by G. K. DeRosa
“We don’t know where they are?” she asked, her voice rising a notch.
“I’m sure they’re fine. They probably just went outside to make out or something.”
A shade of a smile crossed Celeste’s lips. “Let’s go look, okay?”
Roman nodded and followed her out the door to the back terrace. As soon as she stepped outside, an ominous sensation hit her, nearly knocking her off her feet. Spinning around in the direction of the parking lot, she saw the source of the revolting feeling. “Roman! Watch out!” she cried as a wooden stake came flying through the air. He sidestepped just in time and the stake smacked against the cement wall then clattered to the floor.
Out in the parking lot stood Declan, Annabelle and a hoard of angry-looking werewolves. Declan held the crossbow that had nearly impaled Roman and he was reloading it with an evil gleam in his citrine eyes.
“We have to stop them from getting into the dance,” said Celeste, pulling out Stellan’s dagger which was tucked away under her long dress.
“No sword hidden somewhere under there?” asked Roman with a smirk.
“Actually, now that you mention it,” she paused and closed her eyes, focusing all her power on the thought of the Wilder sword. A wave of heat rushed through her body, emanating from the pit of her stomach and radiating outward. Seconds later she felt something cold and hard in her hand. She opened her eyes and a huge smile crossed her face when she saw the gleaming blade.
“Wow, that was pretty amazing,” said Roman as he watched her proudly. “Let’s go!”
They sprinted toward the lot as the pack took defensive positions behind the multitude of parked cars. Roman reached them first and a fearsome looking werewolf stepped forward swinging a bat. Celeste was right behind him and arrived slashing her sword through anyone that got in her way. Unlike Brazen, these werewolves were not invincible and she and Roman quickly dispatched a few of them straight to the Abyss. As the fighting intensified, Celeste hazarded a quick glance back and saw Marco, Brennan and Nico sprinting into action.
Suddenly, Annabelle leapt at Celeste, her claws extended. She got in a few swipes across Celeste’s cheek. “I don’t want to kill you, Annabelle,” she yelled. As mad as Celeste was that she had led Declan right to them, she still felt bad for the young werewolf girl. She had promised her that she wouldn’t kill her boyfriend, Vinny and had gone back on her word. For some reason she felt like she owed Annabelle a pass.
“Don’t do me any favors,” Annabelle growled as she continued the onslaught.
Celeste dodged her advances and inflicted only minor wounds on the girl, but she simply wouldn’t quit. “I’m sorry for Vinny,” she said.
“Don’t you dare say his name,” she spat back. The girl’s anger at a peak, she instantly transformed into a small red wolf and lunged at Celeste’s throat.
Celeste had no choice but to defend herself. With anguish in her heart, she raised her sword and plunged it through the chest of the young wolf seconds before Annabelle’s fangs reached her neck. Her small body hit the floor with a pitiful whine and within seconds she was dead.
Celeste took a moment and surveyed the battle raging around her. It was clear from the way the werewolves stepped up to protect Declan that he had become the new Alpha of the remaining few Black Devils. He roared orders at them as Marco, Roman, Nico and Brennan continued their attack. The boys seemed to have things under control, giving Celeste the chance to catch her breath. She gave herself a second to recover from the intense feelings of guilt over killing Annabelle before she rushed back into the fight, heading straight for Declan.
Celeste’s moves were lightning fast and she was able to catch Declan off guard while Nico and Marco kept his lackeys occupied. Leaping into the air, she swung her sword down, cutting a deep slash across Declan’s chest. His ruddy face turned three shades darker as he yowled in pain and stumbled back. Just as Celeste was about to thrust her sword into his heart, a mighty wind whipped up all around them. The Wilder blade was ripped out of her hand and flung through the air, landing yards away on the hood of a car with a loud clang. Celeste whirled her head around, frantically searching for Astrid. She immediately recognized the powers of the troublesome fairy.
“Celeste! Watch out!” shouted Roman.
