“This is so good,” she mumbled.
“So you keep telling me. I don’t suppose you plan to share any of that?”
“Absolutely not. It’s too yummy.” She grinned at him over her shoulder and then fed him a bite. “Actually, please eat some. I can’t believe I’ve finished most of this pint. I can’t remember ever being this hungry before.”
“You expelled an incredible amount of power today. Eat it. You need the calories. It’s good for you and the baby.” He returned to worshipping her neck. It had taken months for her to regain the weight she’d lost when she’d had cancer. He would love and want her at any size, but he was relieved to see her eating. It meant that despite their circumstances, she was healthy, happy, and strong.
“I’m just not sure it will be good for fitting into my wedding dress. Avery is going to flip her top when she finds out I’m pregnant.”
Gabriel laughed into her skin. “Are you sure you want to tell her?”
“Of course I do. She doesn’t need to know I’m having a dragon, but I have to tell her something. She’s my sister! What would she say if we showed up one day with a child in our arms?”
“You’re right. It’s better to tell her. Why are you worried about fitting into a dress? I was not aware you’d had time to pick one out yet.”
She shrugged and placed the empty ice-cream container on the coffee table. “I haven’t, but Avery has my measurements and she’s shopping for me.”
“You’re allowing your sister to choose your wedding dress for you?”
“Maybe. Avery cares more about it than I do.”
“The oreads could make you one if you’d like, in a style that would accommodate your changing figure. Juniper and Hazel would feel honored.”
She turned to face him. “Seriously? You don’t think it would be too much?”
He wiped a bit of ice cream from her bottom lip. “All I ask is that you only request their help if you are committed to the outcome. You won’t be able to hold them back if you do, and they would be destroyed if you did not wear their finished creation.”
“Never. Nothing I could buy would be as beautiful as what they would make for me. When we get home, I’ll ask them.”
He gave her a shallow smile. How he wished their wedding plans weren’t marred by his family’s drama. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap, tight against his chest. He pictured her in a traditional Paragonian wedding gown, peacock blue of course, a melding of the emerald stone that represented his family line and the blue of her eyes. She’d have looked lovely descending the aisle of the great hall. All of Paragon would have treated her as royalty.
Raven dropped the spoon into the mostly empty ice-cream container. “Maybe we should go back to New Orleans. I need to research this pregnancy, and I’ve put off telling my father about our engagement for far too long.”
“As soon as they realize Scoria is dead, my mother and Brynhoff will send another guardsman. Tobias can’t handle an attack on his own. He was never a fighter. If we go, we need to convince him to come with us.”
Raven scoffed. “He won’t leave as long as Sabrina is here.”
“No.” Gabriel shook his head. “He’ll wait for her for as long as it takes.”
“If her entire coven is as scary as she is, no wonder she suggested we leave. My skin wanted to peel itself off when she growled and bared her fangs. You should have seen her take Scoria down.”
“Hmm.” Gabriel frowned and stared at the freshly vacuumed carpet. “You and Tobias were lucky she was there this time, but based on the way she stormed off tonight, I wouldn’t rely on her again.”
“Do you think she’ll be capable of staying away? It’s clear she’s bound to him.”
He cleared his throat. “In Paragon, Vampires are prone to being… cold and calculating.”
“Undoubtedly Sabrina is both those things. But she certainly is protective of Tobias.”
“Still, I’m not sure about the nature of their relationship or if we can count on her protection long term. Until we’re sure he’s safe, I want to stay in Chicago. I know this is an important time for you. I am told planning a wedding is a great deal of work and should be a joyous occasion for us. Not to mention the baby.”
She pressed her lips against his. “It’s okay. I’m happy to be here for Tobias right now.”
“You wouldn’t rather be shopping with your sister?”
She laughed. “Er, no. I’d like to stay and strengthen the wards around this house. I can help keep us safe. Besides, to be honest, I know that human weddings are supposed to be über-important to girls and that people get all stressed out over wanting everything to be a certain way, but it’s not really my priority. I already have exactly what I want. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy. No ceremony or piece of paper is going to change that. Sure, I’d like to have a nice day to celebrate with friends and family, but I’m in no rush.”
“No?” He nuzzled her neck. “You’re not interested in making an honorable man out of me?”
She drew back and took his face in her hands. “You are the most honorable man I know. But if you’re referring to the human tradition of waiting for the honeymoon, I’ll remind you that married or not, you’ve already mated me. That’s for life, isn’t it?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. And life is a very long time with a dragon. Can you handle the commitment?” He swept his hand up the outside of her thigh.
Her eyes narrowed. “I think I’m up for the task. Why don’t you take me upstairs and see how much I can handle?”
His wings punched out of his shirt, and he swept her off the couch. Instantly, his body responded to her proposition and his mind narrowed in on her until there was nothing else in the entire universe but her. To him, she was the most precious being alive. She squealed as he rushed her into their room and locked the door behind them. In another breath, he’d stripped off her clothing and then his, leaving it in a pile on the floor. Gently, he spread her out on the bed, his lips trailing down the inside of her thigh.
