Garden of Graves

by Keary Taylor

  And for perhaps the first time in my life, I feel like I fit in with these women. Like they accept me and love me, even. Like I matter to them.

  They’re really seeing me.

  I laugh and smile with them as they do my hair. I give my opinions on what I’d like done with my makeup. I smile and clap as they each do one another’s hair and make up. They model their dresses, each of them beautiful and radiant.

  And despite every one of them being an immortal vampire, this feels as normal as I’ve ever had.

  I’m a bride-to-be, enjoying time with her wedding party, preparing for the happiest day of her life.

  It seems impossible that getting ready takes the entire day, but suddenly, I look at the clock, and it’s nearly eight.

  With just Alivia, I step into my room. I slip out of my robe that I’ve been wearing all day, changing into my lacy white underthings before stepping back out into my bedroom.

  “You’re stunning,” Alivia says, radiating pride as she holds my wedding dress up. “Lexington is going to lose his mind.”

  I blush, stopping in front of the mirror, looking at myself.

  “Not going to lie,” I say. “I’m a little nervous. I’ve never…”

  “It’s going to be okay,” she says, looking over my shoulder into my eyes in the mirror. “When you love each other as much as the two of you do, you’ll figure out anything is perfect.”

  I was dying to ask her some questions, to get advice, but the thought of who she was experienced with, my brother, stopped the words in my mouth.

  But she was right, everything was going to be perfect.

  “I wish my first time wasn’t with all of this,” I say, placing my hands on my stomach. My belly button is flat. My skin is stretched tight. Everywhere on me has gained a little more padding.

  Alivia shakes her head. “Maybe you don’t always see the way Lexington looks at you. He…” she laughs, covering her mouth, her eyes gleaming as she shakes her head. “He worships every inch of you. He glows, even more than you do.”

  I blush once more, meeting her eyes. I smile, feeling the happiness glow down through my chest.

  And I know she’s right.

  Alivia unzips the dress and I carefully step in to it, pulling it up and over my belly, over my shoulders. She zips it back up, and it fits around me like a glove.

  The skirt is simple. Soft, flowing fabric cascades from the top of my ribcage, hanging with room around my stomach, dropping down to the floor, long and fluid. A sweetheart neckline is fitted with lace around the bodice, and matching lace creates tiny cap sleeves.

  I admire myself in the mirror. I might have been limited in my options, but I love this dress.

  “It’s perfect for you,” Liv says, placing her hands on my shoulders and looking in the mirror.

  She reaches to the side, grabbing the floral crown from my bed, and carefully sets it atop my head, arranging my curled hair to go with it.

  I smile once more in the mirror, and then there’s a soft knock at the door.

  Alivia crosses the room and opens it.

  “There’s my little bird.”

  And my smile grows twice as big when Michael’s comforting voice meets my ears.

  I turn to see him standing in the doorway, looking amazingly handsome in his black suit and pale green tie. He has one hand tucked in his pocket, one foot crossed over the other ankle, leaning in the doorway. In the other hand, he holds a bouquet of flowers, perfectly matching the crown atop my head.

  Tears well up in my eyes, so incredibly happy that he can be here today, fulfilling the request I made of him a month ago, despite the vampires that surround us.

  “No crying now,” he says, shaking his head and smiling. “I know those pretty ladies put a lot of work into that perfect little face. No messing up their masterpiece.”

  I laugh, wiping at the corner of my eye. “No tears today.”

  Alivia pulls me into her arms for a quick hug. “I’m so happy for you,” she breathes. “I’ll see you in just a minute.”

  Out in the hall, I see all the other women gather, and they each gawk and call words of encouragement as they pass and see me. Slowly, they work their way down the hall, to the door that leads up to the rooftop.

  And then it’s just me and Michael.

  He steps into the room, but he doesn’t extend the flowers to me right away. He just fixes me with those intense eyes, a small smile on his face.

