by Lora Edwards
“Delphine, how is Victoria? Is she going to be able to come to the wedding,” Teagan asked as she devoured a mountain of scrambled eggs.
“Yes, she is doing much better.” Delphine smiled. It had been a long road to recovery for Victoria after being kidnapped by her sire. She had appeared to be on the mend, but then it was found that she had been fed poisoned blood and she took a turn for the worse. She had been weak and unable to walk under her own steam until recently.
“That is so good to hear. Is she going to stand up with you as well?”
Delphine grinned. “Yes, she has agreed. She reported that she is fully recovered and is ready for some sun and sand.”
Teagan leaned over the table as far as she could and whispered, “Are you ready?”
Delphine smiled. “I feel like I have been ready for ages. I am a full member of the institute, and now I am going to marry the man of my dreams—I don’t think I could ask for anything more.”
Teagan smiled and sat back in her chair. If anyone deserved happiness, it was Delphine. She had really grown into herself in the past few months. It appeared as if the institute did that for people.
Chapter 42
Delphine looked out the tall window of the castle, gazing at the assembled crowd. She took a deep breath and turned to her bridesmaids, who were dressed in strapless empire-waist dresses with woven fronts and chiffon skirts, the ombre blue material floating down to brush the tops of their feet.
“I look like a whale in this dress,” Teagan complained from her spot on the sofa. The babies were due any time, and she couldn’t wait to be able to stand without being hauled up.
“You look beautiful, Teagan. I am so happy for you and Bran,” Victoria said, patting her hand.
“Yes, Teag, you are practically glowing.” Ovidia said.
Teagan rolled her eyes. “You ladies just wait until it is your turn—see if you feel like you’re glowing at this point.”
“Don’t even put that out in the universe,” Ovidia said, looking panicked, causing her friend to laugh.
“Oh, I don’t know—Flynn and I have discussed having a couple of our own to give Esme some brothers and sisters.”
Ovidia turned to Delphine, a look of horror on her pretty face. “Are you insane? One of them isn’t enough?”
“Vid, one day you will feel differently,” Delphine said, patting her friend’s shoulder.
“Not bloody likely,” Ovidia grumbled under her breath.
The music outside changed and Teagan sighed. “All right girls, haul me up. That is our cue.”
Delphine laughed as Ovidia and Victoria helped Teagan get to her feet. No matter what her friend said, she looked lovely, her skin dewy and fresh, the ultimate picture of fertility.
Each woman in turn walked down the aisle to stand in her place. The music changed once again, and Delphine turned to her father. “Are you ready?”
He took her hands and held them out so he could take one last look at her. She was positively glowing in a snowy white princess dress with a sweetheart neckline and beaded lace shoulder straps, showing off her toned physique. The beaded lace bodice hugged her slim torso, and her soft tulle skirt was sprinkled with beaded appliques of lace, softly swaying in the sea breeze. She reached up to run a hand down the earrings Flynn had given her that morning, a pair of long art deco aquamarine briolettes suspended from a line of round and rose-cut diamonds. Her light blue pear-shaped necklace was framed with sparkling diamonds, a gift from the woman she regarded as her real mother, the Siren who had raised her.
“I can’t believe I have to let you go,” he said, kissing her cheek and handing her the bouquet of white roses.
“I will always be your girl, Father,” Delphine whispered as she took his arm and walked down the aisle to join hands with the love of her life.
Chapter 43
Delphine grinned as Flynn spun her around and back into his arms as the band played. Their wedding had been a fairy tale, the ceremony taking place on warm golden sands with the cerulean blue ocean glinting in the background. A blessing from the island priest, vows written from the heart by the bride and groom, and a sloppy kiss from a tiny flower girl, and they were officially a family.
“Delphine, I love you,” he said, gathering her close.
“I love you, Flynn,” she whispered back as she snuggled closer in his arms. She couldn’t wait to start her new life with him.
A tap on Flynn’s shoulder had him turning around. “I hate to break up this love fest, but we have an emergency.” Ovidia’s face was pale.
“What is it?”
“The babies are coming. Bran has taken Teagan back to the institute. Her water broke while they were dancing.”
“We’re coming,” Delphine replied, looking at Flynn, who nodded.
“No, that is not necessary. Enjoy your wedding, she just didn’t want you to worry about where they had gone.”
“Are you kidding me? We wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Delphine took in Ovidia’s ghostly pallor once more. “It’s okay Vid, she will be fine. She is in the best hands. The healers at the institute are some of the best in the world.”
“I know but…”
Delphine smiled and hugged Ovidia, surprised the other woman didn’t pull away. “But she is your everything outside of Erik,” Delphine whispered. She felt tears on her shoulder and sensed rather than saw Ovidia’s nod. “She will be fine. You and Erik go. We will get Esme and meet you there.”
Ovidia nodded and went to find Erik.
“One heck of a way to end the perfect day,” Flynn said, taking her hand. Delphine went to tell her father while Flynn made their excuses to as many guests as he could and looked for Esme.
He found the baby dancing with her grandparents. “Da?” She showed him a picture of the babies.
