Rose, Charlotte - Bayou Flood [The Shifters of Alligator Bend 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

“I’m not upset that you blew me off,” Georgina said after taking a few sips of her beer. “Well, I mean, I am upset, but that’s not the real reason I flipped out back there.”

Sophie raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, it was seeing the two of them that really set me off.”

“What, is one of them your ex or something?”

Georgina shook her head. “No. They used to be my family.”

Sophie choked on the beer she’d been swallowing. “Used to be your family?” she asked when she regained her composure.

“Well, sort of. We’re not related biologically or anything.” She sighed and threw her head back. “Ugh, it’s so complicated. I don’t even know where to start.”

Sophie shrugged. “Just begin at the beginning, I guess.”

“Okay, here goes. So you knew I spent most of my life living in a houseboat in a commune on the bayou, right?”

“Right.”

“Yeah, but that’s only part of the story. Maybe I should have told you before, but…but it’s just so painful to think about. I hate bringing it up. It brings back all those terrible memories.”

“Terrible memories?”

Georgina nodded, a small tear rolling down her cheek. “Well, the commune, it wasn’t just full of regular people. I come from a group of people that can shift between human form and alligator form.”

“So–so at the show last week, when Virgil and Gabriel spontaneously shifted into gators, you knew exactly what was going on.”

“Yeah.”

“So how come you acted like the guards pulled you away and you were terrified for my life? How come you played innocent, like you didn’t know what was going on? I mean, that whole thing was such a shock. I could really have used your input and advice.”

“I’m so sorry,” Georgina said, her tears falling faster now. “I should have mentioned something, but I didn’t know how. It’s just—it’s just that it’s so hard to talk about. It doesn’t get the least bit easier. And I am afraid for your life. These—these aren’t the kind of people you want to get involved with, especially not for life. You can’t decide to mate with them. You’ll regret it.”

“Why is that?” Sophie kept her voice low and calm, but she was starting to feel upset. She didn’t like being unsure of Georgina.

“You’re my best friend. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I’ve never been close to someone the way I’ve been with you. I really care about you, and I don’t want them to hurt you the way they hurt me. I don’t trust them to treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”

“This has something to do with why you left the bayou and moved to New Orleans permanently, doesn’t it?”

Georgina nodded and finally wiped the tears from her face. She took a deep breath and finally began to tell her story.

“The members of the congregation never liked that I was so passionate about school and that I wasn’t interested in helping to run the fishing business. I mean, nobody ever leaves. You grow up there, you help with whatever aspect of the business is best suited to your talents, and you die there. There are some exceptions to that. One of the recent mates kept her career as a biologist at Tulane. She wouldn’t consent to being mated otherwise. Of course, part of the reason nobody ever leaves is that we can’t leave for more than forty-eight hours, or we die.”

Sophie raised her eyebrows. “Then how are you still alive?”

“I’m getting to that. Anyway, I was fine to live on the houseboats, especially since I didn’t have much choice in the matter. But I didn’t want to fish, and I didn’t want to be involved with the business side of things. I wanted to be a scientist. The congregation indulged me for a long time, but then they betrayed me when I had the chance to follow my dream.”

“How?”

“When I was offered full-time work at Villemont Industrial Labs, I jumped at the chance, even though it meant leaving school. The pay was higher than I’d ever be able to make in academia, anyway. But the rest of the congregation wouldn’t stand for it.”

“Why not?”

“They don’t like Villemont or his business practices. They hate pretty much anything associated with big business. They consider him an enemy of the bayou, and they wouldn’t allow me to work for him.”

“You got around that somehow, I take it.”

“Sort of.” Georgina started to cry again. “When I told them they couldn’t force me to refuse the offer, things just went crazy. They decided to banish me from the congregation. By choosing to follow my dreams, I had become their enemy. Our voodoo queen performed a ritual that spiritually severed me from the congregation, making it possible for me to leave without dying. Then they packed my things and sent me away. I’ve been on my own ever since. And it kills me every day. I mean, you have to understand that it physically hurts to be cut off. Much of the pain has subsided, but I still feel it. And I miss them. I miss my mom and dad and having a strong community. I also lost my powers. I can’t shift. I can’t heal from injuries quickly. I lost everything that made me special.”

Sophie was torn between pity for her friend and the sense in her gut that told her something wasn’t quite right with Georgina’s story. “I’m so sorry,” Sophie said, taking her friend’s hand. “I had no idea. That must have been terrible for you. How long ago was this?”

“Only about two months ago. The wounds are still so raw. That’s why I freaked out when I saw Virgil and Gabriel with you at the bar, and why I faked ignorance when you called me after the show last week. I’m so sorry. It’s just so much to deal with. I didn’t think I’d ever see any of them again, and when I did, it really threw me off.”

“It’s okay.” Sophie stood up and circled the table to give Georgina a hug. Deep down, she wasn’t sure it was okay, but she also didn’t feel comfortable accusing Georgina of lying, especially when she didn’t know Virgil and Gabriel’s side of the story. “I wish I’d known.”

“Don’t worry about it. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home now. It’s been a hell of a day.”

“Of course.”

“Just promise me you’ll stay away from them. Don’t agree to be their mate. These are not good people you’re dealing with.”