  “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you half this happy,” he says, stopping just in front of me. “Gotta be honest, makes you look like an entirely different person.”

  “I feel like a different person,” I say. “I’ve changed so much over the years. It’s like I keep evolving into different versions of myself. But I think I like this one best.”

  Michael nods, pressing his lips together. “I think this is the best one, too.” He spins the bouquet, looking down at it. “I uh, I know I haven’t been too supportive about your decision to keep the baby. But I just want you to know that…I’ve come around. Seeing you and Lexington, you’ve got this.”

  I open my mouth to speak, but he holds a hand up, stopping me when he’s not done speaking. “We’ll kill Charles. And your job is to make sure there’s never a fleck of him that soils that kid’s life. Like he never existed. Because you’re the good in the world, Elle. You and that man waiting for you upstairs. You’re enough to erase every bit of that Allaway prick. So I just want you to know, uncle Mike is on board.”

  The tears well in my eyes again, but I smile and close the distance between us, enveloping him in an embrace. He holds me tight, and I feel as if every piece in my life has come together. I have exactly what I need.

  “Let’s go get you married,” he says into my ear.

  He smiles as he lets me go. He hands me the flowers and then loops my arm through his. Together we make our way down the hall, into the laundry room and up the stairs to push the door open to the rooftop.

  The evening light casts everything in a golden glow. The lights from when Lexington proposed twinkle in the evening. Flowers are scattered everywhere, a wash of pale pink, purple, blue, and green. It all feels so soft and light and heavenly.

  Two rows of chairs with only three seats in each sit toward the end, by the roof’s edge, the only place there is space for them.

  A canopy of white lace has been hung at the roof’s edge.

  And beneath it, waits the man I’m about to marry.

  He wears a light gray suit, a pale pink tie matching the dominant color of my crown and bouquet.

  But I can hardly process any of it, because the moment I step outside, my eyes lock on Lexington’s.

  His eyes immediately well up. His expression crinkles, and he looks ready to cry. He brings a hand up to his mouth, attempting to hold all of his emotions in.

  He nods his head twice, and I see an incredible smile grow behind his hand.

  And it breaks one on to my own face as I take a step forward, linked arm in arm with Michael. Soft music tinkles through the garden as we walk forward.

  My heart races. But not with nerves or fear. It speeds with anticipation. As if my entire body knows I’m about to fulfill a destiny so perfectly molded to me, it could never have fit anyone else in the entire universe.

  My bare feet are confident and sure as I walk forward, one step at a time, to that man who is the one and only that I ever needed or wanted.

  Lexington’s eyes shine brilliantly. He drops his hand and takes a deep sniff and a breath, gathering himself. He purses his lips together, but smiles through it anyway.

  And we reach the end of the tiny aisle, and I stop in front of him. Michael places my hand in Lexington’s, and two tears leak out onto his cheeks.

  “Pull yourself together, man,” Cameron whispers under his breath.

  Only everyone can hear him perfectly well, and everyone laughs at the best man.

  But Lexington doesn’t say anything. He only meets my eyes, his blue ones so b
rilliant and the most beautiful things in the world.

  And I know, this is the beginning of a new life. One where I will never have to feel alone or lonely again.

  “What a beautiful and unique occasion.” King Cyrus’ voice cuts clear and even through the small crowd. He stands to the side of us, wearing a dark suit, his hands folded in front of him. His piercing eyes meet Lexington’s first, and then mine. “I cannot say I’ve ever seen a duplicate set of circumstances such as these we are witnessing today.”

  I look to the side, taking note of the complicated expressions on the faces of all our guests. The happiness for Lexington and I, but also the fear of the man who officiates our union.

  Especially Alivia.

  But in the end, there really was no question as to who would marry us.

  In the end, that part didn’t matter at all.

  “Over my many years, I’ve seen countless mortals and immortals fall in love, create lives together, create new beings to inhabit this planet,” Cyrus continues. “And often those new beings are created under less than loving circumstances. You all know the truth of the child Elle carries. But that will not define the fate of this newly created family.”

