Blood of the Infinity War (Afterlife saga Book 8)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “It’s stunning.” And it was. It was a beautiful wedding tiara that was shaped slightly higher at the peak, so that it resembled the shape of a crown. It was encrusted in diamonds, not crystals as there was no mistaking them for anything else and stunning flawless pearls that matched the necklace that framed it in the case. It also had rich deep purple amethysts as the larger stones, and the whole piece was swirls of platinum so fine it almost looked like lace.

  Then there was the pearl necklace that was so unique I had to run my fingertip along the length just to check it was real. It was quite simple in its design but very effective. It was a long line of pearls that came down into a V shape and above the V was a cupid’s bow shape of purple sapphires that matched my ring. Altogether it made a perfect heart shape, with one half white and the top a startling purple.

  I was so mesmerized that I hadn’t realised the next car had already pulled up and soon everyone was out in the courtyard all staring at mine and Sophia’s exchange. All my bridesmaids, mum and dad and the cutest flower girl in the world, were all stood at the front of the massive hall, one where only the shell remained. Then started the cooing. Everyone came around and looked at Draven’s gift, my mum with tears in her eyes, my sister with tears in her eyes, my dad whistling and Pip shouting about it being the bee’s knees and then asking if anyone actually knew if bee’s had knees.

  After this Sophia helped place it gently in my hair before doing the same with the necklace. Then she snapped a picture with her phone and showed it to me.

  It was now official, I looked like a princess.

  “Oh wow! This place is incredible!” My dad shouted and my mum agreed, only as she had done all morning, started getting teary yet again. I looked around to see that all my bridesmaids together looked stunning and Sophia had been right, having all the different shades of purple and each of them being so different, it really did work.

  RJ with her purple mini tartan dress, patterned with black velvet roses and skulls, suited her in both style and body shape. It was kind of a gothic 1950’s style swing dress, so she had her hair done in a matching style. It was pinned high, with a huge curl on the top of her head making her look like a Gothic pin up girl. In the words of Pip, she looked ‘Woozer hot’ and I had to agree, poor Seth didn’t stand a chance.

  Then there was Sophia who looked like a Grecian Goddess with her deep purple A-line dress with a sweetheart neckline, tight bodice and floor length floaty skirt.

  Libby also was wearing her ‘gift’ from Draven, which was another deep purple shade, one almost verging on indigo and one which complimented her red hair perfectly. It had a strapless top encrusted with tiny crystals, an A line skirt that reached the floor and a small belt of larger crystals under the bust line.

  Then there was Ari, and I had to say I had very nearly found myself teary again at seeing her. She was stunning and even though all my girls were, none of them brought me to tears because I had seen everyone in a dress before…all but Ari. In fact, the first time I had seen her dressed up was my Hen do and that wasn’t exactly what I would have called a dress.

  But now, here she stood in the perfect, cute light purple dress that finished just above the knee and was a wrap over design with off the shoulder straps. It had a sparkling diamond clasp at one side, where both sides of the dress met. Dainty strappy shoes that tied with ribbon the colour of the dress, making a bow at each side of her ankle. All three of my ‘sisters’, were wearing their hair twisted and curled to one side, with big ivory roses held at the twist. RJ and Pip also had the same roses and Pip, not surprising had upgraded hers to be dipped in rainbow white glitter.

  This of course matched her crazy dress, one she had found in the mall that day. It was short, it was tight and it was covered in sequins, ruffles and what now looked like added rhinestones in every shade of purple. As if this wasn’t enough, the skirt was made from a purple leopard print with a strange rainbow metallic effect. To this she’d added crazy heels that were purple velour platforms, in a peep toe design. They also had purple snakeskin straps, finishing in big bows that connected the bottom of the pointed heel, then to the rest of the wider rim of the platform. Big gold sparkly clasps secured them tight and the same snakeskin strappy theme continued up her ankles, finishing with an even bigger, glittery bow.

  They were quite simply a work of art.

  “Wook, wook, aunty Kazzy, wook how pretty I am!” Ella said twirling her adorable little ivory dress which had a thick purple sash tied into a big bow at her back. It was so cute and I loved watching the way she kept swinging her large puffy skirt as if she was in her own princess land. I grabbed her hands and swung her around, telling her,

  “You are the most beautiful princess ever!” Then I stopped swinging her before I got caught up in my own skirt and leant down to whisper a secret,

  “Even better than Bella.” I told her, knowing she was going through a Beauty and the Beast phase…man but that kid had a thing for wild beasts!

  “Wow, Mommy, did you hear that!?” she shouted running off to Libby.

  “Well, we had better get moving, we will meet you and your dad around the other side, okay?” Sophia asked obviously getting anxious, after looking at her phone.

  “Is he okay?” I asked referring to my obviously impatient husband to be.

  “Yeah, yeah, I just resent him that picture we took at the hen party, you know the one of you trying to pin rude parts to the carboard cut out we had made.”

  “You didn’t!” I shouted on a half laugh.

  “Oh yeah, I totally did.”

