Chapter 17
Despite James watching over me, I tossed and turned in my own bed for most of the night.
As desperate as I was for rest, I just couldn’t fall asleep.
Thoughts of vampires and witches and hunters…
it all made my head spin. Even with James’s healing saliva to help, the effects of the drug wore off slowly, and it was the early hours of the morning when I finally managed to get some sleep.
I showed up late for the suit fitting. Something about my face must have told Hannah not to pry because she only ushered me into a room to try on one of the suits she’d picked out.
As shitty as I felt, I had to admit that the process perked me up a bit. Traditional to a fault, Hannah made us change in separate rooms and stand back-to-back so she could see the vision of both of us together, but we couldn’t see each other.
The first suit I put on was a charcoal gray, and it was an instant no. Same with the navy blue one I tried next. I skipped right over a light gray, instead reaching for the classic black.
I knew I’d chosen my wedding tux when I saw Hannah’s eyes light up upon seeing me in it.
“What’s the venue like?” I asked, tying the deep red bow tie around my neck.
“If I tell you, it’ll ruin the surprise.”
“The venue’s a surprise?”
James – who stood behind me, back to mine – shifted. “That’s what I asked.”
“Don’t look over your shoulder!” Hannah scolded.
James and I both snickered.
“For the record,” I stated, using every bit of my energy to face forward, “I think the whole ‘don’t see each other before the wedding’ rule is foolish and outdated.”
“I agree,” Hannah responded. She paced a slow circle around the elevated platform we stood on. “But if I keep the surprise now, you’ll have some killer first look pictures on the day.”
“We’re having a first look?” I questioned.
“Do you really trust me to stay away from you all morning?” James reached back and brushed my elbow. Taking the hint, I dropped my hand until our fingers twisted together. “You look amazing, love.”
I scoffed, ducking to hide the warmth creeping across my cheeks. With a quick glance to make sure the attendant couldn’t hear, I muttered, “Didn’t know vampires had eyes in the back of their heads.”
“We don’t, but you could show up in a trash bag and I’d still think you look great.”
“I’m not opposed to getting married in that. A garbage bag would be easier to rip off of me after the ceremony.”
Hannah made a face. “Eww!”
Whoops. I hadn’t realized that she was paying such close attention.
“Sorry,” I snickered. “Do you know what you’re wearing yet?”
Hannah’s voice came from behind me as she fussed with James. “There’s a black dress collecting dust in the back of my closet. I challenged Kian to plan a date night that would force me to wear it—and he hasn’t yet. There’s no time like my dad’s wedding to rip the tags off.”
I coughed against an unexpected flutter in my stomach.
I heard concern in James’s voice as he asked, “Ryder, are you al—”
“Don’t you dare turn around!” Hannah said.
I rolled my eyes—they were both ridiculous. “I’m fine!”
Something about hearing myself referred to as a dad still hit me in a way I couldn’t explain.
It meant all the more to me because she’d started doing so naturally.
I hadn’t pressured her into calling me that, especially while Erin was still chasing after me with those papers to surrender my parental rights.
I blamed my sudden blurry vision on my cough. But when my daughter appeared in front of me, her deep blue eyes were glossy as well.
“Don’t get sappy on me,” she whispered, straightening my bow tie.
With Hannah’s approval, we were sent back to our respective rooms to get changed. I overheard her speaking with the attendant about dates and deadlines as I changed.
I had to tell her. Now that I knew, each day that passed where I didn’t confess would only make things worse.
She was nineteen, which gave her around two years to adjust to being a witch before her powers activated.
Although, from my experience, I wasn’t convinced there was ever enough time to adjust to the paranormal.
James and I had been together for over a year now, and I was still dealing with occasional panic attacks.
“Han, do you have anywhere to be?” I called through the curtain.
“Mm, nope. It’s my day off. I was going to spend it on the couch with Buffy after this, but what did you have in mind?”
