Blood of the Infinity War (Afterlife saga Book 8)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Okay, well there is only one thing left to do,” she said nodding to herself as if her mind was made up.

  “And wthat thatht?”

  “Time to ask the experts,” she said and then was gone before I could ask her more about it.

  I don’t know how long I had to wait, because to be honest it could have been five minutes or twenty, either way every scenario of cancelling the wedding had gone through my head. The difference now was that I was sobbing. I had promised Draven I would be at that altar and it had been the one and only promise I really didn’t want to break. But then how was I going to do that as a Vampire?

  Pop my head from under the veil, look at the crowd and then shout ‘Surprise, oh didn’t you know it was fancy dress?’ Then turn to my husband and silently beg his forgiveness? I was lucky enough that he couldn’t sense I was pregnant, as Sophia must have been right about my shields, they were strong enough to hide a pregnancy and my new Vamp self.

  But seeing me like this…? Well, I was hiding that from no-one! Hell, my reaction to feeling overwhelmed just by looking at myself in the mirror had brought it on…so even if I could get a handle on it this time, what about when I was walking down the bloody aisle?!

  I nearly jumped a mile when I heard the door opening and hid my face behind a sofa cushion.

  “Okay, so I brought a solution but you have to trust…” Sophia started to say as she walked back into the room but the sight of who swept her aside and stormed in after her had me crying out in shock mid sob and dropping the pillow.

  “Luc…th…ius!” The sight of Lucius in a suit was a drool worthy sight indeed, but Lucius in this suit was jaw droppingly gorgeous and downright beautiful. It was a dark grey material that had a silver sheen at the collar, matching his tie. Two buttons pulled in the jacket in a delicious way that showcased large shoulders and a muscular torso that tapered in at the waist. I could just see a waistcoat underneath and a crisp white skirt. His hair was smoothed back and it was clear that he was ready for a wedding.

  Me, however, well I clearly wasn’t and his face said it all.

  He stormed over to me as Sophia said,

  “I will give you two a minute alone.” And then she shut the door behind her. Lucius’ eyes took a moment to scan my body and finally reaching the root of the problem, the second he did, his steps faltered. He was in complete and utter shock.

  Sophia hadn’t told him.

  “Lucthius I…” Damn my inability to speak, which only made me break out into another sob. The next thing I knew I was in his arms and he was looking down at me, with a gentle hand at my face. He still hadn’t said a word but so many emotions passed through his eyes, shock and concern being the main ones.

  “Tell me sweetheart, how did this happen?” He didn’t seem angry or upset and now his initial shock was over the only concern he had was for me. I burst into another snotty nosed mass of tears until I was a sobbing mess as I shouted,

  “Sthe trith tho kill me…again!”

  “Alright, Ssshh, you’re safe now. Let’s try and start this at the beginning,” he said leading me over to the sofa and sitting down next to me after unbuttoning his suit jacket. It’s when I noticed the one gloved hand.

  “But first, as adorable as it is hearing you try to speak as a youngling, let’s see what we can do about those pretty little fangs of yours,” he said softly, skimming a gentle fingertip down one and making me shudder.

  “Sthensathtive,” I lisped making him smile.

  “I know,” he replied and I rolled my eyes at him making him chuckle.

  “I gather I didn’t just do this to you and then leave you to your own devices?” he asked as if the very idea angered him. I smiled and shook my head.

  “You sthaved my lifthe.” He gave me a grin and said,

  “I thought as much, although if you mean to say I ‘shaved’ you in anyway, then I think we are talking at cross purposes, as I am not really into stripping a woman of her hair.” I rolled my eyes and growled, making him chuckle but I knew what he was doing. He was trying to make light of my situation and ease my mind. No doubt in an attempt to get this to work more easily.

  “Ha, ha!” I said at least grateful that this didn’t come out in a lisp. He flicked my nose playfully and said,

  “Did I tell you to try and think of something distasteful, like Pip’s dress sense?”

