Punished (27 page)

The guests carelessly mingled and sipped on Vieux Carres, Hurricanes and champagne, expect for Mr. Dumpty who held two drinks in his hand and insisted on simultaneously taking large gulps from both of them.

They happily swayed to the sound of the infectious music, and for a minute, it seemed as if the entire world was at peace. I was relieved to see that grand-mere and Aunt Mae were deep in conversation and sipping on drinks together while Ben sat by their side drinking a Coke. To my disappointment Lucus wasn’t anywhere in sight.

“Arelia, my champagne seems to have gotten stale. Go on and get me a refill.” Mrs. Dreaux’s shrill voice snapped me out of my Zen moment. She looked utterly stiff and uncomfortable dressed in a ridiculously too tight Herve Leger band-aid dress and clown red lipstick.

“I’m not working tonight.” I tossed her my fakest smile.

“Then why are you here? I assumed
the help
did other things on their days off. Perhaps bargain hunting?” She looked me up and down with her icy eyes.

Stay calm, Arelia. Stay calm. I remembered what Gran-Ibo had told me, don’t give others power to abuse you, or they’ll keep on doing it. “The next time I go bargain hunting, I’ll be sure to invite you. With all your money, you should be able to find a dress that fits you better and lipstick that doesn’t make you look like a clown. Maybe you’re just shopping at the wrong types of stores.”

Mrs. Dreaux’s mouth opened and closed like an electrified fish, but no words came out.

“What’s going on here?” Tony interrupted our little show down. Damn him for looking hot. I wanted to find him ugly, but a part of me still grudgingly melted at the sight of his familiar eyes and sandy blond hair.

“We’re just talking,” I answered.

“Arelia is being her usually obnoxious self.” Mrs. Dreaux took another jab at me, as she sipped her supposedly stale champagne.

Tony stood there like a silent idiot, unsure of how to respond. I felt like smacking him. He would be her eternal prisoner. I refused to be his any longer.

I felt a pair of sturdy arms gently wrap around my waist and was ecstatic and terrified to see that they belonged to Lucus. “Obnoxious? Arelia? Never,” he said sarcastically, as he gave me a wink.

Mrs. Dreaux gave Lucus an icy glare. “I see she’s already got you wrapped around her greedy little fingers, doesn’t she?”

Lucus shrugged. “I guess she does.” He took my hand and led me out of the rose garden and down the familiar oak lined path. We walked in silence until we reached the white wire bench. We sat down, and my toes curled as the scent of jasmine hung thick in the air.

“You look beautiful,” he said, when he finally spoke.

“I’m supposed to be a dark fairy,” I said. Why did I just tell him that? Why couldn’t I say something normal like thank you?

His gaze held mine. “I don’t see any darkness in you.”

I looked down and tried to hide my smile.

“Mae told me everything,” he said.

“Are you going to try to convince me that I should leave?” I asked.

“No, I know you’re too stubborn to listen, but I am surprised that you want to stay after you saw all that you did,” he said softly.

I took a deep breath. “What I saw was brutal, ugly, oppressive and plain wrong.”

Lucus’ head hung low, as he listened to me speak. “I know. I’m so ashamed,” he whispered. “I never did a single thing…”

I gathered my courage and lightly placed my hand under his chin. I lifted his head from its miserable position until our eyes met. “But you were never any of those things. You were kind, alive, spontaneous, optimistic and romantic. You saw the goodness and beauty in everything. You had a favorite rat named Dotty. Maybe you drank a little bit too much whiskey. I don’t see any darkness in you either.”

Lucus’ gloom was slowly replaced by a carefree smile. The old Lucus was gradually fighting his way back. He placed a finger over my lips. “Listen.” He drew my attention to the song the jazz band was playing.

Stars shining up above you/Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"/Birds singing in the sycamore trees/Dream a little dream of me

Crap. He had heard me tragically sing to him. Before I had a chance to get paranoid, Lucus’ lips met mine in a sweet embrace that made me faintly dizzy. Our dance started out slow and smooth but increased with a vicious intensity that was frightening but irrefutably exhilarating. Under a glorious oak, while the sugary smell of jasmine lingered in the air, my eyes closed, and I felt my heart grow a size or two.
 

Chapter 29

Binding Louis

When my eyes finally opened I was horrified. Sabrina stood in the distance with her arms crossed. Our heavily made-up eyes met in a cat like standoff, and I swore she mouthed
you bitch
. She turned around and sprinted into the house.

“I have to go,” I said, as I took off my borrowed heels. “I’ll be back, don’t go anywhere.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Lucus.

I left him sitting on the bench even though I wanted more than anything to stay with him. Why was it when every time something good happened, something really bad had to happen right after?

When I got to the house, I headed straight for the spiral stairs. I knew that Sabrina had probably gone to our room. She hated letting people see her cry.

The house was eerily mute and dark since everyone was outside enjoying the festivities. As I passed the ballroom, a hand took a hold of me and drew me inside. It was Ivan.

“What the hell! Ivan, I don’t have time for any games. Let go of me, you ass!”

“Relax Arelia, I’m not going to hurt you,” his voice was disturbingly soft. He had called me by name, and that in itself was beyond nerve-wracking.

