Rose, Charlotte - Bayou Rescue [The Shifters of Alligator Bend 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (7 page)

Between rushing to the lab and focusing on the sensitive cultures she was studying, Adele forgot all about Oscar and Xavier. Nothing was a better distraction than a series of protocols that demanded her total attention. If she screwed up, she would have wasted hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars of materials, none of which could be replaced or replicated. Adele’s troubles vanished as she nurtured her samples, observed them, made notes, and prepared for the next round of testing.

When the last of the experiment was complete for the day, Adele breathed a sigh of relief and went to her office to type up her lab notes, as well as to catch up on a literature review that she still hadn’t completed. She hoped her workload would continue to distract her from the thoughts that wanted to fill her mind the moment she stepped away from her work. But as soon as she sat down at her comfortable desk, she found that she was uncontrollably exhausted. It was as though all of her adventures from the previous week, which had distracted her from both work and sleep, had suddenly hit her consciousness full force.

She glanced at the clock.
I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a short nap.
Besides, it’s a Saturday, it’s not like many people will be here looking for me
. She folded her arms to make a pillow, laid her head on top of them, and fell into a deep sleep. She didn’t wake up until half an hour later, when the sound of a steady knock emerged from behind her door.

“Hey, Adele? Are you okay?” the voice asked.

Adele hurriedly lifted her head from the desk, cursing herself for forgetting to lock the door. Georgina was standing in the doorway, looking concerned. “I’m fine, Georgina, really. I’ve just had a long day, and I was resting my eyes. It’s unusual to see you on campus on a Saturday. What can I do for you?”

“I was hoping you could come out to visit the congregation. We’re making more plans for the rescue mission, and I know you want to be involved.” Adele felt herself hesitate and was ashamed by her reaction. She’d spent the entire past week confused yet willing to do whatever the congregation needed of her to rescue their family. But because of the way Xavier had behaved the night before, she was suddenly willing to give up on the entire family. She hated herself for hesitating at all. Even though things had not gone as planned down in the Quarter, that was no reason for her to refuse to help Rosaline and Armand. They deserved better than lives in an aquarium.

Georgina frowned slightly. “What’s wrong? You seem scared all of a sudden.”

Adele sighed, searching her mind for a plausible excuse. She didn’t want to offend Georgina. And despite how things had gone, she didn’t want to make Xavier and Oscar look bad, either. Things might have gotten out of hand the night before, but that was no reason to badmouth them to their families.

“Sorry. I do want to help. This whole week has just been a really confusing one. Part of me still can’t believe this is happening. It’s still a head trip to think that I’m about to ride out through the swamp to meet up with a group of shape-shifters.”

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but you seem to be handling this remarkably well.”

“That’s not even the half of it,” Adele groaned, suddenly feeling bold. “To make things even crazier—”

“I know what happened last night. You don’t need to explain the whole thing.”

Adele blinked. “They told you what happened?”

“Serafine confronted them about it this morning. It would have been almost impossible for us not to have overheard what was going on. Those who weren’t around picked up the news secondhand. Word travels fast in the congregation.”

“How did Serafine know?”

“Most of the time, the ESP can only be used for direct communication. We can talk but can’t read the secrets in each other’s heads.”

“Serafine is different, though. I can tell.”

Georgina nodded. “Since she’s our voodoo queen, Serafine is more powerful than the rest of us. She gets a sensation when someone in the congregation is hurt, or scared, or happy. Strong emotions resonate with her, and she can tune into someone’s head and find out exactly what happened. As soon as Oscar and Xavier arrived, she knew that something was wrong. She could feel it resonating in their bodies. There are no secrets from her. It didn’t take her long to get the full truth out of them.”

Adele groaned. “Ugh. Now I’ll be totally humiliated when I go back. Everyone knows. I won’t be able to look anyone in the eye.”

Georgina gave a small smile. “You don’t have to feel embarrassed. Xavier got carried away last night, and nobody blames you. They’re all pretty mad at him for driving you away, actually. The congregation wants you to accept them as mates.”

Adele sighed. “I just—I’m sorry, but last night really freaked me out. And, quite honestly, I’m not sure I want to see Oscar and Xavier ever again. I was really upset by their behavior last night.”

Georgina looked hurt. “But you promised to help me, no matter what happened between the three of you. You said you wanted to help Rosaline and Armand come home. Has all that changed in light of Xavier making a mistake? Was what they did really so awful that you want to give up on all the rest of us?”

Adele instantly felt guilty. “I’m sorry. That’s—that’s not what I meant.”

“I guess—I guess I can understand if you’ve had it with all of us,” Georgina said. “I mean, they did behave poorly. I just wish you could see that them screwing up isn’t representative of all of us as a whole. I’m sure if you could see how frustrated with them everyone is right now, you’d understand. That’s not how we do things. We don’t try to turn our mates before they’re ready.”

Adele knew that Georgina was right. “I’m being completely irrational. I’m sorry. They did make mistakes, but they’re ones I should be able to forgive. And besides, I shouldn’t hold my frustrations against the congregation as a whole. I can help your family without letting my troubles with Oscar and Xavier get in the way.”

Georgina smiled. “Who knows? Maybe working with them on this will help you reconnect with them.”

Adele smiled back. “Maybe.” She hated to lie, but she didn’t want to make any more trouble. There was no point in making Georgina upset over something that Xavier had done. But she had decided on her true feelings. She was not going to become Oscar and Xavier’s mate. She could overcome her so-called biological destiny.

