Chapter 23 #2
“Justified? No, but it seemed to be the best way to move things forward more expeditiously. I could’ve taken the fairy enchantress to court for damages and so forth, but you know fairy enchantresses in courts. It’s always a bit humiliating for the court.”
She made a face. “You killed a fairy enchantress? Are you sure she’s dead?”
“Ripped and burned, other than half her soul,” he said, gesturing at my rabbit. “But we’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Good,” she said, shivering. “Fairy enchantress, like an enchantress isn’t bad enough. Here we are.” We’d reached an office with a frosted glass partition on the top with Judge McCoy printed in gold letters, looking very official.
She knocked then stood to the side for us to walk through. Well, the devil would walk because he was still carrying me. He turned the knob with his tail then ducked through the door with me, careful not to bump my head or feet.
Inside, he stopped abruptly while the door closed behind us with a dull thud.
I stared at the man sitting behind the desk.
A gargoyle in full stone, and to his right stood the Grand Sorcerer in a robe made out of infinite darkness and the emptiness between stars.
She looked much more like death than the mob without her hat.
“Anna, you look very epic Grand Sorcerer like that,” I said, nodding my approval.
She gave me a short smile, but didn’t say anything, and returned her attention to the devil.
The gargoyle cleared his throat. “You’re here to marry the fairy-goblin?”
“Her name is Kesty Charles. She’s not an object.”
I almost rolled my eyes at the devil, who’d treated me more like an object than anyone, but instead I smiled brightly at the gargoyle like everything was lovely and I didn’t realize that this creature and the Grand Sorcerer were a real threat to my devil.
The gargoyle smiled, showing terrifying fangs, his stone face a mask of horrific proportions. “And what do you intend to do with her blood?”
Ah. My blood could conquer worlds. So I guess it was a big deal, or gargoyles wouldn’t be involved. Or the Grand Sorcerer.
“Her blood is mine,” the devil said smoothly. “As is the rest of her, and I am hers, heart, body, and half-soul. No other creature will taste her blood.”
“What are you going to do with her blood?” the gargoyle said, glowering somehow even more dangerously.
Ah, that had been an evasion. Such a tricky devil, but the gargoyle knew how to deal with devils. Also probably how to destroy them.
The devil sighed heavily. “I will taste it from time to time, but her life is more precious to me than her blood. I will protect her life, her blood, her soul, and her heart with all my capacity and ability.”
“You swear it?” the gargoyle growled.
The devil sighed heavily and raised a hand in the traditional oath position. “I swear on all I hold dear.”
“And what do you hold dear?”
The devil smiled, showing fangs. “My wife. Won’t that do? You are the law. You can sign a paper and make it official. I have to tuck her into bed.”
The gargoyle glowered at him for another beat then focused on me for the first time. “Do you wish to marry this creature?”
“He’s not a creature. He has a heart and a half-soul. If he doesn’t mind, I’d like to keep him.” I looked at my handsome devil, feeling shy.
He smiled at me with those dangerously flirty eyes. “I will mind you at least some of the time. But no, I’d like to be kept if you’re the keeper.”
I beamed at him while happiness roared through me, more powerful than a wildfire. “Thank you.”
“By the power invested in me by the Grey Society, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
I gasped at the suddenness of it, but the devil only smiled and brushed my lips with his.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, so sweet, so heavenly, so absolutely perfect until fire rushed through me, fire and aching need that left me holding on as tightly as I could.
“Woo! Yeah! Get it, girl!” The Grand Sorcerer’s catcalls broke through the kiss.
I turned to look at her wild grin, feeling awkward. “Ah. We’re going home.”
“That’s right,” she said with a broad grin. “The devil has premier honeymoon suites in all his casinos.” She wacked the gargoyle, and the stone where she hit him softened and turned to flesh so she didn’t hurt herself with the contact. That was tricky. “Do you remember? From the TV show?”
“Yes, I remember from the TV show. And now it’s time I took you to bed,” he said, turning to look at her.
“Papers,” the devil said, voice sharp.
Anna sighed and touched her finger to the paper on the desk, leaving an official glowing seal on it.
“That should satisfy everyone. Authority and a witness. Make her happy or I’ll have the ladies come after you.
” She wiggled her brows then tore a hole in space and time and pulled her gargoyle through with her, leaving us alone with a snap and the scent of ozone and cloves.
He sighed heavily. “Do you want a honeymoon suite?”
“I want your bed,” I said, cocking my head as I studied him.
He smiled slowly. “I have hundreds.”
“Am I really your wife?”
He carefully picked up the paper and shifted me then slipped it into his inside pocket with one hand so he didn’t have to put me down. “I hope so. Am I really your husband?”
I stared into those eyes then I touched his face with my burning fingers. “If a devil can hope then I suppose anything’s possible.”
He rested his forehead against mine as he stared into my eyes. “I love you. That’s what I was going to say before my heart let the fairy enchantress take me out. I’m a bit concerned by how much I adore and passionately love you. Freaked out,” he said with a slight nod, bumping my nose with his.
I beamed at him while happiness grew and grew in my chest. “That’s wonderful! That probably means you aren’t playing me. Now you can take me to bed.”
He frowned and slowly put me down so I was sitting on the large desk. “One more thing.” He pulled a sheaf of papers out of nothing and handed them over to me. Null and Void were stamped across the top of my contract. I stared at it in horror then looked up at him while my stomach sank.
“What is this? You can’t cancel our deal! You don’t want me to have a bakery?”
He gave me a slow, crooked smile that was the softest and sweetest thing I’d ever seen.
He dropped to his knees so he was gazing up at me.
Slowly, the world around us faded until we were in the fairy garden, and I was sitting on the bench with the pond behind him, glowing butterflies fluttering all around.
“You’re my wife. Everything I am and own is yours. How can we have a deal?”
I stared at him and glanced at the contract then frowned at him. “No deal? But then how will you keep from crushing me the next time I lose you to your heart?”
He smiled and caught my hand, holding it in his large palm, and murmured, “My heart is yours.”
I stared at him while my own heart fluttered wildly. I pressed my other hand to his chest where his heart beat almost as quickly as mine. “No. You keep your heart in your chest where it belongs.”
His smile truly bloomed, and he looked happy, sweet, like he’d finally found his home. “It will stay in my chest, but it’s still yours. I love you. The bakery is yours now, like I am. Your father’s debts are dissolved. You’re free.”
“But I could still get a divorce. And then what?”
He cocked his head as he studied me. “I would be very sad. I’d probably die of grief.”
“But I’d keep the bakery?”
He rolled his eyes. “The only thing you care about is the bakery.” He pouted while I laughed and kissed his upturned face.
I pulled away to shake my head. “I’m really free?”
“Yes. You’re free to love me or leave me. And I won’t really die from grief. Maybe.”
I threw my arms around him and knocked him back on the soft grass, kissing him and kissing him while a hope and happiness grew and grew inside me. Love was real. And so were we.
Impossible was nothing more than a word. And we were beyond words.
The End