“Yes, it is time for the babies, sweet girl.” Esme grinned and patted his face.
“Hug those sweet babies for us now Flynn,” his mother said before his father grinned and proceeded to twirl back onto the dance floor, eliciting a grin from his son and a giggle from Esme.
“All right, are we ready,” Delphine asked, coming up behind them. Esme grinned and showed her a picture of the babies.
“Yes, it is time.” Delphine took Flynn’s hand and they hurried to the mirror in the library. It was a portal back to the institute that had been installed when she went to work there.
They were back at the institute in a minute and they ran into Hugh, who looked as white-faced as Ovidia had.
“I contacted her parents and they are coming. It is time, it is really time.”
Delphine smiled and took his hand. “Come on, Hugh. Let’s go meet your great-grandbabies.”
He looked bewildered but followed along with Delphine and Flynn as they wound through the corridors leading to the hospital wing.
As they pushed open the doors to the waiting room, Delphine gasped.
“Surprise!” Guests from the wedding filled the room, and her four-tiered wedding cake sat on a table off to the side. Frosted in rose swirls, the top tier was a pale blue, each tier progressively darker, ending with the last in a blue of the deepest ocean. Perched atop it was a silhouette of a privateer holding a mermaid in his arms, all made of royal blue sugar.
“We thought everyone may as well have a cake here in the waiting room while we wait for the babies,” Victoria explained.
Delphine laughed and handed Esme off to her father as Hugh slipped away to find Teagan and Bran.
The cake was ceremoniously cut, and it had been spelled so each person’s piece was their favorite flavor. Everyone eventually left, wishing the newlyweds well. Delphine slipped away to their suite to change out of her wedding gown into a soft pair of leggings and a long shirt. She grabbed the pack ’n play along with Esme’s PJs and favorite blanket. The stubborn little girl fought it but eventually finally succumbed to sleep. Flynn and Delphine sat and talked with Erik and Ovidia, Delphine reassuring Ovidia from time to time as she st
ole worried glances at the doors leading to the birthing suites.
Finally the double doors opened, revealing an exhausted Bran. “Come and meet the newest members of our family.”
Delphine squealed and scooped up Esme, who opened her sleepy eyes.
“It’s time to meet the babies,” she whispered to the sleepy girl.
Esme’s eyes immediately popped open and stared at her mother and then at Bran.
They walked down a hallway to another large set of double doors. There, lying in a modern hospital bed, was an exhausted looking Teagan.
She gave them a tired smile. “Hello Esme, ready to finally meet your friends?”
Esme leaned down out of Delphine’s arms and patted Teagan’s face.
Tucked on either side of their mother were the twins, each swaddled tightly, and at the sound of Esme’s giggle, they opened their eyes.
“Meet Drake and Seraphina,” Teagan said.
Drake looked up at Esme, his bright blue eyes solemn in his little face while his sister blinked owlishly at the bouncing baby girl, her amethyst-colored eyes framed by beautiful thick lashes.
“Da! Da!” Esme shouted, tugging on Flynn’s shirt and pointing at the babies in Teagan’s arms.
“Yes, darling, I see them. You will have such fun playing, you just have to let them get a bit older.” He chuckled at the excitement in his daughter’s face.
Delphine leaned down and cupped Teagan’s face, closing her eyes and taking some of the pain and exhaustion from her friend.
“You did good, and when you are recovered, we have a date with an amazing library,” Delphine whispered before straightening again and stepping back so Ovidia could come closer.
“Teag, I am so glad you are okay. They are beautiful.” Ovidia sighed, looking down at the babies tucked into her friend’s arms.
“Love you Aunt Vid.” She heard two soft little voices echo in her head.
“That still creeps me out, you two, but I love you.” Tears shimmered in her pale blue eyes.
Teagan smiled at her oldest friend and then down at her children.
“All right all, let’s let the new family get some rest,” Delphine said softly as she watched Teagan struggle to remain awake.
Erik leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Teagan’s head before stroking the downy soft head of each child.
Flynn followed suit and they quietly left the room, Esme’s head heavy on her mother’s shoulder.
Delphine looked back to see Bran lean down and place a soft kiss on Teagan’s lips and then one on each of his children.
She felt her eyes well with tears. It had been the best wedding day she could have asked for.
Epilogue
Victoria wiped sweaty palms on the full skirt of her dress. It felt odd to wear this modern dress, and she was still getting used to going out in what was tantamount to underwear in her era. She hadn’t seen Armand in hundreds of years, not since that time when he had lived with Victor, learning the ways of the vampire.
He had struck out on his own by the time the countess had come to stay, by the time she had lured Victoria in and changed her life forever. Victor had been full of sorrow when he had learned what the countess had done.
The countess had told him Victoria was dead and he had believed her. Victor did not know that she had survived. The countess had tormented her with the knowledge that Victor cried for her and begged the countess to give him Victoria’s body to bury.
When she had gained her freedom and joined the institute, she had been afraid to contact him, afraid that was what the countess had expected of her and that she would therefore have her spies around Victor.
