Blood Wyne stood, looking quite bored. “So, it is sealed. Nerissa, you and my son Roman are blood kin, and this makes you my own blood kin. Should either of you dishonor your vows, the other may claim life as payment, or any other reparations such as you see fit.” She glanced over at me and a slow smile crossed her face. “Your wedding will be tomorrow night. Menolly, Nerissa, you may bring your family to witness. Nerissa, you will be the only nonvampire ever allowed into this sacred and honored fraternity. Do not fail us.”
Nerissa shivered. “I promise you my honor, Your Majesty.”
“Then I will take my leave. Be here shortly after sunset tomorrow night. Roman will tell you what to wear. Prepare for a crowd.” And then—like a ghost—she vanished.
After Blood Wyne was gone, Roman and Nerissa turned to me. They were still touching, and the looks on their faces told me they wanted to go on touching. I removed my gown, laying it across the sofa. I wasn’t about to step out of the room now.
Nerissa’s lips crooked into a smile; she reached out her hand and I took it as she drew me between them. I closed my eyes as Roman pressed against me, his lips on my neck, as his left hand reached around to trail over Nerissa’s breast. She gasped, entwining one foot around my leg next to her. The silky smoothness of her skin felt like heaven against my own, and I closed my eyes as her breasts pressed against me.
Roman’s arm brushed my nipples, and I reached down to wrap my fingers around his cock. He let out a small sound, and then we were on the floor. One body, one motion, a rhythm of arms and legs and hands. Everywhere I turned, there was skin. I pressed my lips to Nerissa’s as she rolled over on top of me, straddling me. I closed my eyes as she moaned into my mouth. The next moment, she shimmied down till her lips were on my clit. She tongued me, swirling around my sex, sucking and nibbling until I let out a sharp cry, my eyes opening wide.
Roman appeared, kneeling in back of her. And then his hands were on her hips, and she let out a long cry as he began fucking her. The sight of him pounding into my wife drove me even higher, and I let out another cry. Nerissa slid three fingers inside me, driving them hard, probing me.
Just then, Roman pulled away, a soft smile on his face. Nerissa and I turned to him and I worried that—once again—he was feeling pushed to the side.
But he just shook his head. “I enjoy both of you, and Nerissa, you are lovely . . . so lovely. But I am content to experience Menolly when we need to ease out the hunger. I just want to watch now, if you would be all right with that.”
And right then, I saw that this was his way of showing her that he would keep to his word and bow out of trying to become part of our relationship instead of an auxiliary part of my life. I think Nerissa saw it, too, because she gently disengaged from me.
“I think . . . I was going to suggest we go out for coffee—all three of us, but then I remembered you two can’t drink coffee.” She laughed, her throaty voice rich and full. She pushed herself to her feet and reached up to kiss Roman’s cheek. “Do you like movies, my . . . brother?” And that one word shifted their relationship and the tension in the room drained away.
Roman stared at her like she’d just asked him if he could grow a second head. But then he laughed. “I haven’t watched television or a movie in years, but if you like, we can do that.” As Nerissa reached for her dress, he stopped her. “I suggest you take a quick wash-off first. You have blood on your chin and some of it has dribbled down to your body. I imagine you wouldn’t want to get your dress dirty?”
She laughed. “That would be wonderful. Do you have a restroom near?”
While vamps didn’t need to use toilets, we did—indeed—shower. But most vampires kept full bathrooms for their human visitors.
Roman pointed to a side door off the office. “Right there. There’s also a mirror, for my human stable members. Use whatever you need as far as towels and soaps. You will find a selection.”
As she took her dress and disappeared into the restroom, both Roman and I began to dress.
Roman crossed to his desk and then, pausing, turned back around. “I will keep my promise to her, you know. I will honor my word, and my mother will honor hers. Should you have any doubts.”
I held his gaze. Roman was many things. He wasn’t a good man; he wasn’t nice, per se. But he was a man of honor, that much I knew. Vampire or not, he would back up his word and keep his oaths.
