Bound, An Arelia LaRue Novel #1 YA Paranormal Romance (13 page)

Now if you should get there before I
do

(I know) God's gonna trouble the
water

Tell all my friends that I'm comin'
too

(I know) God's gonna trouble the
water

Sometimes I'm up lord and sometimes I'm
down

(You know my) God's gonna trouble the
water

Sometimes I'm level to the
ground

God's gonna trouble the
water

(I Know) God's gonna trouble the
water

Wade in the water

Wade out in the water

God's gonna trouble the
water

The voices haunted me as they sung
their tale. Soon, I found myself soulfully singing along with them.
“Wade in the water. Wade out in the water.”

“
Arelia!” Sabrina shrieked.
“What are you doing in the water with your shoes on? You’re lucky
they’re cheap.”

I hadn’t realized that I had followed
the voices into the water. I could hear them and feel them all
around me. I knew they were the ghosts of all the slaves that had
died at Darkwood. The song was mournful and full of despair. They
didn’t speak to me directly though. I didn’t know how to make them
nor did I want to, but the song was beautiful.

“
Arelia, are you alright?”
Lucus came up from behind me. Little beads of sweat were dripping
from his forehead which tempted me to wipe them away. I immediately
felt embarrassed and regretted touching him at all. I looked behind
me and could see Sabrina scowling at us in the distance. I knew she
wouldn’t come into the water for fear of ruining her booties, and
there was no way that she would walk on grass in her bare
feet.

“
Wade in the water, wade
out. Do you hear them?” I eagerly asked. I figured since he had
seen me heal Ben, there wasn’t any reason why he shouldn’t know
that I could hear a bunch of ghosts singing. As well, for some
reason, I wanted him to hear the slave song as clearly as I
could.

“
You can, can’t you?” He
asked not at all surprised.

“
Can you?” I asked
again.

“
No. Your Aunt Mae can.
She’s told me about the songs.”

“
What do they mean?” I was
dying to figure it out.

He gave me a devious grin. “You’re just
dying to figure it out, aren’t you?” He took the thoughts right out
of my head.

“
No.” I lied. “Come on. Tell
me.” I gave him a small nudge.

“
I’ll tell you, if you agree
to share a glass of sweet tea with me during the picnic.” He looked
at me with his eyes full of hope.

“
That’s blackmail.” I acted
like I was tremendously offended when in reality I was secretly
flattered.

“
Well, if you’re not
interested in decoding the song, I understand.” He smiled, and I
felt my stomach fill with the strangest sensation. It was both
exciting and disturbing.

“
Guys come on!” shouted
Sabrina.

I turned around again and saw the
entire group staring at us from the edge of the river.

“
I guess we better get
going.” I alerted him to the mob that was watching us.

“
I’m perfectly fine standing
here until you give me an answer,” Lucus was dead serious. The man
must really love sweet tea.

“
Why are you so interested
in spending time with me anyways?” I questioned.

Lucus lowered his head a bit. “I find
you fascinating,” he admitted biting his lower lip. “You’re quite
the character Arelia LaRue.”

“
Okay. Whatever, let’s go.”
I just wanted to get out of the water and away from the questioning
eyes of the group. Although, I have to admit that no one had ever
called me fascinating before. It felt rather good

Chapter 10

Sweet Tea with Lucus

After the cabin tour was over, waiters
from Darkwood house brought lunch over to the river. I helped them
meticulously set up the picnic blankets, setting them with china
plates and cloth napkins. One of those waiters happened to be Ivan,
who once again wasn’t wearing his uniform and opted to wear a black
t-shirt instead.

“
Hey queen, are you going to
give us a hand or are you expecting me to serve you?”

“
Again with the queen crap,
why do you keep calling me that?”

“
You’re right. I should be
calling you supreme queen instead.” Ivan happily continued his
torment.

As I was doing this, I could see
Sabrina seductively flirting with Lucus from the corner of my eye.
They were deep in conversation, clearly enjoying one another’s
company.

“
What’s in those baskets?”
Mr. Dumpty asked Ivan.