She looked up just in time to see a car careening straight for her. It had been caught up in an immense wind tunnel and was falling from the sky. Before she could move, Roman plowed into her, knocking her to the asphalt and out of the way of the airborne vehicle.
Celeste hit the blacktop with a painful thud, scraping her palms and knees and ripping her beautiful ruby dress. Roman’s heavy body covered hers protectively until the winds finally began to die down. “Thanks Roman,” she said, “but do you think you could get up now? You’re kind of crushing me.”
Roman jumped to his feet and held out his hand to help her up. “Sorry,” he said.
“You saved my life—again. What are you apologizing for?” He looked her up and down, examining the cuts and scrapes all over her body and scowled. “I’ll be fine,” she said, reading his concerned expression.
“Everyone okay?” asked Nico as he ran up to them.
They both nodded. “How about you guys?” asked Celeste.
“We’re all good—just a few bruises here and there. Declan and Astrid and a few of the surviving werewolves got away, though.”
Celeste let out a frustrated sigh and crumpled down onto the warm asphalt. “Brazen was right. This is never going to be over. We finally killed him and now Declan took his place. Even if we kill him, there will just be another and another…”
Brennan and Marco walked over to join the circle looking a bit worse for wear but very much alive. “Don’t worry about Declan,” said Brennan. “I know my dad will want to take care of him personally. He’s really tightening up on werewolf affairs and I’m confident we’ll get the remaining Black Devils back in line or kill what’s left of them.”
“Thanks,” said Celeste with a half-hearted smile. “I really appreciate all your help lately, Brennan.”
Roman extended his hand and pulled Celeste up and back onto her feet, noticing for the first time that she was barefoot having long since discarded her stilettos. “Let’s go home.” He scooped her up into his arms before she could object and began walking toward the limo.
The elegant Excalibur pulled up in front of the Wilder home and Celeste, Brian, Marie and Aria all piled out. Nico had been forced to compel Aria so that she wouldn’t notice their oddly disheveled appearances. In fact, Aria, Brian and Marie had been safely tucked away at the dance and had missed all of the action, to Celeste’s relief.
Marco grabbed Roman’s arm just as he was getting out of the limo. He awkwardly cleared his throat. “So are you going to talk to Celeste about, you know…”
Roman frowned, his blue eyes blazing. “No, I can’t right now. Not after this.” He yanked his arm out of Marco’s grasp and jumped from the car to follow Celeste inside.
Chapter 17
A small smile crept across Celeste’s face when she awoke to see Roman soundly sleeping, stretched out across the foot of her bed. He had seemed distant last night and she had expected him to be gone this morning, but the sight of his tranquil face and the sound of his slow, steady breathing gave her a sense of immeasurable relief. Trying not to wake him, she carefully stretched her arm across to the bedside table to check her cell phone. It was still early, but she already had a text message from her mom saying she’d be late coming home, and two texts from Stellan asking her to call him as soon as she was up.
Stretching lazily, she put the phone down and buried her head back in the comfy pillow. She wasn’t ready to deal with whatever supernatural catastrophe was next. Although Brennan had promised to deal with Declan, she still had Astrid to contend with and no doubt the wrath of the fairy Queen for sneaking into Fae lands after her clear objections. And then there was Roman, of course, who still hadn’t said a word about her impending marr
iage to Marco and seemed to be taking it all too well. She glanced over at his sleeping figure and longed to run her fingers through his tousled dark hair. There was nothing she wanted more than for things to go back to normal with him—or at least for what passed as normal for her these days.
Roman’s phone vibrated on the nightstand and he began to stir. Celeste reached over and grabbed it, quickly silencing it. She glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Stellan again. Perhaps she should call him back, she thought.
“Good morning,” mumbled Roman, sluggishly opening his eyes and yawning.
“Hey you,” she answered with a smile. “It was Stellan and he sent me a few text messages too.” She held up his phone and handed it back to him.