Her fingers dug into his hair. “I love you, Gabriel, with everything that I am.”
He paused and looked up at her, his wings arching protectively over her naked body. She reached up and stroked her nails along the underside of those wings, sending tiny shivers down his spine. He needed to be inside her, to mark her as his and to hear her call his name. With a single flap of his wings, he hoisted himself over her and cradled her dark head in his hands. By the Mountain, her eyes were blue. Deep. Fathomless.
“I’m not sure love is a strong enough word for what I feel for you, Raven. My soul thirsts for you. Without you, I’d shrivel like an empty husk. Do you realize how thoroughly you own me?”
“My very own dragon.” She thrust herself up, and he tucked his wings as she rolled him onto his back. Her red lips lowered to his ear. “Let me ride you and see if you’re worth keeping.”
She lowered herself onto him then, connecting with him in the most intimate way. He arched under her, his blood hot in his veins. With a swivel of her hips, she sent him to heaven. No other thoughts clouded his brain as she began to move above him except the singular desire to give her more of what she needed. To be more for her.
And he showed her as much, time and time again.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Every box was packed, every plate, every trinket wrapped and tucked away. There was nothing left on the walls. All the furniture was gone. Sabrina was supposed to be staying with her father tonight. She would be staying with her father. There was no other choice now. Her place was sold, and staying with Tobias again—that was out of the question.
A glass of wine in her hand, Sabrina sat on the carpet in front of her sliding glass door, watching the Chicago skyline beyond her balcony. Part of her wanted to be excited. She was rising, taking on a powerful position that few of her gender had taken on. Add to that her status as a vampire-human hybrid, and Chicago needed her. She would ensure a kind and fair
vampire society. One that would coexist peacefully with humans.
And maybe, after several years of focused attention, if the coven was safe and she’d laid the groundwork for an orderly rule, she could pass on her duties to someone she trusted and return to the life she’d left behind. She’d find time to see the sun again, even if only for fleeting moments while the other vampires were still asleep. She’d sneak out if she had to. Bribe Paul if it was necessary.
And maybe, just maybe, she could find a way to safely see Tobias.
Draining the glass, she set it down beside her crossed ankles. Why was she procrastinating? She stared out over the city like some reject from a Hallmark movie. If she were honest with herself, she knew why. She’d felt it snap into place the moment she’d seen Tobias stretched out on the sidewalk. It was like all her internal organs had shifted to make room for her growing heart. It was a good thing Scoria had died the way he had, because she might have ripped him apart herself otherwise. Surely she would not have hesitated, even if it meant loss of life and limb.
Which could mean only one thing. She’d bonded with Tobias. Her vampire half had marked him as her own. What had he called it? His people called it mating. He’d asked her to be his before, and she’d told him yes, but it was only her human half speaking the word. She hadn’t fully given herself over heart, mind, and soul until she’d had to protect him. Leaping on Scoria had been her vampire half’s way of screaming mine. And now her heart might as well be wired to his for how empty she felt here without him, as if she’d left a piece of herself behind.
It was for the best.
A dark mist filtered onto her balcony and solidified into the form of her father. She motioned for him to come in and he did, unlocking the door and sliding it open with his mind.
“I thought I’d find you here,” he said, flashing her a warm smile. “Having trouble letting go?”
She patted the floor and he sat down beside her, a current of cool air following him into the room. Her father always smelled of sandalwood, spices, and leather, thanks to specially made cologne he’d been wearing for almost a hundred years. It reminded her of how ancient he was—hard to believe when the person sitting next to her looked no older than thirty-five.
“It’s a big change, and it came on quickly. I’m just trying to process everything.”
He leaned back on his elbows and crossed his legs at the ankles. “I was already master of our coven when I met your mother.” Sabrina glanced his way. His face was sober, nostalgic. “It was the early morning of 1939, and I was returning from an event at the Willowbrook ballroom. In those days we worked closely with human leaders. There were less of us then, and we didn’t have to be as careful. Those were different times. Simpler times. No cell phones. No instant cameras. People didn’t run to the police every time a vampire drank their blood and forgot to scrub their minds. They bought some garlic and moved on with their lives.” He shrugged.
“Things have changed a lot since then.”
“I met your mother in Resurrection Cemetery.”
“You’ve told me this story. She was raising the dead.”
He smiled. “I saw her talking to a grave. Your mother had red hair, just like yours, that deep, intense shade of red that reminded me of blood. Our eyes met, and it was like she could see into my soul. She knew I was a vampire. I didn’t have to tell her.”
“She was one of a kind.” Sabrina smiled at the thought of her mother hovering over a grave. It wasn’t her memory, but she could picture it clearly.
“Anyway, I was walking toward her when a woman in white raced past me toward the grave. I heard the squeal of tires behind me, her human date taking off, no doubt terrified. The ghost, whose name I would later learn was Mary, thanked your mother profusely before climbing atop her grave. Your mother waved a hand and she slipped inside again.”
