Looking inside, Paige saw two double rows of ten pews inside the pretty white room. Stained glass windows were set high in the walls. Dancing specks of red, yellow, orange, and blue from the windows drifted over the red carpet from the lights outside. The pews were all white with red banners draped across their backs and sides. Before her a white carpet stretched to the small white and red pulpit in the center of the chapel.
Brian and Ronan settled into the pews at the front. Brian leaned back in his seat casually and stretched his legs before him. Ronan sat straight, his eyes traveled over everything within the building. A small giggle escaped Emma when the preacher, dressed in a shiny white, bejeweled tracksuit approached the small pulpit from behind a red curtain. His black hair had been combed into a pompadour that would have made Elvis himself proud. The enthusiastic shake of his hips he did, before he reached the pulpit caused Paige to laugh too.
“Ready?” Emma inquired in between her giggles.
“More than ready,” she replied.
Emma sobered up; she clasped her bouquet of daises before her as she stepped away and began to walk down the aisle. Paige didn’t know what she’d been expecting to play when she stepped through the doors, but the wedding march drifting through the speakers certainly hadn’t been it. Her gaze ran admiringly over Ian standing beside the pulpit as she walked. His blond hair glimmered in the light, the sports jacket he’d bought fit his broad shoulders perfectly. Her heart swelled with love; she’d never seen him look so handsome before. A radiant smile lit his face when he extended his hand to her.
Paige took hold of his hand and stepped up to the front of the aisle to join him. The sides of her chocolate hair had been half pulled away from her face in two braids that wrapped around to the back. The rest of her hair tumbled in curls around her shoulders, highlighting her creamy complexion and turquoise eyes. He never would have pictured himself getting married at a chapel in Vegas, but looking at her, he knew he would have gotten married anywhere in order to see the smile on her face.
He recited the words the Elvis impersonator told him to and slipped a white gold ring onto her finger. Paige recited the words next, as soon as she was done speaking, he eagerly pulled his new bride into his arms and kissed her forcefully. A joyous burst of laughter escaped her when he finally set her back on her feet, and everyone else in the chapel began to clap enthusiastically. He didn’t let her go as he led her back down the aisle to the tune of Fools Rush In.
Paige couldn’t stop smiling as she walked with Ian past the pews. She never could have guessed this is where her life would have taken her. She would have screamed a big no and fought to the death, if someone had told her this was where, and who, she would end up with four years ago. That this was what she would end up as. It had been a long, difficult, extraordinary journey, but she’d never been happier in her life.
Epilogue
Three months later,
Paige stared down at the beautiful, squirming, pink bundle in her arms. She couldn’t stop the goofy grin on her face while she played with the tiny fingers. Violet eyes stared up at her from under lowered lids. The tuft of black hair on her head stood up in a faux hawk that refused to be tamed.
“She’s beautiful, Issy,” Paige murmured as the baby’s tiny fingers wrapped around her index finger.
Issy smiled up at her from where she sat on the sofa. For someone who had just given birth last night, Isabelle appeared well rested, but Paige supposed her vampire DNA had helped her to heal and bounce back fairly quickly.
“She is,” Ian agreed. He slid his arms around Paige’s shoulders and wrapped one of his hands around the hand holding onto Paige’s finger. The small hand and part of the baby’s arm disappeared within his grasp.
“Thank you,” Isabelle glowed with love and vitality as she watched them.
“She takes after her mother.” Stefan settled onto the sofa beside his wife; he pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.
“Yes, she does,” Isabelle replied with a teasing grin.
“What did you name her?” Emma asked.
Isabelle and Stefan exchanged a look. “Hope,” Issy replied. “Her name is Hope Serendipity Corelli.”
Sera’s eyes filled with tears; she bent to press a kiss against Isabelle’s head. A stab of longing filled Paige as she watched the love exchanged between mother and daughter. She’d been welcomed here with open arms, but she still missed her mom, especially now.
“Thank you,” Sera said and rose away from her daughter.
“I love it,” Paige said and kissed Hope’s tiny nose. Reluctantly, she handed the tiny bundle back to Issy when she began to make unhappy whimpering sounds.
Beside her, Abby stared over Isabelle’s shoulder to look down at the baby. Paige kept hold of Ian’s hand as they sat and talked with the whole family for a few hours. It had taken some time, and she did still get Vicky and Abby confused once in a while, but she’d found her place here amongst the large, extremely loving family.
For the first time since her mother had died, she had a family, friends and siblings. All things she’d never believed she’d find in her life, and she’d found them amongst those she’d considered her mortal enemies at one point in her life. Life certainly was tricky and capricious, she realized as Hope was passed around the room again.
The sun had begun to set when she and Ian finally rose to their feet. They said their goodbyes before leaving Isabelle and Stefan’s house behind for their own. The tangy scent of the ocean air filled her nostrils; the salt of it fell upon her lips as they made their way toward the cliffs overlooking the ocean. A hundred yards away, and to her left, sat the small bungalow the two of them lived in.
