19. Til Death Do Us Part
Zoe fiddled with the veil for the millionth time as I chewed on my cheek, grateful all I’d had that morning was coffee, so I didn’t throw up all over my pristine gown. Lydia walked in, knocking on the door as she entered Hazel’s bedroom where I’d stayed overnight to prepare and avoid Julian accidentally seeing me in the dress. I’d set up a semi-permanent portal to the beach where the ceremony was taking place. Daphne had arranged an arch of twisting vines covered in red roses under which we would take our vows.
“What’s up?” I asked, noting Lydia’s face.
“We have an uninvited guest,” she answered, closing the door behind her.
“What? Who?” I batted away Zoe’s hands and took a step toward Lydia.
“Your father,” she answered, tugging at the hem of her black leather mini dress. “Sam tried to escort him out quietly, but he decided to make a scene and insisted he had a right to see his daughter’s wedding. We finally got him to leave, but Julian insisted I let you know and to tell you if you want to postpone, he understands.”
Zoe’s touch grounded me as we silently communicated our concern with a look. I worried at the petals on one of the many roses clustered in my bouquet as I thought. Julian worried that my father had dampened the joy of the moment. He wanted everything to be perfect, and that made me love him even more. I’d have been lying if I denied the wound my father’s brief presence opened.
“No one will think less of you,” Lydia offered.
“It’s your call, Char,” Zoe said. “I will support you, no matter what you decide. This is your wedding, not mine. As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t waste another second letting him sour our lives.”
“I wish I knew what Mama would want,” I admitted, shoulders slumping.
“I think she’d want you to be happy,” Zoe said on a sigh. She pried my fingers away, before I picked all the petals clean off my beautiful flowers, and threaded her own through them.
I nodded, fighting back tears. This was our day, and we’d fought for centuries to get here. I refused to let that man or anyone else interfere any longer. I worried that he’d somehow defied my mind-bending by trying to come close, but that was no reason to delay. If anything, it meant we should move forward.
“I am marrying Julian today. No more waiting.”
“Sam and I will be watching and ready to take care of anyone trying to crash. You just focus on Julian. He’s looking pretty hot, I have to admit. Not that I go for the clean cut type.” With that, Lydia swept from the room, and Zoe spun me around to have a look at me.
“You ready?”
One deep breath, and I was poised behind the door, stupid reanimated heart beating like a maniac.
Binx, who’d been waiting cross legged on the floor with Em, stood to offer an arm. He always looked sexy, being an incubus, but in a tight tuxedo, I had to force my gaze away. Still, I grinned and accepted his elbow with a squeeze. He’d taken one of Zoe and Hazel’s charms that allowed him to be out in daylight so he could be here for our brunch time ceremony. I appreciated it more than he knew—it hadn’t escaped my notice that he’d avoided visiting in the early hours, ever since he almost died from being stuck in our dimension.
Zoe blew me a kiss and walked through the portal to the sound of music and the rush of water. With her honey-colored curls and red strapless dress that flowed over her body, she looked like a Grecian goddess. Next, Em grabbed her basket of petals and stepped through in a bell-shaped white dress with a big scarlet sash. Her hair was piled on her head and tied with a matching bow.
Then the music changed, and it was time. Butterflies filled my stomach and threatened to take me away into the sky. But Binx held on to me firmly and guided me forward with a gentle tug.
We stepped into the warm breeze of the island and turned to head down the aisle toward the water, where Julian stood waiting.
Gods, he was gorgeous. The hundreds of wings in my gut settled into a calm warmth and confidence as our eyes met, closing the distance between us. His tuxedo was an old style with long tails and a fitted vest beneath in a red that matched the color scheme I’d picked. The gold chain hanging in a U from his vest pocket made me smile and finger the ring on my left hand. His dark curls moved in the wind, reflecting with bluish highlights in the sun. And the love on his face stirred a longing to rush across the pathway and into his arms. A tear tinted with crimson dropped from the corner of his eye as I approached.
When I finally reached the archway, he took my hands in his, and we shared a moment that felt frozen in time before Hazel’s voice cut through the connection.
“We are here today to witness the joining of Julian Carver and Charlotte Devaux. This marriage has been a long time coming—over five hundred years in the making.” She paused while our small audience tittered behind us.
“Words feel inadequate when it comes to this moment. The bond they share is more than that of biological mates. It goes deeper than the calling of blood. Their bond has survived treachery, violence, and manipulation, and they’ve come through it all. Do you know why?”
I tore my eyes away from Julian’s to look at Hazel, dressed in a traditional witchy gown with draping sleeves. She smiled at me in response.
