Chapter 24
—AZANI
When I pictured my wedding day with Devyn, I didn’t imagine it like this.
She wasn’t in a dress, she didn’t have her bridesmaids, no flower arrangements, just us, the officiant, and everyone who signed the oath outside of my mom.
She was standing in for Asad and didn’t know anything about the blood oath, but today, she’d find out.
G stood off to the side, talking to Vivian as Devyn and I walked back into the hall.
Devyn’s grandfather, Reagan, stood on the wall by himself, watching G and Vivian.
Now I knew why he was so quiet when they called the meeting to tell Devyn.
He knew his wife still loved another man.
The looks on Devyn’s mom's and dad’s faces spoke a million words.
They were giving their daughter away to an uncertain life.
My mom, as sweet as she was, only knew pieces of the truth.
She knew there was a contract and understood the marriage was arranged, but she never understood the full weight of what would happen if it failed.
Being Asad’s wife gave her access to rooms, conversations, and secrets.
The problem was that she never looked past what was placed in front of her.
That was her weakness. Her never asking questions caused me to suffer throughout my childhood.
She just thought he was a father trying to raise his son, but it was deeper than that.
The officiant held the black box as he came down from the platform.
I gripped Devyn’s hand tighter, leading her to stand in front of him.
Everybody started gathering around, but all I could see was Devyn.
She laid her palm on my chest, smoothing out my suit jacket and smiling softly.
She was beautiful every day, but today especially.
Even with everything going on, I was making her my wife, and that meant everything to me.
Our eyes stayed locked on each other as the officiant started.
“The Blood Oath was signed on the day Devyn Van Blair, Heathrow heir, was born. Today, you do not stand before me as heirs. You do not stand before me as descendants. You stand before me as the living promise of an oath that will be fulfilled today.”
The officiant removed the blade, looking from me to Devyn.
“The blade bears witness. Blood remembers what paper forgets. And today, before the High Table, before Sector II, and before every ancestor whose choices brought us to this moment, you will bind your names and bloodlines together.”
He turned to Devyn first.
“Devyn Zuri Van Blair, heir to the Heathrow family, do you willingly join your life, your name, your future, and your bloodline to Azani Kairo Stone? Will you stand beside him in peace and war? Will you protect this oath, even when doing so costs you greatly?”
Devyn took a deep breath, holding my hands tighter and staring up at me. “I will,” she said softly.
“Azani Kairo Stone, heir to the Stone family,” he said. “Do you willingly join your life, your name, your future, and your bloodline to Devyn Zuri Van Blair? Will you honor her above pride? Protect her above power? And choose her, not only as your wife, but as your equal partner in all things?”
“I will,” I said proudly.
The officiant pulled the blade from the box, then looked between us. “Then, let blood bear witness.”
He passed the blade to me first. I nicked my thumb with it and watched the blood seep through my skin. Devyn turned her hand face up and placed it on top of mine. When I nicked her thumb, she winced a little, but she moved closer to me.
I passed the blade back to the officiant, then he guided our hands together. “From this day forward, no oath shall stand above this one. No legacy shall stand above it. What belongs to Stone now belongs to Heathrow. What belongs to Heathrow belongs to Stone. Two bloodlines, one future.”
Our parents and grandparents gathered around us as the officiant wrapped up the ceremony, but I could see nobody but Dev. She didn’t look scared when she looked back at me; she looked ready.
“By blood willingly given. By promises willingly kept. By the Table and Sector II, and the witness of those gathered here, I declare the oath fulfilled, union binding. I declare you husband and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Azani Kairo Stone.”
These niggas never said, “You may kiss your bride” in these ceremonies, but I was kissing mine. I pulled Devyn into my arms and kissed her like nobody was here but us. I hadn’t been able to touch her in over a week, and I wanted to get as much as I could before I had to leave again.
When I finally pulled away from her, she smiled at me, shy as hell when she really wasn’t. She was just acting like that because our family was around.
“I love you,” she said softly, touching my face.
“I love you, Mrs. Stone.”
Everybody stood around congratulating us. My mom was tucked close to my side, sniffling. Devyn stood between her mom and dad. They were damn near smothering my baby, but she was happy.
G walked toward me, smiling hard.
“Ibni… I’ve always been proud of you, but I’m especially proud today.” His eyes glossed over, and he pulled me into a tight hug, holding my head like he’d been doing all my life.
He kissed my head, then pulled back, wiping his eyes before any tears could fall.
The whole room fell silent, then my mom grabbed my hand and held it tight.
I turned my head to the left, and Asad stood there.
The smug smile on his face made me want to pull my gun and empty the clip on his bitch ass.
Then, this nigga started clapping. He still had a bandage around his hand from me stabbing him. His face wasn’t even healed, and he was in the same space, like I wouldn’t kill him.
“Please… not today, son. It’s your wedding day!” my mom cried, holding onto my hand tighter.
My eyes instantly went to Devyn. I could see her body trembling from where I stood.
I couldn’t understand why he was here. The oath was fulfilled.
There was nothing left for us to do but have a baby, and we didn’t have to do that until I was thirty-five.
I asked this nigga to stay the fuck away from me.
“Congrats, son and daughter-in-law. You two finally made it down the aisle,” Asad said, looking between Devyn and me.