The family had helped them to build it shortly after moving here. They could have gone bigger, but they’d both opted for the smaller, cozier home. There were only two bedrooms, but it was perfect for them, and the nicest home she’d had in years. She loved it, and if it became necessary, they could always add onto it over the years. Beside the house, Ian had built her a small art studio that overlooked the cliffs and ocean below. She spent many hours there rediscovering her love of drawing and painting.
Reaching the edge of the cliffs, she stopped to stare down at the water crashing against the shore. The white swells broke against the rocks, causing their spray to shoot high into the air. Inhaling deeply, she savored the crisp aroma of the sea before lifting her head to stare at the red and pinks streaks stretching across the sky. Ian wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest. Bending over her, he rested his chin on her shoulder and kissed her cheek.
“Should we have told them?” he whispered in her ear.
She smiled as she wrapped her hands around his arms and hugged them closer against her stomach. “Today is Issy, Stefan, and Hope’s day. We’ll tell them next week.”
He pressed his hands against her as he swayed with her to the flow of the waves washing in and out. Within her, she felt something stir toward him, instinctively seeking out the touch of its father.
“I can’t wait to meet him or her,” he murmured. He felt the life surge toward his touch, growing stronger every day. He hadn’t known he could love someone he’d never met before, but he already loved the unborn child within her belly.
“Neither can I.” Peace and love stole through her as she stared across the ocean and savored the strength and love of the man holding her, her husband, her mate.
Ian kept his hands pressed against Paige’s still flat belly. Soon it would be swelling with the life of his child. Never had he thought he could find such blessings, but he’d never been happier in his life, and he couldn’t wait to experience the many joys an eternity with her would bring him.
The End.
Turn the page to continue reading book 5, Undone.
Undone
Vampire Awakenings, Book 5
Chapter One
Brian dropped the sleeping bag on the counter and grabbed a magazine from the holder next
to the register. He ignored the disapproving look the old man behind the counter gave him as he flipped through a few pages of the National Enquirer.
He scanned an article about a sixty-year-old woman in Michigan who had given birth to her daughter’s twins. Interesting, he thought, before skimming through an article on an alien sighting in Dubois. The Men in Black would be all over that one.
“Is this it?” the cashier asked and gave a pointed look at the magazine in his hand.
Brian flashed his teeth at him, causing the man to blanch and look hastily away. His fangs may not be bared, but he was aware of his effect on both humans and vamps. Most were unsure how to take him, and that was the way he liked it. It tended to make both species stay away from him, and there was nothing he liked more than being alone. He’d come to realize it was the simplest way to be.
“That’s all of it,” he replied, and slipped the magazine back into the rack.
The man maneuvered the sleeping bag around until he found the tag. The price gun in his hand beeped at the same time Brian’s phone rang. The man’s bushy gray eyebrows shot up at the Fire and Rain ringtone.
“Can’t go wrong with James Taylor,” Brian told him as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He frowned at the unfamiliar number before silencing his phone and sliding it back into his jeans.
“Saw him in concert once,” the man said, and moved the sleeping bag aside. Apparently, a shared appreciation for Taylor was enough for the man to forgive him for not purchasing the magazine and engage him in conversation. “He puts on a good show.”
“He does,” Brian agreed as the man rang up the lantern he was also purchasing. “I’ve seen him a couple of times myself.”
His phone started to ring again. Pulling it out of his pocket, he glanced at the same unknown number before silencing it again and returning it to his pocket. If the person calling him wasn’t in his contacts, he didn’t want to talk to them, and if it was a telemarketer, he may hunt them down and kill them. Sometimes he much preferred the days before technology, no matter how convenient it was, it could also be a pain in the ass.
“Where are you planning to camp?” the old man asked.
Before Brian could answer, his phone rang again. He gritted his teeth when he saw the same number and sent it straight to voicemail. Hopefully, they’d finally get the point that he wasn’t going to answer. “Going to do some hiking,” he replied, “maybe climb Mount Washington.”
“Nice trip, you’ll need more supplies than this.”
A human would; he didn’t. “Got ‘em in the back of the truck,” he lied, and pointed at the pickup across the street.
The man hit the total button on the register as Brian’s phone went off yet again. He didn’t bother to look at it before hitting the silence button and handing the man some cash.
“Have a good trip,” the man said as Brian gathered his supplies.
“Thanks.”
He strode out the door and was halfway to his truck when his phone rang once more. He hit the straight to voicemail button as he tossed the sleeping bag into the back of the pickup next to his small bag of clothes. It had been years since he’d gotten a chance to do some camping. Not since his cabin in the Cascade Mountains had received an unplanned remodel five years ago, when he’d allowed his acquaintance, Ian Byrne, to use it as a hideout with his now wife, Paige.
He hadn’t bothered to return to the cabin afterward and he never would now that other vampires had discovered its location. The vamps who had attacked Ian and Paige may be dead, but he hadn’t survived nearly two hundred years by making stupid decisions. He was well aware there were many vampires out there who would prefer him dead and would love to feast on his power.
His cabin had been lost to him years ago, but that didn’t mean he didn’t miss the wilderness. Now, he planned to lose himself in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a month or more. He glanced at his pocket in annoyance when his phone went off again. Pulling it out, he hit the green button as he flung the door of the black pickup open and slid inside.
