Chapter Nine
Asher
While Sage leaves with Maeve and Eira, Donna snaps into full General mode, barking orders, pointing people in directions, assigning tasks like she's commanding a battalion.
She's efficient as hell. I've seen enough field operations to know excellence when I witness it.
In just over an hour, the garden is unrecognizable.
The vine arch where we'll stand is the centerpiece, bursting with early blooms that shouldn't exist this time of year. Sage did that. Well, we did that, technically. Nature answered her pleasure with a response of its own.
The grass has been cleared of fallen leaves, the damp patches covered with flower petals. Chairs from every part of the house have been dragged out. It's imperfect, but it works.
Christmas lights fished out of a storage box have been strung along the hedges and trees. The sky's overcast, so the glow already matters. They provide enough light to mark the path Sage will walk.
Kayden and I stand on either side of the arch.
He grumbled about the suit but got into one anyway. I pulled my uniform from the back of the closet. It felt right for this.
And now we wait.
A wedding. A marriage. I never thought I'd stand here again.
My first marriage is a distant memory now, an arrangement of expectations more than passion, but not without care. She died of illness, like so many did back then. It was before Culloden, before the world turned upside down and I stopped being human.
I never remarried. Never thought I could. What I am doesn't leave much room for that kind of life.
Back then, it was expected of me to marry, to carry the family name and tend to the estate while my younger brother ran wild. We lived opposite lives. Still do in some ways, even as we stand here, about to marry the same woman.
The druid waits across from us, calm and ready.
The guests are seated—Donna, Eira, Astrid, Tomas, Jace. Winston stands near the front, shoulders squared. He's the one who'll walk Sage down the aisle. When we asked, he didn't hesitate. And Sage agreed without question. Both seemed genuinely happy about it.
The door opens… and I forget how to breathe.
She's wearing a deep green dress threaded with red along the skirt, shimmering stripes sewn in by hand. Donna had the dress in her stash. The red came from repurposed decorations, and Tomas, the old-school soldier with all kinds of skills under his belt, stitched them in.
But it's the way she wears it that makes the moment stop.
Her hair is braided and woven like a crown. Her face is lightly done, subtle makeup that brings out every delicate, devastating feature. She looks like something out of a fairytale. A nymph dressed for ceremony.
She smiles, first at me, then at Kayden, then clings gently to Winston's arm.
They start down the aisle, following the path of glowing lights and fresh blooms. The chill in the air doesn't touch her. She looks radiant.
This was meant to be protection. A part of our strategy to shield her against Darius. But watching her come toward us, something tightens in my chest and refuses to release.
Because it doesn't feel like strategy. It feels like fate.
I glance at Kayden. He's completely focused on her, jaw tight. I know that look. Stricken. Wrecked in the way only something true can wreck you.
He feels it too. Probably even more than I do, because he lets his emotions bleed out while I keep mine reined in. Always have. But for him, this—her—it's a kind of lifeline.
He's been drifting for years. Maybe even before we were turned. The months since that blood-draining incident, he's been volatile, unstable, searching for something without admitting it to himself.
And now, standing here, I think he's found it. It's ironic that the very woman who lured him into a trap is the one anchoring him.
When Sage reaches the arch, Winston leans down and presses a warm kiss to her cheek before stepping back to join the others. He nods to us once and takes his seat.
Sage looks between me and Kayden, nervous energy flickering in her expression. She exhales, then smiles.
"I didn't expect this to look so… real."
"That's General Bright for you," I say. "Capable of staging a full wedding ceremony with few resources and no budget."
Donna beams at the praise and tosses off a crisp mock salute.
Sage blows her a kiss in return, and for a moment, the tension in the air shifts with warmth.
"Shall we begin?" Maeve asks calmly.
We nod.
Maeve steps forward, hands folded in front of her. The air seems to still, her presence both commanding and inviting.
"We gather," she begins, voice soft but carrying, "in witness of a bond born not only of necessity, but of choice. Two men—vampires—offering protection, loyalty, and something deeper. One woman—a nymph—choosing to stand between them, with them, for them. A union not common, but powerful."
She pauses, then lifts her hands. The earth responds.
Vines coil slowly around the base of the arch, twining up toward the blooms Sage brought to life. A wind rustles the petals.
