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“Wow,” I said, trying to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth.
She spun, actually looking behind her, and I had to laugh. “You, Hanlen.Youare wow. You look amazing.” Her beautiful skin pinkened with a blush and it made me smile wider. She had no idea how alluring she was.
“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.” I peeked down at one of my favorite outfits, a fitted band tee and ripped-knee jeans, my Doc Martens the only thing that actually cost any money. But if she liked it, who was I to say she was wrong?
“Thanks.” I returned to what I had been doing. “I’ll just be a minute. Have to feed the beast.”
She cocked her head and raised a brow, making me smile. In answer, I opened the door to the room next to me and my blue nose pit bull came bounding out, her little tail wagging a million miles an hour as she spun in circles in the kitchen, completely oblivious to the fact that we had company. She was too excited for her dinner.
“Oh my God. She’s precious.” Hanlen dropped to her haunches, and my baby girl finally caught the woman’s crisp eucalyptus scent. The hair along the ridge of her back stood up a bit and she stopped, staring at Hanlen as her nose worked the air.
“It’s okay, Mystique. She won’t hurt you. Go say hello. Hanlen’s a friend.” I patted her on the rump.
Hanlen held out her arms, and the dog nearly tackled her, licking her hands and her face as Hanlen gave her rubs and pats and told her she was a good girl. The sight was something to behold.
“Okay, okay,” I said on a laugh and tugged my dog off Hanlen’s chest. “A minute ago, you were so excited for dinner, I had to lock you in the other room as I got it ready. Now, you don’t even care. Let’s get some food in you. I’ll have Manny come and let you out in a half-hour.”
At the wordfood,Mystique perked her ears and divebombed her bowl, sending kibble flying. Hanlen and I laughed in unison as she rose from the floor and dusted off her jeans.
“She’s so sweet,” Hanlen said.
“Yeah, she’s amazing. I rescued her from a fighting ring in the bayou. We did a show not too far from where they were holding them, and she somehow got out of the pen and ran to the set where we were setting up for the episode. She was pretty beat-up, but I immediately took her to a vet, and they made sure she was good. She found me for a reason. It was right after I lost my sister. I think we healed each other.”
I looked up to see Hanlen with a hand to her chest. “That’s amazing. Please tell me that you shut that place down. People who abuse animals like that deserve the harshest of punishments. Who am I kidding? I’d like to murder them.”
“We absolutely busted them. I had the cops out there immediately and they were all charged, and the dogs were all taken to be treated and rehomed. From what I heard, they were all adopted. The assholes didn’t even realize she had gotten away. If it weren’t for Mystique, I don’t know that they would have been caught—at least, not before more damage was done.”
When Mystique had finished eating, she plopped down on her bed with a groan and a sigh. She always made me smile. I gave her a rub and told her to be a good girl, and as Hanlen said her goodbyes, I sent a quick text to my neighbor, asking if he could let her out in a half-hour. Like usual, he was happy to help. I’d lucked out with my neighbors. Manny and his husband ran a dog walking and mobile grooming business and were only too happy to help me with Myst when I needed it.
As we entered the SUV, Hanlen turned to me. “Wasn’t this place a temple and museum at one time?”
I smiled. “One of them, yes. There are a few. There’s another well-known one on Rampart Street that I’m sure you’ve heard of. The apartment above it is actually the site of a super tragic murder and one of the most haunted locales in the city proper.” I looked over to see her rolling her eyes as I’d expected. It only made me grin harder. “But . . . yes. The downstairs of this building used to be the Laveau Museum. There was a fire about eight years ago, and it’s been shut down since. I had it fixed up and use it mostly for storage now. And occasionally as a headquarters for the cast and crew. There’s office furniture, computer equipment, and some other things in there.”
“Wow,” she said, seeming impressed. “That’s huge. How in the world did you end up acquiring a property like that? Do you live there alone? I think I remember hearing that it’s been in the Laveau line for over a hundred years.”
I was shocked. I had assumed she knew my history. Nearly everybody put two and two together when they heard my last name. And I couldn’t help but feel that maybe she was fishing for some personal information, too. That made something inside me warm. “It’s just Myst and me.” I waited a second and let that sink in and then continued. “It’s family land and holdings.” I paused for another beat, but she just pulled out into traffic.
“Marie Laveau had seven children, only two of which lived. One of the two surviving daughters, her namesake, Marie Catherine Laveau, entered into a domestic partnership with a nobleman of French descent, and they, in turn, had fifteen children. Her common-law husband’s name was Christophe Dominick Duminy de Glapion.” I glanced at her and watched as it sank in.
“Holy crap, Dev. You’re a Laveau?”
“Glapion.” I smiled. “But, yes, I am. Fourth-generation.”
“Just . . . wow,” she said. “Okay, I kind of get some things about you now.” She glanced at me again. “You know I don’t really believe in this stuff, but the history of the Maries and their offspring is vast and varied. And some of the things recorded were irrefutably proven without logical explanation.” She shot me a smile. “I promise to be more respectful. You’re like . . . New Orleans royalty.”
I laughed. “You don’t have to worry about that. You’re fine.”
Hanlen pulled into the lot at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop and parked around the back. Lafitte’s was another of New Orleans’ hotspots for both tourists and locals alike. Not only one of the oldest buildings in the French Quarter but also—reportedly—one of the most haunted. And I could attest to the fact that they weren’t only stories.
Most hauntings presented as mist and shadow. One of the main apparitions at Lafitte’s, the one said to be Jean Lafitte himself, showed himself to me as a full body rendering in full-on sailor’s gear. And he was a salty, foul-mouthed, trickster bastard. I’d also had run-ins with a woman on the second floor a time or two. She was always a bit shy, but when she finally decided to make herself known, she could talk your ear off if you let her. When we did our show there two seasons ago, we captured the electronic voice phenomenon footage to prove it. But outside of the ghosts themselves, there were rampant reportings of other occurrences—electronics dying spontaneously, jewelry mysteriously falling off, watches being wound, ghostly red eyes being reflected in the mirror behind the booth at the back, plants in the courtyard reaching out to grab patrons. It might be an interesting evening with all of us in there tonight.
“Have you ever been here?” I asked Hanlen as we walked around to the front.
“Once, but not for long. I stopped in one Halloween for a drink with some friends.”
“Anything strange happen?”
She looked at me. “What? Like ghosty stuff?” I nodded. “My cell phone died so I couldn’t call for a ride home, and I lost my wrap bracelet. That’s about all that happened. I was kind of pissed, truth be told.”
