Chapter 11
Aspen
V iessa runs her perfectly manicured hand through the white fabric. “It’s so beautiful Pen.” Awe is written all over her face as I roll my eyes at her as I sit on the throne chair of my bridal suite in the church.
Great.
If she loves that damn gown so much, she can wear it.
The Volkovs had given me a custom Marsha Wang designer wedding gown. It’s a mermaid dress with sheer shimmering sleeves paired with white lace heels, a veil and a ridiculously long train.
This dress is a part of Wang’s Winter Collection. There are only two available.
Well, now one.
This is so like Viessa. If I haven’t learned anything about her, I’ve learned she gets extremely excited about super girly things.
Like clothes, shoes, jewelry and the latest celebrity news gossip.
And truth be told… I do too. It’s shocking how in just a few days we’ve become good friends.
The friendship came naturally and if I’m really being honest with myself, I wish I had this same friendship with my own siblings.
Looking at me, Viessa squeals, “today is all sun, no clouds!”
“And a sunny day matters because?”
“It matters because the sunlight will spill from the cathedral skylights. With the shimmer in your sleeves, along with the light beaming down on you.” She gasps. “You will look like an angel! You will be the focus of everyone’s attention.” She screeches her excitement.
My stomach rolls and I drop my head backwards. I don’t want to be the focus of everyone’s attention, let alone his .
My feelings must show on my face because Viessa adds, “you have performed in front of millions, what’s a few thousand people? Especially when most of them are nobodies.”
Viessa and Sorcha found out I’m a performer a few days back. We sat in the garden watching my past concerts for hours. By the end of it, they became fangirls. Hell, their enthusiasm turned me into my own fan too.
But Viessa has a point. Still, I’ve never walked down an aisle. Let alone an aisle to a man that hates my existence. I immediately see his scowling face and feel his shadows against my skin and I shudder.
“You’ll be there, right? I need to know there’s someone there in my corner.” I look at her with pleading eyes.
Despite myself, I’ve grown closer to the Volkov women here.
We’ve spent most of our breakfasts and dinners with each other.
We talk about any and everything. Raevyn and I never had girl talk, I would be surprised if she even knew what that was.
Roman doesn’t know how to carry on a conversation with me if it’s not rooted in a lecture.
The only language he speaks is Aspen Self Improvement Needs.
On top of all of that, my best friend is a man.
The only talks we have are SRU and bootcamp related, or the occasional life updates.
Let me stop downplaying our relationship.
He is my person and it’s killing me not being able to share everything that has happened to me with him.
I know he’s worried sick about me right now.
The only Volkov I haven’t met is Nikolai’s other sister, Lilith. She endured hard labor with her latest birth, and she can’t move around much, so she won’t be in attendance today.
But her husband, Maxim, will be.
“I will be there, front and center. You will be fine,” she placates.
There’s a short knock at the door before Quinn comes walking in. How the hell did she get in here? Especially after her display of disrespect at breakfast last week. How did she sneak past my present, but not so present, soldiers?
“Ah. And here I thought you would be rushing to the altar. You’re not even dressed yet. Does the gown not fit? Is it too…small?” Quinn taunts with a bemused face.
She cuffs her manicured hand on the side of her face, placing the other hand on her hip. Viessa freezes in her spot with stiffened shoulders. I file that away for now.
“Actually, Viessa was going to help me put my wedding gown on before you intruded.”
“Viessa? This incompetent fool? Why not have a child help dress you?” she barks. “Listen sweetheart , you exchanging vows with Nikolai today means absolutely nothing,” she sneers.
Mm, this must be where her claws come out. But I have claws too and I’ve been itching to use them.
“You can wear his ring and bear his last name, but you will never have his heart or bear his child in your rotten womb. Those two things belong to me.”
“If that was true, sweetheart ,” I plaster on the biggest insincere smile on my face.
“Why is it me walking down that aisle and not you?” I step forward towards her.
“Quinn, sweetheart , your entire being is nowhere near my solar system for me to care about your existence. Continue being a man’s whore. Continue finding value in it. However.”
I step closer to her and stop walking once we are eye to eye. “Stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours. What my husband and I do and do not have, is and will be none of your business. I advise you to leave now. Unlike you, I have somewhere very important to be.”
