This time, I allowed my shadows to crawl across the floor. He jumped as one of them ran a fingertip over his bare ankle. “Okay, okay. I believe you. I just want to help.”
I sighed. “There’s nothing to do but prepare my father for his funeral.”
He straightened. “Do you need me to call around or something?”
I nodded my head as I rifled through a few papers on my desk before I came up with another list. “Can you give these a call? I need the jazz band lined up with a date and a time.”
He saluted me, to which I rolled my eyes. “Of course!” He took the list and glanced at it. “You want the brass bandfrom that spot on Bourbon or the ones who did Jake’s sister’s ceremony?”
“The Bourbon group. My father always said they played like they were raising the dead.”
Louis grinned. “Perfect vibe for a sendoff.”
He disappeared into the hallway, and I felt my shoulders droop. My thoughts wandered back to Maple, and I wondered if she would come visit me when they made it back. I stood up from my desk and decided that I would wait for her.
So instead of pacing in my office, I found myself pacing in the hallway in front of her room. I hated that she was so far from my quarters, on the other side of the compound. Whoever put her here really had it out for me. I snickered as I thought about moving her to one of the apartments closest to me. Then I had to remind myself that I didn’t exactly want a scandal, and that would certainly cause one.
I tugged on one of the locs of hair hanging over my shoulders as I checked my watch for the fifth time. It was almost ten p.m. What on earth could they be doing this late? Were they okay? Were they in trouble? Was she back already, and I was too much of a chicken to knock on her door?
What was wrong with me?
Iwasthe Voodoo King. The youngest leader in two generations. I’d fought demons in the form of cats, broken hexes, and led rituals by moonlight in the bayou. And here I was, trying not to knock on a girl’s door because I didn’t want to seemdesperate.
I was pathetic, that’s what I was.
Just as I turned to head back to my room—to save what little dignity I had left—I heard footsteps and soft laughter.
She turned the corner, dress bag still hooked over one arm, with the fading light catching the edge of her cheekbones. She was smiling up at my sister, and something ripped open insideof my chest. Did she look at me like that? Would she ever look at me like that?
She didn’t see me at first.
But I saw her and I never wanted to stop staring. When I stopped staring at her face, I realized she was juggling more shopping bags and boxes. I sprang to attention and rushed forward to grab them from her hands.
She blinked up at me, clearly startled. “Rune?”
“I’ve got it,” I said, taking the heaviest bags from her arms before she could argue.
“You didn’t have to?—”
“I know.”
Her lips parted like she might say something else, but then Adelle cleared her throat behind us.
“I’m going to, uh, take these other bags to my room. Maple, I’ll grab you in the morning for breakfast. I know you said Rune brought you to the best place in all of New Orleans, but I beg to differ. Criollo has beignets with a praline dipping sauce, and that’s way better than anything shaken in a bag.”
“As long as Maple has a good time, I don’t care,” I said as she left us alone.
“Did you have a good day?” I asked, quieter now.
She nodded, fingers fidgeting slightly at her side. “I did. It was… more than I expected.”
My gaze dropped to the dress bag. “Did you find the one?”
A soft smile touched her lips. “I think it found me.”
I swallowed hard. “I’d like to see it.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, and something in her expression shifted—shyness laced with something heavier. “You’ll have to wait. It’s a surprise.”