  “Oi, be nicth!” I shouted seeing him trying to fight a grin.

  “Yesth, youth didth.” I told him answering his question and again hearing me speak was making him smirk.

  “And?”

  “Ittth worthked, but…” He held a hand out to stop me and said,

  “It won’t work now,” he finished off for me and then went on to explain,

  “Heightened emotions usually bring out your other side and are hard to control in a youngling. Anger, sadness, nervousness…” he said nodding to me and my current meltdown. But then he said another emotion and I very quickly started to panic again, thinking of what would definitely happen after getting married,

  “Arousal.” Jesus, but did he have to purr the damn word!

  “I’m sstho sthcrewthed.” I had tried to say, ‘so screwed’ but with a lisp it was surprisingly difficult to say that one word without sounding like a swearing Sylvester the cat, from Loony Tunes. In fact, I was very tempted to try and say, ‘You're despicable’. But thankfully decided against it as I think I had hit my quota of making a fool out of myself for one day. And after all, it was my wedding, surely, I should be trying to look as graceful and beautiful as I could. And I very much doubted that fangs, demonic eyes, black veins and me impersonating a lisping cartoon cat was the way to go with that one.

  “Let’s not call off the wedding just yet, love,” he said standing so that he could take off his jacket. He then resumed his seat and started rolling up his sleeves giving me a clear view of the one tight, black leather glove that went up his forearm. You would have thought the sight would have looked silly but it was the complete opposite in fact, as it looked sexy as hell. Actually, the sight had me swallowing again and again just so the excess saliva having fangs produced wouldn’t just start dripping down my chin.

  Damn fangs!

  “Now this might feel strange, as being one of my own I now have a...” he paused and sighed as if he didn’t know how to describe it without it sounding intrusive, which in the end was exactly what it was.

  “…direct line into your mind.” My eyes grew wide at the thought.

  “Don’t freak out Pet, it’s not like I will be making you my sex slave any time soon, I do prefer my heart where it currently beats and not in a certain possessive King’s hand squeezing the life out of it…although…” he paused a moment and tapped his chin before adding,

  “Now that I think about it, I think I will find the King less enthused about murder, considering ending my life would also now mean the end of yours.”

  “Oh, Sthit,” I muttered making him laugh.

  “Don’t worry, I think we both know by now who your heart belongs to,.” he said softly and I don’t know why but I snorted and said,

  “You werethn’t sthaying thath when you kiddthnap me andth wanthed tho marry me.” Then I swiftly slapped a hand over my mouth.

  “Come again?” he asked but I shook my head. So, he said,

  “Very well, this will explain it all better anyway.” I was about to ask when suddenly he placed his un-gloved hand to my cheek and the next thing I knew a blinding white light had me closing my eyes before the last seventeen days started to play out in my brain like a flicker book of time. Everything I had been through, the harem, the attack from Pertinax, his rescue, the battle, destroying a God, saving his life, Draven and I, his brother kidnapping me and the list went on and on until the very last time I said goodbye.

  He had missed nothing.

  But he wasn’t done, for at the very end on the side of that river saying goodbye, the memory lingered. It felt as though I was right back there, only t
his time it was in the middle of the day and the sun was shining over our heads. The white gleaming ancient city of Rome in the background but not a single soul around us for miles.

  I looked up at Lucius to see him looking as he did now, in a suit, no jacket, rolled sleeves and a waistcoat and tie.

  “You have been busy, my little Keira girl,” he told me and I nodded.

  “Retract your fangs,” he ordered softly and I felt them going smaller without even a thought.

  “Eyes,” was his next order and I blinked a few times, knowing that even without the aid of a mirror they were back to normal.

  “Good girl,” he praised and I couldn’t help but blush.

  “Why… are we…?” I could finally speak at last.

  “Because I wanted to know what you had been up to,” he told me and I frowned reaching up to feel my mouth.