“If someone’s not dying, you will be. Who is this?”
“As rude as ever, I see!” a woman snapped back at him.
Brian’s brows drew together as he tried to place the voice, but for the life of him he couldn’t put a name to it. “Honey, I don’t know who you are, so I don’t think you can judge me. Plus, you’re the one who has been calling me, nonstop. Now, since you don’t seem to like me, and I’m not in the mood for belligerent females, I really don’t see the point of this conversation.”
“Maybe you don’t remember me, but you know who I am, Brian Foley.”
He’d been about to hang up and toss his phone out the window, but those words and something about the woman’s voice intrigued him enough to stay his hand. Turning the key in the ignition, he started the truck. “I know I didn’t knock you up.”
“Gross. No, I have standards,” the woman grumbled.
“This has been a pleasant conversation, and as much as I’d like to continue being insulted, I think I’ve had enough fun. Don’t call me again.”
“Wait!” Abby cried, terrified he would hang up on her and she would lose her chance at getting him to help her.
The frantic tone of the woman’s voice halted him before he could toss the phone out his window. Something in his chest constricted as the frightened pitch of her voice called to him in an odd way.
With a sigh, he lifted the phone back to his ear. “Why?”
“I… I need your help,” she blurted.
“I don’t know who you are, and you clearly don’t think much of me, so why would I help you?” he demanded.
“We met once before, about six years ago. My name is Abigail Byrne. I go by Abby.”
Brian’s hand squeezed around the phone, another Byrne. The Byrnes seemed to be everywhere, but then they were the largest vampire family he knew of in existence. He tried to recall this Abby, but the memory of which one she was in that clan eluded him.
“It was a brief meeting,” she said, as if sensing his thoughts, “in a hotel room.”
Realization hit with the force of a hammer between his eyes. “You’re one of the twins.”
“I am.”
He dimly recalled seeing her in the hotel room where she’d nearly been slaughtered by vampires who had been hunting him. The twins had been merely children then. Children he’d barely paid attention to, but he did recall their pale hair and emerald green eyes. One of them had also possessed a brighter soul than the other, a soul that had shone through her fear while in that room. Listening to her now, he had a feeling Abby was the one who possessed that soul.
“Why are you calling me?” he asked.
He heard the rustling of her hair as she ran her fingers through it. The sound of her hair brushing against the phone caused his hand to tighten around it more. He didn’t know what it was about this girl, but he found himself hanging onto every move and sound she made.
Pacing back and forth, Abby pondered his question as she debated how much to reveal to him, but she doubted withholding information would persuade him to help her. “My sister, Vicky, is missing.”
That was the main reason she’d called him, but Abby couldn’t deny she’d always known that one day she would reach out to him. It had been inevitable. Still, if it hadn’t been for Vicky, that day would have been far in the future.
“And?” Brian prodded.
“And I need help finding her.” Desperately, but she didn’t say that.
“Your family could almost rival the Duggar’s. I’m sure one of them can help you find her.”
“They can’t know about this!” she gushed out. “My parents would freak out, and they have my younger siblings to take care of. Ethan and Emma are expecting their first child, Ian and Paige are busy chasing their two boys, and Stefan and Isabelle just had a son.”
He was aware of that. They may not send Christmas cards or talk on a monthly basis, but Stefan had started calling him eve
ry once in a while after he’d helped Ian and Paige find Paige’s father. The conversations were often stilted and short, but Brian couldn’t deny he liked seeing Stefan’s name show up on his phone.
The friendship they’d once had was no more, and never would be again, but Stefan was the one who had known him best over the many years of his life. Fate had caused them to make different choices over the years, and they had gone their separate ways. Stefan was now married with two children, and he was still a mercenary who made his way through the world bringing death to those vampires deserving it.
He was glad Stefan had found so much happiness. He could never have that kind of happiness in his life and wouldn’t waste his time looking for it. Any hope he’d had of a happy life had ended on the day his family was slaughtered and he’d been turned into one of the undead.
Every once in a while, Ian also picked up the phone to say hi to him, and he’d even spoken with Ethan once, but the one he spoke with the most out of the Byrne family was Aiden. The two of them had seen each other often over the past couple of months while Aiden was in training to work with Ronan’s men. He liked the kid and would have helped more with his training, but he’d decided it was time for a vacation where no one could bother him. He’d been feeling burnt-out lately.
He should have known a Byrne would try to screw up his escape from it all.
“What about Aiden? Why can’t he help you?” he inquired.
Abby emitted a disgruntled sound. “I tried calling him, but ever since he went to the training facility, he hasn’t had his cell phone.”
“They take it away,” Brian said. “No outside distractions once you’re in the training compound.”
“I’m aware of that!” she shot back. “But when I tried calling to speak with him there, I was told, and I quote, ‘Aiden doesn’t have time for any ho’s.’ I didn’t even get a chance to tell the guy I was Aiden’s sister before he hung up on me.”
The Vampire Awakenings Bundle: Books 1-5 Page 114