“He canceled at the last minute,” Reggie said with a shrug.
“What? No! Did he give a reason why?”
“Eh, it’s not important. I’m here, and I know I’m going to have a great time.” Maybe it was just my imagination, but his face seemed to hold a whole lot of emotion as he gazed at me. He didn’t have to put on a brave front if he was hurting, but I was still so incredibly flattered that he would push himself to come to our event. “And so are you. Go on, go get your socialization on and some food in you so we can all break it down on the dance floor later.”
“Like we would ever miss an opportunity to dance,” Rowan murmured as he strode up beside my brother, an elderly woman on his arm.
“Naomi, Reggie, I’d like you to make the acquaintance of Madame Bapstisté. She traveled here all the way from Louisiana.”
I knew I looked shocked at that, but how could I not be. “Louisiana? That’s quite the travel, Madame! We are honored!”
Her milky eyes slowly slid over to me, and I was instantly struck by her gravitas. I knew without a doubt I was interacting with not just an elderly person, but anelder.
“I’m supposed to be meeting anotherRougarouhere,” she murmured, her voice somewhere between a sigh and a booming sort of echo. “Can’t say t’last time I met one of my own kind. Thought I was the last one in the States.”
ARougarou!I knew vaguely of our wolf shifter-like cousins, but not much beyond that they were an old-world creaturethat hadn’t really made the transition to coexisting with the technological age.
Unlike my kind, however, who transformed fully into large, quadrupedal lupine similar to a dire wolf,Rougarouwere a blend of man and beast in their transformed bodies, standing at over seven feet tall on two legs, with the head of a wolf but thumbs and arms and human shoulders. They also had thick coats, but not quite like wolf-shifters, their patterning thinning in areas around joints that made sense.
In all my years, Ineverthought I’d meet one.
“And you’re meeting another here?” I croaked.
“That is the plan, my dear.”
It was hard to rein in my excitement, but I really did do my best. I didn’t want to overwhelm the woman after her travels. “How wonderful! If you’d like to have a seat, Rowan and I can grab you anything you’d like to drink or fix you a plate. We have tea, coffee, wine, pretty much anything you could want.”
“The strawberry daiquiri flavor from Sobe?”
“I, uh…”
“She means the discontinued brand with the lizard on the side,” Rowan supplied.
She gave him an appreciative look. “You know your stuff, young man.”
“I’m older than I look,” Rowan said with a smile, “and while we unfortunately can’t get our hands on that for you, we do have a mixologist who can make you something similar with a bit more of a kick.”
“Merde!Why didn’t you say so? Now you’re speaking my language! Fix me up one of those and a plate full of all the different meats you got, and I might not care if I get stood up!”
We shared a laugh, then the two of us hurried off to do just that. As jazzed as I was, it just reiterated that we were on the right path. Connections were being made right and left!
When we returned to Madame Baptisté, she was no longer alone, but it was not another of her kind with her. Hertie and Gertie were both asleep and drooling at her feet while Daniella sat across from her, chin in her hands, her expression one of rapt attention.
Despite my intense fascination with the situation, I didn’t want to interrupt, so we dropped off her food and drink and went about our business. And by our business, I meant informing every single one of my friends of what was going on and telling them to keep an eye out for any monumental reunions.
However, as crazy as a doubleRougaroumeeting was, it did slide to the back of my mind as the evening progressed, and by the time we hit the dance floor, I’d forgotten enough to thoroughly enjoy dancing without having to worry about glancing over my shoulder every other moment so I didn’t miss anything. Besides, as fascinating as the entire thing was, the two of them deserved not to be stared at like… well, likefreaks.
“Oh, I love this song!” Carolina cried as a banjo started plucking and the singer belted out how he would have been married if it weren’t for a legendary Midwest cryptid that stole his lover. The next thing I knew, I was pulled into a circle of people jigging this way and that. Well…attemptingto jig. Some more successful than others.
Still, even if some of us were uncoordinated, it was still an amazing time. I sweated, I laughed, and generally had a great time. Thankfully, the song didn’t last forever, and after that, it transitioned to a slower one, and Rowan and I danced together. It wasn’t a ballad. In fact, I was pretty sure that it was actually an internet meme song in a foreign language.
But that didn’t mean I wasn’t enjoying it. Just being close to Rowan, wrapped in his arms, our bodies so close to each other, was more that I could have asked for. I closed my eyes, restingmy head against his chest and letting myself just drift through the depth of the moment.
I probably could have stayed like that forever, but eventually, the meme song ended but the reduced pace didn’t. In fact, I would say it grew even slower, languid and perfectly lackadaisical in its wind down. Honey wine and molasses over my soul, smooth in it?—
Wait a moment…
Do I know this song?
