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"But you stopped your training," he said. Not a question, but a simple statement. Still, those words shot straight through me like an arrow.
"Austin called it devil magic. He was a Christian, and he hated Vodou. He indulged me for a while, but he never took it seriously. It's almost like it was amusing to him or something. He used to call me hislittle witch."
Back then, I would roll my eyes and shake my head at Austin's teasing, but I began to see it for what it was when the dark days came.
"I had a miscarriage last year," I admitted, my heart squeezing painfully in my chest. "Austin didn't handle it well. He lost it and started saying I'd cursed the baby with my devil worship. He blamed me for losing her, and started to hit me. At first, it only happened when he was drunk. He'd apologize the next day and take me shopping or to a fancy dinner. It never lasted."
I was so lost in my memories that I didn't realize right away that we had a listening ear. I looked up and found Bael perched atop the chair one row down, facing me. He was listening to my every word with rage simmering in his dark blue eyes. Behind him, a trapeze act was in full swing, and I recognized Ellie in her striped costume and crazy makeup.
Bael and Theo shared a knowing look, both of them taking in this new information. I didn't mind if they knew the truth about my past. I wasn't ashamed of it. It was just something I had to deal with.
"I should feed that fucker to the cats," Bael spat, and I knew he wasn't talking about Lafayette, but rather the gorgeous predators that still prowled the center ring. "How dare he lay a finger on this precious skin?" His fingers grazed my exposed thigh, and chills broke out over my leg. "A woman like you needs to be worshiped, blue girl." His thick accent only made me swoon harder, and I had to reign it in, knowing that this conversation was too serious for that.
"That will never happen again," Theodore said firmly, his tone daring anyone or anything to challenge him.
Bael echoed Theo's sentiment with an emphatic nod of his head before sliding off the chair. I leaned back as he loomed over me, placing his hands on either side of me and caging me in against my seat. His long blond hair grazed me as he moved his face closer to mine, his eyes flickering to my lips.
Bael St. Claire was dressed for performing tonight. His eyes were rimmed in cat-eye liner that made eyes glitter with mischief. Speaking of glitter, his skin had a smattering of the stuff stuck to it here and there, especially on his bare, tattooed chest. Fuck, he was pretty.
His sensual lips tilted as if he could read my mind. He brought them to the shell of my ear. "What do you say we make Austin's life a little hellish?"
I pulled back, my eyes widening. "What are you talking about? How?" I blinked in confusion, and Bael glanced at Theo. The two of them shared a conspiratorial look. "What aren't yall telling me?"
Theodore rubbed his chin in thought, but I could see the sparkle of wicked intent in his dark eyes already. He looked at me and grinned. "You might not be able to live among the living if you stay here, but there are ways to...cheat, for a short time."
My gaze bounced between the two of them, wondering what kind of fuckery they had up their sleeves. Surprisingly, though, I realized I was looking forward to finding out. If there was a way for me to get even a little bit of revenge on Austin, then I was one hundred percent in.
"So the dirty scoundrel decided to blame you for his problems, fucked other women behind your back, drank himself into a coma, and then slit your throat," Ellie said, listing it all off on her polished fingers. "The audacity of these men never fails to astound me."
She sat cross-legged on the end of my bed, holding a cup of steaming tea in her hands. I'd already drank half of mine, and the warmth of it pooled inside me, calming my nerves. We technically didn’t need to eat or drink here, but it was still pleasurable to enjoy it.
"What was a sweet girl like you doing with a piece of work like that, Mori?" came Tony's deep voice from over on the small sofa. He was reclined casually, smoking a cigar with his foot on my little coffee table.
It was still so odd to refer to this place as beingminein any way, but the longer I stayed here, the more it started to feel like home to me. I hated to say it, but I felt a lot more comfortable in this little wagon room than I ever did in that fancy apartment with Austin.
Back there, everything seemed cold and lifeless. I tiptoed around my own house, afraid to disturb the peace of the monster living under my roof. But here, I felt warm, cozy, and alive. Even the smells brought back memories of childhood and the comfort of my family's home.
Incense burned on one of my shelves, and paired with the cigar smoke and the spiced tea, it was like being at Grandma Anne's house as a little girl. That had to mean something. It had to be a sign, right?
I smiled sadly at Tony—the tall, lanky man with the impeccably shaped handlebar mustache. "He wasn't always like that, but I think after a while I just gave in to it. It was easier to deal with him in private than it was to try and escape."
"Shame," he said, shaking his head. "In my day, we'd have taken him somewhere nice and quiet and shown him what a real New York beatdown felt like."
I laughed, and Ellie rolled her eyes. "Tony likes to think he had mafia connections, but I think he's full of shit." She pinned him with a look. "You're too sweet for the mafia, Ton."
Placing a palm on his chest, he feigned offense. "Just cause I'm a lover and not a fighter don't mean I ain't got friends in high places, little lady."
Ellie groaned, and I just laughed at their bickering. I was almost 100 percent sure that there was something romantic brewing between the two of them, but I couldn't say for sure. Sometimes Tony would stare at Ellie with this longing in his eyes that quickly disappeared when he knew he was being watched.
They may have been alive in completely different eras, but the afterlife didn't give a shit about any of that. I had a feeling that all kinds of souls, if given the chance to mingle, might just find a match in the most unlikely of places.
"Sometimes I wishIhad mafia ties," I mused aloud, reclining against the headboard of my bed. Lafayette sat perched in my lap, and with one hand, I stroked his silky black fur as he purred happily. "Maybe then I could have avoided a slashed throat."
It was my turn to be pinned with a look from Ellie. Her pink-hued eyes glittered with doubt and maybe a little bit of pity. I didn't blame her one bit. Reaching out, she laid a hand over mine and gave my fingers a gentle squeeze. "You've done nothing wrong, darling, trust me. You could have had a whole army behind you, and still, a man like your Austin would have found a way to let his evil slip through their defenses.” She wiggled her fingers creepily. “That's how evil works. It slithers through cracks and digs and digs.”
I smiled thinly and nodded, even though I still felt regret for every single bruise I allowed that man to place on my body.
"But you're strong," she added, patting my hand, her polished, sharp nails glittering in the candlelight. "Met Kalfou wouldn't have bothered with a weak soul who has no potential. I know that for a fact. And now you have the power to make your ex's life a living hell, at least for now. No mafia ties required."