“I don’t doubt you.” I paused, not sure it was my place to say anything, but then again, I was going to be his wife soon enough. “Your sister Paulette . . .”
“I have been telling Mother for years we need to free her. To let her go. I think . . . I told you my mother turned all of us shortly after she became a vampire. I think the deed weighs on her mind. She took our lives once. Paulette was terrified. I remember that, as much as I’ve forgotten so many things through the centuries. I remember Paulette screaming as Mother came after her, trying to beat her off. Paulette kept saying, ‘Where is my mother? You can’t be my mother. Mother would protect me!’ But . . . so fresh from turning, my mother wasn’t fully in control of herself. She fell on Paulette and held her down, forcing her blood down Paulette’s throat right before my sister died. I believe that is quite possibly my mother’s biggest, greatest regret. Paulette adored her.”
I quietly settled myself on the sofa. How horrible it would have been if my father had done the same to us. Or my mother. At least with Dredge, it had been a stranger, a monster come out of the dark after me. Not someone I loved or respected.
“You need to convince her to stake Paulette. It will free her soul to move on. I know. I saw Sassy after I staked her. She was walking arm in arm with her friend Janet, and with her daughter who had died so many years before. Sassy was happy to be free. Please, if there’s anything I can do, let me know.” I wasn’t sure why, out of everything we had heard that evening, Paulette’s story hit the hardest, but it did.
Roman nodded. “I will do my best.” At that moment, Nerissa returned, fresh and clean in her beautiful gown again.
“So . . . tomorrow night we get married. As I told your mother, it will be difficult to move in before Shadow Wing is taken care of.” I picked up my purse and shawl. “I’m afraid we don’t have time to stay for that movie, but there will be plenty of time in the future.” It was time to go home and tell the others. I wasn’t looking forward to their reaction, but then again, it was no different than Camille’s duty to the Fae sovereign nation.
Roman shrugged. “No matter. But listen, I will choose a suite for you and, during the time before you move in, we can redecorate to whatever you like. You and Nerissa shall have the apartment of your dreams. Let that be my wedding present to you both.”
Nerissa grinned. “Talk to me, then. I’m the designer in this marriage. By the way, I hope you don’t expect me to quit my job.”
He shook his head. “We are not so old-fashioned as that. Nor Menolly, either. No, unless you choose to quit—and you both have the option—you may do as you like professionally as long as you don’t take up vampire slaying.” He said the last so matter-of-factly that it took a moment before we realized he was joking.
That broke the tension for the evening. Laughing, we headed to the door. Elthea was waiting to show us to the front door, and as we drove away, I thought about how much change could happen in the space of one single evening.
Nerissa sat quietly for a moment, then said, “So, we’re to be princesses? That sounds ludicrous to me, but I know it’s a serious matter. But I always think Disney when I hear the word, and now all I can think of is Vampire Cinderella, or some such mash-up.”
I snorted. “No Cinderella, please. She was a drudge.” But then I sobered. “You’re right in that this is a serious matter. The Vampire Nation is a large and old institution, and this is going to have a ripple-through effect all the way around. No matter how you look at it, Blood Wyne is defying tradition
. Not by having Roman marry me, per se, but by including you.”
“Oh, I think the fact that you staked Dredge will also play into the matter. She was correct when she said some old-school vamps aren’t going to be too thrilled about this. But unless they want to lead a rebellion, there won’t be anything they can do about it.” She settled back in her seat, staring out the window.
“Don’t ever forget, Caleb is out there and until he is found and staked, he might very well try such a thing. He hates everything his mother stands for and wants a dark rule in a world run on fear.” I pressed my lips together as I skirted a slow-moving car and zipped through the late-night streets. It was nearing midnight now, and I was concerned about what might be happening at home. Suddenly not wanting to talk about tonight anymore—not till the realization of what we were doing settled—I cleared my throat.