  “You mean you could have ordered me to do those things without accessing my memories?” I asked starting to feel myself getting annoyed.

  “Yes, I could have,” he admitted.

  “You tricked me!?” I exclaimed and he shrugged his shoulders and said,

  “Means must, my dear and now I know what the King does not.”

  “And what’s that?!” I almost snarled the words.

  “That half of you belongs to me and the other half belongs to him.” I frowned and snapped,

  “What are you talking about?!” Which was when he hit me with the truth,

  “You are half Vampire and the other half, well in that you will have to speak with Dom, for I already know you haven’t told him.”

  “Haven’t told him what?!” I asked wanting to be sure before I admitted to anything but this was when he snapped his fingers and his answer came back to me back in the present.

  He leaned closer to me resting an arm at the back of the sofa and said…

  “About the baby.”

  Chapter 41

  Mine Again

  “Wait, you know about the baby?!” I shrieked going high pitched.

  “Yes, I know about the baby,” Lucius responded calmly, much more so than I would have expected.

  “You can feel it, I mean when you did your…handy touchy thing?” I asked placing a hand on his forearm and he flinched as it was his gloved hand. He gave me a small, uncomfortable smile and picked up my hand placing it back down onto the sofa. Okay, so note to self for the future, Lucius didn’t like having his damaged hand touched…good to know. He gave my moved hand a pat and enquired,

  “Handy touchy thing…seriously, that is what you want to call it?” I grinned once and then replied,

  “Well, what do you call it…badass King Vamp Voodoo?”

  “No, but now I am, it has a nice ring to it,” he said making me laugh again.

  “Ha, ha.”

  “And getting back to it, then no, I can’t feel your baby.” My face must have said it all because he looked as though he regretted it right away.

  “That doesn’t mean to say it’s anything bad, just that your protective mind has now got another focus. I can only access your mind because you are one of mine, one of my made,” he told me quickly trying to ease my panic.

  “Then how did you know?” I asked deciding to focus on this question instead.

  “Because the second I got that damn Oracle out of town I forced her to tell me what fucked up idea she spun you this time,” he all but snarled at me. Oh boy, he did not like Pythia. I remember seeing how terrified she was of him that day in the library and now, well it was starting to make sense.

  “She told you of the prophecy?” I guessed.

  “Yes, but her idea of the prophecy and mine are quite different, I can assure you,” he said sounding pissed off.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is they may not be able to lie but that doesn’t stop them spinning the fucking truth!” he shouted getting up and storming over to the window to lean on the frame and stare out over the beautiful grounds. I got up and walked closer to him. I decided that considering I already had him in this bad mood thanks to mentioning the Oracle, then I might as well continue down this road and get it all out.

  “Lucius, why didn’t you tell me that you had a brother?” I asked him and he snapped his head back to me. Man did he look pissed.

  “Because I don’t…! Not anymore,” he said sounding angry and this last part was uttered back at the window. Okay, so it was clear that their once brotherly bond in blood shared, was now classed as ‘bad blood shared’ as something had obviously gone on with these two for him to not even count him as such…unless,

  “Is he…dead?” I asked tentatively.

  “No, but he fucking should be!” Well yep, there was my answer.

  “Did you guys…?” I never finished my question because he looked back at me and said,

  “Is this really what you want to spend your wedding day doing, talking about my family problems, when its clear you will soon have your own to deal with?” I narrowed my eyes at him as I knew what he was doing and it was called deflection.

  “Fine, you don’t want to talk about it, I get it, but it doesn’t mean you have to be a dick about it!” I snapped making him expel a sigh.

  “It is a touchy subject, I will admit and the reasons for such I don’t discuss matters with anyone. So, I would appreciate your…” I held up my hand and stopped him, saying,

  “Like I told you back in Persian time, I won’t tell anyone. It was clear Draven didn’t know then and as far as I am concerned, he doesn’t need to know now…not unless he is planning on kidnapping me again and sticking a bullseye on my back for Layla,” I added dryly. Lucius raised an eyebrow in question and I shrugged my shoulders not needing to explain as he had seen it all anyway.

