The nearby security light illuminated her flaming red hair which flowed in waves across her slender shoulders. Her eyes, a startling shade of electric green, held a hint of amusement as she studied them both with interest.
She looked to be in her mid-twenties, and she was a far cry from the image of an old hag Lucien had imagined.
“I was expecting you to be alone.” She smiled as her gaze roamed down the length of his body and settled on his crotch. He shifted under the scrutiny of her vulgar stare.
“Hello, Ella,” Catty said.
“I’m sorry. Do we know each other?” The witch turned her attention to Catty and glared.
“Yeah. You fucked my boyfriend in the alley in New Orleans.” Catty’s dry tone held a deadly edge.
“That doesn’t narrow it down at all, honey.” Ella smiled sweetly.
“I’m not surprised.” Catty snarled.
Ella lunged for her. Catty let out a feral growl, ready for a fight. Lucien stepped in between the two women.
“I was told you have some information for me. About some of the missing Guardians.” He glared at the witch.
The smile dropped off her face “I think you heard wrong.” The tone in her voice was too sure, too forced, too ready to change the subject. She snapped her fingers, and the music changed to a different song by ABBA.
Lucien closed the distance between him and the witch.
“Listen, don’t waste my time. I’m here because I was told you could help me.”
She arched her perfectly plucked brow and gave a chuckle. “I don’t give information away for free. That’s not how I play.” She sat on a nearby headstone and spread her legs suggestively. “I’m going to need something in return for the information you want.”
Catty growled.
“Really?” Lucien reached inside the jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. Inside was ten thousand dollars Barrett had sent along with the direction.
He held it out to Ella.
“Money is something I don’t need since I’m stuck inside this cemetery.” She snorted and stepped up to him. “Now if there is something else you want to bargain with, then I’ll talk.” She ran her finger down the front of his chest.
He grabbed her hand and frowned. “How are you in human form if you’re supposed to be dead?”
“Part of this damn curse. My body won’t die and my soul is bound to my body. I’m cursed, stuck inside this cemetery. What good is money to me here?”
“According to legend, you escaped. And burned the city.” Lucien didn’t trust this bitch as far as he could throw her.
“Well it was kind of a fluke, actually.” She shrugged. “I knew I had to make a blood exchange. I had to sacrifice someone so I could escape. The innocent blood lowers the curse, therefore making it possible for me to escape. The first time, I escaped and set the town of Yazoo on fire for killing me. The second time, the time no one found out about, I made it all the way to New Orleans before being sucked back in this place.”
“You have to kill a human?” Catty glared.
“I prefer someone with supernatural blood. Human blood is weak and it only lets me out for a little while before the curse brings me back here.”
Catty propped her hands on her hips. “Who did you kill to be able to make it to New Orleans?”
Ella’s smile grew predatory. “A werewolf. Like you.”
Lucien’s body tightened and a wave of protectiveness buzzed through his body. He stepped in front of Catty, blocking the witch’s view. “But it doesn’t release you forever.”
“No. Nothing does. I know when the blood exchange begins to lose its power. I get dizzy and faint.” Her smile slipped off her face. “When I open my eyes, I’m back in this shithole.” She glared at her surroundings, her green eyes sparking with hatred.
Catty’s cell phone rang. The ringtone, set to a Miranda Lambert song, broke the silence of the graveyard. She dug it out of her jeans pocket, looked at the screen, and then shoved it back in her pocket.
“What was that?” Ella craned her neck around Lucien, her eyes wide.
“It’s a cell phone.” Catty snorted.
“I know it’s a cell phone, dummy. I meant the music.” Her eyes glazed over.
“Country music. Haven’t you ever heard her before?” He wasn’t a fan, but it would be an improvement from the heinous seventies stuff she was making them listen to.
“I tell you what, I want that music.” Her eyes lit up. “I’ll take it in exchange for information you want.”
He relented. “Fine. I’ll buy you a CD.”
“No. I want it now.” She held out her hand to Catty. “Hand me your phone.”