“Because love is the strongest magic that exists in this or any dimension. And though evil can separate it, this couple is proof that no matter how long it takes to right things, nothing will permanently tear it apart.”
My vision blurred with tears as Julian tightened his grip on my hands, calling my attention back to his glowing indigo eyes, deeper than the sea before us. The satin of our handfasting ribbon slid against my flesh as our wrists were bound together by Hazel in an infinity symbol. She then handed us a copper goblet from a small table set beside her.
“The couple will share their combined blood as an inclusion of the vampire tradition,” Hazel proclaimed putting it in Julian’s hand so he could lift it to my mouth. We’d slashed our hands over the goblet last night before separating until the ceremony, but Hazel had kept it fresh and warm with magic. The combination of both of us was a nod to the mating bite we’d already done instinctively when he’d turned me. And obviously we couldn’t do the whole act in front of everyone else, no matter how close we felt to them.
The taste on my tongue was a heady mixture of sweet, tangy, and indulgent. So much so that I had to suppress the urge to lick my lips before I tipped it to Julian’s. We hadn’t shared blood since the day I’d almost reanimated Julian, though I’d been looking forward to the honeymoon. And it still somehow surprised me when I watched a soft pink and golden aura flow over Julian’s body when he swallowed his taste. His tongue darted out to take in the drop that had caught in the corner of his mouth, and desire swelled low in my belly.
“Now, it’s vow time,” Hazel announced. “And the couple has written their own. Julian?”
“Charlotte, my love, you are my reason for existing. I’ve made mistakes in my long life, but I must have done something right for the gods to bring you back to me now. I vow to always be there for you—to never run away again, because I know we are better together. I vow to support you in whatever choices you make. I vow,” he stepped forward to cup my face with his free hand, “to love you with all of my being until the end of time, no matter what forces try to divide us, whether they be internal or external.”
“Julian,” I began, voice shaking only slightly, “You are my soulmate. You’ve shown me patience, devotion, and trust. I vow to treat our bond with kindness and appreciation. I vow to share everything with you, even my darkest thoughts. I vow to love you forever.”
A slow clap shattered the moment, and we both turned to find Elsa sauntering down the aisle in a black suit with no shirt beneath her plunging jacket. Her hair fell long and loose down her back in stunning waves.
A glance at the other attendees showed they’d frozen in place, Sam and Lydia halfway out of their seats, Zoe’s face contorted in shock as she grabbed Em, Binx and Daphne turned to face the threat, and Hazel behind us, hand raised with green light surrounding it and then trailing off between us. Even Poppy and Karma had frozen side by side further back toward the tree line, white and black unicorn statues.
The only person she’d left alone, aside from Julian and me, was my father, who shouldn’t have been there at all. He glanced between us, clutching the back of a chair in the last row. My heart sank. He must’ve told Elsa that I’d drained Merlin and Bres after all. She had removed my mind bending as I’d feared, so he’d chosen to align with his supposed nemesis to become my enemy.
So be it.
“I’m hurt,” Elsa said with an exaggerated pout. “I didn’t receive an invitation. It’s like the whole Sleeping Beauty tale all over again, except the fairy queen wins.”
“The real fairy queen lost her head, and you seem to be angling for the same,” I said, slipping my tied hand into Julian’s as we faced her.
“How dare you interrupt our wedding,” Julian growled. “You’ve interfered in our lives enough, Elizabeth. No more.”
“It took you long enough to figure that out.”
Her haughty sneer might have destroyed another man, but Julian just glared with scarlet eyes. I was pretty sure mine matched, since everything had that red tint that brought a whole new meaning to rose colored glasses.
His foot angled in front of me, but before I could do anything to protest, Julian slid it back to his side. Through our bond he said, I meant every word of my vows. We face this together. It is our love and trust that will see us through.
The butterflies made a surprise appearance again for a just a moment before Elsa reached us.
“You refused my help when you left the estate without a word,” she said to me. “I warned you, I’m a much nicer friend than an enemy, and now you will see that for yourself.”
“I’m not sure you know what friend means.” I shrugged. “The truth is, I find you repulsive. But since it’s my wedding day, I will offer you a single chance to walk away and stay out of our lives.”
“Or what?” she asked spreading her arms as though to demonstrate I had no leverage. “The old fairy queen may have lost her head, but I’ve drained not one, but several members of the remaining Seelie Court to make up for it. It turns out, they were just as greedy as their queen, since they leapt at the chance I might back them in pursuit of her throne. But I am the strongest now of all three dimensions. And there is nothing you can do to stop my coming rule.”
“To be a ruler, the people kind of have to fall in line.” I tucked my hand behind my back so she wouldn’t see the magic building there. I didn’t yet know what spell I would cast, but I’d be damned sure there was enough energy there to disintegrate a boulder.