He stared at it and grunted. “I was hoping we could spend some alone time today.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked, her eyes sparkling mischievously as she crept closer to him.
“Celeste…” he said pausing and backing away from her touch. “There are some things we need to talk about.”
She could feel the sting of rejection as she sat back on her butt and stared at him bewildered. “What?”
Celeste’s phone started ringing and diverted both of their attentions to the nightstand. Shaking her head, she picked it up when she saw it was Stellan yet again.
“Celeste, is Roman with you?” came Stellan’s voice over the phone.
“Yeah, he’s here. What’s going on?”
“He and Nico need to come to my house right away. Lilliana is here.”
Roman’s eyes spun toward her as his vampire hearing caught the words over the phone. “Is she okay?” he asked.
“Tell Roman that everything is fine. She’s just anxious to see her sons,” explained Stellan.
“Sure,” said Celeste, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice, “we’ll be right over.”
After a quick stop at the boys’ apartment to pick up Nico, the threesome was on their way speeding through the countryside to Stellan’s home. Celeste had to suppress the urge countless times during the ride to ask Roman what he wanted to talk about, as she knew very well they couldn’t have a major discussion in front of Nico. And there was something about the look in his eyes when he mentioned it back at her house that made her quite sure it was not going to be a pleasant conversation.
Before long, they were pulling into Stellan’s long gravel driveway and Celeste could sense the anticipation radiating off of both brothers. Nico jumped out of the car before Roman had come to a full stop and dashed to the entrance.
“Go on, you can vamp-speed away too. No need to wait on me,” said Celeste as she stepped out of the car.
Roman flashed a smile then took off.
When Celeste made it inside, she found Nico and Roman hovering around their mother and peppering her with questions.
“Boys, let your mother have a seat at least before you bombard her with all your inquiries,” said Stellan, taking Lilliana’s hand and leading her to the couch.
Once she was seated, Nico continued, “How did you get away from Alek?”
Lilliana chuckled sweetly as she stroked her son’s cheek. “Nico, I wasn’t a prisoner. I simply told him I wanted to come visit my boys.”
Roman arched a skeptical brow. “He didn’t have any objections?”
“Well to be honest, my decision to come was a spur of the moment one and Alek was away at the time. I left him a note.”
“Um-hmm,” muttered Roman. “Stellan, perhaps you should put up some wards in case we get an unexpected visit.”
“Nonsense,” said Lilliana. “Everything will be fine. I will not have the three of you acting as enemies.”
“Better safe than sorry,” interjected Celeste. She finally made her way forward to greet Lilliana. She had been hesitant to interrupt the happy family reunion. “Nice to see you, Mrs. Constantin.”
“Yes, you too my dear,” she answered with a tight smile.
Celeste took a seat next to Roman on the couch and resolved not to say much more after the chilly greeting she had received.
Lilliana directed the attention back to herself with a wave of her hand. “Now, there are quite a few things I’d like to attend to while I’m here. First on my list is going to meet the Council.” Celeste’s eyes shot up in surprise. “I want to put their minds at ease once and for all that I am indeed not a threat to them.”
“I don’t know if that’s wise, Mother,” said Roman.
“Hush now. I will not hear any objections,” she said sternly, shutting Roman right up. “I’d also like to visit with the Albsurori coven and meet their new leader, Marja. Stellan has told me all about her and I’d like to speak with her. Lastly, I hope to visit with my dear friend Dalla. It has been ages since I’ve seen her and I feel that we have much to catch up on.”
“Geez, are you going to have any time to hang out with us?” asked Nico.
Lilliana threw him a wholehearted smile. “Of course, my son. You both are the reason why I came. I want to spend as much time with you as possible.”
Something about Lilliana’s sudden visit seemed strange to Celeste. It had been months since her resurrection by Alek’s hand and she had not once come to Oak Bluffs. She didn’t doubt Lilliana’s love for her sons, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this visit than what Lilliana led on. That and the worried look in Stellan’s gray eyes prompted Celeste’s caution.