She had let him believe her dead, but it was now time to end that farce. She had always felt a pull toward Armand. Victor had been a fair lord and there had been a time she thought there might be something between them, but alas, it was not to be. She had missed him after being forced to go to the countess, but it was Armand she let her mind wander to in those days when she was trapped in the dungeon before she convinced the countess of her worth.
Victoria shrugged off the thoughts and pushed open one of the black lacquered doors. The ornate dragons seems to writhe in place as she stepped in.
Victoria blinked once then twice. She could not imagine that Armand’s office would look like a cross between a Victorian bordello and Aladdin’s cave.
“Can I help you,” lilted a smoky bored voice from across the room.
Victoria saw a beautiful woman sitting behind a desk, filing long, lethally red nails.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. I am Victoria Litchfield. I have an appointment to see Armand.”
The woman captured her in a steely glare that had Victoria shrinking back. You are a vampire—act like it, Victoria told herself under her breath, earning a smirk from the woman at the desk.
“Have a seat. He will be with you shortly.”
Victoria sat in one of the gilt chairs, the red velvet cushions garish against the gold of the back. She again thought about how she could not imagine Armand appreciating such decor.
An efficient multiline phone on the desk started flashing and the woman picked it up, listened for a moment, and then replaced the receiver with a click.
She looked at Victoria again as if looking through her. “He will see you now.” She gestured toward a polished door beside the desk and resumed filing her already sharp nails.
“Thank you,” Victoria said then strode to the door. She stopped, taking a deep breath, and wiped her hands down her dress once more before straightening her shoulders and pushing the door open.
This was what she had expected when she’d envisioned Armand’s private space: warm wood and old antiques fitting for a centuries-old vampire. The same spicy scent he had always carried with him permeated the space, and Victoria tried to not let it affect her. She turned her gaze to the man behind the desk.
“Hello Armand, I don’t think you will remember me.”
He looked at her and smiled, gesturing to the chair across from him. “Of course I remember you, Amora, and I must again apologize for our unfortunate encounter at Victor’s home. The only excuse I have is that I was newly turned.” He smiled warmly but his eyes betrayed the curiosity he was feeling.
Victoria blushed and looked down. Armand would apologize again for something that had happened hundreds of years ago.
“Excuse me for being indelicate, but when were you turned,” he asked gently. “I didn’t think Victor was in the habit of turning his staff, or making them change their names. If I recall, he said you were an unfortunate victim of the countess.”
Victoria lifted her eyes and stared into Armand’s. “I was, but she didn’t kill me. She turned me and then kept me prisoner, first in her dungeon and then as her personal maid. After a hundred years, I was able to escape. The institute found me, and I have been a part of it ever since.”
Armand frowned. “My institute?”
“Yes. I take it you are not aware of all the acquisitions of staff.”
“We span hundreds of years and many locations, so it would be impractical for me to be in on everyone that is taken in or employed. Also, I wouldn’t have recognized the new name you have taken on.”
“It was a necessity to hide from the countess.” When she’d joined the institute and learned the vastness and how it had started, she still used a different name than the one she was born with and now was so used to being called Victoria that her mind hardly remembered her original name. She hadn’t heard it in years until Armand had spoken it when she entered the room. “The countess is why I am here. I am sure you were briefed about the situation in Bath by your team. I need help. She is killing innocents with abandon and it is only a matter of time before she is discovered and exposes our kind. I have been recovering these past months due to my last encounter with her, and now I desire revenge.”
Armand nodded and Victoria rushed on.
“I have received information that she is now in t
his time.” Victoria pulled out a French newspaper and laid it on the desk. “They say it is a serial killer. Young women are being killed, their bodies drained of blood and dumped in places all around France. She needs to be stopped.”
Victoria took a breath and leaned back in the chair. He would help her; she knew he would.
Armand sat back, steepling his fingers.
After a moment, he spoke. “We need to stop her. I imagine Victor would like to be in on it. He has been tracking her through time for centuries, and she has always stayed one step ahead of him. It seems as if she has made an error in making an enemy of you once more. I will contact Victor and he will come here. We will make a plan, and we will capture her before she exposes us,” he said, steel coming into his voice. He smiled. “It has been ages since I took a mission of my own, and I have been feeling restless. You have come at just the right time, Amora—or should I call you Victoria?”
“Victoria is fine. It has been my name these past centuries. Amora is dead.”
Armand nodded. “Where are you staying while in our fine city?”
“I have only been here the one evening, as a guest at Delphine’s wedding.”
Armand nodded again. He picked up the phone and murmured into it, too low for even Victoria’s keen vampire hearing to catch what he was saying.
He replaced the receiver and folded his hands on his desk.
“Victoria, I would like your help in capturing the countess. Having spent a century with her, you will have valuable information that will help us to ensnare her. I am giving you a transfer to our branch of the institute. If you see Cleo, my admin, on the way out, she will give you the necessary paperwork as well as a key to an apartment you can use while you are here. I hope it will be to your liking.”
Victoria stared. “Thank you Armand, that is most gracious.”
He nodded and she sensed that it was her cue to leave.
She stood from the chair and strode to the door.
“Victoria.”