“Don’t you know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?” I whisper as he stalls above me on his hands and knees. A smile curls on my lips, my heart racing a million miles an hour.
“I have to disagree,” he says, lowering his face to mine, his lips only a breath away. But he doesn’t kiss me. He hovers there, breathing the same air, letting our heartbeats sync into the same rhythm.
“And on what grounds do you claim to disagree?” I tease him, dying to lift my head just slightly and close the gap between our lips.
“Because I said so,” he says as he lowers his head, tracing his nose along the skin beneath my ear. “Come on.”
He doesn’t give explanations. His hands close around mine, and he hauls me out of bed. In a flash, we’re outside and across the grounds. “Jump!” he calls to me as we rapidly approach the river’s edge.
Gathering my immense strength, we take a flying leap. With a scream of laughter, hand in hand, I tuck my knees into my chest, and we cannonball into the waters of the Mississippi River.
I open my eyes under the water, clinging to Ian as our bodies magnetize. Buoyancy carries our bodies back to the surface and we emerge above water into the humid, hot air.
“It’s always an adventure with you, Ian Ward,” I say with a smile as I wrap my legs around his waist. His hands slide under my saturated shirt, caressing and supporting as he kicks to keep us above water.
“Wouldn’t want you to ever get bored of me,” he says as a mischievous smile crosses his lips.
His eyes study me, tracing down my neck, lingering over my chest. His fingers search my frame, his body reacting to our nearness.
“Just a few more hours,” he says in reverence, touching his forehead to mine.
“Are you ready for this?” I tease him, yet asking a true and serious question.
“I’ve been ready since the moment I first saw you, baby doll,” he chuckles in lust and hunger.
And I smile. He hasn’t called me that in so long. Since the first few weeks after we met.
“In just a few hours, you’re going to be my husband,” I say in awe as my fingers knot into his hair.
“A few more hours and you’ll be my wife,” he echoes, so much reverence in his words as his mood grows serious.
My eyes slide down to his as my heart swells. We’re wrapped up in each other, as close as we can get, yet it’s still not close enough for all the emotions that are coursing through me.
“I promise you three things, Liv,” he says as he once more touches his forehead to mine. “I promise to protect you, even though you’re perfectly capable of protecting yourself.” He slides one of his hands up my back, beneath my shirt. “I promise to always do my best to make you happy.” He rests that hand against the back of my neck. “And I promise to always love you.” So very gently, he closes the distance between us, pressing his lips to mine, sending a wave of sparks and bliss crashing through my blood. “Those are my promises.”
I tighten my grip on him, feeling the shore come to meet Ian’s feet. My eyes study his, so alight with truth and possibility. I press my lips to his. Gentle but firm. Promises of an immortal life.
“I love you,” I breathe into his lips. And my heart swells and races, so filled with the certainty of the words.
“I love you, too,” he whispers back.
“Aw, no!” a voice calls from the bank. Suddenly, we’re both being hauled out of the water, just as the dawn is breaking. Grabbing Ian from behind is Cameron and Lexington. Anna throws me over her shoulder.
“You know all that bad juju about seeing the bride? Can’t risk that now, can we?” Lexington bellows as they all haul us back to the House.
“Are you kidding me?” Ian says in disgust as Lexington throws him over his shoulder.
“This is serious stuff, bro,” Cameron says as we walk through the doors into the ballroom. “We told you to stay in Nial’s room like a good boy, and look who thinks he’s so sneaky he can get past a house full of immortal ninjas.”
“You both really should know better,” Anna chides me as we walk up the stairs and down the hall to my bedroom.
“You can’t keep us away from each other!” I hear Ian call from downstairs.
“Can’t deny true love!” I call back with a laugh as we walk through the door to my bedroom, and Anna closes it with finality behind us.
The banter continues to roll on downstairs. I laugh as I shake my head and Anna sets me back on my feet. But a blissful sigh escapes my chest, feeling as if everything is finally falling into place.
