Coffin Girls (Elegantly Undead: Book 1 of the Coffin Girls Witch Vampire Series) (2 page)

“Yves, is there anything I can do for you?” She pasted a
smile on her face and forced her eyes to shine.

“
Ma chérie
, we’ve been anxiously awaiting you.” Yves
stood up and kissed the air on either side of her face. He was a polite
blood-sucker. “I’d like to formally introduce you to a new friend of mine, a
future partner, if you will.” Yves, a golden haired Adonis, resplendent in
velvet as black as his heart, waved a long, elegant arm towards the witch.
“Meet Conall O’Leary, Prince of Witches and their ambassador to our humble
event.”

Insincere much, Yves? Anais ground her teeth. The event took
months to prepare and no expense was spared. Humble my ass!

“Welcome again, Mr O’Leary. Papillion Plantation is always
glad for the company of new friends.” Friends with benefits stole into Anais’
mind. She took a sip of the bloody beer offered to her, praying for
fortification. She felt like those horny, hormone-driven teenagers in the
Spring Break movies Sophie used to be so fond of in the eighties.

“Thank you, Miss…” he looked enquiringly at her with those
darn eyes, making her feel like she was the only person in the room.

“Anais is fine. We vampires are quite comfortable with first
names.”

“Then please call me Conall.”

“Okay, Conall.”

Vamp. Temptress. The words sprung to mind as his eyes took
their fill while he heard his name on her lips. She was a vampire and as
tempting as hell, literally and figuratively. He’d felt sucker-punched when he
first saw her and having her in close proximity again gave him another kick to
the gut. He didn’t normally react like this to a woman. There were enough of
them where he came from. It had to be a biological reaction to being one of the
few non-vamps in what was still speculatively an enemy camp. For all he knew,
she was a decoy and a planned seductress.  He just had to keep that in
mind and he could continue to give his eyes a treat. His eyes thanked the
Goddess for her costume. Red and black, lace and velvet, fishnets and ribbons
and fuck me heels that did things to the imagination, were unnecessary
adornments for a petite, curvy body and chocolate brown eyes that pulled a man
in. If the outfit was sinful, the woman was more so. He wanted to peel away the
layers of fabric and uncover that white, pale skin, see that dark hair spread
out and her legs spread even further. 

Yves caught Anais attention, breaking the reciprocated
twice-overs between her and Conall, a graceful arm indicating the seat next to
him. “Anais,
cherie
, please join us. You must have been wondering why I
haven’t addressed our guests yet. Before I make my announcement, I thought I’d
brief you.” Despite the polite charm, Yves’ tone was firm, commanding and all
business. That got her full attention. Experience told her to listen to what he
said as well as to what he didn’t. “It does, after all, affect you directly and
I didn’t want you to be surprised in front of our guests. It is imperative that
all goes smoothly and that we show a united front.”

Anais sat next to Yves, the lesser of the two evils, afraid
that if she sat next to the witch, she’d pounce on him. Fear of what Yves
wanted from her kept her attentive. Drawing deep from the tankard, she waited
for the other shoe to drop.

Yves continued, “Technology is making being a vampire, in
the way we’re accustomed, progressively trickier. We risk exposure more now
than ever with social networking, YouTube and media transparency.” He said the
last word with a sneer, marring his beautiful face and showing it for what it
was, at least in her mind. She briefly wondered if the witch picked up on it
and if so, what he thought of Yves. Well, if they were chummy then it probably
didn’t merit a warning signal on his radar. Yves’ statement was rhetoric so she
sat waiting for him to continue.

