It was easy to find one or two of these qualities in men, Gilly knew, but she had never known one man to possess them all. It was that and so much more that kept Gavril at the front of her thoughts. How would she ever find another man whom she felt had been so perfectly designed for her? She could only wish and hope he felt the same.
With his looks, Gilly was sure that he could have any woman he desired. All he’d have to do was look her way and smile, and any woman would melt like cream on a hot sidewalk at his feet. The thought of that jumbled Gilly’s belly with jealousy, and seemed to turn the water about ten degrees colder.
Scrubbing her face with her hands, Gilly let the thought of other women go down the drain with the dirty water she washed from her body. If anything, she’d discovered in the few days she’d known him that Gavril was as loyal as they came. And jealousy was not her strong suit, anyway, which was another piece of the puzzle that made their match perfect.
Only one square peg refused to complete the picture. That peg was the one the Elders had thrown in their lap by demanding that the Triad have nothing more to do with the Benders. They’d reminded the Triad that having relationships with the Benders would be their undoing, which in turn and in the end, would be the destruction of the world.
As Gilly stepped out of the shower and dried her body, she repeated what the Elders had said verbatim in her mind. Although she easily remembered their remarks word for word, she found them unfair and questionable. If having a relationship with a Bender would be the end of them, then what about Viv and Evee? Both had sex with their Benders but were still around, their powers on par with her own. She was the only one who hadn’t experienced hers. She wanted desperately to change that, but what if the Elders had been right? What if more intimacy with the Benders meant more destruction, more discord and more deaths among the Originals and humans in the city? Was she willing to take the chance and find out? The more she thought about it, though, the less sense it made. If the Elders’ words of warning were to be taken verbatim, then Viv and Evee would be useless as witches right now. Gilly couldn’t help but wonder if after all the centuries of interpretation, their Elders might have gotten something wrong or out of context.
After throwing Elvis a warning glance to keep his mouth shut, Gilly went to her closet, chose a pair of light blue linen pants and a short-waisted white cotton pullover. She pulled on a pair of ankle socks, shoved her feet into a pair of white sneakers and hurried out of the room. She was about to head down the stairs, when she heard Elvis’ voice.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
“Pfft,” she proclaimed and hurried down the stairs.
She found Evee in the kitchen, steeping a cup of tea.
“Where’s Viv?” Gilly asked.
“She left,” Evee said. “Said she had to discuss something with Nikoli before we all got together, so she headed for his hotel.”
A prickle of worry stung the back of Gilly’s neck. “She shouldn’t be out alone. Maybe we should go and find her. Walk her over there.”
Evee glanced at the clock on the wall. “Too much time has passed. She’s surely already there, safe and in one piece. We still have an hour before we’re supposed to meet up with the guys in front of the cathedral. Whatever Viv and Nikoli have to talk about, I think we should give them that privacy.” She held up her cup. “Want some tea?”
“No, thanks,” Gilly said and found herself starting to pace the kitchen. “It’s still very dark outside. Suppose she gets jumped by some freakazoid.”
Evee smiled. “She brought a flashlight with her and the bat we keep in the laundry room. If anyone tries to attack her, I pity them more than anything.”
Evee’s smile and words usually comforted Gilly, but right now, they did little more than piss her off. They made her feel like she was being treated like a child.
“Look,” Gilly said. “I doubt if the Hyland cousins are going to give a rat’s ass if we show up at their hotel early instead of meeting them at the cathedral at a precise time. I really think we need to go and check on Viv—make sure she got there okay.”
“Okay, okay,” Evee finally agreed. “But I’d like to finish up this chamomile tea first, if you don’t mind.”
Gilly wrinkled her nose. “Chamomile? That crap tastes awful. You just as soon be drinking horse vomit. Why chamomile?”
“It relaxes me. Gets rid of anxiety so I can focus.”
“Peppermint tea does the same thing, but at least it tastes good. Besides, chamomile wires me up.”
“Yes, but—”
Gilly waved a hand to cut off her words. “Drink whatever you like, but just drink it. I’d like to get going sooner than later.”
“What’re you so worried about? She’ll be with the Benders.”
“If she made it there.”
Evee gulped down the rest of her tea, smacked her lips and then placed the cup and saucer into the kitchen sink. “Viv’s a big girl. She can handle herself.”
“You mean like she had to handle herself when a Cartesian attacked and Lucien had to perform a flying tackle to get her out of the way, and Ronan ended up dead?”
“Geez, you don’t have to be so brash,” Evee said. “I’m done with the tea, so let’s go already. Anything to ease that wild-stallion brain of yours.”
Satisfied that they were finally on their way, Gilly grabbed a flashlight from the utility room and hurried to the kitchen door to lead the way to the hotel.
“Shall I find another bat?” Evee asked with a grin.
“Don’t be stupid,” Gilly said. “We only had one. Maybe bring a butcher knife or something like that. Anything to protect us if we need it.”
Evee let out a sigh of exasperation. “I will not run around the city with a butcher’s knife. Should, and I do mean should, something come up, remember we are witches. We’ll turn the attacker into a toad or a rabbit.”
“I prefer a pile of dung, myself,” Gilly said, walking out of the back door with Evee in tow.
“That’s because you’ve got the class of a hyena, sister. You know, everyone claims we’re triplets, but really, you could have been adopted.”
“Oh, shu...hush up. You’re just upset with me because I’m a little wired about Viv.”
“A little wired? Abigail, darling, you could light up half the state with your worry wires. She’s fine. I’m sure of it. I’ll bet you ten to one she’s with Nikoli at the hotel, sitting nice and cozy beside him.”
It was earlier than they’d originally planned to meet at the cathedral; more than likely, Nikoli and Lucien were still talking to family members about Ronan’s death. Gilly knew she should have given them the space they needed to make their family calls, but Viv’s heading out there alone made decent protocol appear stupid. She had to make sure her sister was safe with her Bender.
With dawn breaking, and the trolleys still not up and running, Gilly and Evee had to foot it from the Garden District to Royal Street in the French Quarter, where the Hotel Monteleone was located.
Gilly speed-walked the entire way, with Evee occasionally stopping to work out a stitch in her side.
“Slow down, will you?” Evee said to Gilly. “At this pace, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”
“Witches don’t have heart attacks.”
“Okay, then my lungs are going to burst. You’re faster than I am, so slow it down a notch. Why are you all but running there? We agreed to go to the