  My own lower lip trembles at Cyrus’ words.

  Family.

  Not the one I grew up in, with a twisted mother I always thought dead. Not parents who hated each other. Not a grandmother who was far too old to be raising a little child.

  This. This is what a family is supposed to look like.

  I stare into Lexington’s eyes, and there are a million promises in them, and I believe and trust every one of them.

  “The vows spoken are ones of promise and binding,” Cyrus moves on. “When we say until death do us part, for our kind, that can mean a very, very long time. And as I have come to learn, even death parting us does not end love.”

  My eyes shift to Cyrus. His own eyes are fixed on the ground, and I can feel those emotions of his, radiating so strong and in the open. And once more my heart cracks for him. The man who keeps losing the woman he loves, over and over again, when death does indeed do them part.

  “I think it’s different for our kind,” Cyrus moves on, his eyes once more rising. “When we fall in love, I think it is forever. Very few Born have I known who were once in love have fallen out of it.

  “Though Elle may be mortal, I believe she has been around our kind enough to have some of our ways rub off on her.” He says this with a little smile on his lips, studying me. “She is truly an amazing creature. And though she may be human, I am proud to associate her with our kind.” His eyes slide over to Lexington. “And though I may not know you very well, I believe myself to be a fair judge of character.” His eyes slide over to Alivia, and they are cold as ice. “Most of the time.” A long, weighted moment, and then he looks back at Lexington. “And I can see it in your eyes, that you will take care of this woman and her child.”

  Lexington nods, his eyes sliding back to mine. He nods, meaning every millimeter of the movement.

  “Elle Ward,” Cyrus says, looking back at me, and my heart rate increases. “Do you vow to take Lexington Dawes, to commit yourself to him as his wife, to stand by his side, as his equal. To love him in sickness and in health, through life’s ups and downs. Do you take him to be your husband?”

  The smile pulls lightly at my lips, and I just feel full of light as I look at the man who stands across from me. “I do.”

  I love it when Lexington smiles like that.

  It wipes away every bad day I’ve ever had. It cures every sad emotion I’ve ever felt.

  Gently, he slides another ring onto my finger. A delicate band is adorned with tiny little golden leaves.

  “And do you, Lexington Dawes,” Cyrus looks to him. “Take Elle, to commit yourself to her, and to this child? Do you promise to love her, through your long, immortal life? Do you swear to love her in sickness and in health, through age and trials? Do you take her to be your wife?”

  “Every single moment,” Lexington says, nodding his head just a tiny bit. “I do.”

  My heart breaks out into a sprint, and I am so full and can’t contain it all. I slip his ring onto his finger, a titanium band with a strip of fossilized wood inlaid into the middle.

  “Then I pronounce you-”

  But neither of us can wait for Cyrus to finish pronouncing us man and wife. We both rush forward at the same moment, my hands coming to the back of his head, his coming to my waist, and our lips meeting in the middle, molding, crushing, becoming one.

  And I don’t hear the cheers coming from my family. I don’t feel the warm breeze that picks up, don’t notice the sparkle of the twinkle lights in the twilight.

  It’s just me, and just Lexington.

  And a million promises, and the start of a new life together.

  I keep looking down at our hands laced together, Lexington’s long, strong fingers, intertwined with my small, thin ones. I keep admiring the gleam from his wedding band.

  And then I let my eyes drift up, admiring the strong arms underneath that suit. The veins that strain against his neck. The rarely shaved jawline. That brilliantly proud smile as he laughs and talks with everyone. That blond hair that is already wild but somehow absolutely fitting. And finally, those blue eyes.

  This man is my husband.

  My partner. Equal. Soon to be lover.

  Soon to be father of this child.

  “If you look any happier I’m afraid your face will break,” a voice whispers in my ear.

  I turn to the side and smirk at Ian, looking down at me with his own ridiculously happy smile.

