For Ginny’s part, she’d required little guidance transitioning to the vampire lifestyle. She and Jonas had spent a lot of time speculating why, usually in between bouts of passionate lovemaking that often resulted in broken furniture.
Jonas had a theory that went like this. Fate had selected them as mates, vampire or otherwise. And thus, Ginny’s body had been prepared, even in its humanity, to step into the role, no matter what it took. That was why she’d experienced his pain. Why her spirit had traveled through time and found him again. Fate had deemed it so—and the consummation of that destiny would change the course of the vampire world forever.
Ginny looked out over the lights of Coney Island, her attention lingering on the Shore Theater where Tucker and Elias still stayed on occasion, when they weren’t at the palace. They’d been given the job of searching for Larissa—and they had. Far and wide with no luck. In the beginning, Ginny had felt betrayed by her stepmother. Like she’d spent years having her privacy invaded. But now…
The more she replayed the night Jonas seized the throne, the more she remembered. When Clarence asked Larissa if the prophecy had shifted, she said yes. When it clearly had not. If Larissa hadn’t lied on their behalf, the night could have ended quite differently. In an odd way, Ginny now felt indebted to the seer. And if her father was still alive—and Lord, she wished he was there to witness her wedding tonight—he would want Ginny to forgive Larissa and so she had. Forgiveness was pretty easy with love occupying every inch of her heart and soul.
A lone violin started to play and Ginny’s fingers tightened around the rose stems, her body going through the motions of taking a deep breath, though it was hardly required. Jonas was waiting for her and she could already pick out his pulse among dozens, true and heavy, anticipatory. Her fangs almost dropped in response, but she pressed her tongue hard to incisors, placating herself with the promise of later.
Later Jonas would crowd her into to a quiet corner and take rough hold of her backside, lifting her so she could reach his neck—and when she broke his skin and took, his moans would shake the rafters.
“Easy there, tiger,” came a voice lightly accented with Russian. “You’ll give new meaning to the term ‘blushing bride.’”
“Roksana?” Ginny breathed, whirling around. And there was her friend, who’d been missing in action for over three months, standing in the moonlight. In a persimmon gown. “You’re wearing the dress I made you.”
“I am.” She picked up the skirt and lifted it, revealing a series of stakes strapped to her thighs. “Very convenient for hiding weapons.”
“Are you going to complain if I hug you?”
Roksana sniffed. “I’ll endure it on your wedding day. Even though you’re a bloodsucker now.”
Ginny threw her arms around Roksana’s neck, surprised when the slayer returned the embrace. “I guess this means you’ll have to slaughter me now,” Ginny whispered.
“Yes. Tomorrow.”
Emotion weighed Ginny’s chest down as she stepped back. “Walk me down the aisle?”
Roksana scoffed, but her eyes turned suspiciously damp. “You want a slayer to walk you down the aisle at a vampire wedding?”
“Yes. Please?”
Her friend started to answer, but grew tense when Elias joined them behind the veil of flowers, filling the air with electricity. “The king grows impatient for his bride…” He trailed off when he saw Roksana, his gaze slowly raking her top to bottom. “You’re here. In a dress.” His scar turned a stark white, anger igniting his deep brown eyes. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Wherever I want to be.”
“You…” A muscle slithered in his cheek. “You left my credit card behind on purpose so I couldn’t track you.”
Roksana’s voice was breathless. “Get used to it. I’m leaving as soon as I walk Ginny down the aisle.”
He stepped into Roksana’s space. “Where are you going?”
Was that fear in the slayer’s eyes? “Russia. I’ve been called back and rightly so.”
Elias choked a sound.
“Yes. It’s…been real.” The slayer forced a smile and skirted around a stiff Elias, hooking her elbow with Ginny’s. “Shall we?”
Ginny wanted to question her friend—and she would. Whatever was in Russia was not good. Not good at all. She would find out what it was and use her new power as queen of the High Order to help, by any means possible. Roksana had protected her when she needed it most and she would return the favor.
At that moment, though, Jonas came into view in between the two standing sections of wedding guests and everything else ceased to exist.
If she’d had breath in her lungs, the sight of her fiancé in a tuxedo would have knocked it clean out of her. Ginny’s heart picked up the slack, hammering wildly in her throat. Mate. My mate. Lord help her, she almost picked up the hem of her dress and ran down the flower-strewn aisle to meet him.
Jonas appeared to be contemplating the same—a run up the aisle to acquire her in his arms. His expression shifted between impatience and awe, the green of his eyes lit up like twin flames. “My love,” he mouthed, grasping at his heart. “Come to me.”
Beside her, Roksana laughed and slid her arm free of Ginny’s. “Go ahead.”
With a sound between a whimper and a sob, Ginny tossed her friend the bouquet. Then she picked up the hem of her wedding dress and ran toward a waiting Jonas.
Into the arms of eternal happiness two lifetimes in the making.
THE END
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much for reading Reborn Yesterday.
Anyone interested in Elias and Roksana’s book? Stay tuned.
This book was inspired by so many things, mainly timing. Time itself has become such a large presence in my life lately. The passage of time, the swift nature of it, the lack of it. The unfairness of it, on occasion.
My father, to whom this book is dedicated, passed away two weeks before I started writing this book, at age sixty-two. It’s a very personal thing, losing a parent. Something you really can’t put into words. So I wrote a book where death and timing and loss are themes, which I normally wouldn’t do, but in the moment felt right and inevitable. Somewhere in between the words and chapters (and humor) I tried to weave some healing and rewrite sadness into a happy ending—and that’s what’s magical about this genre. Optimism. Hope. I’m so grateful for both.
I love you, dad. Thank you for being so proud of me, even when I refused to give you credit. You deserved a lot of it. Maybe even all of it. I don’t think I’d be here without the confidence you instilled in me. I’ll see you someday.
Thank you to Eagle at Aquila Editing for being with me on this project from inception to finish.
Thank you to my cover designer, Hang Le Designs. You cooked up a breathtaking masterpiece and I’m still in disbelief that I get to call it mine.
Thank you to the readers for taking a chance on me when this isn’t my usual type of story. Readers make my world go around and I take not a single one of you for granted.
Off to plot Elias and Roksana’s story…
Subscribe to Tessa’s newsletter and never miss a new release!
tessabailey.com/contact
Follow Tessa on Instagram:
instagram.com/tessabaileyisanauthor
Available Now from Tessa Bailey
This unlikely getaway driver never expected to help the mayor escape…
After a six-year absence, Addison Potts is back in Charleston to stir things up. And what better place to make her villainous return than her estranged cousin’s wedding? Only, the nuptials hit a snag when the bride doesn’t show, leaving Addison to play getaway driver for the jilted groom. A groom whose heartbreaking smile and deep, southern drawl she should not be noticing…
Elijah Montgomery Du Pont is the future mayor of Charleston. From his military career to city hall, every detail of his life has been meticulously planned. Until now. His only respite from life’s s
udden upheaval is Addison, his new, improbable best friend. She makes him happy. Grounds him. And public disapproval be damned, he’s not willing to give her up. But with an election on the line and public pressure rising, Addison—and the cruel hand of fate—might not give him a choice.
Get it here:
goodreads.com/en/book/show/38324363-getaway-girl
Reborn Yesterday Page 26