Frenchman Street_A Novel of The Sentinels of New Orleans Read online

  Huh.

  “I didn’t faint; I hibernated.” I remembered that night all too well. I’d passed out from the cold on Royal Street, all according to Jean’s scheme, and woke up in the pirate’s hotel suite with Rene as my babysitter. Once he decided I was going to survive, he left me to go on a date.

  “Well, you’ve kind of been too busy to date,” I noted, not wanting to read too much into his lack of dating. We had an attraction, and always had. Our chemistry was what had made our friendship work so well. We flirted, and it didn’t mean anything. It was just us, having fun.

  “I coulda found time if I’d wanted to,” he said. “What’re you doing Friday night?”

  The first float of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Irish Channel Parade approached. We’d moved far enough from the jumping, screaming crowds that we could eat, talk, and not get beaned by the cabbages and potatoes being thrown from the floats. Not to mention the green beads, frisbees, Moon Pies, and doubloons.

  What can I say? NOLA loves a parade.

  “I don’t have plans for Friday. Michael will be at Rand’s all weekend in Elfheim, and I’m tired of figuring out how to make Eugenie’s house feel like mine. What do you want to do Friday night?”

  He grinned at me. “Go on a date, babe. I think it’s about time. We can visit Faerie.”

  I grinned back and thought an evening in Faerie with Rene and no guns or knives or fireballs sounded fun.

  Maybe I was the one.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket and I dragged it out with a groan. “It’s a text from Alex. The bar at Felix’s uptown is full of gremlins, and they’re getting rowdy. He says, and I quote, ‘Your problem, Sentinel.’”

  “Guess I’ll have to get used to it.” Rene got up and began gathering our stuff. “It’s like having a girlfriend who’s a doctor or something.”

  “Or something.”

  I nodded—me, the wizard with elven blood, dating a merman, bonded to an elven asshat, working as a preternatural border guard with my shifter ex, and helping raise a half-elven, half-human child.

  I still wasn’t sure what I was, but I was getting there.

  Acknowledgments

  A novel begins as a germ of an idea, and is created through a solitary process. But it only becomes honed and crafted with the help of many people beyond the author. As always, I thank Marlene Stringer of Stringer Literary for first seeing a glimmer of potential in a little book from a debut author.

  Like Royal Street, Frenchman Street has had many helping hands along the way. Special thanks to alpha reader Dianne, who’s been on board for the whole series; Isabelle, brainstorming partner extraordinaire and keeper of Jean Lafitte’s French—any mistakes are mine alone; my awesome Beta Team Debbie, Isabelle, Liz, and Roger; and cover artist Robin Ludwig, who braved a driving tour of New Orleans with me in the driving rain six years ago…Of course, it flooded.

  Also by Suzanne Johnson

  The Sentinels of New Orleans Series

  Royal Street

  River Road

  Elysian Fields

  Pirate’s Alley

  Belle Chasse

  The Consort (A Fae Hunters Novella)

  Frenchman Street

  Pirateship Down: Stories

  WRITTEN AS SUSANNAH SANDLIN

  The Penton Vampire Legacy

  Redemption; Absolution; Omega; Storm Force; Allegiance; Illumination

  The Wilds of the Bayou

  Wild Man’s Curse; Black Diamond

  The Collectors

  Lovely, Dark, and Deep; Deadly, Calm, and Cold

  About the Author

  Suzanne Johnson is the author of more than twenty published works, including the award-winning Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series. Writing as Susannah Sandlin, she is author of the Penton Vampire Legacy paranormal romance series, as well as The Collectors and the Wilds of the Bayou series, both romantic suspense. A displaced New Orleanian of the heart, she currently lives in Auburn, Alabama. Suzanne loves SEC football, fried gator on a stick, New Orleans, all things Cajun, and (hangs head) reality TV. She is a full-time author, if you don’t count running her own copyediting business and dabbling in mixed-media art.

  For more information, please visit Suzanne’s website: http://www.suzannejohnsonauthor.com/

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