The Kev put his hand on her head and gently stroked her as if she were a small child. On shaky legs, she stood and gave the powerful Fairy one last nod. She then turned to me and smiled. Mary was radiant and more stunning than when she had been a Vampyre.
“Thank you. I thought meeting you would lead to nothing but more pain, but I was wrong. This is the greatest gift I could have ever been granted. Lead well, Astrid… and make sure you change the ways of our people. They are wrong.”
I nodded because speech was impossible.
“Someday, I will see you again, I hope,” she said as she turned her back on me and walked over to the pile of ash that was formerly Spike. She spit on his ashes and then bent down and picked up the stake.
Every part of me wanted to turn away because I knew exactly what she was going to do, but out of respect for her, I watched. I watched her raise the stake high as she blew a kiss toward the Heavens.
“I’m coming,” she whispered.
And then she plunged the same stake into her body that had killed the man who had destroyed her. It went right through her heart and out of her back. It was as starkly beautiful as it was gruesome. I buried my face in Ethan’s neck as I let my bloody Vampyre tears fall.
I cried for Mary. I cried for her husband and her children. I cried for the life that had been stolen from her and I cried for The Kev who looked like a broken man.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly as I nicked the vein in my wrist and let the blood fall into Ethan’s mouth. His bleeding had stemmed and he swallowed my blood ravenously.
“No,” The Kev answered flatly. “I have just broken a vow I swore to uphold thousands of years ago.”
“Why did you do it? Why not just kill her as she was?”
“Because she was sinless in her human form. I wanted her to have the ability to reunite with her family. Because of the transgressions she’d committed as a Vampyre that would have been impossible.”
“Have you ever done this before?”
“No,” he said. “If she’d chosen to live as a human, the price she would have had to pay would have been very high indeed.”
“What’s the price you’ll have to pay?”
“That remains to be seen, my little Krumecaca.”
“Can I ask you one more thing?”
“I do believe you will even if I say no,” he said with a small smile on his beautiful face.
“What did you and Mary say to each other?”
He paused and inhaled deeply. “I asked her what she would do if I gave her back her human life,” he said softly. “And she told me she would take that life and rejoin her family.”
We shared the space in silence, both lost in our own thoughts. I wiped at a stray tear or two and then brushed my lips across Ethan’s bruised cheek.
“We need to get Ethan out of here,” I said, as I gently brushed the hair out of my mate’s face and thought about the unimaginable things Mary had been forced to do to her husband and children. I’d have wanted to kill myself as well.
“And so we shall,” The Kev said.
“I wanted to kill her to give her peace,” I told him.
“I know,” he replied as he picked up Mary’s dead body from the ground and lifted it in the air. The fireflies made a glowing bed around Mary and disappeared with her lifeless body with a crackle of electricity and an explosion of glittering pink dust.
“You knew?” I asked, shocked as I watched the spray of Fairy dust float gently to the floor.
The Kev ignored me and dispersed the pile of ash that was Spike until there was no evidence of his death.
“You did that for me?” I demanded, angry and humbled at the same time.
The Kev looked up at me and smiled. “I did it for Mary because she deserved it and I did it for you because you didn’t. It would have been a heavy burden to bear for someone as new to this world as you.”
“I could have handled it because it would have been the right thing to do,” I said. “I’m very strong.”
“Yes, you are, but this one was a bit murky. What happened here tonight never happened. Mary died defending Ethan from Spike. We are in her debt. Understood?”
“Completely,” I agreed. “Thank you. From me—and from Mary.”
Brushing aside my comment, he took Ethan in his arms again and headed for the door. “Let’s find Venus and Gareth. I’m a little worried about his immortality at the moment.”
“You think he’ll die because he transported all of us?” I asked as I quickly followed him out of the room.
“No, he’ll survive that. I’m more concerned he’ll say something wildly inappropriate to Venus and she’ll put him out of his lecherous misery.”
“Shit.” A small laugh escaped my lips. I was surprised I could laugh at all after what had happened, but I realized I was happy. Ethan was alive. I loved The Kev more than I ever had, and I was happy for Mary. My life without Ethan and Samuel would mean nothing.
It was time to go home.
Chapter 18
“We really should deal with a few details,” Gemma said quietly. She sat with me while I kept vigil next to my bed.
Ethan had been unconscious since we’d brought him home twenty-four hours ago and I was getting panicky. He should have been awake by now. All of the external injuries had healed, but he wouldn’t wake up. He’d let Spike do a number on him because he’d thought the bastard was me. If Spike wasn’t already dead, I would have torn him to shreds with my bare hands.
The only two things I’d done since being home was sit with Ethan or hold Samuel. Everything else could wait.