Maeve continues. "This union is not bound by tradition or by law, but by intention. You three are stepping into a promise bound by nature, one that is not simple to break. Do you accept this union, knowing it may be tested, threatened, and remade through trial?"
"I do," Sage says first, steady and sure.
"I do," Kayden echoes, his voice rough around the edges, eyes still locked on her like nothing else in the world exists.
I draw in a breath. "I do," I say, calm and quiet. But I mean it.
Maeve gestures to us. "You may speak your vows."
Kayden goes first without prompting.
"I don't believe in perfect things," he says, his voice quieter than usual, but steadier than expected.
"Hell, I barely believe in anything. But I believe in you.
In this. I believe in what it could become if we let it.
So here's what I vow: I'll be your anchor when everything goes to hell.
Your fighter when things need burning down.
Your partner when the lights go out. I'll cherish you, protect you.
.. and yeah, probably irritate you. For as long as you'll have me. "
Sage's breath catches.
He looks away after that, like he had to bleed that vow out of himself.
Then Maeve turns to me.
"I've lived long enough to know that love doesn't always arrive wrapped in peace," I say.
"Sometimes it comes in fire. Sometimes it's a fight.
You challenge me, Sage. You unravel the walls I've built stone by stone.
And still, I want more. So here's my vow: I will not bind you, but I will stand with you.
I will not tame you, but I will trust you.
I offer my strength, my name, and what's left of my long life. It's yours."
She's silent, but glowing. Not metaphorically. The power in her blood hums in the air like sunlight pushing through stormclouds.
Maeve looks to Sage.
She draws a slow breath. Her lips tremble slightly, but her voice comes clear.
"I crashed into your lives like a storm that didn't know where to land.
I tried to leave more than once. Even when you welcomed me without asking for anything in return.
" She looks at both of us. "I didn't expect to find home here.
Not for my body. Not for my heart. But you—Kayden, Asher—you showed me a kind of care I didn't think I deserved.
Maybe I still don't. But I want this. I want you.
And I vow to be what you need me to be—your spark, your calm, your fire, your anchor.
I vow to stay. Even when it's not easy. Even when the world wants to tear us apart. "
Kayden's eyes are bright. I know the look. He's barely holding himself back. I feel it too, the instinct to reach for her, to claim this moment with more than words.
But we wait.
Maeve lifts her hands again. "Then by nature's witness, and the truths spoken here, let the bond be made—"
"Wait." Astrid's voice cuts in, firm but oddly uncertain.
We all turn to her, surprised.
She steps forward, slower than usual, her posture less sure. She holds out a small cloth bundle.
"I forged these… just now," she says. "They're rough. No gems or fancy work. Just pure metal bands. But the runes—" she clears her throat, glancing away, "they mean eternity."
Her voice falters. She hands the rings over to Sage and turns before we can see her expression.
"Thank you, Astrid," Sage says gently.
The valkyrie just waves it off and sinks into the furthest seat, head down.
Maeve nods once. "Then place your rings, as nature bears witness and binds you into unity."
She presses her palms together. Opens them again.
The wind stirs.
Sage looks between us, seeking agreement. Kayden tilts his head toward me and mutters, "Older brother."
She nods, lips twitching in a tiny smile, and slides the first ring on my finger. Her fingers are soft and sure. She turns and places the second ring on Kayden's.
Then he glances at me. "You met her first." I allow my brother to put his band on her.
When it's my turn, I place it gently on her finger. She's trembling slightly, looking at her hand mesmerized. Two rings for two husbands is an unusual sight.
A breeze moves through the archway. The vines shimmer. A few petals lift, spiral down like rain slowed in time. The light bends and glows faintly green with nature's silent reply. Something tightens in my chest, like a connection snapping into place.
It's done.
Maeve steps back.
"You are now husbands and wife," she says. "Bound by choice. Bound by nature. You may seal the vow."
Sage looks between us, that spark alive in her eyes.
She reaches for Kayden first. Their kiss is soft, then deepens, inevitable and sure.
Then she turns to me. Her eyes hold steady. Her lips touch mine. There's nothing strategic in the contact, just an answer—a full-body yes.
Around us, the others clap, cheer and celebrate. It's joy. Loud, real, and for a fleeting moment, unshadowed.
But I already feel the shift in the air.
The sun pierces through the clouds for a brief flash of gold before lowering again. Dusk is coming. And so is he.
But he won't take her from us.