Chapter Sixteen

The air fled my lungs. No. No. Nononono. I struggled to get away from him, to pull air into my lungs as I started to hyperventilate. I clawed my jacket, at the neck of my shirt. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe.

Charlemagne sat up to gather me into his arms. He pressed his palm against my abdomen and pressed down. "Breathe." He said, nuzzling into the side of my head. "Breathe Abigail." He whispered. "Abby, please."

I arched my back against him, a sob breaking me in half. AbbyAbbyAbby. My face crumpled, ragged breath shuddering through me. He'd never called me Abby before and now it was in his mouth, and he was going to leave me. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.

He held me through it, until the sobbing and the anxiety petered out into exhaustion. "What about me?" I whispered, head lulling against his chest, his sluggish heartbeat thumping against my skull. "What do I do without you?" I choked out, squeezing my eyes shut as heat burned in them.

Charlemagne nuzzled into me, his lips brushing over my forehead. "Live a long happy life. Write your books, as many books as you can. Fall in love endlessly." He slid his fingers through my hair. "If there is a heaven, if there is a god, if there is something after the end, we will find each other again."

My heart broke with every word. It shattered in my chest. I lifted my head, my clumsy mouth seeking out his. I didn't want to let him go. Not like this. It was worse than my worst fear. I realized then that I could probably survive it if he broke up with me. I couldn't survive a world that he was no longer in. "But I want to be with you." I mumbled, pressing kisses to his mouth. "I want to be with you now." I bopped my head in a nod, starting to reach for his shirt.

He caught my mouth to kiss me hard, his hand wrapping around mine to still my fingers, but he didn't linger. Agony darkened his features, pulled his brows together. "We can't." He whispered. "I want to be with you, mon coeur, but we can't do this to each other."

I shook my head. I just couldn't accept that. "When would you... when would you go?" I asked, a vice wrapping around my lungs.

"Soon. When I have everything in order for you." He said softly, slipping his thumb along my cheek. "I want to give you as much as I can. I'm going to leave Fortuna to you, to do with it as you want."

Whimpering, I leaned up to slip my arms around his neck. "Don't. Don't do this. I don't care if you go crazy. I don't care." I choked out, hearing every selfish word out of my mouth. "Stay with me. I'll take care of you. We'll figure it out together, Charley."

He slid his arms around me. "Don't you understand?" He whispered, burying his face against my neck. "I thought I killed you, Abby. I thought I'd turned on you, the person I care about most in this world. More than myself." He said, holding me tighter. "I will get worse. I will hurt you." He pulled back to look into my face. "I don't want to live in a world that you are not in because of me."

Jaw trembling, I reached up to slip my fingers through his hair and drag him towards me. I kissed him hard, wanting to pour everything I had left into him. I shifted until I was straddling him, pressing into the hard planes of his body, trying to tilt him onto his back. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." I mumbled, pressing kisses all over his face. "I just want to be with you, Charley. I want you. I don't care if it hurts. I don't care what we do to each other. If-if you're going to leave me, I want everything. And I want to give you everything." I said, blinking up at him. "Don't you want me?"

"More than anything." Charlemagne murmured, shifting his head to kiss me deeply, his tongue slipping against mine, and sending warm sparks through me. It was like waking up. Like everything else had been a terrible nightmare until that moment. He dropped back onto the bed, pulling me down with him. "Abby." He sighed against my mouth. "Abby, Abby, Abby."

I made a little noise and kissed my name right out of his mouth. "I like the way it sounds when you say it." I mumbled, even as my heart ached knowing he wouldn't be saying it for long.

Charlemagne slid his fingers through my hair, pulling my face back to study me. "Honnêtement, would you want to do this if none of this was happening?"

I blinked down at him. "That's why I came back." I breathed out. "I mean—not exactly that, but," I sat up suddenly, settling my weight on top of him as I straddled his waist. "When you brought Frank and all of my things home, I thought that was your way of breaking up with me."

He sat up on his elbows, his brows bending. "Silly girl, Frank missed you, and I didn't want you to be alone, or without your things." He said, reaching up to curl the ends of my hair around his fingers. "I missed you."

Swallowing hard, I swept my gaze over his face, still splotched in red and so pale. "I kind of realized that after finding Frank's bowl overfilled." I sniffed. "I missed you too." I tilted my head down at him. "Are you okay? Have you been eating?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Charlemagne murmured, tugging gently on the end of my hair. "I've tried to eat, but nothing will stay down. It's another symptom, the blood lust drives the madness and the madness drives the blood lust."

I dropped down to kiss his mouth. "Do you want to feed from me?" I asked softly.