“They will—unfortunately, you’ll be dead. But I’ve come to make an offer to an old friend.” She turned to Julian. “Join my new ruling counsel. We can replace SHADE easily, and with the DNA of every supe in our system, we have no need to include specimens from each. I’ve invited Dr. Devaux as well.” She indicated my father, who had silently crept up to stand behind her.
“I advised her majesty to exclude you, but she insists,” Dad said to Julian with a shake of his head.
“So, you’ll just stand by while she tries to kill me, Dad?” I asked.
He met my gaze, rolling back his shoulders to stand tall. “I don’t want you to die. I’d rather you hadn’t made such a foolish mistake and ignored my council.”
“I see. Then it’s my fault for continuing to love Julian and refusing to overthrow Elsa with you.” I laughed hysterically at the twisted logic while outing his motivations to his boss.
She barely glanced at my father even so. “Dr. Devaux knows his place. There is no way to become stronger than myself now or ever. Isn’t that right?”
“I know my place,” my father agreed.
Elsa moved closer. “I don’t have all day. Julian? I’ll need a decision. It would be a waste to kill you, but I will.”
“You can try,” Julian answered with a dangerous smile. “But I hate to get blood on Charlotte’s beautiful dress, so let’s make this fast, shall we?”
She’s drained multiple powerful fairies. She’s dangerous, I warned silently.
Which is why you must be the one to kill her, Julian agreed. I feel stronger from the sip of our chalice. I will act like I am attacking for the kill. You must surprise her.
What about my father?I asked.
I will incapacitate him.
He drained the major, I reminded him.
A sip of your blood should be enough to counter that if your findings on our shared blood are correct, doctor, and I believe they are.
If it becomes a choice between you…
I will not leave you, he promised, squeezing my hand.
“I suppose that’s my answer. It’s truly a shame, Julian. You are one of the best male lovers I’ve ever taken.”
“He should have been the best. It’s probably because he was holding back,” I said partially because my blood was boiling, and partially to see if Elsa could be thrown off balance.
My answer was a lunge, which Julian intercepted with a crack that sounded like thunder as their bodies collided. I had just enough time to focus the power in my hand before Elsa sent him flying with a burst of pink energy. My surge of magic hit her before she’d turned her head, and I continued lobbing balls of pure golden energy at her from alternating fists as she struggled to rise from the sand. Grunting with the effort, I let the rage, hurt, and betrayal flow through me, fueling me, the only intention shaping my magic, the thought of stopping her before she could hurt anyone else. I’d had enough of other people trying to control either one of us, and if that meant using the power I’d taken from Merlin and Bres, then that’s what I would do.
In my peripheral, Julian blocked my father, who was trying to get to me. But instead of going down easily, as he’d anticipated, I watched in horror as my father’s hands glowed pink, and he locked them on Julian’s arms, sending him to his knees with a roar of anguish.
“Julian!’ I screamed, forgetting all about Elsa and instead throwing the next ball of energy at my father to knock him away from my vampire.
Digging his heels in, my father skidded backward a good ten feet, a dust storm kicking up around him from the ground. Julian rose and crashed into him at super speed, digging his fangs into my father’s shoulder as the truth hit me. Dad had drained at least one or two others despite my mind-bending, likely a powerful witch and fairy in order to gain their powers. When he’d gone to Elsa, she must have dissolved all my commands like a fistful of dirt in the ocean and bribed him with a place on her vampire council. For all I knew, she fed him a fairy and or witch with enough power to make him stronger, but not enough to outdo her own abilities.
Elsa took advantage of my distraction and tackled me, sinking her teeth into my unprotected throat. The pain blinded me as I tore at her back and arms, opening wounds that seemed to bother her as much as a fly on an elephant. With one hand she reached up to grasp my head by the hair and veil, and I knew she meant to rip off my head even as a sensation like warm molasses slowed my mind and movements. She was flooding me with the feeling of happiness and drowsiness, much like I’d learned to push the idea not to feel pain on those I drank from.
I managed to grasp the wrist of the hand gripping my head and fought with all my strength to keep it from moving. The world before me turned fuzzy at the edges as Julian’s face melted into one of pure agony when he caught sight of me. Time seemed to slow as my father snapped my lover’s neck from behind, sending Julian into a heap on the ground.
My heart pounded harder, flooding more of my own precious blood into Elsa’s waiting mouth, and I had to force myself to remember that Julian would recover. He hadn’t lost his head, unlike what was about to happen to me.
