by Ana Calin
“It’s hopeless.”
“It’s fuel.”
My grip hardened on her shoulders. “Leona, even if he ever requited, a relationship between the two of you is impossible, if only for his status.”
“I don’t intend to pursue a relationship, I’m not stupid. But what I feel keeps me motivated to do the right thing. Dedicate my life to the right cause.”
“The monastery is the right cause for you?”
“It’s not just any monastery. It’s a facility where I can see to the education of gypsy wretches, like myself. The Order will provide the funds, and I’ll do the work they see fit that I do. Plus, I’m a liability to them. I know about Upgrades, and I know Giant’s identity. It’s understandable that he can’t risk me running around freely.”
“Understandable? Where did the Stockholm syndrome come from?”
“Guilt, I guess.”
“Don’t take it lightly, Leona. From what Damian told me, the Order’s monastery isn’t far from a prison. Plus, it means never being with a man again. And that’s—”
“Quite a punishment.” She laughed bitterly. “I’ve been a slave to lust for so long, it’ll be a challenge.”
“Stay here with me and Damian until we come up with a better solution. We’ll find a way to convince the Viscount.”
“As a newly married couple you and Damian will have better things to do than sort me out.” She managed a wink. “Plus, Damian and Giant aren’t enemies, but they aren’t friends either. They only met a couple of times, and they’re both alpha males. Theirs isn’t the best communication, and, frankly, I don’t think they’ll come to like each other anytime soon.”
Well, under the circumstances I didn’t like Giant much either, even though I didn’t know much about him. Damian had let me in on some of the Order’s ways and secrets in the last month, and he’d told me that the Viscount also kept a monastery, a place for humans initiated in the matters of the Order, but that was about it.
The door opened, and Dad appeared in the frame wearing his brand-new suit. He still officially resented the idea of Damian and me becoming husband and wife, but he’d gotten half used to it this past month.
It wasn’t like he could actually do anything about it, so he’d resolved to at least play nice, thank God. In secret, I thought he’d gotten over the shock and pain, and I hoped he’d come to love Damian like a son again. As for Mom, she was as ecstatic as me.
“It’s time, Alice,” he said.
Leona smiled and handed me the bouquet from the vanity table. “Let’s talk later. Now focus on making this the wedding you’ve always dreamed of. I’ll be right behind you every step of the way.”
“Just like you’ve always been,” I whispered, dabbing away the tears from the corners of my eyes with my fingertips. Unlike Leona, I wore a ton of make-up, even though this time it was to cover my unnatural turning looks, and not to hide imperfections. I knew I’d come to miss the flour-like foundation and wiry hair of my younger and more human self, especially because they were so tightly interlaced with memories of Leona.
It was a cloudy day at the beach, thunderclouds gathering across the evening June sky. Damian and I welcomed the weather because it helped avoid prying eyes apart from those we wanted there. Family consisted of an emotional Mom, a grumpy Dad, giggly aunts and cousins, as well as Damian’s beaming mother and younger brother whom I’d met a week before.
Among the present friends, we counted Gino and other Upgrades, as well as Damian’s group from the campus and some fellow students, who stood clustered in front of the pier. To my delight, George had come, too, but kept away from Leona. Everyone tailed after us as Dad walked me towards the far end of the pier.
Sand whipped my face, but the wind’s touch felt soothing, pleasant. I was sure I looked like a ghost flapping white in the breeze that filled me with such energy that I couldn’t imagine anything else this perfect for my wedding.
The priest looked stern at the end of the pier that stretched out into the sea. Damian waited by his side. My Damian. Dressed in a designer suit that stayed true to the muscular shape of his body, he was breathtakingly handsome. His features seemed sculpted in stone, but the smile on his face smoothed the hard edges, making him look sweetly in love.
He took my hands in his and didn’t allow his gaze to waver from me for a second during the ceremony. We hardly paid any attention to what the priest said beyond the moment we made our vows and the part with, “You may kiss the bride.” We were completely taken with each other. My heart pounded like crazy as Damian bowed to fulfill the holy command, his eyes glinting dangerously. It hit me – he was a demon, and having a priest so close must’ve been demanding on him.
My eyelids closed and my foot lifted off the ground as his mouth molded mine. I went dizzy with bliss, and when a ripple of applause started, Damian lifted me in his arms and spun me around like a man who’d found complete happiness. Waves broke against the rocks, foam filling the air, as if conveying congratulations from higher powers, a thunder ripping the heavens.
I opened my eyes to see the crowd hurrying off the pier towards the restaurant on the promenade that we’d chartered for the party, holding umbrellas, purses and jackets over their heads to protect from rain and lightning. Only Leona had stayed behind, her dress flapping wildly in the wind. She approached, struggling to keep the umbrella above her head.
“It’s time for me to say good-bye,” she called over the harsh wind, swaying on her feet.
I remembered that, unlike me, she wasn’t upgrading, and I feared the storm would give her pneumonia. I grabbed her shoulders to steady her. She felt surprisingly soft under my palms. Damian touched my elbow.
“Watch it, Alice,” he said. “You’re growing stronger by the hour in this weather. Storms feed the superhuman; we work on renewable energy, so to say.” He bent to my ear, worry in his tone. “You could crush her if you’re not careful.”