  “Way to go, me bootilicious, time busting, sister!” Pip said over hearing Sophia. I giggled at the thought of him currently looking down at his screen and seeing me blindfolded, with a penis in hand trying to pin it to anywhere but his head.

  After this I watched them all walk around the side of the huge building and I waited behind with my dad. He stepped up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

  “You look so beautiful Kaz and I am so proud of you.” When he said this, he looked down and I hadn’t even realised that he had both my bare arms in his hands. I hadn’t even flinched. I gave him a huge grin back and I knew what he was telling me without words.

  He knew how far I had come to get here as a human girl, but he had no idea how far I had come to get here as Draven’s Chosen One. But he wasn’t telling me now how proud he was for battling enemies or surviving attacks, kidnappings, cults, or even Hell twice. No, he was simply telling me how proud he was that I was his daughter and how far I had come in surviving my own personal demons.

  He knew this because this was the first time anyone in my family had not only touched my scars, but even seen them, as I hadn’t shown my arms once in all this time to my family. And now, here I was displaying them to all the world, and even on my wedding day. He was proud of that and I loved that I could give it to him and my mum, especially on a day like today.

  “Come on, let’s get this party started.”

  “That’s my girl,” he replied and we walked along the same path the rest of my family had, because that was precisely what they were…

  Family…every last one of them.

  So, with my arm in the crook of my father’s, we joined them. We walked past the place I remembered with a smile as it was where I had been trying to convince a badass biker to give up his jacket. Jared had helped me with my disguise after helping to get me sprung out of the joint. That joint of course, being Tartarus Prison in Hell with the help of a cowboy demon. Not exactly a sentence you say very often but there it was. Because that was now my life and as scary as it was at times, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

  And walking around the corner to see what awaited us now was beyond incredible…it was paradise.

  “Wow,” my dad said as I sucked in a sharp breath in utter shock. I even went back a step at the sight. I can understand why Sophia had wanted to have a later wedding, as even as the sun was just going down the hundreds of fairy lights t
hat lit up the venue was out of this world. Each of the eight huge pillars that framed the massive steps up to the house were now aglow with millions of tiny lights that had been blanketed by miles of strands.

  Giant flower wreaths draped in swags above on the long line of balustrades at the top of the pillars and I remembered the place well. It had been where Draven and I had made love after being reunited at Pip’s birthday party. Oh yes, I had fond memories of that time indeed.

  But of course, making love isn’t all we did. No, this was where Draven had proposed to me. He had waited until the sunrise before telling me how he had waited for me for so long. Then he had got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife before gifting me with a stunning ring. A flawless purple sapphire, encased in his wings, that would wrap around my finger and after this day, remain with me forever, even in death.

  “You ready, kid?” my dad asked me and I looked toward the others all waiting to be escorted up the aisle first, giving Sophia the nod. We walked around the side and saw the most beautiful setting as a purple carpet was down the centre covered in white rose petals. Either side were rows of white chairs that were tied with purple sashes down the aisle, finished off with bundles of upturned white, wild flowers in a country style.

  Oh, and even better a sight was that each chair was filled with the most beautiful array of people. Half of them looked as if from a movie set and the other looked like every day normal people you would have found at any wedding. A mortal side vs the immortal side…and I couldn’t keep the biggest smile off my face from seeing it!

  It wasn’t dark yet but if I had been any later then I would have missed it in this stunning setting. Even the beautiful central fountain of lovers Perseus and Andromeda had lights and flowers floating on top of the water and off to one side stood, like I suspected, a huge open marquee as it was a lovely warm summer’s evening. It looked as if even the English weather was blessing the day.

  Even the huge sweeping staircase that lay as a back drop to the flowered arch symbolising the altar, had been covered in purple carpet and rose petals, with a cascade of flowers rolling down either side.

  I watched from the side and out of view as everyone got in a line, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Then suddenly the music started to fill the air and I bit my lip at the sound of Etta James singing our song…

  At Last.

  It was a beautiful reminder of all we had been through and how we had finally reached this point. And one by one the people I cared most about in this world walked down the aisle, after all the others stood.

  First was Libby and Frank and ahead of them was their daughter Ella who was skipping and throwing fists full of white petals on the floor like she was throwing balls in a ball pit. All the guests cooed over her and every now and again she would get embarrassed and keep stopping for her mum and dad to catch up.

  They were then followed by Sophia who had her arm in her husband’s, Zagan. Then there was Ari with Vincent and one look at Draven’s brother was enough to tell me that he was making Ari feel uncomfortable, as he didn’t once take his eyes off her. After them came Pip and Adam.

  I giggled as I saw her trying to sweep along the floor gracefully but overdoing it as if she was in some period drama, holding out her skirt, which was far too short to do but look adorably cute all the same. Of course, Adam didn’t care for he too couldn’t take his eyes off his sweetheart of a wife.

  Then there was RJ, who looked about to walk down the aisle alone and I stepped forward hating the idea. But then, out of nowhere, Seth took her by the arm and without saying a word he walked her silently down the purple carpet. He was the only one who wasn’t dressed as one of the wedding party but he obviously didn’t care, because he wasn’t there for us…

  He was only there for her.