Her nostrils flare and as soon as I notice her raising her hand towards me, I punch her in the throat. She stumbles back, shocked, gasping and quickly wrapping her hands around her throat before dropping with a heavy thud on the floor.
“You.” Quinn drags in a deep breath. “Bi—”
A blur of movement is in front of Quinn before it registers that the door has been opened.
“Quinn, what the fuck are you doing?” Sergei asks, bending over her, holding her shoulders with her still gasping for air.
Funny enough, the throat is the softest and most vulnerable part of a vampire which is why it’s my favorite move to use against them. Plus, it takes them longer to recover from it. That gives me enough time to either finish them off completely or run away if I can’t.
“She—” Quinn, the poor thing, is still trying to get her footing back. “She hit me. I should have my father kill her!” she says to Sergei.
He only helps her up and glides them to the door but before he heads out, he mouths, sorry . I squint my eyes at that. I don’t have much interaction with Nikolai’s cousin. The only communication we have is him giving me curt nods in greeting. Never any words.
Sighing with exhaustion, I look to Viessa and say, “please help put my dress on.”
She gives me a weak smile. “Of course. ”
Noticing something is off with her, I ask, “do you want to talk about it?”
I didn’t like how Viessa froze at the sight of Quinn and how Quinn spoke about her. She may be painfully annoying, but the redhead escort is not frightening.
“No,” she says above a whisper.
No for now, but we will revisit this later.
***
The organ plays and the cathedral doors open, revealing the church being transformed into something between a dream and devotion.
It’s totally the opposite of what this marriage will be like.
There are fresh white petals blanketing the aisle like fresh fallen snow, they smell surprisingly sweet yet powdery.
At the end of each aisle, candle clusters line each side of the walkway.
And just like Viessa said, sunlight flows down from the skylights and the gothic window with intricate rose stonework from above.
Taking a beat to catch my breath, I move forward towards the sinfully beautiful Nikolai. He’s in an all-white tailored suit with his hair slicked back in a sleek manly ponytail. This shows off more of the small bold pattern tattoos on his temples and the snake tattoo that peeks above his collar.
I use him as my anchor to keep me walking, to distract me from the onlookers at today’s spectacle. It’s a long aisle, maybe sixty rows and as I look up, I notice there are people on the balcony too. It’s really thousands of people here.
Who are they and how big is the Bratva ?
Before I know it, I’m standing at the bottom of the altar steps, peering up at Nikolai. His smoky silver eyes hold mine, locking me in place and time stills.
Can we really do this? Can I really do this?
“And who gives this woman away?” the priest asks behind Nikolai.
“I do,” Vlad stands from the front row behind me. He steps in front of me, removing the veil. He bends down and whispers in my ear, “Gaining another daughter, especially one like you is a blessing.” He turns us both and walks us up the few steps to Nikolai. “Safeguard her with your life, son.”
Nikolai’s jaw clenches and he gives his father a curt nod.
We both turn to face the priest and he starts the ceremony.
I can see the priest’s lips moving but I can’t hear one word he’s saying. All I can comprehend is the somersaults my stomach is doing and the constant ringing in my ears. I close my eyes for a brief moment, then open them immediately when I feel Nikolai’s thumbs rubbing along my knuckles.
This is my first time truly seeing his hands. They were death themselves. One hand has a grinning skull, crowned by roses with smoke and shadows. The other hand has a symbol I couldn’t make out.
A secret language maybe?
I’ve been trained to learn all languages known and unknown to man, so this one intrigues me.
I glance up at him, but his focus is on the priest.
Stupidly, I look around the sanctuary, and my vision gets blurry and I start to feel a dizzying sensation. My breath hitches when I feel light tendrils slide from my calves, up my thighs, across my stomach and up my chest to my face until the tendril moves my face to meet Nikolai’s.
Eyes on me , he mouths. Always .
I do what he says but he doesn’t remove his shadows, keeping my line of sight from our guests obscured and solely on him.
Say I do , he mouths.
“I do,” I whisper.
“Nikolai, you may now kiss your bride.”
I try to take a step back, but his shadows keep me in place. He wraps one arm around my waist, pulling me into him. With his other hand, he tilts my head, our lips are a breath-length from touching.