Remembered by Moonlight (25 page)

Cale’s mouth sagged open and shut with a snap and a blink of his eyes. He sat motionless as Max laid it out, from his rescue in Chicago and loss of memory to the charade he’d been playing ever since to mislead the possible threat of outside influence working through him. And while he delivered that stark recitation, Cee Cee’s gaze was on her mate in somber unity. The only thing Max omitted was his aunt’s desire to see Cale and all of his dead. And Cee Cee didn’t correct him. They couldn’t be sure what he’d do with the information, and they needed Genevieve alive.

“I can’t give you the guarantees you need,” Max concluded, “because I don’t know if I can trust myself from one minute to the next. The one thing I do know and trust for certain is that my friends and family here in New Orleans would do absolutely anything to protect me and our clan from any outside danger, be that you or me. They’re loyal, and determined to make any sacrifice. Including my life should that become necessary.”

He waved off Cee Cee’s protest, his stare locked with Cale’s. “I know you’d be a fool to stay. The right thing for you and your clan would be to get on your bike, head west and not look back. But I’m hoping that part of you belongs here now. It’s your decision, and we’ll respect it.”

Cale looked between them, expression carefully veiled. “I appreciate the honesty.” And he was on his feet without another word and out the door.

“What do you think?” Cee Cee asked her mate, quietly.

Max sighed. “If I were him, I’d run like hell.”

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Alain Babineau waited beside his motorcycle.

“So, you’re just gonna blow outta here without a word and break my kid’s heart?”

Weary of the subject, Cale argued, “I’m not exactly the sort of guy fathers encourage their sons to hang with. I’d think you’d be glad to get rid of me. Or are you just using the kid to put the screws to my conscience to get me to stay?”

Babineau went rigid by degrees. “I just came to ask you to be man enough to tell him good-bye. I don’t use my son for leverage, Bub, no matter how much you cutting and running would set us back.”

“I shouldn’t have said that. I apologize,” Cale told him, ashamed and not above showing it. “I had no cause to insult you. He’s a good kid. I hope to have a son like him some day. You’re a lucky man.”

“Yeah, well, thanks.” Babineau scuffed his feet for a moment before clearing his throat to announce, “We’ll be out at the estate in a bit. The redhead is throwing a shindig for you. She said it was to thank you. Up to you to make it a going away or welcome home party. Me, I hope you’ll stay. I think you and me could be of help to one another down the line.”

With that vague hint of complicity, he patted Cale’s arm and left him wondering.

Because Brigit was behind the planning, Cale’s party was an over-the-top effort. The dining room became a buffet of Helen’s best: oysters en brochette, crabmeat cheesecake, fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade, and eggplant pirogues filled with seafood Atchafalaya, crowned by sweet potato pecan pie. Guests included family and Jacques, Susanna, and Pearl, who covertly followed Oscar’s every move.

Max watched Pearl just as intently. He gave a slight start when Cee Cee wound her arm about his then offered his mate a smile.

“It’s good to have our friends all here under our roof.”

To Cee Cee it was better than good to hear him say
our friends, our roof.

“Yes, it is.” She nodded toward the little blonde girl tucked in at her mother’s elbow. “Does her being here bother you?”

Max hesitated then didn’t deny it. “There’s something strange about her. She sees things, knows things. I felt it when she touched my hand, like she could see inside me, see all my demons.”

“Maybe she’s a Reader like Silas.”

He shook his head. “No. It’s more than that. She doesn’t just look inside. She looks beyond. She knew that I wasn’t alone in here.” He tapped his brow.

“She’s just a little girl. With a very big crush on your little brother.”

“A little girl with a lot of special talents that could prove useful.”

“You give me grief about Cale, then consider recruiting a baby?” she chided.

To his credit, he looked appalled. “Of course not. Children should be allowed to be children.”

“I’ve a feeling she hasn’t been a child for some time.”

Max said nothing, and Cee Cee wondered if he was thinking of his own lost childhood. Her fingers laced with his for a squeeze that had him turning to her again.

“Where’s our guest of honor?” he asked, not spotting Cale amongst the rest. “He hasn’t gone already, has he?”

She put her hand to her ear to twist the huge jewel. “Not without this, he wouldn’t. Ah. There he is.”

The Terriot king made a quick turn toward the makeshift bar in the wide hallway. He’d gone designer casual for the evening in black jeans and expensive vest worn open over an untucked crisp white button down. He looked sleek, dark and lethal, and his mood was impossible to read as he faced the group gathered in the parlor.

When he saw Jacques register surprise, Cale crossed to him with hand outstretched.