My heart pounded from how bad I wanted to kill this nigga. “Asad, get the fuck out. This is your only fuckin’ warning. I will put you on your back in front of everybody in this room,” I said quietly.
Devyn moved so fast across the room that I didn’t have a chance to stop her. She walked right up to Asad, hands trembling, chest heaving up and down. I froze in place, watching her. Nobody else moved. It was like we held our breath, waiting to see what Devyn would do.
“You killed him,” she croaked. “You killed Syncere, and I lost my daughter. You killed Mariah, and you killed Zariah. Why?!” she snapped.
“Oh, Devyn, sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Unfortunately, they were the sacrifices we needed to make this day happen,” he said arrogantly.
“What is wrong with you, Asad? Why?” my mom cried beside me.
“Stop with the tears, Antionette. You don’t care about any of this shit anyway. All you do is twirl around in your rose garden all day, go to church, and shop,” he spat.
My mom stood beside me, trembling, clutching my hand.
“ENOUGH, ASAD!” G hollered, walking toward him. “Get the fuck out. You’ve done enough to these kids. They’ve suffered enough. You’re pushing your son. Antagonizing him in front of his wife on their wedding day. Do you have no shame?”
“No.” Asad laughed, smirking at me. “Why should I? Nobody cared when it was me losing. There was no one to comfort me. I was left alone to pick up the pieces and marry the woman you chose for me,” he snapped.
“You are a monster,” Devyn whispered. “You took so much from me. You took so much from Azani, and you have the audacity to sit here and smile about the hurt you caused. Go to Hell, Asad.”
She turned around and started walking, but Asad wasn’t done. “If I’m going to Hell, so is Azani. He was there, Pooh Bear.” He snickered.
Devyn stopped in her tracks and turned to him slowly, then looked at me. “Pooh Bear? What is he talking about, Azani?” Tears sat in her eyes, waiting for me to respond, but I didn’t have an answer for her.
“Asad, what the fuck are you talking about? Just get the fuck out before I do something to you,” I snapped.
“Oh, you don’t remember the strawberry cupcakes, son? That cold November night in DC? I called you, and you came. They were some good ass cupcakes, too.”
Then, it came to me. I did help him move a body, but it was already wrapped. I didn’t know who it was, and I didn’t care. And I remembered the strawberry cupcakes. My eyes moved to Devyn, and the look on her face said a thousand words, and none of them was what I wanted to hear or see.
“You were there, weren’t you?” she whispered.
“Dev, I didn’t know. Let me explain. He already—” She threw up her hand, silencing me, and took off toward the exit.
I followed her, and all I could hear was arguing behind me.
Devyn was moving so fast, I could barely keep up with her.
She placed her hand on the scanner and jumped on the elevator.
Before it could close, I slid inside, and she swung on me, slapping me across the face so hard that blood pooled in my mouth.
“You are a liar! You knew the whole time!” she screamed, snatching her promise ring off and throwing it at me.
“Devyn… please, baby, let me explain. It wasn’t that. I didn’t know.”
“Shut the fuck up! Stop talking to me!” she yelled, pacing back and forth.
When the elevator swung open, Vic was already in the lobby, breathing hard from taking the stairs. Dev took off running toward the exit, only stopping to lay her palm on the pad by the door. It wasn’t safe for her to be outside unguarded, and she didn’t know how bad shit really was.
When we made it outside, she paced back and forth, cursing under her breath.
“I married you… I loved you… And this is what you did. How could you? Why, Azani?” she cried, pointing at my face.
“We need to go back inside or get in the car and leave, Azani. Y’all can’t stand out here, man,” Vic said from behind me.
“Dev, baby, please get in the car. You can yell at me there, but please listen to me. Please!” I begged her.
“No! I’m not getting in the car with you. I’ll wait and leave. I’m going home… to my own fuckin’ house! It’s over. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to talk to you! This marriage is on paper, and that’s it!” she screamed.
“Dev,” Vic said, grabbing her arm gently. “Please get in the car. If you won’t listen to him, listen to me.”
“HA! Why would I listen to you? He hired you, so I don’t trust you either.” She snatched her arm away, just as everyone started coming outside.
We were sitting ducks, and she didn’t understand. Asad fell out the door, and Dev’s dad came out right behind him, slamming him to the ground. It was too much going on. Everybody was hollering and screaming, and I felt myself about to lose my cool.
I grabbed Devyn by her arms and shook her a little to get her attention. “Get in the car, Devyn. Now!” I growled.
She squirmed, fighting me the whole time. I didn’t want to hurt her. I tried my best to be patient, but her being uncooperative put us all in a vulnerable position.
“Get the fuck off me! Don’t touch me! I hate you,” she cried.
Time slowed down as I looked down at Devyn. Tears streaming down her face, streaking her makeup. Then I heard a pop, and that familiar burning sensation. Blood splattered all over her white pantsuit, and it wasn’t her blood; it was mine.
Two more shots, and more blood splattered on her. I felt like I was floating as her arms slipped from my hands. The ringing in my head was so loud that everything sounded muffled.
The last thing I saw was Devyn’s face above me, screaming my name. Then everything went dark.
TO BE CONTINUED…