“Ethan will wake up. His wounds have healed. His body just needs a little more time to recuperate,” Gemma said as she took my hand in hers. “The wedding is on Saturday and if you don’t get involved, Charles’ three heads are going to explode. He’s barely hanging on as it is.”
“Do you know that for a fact?” I questioned her more harshly than I intended.
“About Charles’ heads?”
“About Ethan.”
She was quiet for a moment as she stared at the motionless man on the bed. “No. I don’t know it for a fact. It’s a feeling and I’m getting better about trusting them.”
“I want you to be right, but I’m not the only one here in a panic. The Vampyres are running around the compound freaking out—not a very promising sign. I know you mean well, but I don’t care about the wedding anymore. I’m not human. I’m a mated Vampyre. The sooner I get used to that, the better. Just please cancel it for me.”
“Are you sure?”
I wanted to scream no, but I didn’t. I would not end up like Spike or Mary. I didn’t want to hate my immortality. Hanging on to my human past would get me nowhere. I’d seen what pining away for a life that was over did to people. Never would I become like that.
“I’m sure,” I said, turning my head away from my dearest friend so she wouldn’t see my tears.
Gemma rose from the chair and laid her cheek on my head. “If you change you mind, just let me know, okay?”
“I won’t change my mind,” I said flatly. “My place is here with Ethan, in his world. I’m doing the right thing, Gemma.”
“If you say so,” she said, walking quietly toward the door. “Call me if you need me.”
“I will,” I replied without turning my head to acknowledge her exit.
If I made eye contact with her, I would fall apart. Terror clawed at my insides. If Ethan didn’t come back to me, I’d have very little to live for. Oh. My. God. How selfish could I be? I had Samuel and I would live for him. Ethan would want it that way and I would want the same thing if the situation were reversed. Ethan would have my ass in a sling if I gave up, but it would be a hollow existence.
“Why won’t you wake up?” I whispered as I pressed my lips to his. “I need you.”
“Mommy?” Samuel’s tiny voice called out from the doorway of our suite. “Can me come in?”
“Of course you can, baby,” I
said, as I plastered a smile on my face that I was certain my astute little boy would be able to see through.
Samuel scrambled across the large room and threw himself at me. He smelled so good. I buried my face in his soft curls and willed myself not to cry. Pam followed him in and sat down on the bed next to Ethan. She brushed my mate’s hair back and kissed his forehead.
“I’ve had enough of this shit, young man,” she growled at Ethan. “I’m gonna kick your sorry ass when you wake up for making us all so damned scared. I raised you better than this.”
“He no hear you,” Samuel told Pam as he patted her back.
“Sure he can,” she told Samuel with a smile as plastic as my own. “Your daddy will be just fine. You’ll see.”
Samuel crawled off my lap and settled himself next to his father on the bed. Pam cocked her head, indicating for me to get up and follow her.
“I’m not leaving the room,” I warned. I stood and took a few tentative steps away from the bed.
“I’m not asking you to, Assbarrel. I just want to have a few private words with you.”
My stomach knotted in pain as I joined her in the sitting area on the far side of our suite. Positioning my body so I could still clearly see my boys, I sat down and steeled myself to hear horrific news. I was sure she knew something I didn’t want to know. Earlier I’d physically removed three healers from of the room when they couldn’t help Ethan—and I wasn’t gentle.
Had they gone to Pam with news because I’d frightened the living Hell out of them?
I wouldn’t blame them. Pam was scary, but right now I was terrifying.
“Say what you need to say quickly. I have to stay close to Ethan,” I said tersely.
Pam eyed me and shook her head. “He’s right across the room. If you get wound up any tighter, you’re gonna pop like a fuckin’ tick, little missy.”
“Just get to it,” I snapped. “What do you know that they’re not telling me?”
“What in the Hell are you blabbering about?” she asked, confused.
“I assume you know something about Ethan that the damned healers are too scared to tell me, so out with it.”
“Never assume. It makes an ass out of you and me… especially you,” she chastised with arched brows and pursed lips.
“Fine,” I muttered, too tired and agitated to worry about my bad manners. “What did you want to discuss?”
“What’s this I hear about you cancelling the wedding?” she inquired.
Letting my head fall back on my shoulders, I stared at the ceiling and counted to twenty-seven. Sobbing or yelling would help nothing. “News sure travels fast around here.”
“Yeah, well a lot of people around here seem to care about you—don’t ask me why. You’re a pain in the butt. Is it true?”
“Pam, Ethan is in some kind of fucked up Vampyre coma. I think a wedding is the last thing I should be concerned about. I can’t get married when the groom’s not exactly conscious,” I snapped.