“So, what do you think about the whole Vanzir-Aeval situation?”
Nerissa caught my mood. She snickered. “Vanzir’s going to be a daddy. That just seems so bizarre to me that I can’t imagine what the hell their kid’s going to be like. Confused, for one thing. But . . .” She paused. “Camille will have to move a lot quicker than if she were going at Samhain, like originally planned.”
I winced. “I know, and one simply does not say no to one’s goddess.” I stared into the night, watching the houses flicker past. Some had lights, others were dark. Seattle was a city of late-night techies, yet it wasn’t that much of a party town after dark. It was a beautiful place, though, and my sisters and I had fully adopted it as our home. Now everything was shifting. With a pang, I realized this whole thing with Roman meant I wouldn’t be moving back to Otherworld. Which was precisely enough to make me long to do so.
As I pulled into the driveway and cut the motor, Nerissa turned to me.
“Well, here we are. I guess it’s time we go in and drop the bombshell on them.”
I laughed. “Well, I suppose there are worse things than hearing that your sister and her wife are about to become members of the nobility. Okay, let’s go deliver yet another buttload of news guaranteed to make their jaws drop.”
And so, we headed inside, dressed to kill and with news that would . . . probably not thrill.
Chapter 12
Our news went over like a lead balloon. But there had been so many lead balloons lately that this was just one more on the pile of sinking slag.
“You have got to be kidding.” Delilah looked horrified. “What guarantee do you have that Roman and his mother aren’t out to get rid of Nerissa from your life?”
Nerissa dropped into the nearest vacant chair. “Because I made him swear blood allegiance with me and that gives me the right to kill him if he tries.” She went on to explain—in a much more sanitized version—about them becoming blood-oath kin. I kept my mouth shut. She was doing a better job than I would have of making it sound like the necessary thing to do.
“Think about it,” she added. “The vampires will be on our side. The Supes and vamps united means a lot more force to counter the groups like the Earthborn Brethren and Freedom’s Angels. Divided, we are only so strong. But if we put up a united front, and if we work with the groups like the United Worlds Church, we can drive the hate groups out of town. I’m a great liaison between the vampire world and the Supe world, given that I’m married to a vampire, but being married to the Prince of Vampires? Together, Menolly and I will have so much power.”
“True. Being married to the son of the vampire queen would be a coup, even though you aren’t in line for the throne. Because you’re married to the woman who will be in line to become vampire queen.” Camille nodded thoughtfully. “It might work, at that. And, you have to admit, if you’re married to Roman, you’re a lot safer from the vampires who might be out to get Menolly. Wearing a crown invites assassination attempts from the outsiders, but if I know anything about vampire culture, once you’re both actually married to him, it should shut down the whining about Menolly being his consort.”
“Yeah.” Roz smirked. “They’ll be too damned afraid to bitch.”
“Point.” I edged my way onto the arm of the chair, draping an arm around Nerissa’s shoulders. “Vampires don’t work on a reward basis as much as other creatures. Fear and respect are much more effective than coaxing them to play nice.”
But all that didn’t matter. The fact was, we had agreed to do it, and I really didn’t have that much of a choice. Blood Wyne was the Queen. I was a vampire, even though I was half-Fae, and as long as I lived Earthside, I would have to listen to her if I expected to be part of the Vampire Nation. Being on the outside? Not the best option.
Smoky unexpectedly took my side. “She and Nerissa make valid points. Consider this: Camille, did you consult all of us before agreeing to take the throne of Dusk and Twilight?”
She shook her head. “True that. What the Moon Mother asks of me, I have to do, regardless of what anybody else thinks.”
“And Delilah, you are following the path set out for you by the Autumn Lord. Do we have a right to stop you from that?” Smoky turned his impassive gaze to Kitten, who gave him a tight shake of the head.
