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As he entered, Quinn inhaled deeply and moaned as she turned to Bodie. “He said he made the best jambalaya in New Orleans, but I didn’t believe him. Now that I can smell it, I think he may have been telling the truth.”
Bodie helped her up and they both followed Maurice out onto the balcony.
“He was telling the truth. That is a trait we value atForce et Honneur.”
“Strength and Honor, right?”
“Precisely,” he said, holding her chair. There was something old world about Bodie Lambeau and all those he called ‘clan.’ “Thank you, Maurice.”
“My pleasure, Alpha.”
The chef gave her a knowing and devilish smile before retreating. “Does everyone here know I spent the night with you?”
He took the napkin Maurice had set out for her, opened it with a flourish and placed it in her lap before sitting down. “Yes. They also know you are my fated mate and that I expect them, with the exception of helping you escape, to be as helpful as possible and to treat you with respect.”
“So, you do admit you are holding me prisoner.”
“No. I am ensuring your safety, and that means keeping you here with me.”
“A rose by any other name.”
He chuckled. “I will have to learn not to engage in a war of words with you. I fear I will lose.”
“Don’t feel bad. Words are my stock and trade. I use them and my nose for a good story to make a decent living.”
Bodie took a bowl from those laid out. “Basmati rice, or red beans and rice.”
“I’ve only had jambalaya served over white rice, but I love red beans and rice.”
“As do I,” he said putting a portion into the bowl before ladling the Jambalaya over it. Bodie lifted another lid and put a square of what looked to be very moist cornbread on the side of the plate before handing it to her. “I think you’ll like this. Maurice also makes the best cornbread.”
“This really looks delicious, and it smells heavenly.” She brought the spoon to her mouth, blew on it. and then tasted. “Oh, my god. That tastes even better than it smells, and I love it with the red beans and rice.”
“Good. I will tell Maurice.”
She picked up the cornbread and dipped it in the sauce of the jambalaya, bringing it up to her mouth to take a bite. “Now, about that bite.”
He told her a tale about a great city that had once existed where the Missouri, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers had met and how it had fallen to ruin. Overpopulation, an earthquake, and an unknown disease had laid waste to it. Quinn vaguely remembered reading an article about the city and the theories surrounding its demise inNational Geographic.
“Knowing there was nothing more that she could do, the last of the priestesses mixed her surviving magick with the winds that blew across the prairie. In so doing, she released the guardians: a great leopard who went north; an enormous and powerful tiger to the south; and a lion that remained in between.”
“That’s a lovely story and I read about the city and its devastation, but the part about the priestess releasing some kind of predatory cats that, as far as I know, never existed on this continent and to do what? Protect something? I don’t recall that part of the story.”
“Protect those that remained behind or migrated to the north and south. And that part was not included in the common legend.”
“Okay, so let’s say I buy into your magical priestess. What’s that got to do with you biting me?”
Bodie leaned back. “I am the descendant of that tiger, as are the majority of my clan.”
Quinn began to laugh. That was ludicrous. He couldn’t actually expect her to believe that story, could he? She noticed he wasn’t laughing.
“Don’t be a jackass, Lambeau. You said you wouldn’t lie to me.”
“And I have. That it is outside of your knowing does not alter the truth. The great tiger that the priestess sent south settled here atForce et Honneur. The actual name he gave it has been lost in the mists of time, but the motto he assigned to our clan was Strength and Honor. After the War of 1812, my ancestor codified those words and used them to give this place a name.”
“You are batshit crazy,” she said taking a sip of the lemonade-sweetened iced tea.
“That is debatable, but nevertheless, it is the truth.”
