Predestined (Existence Trilogy #2)(22)

“Come on Pagan, you’ve got your eyeful. Let’s go for a ride,” Leif pulled me toward the carriage as the horse stopped in front of us.

“We’re going to ride?” I asked as he lifted me up into the back of the buggy.

“Yep,” he responded grinning and took the seat across from me instead of beside me. I was thankful for the distance from him but I didn’t like the fact that his eyes would be fixed on me.

“So, what do you think of Bourbon Street? Everything you’d ever imagined?”

I could honestly say I’d never thought of Bourbon Street at all. Not once in my life did I imagine anything about it. Now, I knew the exact location in Louisiana Leif had brought me. I turned my attention back to the streets as we passed by them. Lights broadcasting naked women flashed in windows and chalkboards claiming to have the best gumbo in town also filled the streets. Voodoo shops were endless and the small little dolls I’d always thought of when someone mentioned Voodoo littered the windows. That was all I’d ever known of Voodoo. A little doll you stuck needles into when you disliked someone. It was an amusing thought, nothing more. How off track I’d been.

“These shops, the Voodoo ones...,” I began and Leif chuckled.

“Are owned by regular people sucking the tourists dry. Not one of them hold any power. I’d guess if a real voodoo spirit were to grace their doors they’d close up and leave town. The real voodoo isn’t along these streets. It can only be found deep in the swamp by those chosen by the spirits to embody it.”

Oh fabulous, the evil spirits were picky. Doesn’t that just make it all better. I didn’t roll my eyes but the grin on Leif’s face said he knew I was attempting to be on my best behavior.

The old French buildings began to give way to cleaner, more elegant buildings. I wondered how much of New Orleans I was going to see before I was sent back home.

“This is the Garden District. It is a nicer area. The most well preserved southern mansions can be found right here.”

As fascinating as that was I wasn’t interested in New Orleans neighborhoods.

“What did you want to talk to me about Leif? Why am I here?”

Leif leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. I straightened in my bench seat in order to keep a safe distance from him. Thankfully he didn’t seem to notice.

“I know you understand now what your mother did. You remember all the times I’ve come to you in your life. You know it was me that day in the old Voodoo queen’s home that removed the sickness from your body. Yes, I did it and I require, my father requires, a restitution for it. All gris gris comes with payment. Not the monetary kind like the voodoo shop owners require. Real Voodoo requires something more. The more difficult the request, the more the payment will be.

I wanted you to live Pagan. I’d watched you from the moment you arrived in New Orleans. The nurse watching over you was the granddaughter of the voodoo queen. She brought me to see you the first day you arrived. I was fascinated with your spunk. My father was looking for my mate and I went to him with the request to have you. He said we must wait. That if it was meant to happen then fate would play into our hands. When the doctors said you would not see another day, your mother went to the nurse and she brought you to the old voodoo queen who summoned me.”

He stopped and studied me a moment. I’d known most of this already, except of course, the connection with the nurse. After taking a deep breath, almost a sigh, Leif continued, “A life cannot be spared for free. The cost is a life for a life. I saved your life and in doing so bought your soul. It has been mine since the day you were healed. I’ve been near you ever since.”

My mother had sold my soul to the devil. That was what he was telling me. Except it was hard to think of Leif as the devil. He looked so normal sitting there in front of me. If only he were a normal boy I could break up with and walk away from.

“None of this makes sense. Why did you become human? Why did you ignore me for years? Why did you pretend with me? Why do you want me? Why can’t you just let me go?” The questions spilled out of my mouth. And Leif started to open his mouth again when an angry sneer took its place. That was new. That most definitely did not look like the Leif I knew. What had I said to set him off and, ohgod, don’t let him morph into a horrid demon.

“He’s here. How the hell did Dankmar get here so quickly?” he roared and the buggy came to a stop. I took in my surroundings as Leif stood up and jumped down from the buggy leaving me alone. The street lights were dim and the nice lit up mansions and busy streets we’d been on earlier were gone. This was downright creepy. A hand grabbed my arm and I jerked around and screamed but it instantly died as Dank pulled me up into his arms.

“It’s okay,” he assured me and I let out a choked sob of relief. He was here. I was going home. He ran his hand down my hair. “Shhhh, I got you. He’s gone.”

“Where? Are you sure?” I whispered against his chest.

“Yes, he bolted instead of facing me. He’s out-ranked Pagan. I told you that.”

Nodding into his chest I wrapped my arms around his waist and inhaled his scent. I didn’t care that he’d hurt my feelings earlier. I’d over-reacted. I just wanted to leave this place.

“Let’s go home,” he whispered in my ear.

Chapter Nine

Dank