After a few hours of listening to Lilliana and the boys catch up, Celeste excused herself to the kitchen to make some coffee. She was feeling pretty exhausted from the fighting the night before and hadn’t even had a moment to deal with it. She was trying not to focus on killing Annabelle, but taking a life always proved difficult for her, even if it was in self-defense. She pondered the short life of the young werewolf girl as she turned on the fancy coffee machine and pulled cups from the cabinets.
“Can I help you, my dear?” came Lilliana’s voice from the kitchen doorway.
Celeste turned around in surprise. “Oh, thank you, but I’ve got it. This guy does all the work,” she said pointing at the shiny stainless steel machine.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to all of these modern contraptions,” Lilliana said as she took a step toward the counter.
“I’m sure you will eventually,” said Celeste awkwardly. She suddenly realized she had never been alone in a room before with Lilliana.
“Celeste, there’s a favor I’d like to ask of you.”
“Of course. What can I do?”
“Will you take me to meet Dante and the Council?” Lilliana asked. “Stellan has told me how highly they regard you and I believe it would help my cause.”
Celeste felt relief rush through her. She had no idea what sort of favor she had been expecting. “Yes, of course I can do that. Just let me know when you’d like to go.”
“Wonderful. I prefer to go as soon as possible. Perhaps this afternoon?”
“Certainly,” said Celeste as she turned back to the coffee maker to swap out another cup.
“Oh and one more thing—”
Celeste turned back to face her.
“What are your intentions with my son?”
Celeste could feel her face reddening as she stared at the floor and fidgeted with her fingers. Well that was unexpected. “Um, I…” she stuttered, “I love Roman and I want to spend the rest of my life with him.” She looked up, suddenly feeling more sure of herself and calmly met Lilliana’s piercing blue eyes, so similar to those of her son. Saying the words out loud somehow cemented the truth she had known all along.
“You do understand that his life and your life have quite different spans.”
“I do,” she said nodding.
“You are willing to give up all the things that a normal girl would have to be with a vampire?” Lilliana eyed her skeptically.
“Yes, absolutely.”
Lilliana opened her mouth to continue, but she was cut off by Roman’s appearance at the doorway.
“Why’s the coffee taking so long?” he asked, peering into the kitchen.
Celeste spun around and pulled the two hot cups of coffee from the machine. She handed one to him and one to Lilliana. “I’ll be right out with the rest.” Roman looked at Celeste with a curious expression, but she had already slipped on a fake smile. He turned away, furrowing his brow and followed his mother back out to the living room to join the others.
After Celeste finished making the rest of the coffee, she excused herself to her old room with a pretext about being tired. She stretched out across the familiar lumpy bed and ran the conversation with Lilliana over in her head. Does she not like me? It was the only explanation she could conjure up. It seemed pretty obvious that Lilliana didn’t want her to be with Roman. She twirled the diamond band around her finger as she often did when she was nervous. Celeste still couldn’t believe that she even had to consider marriage and family when she was only nineteen.
A light tap on the door diverted Celeste’s thoughts. Looking up, she saw Roman peeking in. “You can come in. I’m not sleeping.”
“I didn’t think you were. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take a nap in the middle of the day.”
Celeste smiled at the comforting notion that Roman knew her that well. He’s the one, I know it.
Roman walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. “So why are you hiding out in here?”
Celeste sat up and looked at him thoughtfully. “Your mom asked what my intentions were with you.”
Roman threw his head back and laughed. “So that’s what I walked in on in the kitchen.”
“Yup.”
His expression suddenly grew serious. “What did you say?”
“I told her the truth—that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Celeste said the last bit in a rush and then diverted her eyes and began twisting the ring around her finger again.
He exhaled sharply at her reply. He had waited over a hundred years to find someone like Celeste and now that he had her, letting her go seemed like the most foolish thing he could ever do. But he knew he couldn’t be selfish—he had to do what was best for her. He loved her that much.