Walking out of the hotel, he should’ve gotten into his truck and driven straight back to the parish. There were decisions that needed to be made and he made a promise he was determined to keep; he wouldn’t come back into town until they were done and they had packed up to head to the next city to investigate.
But everything that happened through the open door of the hotel room was still racing around inside his head. The anger bubbled under his skin mixed with the shock and the pain. He needed something to take the edge off before he hit the road for the drive home.
Instead Andre found himself saddled up to the bar, a bottle of beer in hand.
Rosa was not much of a witch, mostly kitchen magic, a little help for her flowers, but she was new in town and had heard that The Underground was a place to meet fellow supes and well, she was a supe, whether she was powerful or not. And she was armed with gifts. Little peonies, for good health. Magnolias for endurance. And she gave them to anyone who looked rather interesting. Laying the peony down in front of a red head, she smiled. “You look healthy enough, but have one anyway.”
The door banged open and a young Landry winced; if what was slung and struggling over his shoulders wasn’t enough to piss Mama Romero off, banging her door open would. But trying to keep a hold of Andre and trying to look out for his friend at left him little choice.
“Lemme down ya bastard,“ Andre grumbled as he went limp, his head spinning from the amount of alcohol he had consumed and the position his friend had him in. When Landry shifted him and, what felt like, threw him on the couch, Andre let out a drunken growl as he tried to charge the larger man only to collapse and be set back on the couch, growling the whole way.
Once Eva had left the room, Andre set about making sure all of their trash from the night before ended up in the can and that nothing of his would end up left behind. Wallet, keys, and phone were all in his pockets, waiting for the right moment to go downstairs to start the drive back home.
He still held to the hope that no one would drop by the house until he could get home, get the clothes he had on in the wash, and jump in the shower. The last thing he wanted to deal with was questions about why he smelled like his mate again after all this time and after the restrictions put in place while the Spirit Chasers were around.
Who would be coming into their territory soon enough. He’d have to decide how to best handle that but he could think on it during the drive.
Looking at the clock, he decided enough time had passed and it would be safe for him to start heading down. As he stepped out and turned to make sure the door closed behind him, he bumped into someone else coming down the hallway.
“Watch it.”
It had been a long time since Andre had heard that voice but it wasn’t completely the voice that gave him away. It was the faintest hint of something within his scent that had passed on to his daughter. His hands clenched and the hair on the back of his neck rose, a low growl caught in his throat.
“Watch yourself, Mr. Montgomery, last I knew you weren’t welcome around here any more.”
The man stared back at him, confused as if he didn’t recognize the alpha wolf standing in front of them. Though how could he when the last time he had been near Terrebonne, the alpha had been a pup.
“Do I know you?”
Andre’s jaw clenched as Cooper stood there. “I grew up with your daughter.” That was as much as he needed to know; he didn’t need to know their story or how close their story had been to repeating Annalyse’s.
A faint light seemed to click in the older man. “You were one of those boys, right? Laundry or something?”
“Or something.“ He paused. “Whatever the hell it is you think you’re doin’ here, Mr. Montgomery, you better head on back to wherever you’ve been for the last twenty years. The last thing she needs is you screwing her up more than you already have.”
“I don’t know what you mean or why you think this is any of your business. Just because you were some childhood friend of Eva’s doesn’t mean you know what she wants now.”
He hated how close that was to the truth; whatever the night before had been, he still had no idea what she wanted to come out of it. “I know the mess you left behind and I spent a good part of my life tryin’ to clean it up.”
Cooper scoffed at that. “She’s done well enough for herself. From the looks of things, the best thing she’s done for herself was to get out of that little parish of yours and make something of herself. She learned just like I did that she couldn’t grow here.”
The wolf’s chest rumbled as the words cut into him. Lashing out, he shoved the older man against the wall. “You know what I am, you remember,” his voice rumbled, “You know I could rip your throat out right now. But you get a pass this time. And the only reason you’re getting a pass is because of her. Because I give a damn about her. Come near her again...”
“You won’t kill me.“ Cooper spoke confidentially.
“If I did, it’d be worth it. But it ain’t what you deserve. What you deserve is t’ know she’s out there somewhere, goin’ on, livin’ her life without you cause you chose to walk out on her. And you ain’t ever going to get anywhere near her ever again.” Andre backed up and straightened the lapels of Cooper’s suit jacket.
He knew that face, at least he had once in a whole other lifetime. It had belonged to someone much smaller and in the moment, he tried to do the math. Surely it couldn’t be...
“Parker, what are you watching?” His twelve year old barely glanced up from his Switch and over to the television.
The boy shrugged and turned his attention back to his game. “It’s just a commercial for Spirit Chasers. Some ghost show with this girl that does magic or whatever. It’s stupid.”
“Most of the crap in movies isn’t true.” (Laine to Wren)
@themanymusesofme
“Uh huh. So, you’re not scared of people who can see the future, garlic isn’t an issue, you can deal with silver and crosses. Noted. Still not a fan of dead people, even if they have great fashion sense. But, so long as you don’t try to eat me, we can be cool.” Because the witch was wary of anyone without a pulse. The weres, on the other hand, were... yummy.
Richard headcanon: Though he had a good feeling about the Spirit Chasers from the start, once they hooked up with Eva, he knew the show was going to be a goldmine. Not only did her addition break up the sausage fest and add a pretty face. But she was a genuine witch.
Headcanon accepted. They had plenty of shows with the male teams and the addition of Eva was a good thing to break up a bit of that. But the real kicker was Eva’s powers. That was what Rich was banking on.