  “Man, was there ever a time that girl wasn’t a raving lunatic, murdering bitch face?” I asked making Lucius smirk.

  “Not that I recall, no.” I had been tempted to ask what he had ever seen in such a crazy bitch, but I didn’t think now was the time. Besides, I caught my image in the mirror and nearly freaked. Black lines streaked my face and my makeup was well and truly ruined.

  “Shit, you could have told me that I looked like a racoon!” I shouted rushing to the mirror, grabbing some tissues my mum had left on the table and dabbing at my mascara tears.

  “But a beautifully cute racoon at that,” Lucius added making me shoot him a sideways glance.

  “Yeah right.”

  “I think that is my cue to leave you to your feminine devices,” he said walking over to grab his jacket.

  “You’re leaving?!” I don’t know why I sounded so panicky…oh wait, yes, I did!

  “What if I, you know, take one look at that wedding aisle and Vamp out again?!” He gave me a small smile and chuckled, murmuring a ‘Vamp out,’ and then strangely, a ‘Persian Time’ to himself. Then he walked back over to me, leaned down and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Then he lingered and whispered,

  “That is why I will be right there with you.”

  “Now tick tock, My Little Keira Girl, you wouldn’t want to be any later for your own wedding.”

  “Crap! I’m late? How late?!” I said in a panic as he casually strode to the door, he opened it, paused and told me,

  “Only seventeen days.”

  “We are so late!” I whispered as we arrived at Witley Court. We had all travelled in the Limos and I had spent the time trying to convince my parents that all was fine and we had plenty of time. Then the second I got out the car, I grabbed Sophia and hissed my own concerns so that my parents wouldn’t hear.

  “Its fine, look we are here now and besides, I don’t think worry is really something you should be focused on right now…do you?” she said stressing the importance of maintaining a calm state, one for obvious reasons.

  “Besides, Dom knows we’re here now and can stop stressing as well.”

  “You mean he was stressing?” I asked straightening my long flowing skirt.

  “Well, there was the sma
ll incident of Vincent and Zagan having to hold him back when he got it into his head to come and fetch you himself, but it’s all good now,” Sophia assured me and my face said it all.

  “What? We are an hour late,” she replied as if this was obvious behaviour.

  “So, when did this happen?” I asked and Sophia looked sheepish.

  “About fifty minutes ago…okay, okay, so my brother is now going to be a little paranoid for a while…we can’t really blame him, considering we did run off to the past for a quick spell.”

  “You’re calling seventeen days a quick spell?” I hissed so my family wouldn’t hear and think I was having some Bridezilla freak out.

  “I’m immortal and you just spent time with my two-thousand-year-old, younger self…what would you call it?” Ah well, put like that then yeah, I had to give her that one.

  “Okay, so point taken.”

  “Which reminds me, because he reminded me, I have something for you from Dom, something he wanted you to wear,” she said walking to the passenger side door and getting out a black gift bag. I took it with a shaky hand and then pulled a royal blue velvet box from the bag. It looked expensive and I hadn’t even opened it yet. No one else was watching us and I was hoping to do this without attracting a load of attention.

  “Gone on, it won’t bite.”

  “I think you once said that about your brother…and you lied,” I told her making her giggle.

  “Well, yes I did, but can you blame me considering I was trying to play matchmaker at the time?” she reminded me and I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. She was right and I loved her for it.

  “Open it before your first anniversary comes around,” she teased and I did as I was told. I opened the lid and unsurprisingly, gasped.

  “Oh my, Sophia!”

  “Dom wanted you to wear a crown but I said you would never go for that so instead we came up with a compromise…do you like it?” she asked and I looked up at her with unshed tears filling my eyes.

  “Okay, I know it’s beautiful but please don’t ruin your makeup all over again.” She laughed as I held the box to one side and hugged her with my free arm.