I slid the curtain aside, fully dressed. “You want to grab some dinner?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Hm?” I focused on the snap of my sleeve. It didn’t really need to be snapped at all, but it gave me something to do.
“The last time you looked like that you told me you were dating a vampire. Is this another ‘big news’ dinner?”
Damn, she was entirely too perceptive.
“Yeah,” I admitted with a sigh. “It is.”
Hannah didn’t bat an eye. “I’ll let Kian know.” She stepped aside to make her phone call.
James appeared next to me. “You want me to tag along?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You should get to the bar. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Good luck, then.” James gave me a kiss and said goodbye to Hannah before exiting the shop.
“Did he not want a ride?” she asked, standing by while I paid for the tuxes.
I stayed quiet until we stepped onto the sidewalk, not wanting anyone to overhear. “Superspeed. He doesn’t need to be driven anywhere.”
“That’s a real thing?”
“Mmhmm. Along with heightened senses and… so many other things.” I took a deep breath, attempting to stave off the inevitable. “Any idea what you want to eat?”
“Whatever will make you spit out this news quicker.”
We stopped at a crossing, and Hannah glanced at me.
God, she was such an adult. I had to take a moment to remind myself that I wasn’t dealing with a child.
Knowing that I’d missed out on so much time with her hit me like a freight train.
She’d lived a whole life, and now I was about to shake things up all over again.
“Are you leaving?”
“What?” I screeched to a halt in the middle of the street, and Hannah had to tug my arm to keep me moving. “No, I’m not leaving. Why would you think that?”
She shrugged, gesturing to a Thai restaurant. I opened the door and let her in ahead of me.
“You’re getting married. I’m already married, and in college. You’ve got Shiloh and Kian to help run the bar.” We chose a booth, and Hannah slid into the opposite side while she concluded, “It would make sense. I know that Salem was never where you wanted to settle.”
“I used to think the same thing,” I admitted.
“Then you came along and flipped my whole world on its head—and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m exactly where I need to be.
It really sucks that I missed out on so much of your life, and I’m going to do my best to make up for that.
You’re such an incredible person, Hannah. ”
She drank in my words, her lips blossoming into a gentle smile.
After we ordered our drinks, I continued.
“I’m sure your mom and your grandma told you plenty of stories about me as a teenager—I was a disaster.
That weighed heavily on me when we first met.
The last thing I wanted to do was disrupt your entire life.
” I took a deep breath. “Which is why telling you this is so difficult.”
“Okay…”
“You’re a witch.”
“Well, that’s not very nice.”
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, I cracked a smile. Yeah, this smartass was my kid. “I wish I was joking.”
We fell silent again as the server set our glasses in front of us, then whisked away to give us time to decide on our main courses.
Hannah grabbed her soda, trailing her finger through the condensation beading on the glass. “You’re serious.”
I nodded, scrubbing the back of my neck. “I am. There’s so much more to the story, and I can explain how I found out if you want, but it all comes down to that.” I winced. That sounded blunt, didn’t it? “Sorry, you know I’m not exactly the best at talking about real stuff.”
She barely noticed my rambling. “A witch. As in, spells and cauldrons, black cats and herbs?”
“Yeah, that kind of witch.”
“Magick?”
“Yep.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “But… I can’t do magick. Trust me, cleaning my room growing up would’ve gone a lot easier if I could.”
“You don’t have your powers yet.” I tried to recall the information that Victoria had given me. Christ, I should have asked her to join us. It seemed like every word we’d spoken that night had vanished.
“It was a lot to take in, but Gabriel put me in contact with a witch named Victoria, who promised to help us figure out how to navigate our powers.”
Hannah watched me for a moment, swirling her straw in her drink. The sound of the ice against the glass seemed to echo around me. Seconds dragged on. All conversation in the restaurant faded away as I waited for my daughter’s reaction.
She just watched me. Wide, blue eyes scanned my features, just as they had months ago when I’d blurted out that James was a vampire. She took that well, but I didn’t know how she would react to being swept up in the supernatural world herself.
