. I can see that you’re enjoying this.”

“Well, boo,” Miss Suzette got out in between
barks of laughter, “looks like you met your match. Someone to
rattle you up a bit, and I’m darned if I can find fault with his
argument.”

Sophie glared at the woman she was usually
fond of, then turned that glower onto Sylvain, unaware that her
eyes had turned vampire red or that her pearly white fangs had
descended from annoyance. “Sylvain,” she began in a venom-laced
tone, “I do not need a man, and if I did, it would not be you. I do
not date jackasses.”

“What dating?” Miss Suzette grumbled quite
audibly. “Haven’t seen any dating.”

“Who said anything about dating? Surely
you’re not still living in the colonial times? Ever heard of a
one-night stand?” Sylvain countered. “I’m just talking about
getting you out of your filthy mood with a good roll in the
sheets.” Sylvain quirked an eyebrow in mock seriousness at her
glare, “Bed doesn’t suit you? I’ll leave the choice of the
environment to the lady - pleasurable release can be found in many
ways and many places.”

“For your information, Sylvain,” Sophie rose
up majestically from the table, moving around it to tower over him
where he sat nonchalantly sipping his coffee, “my mood has nothing
to do with intimacy as you infer. I had a nightmare. One, which I
was trying to forget, but by harping on about the cause of my ‘bad
mood’, you’ve now, thankfully reminded me of it again. And,” Sophie
barked, noticing the sudden concern that vibrated off the other
woman, “you’ve got Miss Suzette worried about it too—something that
irritates me even more.”

As glad as Sylvain was at getting to the crux
of her bad temper, he felt guilty knowing that he helped re-ignite
the pain he saw flashing in her eyes. The pink-tinged tears that
pooled in their depths nearly unhinged him. Fighting the urge to
hold and comfort her, he dropped his shield a bit and let the
concern he felt for her through. He also didn’t want her to think
that he was the jackass she’d called him earlier. “I’m sorry,
Sophie. I didn’t mean to cause you pain. I just wanted you to admit
to what was bothering you. You’re always so poised and serene, but
not this morning. As a friend, I was concerned.”

Sophie ignored the tender apology and the
care she felt coming from him. “Well, now you know. Mission
accomplished,” she replied defensively.

“No,” responded Sylvain stopping her from
leaving, “my mission is not complete." Throwing caution to the
wind, he took both her hands in his, disregarding the jolt of
awareness. “I’m sorry I prompted a painful memory. You’re an empath
Sophie, a largely untrained one. There are those amongst the fae
who possess that gift, too. From what I’ve seen, if not properly
managed, it can turn into a curse.”

“You’re preaching to the converted here,
Sylvain,” Sophie butted in.

Sylvain nodded, “I’m aware of that.”
Extending an arm out to hers, he requested, “Let me explain.”
Sophie barely masked her agitation, but kept quiet. Taking that as
a sign of acquiescence, he continued, “Nightmares are symptomatic
of untutored empaths who have not yet learned how to cope with all
the negative emotions flooding them. I’m making assumptions here,
but if that is the case, then it must be dealt with before it deals
you.”

“I’ve always had nightmares,” Sophie
interjected, “but they do become more prominent during traumatic
times.”

“Let me guess,” Sylvain stated. “It’s the
traumatic experiences of others that bring them up. The nightmares
are so vivid they could be real and sometimes they dig up a past
that you’d rather forget?”

“How do you know?” Sophie asked.

“I’ve been around for a long time, Sophie.
I’ve seen and heard many things – I know a bit about empaths,”
Sylvain shrugged, “Like I said, some of the fae have empathic
abilities. It is necessary that I understand those that I lead. It
was a wild guess that that was what was going on with you when I
saw you this morning. I put two and two together, as they say.”

Not one to be angry for long, Sophie sat
down. She grudgingly admitted that what he said held some truth.
Until two months ago, she’d lived in blissful ignorance with her
vampire sisters. They’d all known that they weren’t the garden
variety vampire because they could function fully in daylight, had
to eat human food as well as feed on blood and had unexplained,
decidedly non-vampire powers. Her empathic ability was one of those
powers. Then along came Sylvain, Conall, and their friend, Niul.
The entrance of those men in their lives had led to one
misadventure after another until they’d ended up finding out that
they all were in fact witch-vampires with untapped, untrained
powers. They were a rarity within the paranormal world. Sophie had
always known she had witch’s powers, because her mother had held
the same. She also knew that her powers had never been honed, and
that her mother would’ve seen to, if she hadn’t been so brutally
massacred. But, she’d been under the assumption that when she’d
turned vampire that the witch part of her had been laid to rest
with the exception of some remaining empathic skills. If what
Sylvain said was true, she needed to address the gap in her
education. It wouldn’t take care of her past, but it might help her
deal with the now.
Dieu
! The nightmares were torturous!
After every occurrence, she felt physically and emotionally drained
and exceptionally waspish. Curbing them would help. But how? How
would she ‘deal with it', as he said?

