as Veritas the Law Guardian now. She’d only see a stranger.
“I hope she loves surprises,” I murmured.
The door opened, revealing Jacques again. “Come in,” he said. “Majestic is expecting you.”
One glance inside was enough to know that the house was well over a century old. The abundance of tall, narrow windows was only common before the invention of air-conditioning, not to mention the steps we’d climbed to reach the front porch. Back before the pump system that kept this city dry, homes had been elevated to avoid being ruined from the area’s common floods.
Once inside, eighteenth-century Creole influences were also apparent in the lack of hallways. Jacques opened double doors to lead us through the twin parlors into the living room, where crown molding bordered the high ceiling, a mantled fireplace added a touch of coziness amidst the formality, and one of the walls was entirely made up of windows overlooking a lovely garden.
Jacques nodded at the beige suede couches arranged to face that window. Ashael and I sat. I declined Jacques’s offer of refreshment, but Ashael asked for a café au lait and a beignet. Guess he hadn’t been kidding about his craving.
Jacques left. Ashael and I sat in silence. Even if this room wasn’t being monitored, and it probably was, ghouls had great hearing. After five minutes, Marie entered.
She wore a long, pleated burgundy skirt and a sleeveless, cream-colored silk blouse. The skirt’s rich color accentuated the subtle pink glow in her light brown skin, and her thick black hair was swept up on both sides with a ruby-studded comb, showing off her high cheekbones, full mouth, and walnut-colored eyes.
Marie might have been in her mid-forties when she was changed. She might have been a decade younger, too. It was hard to tell. Her skin had the kind of ageless beauty that cosmetic companies promised to their customers, and most failed to deliver.
“Ma belle,” Ashael said, rising.
I got up, too. Marie accepted a kiss on each cheek from Ashael, but after a brief, appreciative glance at him, her gaze was all for me.
“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure, sister of Ashael,” she said, extending her hand. “I am Marie Laveau, and you are?”
“Ariel,” I said with the briefest smile as I shook her hand. “But you’ll know me by my other name, Veritas.”
With that, I briefly donned my usual glamour, showing her a glimpse of my slender blonde disguise before dropping it for my real appearance again.
Marie didn’t flinch, but for an instant, she was haloed by an innumerable amount of writhing, translucent Remnants.
Remnants were made up of the darkest types of energy, and they consumed pain and vitality with the merciless ferocity of sharks during a feeding frenzy. No one was immune to them, living or undead, and Marie commanded them with absolute authority.
Just as quickly, the Remnants vanished, leaving Marie haloed by nothing more than her elegant furnishings and then Jacques, who’d come back into the room bearing a china coffeepot, cups, and beignets on a silver platter.
“Not now,” Marie said curtly.
Jacques turned on his heel and left. Ashael sighed in disappointment.
“You deceived me, Ashael.” Marie’s tone was smoother than honey, yet each word landed with the slam of an anvil.
Ashael spread out his hands. “Never, ma belle—”
Remnants flashed behind her again. “Do not ‘ma belle’ me!”
I had to stop this before Marie had them attack. Shadows ripped out of me while my gaze flashed from emerald to bright silver.
“I am not what you thought I was, Marie,” I said with all the icy calm of my other nature. Then, I lightly tugged on her blood so she’d know the darkness spilling out of me and my glowing silver eyes were no trick of glamour.
Her face, chest, and arms flushed a deep red as her blood rushed to the surface. I released it before any drops broke her skin. I didn’t want her to bleed for my proof, and besides, her power over Remnants resided in her blood. I might be able to glimpse the Remnants always hovering near Marie because of my abilities, but they wouldn’t become manifest to attack without her drawing her blood and commanding them.
My non-vampire side now revealed, I rescinded my shadows and let my gaze return to normal.
Marie said nothing for a moment. Then, to my surprise, she laughed until she held her sides as if they’d split otherwise.
“All this time, you’ve been that,” she said, gesturing at me. “I wish I could have seen the vampire council’s faces