After breakfast, Amelia excuses herself downstairs to take a shower and Sarah and I start cleaning up the breakfast dishes and the Super Bowl leftovers. The guys make a hasty retreat to the Enclave before we can ask for their assistance.
Even though Sarah assured him it wasn’t necessary, Lucan wanted to show Mark around the blood bank, or whatever they called it, “for emergencies.” Plus they needed to get Mark registered with the Enclave and have one of those nifty all-access ID cards made. I would no doubt get one myself once the ceremony was complete, which makes me smile.
“What’s making you smile?” Sarah asks, tossing me a towel to dry the ever-growing pile of glassware she is hand washing in the sink.
“It’s silly. I was just thinking that once Lucan and I are bound I will get my own Enclave ID card. Not that I will have a reason to go there without Lucan, but I kinda like the whole secret society thing.”
“Hmm. I wonder if I can get one too. Maybe we can do lunch there like fancy vampire wives,” she laughs. “Is there even such a thing?”
“I don’t know. Can you see us lunching with the likes of Sophie Collette?”
“Never. She scared the crap out of me. Like she could bite my face off and smile while she was doing it.”
“No doubt,” I reply, wiping my hands on a dry dishtowel. “Well, that’s done. Now what the hell are we supposed to do with ourselves for the next five days?”
We take the trash down to the main elevators so the guys can haul it to the dumpster in the basement. My phone begins buzzing on the dining room table as soon as we walk back upstairs. I know even before I pick it up that it is Max.
“Hey. Before you freak, I’m fine. I don’t really have the flu but I'm not suffering from any vampire related illnesses either.”
“Thank God!” he breathes into the phone. “You never call in sick so I was convinced he’d gone and turned you into his vampire bride.” Max is only half kidding, I can tell.
“Ah, no, that’s not until Friday,” I shoot back. “I'm going to be out the rest of the week though. Can you give my files a look-see and transfer anything that’s hot to Lindsey? I'm in the building if she can’t take care of it. Oh, and can you draft a dismissal for the Ainsworth case too?”
“Sure,” he replies. “But you are coming back, right? You’re not running off with him are you?”
I’m not sure how to answer the first question, but I am fairly certain that I’m not leaving Manhattan anytime soon. “I’ll be back, Max. I just need to lay low for a while until I'm safe.”
As soon as I say it, I regret it. It sounds so cryptic. There is so much Max knows by virtue of being a Patron, but so much he doesn’t know about me and Lucan, or me and Serge. There is no way he’s letting me off the hook easy on this.
“Abri…” His tone is one of warning and concern.
“Do you know what a Sodalis is?” I ask, cutting him off before he can read me his vampire riot act.
“Holy Shit. Really?”
He is excited. Holy shit. He’s excited. “You’re not going to lecture me?”
“No. I'm ecstatic. This means I can stop worrying about you. When is the ceremony?”
“Friday,” I reply skeptically. “Why aren’t you mad anymore?”
“Well, unless they’ve changed the rules, it means you will be protected from that asshole that’s after you and a whole lot of other cool benefits too. He’s explained all that to you right?”
“Yeah, I know what all it means. I'm just shocked you’re okay with it. You haven’t seemed too on board with the whole dating a vampire thing. I would classify this as a little more permanent than dating, or at least a little more serious.”
Max laughs at me. “Hun, I'm glad you’re happy. You found someone, he’s hot, he’s rich, and he can protect you forever. I'm just unhappy he’s a vampire and you’re mixed up in that mess. But only because it can be a mess, not necessarily because he’s a vampire. As I said before, he’s a good guy. He just happens to be part of a very jacked up breed of unpredictable, violent people.” Max is rambling, but I know what he means.
“You’ll do my hair and makeup then?” I ask. “For the ceremony.”
“Of course! Now, get off this phone and let me work, woman. My boss is out this week and I have a million things to do.”
We say our goodbyes and hang up. It makes me feel good that I will have another friend present at the ceremony, especially one that isn’t a vampire or married to a vampire. Sarah looks hopeful having heard my side of the conversation.