“The same challenge is faced by other magickal beings such
as our friend, Conall, and his people. I’ve lived a long time,” Yves looked at
them both, “longer than most and I’ve existed so long because I’ve been willing
to change when it was required. Now is another such time. It is futile to think
that we can fight or ignore the technological and military advances that the
humans are making. It thus makes sense that we form an alliance with other
supernatural beings. Between us, the magickal community owns the economic power
of the world. Economic power means political power, which is constantly being
questioned by the media. We can use our collective power to influence
governments and corporates to keep our secrets. I approached Conall and he was
of a like mind. Witches have historically always had the short end of the stick
and have been openly persecuted. Even in your New Orleans, the practitioners of
Voodoo and magick have been subjected to mistreatment by those who were ignorant
fools. So, it is not for power that I propose this alliance, we are already all
powerful, but combined power amongst supernaturals will ensure our continued
safe existence.” He paused in his well-acted speech and ran a hand over his
face to accentuate his concern, “Imagine what would happen to us if humans
found out of our existence and power. We’d be made into circus freaks, objects
of curiosity by some. Others would hunt us down, thinking to use us and our
powers for their own gain. The human military might even be pressured to use
nuclear weapons to end us. I want to prevent genocide. We have the wit and the
strength but alas, they have the numbers and as the adage infers, there is
strength in that. We would lose our dignity, our community. Without an
alliance, our future is bleak.”

And if vampires could run for the presidential office Yves,
thought Anais, you’d be a forerunner.

Conall nodded then interjected, the seriousness of his
demeanor enhancing his all-out sexiness. Anais found that she loved a man who
was quietly in control. “As witches we use our magick to cloak our identity and
we’ve often chosen to live in the more remote or unusual locations. But Yves is
right, take Google maps, people can now zoom into most parts of the world, in
real-time and see who’s walking on a street, sitting on a porch. It is only a
matter of time before our identity is revealed too.”

“Conall,” Yves indicated the other man across the table “is
the first to agree to form an alliance with us. He is a man of vision and
leadership, like me. The fae and shifters are sceptical. I think it is because
they live so long in their own world, unlike us who are forced to co-exist
amongst humans, that they do not see the threat. They do not see that we are
all linked. We need to illustrate success from the first alliance, the alliance
between witches and vampires. This should assist us in bringing the others on
board.”

Blah, blah, blah bullshit. Anais’ bullshit detector was
going off like crazy, what was his game? “That is very admirable Yves and so
like you to think of us; to think so far ahead.” Anais played the agreeable
dimwit that he thought her as and asked the only question he’d accept. “How can
I help?”

Yves patted her head patronizingly like an indulging parent
of a toddler. Anais checked to make sure the smile was still pasted on her face
and forced a glimmer of eagerness and admiration into her eyes.

“You see, Conall, I told you that she was a good
vampireress, one of the best.” Anais nearly expected him to pinch her cheeks
and waited to hear what he required to illustrate the unity between vampires
and witches. Had she known the request that would follow and its consequences,
she would’ve gladly risked his displeasure rather than the events over the next
few weeks.

“Oh God, what are we going to do?” Anais groaned, laying her
head in her hands, with her elbows propped on the oak table in the enormous
plantation kitchen. Kicking off her shoes and tucking her feet beneath her in
the oversized chairs that graced the one end of the exceptionally large
twelve-foot table, she looked around at the kitchen as though she’d never seen
it before in an effort to escape the overwhelming prospect Yves’ had presented
her with the previous evening.

Except for the addition of modern appliances and the
maintenance demanded by the passing years, the kitchen remained the same over
the last hundred and seventy years. Functionality combined with aesthetics to
create a kitchen that would make a head chef drool. State of the art culinary
equipment enabled them to feed up to three hundred guests for a cocktail event
and half that for a formal dinner.  Yet it was a far cry from a restaurant
kitchen. Warm Oregon pine contrasted with white-washed oak, calming soft green
walls and glass-fronted cabinets. A hodgepodge of antique and modern dishes,
while quirky joined forces with sophisticated décor to invited one into it. Yet
it was Miss Suzette who made it the heart of the old plantation house and her
vampire sisters who made it a home.

 “This is a hot mess. Here, have some of Miss Suzette’s
sweet tea, it is soul soothing.” Sophie handed Anais a tall glass of ice tea,
watching her friend gulp it down.

Rose plonked one of the tankards, which she’d opted to keep
as a souvenir from the previous night, in front of Anais. “Here, this is
better.”

Anais took a sniff and pulled back. Phew, that was one
hectic drink, “What is it?” She scrunched up her nose at Rose’s concoction.