The sun crests over the trees, beautiful and dawning. I look over my shoulder to the window, left wide open, inviting in the light. It no longer causes me pain. I no longer have to hide from it.
I simply get to enjoy my very long, immortal life.
With my family.
“No time for daybreak swims,” Leigh says, walking into my room like she owns the place. “We have a million things to get accomplished before noon, so get your skinny, sopping wet, little ass into the shower.” She claps her hands loudly.
“Okay, okay, wedding drill master!” I laugh as I continue dripping water all over the floor and head for the bathroom. Leigh winks at me as I close the doors.
I am dried. I am primed. I am buffed and polished.
Leigh commands it all. The hired hands that do my hair. That apply my makeup. That do my nails.
Meanwhile, I hear the business outside as hired hands prepare everything on the grounds.
I hear Ian downstairs, getting ready. The other men of the house getting dressed.
It’s a flurry of activity, yet all I feel is calm. I feel excited.
For today, I get to marry my best friend. The most incredible man I know.
“Are you ready?” Anna asks, a hint of a smile on her ever-serious face. It’s so weird having her around all the time now, so relaxed. We’ve been on the edge of action for so long. It’s difficult to unwind now that the storm has passed. She’s even dating Luke out in the open, just like they’re any normal couple.
I smile, nodding.
It’s just the six of us girls who now live in the House. Me, Anna, Leigh, Trinity, May, and Elle. We all gather in my bedroom, a full-length mirror against one wall. I wait in a strapless bra and panties, holding my breath.
Trinity carries the box in, and the weight of all of this sinks into my heart.
Three weeks ago, Nial was cleaning out Lillian’s room at the Institute. Under her bed, he found a dress box.
And in it, was a wedding dress.
Trinity opens the lid to the box, and Elle carefully takes it out.
Simple, elegant fabric unfurls, stretching to the floor. She unzips it, and my ladies help me step into the gown. I step in front of the mirror as Elle zips me in, so many emotions rushing through my body.
A sweetheart neckline hugs my chest. The bodice hugs to my upper waist, the chest covered in simple lace and carefully placed pearls. The skirt drops down, hanging loose and flowing around my body. The fabric is faintly rose gold, so subtly not white, but also soft and warm.
It’s so simple, yet so elegant. The moment I tried it on weeks ago, I knew no other dress would be more perfect.
Lillian might not be by my side right now, zipping me in her beautiful, last creation, but she’s here with me in this small form.
A knock sounds on the door, our five-minute countdown.
Leigh lifts the crown of flowers atop my head as Trinity fastens the simple veil into my hair.
I stare at myself as everything comes together. So perfect. So breathtaking.
“You look beautiful,” Leigh says, scrunching her nose and kissing her lips at me.
“You’re perfect,” Elle says, offering a small smile.
“Ian’s a lucky man,” Anna says, shrugging her shoulders.
I smile at them all, my heart swelling with so much love.
“Go knock ‘em dead,” Trinity offers with a tiny smile on her lips.
/> Elle hands me a huge bouquet of flowers, and each of them turns for the table by the door, which contains their own bouquets. They all file out of the bedroom, dressed in their rose dresses.
On that same table lays a letter. From Raheem. It’s full of support and happiness, nothing but the unending belief in me that he always had. And well wishes for my future with Ian.
It was exactly the final goodbye that we both needed.
Footsteps continue down the stairs, and I hear so many voices stirring.
I take a deep breath, preparing myself. I close my eyes for a moment. Taking just a second to appreciate everything that has happened to get us to this point.
Death. Manipulation. Games. Distrust. Corruption. Prison. War.
So many ugly and bloody things. All leading up to something I couldn’t have even imagined.
“You are stunning.”
I open my eyes to see my father standing in the doorway, smiling. He seems so happy. So peaceful.
“Thank you,” I say quietly, just taking in a moment to look at him. He’s dressed in a pale gray suit. His hair is combed back, his beard neatly trimmed. A raven pin holds his tie in place.
We are a healed and united House. A House of Ravens.
“Are you ready?” he asks, holding his arm out for me.
