Page 71 of Curse in the Quarter
The Archive was just the beginning. Keep refusing my offers, and I'll target everything she values. Starting with her memories. - M
Dread shot through Bastien's chest. Maestro wasn't finished. The fire had been a demonstration, not an end goal. And now he was threatening to steal Delphine's memories of discovering Bastien's nature, to reset her awareness and force them back to square one of deception and distance.
“We need to get you somewhere safe,” Bastien said, standing from the bench. “Tonight was just the opening move. Whoever's behind this will try again.”
“Wait.” Delphine caught his hand, her fingers warm against his skin. “You saved my life tonight. Walked through fire that should have killed you to carry me to safety. I think that earns me more than partial explanations and protective evasion.”
Her touch sent electricity up his arm, the same recognition that had sparked between them across lifetimes. For amoment, looking into her eyes in the lamplight, he could see echoes of every woman she'd been—Charlotte's determination, Delia's fierce curiosity, and something entirely new that belonged only to Delphine.
“Some truths are dangerous,” he said quietly. “Knowledge that puts you at greater risk, not less.” Bastien wasn’t entirely sure her mind could survive swallowing the whole truth at once—and he wasn’t willing to gamble her sanity on it.
“And some ignorance is deadly.” She stood, still holding his hand. “Someone just tried to kill me with fire, Bastien. I’m pretty sure everything we’ve been working on went up in flames tonight. I think I've earned the right to understand why.”
The phone buzzed again.
Unknown:
Sixty seconds to decide. Her memories or her life. Choose quickly.
"Delphine." He pulled her closer, urgency overriding caution. "I need you to trust me. We need to get you somewhere safe right now. Both of us are in immediate danger."
She studied his face, reading desperation he couldn't hide. "This isn't over."
"No. It's just beginning."
"And you'll tell me everything?"
"Everything I can that won't get you killed." He squeezed her hand once before releasing it. "But not at your apartment. Somewhere they can't reach you."
She nodded, though her expression suggested she wasn't satisfied with partial answers. "My car's in the Archive parking lot. Probably blocked by fire trucks."
"I'll drive you." He guidedher toward his car parked down the block, hyperaware of shadows that might hide watchers, of sounds that didn't belong to ordinary Quarter nightlife. "And Delphine? What you saw tonight, what I told you about not being human?—"
"Our secret." She met his gaze with understanding that cut straight through him. "For now."
They drove through empty streets, Bastien taking a circuitous route toward the Tremé district. He could feel Delphine studying him, her researcher's mind cataloging details that hadn't registered during the crisis. The way he'd moved through the fire without protective gear. The strange light that had surrounded him in the flames. The impossible fact that he'd emerged without so much as singed clothing.
"Where are we going?" she asked as they turned onto a narrow residential street lined with Creole cottages.
"To someone I trust. Someone who can protect you in ways I can't."
Maman Brigitte's house sat behind a garden that bloomed impossibly lush even in the winter months. The front porch light came on before Bastien had even parked, and the door opened to reveal the woman herself, dressed in a purple robe and looking unsurprised by their arrival.
"Bring her in, cher," Maman called softly. "Been expecting you both."
Delphine hesitated on the porch steps. "How did she know we were coming?"
"Maman knows things," Bastien said simply. "It's what she does."
Inside, the house smelled of sage and protection spells worked into the very foundation. Maman settled them in her front parlor, where candles cast warm light over walls lined with books and artifacts that hummed with quiet power.
"Tea?" Maman asked, though she was already moving toward the kitchen. "Child looks like she could use something to settle her nerves."
"I'm fine," Delphine said, though she accepted the cup Maman pressed into her hands moments later. "This night has been . . . educational."
"Learning who your guardian angel really is tends to have that effect," Maman observed, settling into her favorite armchair. Her dark eyes fixed on Bastien with knowing intensity. "About time you stopped hiding things."
Delphine's head snapped up. "Guardian angel?"
