nights reading all the letters his sister had written to him through the years. The ones his father had sent back unopened. He spent a little time with his mother, looking at some old pictures and letting her feed him, but after a month or two he took off. All we know is he didn’t go back to Italy. And that he seems to be, well, worse than when he left.”
Bethany bit her lip, as if holding something back.
“You may as well tell her, my darling. You’ve given her everything else.”
Bethany looked up at her husband and wrinkled her nose. “What part of girl talk don’t you understand, Sugar Cakes?”
BD knelt down beside them, an offended expression crossing his stunning features. “I know all about this girl talk of which you speak. Sometimes it leads to girl pillow fights, girl kissing—” He laughed when Bethany swatted his arm halfheartedly and glanced at Angelique. “There is something in the air around him. Something strange. But our Michelle can’t see it with her vision. And from what Benjamin just told me, when he shook Gabriel’s hand he sensed it as well. Something just out of reach. Something with him, blocked from both of them. It scares them. For Gabriel’s sake, and everyone else’s.”
Angelique shivered.
Something with him? Maybe that was what he was talking to when she found him—had it been little more than an hour ago?
It was hard to wrap her mind around. Or her emotions. She was angry for the little boy who’d been torn from his mother and abused. Horrified over the terrifying scenario of possession Bethany had described. And still curious about the mystery surrounding him. Where had he been? What had happened to him? And why was he back?
“Fate. Destiny.”
Angelique and Bethany both stared at BD in question.
“The Marassa Twins wouldn’t leave the brother of a bon ange out in the darkness alone. Whether they gave him gifts or not. Maybe they’re giving him a chance to really find his way back home. Maybe now was exactly the right time.”
“Marassa Twins?”
Bethany let BD pull her closer as she answered. “The Loa that gave Michelle her gift. The ones that watch over twins, and sometimes grant them special abilities.”
Angelique tilted her head. “See, that doesn’t make any sense. That they would only give her special abilities. Has anyone ever asked him?” Not that she really knew anything about the whims or personalities of voodoo spirits, but that didn’t seem very fair.
What if Gabriel did, after all, have some kind of ability that made Michelle and Ben, both powerful in their own right, nervous?
What if it was that ability that was making her act this way? Would that explain her inability to think of anything else? Her reaction to him, despite his arrogance?
She reached up to touch the small cross around her neck, knowing logically that there was no bad juju involved in her attraction. But it was definitely a weakness. More than just wanting him, now that she knew a little more about him, she wished she could take away his pain. Wished she could fix it. But this wasn’t a rotting bridge or a leaky dam. This might be something too big for her to handle.
Maybe she should stay away from Gabriel.
Angelique thought about the thrill she’d gotten when she’d made him smile. The passion that changed his green eyes from hunted to hauntingly beautiful. No, she wasn’t sure she was ready to let her obsession with Gabriel go just yet. There were still too many unanswered questions.
And unsatisfied desires.
She looked up at BD to find him watching her with an expression of interest and delight. “Scared yet?”
CHAPTER 4
WALKING HOME WAS NOT THE BEST IDEA HE’D EVER HAD. Why hadn’t he taken a taxi or one of those damn streetcars? He wasn’t thinking logically. And it was all her fault.
Gabriel passed by several bars where the music and people overflowed out onto the street in colorful waves of sexuality and laughter. Distraction waited with open arms
Bethany bit her lip, as if holding something back.
“You may as well tell her, my darling. You’ve given her everything else.”
Bethany looked up at her husband and wrinkled her nose. “What part of girl talk don’t you understand, Sugar Cakes?”
BD knelt down beside them, an offended expression crossing his stunning features. “I know all about this girl talk of which you speak. Sometimes it leads to girl pillow fights, girl kissing—” He laughed when Bethany swatted his arm halfheartedly and glanced at Angelique. “There is something in the air around him. Something strange. But our Michelle can’t see it with her vision. And from what Benjamin just told me, when he shook Gabriel’s hand he sensed it as well. Something just out of reach. Something with him, blocked from both of them. It scares them. For Gabriel’s sake, and everyone else’s.”
Angelique shivered.
Something with him? Maybe that was what he was talking to when she found him—had it been little more than an hour ago?
It was hard to wrap her mind around. Or her emotions. She was angry for the little boy who’d been torn from his mother and abused. Horrified over the terrifying scenario of possession Bethany had described. And still curious about the mystery surrounding him. Where had he been? What had happened to him? And why was he back?
“Fate. Destiny.”
Angelique and Bethany both stared at BD in question.
“The Marassa Twins wouldn’t leave the brother of a bon ange out in the darkness alone. Whether they gave him gifts or not. Maybe they’re giving him a chance to really find his way back home. Maybe now was exactly the right time.”
“Marassa Twins?”
Bethany let BD pull her closer as she answered. “The Loa that gave Michelle her gift. The ones that watch over twins, and sometimes grant them special abilities.”
Angelique tilted her head. “See, that doesn’t make any sense. That they would only give her special abilities. Has anyone ever asked him?” Not that she really knew anything about the whims or personalities of voodoo spirits, but that didn’t seem very fair.
What if Gabriel did, after all, have some kind of ability that made Michelle and Ben, both powerful in their own right, nervous?
What if it was that ability that was making her act this way? Would that explain her inability to think of anything else? Her reaction to him, despite his arrogance?
She reached up to touch the small cross around her neck, knowing logically that there was no bad juju involved in her attraction. But it was definitely a weakness. More than just wanting him, now that she knew a little more about him, she wished she could take away his pain. Wished she could fix it. But this wasn’t a rotting bridge or a leaky dam. This might be something too big for her to handle.
Maybe she should stay away from Gabriel.
Angelique thought about the thrill she’d gotten when she’d made him smile. The passion that changed his green eyes from hunted to hauntingly beautiful. No, she wasn’t sure she was ready to let her obsession with Gabriel go just yet. There were still too many unanswered questions.
And unsatisfied desires.
She looked up at BD to find him watching her with an expression of interest and delight. “Scared yet?”
CHAPTER 4
WALKING HOME WAS NOT THE BEST IDEA HE’D EVER HAD. Why hadn’t he taken a taxi or one of those damn streetcars? He wasn’t thinking logically. And it was all her fault.
Gabriel passed by several bars where the music and people overflowed out onto the street in colorful waves of sexuality and laughter. Distraction waited with open arms
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