  “Not sure how I feel about your own new look,” I shoot back at him. “That’s a rare expression.”

  He just shrugs, giving me a casual smirk. And a moment later, he’s bantering and jabbing with Lexington, and I’m so glad that finally, finally, they can go back to being friends once more, and now, brothers-in-law.

  Speaking of which.

  I turn, surveying the rooftop for Alivia, and find her talking with Christian and Robert. But her shoulders are stiff. Her head held just a little too high.

  Because she’s aware of every tiny movement King Cyrus makes as he works his way around the crowd.

  I’ve been watching them, holding my breath, waiting for something to explode.

  They haven’t seen each other since Alivia was cleared after her trial in Roter Himmel. Before that, Cyrus had been in Silent Bend, waiting to see if Alivia was possibly his resurrected Queen, seeing if she would begin remembering their past lives together.

  But my sister-in-law was broken then. My brother couldn’t accept himself, especially couldn’t accept Alivia becoming a Royal Born, and he’d broken her heart. So she tried to numb it, in the most dangerous of ways.

  She led Cyrus on, letting him think she was the Queen, in her own dangerous game. All the while, she had something going on with one of the King’s spies, the mysterious Raheem, who hasn’t been heard from since the trial.

  So I watch, nervous, waiting for Cyrus to say something to Alivia. Waiting for that grudge to come flaring back up, because I know Cyrus does not forgive, and he certainly never forgets.

  But for now, perhaps for my sake, they’re simply ignoring one another.

  “Kind of like waiting for a nuclear warhead to go off, isn’t it?” Lexington whispers in my ear.

  “Wouldn’t be normal if there wasn’t at least a little tension,” I say, the words true, but the ridiculousness of that reality pulls a smile on to my lips.

  I catch him staring, his eyes admiring my mouth. Then dripping lower. “Why’d we book a honeymoon so far away?” he says in a low growl as his gaze once more returns to my lips. “I’d be totally happy to just stay home. Clear everyone out, and our bed is only twenty steps away.”

  My face blushes, but heat rushes to my lower belly. I glance around, but his words were only spoken loud enough for me. Or at least everyone is pretending to give us privacy.

  �
�At least we aren’t going to Italy like you originally suggested,” I purr, closing the little space between us. Our hands still interlaced rest between us and Lexington slides his thumb across my thigh, slipping it into the fabric, working its way between my legs.

  “Why is everyone still here?” he growls into my ear. A violent storm sparks in my veins, catching the breath in my throat. “I want you, Elle.” His whisper grows even quieter. “I want you, my wife, right now.”

  My eyes slide closed and my entire body feels ready to fall off the edge. The edge of what, I still haven’t discovered, but I am ready.

  I open my eyes, meeting Lexington’s, which smolder with hints of red. A wicked grin grows on my own face and I take a step away, pulling him with me.

  My aim is for the door leading downstairs.

  But suddenly Eva is in my way, holding out a knife.

  For just a moment, my heart jumps into my throat.

  “Time to cut the cake!” she declares excitedly.

  A groan actually escapes my throat. I try not to roll my eyes as I turn, looking back at Lexington, who looks ready to start throwing vampires over the side of the roof, scoop me up, and haul me downstairs as his prize.

  But he just takes a deep breath, as if forcing all the raging desires in him down, and then smiles.

  “We’ve got the rest of our lives together,” he says, despite the difficulty he seems to be having saying the words. “We only have one wedding party.”

  I smile at him, because he always knows just exactly what to say. He squeezes my hand, and pulls me toward the other side of the roof, where Eva’s beautiful wedding cake waits on a table.

  So many gather around us, smiling, beaming at Lexington and I. I smile as Eva hands me the knife, and so corny and cliché, hand in hand, he and I cut two small slices. With careful fingers, we each grab our pieces, and feed each other the cake.

  I watch Lexington’s eyes closely. Waiting for that moment of mischievousness.

  But it doesn’t come.