“The humans still tell that ghost story, you know,” Sabrina said. “They call her Resurrection Mary.”
“Veronica wanted to give her one more chance to dance the night away. She died tragically, you understand. She couldn’t rest until your mother gave her that one final wish.”
“That was nice of Mom.”
“She was a good woman. Full of life. I loved her beyond measure.” He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “I still miss her.”
A thought crossed Sabrina’s mind and she furrowed her brow. “My mother was human. A necromancer, for sure, but a human necromancer. How did you get the coven to approve that? I thought it was forbidden.”
He scoffed. “By the goddess, if I had a dime for everything that was forbidden in the old laws, I’d be an even richer male. Yes, she was forbidden, and it made me want her more.”
She leaned forward, hugging her knees to her chest. “But what did you do? How did you keep the coven from killing her?”
“Oh, they tried. Well, one tried. His name was Seamus and he challenged me, accusing me of breaking the old law in front of the entire assembly.”
“What did you do?”
“I told them that Veronica was my consort and as master I was allowed to select my personal staff. It was none of his business that I was in love with her. That I’d bonded with her. I didn’t admit to that. Only to enlisting her as my human companion.”
“And that worked?”
He scoffed. “No. The bastard tried to have her killed, and I took off his head.”
“And that was it? No one else accused you?”
“You will find as master that if someone challenges you and you end them quickly and decisively, others are loath to follow in their footsteps. Violence is only the answer when you want them to never ask the question again.”
“So you’ve told me.” She smiled. “So, for Mom, you made your own law.”
“Yes. The same as I did when you were born. Oh, the rumors. There were some who feared you wouldn’t be immortal because you were born and grew up, but here you are, no longer aging.”
“There are still people who want to kill me.” She thought of Tristan.
“You know how to defend yourself. I’ve taught you everything I know.”
She laughed. “I’m afraid I am not as strong or as deadly as you, Father.”
He turned a serious look in her direction. “You underestimate yourself. When it matters, I know you will use all the resources available to you and you will do what is necessary. You will do what I would do.”
“I just hope I can live up to your legacy, Daddy. I sometimes feel I’m not cut out for this fate.”
He grunted deep in his throat. “Bullshit. Everything that has happened to you has prepared you to lead. You question yourself because you think you have to do it the same as me. Sabrina, you will do it your own way, and that will be the right way.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”
“Now, are you ready to come home with me? It’s almost daybreak.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to stay and watch the sunrise. It might be a while before I see another.”
He nodded. “What a wondrous thing, to be able to walk in the light.”
“It doesn’t suck.” She grinned as he strode onto the balcony and dematerialized.
She stared at the horizon until watery light bled across the floor, its warmth swallowing her balcony, then kissing her toes before it washed away the stars. The city lights succumbed one by one to the bright ball of rising gold. When the sun was fully risen, she dematerialized to the tunnels, ready to start her new life.
As always, Tobias embraced his work like an old friend, using his gift for healing others as a much-needed distraction. Sabrina wasn’t returning his calls or texts, her apartment was empty, and when he returned to the uptown bar where she’d saved his life, the one they called Boss Miller claimed he’d never heard of her and then offered him a free beer. She was gone. Disappeared into some underground labyrinth where he couldn’t follow.
“Doctor?” The nurse taking his
patient’s vitals nudged his elbow. “Joseph asked you a question.”
Tobias snapped out of his reverie and looked down at his young patient. How long had he been lost to this churning in his brain, this feeling like he’d never be whole again if he didn’t reconnect with Sabrina?
He cleared his throat. “Sorry, what was that?”
“Can I still play baseball this summer?”
He blinked rapidly. “Yes, Joseph. You’ll be fine by then as long as you make sure you take your medication and follow the diet we talked about. Your dad is going to help you with those things. As long as you’re not passing out anymore, you can do any of your regular activities.”
With all the good humor he could muster, he answered the rest of Joseph’s questions—his father’s too—before excusing himself from the room.
“Are you okay, Dr. Toby?” the nurse asked. She’d followed him into the hall, looking concerned. An older woman in her fifties, she worked part-time now and was probably filling in for Sabrina until the hospital could find a permanent replacement.
“Fine. Er… thank you. Another case on my mind.”
She nodded her understanding and went about her work, heading in the direction of the medication room. Thankfully, Tobias was done with his rounds. He quickly finished his documentation and headed for the door.
“Dr. Toby?” The nurse was back and she was pale. Extremely pale, like all the blood had rushed from her head.
“Yes? What’s wrong?”
“Tristan says he has a message for you.” She pushed the neck of her scrubs aside to reveal an ugly bite mark under her collarbone. The nurse wavered on her feet, and Tobias rushed forward to catch her in his arms. He helped her sit down behind the desk, checking her badge when he couldn’t remember her name.
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