Authors: Charlotte Rose
“You’re not fine. You’ve been shot.”
“Watch this.”
The bullet wasn’t lodged in particularly deep. Nelson reached two fingers into the wound. Narcisse thought she was going to pass out from the sight, but she willed herself to stay strong. Nelson’s fingers dug a little into the wound, sending more blood out, and then he pulled the bullet out of his skin. Suddenly, the skin began to heal. The bleeding stopped, and the wound began to close over. Narcisse looked up at Nelson in total shock.
He grinned. “See? I told you we could heal faster than humans. I’m fine, baby. Now come on. We’ve gotta take this guy down.”
Nelson helped Narcisse to her feet, and the protective cluster around them moved to give them enough space. Narcisse could tell that Pomet was even more distressed than he’d been before.
“Get off this property!” he screamed.
Villemont rolled his eyes. “Calm down, man. Go inside and call the police. I’ll keep them at bay. They don’t have any fear of us, but I have a feeling that people in uniform will scare them off.”
Narcisse began to panic. She knew that if the police were called, they’d never finish the ritual, and that would mean Villemont and Pomet would be able to wreak havoc on the bayou. Sucking in her breath, she closed her eyes and let herself shift into gator form. This time, she was in complete control of what she was doing. Thanks to the newfound control over her body, she’d never felt more powerful in her whole life. She heard Armand and Nelson cursing above her, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to let harm come to her new family.
Sprinting down the dock, she stopped hard in front of Pomet and let out a bellow. He startled and began to back away. As soon as his foot left the ground, Narcisse clamped down her jaws, trapping him with pain.
“Fuck!” Pomet screamed. “Do something!”
Narcisse refused to release her jaws, no matter how much he thrashed. Suddenly, she heard a click, and knew Villemont’s gun was trained on her head. But she refused to release Pomet.
Won’t he be surprised to find out the hard way that my skin is bulletproof?
“I don’t know what’s going on here,” Villemont said. “All I know is that I can’t believe my own eyes, and I sure as hell don’t like that. I’ve indulged you fools long enough, and now it’s getting tiresome. So it’s time for me to stop messing around. To show you that I’m serious, I’m going to take down this gator right here. Maybe that will teach you to stop messing with me.”
Narcisse refused to even blink as Villemont cocked the hammer. She remained still as she saw Armand shift and then begin sneaking up behind him, taking care not to blow his cover. When Armand surged forward and knocked Villemont off balance, he yelled and dropped the gun on the dock. As the gun went off on impact, Pomet tried to recoil, but Narcisse refused to let go. He collapsed on the dock, trying to get away, but she held firm, refusing to attempt to find her mates or see where the bullet landed. She only had one focus, and that was to keep Pomet from escaping.
Nelson ran up behind Pomet and grabbed him in a choke hold. When Nelson nodded at Narcisse, she let go, scampering back toward her clothes. She could see that Armand still had a strong grip on Villemont, his teeth gripping the man by the ankle. Villemont, however, was putting up a good effort to break free, and was obviously a better fighter than Pomet. Narcisse watched in horror as he brought his free leg down on Armand’s head so hard that Armand released his powerful jaws and then collapsed, his eyes closed. Even though she knew she’d be more vulnerable in human form, Narcisse shifted as fast as she could and threw on her clothes, approaching her mate.
“Wake up,” she gasped. “Wake up, please.”
Villemont took off, attempting to push members of the congregation out of the way but it was only a matter of seconds before Nelson dropped Pomet and had pinned him to the deck. Oscar and Xavier took over handling Pomet, and Nelson’s fist hovered over Villemont’s face with such intensity that Narcisse could barely stand to watch, for fear of what Nelson would do.
“You threatened my family and my home. Wanna beg for mercy? Ain’t gonna do you any good, but I wouldn’t mind seein’ you try.”
At that moment, Armand shuddered, and Narcisse couldn’t help but cry out, terrified that her mate might be dying. Nelson snapped his head around to look at her, and his mistake immediately registered on his face.
But it was already too late. Seizing that brief instant of vulnerability, Villemont delivered a punch that sent Nelson reeling. Before anyone had time to react, he’d pulled out a second pistol and immediately trained it on Narcisse’s head. As soon as he regained his bearings, Nelson stood up and moved to attack, but froze when he saw where the gun was pointed.
“That’s what I thought,” Villemont said. “You’re damn reckless with your own life, but you won’t do a thing if she stands to be hurt. So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to let me go, and she doesn’t get shot. Make one move, and I blow away her pretty face.”
Narcisse wanted to say something, but her breath was frozen in her throat, and her mind couldn’t form words. The best she could eke out was a weak moan.
In response, Villemont cocked the hammer.
“Okay, okay,” Nelson said, cautiously turning his head to look out at the congregation. “We ain’t gonna let one of our own get hurt. You go on now. But you also stay away from our bayou. We ain’t gonna tolerate this again. That clear?”
Villemont put the gun away. “You have my word.”
Narcisse couldn’t breathe until Villemont had limped into his boat and sped off along the water. Once he was out of sight, she fell to her knees and gasped.
“I’m sorry,” she said, tears starting to form in her eyes. “I’m so sorry I distracted you.”