I nod my head, even as my smile spreads on my face.
Together, we descend the stairs, rounding into the foyer. The entire house is decorated, opulent and perfect. Through the ballroom we walk, out onto the veranda.
And there, a beautiful archway assembled just before the tombs of so many we love, stands Ian.
His eyes watch me, so filled with love and excitement. His hands clasped together tightly, telling me how nervous, but how excited he is.
The smile on my face could cure all sadness in the world as Henry and I proceeded down across the lawn. No one sits in chairs, removed and apart. Everyone is a piece of this, and they stand in a small semi-circle around Ian. Rath. Anna, Trinity, Leigh, May, and Elle. Lula. Nial, Markov, Smith, Lexington, Danny, and Christian. And the only two humans who trust us enough to care about this moment: Sheriff Luke McCoy and Fred.
Cameron stands just behind Ian, looking so, so very proud, ready to burst at the great honor I asked him to perform.
“I guess we are all here,” Cameron says, smiling almost comically at how thrilled he is to be the one who’s doing this. “We’re all together, all the time. But this feels different. Doesn’t it?”
Everyone nods, watching as Cameron gets his chance to shine in the light.
“We’ve all come a long way lately,” Cameron continues, looking from Ian to me, all the friendship and support that’s always been there shining through in his eyes. When we had to consider who to ask to do this, I knew there really was no one else. Besides the man I’m about to marry, Cameron is my best friend.
“We’ve seen these two go through crazy transformations,” Cameron says, smiling. “Ian is no longer trying to kill us all.” Everyone laughs at that. “And Liv is a true queen, not just some human girl from some far away town. But we’re all here. Together. Because of these two.”
I look from Cameron to Ian, feeling as if there is no humanly way possible that I can hold all of these things I’m feeling inside of me. I’m going to crack, spill open, and overwhelm everyone.
But I’m not human. And somehow, I stay together.
“I think I speak for us all when I say we’re really happy the two of you finally got to this point,” Cameron says. “I think we all saw it coming.”
A few bodies give affirmative sounds, a few chuckles.
“It’s time,” Cameron says. “Liv and Ian would like to exchange vows.”
Ian nods, never once looking away from me. He pulls out a simple gold band, raising my hand up between the two of us. “Everyone here knows I’m stubborn and hard headed,” he begins, a lopsided smile pulling one side of his face. “I thought things were cut and dried, black and white. It took me a long time to see beauty in the gray. You once told me that we were a miracle, and it’s absolutely true, Liv.” His breath comes out as a reverent whisper. He holds my hand so tight, promising to never let me go.
“Thank you for giving me a second chance,” he says quietly. “Thank you for seeing past my flaws and my mistakes. I made you promises this morning, and I will keep them. I will love you for the rest of my unexpected, immortal life, Liv.”
I smile, my heart swelling, emotion biting the back of my eyes. Ian slides the ring onto my finger. The attention shifts to me, but I don’t see anyone else besides the man in front of me. I hold his simple gold wedding band and his hand.
“You were something I never could have even imagined,” I begin. I shake my head, unable to fully express the depth of my words. “This life is incredible, everything that we are. Everything we’ve been through. But you—all the complications, the good and the bad that we’ve gone through—we are so much more than I could have ever dreamed of. We are a miracle, Ian. Me and you.” I bite my lower lip as tears of joy pool in my eyes. “Forever. Death and the refiner’s fire weren’t enough to keep us apart, even when we were and are so different. We’ve been proven, despite odds and reality. That’s love. That’s you and me. Forever Ian and Liv.” I slide the ring onto his finger.
A floating moment passes, Ian’s eyes twinkling in the brilliant noon light. He squeezes my hands again, and it’s taking everything I have in me not to rush forward and take him in my arms.
“Ian, do you take Alivia to be your wife?” Cameron says.
“I do,” Ian says with a smile.
“Alivia, do you take Ian to be your husband?”
I didn’t think it was possible, but my smile grows. “I do,” I say with an enthusiastic nod.