“So your friend Max is okay with this?” she asks. “And he’s coming to the ceremony?”
“Yup.” I can’t hide my smile. Things are beginning to feel okay.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
The week comes and goes without incident and Jonathan makes his way back to the Enclave. I have never been so happy to see a Friday. While I fretted about being cooped up, Amelia and Sarah were hard at work preparing for the ceremony. Anytime I tried to help, Sarah and Amelia shooed me away.
Zaid has alternated between tracking Serge and being Amelia’s escort on ceremony preparation errands. Lucan and Mark have continued on with their day jobs and helped Zaid with his quest in the evenings. Other than sharing the same bed and a couple of meals, I haven’t seen much of Lucan this week.
All this alone time has given me time think about what my life is becoming. In fact, I’m still thinking about it as I wait for my style team to arrive at the Enclave.
Lucan and I have known each other for a little over a month, not nearly long enough in the human world for a marriage or an engagement—but we’ve gone ahead and done that, haven’t we. It probably isn’t even long enough to commit to a Sodalis ceremony, if I really think about it. So I don’t.
I imagine telling my mom about my life over the past few weeks. “Hey mom, I’m dating a vampire and in order to mend his broken soul and keep a psychopathic killer off my ass we have to become soul-bound in some cryptic ceremony. Oh, and we are engaged too. You know, just to keep it all human and stuff.” Yeah, she’d be on the first plane to New York to stash me in a mental ward.
Timing and family unawareness aside, I am stoked about the ceremony. Helping Lucan is, of course, the number one reason. Becoming Serge-proof is a close second and gives rise to a secret hope that I’ll be the one to take him down. I am not particularly violent by any means, but he’s really pissed me off.
A knock on the door takes me out of my inner monologue. It’s Max and Sarah. Max is laden with his stylist’s bag and Sarah is struggling under the weight of my borrowed ceremony dress.
The dress is long with a deep plunging neck and an open back in the deepest shade of red I’ve ever seen. It is beautiful in an Elvira/Morticia Addams kind of way, but not something I would have picked out for myself in a million years. Not even for Halloween. Amelia is not as well endowed as me and I am going to need a miracle to keep the girls in this thing.
I wanted to refuse the whole dress business. What’s wrong with jeans and a t-shirt, maybe even a nice sundress? Unfortunately, Sophie has dictated that we stick to tradition since they don’t often get the opportunity to perform a Sodalis ceremony. Apparently, the dress is very traditional even if it is a gothic nightmare.
“Hey girl.” Max puts his bag down and reaches over to help Sarah. “You ready?”
“I don’t know what’s scarier, the dress or what I’m about to do.”
“I’m not sure you want me to answer that,” he teases.
“You better be joking Max or I will throw you out and walk down that aisle looking just like I do right now.” I am only half kidding.
“You wouldn’t dare!” I scoffs and then throws up his hands in surrender. “I’m just kidding. You know I’m on board with this. I just don’t want you to get lost in their world so fast, and believe me you will.”
Sarah looks like she wants to step in, but she doesn’t. I figure it’s only because her opinions would be the same as mine on the subjec
t of loving who you love and doing whatever it takes to be with them.
“I won’t get lost. I promise,” I reply. “Now do your worst.”
“So what look are we going for? Goth babe, Lady Dracula? Oh, I know, Bride of Frankenstein?”
Max sets to work curling my hair into soft spirals that hang down my back. My makeup is soft and yet dramatic. When he is finished, they help me into the ridiculous dress.
There is no way I can wear a bra or panties without them showing so I’m going commando. It is a good thing that Max is totally uninterested in my nakedness because we test a few new boundaries of our friendship getting me strapped in.
After a few precarious moments of Max poking and prodding me in places I’m sure he never anticipated when he became my assistant, Sarah produces a roll of double sided tape from her purse.
“I always keep this on hand for emergencies,” she laughs. “Not that I have anything to keep in a dress but it works on hem lines too.”
“Thank God! If I take a deep breath, the Council is going to get more than they bargained for with this thing. Amelia, bless her, did not account for the differences in our cup size when she volunteered this.”
