“I know right where that is, miss. I suppose y’all are in town for the parade on Tuesday?”
Inwardly, Victoria groaned. She should’ve realized it was February and time for Mardi Gras.
Vance was grinning from ear to ear, and he might have been bouncing a little in the seat.
Not only would the city be flooded with strangers, but there’d be too many people to properly investigate the bars everyone would be frequenting that week. It was an impossible task, and yet another thing she would get to add to the list of things she couldn’t complete. God certainly tended to set her up for failure. She wondered if it was His way of testing her yet again.
And if saving an entire pod of whales from a fleet of murderous fishermen wasn’t hard enough, He had to go and drop her into New Orleans during Mardi Gras to find a single bar that was making people act weird. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
La Maison Marigny Inn was a beautiful, Victorian-style home painted gray, with wooden shutters and a beautiful wooden balcony that protruded right over Bourbon Street. It had a beautiful, quaint little yard, and the interior décor was Victorian style also. There was a huge, four-poster bed in the room, covered with a stunning handstitched coverlet with embroidered pillows to match. She felt as though she’d stepped back in time to right after she first met Vance.
God’s missive told them they had two weeks to undo whatever had been done. If they didn’t complete the task in that amount of time, there would be no way to fix anything. Her nerves ratcheted up six notches as she stared at the parchment, rereading the words over and over again.
Her husband threw open the French doors and stepped out onto the balcony, leaning over the railing and gazing at the street below. He looked so handsome with his long hair blowing in the slight breeze, his face upturned toward the light, she wanted to take him into her arms and kiss him right then. Why can’t I? We’re married. So, she rose from the bed and moved to his side, taking his face between her hands and pressing her lips to his.
He melted into her instantly, a low growl escaping as he devoured her mouth.
They didn’t have time to do much more than kiss if they were going to eat, so she broke away before she truly wanted to and gazed at the street below. “Did you see anything down there of interest?”
“No. I believe it’s still too early. Look. Most of the bars are still closed.” He waved at the street below in an offhanded manner. “I don’t think we’ll find anything until dark.”
“Then, do you think we might be able to go get some food? I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving.” He laughed fully and heartily.
She felt her face get hot once again. The things that man did to her made her crazy, but she wouldn’t trade him for anything. He was the air in her lungs, the blood in her veins, and her entire reason for being. She couldn’t imagine life without him.
“You know, your inner musings show clearly on your face. That’s how I always know what you’re thinking.”
Of course she knew that, but if everything in her head fell out of her mouth, they’d have a much more tumultuous relationship. He made her absolutely nuts. Everything inside her heated, and she grabbed his lapels, dragging him back inside the room and throwing him on the bed, forgetting about food.
They made love until the sun dipped its lazy head beneath the horizon.
When they were both spent, they laid together for a few moments, holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes. Those were the times she felt closest to him. Her hunger was sated.
“You know, we need to get going. There are souls to be saved!” He leapt off the bed and went to the bathroom where he turned on the shower and whistled a merry tune as he washed up and prepared to go out for the evening.
She just couldn’t bring herself to get out of the feather-covered bed yet, so she lay there and stared at the ceiling as she contemplated what was yet to come that evening. She cringed at the thought of the things she might see as they visited the several bars and shops along Bourbon Street. Vance had nixed her idea of just watching from the balcony when they talked about it during the cab ride. New Orleans was well known for being the city people went to when they wanted to get in trouble yet stay out of trouble. People from all over flooded the city in the hopes that they could act irresponsibly and not be held accountable. It caused so many injuries every year and so many deaths, God’s hands were always fullest in February.
When the water turned off, she finally wrested herself from bed, retracted her wings, and got dressed. She chose a pair of blue jeans and a blouse that dripped off her shoulders and showed off her fine figure. Stuffing her feet into a pair of boots, she quickly ran a brush through her hair and swiped on some lip gloss.
Her husband came out of the bathroom as she was giving herself a once-over in the mirror.
“Wow. You look amazing!” he said.
“Not too shabby yourself there, dear.” She winked.
He was wearing a pair of tight black pants that showed off his assets nicely, yet hid the tops of his boots, and a black button-down shirt. Her mouth watered.
In a flash, he held her in his embrace. “Thank you. We make quite the pair, don’t we?” He turned them to the mirror where it looked like she was standing next to an empty set of clothing.
For some reason, God giving Vance his soul back hadn’t taken away any of his vampire abilities; it only calmed the thirst and allowed him to be in the sunlight.
“We sure do.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness staring back at her from the mirror.
“Let’s go!”
They were carrying on like love-struck teens as they made their way to the cacophony of the street below.
Victoria and Vance practically skipped down the stairs and made their way out the front door of the La Maison Marigny Inn to Bourbon Street. She glanced left and right and shrugged. “Which way should we go first?”
“I think… Maybe left?”
“Just because you said that, I think we should go right.” Her tongue touched her top teeth as she smiled. She was messing with him, but she enjoyed every minute of it.
“As you wish.”
Laughter burst out of her when he referenced The Princess Bride, but only because she knew he meant every word of it.
Holding hands, they raced down Bourbon Street toward the bar on the farthest end. It was where Victoria wanted to start searching, but again, she wasn’t really sure what they were looking for. She just figured they’d wing it, and she chortled at her use of the phrase.
They presented their fake identification to the bouncer at the door and entered once he gave them a head nod, indicating they were old enough to party.
If only he knew.
Vance kissed her cheek, whispered in her ear that he’d see her later, and headed in the direction of the bar. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she made her way to a chair she saw in the corner and sat down to people watch. When a waiter stopped by, she ordered fries and a water, her hunger returning full force.
There were several drunk people bumping into each other, laughing, and cheering, but no one set off the sickness inside her that told her they had no soul. It didn’t take long for her to realize she and Vance weren’t in the right place. Nothing untoward was happening in that bar; it was just the usual drunken shenanigans. After polishing off her fries, she slid off the stool and made her way to the bar to find her husband.