Evander (Stratham Shifters Book 4)

by Sarah J. Stone

  Her feelings of regret were quickly lifted by his kisses. They started at her head and went lower. The ones on her neck sent shivers down her spine. When he kissed her collarbone, she let out a soft moan.

  “Spencer,” she said. She was torn between pointing out his morals and being lost in the feeling that she had longed for.

  “I'm going to take you far away from here,” he whispered, as he continued to kiss her. “Far away from this palace and this world. I'm going to marry you tomorrow”

  “Tomorrow?” she said, in shock. “You haven't even asked me.”

  That stopped his actions. He pulled back, looking into her eyes.

  “Katianna,” he said, brushing back her hair and wanting her more than anything in the world. “My love. Will you marry me? Promise to be with me in this life?”

  Her arms trembled as she held herself up. Her heart beat fast, and her head bobbed.

  “Yes,” she said, “I will.”

  “Good,” he said, and kissed her hard.

  It wasn't her first time with a man, but it was her first time with a dragon. She could form no more coherent words until morning. He took her to a world of pleasure that she could have never imagined. She couldn't breathe; couldn't think; couldn't speak. All she knew was that she needed him – needed to be with him forever.

  When morning came, she was awoken by Spencer moving around her room. She managed to crack her eyes open to find him packing her things.

  “Hi,” she said, and he turned his head toward her. “How are you feeling?”

  He winced.

  “I imagine I know what your headaches have been like,” he said, as he picked up the jeans she had left on the floor. It took another moment before her sleepy brain realized exactly what he was doing.

  “Are we really leaving?”

  “Didn't I say I would marry you, Katianna?” he gave her a smile.

  “I wasn't sure if you remembered,” she replied.

  “I remember,” he assured her. “I will always remember that moment.”

  “Did I always say ‘yes’ right way?” she asked as she watched him. “And were we always happy?”

  He paused at that, before picking up a few more things. “Almost,” he said at last. Her heart sunk.

  “When weren't we?”

  “It doesn't matter, Katianna,” he said. “It's the past. Come. We want to leave before anyone else is up.”

  “Why?” she asked, confused.

  “Our welcome is outstayed,” he said. “Please don't argue.”

  She was confused, but she didn't argue with him. Throwing the cover off, she readied herself for the day as fast as she could.

  “What about a dress? Rings?”

  “We will take care of those things,” he replied. “But I want to do it today. No waiting. We will marry on Earth; we always have. I don't want to waste any more time.”

  “What's the rush?” she tried to smile, and Spencer tensed.

  “I just do,” he said. She didn't question it anymore, getting ready with haste.

  It was half an hour from the beautiful bed to the antechamber doors. To her surprise, when they reached the vortex, there were guards at the door.

  Spencer spoke quickly to them, and they moved aside, letting them in. Katianna was perplexed as she took his hand.

  “What's going on?” she asked as he warmed up his magic.

  “Don't worry about it,” he said. “All that matters today is that we are getting married.”

  “Without even saying goodbye?” she answered. He pulled her close as the magic swirled, not answering. She closed her eyes, her heart pounding.

  “Next time,” she said as her last words on Umora. They whooshed toward Earth, and toward their wedding.

  ***

  Morning on Umora showed sleepless Dragon Princes, who had been up half the night trying to figure out exactly what the threat against them was. Sleeplessness was something that they were used to; it came with the territory. But Ariel's scream came when Alexander tried to get out of bed and promptly crashed to the floor.

  “Help!” she screamed, helpless as she tried to revive him. Umora's medical technology was advanced, and their medical response team was fast. She knew he had a much better chance of surviving here on Earth.

  But her heart still thudded a mile a minute as she stood outside the medical bay, watching them hook him up to machines and push magic into him.

  “This is me,” she said as Cole stood by her side. “This is my fault.”

  “This is not your fault anymore than it is any of ours,” Cole tried to assure her. “He's been overworked, and none of us have thought to relieve his burden”

  “None of you are carapaces, slowly robbing him of his power,” she answered. “Worse – I knew, and I was too stubborn. I wanted to be by his side too much to care.”

  “Hey,” he swung an arm around his sister-in-law. “He wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, he's going to be all right.”

  “I should go away for a while, regardless,” she said. “Even if he's going to be fine, time apart from him will do him good.”

  “Ariel,” he said, but she shook her head.

  “You know it's for the best. I'll go to Earth. I don't have a show right now, but maybe I can find something to do.”

  “Actually,” Cole's face changed. “there is something you could do on Earth. But you have to be not squeamish.”

  She smirked. “What makes you think that I'm not brave?” she asked. “Blood doesn't bother me; intergalactic war doesn't bother me. The only thing that appears to bother me,” she gestured through the door, “is the husband I wasn't supposed to love collapsing before my eyes.”