Max gives up and lets Sarah work her magic with the tape. I am secured and likely to remain decent with a few well-placed strips.
At least I don’t have to complicate the situation further by wearing high heels—tradition dictated no shoes for anyone. Now that is one tradition I can get behind.
Someone is knocking on the door. Sarah answers it to a young vampire dressed in a steward’s uniform. She stands in front of the doorway, mouth open, her fascination with him obvious. Max gives a little cough and nudges Sarah out of the way.
“Sorry,” he offers. “Come in.”
“Thank you, sire,” he says to Max and their eyes lock briefly. “My name is Cyrian. I am to be your valet this evening. Mr. O’Reilly sends this for you, ma’am.” Cyrian holds out a black velvet pillow with the most exquisite necklace I have ever seen perched on top. It is so heavily encrusted with diamonds that it’s almost blinding. Each stone is cut like a tiny leaf and attached to what looks like golden intertwined branches. “It is the tree of life,” he adds, as if he feels I need the explanation to appreciate its beauty fully.
“Wow. Tell him thank you. Is he here already?”
“Yes, and may I say that you look very beautiful, ma’am. I have never seen a Sodalis look so lovely."
“Thank you and please call me Abri. These are my friends, Sarah and Max.”
“Abri,” he affirms with a low bow. “It’s nice to meet you, Sarah and Max.” The way he lingers on the word Max is palatable. They are looking at each other again. “Shall I go to tell Mr. O’Reilly you’re ready?”
“Ah, yeah, I think so.” I look to Max for confirmation.
Max nods slowly. For the first time ever, he is speechless.
“Very well. I will be back to escort you to the chambers in a minute.” With that, he glides out of the room as only a vampire can.
Max wears an expression of interest and defeat. I image it’s due to an internal conflict over his interest in Cyrian and his desire to remain outside of this world. Sarah fastens heavy the necklace around my neck. Even if I never have a place to wear this again, I will enjoy just trying it on repeatedly in front of our bathroom mirror.
Cyrian returns just a Max finishes fussing with the train of my dress and we head down the stone hallway towards the Council chambers. I can hear the murmuring of voices inside and what sounds like the tuning of violin strings.
“Max and Sarah, you may go in and find your places. Abri and I must stay out here until her cue.” Cyrian pulls me into the same alcove I waited in with Lucan during my first trip to the Enclave. It's where he shuffled his feet and looked at the ground, trying to find a way to tell me I was his. After Max and Sarah are inside, we move back in front of the chamber doors. I want to say something to Cyrian about Max but the abrupt silence on the other side of the doors steals my train of thought. This is it.
“When I open the doors, you will walk in and go down to stand with Mr. O’Reilly. Just relax and don’t worry. The ceremony lasts about thirty minutes and then we party!” The smile on his face reaches his eyes, making him look younger than his no doubt hundreds of years. “Trust me, that’s the best part.”
“You make it seem so easy.”
“I try. It’s my job,” he whispers as he opens the doors. “Good luck, Abri.”
The halogen lights are off and hundreds of flickering candles light the room. They hang from the walls and sit on every available surface. The smell of melting wax hangs thick in the air. The Council’s bench has been removed and a much smaller stone alter stands in its place. The Council is standing behind it wearing long black robes. I can almost make out their faces under the hoods. Lucan kneels before them with his hands clasped behind his back.
I blanch. No one said anything about kneeling for the service. I’m not sure Sarah’s tape job will hold up to that. As if on cue, Lucan rises to his feet in one fluid motion putting my fears to rest.
A string quartet begins playing a soft melody, something I have never heard before. Following Cyrian’s instructions, I start walking down the aisle towards Lucan. The candlelight is bouncing off his shirtless back, illuminating and highlighting every angle. He turns to face me and his mouth falls open. I don’t need to touch him to know his thoughts about how I look.