* * * *

Oscar hadn’t expected to see Adele again, much less that night. He wondered how she had found her way out there. Getting to Alligator Bend was easy enough, but navigating the particular route that would lead to the cluster of houseboats was another matter entirely. She would have needed someone from the congregation to guide her, and, as far as he knew, Georgina was the only person who wasn’t there. He hurried out to meet the small boat with Xavier in tow.

“Hey,” he said as Adele secured her boat. Oscar offered his hand to help her on deck and was relieved when she accepted. Xavier provided the same courtesy to Georgina, who shot him a wink as she steadied herself on the deck.

“Hey yourself.” Adele wore a tight smile but still looked him in the eye, which Oscar took as a good sign.

“Wasn’t expecting to see you anytime soon.”

Adele shrugged. “I came to help with the plans to rescue Rosaline and Armand. What happened last night doesn’t change the fact that I want to keep Ferdinand Villemont from getting to them.”

Oscar smiled. If Adele didn’t want him as a mate, he’d settle for having her as an ally. “We sure do appreciate that. So Georgina managed to change your mind?”

Adele blushed slightly. “She reminded me that whatever happened between us didn’t have to affect my desire to help the congregation as a whole.”

Georgina laughed. “Just don’t expect me to clean up the rest of your messes.”

“Don’t you worry, Georgina,” Oscar said. “I promise that’ll never happen again.”

“I’d like to think that, but it’s hard to say with the two of you,” Georgina countered, giving him a playful jab in the ribs. “I might know how to sweet-talk your girlfriend here, but that isn’t going to convince her to be your mate.”

Oscar rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rub it in.”

They turned to go into the main boat, where people were gathering to plan the rescue. Oscar stepped back to allow Xavier and Adele some semblance of privacy and saw his friend whisper something in her ear. Oscar was tempted to eavesdrop, but he knew better. He hurried inside with the rest of the group before his curiosity got the better of him.

* * * *

“I’m sorry,” Xavier whispered.

The words shot through Adele’s ear and went straight to her heart. His breath on her neck sent prickles of pleasure bursting out down her back and arms.

“I shouldn’t have acted like that last night,” he continued. “I should’ve just let it go. You’re my mate, Adele. I’m supposed to put your needs first, even if it means waitin’ for what I want. It don’t matter that you don’t want to be turned yet. I’m supposed to do what’s best for you anyway. I hope you can forgive me.”

Deep in her heart, all Adele wanted to do was throw herself into Xavier’s arms and kiss him. But her brain still resisted.

“How do I know that I can trust you? How do I know that you won’t ever try that again?”

“Baby, I know we don’t know each other well yet, and I ain’t given you much reason to trust me. I know my words don’t carry a lot of weight right now. I won’t blame you if you don’t wanna forgive me. But I promise, I’m gonna do right by you from now on.”

Adele could feel her anger and hurt slipping away with each passing second.

“No more trying to mate with me?”

Xavier made an X across his heart. “No more. Not until you’re ready. Besides, it wouldn’t mean the same thing without you agreein’ to it first. I want to know that you want me just as much as I want you.”

Adele gripped Xavier’s shirt collar and pulled him down for a kiss. She felt his fingers tangle in her hair as she savored his scent and taste.

“That sure felt like forgiveness,” he said when she pulled away.

She smiled. “It was. Thank you for your apology.”

“Thank you for forgivin’ me.”

He took her hand as they turned to go inside.

* * * *

“Okay, now. What’s the deal?” Serafine asked the small group gathered around the table.

“The biggest issue we’re facin’ is access,” Oscar said. “We can’t just break locks and storm the doors. Equipment that disables security systems ain’t easy to come by.”

Georgina spoke up. “Fortunately, I’ve already made progress with that. I used my status as a grad student at Tulane to propose a fake research project concerning animals at the Aquarium. The research I’ll be doing will be the focus of my term paper for my research methods class. I figured if I was going to be committing espionage, I should get some class credit for it. I just need to get some department signatures to make everything official.”

“I can help you with that,” Adele said.

“With my regular access to the Aquarium, I can learn the layout a little better and figure out how to get spare keys that will give me direct access to the exhibits,” Georgina continued.

“Easier said than done,” Xavier said. “You have any clue how to go about doin’ that?”

“I’ll have to figure it out as I go along, but I know I can make it work.”

“And what if you don’t?”

Georgina’s eyes narrowed. “Trust me, I will.”

“Let’s not squabble,” Serafine said. “Georgina’s a damn smart woman. I know she’s gonna figure this all out. We gotta move on with the rest of the plan.”

Manuel shrugged. “Georgina can’t get us access, so we’re stuck for what to do next. Even if she manages to get us all the keys, we just can’t waltz in there after-hours and take Rosaline and Armand. They got a system, they got guards. It ain’t like we can shift and disguise ourselves, neither. What do you think they’re gonna do if they see a bunch of gators runnin’ loose?”

Adele smiled. “I have an idea.”

“Oh?” Serafine raised her eyebrows. “What you got, girl?”

“We’ll throw a party. Rent out the Aquarium after-hours for an event of some kind. I know it’s expensive, but it seems like the best way to get access with the fewest number of people around. Well, without breaking any laws, that is.”

“What kinda party are we all gonna have?” Oscar asked. “Ain’t like we got anybody getting married anytime soon.”

Even though he knew he needed to behave, Oscar couldn’t resist winking at Adele as he spoke. She rolled her eyes and shook her head but didn’t seem angry.