"Non." His answer was immediate, a complete sentence. "I don't think I could control myself." Charlemagne kissed my bottom lip. "Have you been eating, ma cherie?"

I shook my head slowly. "No appetite." I admitted, tilting one shoulder. "What a pair we make."

"Yes, what a pair." He said softly, studying my face. "I wish we had met sooner."

I wish we had more time. My eyes prickled with heat again. "Me too." I sniffed, leaning into him to kiss him again. "Make love to me, please."

He made a noise as he dropped onto his back again. "Will you let me take care of you first? You need to eat, Abigail." One of his hands snaked around my hip, dragging my shirt up to touch my skin.

I glanced towards the window, suddenly aware of every single second slipping past us. "But the sun will rise soon." I mumbled, looking back at him. "I don't want to waste another second."

"We won't." Charlemagne replied softly. "I will still be here tomorrow. We can make love all night. As soon as the sun sets. And we've both tried to eat."

I studied his face, searching for any hint of deception. If I woke up and he was gone, I'd never forgive either of us. "Promise?"

He lifted a hand to press his palm over my fluttering heart. "Sur mon coeur." He murmured. "On my heart, I promise you, I will be here tomorrow."

I sighed. It was enough for tonight.

I woke up disoriented. Turning over, heart thumping and half-afraid that it'd all been a dream. I was home. I'd never gone to Charlemagne's. He'd driven the stake into his heart. I sat up, head spinning. A smell had climbed into my noise. Something floral and citrus. Lemony. And tinged in blood. It'd struck a chord. Registering in my subconscious as home. Why did that smell remind me of home?

It struck me all at once, driving the last of sleep from my mind. I was in Charlemagne's room. I'd shown up. I turned my head to look for him first. My heart thudded with relief at the sight of him. He'd drifted off before sunrise, when the sky was still dark, unable to keep his eyes open. Another symptom? The thought dragged at me. The smell. The smell!

I turned towards the nightstand and reached for one of the empty glasses. I sniffed at it. Floral and citrus. Lemony. Vervain. I'd left the satchel I'd brought from Nanette in a drawer in my nightstand, but the smell had seeped out. Stained the air in my room. Vervain. Vervain and ash. They won't kill the loogaroo, but it will slow the blood in them, make them sleep and dream terrible things.

I looked back at Charlemagne. Had someone been poisoning him? Why? To make him think he'd killed those girls? The question persisted. Why? Frowning, I slid out of bed, padded towards the window to peek around the blackout drapes. It was overcast, but the sun was still out, hanging in the sky like a silver oyster. I pulled back, hurrying to pull my sneakers on and grab my bomber jacket, not caring that one of the sleeves had torn the night before.

Grabbing one of the half-empty bottles, I slid it into the pocket of my jacket, and leaned forward. I kissed Charlemagne's cheek, his skin was cold beneath my lips, and for a second, terror seized me. And then he exhaled, and I could breathe again. "I'll be back, I promise." I said softly. "Just wait for me."

I straightened and padded out of the room, the weight of the bottle bouncing against my side. I hurried down the stairs, pausing once to look in the direction of the library. That poor girl. I'd barely thought of her once while I'd been with Charlemagne. My stomach twisted into a knot. While I just couldn't believe he had killed her, it didn't change the fact that she was still dead.

Swallowing hard, I forced my feet forward. I dipped out of the door, checking the sky again, as I descended the veranda steps and moved towards Beatrice. My cell had been destroyed when Holden had chased me down, and I'd been too depressed to get a new one. But the sun was high, even hidden behind the clouds. Afternoon, maybe?

I slid into my car and placed the bottle on the passenger seat before digging my keys out. The engine purred to life and the clock on the dash read fifteen after one, give or take an hour and some change. I never made the effort to change it after the last daylight savings time. Either way I had a few hours of light left and that was all I needed.

The clouds grew heavier, and by the time I'd reached the Quarter, a light drizzle had started. I parked in the first open spot I could find and cut the engine. Placing the bottle on the inside of my jacket, I zipped it up before I stepped outside. Hunching my shoulders, I jogged across the street to Maman's, and ducked inside.There were only one or two other patrons milling around, but none of them looked my way, and neither did the girl at the counter.

I crossed the store towards her. "Hi, um, is Nanette in?"

The girl looked up from the book she'd been reading to eye me. "She's in the back with the Maman." She said, straightening. "Can I help you?"

Swallowing, I considered for a second before I shook my head. "I really need to speak to Nannette. I don't have a lot of time, but could you tell her Abigail Braden is here?"