“I get your point. I get it. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She let out a long sigh. “I just . . . I don’t know why it bothers me. It’s not like I have a premonition and I really do like Roman. At first I thought he might be up to something, but he’s come through more than once. It’s just . . . so much is changing, so fast.” She sounded a little lost.
And then I knew. I knew why she was upset. “I know why it bothers you, Kitten. We’re all beginning to go our separate ways. Camille will be moving out to Talamh Lonrach Oll next month. Nerissa and I will be moving in with Roman. After all these years, we’ll be leading separate lives.”
Delilah pressed her lips together, but a tear began to trickle down from one eye. Shade caught sight of it, and he gently wrapped her in his arms and kissed her forehead.
Camille slipped over to kneel at Delilah’s feet. She reached up and took Kitten’s hands. “I know this is frightening. I guess . . . we never thought about this day coming. We never thought about when we’d be . . . truly grown up, I guess.” Hanging her head, she murmured, “I’m nervous, too. And I wish we could all just live here together, forever. But I don’t think the Hags of Fate have that in store for us, you know? I think we’re all bound for bigger things.”
Delilah sniffled, and Nerissa handed her a box of tissues.
“But who’s going to live here? This is our home. We can’t just all wander off and leave it.” Delilah glanced around. “So much has happened here.”
“So much will continue to happen here. You and Shade can stay here, as long as the Autumn Lord doesn’t mind. Iris and Bruce will still be living here. Rozurial—you’ll be around, right?” I gave him a look that basically said, Say yes even if you don’t mean it.
“Of course I will. I don’t plan on going anywhere. And with Vanzir out at Talamh Lonrach Oll, being busy being a daddy, I’m going to need someone to pal around with.” Roz shot me a wink.
Kitten let out another soft sigh and wiped her eyes. “I guess I’m just trying to take in everything that’s happened over the past months. When Elqaneve fell, it feels like the entire world went to hell.” She paused, then said, “At least we took care of Telazhar. I’m grateful for that. And even if things change, we’ll all still be Earthside. I miss being home, but I guess . . . I guess this has become our home, hasn’t it?”
Camille kissed Delilah’s hand and then returned to where she had been cuddling with Morio. “I think we have truly become Windwalkers, in a positive sense. We have two homes. We’ll always be torn between the two. Earthside and Otherworld both gave us our roots. But isn’t that better than having only one place where you feel at home? Like having an extended family, kind of.”
The doorbell rang, saving us from any more arguing about Nerissa
’s and my impending nuptials. I was closest, so I answered. It was a driver, and I caught a glimpse of a limousine out in the driveway.
“Yes?”
“Lord Roman sent me.” He handed me a vellum envelope. “I’ll be waiting at the car.”
Curious, I turned the envelope over. Sure enough, it was sealed with wax and Roman’s signature impression. I opened the letter and withdrew a stiff card, and the next moment burst into laughter. Hurrying back to the others, I poked Nerissa in the arm.
“Get up. We need to change clothes, and then we’re off on a shopping trip.”
She cocked her head. “What are you talking about?”
“Roman just sent us a note, and there’s a limo and driver out front. We—and Camille and Delilah—are to head down to Down the Aisle boutique, where he’s arranged for it to open specifically for us. We’re all to pick out suitable gowns, because we need wedding dresses suitable for a court wedding, and he indicates that he assumes Delilah and Camille will be our bridesmaids. He notes they should wear black, and we’re to wear red.” I handed her the note card.
Nerissa snorted. “He assumes a lot, but what the hell. He’s paying for the dresses, so we might as well take advantage of it. Besides, I have a feeling that—because this is a political marriage, in a way—we don’t have a lot of say in the décor. Which is fine with me. It makes our own wedding that much more special.” She wrinkled her nose. “Let’s go.”
Camille and Delilah glanced at each other, then shrugged.
“A new dress is a new dress, but they’d better not have poufy sleeves.” Camille laughed. “You two change. Come on, Kitten. Let’s grab our jackets and head out.”
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Morio stood. “We can go along.”