“Hey, brother. We haven’t been properly introduced. Cale Terriot. I’m Brigit and Silas’s cousin and Oscar’s uncle. Sorry for the subterfuge. Not my idea.” He grinned. “I hope this doesn’t mean I won’t be getting a paycheck.”

Jacques gripped his hand. “You’ll get paid for the work you do, like everyone else on my crew. Just let me know how you want the check made out. My mate Susanna and our daughter Pearl.”

He took both of their hands, Susanna’s for a gentle press and Pearl’s with a smile at her grown up attitude. And then he flinched visibly and released her. When she spoke to him in a quiet aside, he abruptly backed away. Brow knit in uncertainty, he headed for a neutral corner where Giles and Brigit stood with Tina and her family. But Cee Cee saw the puzzled look he slipped back toward the unsmiling Pearl.

It took him a while, but their guest of honor finally made his way to them. His stare fixed upon the diamond in her ear, but instead of asking for it as she feared he was going to, Cale had another, surprising, purpose.

“I apologize for earlier,” he began, straight forward and sincere. “I was angry. I slipped back into the old ways, and I’m sorry if I alarmed or disrespected you.”

As Max bristled to attention at her side, Cee Cee smiled. “If you’d done either of those things, you’d just be waking up about now checking to see if you still had all your teeth.”

He chuckled, flashing the pearly whites in question.

“Still here I see.”

Cale’s attitude chilled in an instant as Silas and Nica joined them. “I didn’t want to miss the meal.”

“You in or out?” His cousin’s demand held no apology.

“I haven’t decided.”

“Decide fast. We just got our invitation to the big game.”

“When?” Cee Cee asked when Cale wouldn’t.

“Three days. Time and place TBA.”

The rapid approach of one of the estate’s security men pulled them from further discussion. He leaned in close to his boss to whisper. Though Max’s expression never altered, Cee Cee felt him stiffen beside her, then he told the man tersely to open the front gates. She looked up, brows raised in question.

“It seems we have an unexpected guest,” he murmured. “My aunt is joining us.”

“Did you invite her?”

“No. It slipped my mind.” But the plans for the gathering had been in there for her to see if she’d been looking. That’s what they were both thinking.

Cee Cee turned to Cale. Would the powerful Ancient see him for who and what he was, her mortal enemy? She couldn’t take that chance.

“Cale, a favor. No questions.”

He answered with a suspicious, but not unwilling, “Okay.”

“Take the kids out of here. Keep them out of sight for as long as you can.”

“Sure, but I don’t know if the girl will go with me.” He glanced over at Pearl, seeing the focus of her attention, and crooked a smile. “No problem.” Then he looked more closely at Oscar and saw the headset of his old iPod dangling from the boy’s ears. His expression registered the significance but he refused to acknowledge Silas’s gesture. “Just make sure you save me some food.”

He locked eyes with Oscar and nodded toward the door. The boy started that way and, as Cale suspected, his little shadow discreetly followed.

After Cale had moved away from them, Silas turned to Cee Cee with a taut, “What’s going on?”

She glanced up at Max and with his affirming nod, told the two of them about their suspicions concerning Genevieve’s arrival in New Orleans. And its possible consequence.

“So,” Silas drawled in conclusion, “we don’t know if she’s a good witch or a bad witch.”

Max winced at that but admitted, “No, we don’t. And until we find out, it’s best to keep her away from the others.”

Cale tugged on the earphones to get Oscar’s attention. “Whatcha listening to?”

“A lot of really cool stuff. Thanks.”

“Thought you might be getting as bored with the meet and greet as I was. There anything interesting to do around here?”

“Are you a gamer?”

“My brothers and I used to play.” Before he’d killed them. “Making war, breaking heads, driving fast, offing zombies and mutants, blowing shit up. Now I get to do the real thing.” He grinned when Oscar’s eyes grew round. “Just kidding. About the zombies, anyway.”

The boy grinned back. “There’s a system in the TV room. Giles got it for when I stay over. Want to run a few missions of
Gears
?”

“Let’s see, it’s that or standing around making polite small talk. Hell yeah.” He grabbed two beers off the drink table then shot his companion a narrow look. “How old are you?”

“Old enough.”

Cale laughed and exchanged one of the bottles for soda.

They settled into the media room’s comfy sofa to play by the light of the big screen where Cale’s rusty skills were challenged by his nephew’s quick reflexes. Cale hadn’t imagined playing video games with an opponent half his age would be something he’d enjoy so much. Simple fun. Innocent competition. The sense of nostalgia for days and brothers lost made the moment bittersweet.

With a fist bump at the conclusion of a successful mission, they leaned back into the embracing cushions to finish their drinks.