  “Well, that's good,” Cole said. “I think.”

  “What is it you need me to do?” she asked flatly. If he had a task to keep her busy, she would do it, no questions asked. She desperately needed to keep herself busy.

  “I need you to go to Earth and dig up the past three bodies of Katianna,” Cole said.

  She choked. “What?”

  “Never mind,” he said. “It's morbid.”

  “No,” she tugged on his hand “Tell me.”

  “I just…from what I've been reading about reincarnation, sometimes it's the soul, and then sometimes, the whole body vanishes only to be remade. Considering we are dealing with magic and not religion, it's the latter, I suspect.”

  “So, if it's real,” Ariel said, “you think her graves would be empty.”

  “You'd have to be discreet, obviously,” he said. “Grave robbing is frowned upon on all planets.”

  “Well,” she bit her lip, “it wasn't quite what I was thinking, but I'm sure I could get it done.”

  “If you could,” Cole replied, “Nicholas can take you. I've already spoken to him, and he agrees.”

  “But you'll keep me posted?” she nodded toward Alexander. “If something happens?”

  “Of course,” Cole promised her. “Don't worry.”

  “Everyone has been saying that since those two showed up,” Ariel replied. “I'm not sure that I like it. But I'll go. Let me get my bag and a shovel.”

  “You're the best, sister-in-law,” he said, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Always getting someone else to do your dirty work, Cole. Just find Nicholas.”

  Ariel did not expect it to be easy when she got to Earth. She had seen all the movies about grave robbing, and she knew that there were hundreds of graveyards in one state alone. But thanks to sites like Findagrave.com and the rest of the internet, it didn't take long to find the three of them. Spencer always buried her under the same name, and he always adorned the graves like she was a princess.

  The first graveyard was easy enough to get to. Three hours on the train from where she started, and she exited through the right side of the station.

  The graveyard was massive, but she soon found what she was looking for, even in the dying light. Spencer had left the grave with enough adornments that they could probabl
y see it from space.

  Risking her small data plan as the light faded, she called Cole on Facetime, setting the phone on the grave with her light on as she dug. It was eerie, digging into this grave that was nearly fifty years old. The white tombstones glowed like bones as the night grew dark.

  “I think I'm there,” she said, at last, as she pushed away the last foot of dirt. “Sounded like a clunk. How's Alexander?”

  “He's all right,” Cole said. “Our medics think it was just exhaustion.”

  “Which is not something that a dragon prince that young should suffer,” Ariel replied.

  “One who has been working that hard?” Cole asked, as she pushed the dirt away.

  “Jesus!” she suddenly cried, jumping back.

  “What?” Cole asked, as she moved the phone to show him.

  The coffin that she had found had once been adorned with jewels There were places for them to be glued in, carved into the wood. Some of the decorative, less expensive adornments were still there, but most of them were gone.

  What bothered her the most was not the missing jewels. It was the hold in the coffin as long as her torso. And through the hole, as she shined the light, she could see what was inside the coffin.

  “It's empty,” Cole said, his voice crackling over the line.

  “As far as I can tell,” Ariel replied as she shined the light inside. “See anything?”

  “Has it been robbed?” he asked.

  “Yes, for sure,” she said. “But do grave robbers usually take the body, too?”

  “Depends what they are into,” he said. “Damn. This is inclusive.”

  “Well,” she sighed. Her muscles were aching, and she was covered with dirty. “That means only one thing.”

  “You have to go to the next one,” he said.

  “I was hoping you said it explained everything,” she answered. “I'm blaming Spencer for this. If he didn't make her out to be a dead princess, we wouldn't be wondering whether she was gone or just stolen.”

  “Do you know where the other two are?”

  “Yes,” Ariel asked. “It'll take me a day to get to each of them. One of them is in Europe, which is annoying.”

  “Call me when you know more,” Cole said. “I'll keep you posted on this side.”

  “The things I do for dragons,” she grumbled as she brushed the dirt off of her. But in her heart, she was eager to get to the next one. She couldn't wait to find out the truth. She hoped that whatever the truth was, it would set them free, one way or another.

  Chapter 12

  She was nervous. There were no two ways about it. In a moment, she was going to be in front of a priest, taking Spencer's hands, and they would be joined together for all eternity.

  The only thing soothing was the fact that they had already done this before, and they would likely do it again.

  She knew that her fate was already written. She firmly believed the fact that history would repeat itself, as it had done time and time again. She was going to reincarnated, somehow, and it would only be after these headaches had killed her. She didn't know how, and she didn't know when. But she knew that they would, and soon. It was just the way it was written, and she felt comfort in that. Still, when she had planned her wedding from a young age, she hadn't planned it to be this way. She hadn't thought it would be alone, late at night, and rushed.