Rose adopted a Russian accent to go with the drink, “Vurricane
vor your vorries.” She was a wine connoisseur and maker of all thinks
drinkable, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. She procured straight blood from
sinners and made blood-infused cocktails for their vampire guests’ events and
girl’s nights in of course.

“Huh?” Anais asked, confused. She really couldn’t deal with
the banter right now.

“Looks like she’s trying to get you to drown your sorrows.”
A silky smooth masculine voice, like warm honey, entered the kitchen.

Anais looked up and felt the familiar tingle in her middle
that settled there whenever she saw Raulf. That was one hottie that got her
hormones in a mess. She mentally sighed. She needed to get laid – badly. Her
self-imposed celibacy was resulting in super-active hormonal activity and
imagination. Testing, she looked at Raulf again. Yep, same feeling. Skin, the
smooth brown of olive-tone kissed by being constantly outdoors, white flashed
between the full, kissable lips and black, silky, straight hair that made her
want to run her fingers through it. Add a pack of abs that made a grown woman
drool and a gorgeously cute boyishness and you got the lust-inducing outside of
their boy. Add a heart that was really mushy soft and a sweet nature and you
got the perfectly hot and sensitive man. Man. Boy. It was hard to sometimes
reconcile what she saw in front of her with the boy she’d seen grow up from a
babe.

Raulf’s grin became even cockier than it usually was. “Like
what you see?”

“Oh go away Raulf. I’m not in the mood.” Anais barked at
him, embarrassed at being found ogling. Raulf was technically available and
seemed interested but to her, any non-plutonic relationship with him would feel
like incest. He was practically family and Miss Suzette’s nephew. As much as
she loved him, he was like a younger, naughty brother. Or great-great-great
nephew, she thought, considering her age.

Raulf dramatically smacked a hand to his chest. “Aah, you
hurt me.” He came to stand behind her after finishing his round of hugs and
pecks to the others. He dropped one on her cheek, “A kiss to make it better.”

“Oh, buzz off, you moron!” She smacked his hands away
playfully as he faked another grab. It’d always been like this between her and
Raulf. He was a die-hard flirt so he lavished them all with light-hearted praise
and caresses. With her there had always seemed to be a bit more flirting, which
she attributed to the special relationship she held with Miss Suzette and the
rest of Pinot family.

Pulling her back against him, with just the chair separating
them, he started kneading the knots that had gathered in the muscles of her
back.

“Okay. You can stay as long as you carry on with what you’re
doing there.” Anais automatically tipped her neck to the side to allow him
better access to the especially large knots embedded between her collar bones
and shoulders. Pain followed relief as he worked on loosening the physical
evidence of her distress. She nearly purred in delight. It felt good to have
warm, caring hands on her. Yep, she needed to seriously consider getting laid.

“Your shoulders are like rocks.” His face reflected genuine
concern. “What’s going on, Anais? From what I heard, y’all had a huge success
last night. You should be celebrating, not having a het.”

“Our security’s been compromised, Raulf. We need to figure
out what to do.” Anais responded. Raulf didn’t have to ask what she meant. He
knew their secrets and they knew his. He understood how important it was to
keep that knowledge within their circle.

“Not yet,” V, or Veronique, piped in. V was more than a
brunette bombshell and a modern, vampire version of a superhero, she was the
logical, serious kick-ass one, hence her allocation to the role of head of
security for their business. “It hasn’t been compromised… yet.”

At Raulf’s enquiring gaze, V explained, “Yves has requested
or ordered, however you want to look at it,” V contemplated the semantics and
then hurried on at Raulf’s impatient expression, “he wants Anais to be the
diplomatic assignee in the first formal alliance between the Vampire Council and
Witches.”

Raulf was puzzled. For as long as he knew them and that had
been his whole life, they’d lived under the radar of the human and supernatural
communities. “Why would Yves give that responsibility to Anais? Not that I
don’t think that she’s capable of doing whatever he threw her way, I just
didn’t think that he realised that she was capable. He’s always been a bit
self-righteous and chauvinistic.”