  It turned out that all the males in the wedding party wore the same dark grey suits as Lucius’ but then I stepped up to be the next in line and that was when I saw him, my very own…

  At last.

  And he was breath-taking.

  “Draven.” I uttered his name on a startled breath at the first sight of him. He, unlike the others, was in a black suit and my word did he just know how to wear it! I think if the tailor had been here right now I would have kissed him for helping create such a feast for the eyes. In fact, I felt like running down the aisle just so that I could get to him sooner, so that I could run my hands over it and see if it looked as hard beneath that soft material as I remembered.

  A black jacket, square to his massive shoulders, tapering down to his waist, with an ivory coloured waistcoat underneath and a purple tie at his neck. And as I stepped into view he too looked to have suddenly stopped breathing. His eyes swept over me from head to toe and suddenly it looked as though I wasn’t the only one that wanted to run down the aisle. It was a look filled with such intensity that I blushed and had to look away, smiling. I heard my dad chuckle beside me.

  “That fiancé of yours looks about ready to come and get you if we don’t get a move on.,” my dad whispered to me as we made our way closer to him and it was true. I would have looked at all the people as I passed who came to celebrate this day with us but I only had eyes for Draven. So, when I braved another look from the floor, I was granted with his smile. He wanted me to look at him, this much was obvious, so I gave him that and didn’t look away again.

  A few more steps was all it took and my dad was soon gifting him with my hand to take.

  “Take care of my girl,” my dad said and Draven took my hand, gripping it tight as he made my dad a promise.

  “I will protect her life as well as her heart with my very own, for it means everything to me,” he told him and my dad nodded, cleared his throat of the emotion settling there and said,

  “Aye, I know you will, son.” Then he shook Draven’s free hand, before stepping back to allow me and Draven to now face each other.

  “Sorry I’m late,” I told him quietly making him smile down at me.

  “Worth the wait…always worth the wait,” he said taking a step closer to me.

  “Shall we get started?” the Vicar asked and Draven held his hand up and said,

  “In a moment, first I get to tell my girl how beautiful she is,” he told him and I blushed again. Then he pulled me to him, lifted my face and in front of everyone he simply looked down at me.

  “Draven, everyone is waiting,” I whispered.

  “Let them, for the world can wait…everything can wait when I am looking at you,” he told me and I think it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever said to me. So much so that I no longer cared about the world either, for right now, there was only Draven and myself. So, I reached up and cupped his face.

  “Then let them also wait whilst I tell you that I love you.” Hearing this he smiled down at me and then gently lifted my hands to kiss them.

  “As I love you, my beautiful bride.” I smiled back and then leaned closer and whispered,

  “Oh, and I like your suit, handsome.” Hearing this he threw his head back and laughed, before turning to the Vicar and nodding his head.

  Then he turned back to me and whispered down at me…

  “Time to make you mine again, sweetheart.”

  Chapter 42

  Speeches

  Standing there was one of the most surreal moments of my short life so far but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t also one of the best. No, because without a doubt, other than the first time Draven really kissed me, this was the greatest moment in my life. Because there is nothing more spectacular, other than seeing your child being born into this world, than that of seeing the man you loved desperate to make you his wife.

  And as he was instructed to turn to me by the vicar and speak his vows, that time was now.

  “I, Dominic Draven, take you Catherine Keiran Williams to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according
to God’s holy law. In the presence of the Gods, I make this vow.” Draven said, then turned and retrieved the wedding bands from his brother. Then he slipped it on my finger and I noticed it was made in such a way that it fit perfectly next to my engagement ring, one he slipped on straight after.

  “Vena Amoris, the vein of love,” he said and I remembered him saying the same thing when he first slipped my engagement ring on my finger.

  I looked down at it briefly to see that it was platinum with half a symbol etched into it. The inside of the ring was a soft curve making it very comfortable to wear but the unusual part about it was that the inside was coated deep purple.

  “And do you, Catherine?” The vicar prompted and suddenly I was trying to think about what Draven had just said.

  “Oh yes, I mean…” I started to fumble for words and the second I felt Draven’s hand squeezing mine I knew what I needed to say.

  “I, Catherine Keiran Williams, take you Dominic Draven, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer…” I smirked when saying this next part, knowing we didn’t exactly have to worry about the ‘poorer bit, or the sickness for that matter, and it made him smile back at me as he knew what my secret grin meant.

  “…for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law. In the presence of the Gods, I make this vow,” I said surprising myself for remembering it all. Then Draven nodded behind me and I turned to find my beautiful friend Pip there waiting to give me my own ring to bestow on my husband. This time the band was black, with the same purple inlay. I twisted it round to notice the same half symbol design etched there.

  I placed it on his ring finger and said to him,

  “Vena Amoris, the vein of love.” I looked up at him and the sheer joy and love that passed between our eyes seemed to freeze time for us. It was a perfect private moment, even though it was witnessed by over a hundred people.