“
Humm let me see.” Ivan
opened the basket and pulled out a list, “seafood cakes with
marinated creole tomatoes, char-grilled pork tenderloin, red beans
and rice and for dessert Creole cream cheesecake,” he answered
making Mr. Dumpty slobber.

“
Well, what are you waiting
for? Fill up my plate,” demanded a very hungry Mr. Dumpty. “I
assume that you brought some liquid refreshments as well?” He
queried.

“
Yes, we do have a selection
of afternoon cocktails you can choose from sir.” Ivan was being
overtly polite, which meant he was actually mocking Mr.
Dumpty.

“
I’ll go get the cocktails,”
I offered instantly knowing that Mr. Dumpty was going to demand a
Hurricane. I managed to find the cocktail waiter and pointed him to
where Mr. and Mrs. Dumpty were busy shoveling food into their
mouths.

“
That fat pig, there isn’t
enough food in New Orleans to fill up that belly of his.” Ivan was
obviously annoyed by the fact that he had to serve Mr. Dumpty, so
basically he was irritated that he had to work to get
paid.

“
Arelia, doesn’t it feel
gross running around in bare feet? I have a pair of Chanel wedges
in my bag you can use.” Sabrina had finally managed to tear herself
away from Lucus and set her sights on me. “Hey Ivan.”

“
Hey.” Ivan barely looked at
Sabrina. All of his attention was on Mr. Dumpty who was so absorbed
in his food that he didn’t even notice Ivan’s evil eye. “I’ll catch
you later,” he angrily mumbled.

“
He’s so hot, but so poor.
Only if, he were as rich as Lucus, maybe I would consider hooking
up with him.” Sabrina stared after Ivan.

“
Sure.” I was desperate to
avoid talking about Ivan. “Back to the shoes. I’m cool. Your wedges
are six inches high. I don’t think I’ll be able to walk in them.”
The last time I had tried I had sprained my ankle. It was a painful
experience I had no desire to repeat. “You know, it would be nice
if you could help me out with the guests.” I knew my plea would
fall on deaf ears.

“
You worry way too much, I
can’t say that enough. Look around you, everything is fine,
everyone’s having a good time. I’m going to sneak in a cocktail and
then go swimming.”

“
Aren’t you starving?” I
asked considering that we had been out in the sun for hours and had
been walking the entire morning.

“
Of course, I am,” she
snapped. “I don’t want to look bloated in my bikini in front of
Lucus.”

“
What do you have to
hide?”

“
It’s broad daylight, and
besides not everyone can be as thin as you, so excuse me if I want
to look just a bit thinner,” she huffed as she tied her blond hair
up into a ponytail.

“
Okay, I just asked. You
don’t have to freak out.”

“
I’m sorry, I think the heat
is getting to me, and the fact that Lucus is so hot doesn’t help my
craziness either,” she was incredibly flushed.

“
You really like him, don’t
you?” For the first time, I realized that I hadn’t ever seen
Sabrina this crazy over a guy. Sure, she had her stalker moments,
but she never felt self-conscious or worried about not being pretty
enough when it came to getting a guy. The fact that she was
agonizing over the way she would look in a bikini, in front of
Lucus, indicated that maybe she was falling for him.

“
He’s the man I’m going to
marry. I’ll bet you my collection of Prada handbags. I’m going to
ask the boss if it’s okay for us to take a swim.” She meant Lucus
and the only reason she was asking was so she could announce that
she was going to be changing into her bikini.

Some of the guests were still enjoying
their lunches while others were taking naps under the shade of
giant oak trees that were littered across the property. In the
distance, I could make out Ben and the Gopals splashing around the
river. I took a giant breath and for a moment enjoyed the fresh air
around me. Despite all the craziness that had gone on at Darkwood,
I had to admit that the place did have its unique charm.

“
So, what do you think?”
Sabrina came up behind me flaunting her lunchless physique in a
string bikini which pushed her large boobs up making them appear
even bigger than they were. “Pilates has done miracles for my butt.
Touch it. It’s hard as a rock.” She bent over inviting me to give
her round bum a squeeze. I was surprised that she didn’t fall right
over since she still had her six inch booties on.