“I’m sorry I got distracted,” Nelson said, helping her up. “I heard you scream, and I just wanted to run over and protect you.”
Suddenly, Armand opened his eyes. After shaking his head back and forth a few times, he began to shift back to human form. Narcisse hurried to bring him his clothes.
“What happened?” he asked, rubbing his head.
“Villemont managed to knock you out,” Nelson said. “And then I let my guard down. He put his gun on Narcisse, and I let him go to save her life. I’m sorry, everyone. I screwed up.”
Serafine patted Nelson’s shoulder. “You did good tonight. Don’t beat yourself up. I’m proud of you.”
“So am I,” Narcisse said, leaning up to give him a kiss.
“Yeah, but now he’s even more dangerous than he was before,” Nelson said. “Not only did he get away, but he’s seen us shift. He knows there’s somethin’ strange goin’ on with the people who own our company. Don’t think he’s gonna let that go. I shouldn’t have let him get away.”
“Your mate is the most important person in your life,” Serafine said. “Ain’t no shame in wantin’ to take care of her. Even if it means he got away. You done right by Narcisse. That’s all that matters.”
Andre laughed. “Besides, I don’t care how rich he is. I think if he tried to tell people that he saw members of Five Gators Fishing Company actually turn into the company’s namesake, everyone would think he’d finally lost his mind.”
Armand shook his head. “Maybe you’re right, but I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of him.”
“Neither do I,” Manuel said. “But I don’t think he’s gonna blow our cover. Least not if he wants to look sane.”
“Hey, guys?” Xavier called. “I could use a little help here. This guy is starting to thrash.”
Serafine walked up to Pomet, who was struggling to break free of Xavier and Oscar’s strong grasp. She reached into her pocket, tossed a powder into the air, and passed her hand in front of Pomet’s face.
“I cast darkness onto you, Alberto Pomet, so that you will fall where we all stand.”
Suddenly, the man went slack. It took Xavier and Oscar a second to accommodate for the sudden dead weight, but then they lowered him gently onto the dock.
“He’ll be out for a little while,” she said. “But we have to work quickly. Come on, we have a ritual to perform.”
“Ritual?” Narcisse asked. “But you said it had to be completed at sunset. I’m pretty sure it’s too dark for that now.”
Serafine smiled. “Yes.
That
ritual had to be done at sunset. But that was the one we had to do because we didn’t have Pomet or Villemont with us. Now that we have Pomet here with us, there’s a much more efficient spell I can cast. Somebody, tie him up and set him down on the dock.”
Armand raced over to Nelson’s boat and pulled out two lengths of rope. He secured Pomet’s wrists and ankles stood back with a small smirk on his face. Narcisse wanted to laugh at the sight of Armand admiring his handiwork. Just then, Pomet sprang back to life.
“Hey! What is this? What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get this off me!” He thrashed around, trying to loosen his bonds, but to no avail.
Serafine stood above him, looking both regal and terrifying. “You want to explain yourself?”
Pomet struggled against his restraints for a moment, and then assumed what was perhaps the smuggest look he could have managed despite his situation.
“I’m concerned with my bottom line and my profits. I don’t feel the need to be concerned about my competitors, or about what I’m supposedly doing to this bayou.”
“You seriously didn’t think about what was gonna happen when you caught every single fish?” Armand snapped.
Pomet’s face went red. “Who are you to tell me about running a business? If the wetlands go under, well, at least I’m smart enough to branch out. There are other swamps in other states. There are other avenues for my business. Maybe you should learn to diversify.”
“Maybe you should learn to respect the land and water that make you money.”
Pomet was so angry that his face was nearly purple, and he started to struggle again against his restraints.
Serafine, however, was having none of it. She grabbed him by the shoulder.
“Now you listen to me,” she commanded.
Pomet immediately fell silent.
“You and your company are bad news for this bayou, and I’m not gonna let you get away with it any longer. So you have two choices. You can calm down, and we can do this the easy way, or you can keep acting up, and we can do this the hard way. And let it be known that while many people in my family have an issue with killing, I don’t. I try not to use my magic to cause harm, but in this situation, I have no problem with doing whatever needs to be done to make sure you never work again. Is that clear?”
Pomet didn’t answer. He merely gulped and nodded.
“Very good. You just lie still, then. That’s all you need to do, and you seem to be pretty good at that. Don’t make me put another spell on you now, got it? I have more important things to think about.”
Serafine ushered everyone to form a circle around Pomet. She stood facing him and pulled a small velvet bag from one of the pockets of her flowing robes. She dropped a ring of fine powder around Pomet. With a snap of her fingers, the ring shot up in a blaze, and then it cooled to a hot glow. Narcisse felt a throb of power surge through every nerve ending. As the fire reduced, so did the surge, but it didn’t disappear as it had done when Villemont had interrupted the previous ritual.
Serafine crossed the boundary so the circle surrounded both Pomet herself, and then she began to chant.
An injustice has been done
I call upon the spirits of this bayou
I invoke the gods protecting these waters
I conjure them to do my bidding
The four elements shall lay their hearts and minds
There shall be fear and guilt and loss