Rushing toward us, my father reached forward, and I couldn’t quite make sense of the fear on his face. Maybe it was the effects of the blood loss. But the next moment, Elsa was ripped off me and thrown to the sand, where my father wasted no time ripping into her throat.
I stumbled forward, tripping to my hands and knees as everything around me faded in and out of view. In moments, I lay on my back, unable to support myself as I bled onto the beach, wound closing too slowly. Blinking, I watched as Elsa grabbed hold of my father’s head, and in a swirl of purple and pink and gold energy, ripped it from his shoulders and tossed it where the surf lapped at the shore. She kicked what was left of him to the side, and crawled awkwardly to her feet, growling and pressing a palm over her own gushing wound.
My father was dead.
He’d saved me. Or at least tried to in the end. What had changed his mind? I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
Bathed in blood as she had in the seventeenth century, Elizabeth Bathory dragged herself toward where I lay at the alter I was supposed to be married at. The roses above me matched the crimson soaked into my once ivory dress.
Instead of fear, or anger, or pain, I felt numb—almost peaceful as the rush of the water washed out all other sound. No matter what happened to me or anyone else, the ocean would still be there, and so would the sun.
Elsa dropped to the ground over me, a wicked smile on her face. “Love killed you,” she said.
“No,” I whispered, not sure the word was audible.
“Oh, yes. If you hadn’t been distracted with worry or paused to prolong your lover’s life, you would have been the victor here.” She leaned in my face. “Proof that love is weakness. I wanted you to know that before I killed you.”
It was the same thing Merlin had said he’d learned over the centuries. To act first and not hesitate. Well, he was dead now. And I wasn’t. Yet.
Smiling back, delirious, I shook my head slightly. “I don’t have to be the one to do it as long as Julian is safe,” I said louder, though the words hurt.
Elsa’s victorious expression loomed above me, but in the next moment confusion replaced it, frozen forever in place as Julian’s hand punched through her chest and out the front of her, gripping her heart. With one more twist, she was relieved of her head and Julian tossed her aside, replacing my view with his beautiful face.
Without a word, he tore into his wrist and tipped the blood to my lips so I could drink, speeding up my recovery. Then he helped me to my feet, clutching me against him as the others, no longer frozen in time, rushed to our sides.
“All that power, and in the end, it was your vampire nature that took her down,” I said, giving him my weight.
Julian kissed my head. “Instinct. I think it’s rather poetic that her undoing came down to not fighting who I was. My only thought was desperation to stop her from killing you, no matter what that meant. She was wrong, Charlotte. Love isn’t weakness. Love saved us.”
Someone cleared their throat loudly from behind us, and we turned to find Hazel beneath the arch of roses.
“Do you have the rings?” she asked, as though nothing had interrupted the ceremony.
“Are you kidding?” I asked, holding out my arms to indicate the gore covering both Julian and me.
“Do I look like I’m kidding?” she retorted.
Rummaging in his jacket pocket, Julian’s focus sharpened. In a moment he held up a ring triumphantly. I gaped. My father had died. Elsa had died. We almost died. And…
And as I’d said earlier, I was tired of putting off my life because of the interference of others.
I held out my left hand, and he snugged the intricate golden band next to my engagement ring.
“Char?” Hazel asked.
Zoe hurried to my side and stuffed Julian’s ring into my hand. With a deep breath, I reached for him and slid it over his finger. He beamed down at it, looking almost like a child, he was so filled with joy.
“I now pronounce you partners for life. You may kiss.”
Julian swept me into a dip as his mouth met mine. Neither of us could stop smiling even as we connected.
Cheers rose all around us along with a whinny and a roar.
“Let’s meet back for the party tonight,” I said as Julian tipped me upright and took my hand. “If you all don’t mind, I’d like to take a long hot bath.”
“Baths don’t take hours,” Binx teased. “But go ahead and have some fun. We’ll take care of the mess and be ready for the reception later.”
Julian lifted me into his arms and rushed us through the woods and back to his house, which we’d been fixing up and redecorating between dress shopping and cake testing.
“I’m sorry about your beautiful gown,” he said, kicking the door closed behind him after carrying me through the threshold.
“It’s okay. At least red was part of the color scheme.” I shrugged with a hollow laugh.
He set me on my feet and backed me against the wall for a kiss. My fingers tangled in his silken curls as he pressed his body against mine.
“This was the first place we made love,” I said as he worked his way down my neck and over the now smooth spot where Elsa had ravaged me.
“I remember each and every time,” he said, palm sliding up to cup the side of my breast. “I was afraid I’d be unable to stop myself that night.”
“I never want you to stop,” I said, gazing into his indigo eyes.
“Well, Mrs. Carver, I believe you are in luck, because I plan to spend the rest of forever pleasing you.”