The aisle to the front of the chamber is longer than in trips past now that I’m dragging this monster dress behind me. It gives me time to survey the room. Max, Sarah, and Mark are near the front on what I guess to be the ‘bride’s’ side of the aisle. About fifty vampires and a few of their human guests occupy the rest of the gallery. My stomach gurgles and flips as a wave of nerves overtakes me. I try to swallow it back and focus my attention on Lucan.
Lucan reaches out to take my hand as I approach him and the Council. “You look so amazing!” he whispers to me. As he slips his hand around mine, he thinks to me with a sly smile, “I want to rip that dress off of you right now.”
“It wouldn’t take much to rip it off me, but I fear Amelia might want it back in one piece. By the way, you shirtless is something I have missed seeing as of late.”
Hands joined, we turn to face the Council. There is a very large, very sharp knife lying on the altar that I didn’t notice on my way in. My eyes go wide and I feel heat rush to my face. My overly exposed chest and neck are undoubtedly a deep shade of purple too. I suck back a gasp just in time.
“Abri, don’t worry. It’s for me, not you,” he thinks, squeezing my hand.
“For you? What the hell am I doing to have to do, stab you?” I am trying hard to keep my side of the conversation telepathic.
“No, not exactly,” he stalls.
“What exactly?” I urge back, tightening my grip on his hand.
“It’s for the blood exchange. The knife is necessary since you don’t have fangs.”
So technically the definition of exchange requires both parties to take and receive, but for some reason this little detail has never come up before. I am going to have to drink blood. “And you’re going to bite me?” I ask.
“Yes.” The response vibrates in my head like a seductive purr, quelling all of the overwrought nonsense in my brain. “I know it’s a bit graphic, but it’s not like you haven’t wanted me to try.” He pushes an image of us in the wine cellar into my mind.
“True.” I had tried to force him to taste my blood before I knew it would ruin the chance at repairing his soul. “But it’s not as romantic as I pictured it with this giant knife. And all these people.”
“Later, love. Later,” he thinks back. Ah, so he’s changed his mind.
Arius is watching us with a huge smile on his face. I can tell he is politely waiting for us to finish our conversation before beginning the ceremony.
Lucan had explained that only when a vampire finds his Sodalis does he become truly imm
ortal. Without a complete soul, vampires age and die like humans, only at a much slower pace. It’s why Arius looked so old. In the two thousand years since Arius had become eligible, he had never found his Sodalis. He’d been thirty years old when he was turned, middle aged for a man in that time, but now he looked closer to one hundred. This was why Arius had been so pleased when Lucan announced me. It’s why he looks so happy now.
“Lucan, you seriously owe me for this. I thought you had to take my blood, not the other way around!” The thought of drinking blood makes me weak in the knees. Maybe kneeling through this thing wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“Trust me, love. It’s not that bad. Just think of something pleasant, something you like—French toast maybe— and it won’t taste like blood at all.” Lucan squeezes my hand again as Arius calls the ceremony to order.
“Revered guests,” Arius begins. “Welcome. This is a very special ceremony. One that, sadly, does not take place but once or twice in a millennium. Today we seek to join two Sodali together: Lucan Padraig O’Reilly and Abri Elizabeth Cole.”
So far, this is sounding like a wedding to me.
“Abri, are you entering into this Sodali binding freely and of your own will?” Arius continues.
“Yes, sir,” I reply. My voice bounces off the stone walls. I feel my face redden again.
“And Lucan, are you absolutely certain she is your Sodalis?”
“Aye, Reveré.” Lucan bows. I take that opportunity to glance at his muscled shoulders as they bunch together. Bad move, the flush is moving down my neck and across my exposed chest again. At least my body has forgotten why we are nervous; my mind is going to take a little more convincing.
“Then it is so,” he finishes.
Arius, Sophie and Jonathan begin a strange sort of chanting in a language I don’t recognize. It continues on for several minutes as the candles flicker wildly to the rhythm of their voices. I look down at our joined hands and realize we are glowing—and not in a newlywed kind of way, more like a radioactive kind of way—from a white light wrapped around our hands. I try to reach out to Lucan with my mind but all I hear is static. When I try to squeeze Lucan’s hand to get his attention I discover I can’t move either.
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