“Then by the power invested in me, by some website, I pronounce you man and wife!”
He barely finishes the sentence before Ian rushes forward, his hands on my cheeks, his lips taking mine. My lips part, the breath flowing between the two of us until there is no existence outside of he and I.
Hands clap, voices hoot and holler. Words I don’t even hear.
I’m so happy.
Here in this impossibly simple moment I never thought would come. Joined forever to the one I was always meant to be with.
LIGHTS TWINKLE THROUGHOUT THE PROPERTY. The sun has set, the sky faded from a brilliant yellow and orange to a dark black with stars peppered throughout the infinite dark. Music floats through the air, happy and light.
The House members dance around me, laughing and talking. Easy and relaxed. May is humoring Cameron with some dance he’s trying to teach her. Trinity watches Cameron over Lexington’s shoulder. Anna and Luke seem to be in their own world.
I twirl as the last few beats of the song ripple through the night, Danny catching me and dropping me into a dramatic dip. I laugh, loud and full-bellied. Even he smiles, and Danny never smiles.
As he rights me, I see Henry crossing the dance floor, smiling at us. “May I steal my daughter for this one?”
Danny just nods and smiles before walking over to Leigh. The music changes to something slow. Taking Henry’s hand, I rest my other on his shoulder.
“I’ve never seen you so happy,” he observes as we look at one another.
“I’ve never felt this happy,” I say, shaking my head, relishing this moment.
“I wanted to apologize,” he says as I rest my head on his shoulder. “For being such a coward. For never stepping in sooner and becoming a part of your life.”
“You were just trying to protect me from Cyrus.” My thoughts grow more somber, thinking of a tiny baby that I only held in my arms for a few moments. A tiny daughter that I had to let have a chance at a better life.
“As you’re doing now,” Henry says, and the message is clear: he knows about my daughter. Which causes me fear. If Henry knows, there’s always a chance that someone else knows about her, as well.
“Tell me about you and Mom,” I say, c
hanging the subject because today is a day for celebration, not fear.
He doesn’t respond right away, and I hear his breathing deepen. It’s so difficult to place, to piece together the story of how my twenty-year-old mother spent a night with my serious and reclusive father who had to look so much older than her.
“There had been a party going on all night, down by the river,” he begins. “All of the summer college kids were back in town, working. I’d heard their light-hearted conversations, screams of humor all evening, carrying long into the dark of night.”
It’s hard to imagine. Yes, there are many college kids who have returned to their hometown for summer work, but still, no one goes out after dark. They still know the stories, still fear what has passed.
“I went for a walk,” Henry continues the tale. “The river trail has always been my favorite at night. I didn’t expect to find anyone else on it. But there she was. Marlane Ryan.”
Henry grows quiet for a long moment. Reflective. Thoughtful. “She was not like the other kids who were out partying. It was obvious she was fond of them, but it wasn’t her interest to stay up all night drinking. She’d gone to get some air. We started talking.”
It describes my mom so perfectly. Always friendly, always social. But she kept to herself at times. She needed her space to think. She wasn’t the raucous type to laugh loudly and be the center of attention.
“Your mother reminded me of someone else,” Henry says. But this time, there’s so much pain there, so much regret. “She was kind and smart, and had the most beautiful smile.”
“You had a wife once,” I conclude.
After a moment, my father nods. “We married just thirty years before I moved to America. Within a year, she conceived, carrying on the Royal Born blood. She gave birth to a son.”
The breath catches in my throat.
I had a half-brother once.
“The Conrath name was a deep, powerful one,” Henry continues. “Court had been trying to recruit one of us for years, but none of my uncles had any interest. They ruled Houses, they had no interest in joining Court where they’d just be another of Cyrus’ pawns.
“So for years, they tried to condition Nicklaus to join Court. When my son decided to Resurrect at the age of twenty, they really laid on the manipulation.” Henry’s voice grows hard, angry, bitter. “Eventually, Cyrus did not give my son a choice. Join, or he would kill Nicklaus’ mother.”