“Not bad for an old guy.”

Cale nearly spewed his beer. Wiping his face with the back of his hand, he laughed. “I may be old but I still rock.” He picked up the case for
Grand Theft Auto V
. “Show me some respect, or I’ll tell your momma this has boobs in it.”

Oscar snatched it away from him. “It’s not like I’ve never seen them before.”

“Yeah? Where? Internet porn?”

“I bet you know a lot about girls and such.”

The tentative comment had Cale sliding a glance to see his cheeks go fiery red. “I’m a fairly well-educated man in that area. I’m not sure I’d be the one to come to for dating tips, though.”

Oscar nodded, looking anywhere but at him.

“But I could probably put together some PG-13 advice if there’s something particular on your mind.”

Apparently so because the boy swiveled to regard him in earnest. “How old were you when you kissed your first girl?”

“Nine, ten.”

“Was it . . . nice?”

“Considering it happened in a smelly garden shed and your Uncle Silas beat the shit outta me afterwards.”

Oscar’s mouth dropped. “You kissed his sister?”

“Oh, God no! Their cousin. My first kiss. The only one that ever mattered.”

“What happened to her?”

His voice dropped to a rough rumble. “She’s waiting for me at home.”

“Bet she’s pretty, huh?”

“Like a sunrise, soft and warm at first sight then rising up hotter and brighter until you’re blind to anything else. I’ve never looked away. Never wanted to.”

“Never? But you said—”

“Don’t mistake glancing at flashy billboards on the road for your final destination, little brother.” He smirked at the boy. “You got someone special on your mind?”

Another blush and an embarrassed mutter. “Girls aren’t all that into me.”

“They will be. How could they help it, you being a prince and all?”

They shared a grin then Cale leaned in closer. “Good fortune could be right around the corner.”

Oscar followed his nod toward the hallway in time to see a blonde head duck back behind the door frame. Pearl had trailed behind them, just as Cale knew she would. “She’s a little girl,” the boy sputtered.

Cale just smiled. “Little girls tend to rise like the sun, my man, becoming hot young women who may not give you the time of day later if you don’t seize the day when you have the chance.” He patted Oscar’s shoulder and stood. “
Carpe Diem
. You think on that. I’ll be back in a minute.”

With no time to hide the fact that she’d been spying, Pearl met Cale’s smile with her usual stoic stare as he stepped into the hall.

“Caught you crushing on my nephew.”

Called out, she hoisted her chin a notch. “So?” She shrugged with pretended indifference. “He thinks I’m a child.”

“You are.” Before her glare could cut him in half, he amended, “But that’s okay. You can be something none of those snotty girls his age can be.”

Now she was interested. “What’s that?”

“His friend.” When she started to scowl, Cale placed his hand on her shoulder. She stilled like a small, startled animal beneath it, trembling slightly. “Let me tell you a secret about boys. Hell, about men.”

After a second, her fair brows lifted, encouraging him to pass on that wisdom.

“Men are simple creatures with basic needs. If we’re hungry, we’ll go to a drive through. It’s there, it’s fast and it’s easy, but afterwards, we’re disappointed because it’s not filling and leaves a bad taste. If we’re given a choice between junk food and a sit-down dinner where we’re comfortable and catered to and can push away feeling satisfied, we’ll pull up to the table every time. If it’s something we enjoy, we don’t mind having it served every day.”

“I don’t know how to cook.”

“It’s not about cooking, little mama, it’s about serving it up.” She squinted at him so dangerously he knew she thought he was talking about something else altogether. So he clarified.

“We guys may bluster and brawl and brag to impress each other but underneath, we’re just plain lazy, lonely and self-conscious.” He laughed at her puckered expression. “We want someone to listen to us, to make us feel like we’re the strongest, smartest, handsomest, sexiest sonofa—gun alive, that everything we say and do is worthy of sonnets and monuments to our virility.”

Pearl smiled, finding that notion quite ridiculous.

“Like I said, we’re simple. We don’t mind going out there to hunt and conquer and provide if there’s a reward waiting.”

“Sex.”

He blinked at her bluntness and laughed. “No. We can get that anywhere, with fries to go.”

“Then what?”

“Attention and affection. If we can find those two things in one place, that’s where we go.”

She glanced toward the doorway. “What should I do?”

“Talk to him.”

“What would I say?”

“Talk about the things he likes. Talk about the things you like about him. Listen to what he has to say and ask him questions. Smile. Laugh. Make him feel special and admired. And then walk away.”

“Walk away?”

“Trust me. He’ll chase after you. We like the chase.”

“I’m just a kid. I can’t be his girlfriend.”