Smile fixed firmly in place, Brigitte remains silent, and stops next to me. When she turns to start at Marie’s cottage, suspicion curls like an evil snake along my spine.
Before I can wrap my hand around her neck and interrogate her further, the object of my obsession opens her front door and steps outside.
In a fur shawl, although the temperature in New Orleans definitely doesn’t call for it.
With the regal bearing of a fucking goddess.
As she should, I’ll admit.
Might as well. She’s sporting a gold and silver aura the size of one.
And a spiked halo that’s identical to Brigitte’s, except hers is gold, not silver.
My jaw unhinges and I can do nothing but scowl at her as she begins making her way down the street.
Did . . . did Marie fucking ascend yet again?
I’m a god, and if there’s one thing I can recognize is the energy signature of another like me.
My female is no longer a simple priestess or necromancer.
She’s one of us.
I stare at the golden crescent moon on her forehead. At least there aren’t golden tears marking her face, a small voice in the back of my head says.
Marie stops on the street in front of us, all-gray eyes, the same as Brigitte’s, studying the Goddess of the Fade. “Your energy is familiar to me, but I don’t believe we’ve met.”
Brigitte could not look happier.
Or more maniacal, if I’m honest.
“I used to be a goddess of life. A long time ago, before I gave into a lying god. Now I’m Goddess of the Fade. I’m here to play witness to his test.”
“Test? What test?”
“Oh, honey, you were always Baron Samedi’s demise. And you get to decide if I drag a god into the twilight. Isn’t it fun?”
What. The. Hell?
I come to ask this woman to become my wife, yet the Goddess of the Fade claims this is her chance to . . . what?
End me?
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I bark at her.
“I’m not sure I’m ready to be his demise,” Marie says, bringing my attention back to her. “At least, not yet.”
How reassuring.
My eyes drift up to that golden halo. “How did you manage to ascend, Marie? And which one are you?” What is she the goddess of now?
“Remy,” she murmurs, smirking. “You should know by now that I do what I want.”
I ignore how hearing her say my name—my real name—sends a pulse of excitement through me. “That isn’t a good enough answer.”
“She’s the Goddess of Voodoo now,” Brigitte supplies helpfully, having her fun.
“That doesn’t explain why your eyes are the same color and she has a halo shaped like yours.” And I’m growing more and more suspicious by the second.
“She plays with death, Remy. Of course she and I would be aligned.” I swear her dull gray eyes sparkle almost silver as she turns back to Marie. “Are you saying you agree to being his wife? Instead of letting me have his soul?”
“His what?” Marie stutters, at the same time I shout, “Brigitte!”
How I wish I could scream that filthy liar’s true name.
Marie shakes her head, as if she finds this entire exchange as odd as I do, and faces me. “You are out of your damned mind if you believe I will rush to be your wife.”
I open my mouth to reply, prepared to convince her, but she holds up a finger to stop me.
“You . . . you were there for Felicite and Angele when I couldn’t be.” Her eyes glow with unshed tears that she blinks back immediately. The crescent moon on her forehead glows with a gold reflection. “And you have made sure their father suffered.”
“His suffering will never end,” I’m quick to add.
Marie nods, satisfied, and tilts her chin back to lock gazes.
It occurs to me that this female was always meant to be a goddess. I think I knew it the first time I met her, too. It’s in her bearing, her essence. In the way she faces off against the world and everyone in it.
“I do not know what you and I can be, if we try,” she begins.
I hold back another reply.
I do.
Think I always knew that, as well. From that very first night.
I know exactly what we’re meant to be, even if she isn’t ready to admit it.
“But . . . I think I’m ready to try again. As equals this time.”
As a god and a goddess, she means.
As a male that won’t walk away this time, and a female that won’t accidentally lock me out of her life.
No. If I fuck up again, this female won’t just punish me. She now has the power to finish me off.
Brigitte curls her lip and stares down the length of my body in disgust. “Ugh. I was so looking forward to ending you.” She throws a playful wink at Marie and walks around us. As she begins heading down the street, her coat flowing behind her, she throws over her shoulder, “Let me know if you ever change your mind, yeah? You rejecting him equals his death. His soul can’t handle another round of that.”
Marie and I stare after her retreating figure as she vanishes down the block. “What exactly did you ever do to her? I thought she wasn’t your wife.”
“She’s not. She was married to the Baron that came before me. She just hates all males. As much as it drives me crazy, I learned it’s not personal.” I grab both her hands, staring at the smooth skin on the back, and the gold glow that sits above the surface.
Humans will probably think it’s shimmering body lotion.
It’s her powers thrumming beneath the layers of her skin.
Her gray markings remain, I can see peaks of it beneath the fur shawl.
She’s as exotic as she always was, and more otherworldly than most goddesses I’ve ever met. “Are you serious when you say you’re ready to try?”
“I am. But if you even think of running like un lache again”—a coward—“I will call her to come claim your soul, if it’s true that’s how you die. Something tells me that would be the worst punishment for you.”
I mock shudder for her benefit. “I’ve been dealing with that insufferable shrew for two centuries. Trust me, that’s the last thing I need.”
Marie tries to hold back her smile at my stupid joke. She hasn’t let go of my hands, but she hasn’t relaxed, either. “You hurt me really bad when you just ran. I understood that as a god, you couldn’t stay, but you ran while I was asleep and didn’t even think to say goodbye. And the path my life took after that . . .”
“I know. I was there.”
She raises an eyebrow. “My own supernatural stalker.”
“And then some.”
Chuckling, she stares off into the distance, in the direction Brigitte went, eyes narrowed. “I have no idea how to do this, or how to give you what you ultimately want. But I guess it’s time we pick things up where we left off and find out, huh?”
It’s odd seeing her this soft for me, instead of the malice she harbored against me for so long. “Yes. It is. And trust me, this time you won’t regret it.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Remy.”
“Marie, I don’t. You’re going to learn to trust that.” I duck down and lift her up over my shoulder, caveman-style. With an arm wrapped around her legs, I start heading toward her house.