The girl blinked at me, her dark brown eyes widening. "Abigail Braden?" She repeated, lifting her book off the counter to show me the cover of my own book. "This Abigail Braden?"

I bopped my head in a nod. "That's me." I sniffed, eyes burning, and blurring the cover into something unrecognizable.

"Please, don't cry." The girl said, pushing back from the counter. "I'll let Nannette know you're here." She gentled her tone and reached out to pat one of my hands. "Yon moman."

"Thank you." I mumbled, shifting on my feet as I watched her disappear behind the beaded curtain. I let my thoughts wander. Time weighed heavily on my shoulders. The persistent fear that I'd get back to Fortuna and find Charlemagne gone was gnawing at me.

"Madmwazèl Braden?" I looked up at the sound of Nannette's voice, relieved. "What's wrong?"

I glanced around the shop before crossing the space between us. "It's Charlemagne." I whispered, blinking back tears. "I think he's been poisoned."

Nannette's brows dipped in concern. "Come." She said, gesturing for me to follow her through the beaded curtain into Maman's backroom. "What's happened?"

I unzipped my bomber jacket and took the bottle out, holding it out to her by its neck. "Smell it. That's vervain, isn't it?" I breathed out.

She took the bottle from me and brought it close to her face to sniff, recoiling a second later to shake her head. "Yes. Vervain, ash, and I suspect a touch of belladonna." Nannette raised her gaze to my face. "Your vampire has been drinking this stuff?"

I bopped my head in a nod, tears slipping down my face. "It's really bad." I mumbled, feeling my already small measure of control start to slip and crack apart.

"Come, cheri, tell me everything." Nannette said, gentling her tone as she led me into a separate room with a small settee, table, and mini-fridge. "You want something to drink? Water? Tea?"

I shook my head, and we settled on the settee together. She set the bottle on the small table and folded her hands in her lap out of my peripheral. She was quiet, waiting. Swallowing hard, I shut my eyes, and started at the beginning. The words poured out of me in a loose stream of barely cohesive thought. It was killing me knowing how sure Charlemagne was that he was responsible for what was happening to him. That he planned to leave me.

I opened my eyes to look up at her. "What do I do? How do I help him?" I choked out. "He didn't... Nannette, he can't die."

Nannette pressed her lips together in a contemplative line as her gaze swept over my face. I had the sudden itchy feeling that she didn't want to help me. Or more to the point, she didn't want to help my loogaroo. Tension tightened along my scalp. What did I do if she wouldn't help me? She had to know of some way to fix this, didn't she?

"Tell her."

I glanced towards the entrance of the small break room and blinked. In a flowy black jumper, the woman was slender with dark olive skin and a mound of springy black curls. There were sparks of gold at her neck, wrists, and ankles where she wore an array of bangles. It was her eyes that drew me though. They were like Charlemagne's. Not blue, but they had that same almost preternatural sheen to them. Like something old in a very young face.The Maman.

Her lips pulled back into a small smile. "You recognize me." She said. Not a question. "You and I are going to speak soon. First, your loogaroo."

I sat up straighter. "You know how to help him." I breathed out, reaching up to wipe my face with the sleeve of my jacket. "What do I need to do?"

Madame Laveaux's gaze shifted to Nannette. "Tell her."

"But Maman..."

"Master Charlemagne has always been good to us, another loogaroo might not be."

Nannette exhaled noisily but she didn't try to argue again. "Listen close." She turned towards me. "You'll need to drain him to the point of death. That is very important. He'll fight you to survive. The hunger will be overwhelming, but the poisoned blood must go. He must be flushed out completely before he can be allowed to consume fresh blood." She stood from the settee. "I'm going to put together a concoction for you that will help. Make him drink it."

I bopped my head as I stood to follow her, shooting a grateful look in the Maman's direction. I started to pass her when she touched my wrist. A spark crackled up my arm and my gaze flew up to her face. A milky white film spread across her eyes. Her mouth dropped open. An abysmal darkness sat at the back of her throat. "Abigail." My name echoed out of the void, layered by many voices. "My sunshine."

I jerked my wrist out of her grip and stumbled away from her, my back hitting the doorway as I stared. Madame Laveaux slumped against the other side of the entrance, her jaw clicked shut, nostrils flaring as she panted. "What was that?" I whispered.

Nannette returned to grab my wrist and yank me out of the doorway. "Leave her. She'll be fine." She snapped, dragging me through the backroom towards the beaded curtain.

I looked back at the Maman, watching her as she recovered from whatever that was. Out of the darkness, I could have sworn I'd heard my father's voice.