A trace of fatigue in his voice, Lucky said, “My wife, Bobbie. You know my girl, Shauna. Sorry ’bout dem fireworks. Shauna not herself.”
“Shauna needs vamp blood,” I said, “and not from her husband.” And that got their attention. I stopped at the bottom of the steps, crossed my arms, and stared up at the women on the narrow front porch. “Her husband is starving. Do you know what happens to vamps when they starve? The pain is physical, a raging in their blood. The blood hunger is so intense that they often go insane. He needs human blood. You’re anemic, Shauna. You need some blood to heal, and Gabe doesn’t have enough to spare. Your blood isn’t enough to keep you healthy, let alone a young vamp. They need more blood than older vamps. Didn’t Gabe tell you that before you married?”
Shauna ducked her chin and averted her eyes from all of us.
“Shauna,” Lucky barked. “Dis lady done come long way to help you. You answer her question.” His expression darkened. “Or you gran’-mère be here for real. You mother and me, we give you to her. Together.”
Shauna’s mouth opened and I had the feeling that she had been playing one parent against the other. “I asked you a question, Shauna,” Lucky all but growled. “Did Gabe warn you?”
Bobbie’s hands tightened on Shauna’s arms and Shauna nodded jerkily. “Yes. He told me. But I thought . . .” Her pale face flushed with embarrassment. “I thought the sex feeling was just for me. I didn’t know it was for every feeding. I thought I was the only one who would be in that . . . position. . . . When I found out it was for everyone, I . . . I lost it. And I saw that bastard laying on top of Margaud. I should have . . .” She broke down again, without telling us what she should have done.
“Shauna, your husband can be taught to drink without sexual feeling. He probably never thought to ask if it was possible, and if Clermont Doucette is like most men of his generation, he probably never thought to tell his son.” Shauna’s face lifted, her mouth open again, like a pale pink rosebud. I’d never seen a mouth so small and perfect. My own was wide and straight and showed a lot of teeth. I frowned and went on. “Gabe isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but he was starving himself to death to make you happy. Then Margaud spiked his drink, called you, and set up a feeding. I’m not saying that Gabe doesn’t deserve some kind of punishment for his lack of control, but you can solve this. You need to get yourself help. And starting a vamp-and-witch war isn’t going to help anyone, including your baby.”
Shauna broke into a crying fit. From inside the house a baby started wailing too.
Eli chuckled softly. “Way to go, Yellowrock. You just made a sick woman and her baby cry. You gotta win points for that somewhere.”
“Shut up,” I said. To Lucky I added, “Can we go inside now and chat. It’s hot and miserable and the air’s wet and I need tea.”
“Come on in. Her mama and me, we spoil her so when she a child, her so pretty and all.”
I realized that was both confession and apology. “Uh-huh,” I said, starting up the walk in Lucky’s wake, Eli and Alex behind me.
Once we were in place in the spacious living room with iced tea in hand, Shauna in a rocking chair with her back turned, nursing her baby, I asked, “What can you tell me about the wreath?”
“My family be leaders of coven here in Bayou Oiseau, my mother and my sister, Solene. Solene can tell you what dem learn.” Lucky punched a number on his cell and when the call was answered, he said, “Jane Yellowrock back in town, her sent by Leo Pellissier to fix things here. You talk to her? Tell her what you learn? Yeah. Dat fine. Come now is good.”
Lucky ended the call and said, “Solene on de way. She talk to you.”
“Just in case, I’m hiding behind you when she gets here.”
Lucky laughed. But I was serious. Ticked-off witches were scary.
? ? ?
We drank tea, made uncomfortable small talk. Shauna made me hold her baby, and then laughed when I made a panicked squeak and the little boy screamed. I blushed and the Youngers laughed with her. It was mortifying, a word my housemother Brenda used to use instead of embarrassing. Previously, the usage was confusing, but for the first time ever, I totally understood the connotation. It came from a word that meant killing or putting to death, and I surely wanted to die with the baby in my arms. The last time I held a baby it was my godchild Little Evan, and that had been a long time past.
Beast, however, was totally at ease and she shoved me out of the way, purring over the child. Kit. Human kit. Want kit.