“Right now I’m more worried about what the downpour can do to her lungs,” I called over the rain. The weather grew worse incredibly fast. Damian hurried to remove his jacket and put it over Leona, but it was rapidly becoming soaking wet, too.
One arm around me and one around my childhood friend, he led us quickly down the pier, through the now pasty sand and whipping downpour to the promenade and into the reception at our restaurant.
The staff blinked at the muddy, dripping mess that stormed in through the sliding doors, and seemed especially shocked at the way I, the bride, looked. Some of our guests had stopped at coffee tables in the reception room to smoke cigarettes, and now stared with open mouths, too. To my relief for Leona, it was warm and cozy.
“Two blankets for the ladies, please,” Damian asked the first waiter that happened in our way.
“The good-bye matter could’ve waited,” I told Leona through my teeth.
She threw a glance around to make a point. “No, it couldn’t. Now we won’t have a bit of privacy. The pier was our last chance.”
“I’ll give you girls some room to talk,” Damian said, taking the blankets from the breathless waiter who’d returned with them in no time. He wrapped me up quickly and expertly, and then Leona. He made to leave, but Leona stopped him, as if on a second thought.
“Don’t go, Damian.” She looked at him like a dog begging forgiveness. “I want to apologize for doubting you. For being blind, for being—”
“No need to go there,” my husband – God, my husband – cut her off gently. “As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, from the very beginning you advocated for me, you even encouraged Alice to chase me. You believed in us before anyone else did.”
Leona smiled a sad smile. “Yes, but that was before. You know, before Hector. I was—”
“Please, don’t,” Damian said. He bent in closer to Leona and me. “We know the story. Let’s make sure it remains between us.” He glanced around the way Leona had before, reminding her about the audience.
“Why won’t you just stay for t
he party?” I changed the subject. “We can talk about everything else tomorrow. We’ll meet for a cozy, late breakfast.”
Leona sank her head. “I won’t be here tomorrow, Alice. He’s already waiting for me.”
My face caught fire. “Giant demanded of you that you leave right away?”
“I must be removed from this environment immediately, he said. Before the wedding I stayed at your house and was under the constant supervision of Damian and his, well, friends, but starting tonight things change. I barely convinced him to let me attend the ceremony.”
I looked at Damian with both anger – with Giant – and hope that he, Damian, could do something about it. “He can’t be so unreasonable,” I whispered. “She’s my best friend, my sister.”
“I’m afraid he can,” Damian said softly. Then his voice went even lower. “Ours isn’t the kind of secret you take any chances with. A wedding can turn out big, boisterous, drunken, and words may slip.”
The waiter who’d brought our blankets swung into the picture with three mugs of hot tea, just the moment Dr. Barbu entered the reception room accompanied by his partner – another man, also a scientist by the Einstein looks of him.
Damian and I stood up to greet them. We were both glad that Dr. Barbu seemed genuinely pleased to attend the celebration of our union, referring to it as a, “most wonderful choice,” and, “this is how every story of true love should peak.”
Just as Damian replied that he hoped this was only one of many peaks, since we had quite a long time ahead of us, I turned to check on Leona. My heart sank as I saw her blanket crumpled on the couch, her mug of tea still giving out steam. Through the panes of the sliding doors, I saw a black limo drive off, and I knew instantly she was in it.
As Dr. Barbu and his partner moved inside the restaurant, Damian wrapped his concrete arms around me.
“Nice waiter boy says they have a cozy guest room upstairs for when the bosses are in,” he slurred in my ear. “Let’s go freshen up. I’ll call Krista and ask her to bring us new clothes from the villa on her way over here.”
“Damian, Leona left,” I whispered. I looked up into his eyes, seeking the comfort only he could give me.
“She had to, Alice.”
“Please, don’t agree with Giant. What he’s asking of her is cruel and unnecessary.”
“Giant does what he must to hone the talents the Order discovered in Leona. All you can do right now is pray for her path to be as light as possible. The Monastery is no posh crib.”
For moments, I just stared at the beautiful beast that was Damian Novac, my eyes roaming all over his perfectly sculpted face. He was as handsome as a god. I could say it was all surreal, but the cold, wet dress clinging to my skin, the iron lock of his arms around me, and the way my heart rejoiced in them made it all undeniable reality.
“What is it?” he inquired, his voice deep and velvety.
“That you should tell me to pray. That you, a demon, should think there truly is a God out there to pray to.”
“It’s strange, Alice. That you, an angel, should doubt it.”
About Ana Calin
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If you enjoyed this story, check out these other books by Ana Calin:
Dark Protector (Book I of the Dark Lords series)
Falling in love is dangerous. For Alice Preda, it could be deadly.
When a shady corporation that conducts experiments on humans targets Alice Preda, mysterious Damian Novac becomes her protector. Alice is soon love-stricken, but Damian keeps a cool reserve, protecting Alice not only from her hunters but also from himself and his dark past.
A villain who switched sides long ago, Damian is the biggest gun the science mafia ever created. He's been halfway stable serving the good for years, but when his makers return to the picture and provoke him, he threatens to relapse. The ice breaks, his demons awaken, and the Executioner is unleashed once more. Only the superpower that Alice doesn't yet know she possesses can tame him, but for that she'll have to put herself in the line of fire.
SEE ALL BOOKS BY ANA CALIN HERE.