Finally, she let go of the straw and shoved her drink to the side. “‘Us?’”
“Huh?”
“You said, ‘help us figure out how to navigate our powers.’ Meaning you’ll be there for me too?”
“Well, yeah.” I shrugged. “I’m not going to let you go through this alone.”
Then her eyes filled with tears. She reached for a napkin, attempting to keep them from spilling over and smearing her mascara. “Didn’t I tell you not to get all sappy on me?”
Unsure of what to say, I waited while Hannah absorbed what I’d just told her. She set the black-smudged napkin aside, and the server returned for our food orders. Hannah had the “usual,” and I just selected something random. There were very few things I wouldn’t eat, so I knew I couldn’t go wrong.
Hannah waited for the server to walk out of earshot before she spoke again. “So… How long do I have to learn what it means to be a witch?”
“I’m not exactly sure. Victoria seems very helpful, though, and—”
“Wait,” Hannah interrupted. “You don’t have powers, right? So does that mean… there are no male witches?”
I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Um. About that.”
“There are?”
I shook my head, deciding to spit it out before I lost my nerve. Hannah needed to have all of the information. “No, not unless something activates their powers.”
“Like what?”
Here we go. “Like turning into a vampire.”
Hannah didn’t miss a beat. Her eyes widened, and for a long moment—maybe a little too long for my liking—she simply stared at me. Her attention flickered to my neck, then back to my eyes.
I swallowed hard. “Please say something,” I finally said.
“You’re a vampire?”
“Not yet.” Then I let it all spill. “James tried a couple of times to turn me. When it didn’t work, we had a friend dig into our family history.
Turns out, we’re not only descended from witches—we’re descended from blood witches.
Which means I’m going to be stronger than the average vampire.
” I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes until I saw stars.
“God, I really don’t want to think about this anymore. ”
A hand pried mine away. I blinked, my surroundings coming into focus. Hannah smiled at me, squeezing my hand and bringing my heart rate down. How she looked so calm after learning all of this was beyond me. She had Erin’s composure.
“We don’t have to talk about it anymore,” she assured me.
“We don’t?”
“No. Not today anyway. Besides, the way you talk about Victoria, I think it might be helpful for me to meet her too. And if I’m going to have three dads—two of them vampires, it’s kind of cool knowing I’ll have some kind of powers too—eventually.”
“Three dads? Thanksgiving is going to be crowded.”
Hannah choked out a laugh. “Good thing vampires don’t eat.”
“Hey—don’t have to,” I corrected. “I’ll still fight you for your Nana’s mac and cheese—I remember how good that shit is. Did you happen to inherit the recipe?”
Now, Hannah’s eyes sparkled for a different reason. “I did.”
Thankfully, all conversation of the supernatural ceased the second our food was set in front of us.
Hannah asked a few questions—about Victoria and the friend who introduced us—but for the most part, we focused on our food and wedding planning.
Try as I might, Hannah would not divulge where the venue was.
“And don’t you dare ask Kian!” she scolded when I walked her to her car.
As emotional and awkward as the first hug was, they came naturally to us now. Hannah didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around my waist and squeeze me tight. I told her to text me once she was home safely.
I walked to my own car feeling better than I had in a long time. A year ago, the thought of talking about my feelings had me running for the hills. I’d never tell Raleigh that he was right to force me into doing so. It felt like the first time I opened up, it started the Diaries of Ryder Clark.
The house was dark from the outside, save for the faint glow of the TV through the living room window. I was exhausted, and the only thing I wanted to do was collapse into my vampire’s arms and sleep for the foreseeable future.
I unlocked the door and stepped into the house, narrowly dodged an enthusiastic welcome from Carlos, and decided to shower while I waited for James. I half expected him to join me when I sensed that he was home, but as I walked down the hallway, I found that there was already someone in my spot.
The smile that curled my lips was entirely involuntary. “Hey, Shi Baby.”