“I can see the wheels turning in that clever
mind of yours,” Sylvain interrupted her thoughts. He caught the
look of approval Miss Suzette threw his way and smiled back. The
girls’ Cajun mama had been worried, too. “There’s no need to be
overwhelmed, Sophie, because you don’t need to do this alone. I can
easily arrange for Arianna to teach you. She’s the best empath we
have in the bayou hollow. Plus, you already know her and have
worked with her.”

Sophie nodded slowly, her mind flicking back
two months earlier when the fae sorceress, Arianna, had helped them
rescue a group of captive witches. The young witches had been
continuously drained for their magickal blood by a now disposed of
malevolent vampire. Arianna was like the rest of the fae -
beautiful and powerful. Just as Sylvain had worked with the other
Coffin Girls, Arianna had worked, hand-in-hand, with Sophie when
they’d teleported the rescued witches to safety. She had observed
Arianna tirelessly tend to the traumatised girls. It was quite a
feat for an empath as the painful emotions from the young witches
could easily have crippled the empaths. Arianna had in fact, helped
them deal with the emotional and psychological violations they’d
experienced, using her empathic ability. She could hardly have a
better teacher, Sophie mused.

“Okay, I’ll accept your offer. Thank you.”
Sylvain’s lips curved in a relieved smile. The smile shortly
brushed away her thoughts of all empath matters and sent a bolt of
awareness through her. Sophie bit her own lips in response.
Mon
Dieu
! It would mean spending more time in the hollow, which
meant seeing him more often. Flip!

“Witches have used plants and herbs for
magickal or medicinal purposes for as long as we’ve existed,”
Sophie addressed the group of teenage girls, not-so-eagerly crowded
around her at the entrance to the hothouse for their lesson in
magickal herbology.

The girls were scholars at the secret school
for female witches and weres that the Coffin Girls had begun after
they had been rescued. The school served to combine secular
education with the teachings of the craft of magick to enable
learners to care for themselves and more importantly, control their
powers. Sophie had born witness to the fatal consequences that
ignored or unknown powers could have on a witch’s physical body
when her sister, Anais, had nearly died a few months ago.

The school also provided a home for the
girls. An ancient vampire had been using the girls as bloodstock -
literally - to produce special, organized blood drinks; much in the
same manner a vintner makes a fine wine. They’d managed to find the
families of most of the captured young witches, but a few were
orphaned. Most of their parents and siblings had been slaughtered
when they'd been kidnapped. Some of the young she-weres had been
held captive with the witches as their blood also contained magick,
albeit a different kind. Other she-were learners were there because
they were eager to learn and belonged to the pack led by their
family friend and Miss Suzette’s nephew, Raulf.

To curb the curiosity of the human
co-inhabitants of the bayou and New Orleans, they presented the
school as a hospitality academy for young girls, which fitted in
nicely with their wedding planning business. Combining secular
education with practical experience helped the girls learn skills
that could aid them in their search for employment and thus enable
their independence in the human world. Magick training added to
that, made for a heavy curriculum, but it was the only approach
available. Some of the girls held hopes of joining the Coffin Girls
in their fight for the good, but they had to finish their education
first and then undergo a test and trial period. The girls weren’t
happy about it, but Anais had been firm, believing that the girls
required education, choice, and the time to mature before
committing to such a heavy burden.

Glancing at them, Sophie could detect the
myriad of emotions being emitted from them that she imagined good
human teachers intuitively gaged from experience. Some wished to be
anywhere, but in the hothouse. Others had their minds on another
end goal - that of joining the Coffin Girls and avenging their
parents. To them, this was a tick-box exercise, and then there were
the odd few that actually wanted to apply their minds to magickal
herbology.

At their age, she had already been forcibly
shipped across the ocean to New Orleans. She’d arrived as a young,
virgin bride to a bleak future in a French colony far away from the
only home she’d ever known. She knew that the majority of the girls
would vehemently disagree, but she condoned Anais’ decision and
wished that she’d had the same opportunities and choices presented
to her.

Hiding a grin when one of the girls visibly
shuddered at a lingering spider trapped in a humidity-moistened
web, she addressed them, “It’s not hocus-pocus, you know.”

At the sceptical stares, she hid another
grin, lips curving slightly in appreciation. Good, she could work
with minds that wanted a challenge. “Ever heard of a
homeopath?”

“Aye,” answered one of the more eager girls.
“It’s a doctor who studies natural substances such as plants,
herbs, and spices to treat illness.”

“And so it is, Mary,” Sophie replied. Then
glancing over the rest of them, she focussed on the most sceptical
of them all. “How do you think it differs from what we’re doing
then?”

The girl scowled, unhappy to be singled out.
When Sophie didn’t let her off the hook, she shrugged, unperturbed
outwardly, but Sophie’s vampire hearing picked up a thudding heart
and her inner empath picked up an anxious, insecure little
girl.