“You and Ethan rule these folks and they’re very much on edge right now. You have duties, child. And one is to comfort your people no matter how you feel. Ethan is the damned Prince and you are The Chosen One. This shit looks bad,” she said.
“I don’t care.”
“Really?” she inquired with an eye roll.
“Really.”
“So you just gonna let everything go to Hell in a hand basket while your man is napping? Just let chaos ensue, and word get out that neither of you can lead your people? You’re gonna have every immortal jackhole trying to attack from every corner of this world and the next,” she informed me. “When Ethan wakes up, he’s gonna be knee deep in crap.”
“And planning the wedding would stop that?” I demanded, slapping my now sparking hands on the table and lighting it on fire. “Shit.”
Waving my hand, I doused the flame, sunk lower on the couch and wallowed in self-pity for a short but satisfying forty-three seconds. Pam was right. Pretending I didn’t inhabit a violent world where usurping power was the fucking norm, was juvenile, stupid and deadly.
“Going on with the wedding would prove what?” I asked her.
“It would prove that you have every confidence that Ethan is coming back to us. It would shut the peanut gallery up and buy more time for Ethan. Don’t forget, you may have killed that bastard Spike, but the Dark Fairies are still out there.”
“They can’t find any more portals without Spike,” I reminded her, hating to speak the horrible Vampyre’s name aloud.
“True, but they sure can cause a sphincterload of other problems,” she shot back.
I stood and paced while watching Samuel play with Ethan’s hair. Ethan had to wake up and when he did everything would be under control. Pam was correct and her verbal kick in the ass was exactly what I needed.
“You’re right,” I said slowly, ignoring her use of the word sphincter. I’d broach that at another less stressful time. “But I can’t leave him. How do I do this?”
“Leave that shit to me and that three headed freak, Charles. I’ll have the King issue a statement that the wedding will go on as planned and…”
“And?” I asked.
“And we wait, baby. We wait for Ethan.”
“What if he doesn’t wake up?” I whispered, voicing the fear that was eating at my sanity.
“That’s unacceptable. That damn boy has everything to live for. You just get on over there and offer him a whopper of a blowjob. He’ll jump right out of that bed,” she suggested with a wink.
“That won’t work,” I said, staring at my fingers with great interest.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Pam cackled and slapped her thigh. “You already tried that one.”
“Yes,” I hissed and laughed despite the gravity of the situation. “I did and he didn’t bat an eyelash.”
“Maybe you need to work on your skills.”
“Maybe you need to shut your cakehole before I do it for you.”
“Promises, promises,” Pam said with a laugh. “You want me to take Samuel back to the nursery?”
“No.”
I glanced over at my baby. He was whispering in Ethan’s ear and stroking his cheek. It was all kinds of sweet and all kinds of tragic.
“He needs us and frankly, I need him too,” I told her. “Even though you suck, I love you.”
“I know,” she replied with a grin.
“Aren’t you supposed to say it back?” I demanded, squinting at my Guardian Angel.
“I show you every day how much I love your sorry ass, but if you wanna hear it, then yes… I love you too, Asscamper.”
With a grunt of laughter, Pam let herself out of the room. She was a walking, talking, foul mouthed nightmare and I’d go to the ends of the earth for her.
“Mommy, come cuddle wif us,” Samuel said as he patted the space on the other side of him. “Daddy just needs some love.”
I said nothing because I was terrified I was going to cry again. Nodding, I got into the bed and curled my body around Ethan’s. My arm was draped across Ethan’s chest and my head rested near his. The picture was perfect. I just prayed the reality would catch up.
With a yawn of sheer exhaustion, I closed my eyes. I’d just rest them for a few minutes. Going without sleep was not making me a very popular person. My bitchiness was showing. Whatever. I’d apologize to everyone later.
***
“What the fu…?” I shrieked as I tumbled out of the bed and hit the floor with a hard thud.
The buzzing woke me, but that wasn’t what made me scream. No. The sight of my son engulfed in flames and my mate floating above the bed was the scenario that made me cry out in terror.
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod. Samuel, hold on. Mommy will fix this,” I shouted, as the buzzing increased to a volume that made it difficult to hear my own voice.
Lifting my hands above my head, I flung them at the horrifying scene in front of me, but nothing happened.
Again. I tried again.
Nothing.
Samuel was barely recognizable inside the firewall. The flames licked at Ethan, but he didn’t notice. His eyes were still closed and he had no awareness that our son was burning to death below him.
“Shitshitshitshit,” I cried out. I pulled deeper on my magic and attempted to douse the flames yet again.
Nothing.
If anything the flames grew.
Fashionably Dead and Wed Book 7 Page 19