Sophie wasn’t sure if she could promise Georgina that. For one thing, she had a feeling she wasn’t getting the full picture. For another thing, she had promised to visit the congregation and hear Virgil and Gabriel’s explanation, and she didn’t want to decide anything until she was certain she had the truth. Still, Georgina looked so distraught that Sophie couldn’t bring herself to hurt her.

“I really appreciate you looking out for me. Thank you for filling me in.”

“What are friends for?” Georgina asked as she stood up from the table and walked toward the door.

Sophie didn’t respond. She simply followed her friend out into the warm New Orleans night.

* * * *

The boathouses were mostly dark by the time Virgil and Gabriel pulled up. They knew nobody was waiting up for them. They weren’t expected to have returned until daylight. Virgil did note that the kitchen light was on, though, and wondered if Serafine was waiting to interrogate them about how the evening had gone.

Instead, he and Gabriel found Adele sitting at the counter, poring over notes.

“What you workin’ on?” Virgil asked. “Finishin’ up some research?”

Adele shook her head. “I’m just trying to figure out why the coastline is disappearing so quickly. I mean, erosion has been a problem for years, and it’s only getting worse, but it shouldn’t be falling apart this rapidly, you know?”

“Oh, we know,” Virgil said. “I swear, it looked like it had receded a foot today alone.”

“Well, even that seems over the top,” Adele said. “But I know what you mean. It’s way more noticeable than it should be.”

“So what do you think it is?” Gabriel asked, sitting down and handing everyone a beer.

“My best guess is that it’s a confluence of factors. I mean, there’s the existing erosion problem, for starters. I have a feeling that Pomet’s recent overfishing played a role in the situation we’re in now as well.”

“So soon afterwards?” Virgil asked.

Adele took a sip of her beer. “With the amount he took? Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, overfishing isn’t even a primary reason for erosion, but when compounded with an existing problem, there’s definitely reason to believe that it could be part of the reason the wetlands are in this situation.”

“But not the primary reason.”

“I just don’t know. I still have a lot of work to do to figure all of this stuff out.”

“Who do you think’s causin’ it?” Gabriel asked.

Adele shrugged. “It’s not necessarily a matter of who, or even what. More than likely it’s not just one thing. It’s probably a whole confluence of factors acting together to throw off the entire ecosystem.”

“Think Villemont is involved?” Virgil asked. “I mean, look how he tried to help Pomet destroy the entire fishin’ supply out here. Ain’t like he has the bayou’s best interests in mind.”

Adele shrugged. “Look, we’ve had run-ins with him in the recent past, but it’s not as though he’s going to be responsible for all of our troubles, you know? The erosion problem is bigger than him.” She pushed her papers back and rubbed her eyes. “Anyway, I’m not getting anywhere. You two are back early. Want to talk about it or shuffle off to your quarters and pretend I didn’t see a thing?”

Gabriel sighed. “It’s a long story.”

Adele smiled. “You can’t exactly expect her to just decide to mate with you because you went to see her show. Do you have an idea how hard Xavier and Oscar had to work to convince me that the three of us belonged together?”

“Oh, it ain’t the matin’ that’s our concern right now,” Virgil said. “We were actually makin’ some pretty good progress with her. She let us kiss her. In public, no less.”

“But then a friend of hers walked in on us,” Gabriel added. “And things went downhill from there.”

“Why? Was she weirded out by seeing Sophie kissing two guys at the same time?”

“No.” Virgil took a deep breath. He wished he didn’t have to utter the words, but he knew he couldn’t keep this information a secret from the rest of the congregation. Even if Georgina didn’t mean them any ill will, which he doubted, they still needed to know who their mate’s best friend was.

Finally, he continued. “Her friend is Georgina Fucher. Georgina walked into the bar, saw us kissing her, and then ran out in tears. Sophie pulled away from us and chased after her.”

Adele went pale. “I didn’t—I didn’t exactly think we’d encounter her again. I mean, she didn’t die or anything, but—”

Virgil nodded. “Believe me, we know what you mean.”

“So did Georgina say anything to you?”

“Not much,” Gabriel said. He snorted. “Just that she didn’t have anythin’ to say to us. Then she turned and ran off.”

“Well, presumably Sophie doesn’t know Georgina’s past, or she might have had a different reaction the first time the two of you shifted in front of her. We wouldn’t have had to explain the whole thing.”

“Ain’t like it’s a very good story, anyway,” Virgil said. “Not the kind of thing you wanna confess to a friend.”

Adele rubbed her temples. “And Sophie didn’t give you a chance to explain?”

“I don’t think she even realized Georgina knew us. They both just took off runnin’.”

“I can only imagine what Georgina is telling Sophie now, though. What if she fills her head full of lies? What if Sophie believes Georgina instead of us? She’s ain’t gonna trust us anymore.”

Virgil sucked in his breath. “God, I hope it doesn’t come down to that. She’s special.”

Gabriel nodded. “Well, she did promise to come pay us a visit tomorrow.”

“You really think she will after whatever lies Georgina tells her?”

“I do, man. I really do. She ain’t the kind of woman to break a promise. Besides, if she thinks we’re the ones who’ve been stringin’ her along all this time, she’s gonna wanna come out here to demand some answers.”

Virgil couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re right. Guess I should stop worryin’. We can figure this all out when she gets here tomorrow, right?”

“Right.”

Adele smiled. “And on that note, I think I’m really to quit for the night and go to bed. I’ve been up way too late for my own good. I’ll probably be worthless tomorrow.”