“
Sabrina, there are kids
here. That isn’t exactly a bikini you should be wearing at work.”
There was no way I was grabbing her ass to confirm if it was firm
or not, I would just have to take her word for it.

“
Oh please, it’s Burberry.
Ben is the only kid, and I really don’t think the guests mind.” She
pointed at Mr. Dumpty who had taken off his hideous Hawaiian print
shirt leaving his gigantic, hairy chest and belly exposed. He took
one look at Sabrina, grabbed his Hurricane and started making his
way over to us.

“
Oh, great,” I
muttered.

“
He’s gross, but he’s not a
bad dancer.” Sabrina was getting ready to accept the sleazy leers
and compliments that Mr. Dumpty was going to shower her with. As
well, it was a classic Sabrina trick to flirt with any guy in front
of the guy she did like in order to make him jealous. She was
hoping Lucus would see Mr. Dumpty flirting with her and fly in a
rage of passion. Yes. Sabrina used the words rage of passion. I
looked behind to see if Mrs. Dumpty was at all jealous that Mr.
Dumpty was checking Sabrina out, but saw that she had fallen asleep
under an oak tree and was blissfully snoring up a storm. As for
Lucus, I could hear him discussing the age of the oak trees with
the Scotts when he should have been salivating over Sabrina in her
bikini like most guys would have done.

“
Good afternoon girls.” Mr.
Dumpty’s squinty, blue eyes immediately focused on Sabrina’s chest.
“That’s quite a bikini you have on Sabrina. Let me say you fill it
out very well.” His sunburnt, red skin made him look like one of
those pigs born to have an apple shoved in its mouth and slow
roasted during a Hawaiian barbeque.

“
You really think that it
fits me well? I was afraid that I would look fat in it.” Sabrina
was clearly fishing for a compliment, as she seductively circled
her collarbone.

Mr. Dumpty looked as if he had died and
gone to heaven. “Let me tell you if the Mrs. looked half as good as
you do in a bikini, we’d go swimming more often.”

“
Your really are too kind.”
Scarlett O’Hara was back.

“
A fine Southern belle like
yourself should always be reminded how beautiful she is every day.
Would you do an ugly New Yorker a favor and take a swim with him?”
He extended his arm.

“
I’d be delighted, just give
me a moment.” She walked towards Lucus.

“
Your friend sure is pretty
and so are you.” Mr. Dumpty turned his unwanted attention to
me.

I smiled and politely said, “thank
you.” I really wanted to tell him that he was a disgusting pig who
obviously didn’t care what his wife or son thought, but I was an
employee, so I had to keep my cool and act dignified. Thankfully,
Sabrina was back after two seconds. I could sense that she was a
little disappointed.

“
Lucus says he’ll join us
later.” Sabrina tried to sound causal to hide her
frustration.

“
That’s fine with me.” Mr.
Dumpty held out his arm and Sabrina reluctantly took it while
shooting daggers in Lucus’s direction. I was amused watching Mr.
Dumpty’s hefty frame prancing around in the water, as Ben came
running towards him, leaping on top of him. Mr. Dumpty fell over,
and the crowd laughed, but he brushed it off, got up and splashed
Ben with some water. I guess that maybe he wasn’t such a horrible
dad after all even if he was kind of a pervert.

I never really thought about my own
parents much. Over the years, I had come to realize that there was
no point in obsessing over things that you couldn’t change. I was
lucky to have grand-mere Bea; still I had the odd moment when I did
think about what it would be like having a mother and father
around. Maybe, I would have turned out differently, a little less
paranoid, a bit more confident. I could never parade around in a
bikini like Sabrina or openly flirt with a fat man from New
York.

“
Some sweet tea to cool you
down?” Lucus’s voice interrupted my contemplating. “You look like
you’re cooking in that uniform.” He handed me a glass of iced,
sweet tea and gave me a shy smile. His lips were slightly stained
from the blueberries he had been eating earlier. Not that I had
been paying attention or anything.