He placed his arms around me and held me close. I tried to break free, but his embrace was too powerful. “I just want to hold you, you smell so good.”

What the hell? Was I in some kind of alternate universe? Ivan just wanted to hold me? I dug my nails into his pale skin, but it got no reaction out of him what so ever. “Ivan I will murder you, get your weird hands off of me.”

“Arelia, I’ll do anything for just one kiss.” He started to sniff my neck like a fervent dog.

I was going elbow him when I realized he was sniffing the exact spot where I had passed Come to Me Oil. My blood froze, and I felt myself go rigid in his arms. Every odd thing Ivan had said to me came into focus. Could it be? I felt like such an idiot for not picking up on it sooner. I needed to make sure that this was really Louis bound in flesh and bone.

“Anything?” I whispered trying to sound all seductive when I really wanted to pee myself.

“Yes,” he said gruffly.

“Tell me who you are. Tell me your real name. Please.”

His strange eyes looked into mine. “I’m Louis.”

I showed no reaction and chose my words extremely carefully, as I softly stroked his cheek. “Why are you here Louis and why do you call yourself Ivan?”

Like a madman, he placed his head on my shoulders and continued to sniff that same spot. “I’ve been bound to this body since 1853. I named myself Ivan after the first Russian tsar, Ivan the Terrible. I’m no longer a victim; I’m someone to be feared. I knew that you’d be working here, so I got a job as a waiter.”

“How did you know I was going to be working here?”

“I’m a powerful voodoo king Arelia, do you like power? I don’t have much money, but I do have strength. Do you prefer money or strength?”

I didn’t answer his question. Instead, I ran my fingers through his hair and delicately spoke in his ear. “Why have you been messing with me Louis? Why did you want me to experience your life as a slave? Why don’t you want me to get close to Lucus?”

After another long sniff and pause, he responded. “I wanted you to see how awful it was, I want you to hate him like I loathe him. He doesn’t deserve to ever find peace. He took everything from me. I don’t want you to free him or help him. He’s not worthy of any of it.”

“Why didn’t you attack him and make him suffer? Why go through me?”

“My power is useless against him, I can’t hurt him. Believe me, I’ve tried. Only you can help him, only you Arelia. You’re so powerful. Do you know how many voodoo kings and queens in New Orleans know about you? How many crave your ability to call on the loa with so much ease?”

Actually, I hadn’t thought about that, and I’m not sure I wanted to. “Don’t you want to find peace?”

“No, I’ve given up on ever being free.”

“It’s not Lucus’ fault that you were born a slave,” I said soothingly. “He’s tortured over it too; he feels awful and remorseful and will probably do anything to earn your forgiveness. Your life was hard, and my heart bleeds for you, but you can’t live like this forever.”

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to call him Louis or Ivan. If this was Louis, I shuddered as I thought about what had turned him into the present day Ivan. The Louis I had seen had been so sweet and kind, and now… Well I had no idea what he was…

“I could have gotten over the abuse my body went through,” he said, as he took another long sniff. “But he took her from me when he could have anyone he wanted. He chose to fall in love with her, and she fell in love with him. So many questions Arelia, come on now, just one kiss.” He brought his lips close to mine.

“If you want a kiss you need to answer all my questions,” I said, as I turned his head away from my mouth. “You tried to kill Lucus, why?”

“I saw her kiss him one night. The night she promised she was going to meet me. I waited and waited for her, but she never came. I snuck out to the big house, and saw her holding him just like she held me. She looked at him the way she looked at me and smiled at him the way she smiled at me. It was the worst punishment I’d ever experienced, worse than the most brutal lashes, or the most dreadful pangs of hunger. Do you know what it’s like to love someone with such intensity and brutality that your every waking minute revolves around that one person? She was my world, my light, my life. She gave everything meaning.”

“No,” I admitted. “I’ve never loved anyone with so much devotion before.”

 
“I asked her about it, but she denied it. She wouldn’t meet me some nights when she said she would. I thought I would be okay with it. For a while, I was, as long as she was by my side. Soon, the jealousy drove me mad, and I wanted nothing more than to kill him. She lied right to my face then kissed me with so much passion right afterwards. I was her willing prisoner.”

My mind raced as I tried to piece it together. They had been in love with the same girl. Was this the same girl that left Lucus? I tried to contain my jealousy. It was so immature being bitter over some girl in his past, but I couldn’t help it. “Was she a slave?”

“No, she worked for the LaPlante family in their kitchen; she was so beautiful and kind. She didn’t care about money, why did she choose him over me? What’s wrong with me Arelia?”

 
I despised Ivan with a passion, but I had felt his pain and suffering. He had once been a gentle soul. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” I cradled him softly. “There’s nothing wrong with you at all.”

“He had his pick of the wealthiest and most beautiful women in the entire country, but he chose her. Why did he pick her? Why couldn’t he leave me a piece of light in the dark hell that was my life?”

“I don’t know.” And then I said something that I thought I would never say. “Love isn’t rational. He was in love with her just like you were. I don’t think he did it to hurt you.” I hoped Lucus hadn’t purposely messed around with Louis’ girlfriend just because he could.

“My kiss Arelia, I need to kiss your lips. Why do you love him? I see the way you look at him. Why does everyone love him? Is it because he’s wealthy, is that all it is?”