  She wouldn't get a white dress, and she wouldn't get a fancy party. But she would marry Spencer, and that was all that mattered. The rest could wait for another lifetime.

  “Are you ready?” he asked when she came out of the bathroom. It was the first church, the first priest, and the first dress they could find. It wasn't even a proper wedding dress, but it was what they could get with the stores only open for another hour. The church was dark, and Katianna wasn't sure what denomination it was. However, the smile in his eyes was enough.

  “Yes,” she said, taking his hand. “I'm ready.”

  “This way, my love,” he said, leading her down the aisle. There were a few candles lit, and Katianna felt it was unnerving but romantic at the same time. The priest looked half awake, making small talk with two altar boys who had been helping him with chores when they walked in and begged for a wedding. The boys would be the witnesses, and Katianna could only hope that one of them had a camera. She just wanted one picture of her wedding day – what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life.

  “We're ready,” Spencer said to the priest. “You have your license? Our names?”

  “Stand here,” the priest said, with a yawn. “Do you have rings?”

  “We do,” Katianna said, handing over the bag they had put them in just two hours ago. “I hope they fit.”

  “It doesn't matter,” Spencer assured her, and she felt warmth wash over. No matter how bad things got, he always made her feel better. “It only matters that we are together forever.”

  “And we will be,” she assured him, a smile on her face. “We will be.”

  They turned to the priest who cleared his throat, looking down at the lines he had said half a hundred times.

  “Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people. The union of husband and wife is intended by God for their mutual joy, for the help and comfort given each other in prosperity and adversity, and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord. Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.”

  Spencer and Katianna looked into each other's eyes. He was hit with memories of the other three times they had done this. Once had been as grand a wedding as anyone could have wished for. Once had been rushed like this. And once, they had barely made it. She had been so sick then; it was her dying wish that they got married. Each time, he had been honored to be her husband, blessed for the moment she became his wife.

  “Into this union, Katianna and Spencer now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not be lawfully wed, speak now, or else forever hold your peace.”

  Obviously, no one said anything. The altar boys shifted in their seats, uncomfortable. They had planned to be home an hour ago, Katianna had overheard. She knew there were many across the galaxy who might protest their union. She wondered what the conversation was like on Umora just then. Did they think she was making a rash choice? That she had just run from Cole?

  She had made a mistake then, having been swept up in the romance of it all. But her real love, her reason for being, was standing right in front of her. She knew that she could never live without Spencer, no matter what others thought. She loved him more than she loved herself.

  “I charge you both, here in the presence of God and the witness of this company, that if either of you know any reason why you may not be married lawfully and in accordance with God's word, do now confess it?”

  “No,” Katianna replied. “There is absolutely no reason why we should not be married.” There hadn't been a rehearsal, but she felt like she had said these words before. She had, of course, in three other ceremonies. She had also spent half her childhood playing dress up, imagining this moment. Was that what she was remembering? Or was she remembering the moments that she had said it for real?

  “No,” Spencer echoed. “There is absolute no reason why we should not be married.”

  She winced then, and he squeezed her hand. She shook her head, trying to smile.

  “It's nothing,” she whispered. “Just another headache.”

  “Do you need to sit down?” he asked. “D
o you need to pause?”

  “No.” She was firm on this. “I would like to continue.”

  She turned to the priest, waiting patiently, and Spencer took a deep breath. Please, he sent a prayer up. Just a little longer.

  “Katianna,” the priest turned to her, “will you have this man to be your husband, to live together with him in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?”

  “I do,” she said. “And beyond.”

  The priest seemed confused by that answer, but he didn't question it. Instead, he continued with the script. “Spencer,” he turned to the man, “will you have this woman to be your wife, to live together with her in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?”

  “I will,” Spencer promised. “In this life and any other.”

  Katianna smiled at him, knowing just what that meant. This felt right; this felt relaxing. This was what they were supposed to do. Maybe if they promised each other forever here, they wouldn't be so burdened by finding each other again and again. Maybe, she hoped feverishly, this would give them forever instead of constantly stopping and starting.

  “Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”

  “We do,” the two altar boys said, prompted by the priest. Katianna smiled at them, nodding her thanks. Maybe in the next lifetime, they would be the adults and she would be the child.

  “Bless, oh Lord, these rings as a symbol of the vows by which this man and this woman have bound themselves to each other; through Jesus Christ, our Lord,”

  Both of them were holding each other's rings. Hastily bought, they didn't have a lot of choice. Katianna tried to make her ring look as different from the one Cole gave her as possible. However, due to lack of sizing in the store, it looked too similar for her liking. She vowed to make this time different as Spencer took her hand.