“It is a deal.”
“Good.”
Thirty-Six
Tex
Ava is beaming from ear to ear when she and Peter show up at the house, and at first, I just think that they had some really great sex in the woods, but then Ava holds up her hand and I see the bling on it and then I’m screaming and running at her and she’s avoiding me so she doesn’t get zapped and then I’m crying and we all fall into a heap in the yard and everyone comes out to stare at us.
Yup, that’s pretty much how it goes when Ava tells me that she and Peter are getting married. I mean, it’s sort of redundant, because they can’t be legally married, because they’re legally dead, but who the fuck cares? I’m going to plan them a hell of a wedding and Viktor is going to foot the bill. He just doesn’t know it yet.
“I can’t believe it!” I say, jumping up and down.
Coby just smiles and shakes his head, but says ‘congratulations’ anyway and shakes Peter’s hand and Ava’s.
“Um, so I’m going to start stockpiling wedding magazines. And if I’m not your maid of honor, then I’m going to kill you again,” I say, when I can finally stop crying.
“You are such a dork. Of course you are. Who else is it gonna be?”
“Oh my God, we have to call Jamie!” I don’t seem to have control of my voice volume, or my hands, because they keep flailing and almost hitting people. It’s a good thing they have supernatural speed.
I pull out my phone and put Jamie on speaker so I can yell the news at him. At first he has me repeat myself, but then Ava takes the phone and tells him and then I hear a shriek that must be from Brooke.
“Please let me be a bridesmaid! Please! I’ve always wanted to be one and I never thought I was going to get the chance. Please!” Thank God I’m not the only one who is freaking excited about the whole wedding thing. It’s something to look forward to. Something other than blood and another hunting trip and people dying.
It’s a celebration of pure and true love and there’s nothing in this world better than that. Nothing.
Somehow, this shit show had turned into something good. We have the new people to deal with and Di and Helena and all that, and teaching Coby not to kill people, but somehow, some way, things are going to be okay. Plus, I’m going to get to wear a fabulous dress and see two of my favorite people profess their love for one another. Seriously, there is nothing better than that.
“You’re going to let me pick out my own dress, right Ava?” I say as Ava walks into the house, leaning on Peter. She doesn’t answer.
“Seriously, Ava? Dress? You’re not going to put me in some sort of peach monstrosity just to be mean are you? Ava?”
~^*^~
I come crashing down to reality when Viktor puts me down right next to my car we have to go back to work. I’m seriously dreading going to the bookstore, but I have to do it. Coby is still “missing” (for the time being) and I still have to play the part of the grieving sister.
“I’ve got your back, Tex,” Viktor says as he walks behind me, his hand on my back.
The font of the bookstore is plastered with posters of Coby’s face. I nearly fall over when I walk in and see a stack of t-shirts with Coby’s surly face glaring at me and all the info about the reward, etc. on the front counter. Apparently, it’s up to $35,000. Where they got that money, I have no flipping idea.
“It’s from me,” Viktor says in my ear as I stare at the t-shirts.
“What?”
“Shh, your mother.” I turn and see my mom talking to someone and handing them a shirt.
“Oh, Tex, there you are.” Um, what? I walk over and she pulls me into a hug. A really tight one. The second she lets me go, she hugs Viktor and I swear she squeezes the air out of him, even though that’s not possible.
“I’m so glad you’re here. You’re late, why are you late?”
“Five minutes, Mom.” What is her damage? This Coby thing has really warped her.
“I know but I’m just so happy you’re here.” Her eyes well up and she hugs me again.
I give Viktor a look and he winks at me. This is ridiculous.
Viktor
Tex’s parents have taken quite a turn. Her father even comes and gives her a hug.
“I think they’re on acid.” Tex is so unaccustomed to their affection, she doesn’t really know what to do with it. She drags me to the bathroom a few hours later and kisses me hard and tries to have her way with me.
“They’re driving me crazy. It’s like I’m an only child. I can’t . . . I can’t deal with this. We’ve gotta get Coby home ASAP.”
“He isn’t ready yet. But he might be soon.”
“It better be soon. I don’t care what we have to do, but we’re getting him back here so Mom and Dad can stare at him and hug him and shower him with all their love. All I need is you.”
“That sounds like a song.”
“I think it was a mishmash of a bunch of songs. Would you write me a song?”
“I will write you a song.”
“In Russian?”
“In Russian.”
“Good.”
Peter
“Are you sure about this?” Ava says for the fourth time that afternoon. We’re just about to leave to go up to the other house and so far, we have gotten no emergency phone calls, but that doesn’t mean that everything is fine and she is having another one of her moments.
“I am fine.” I am fine with anything and everything now that the ring is on Ava’s finger. Everything will always be fine, or at least good forever.
“If you say so.” She takes off her shirt and then stares down at her ring. “I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, I know I won’t be able to tell Dad about it for a while, but I’m really, really, really happy. About this anyway. I feel bad for being so happy in the chaos, but I can’t help it.”
“You shouldn’t. I want you to be deliriously happy.”
“Well, I am.”
~^*^~
“I don’t like it,” Ava says, staring out the back window as Helena and Di organize some sort of game with the newbies.
“They seem to be doing fine so far.”
“I still don’t trust them.” Ava has finally gotten the hang of narrowing her eyes suspiciously and she’s doing it now.
“There have been no fatalities and Coby might be able to go back home next week.” I am trying to help her look on the bright side. “And you told your father and we are getting married. Things have worked out, for the most part.” She turns from the window and looks at me.
“But we still have to figure out how the hell I’m going to get through school and be here and deal with all this and plan a wedding and get into college and—“
I stop the flow of words with a kiss.
“We will figure it out. Not everything needs to be planned and taken care of right this moment. We have been through so much. Besides, I am sure Claire has some advice.”
Ava’s gone through quite a few more of the letters and they seem to be her sanctuary, in addition to Texas. I steal them after she reads them and have Viktor scan them digitally so if something happens to them, she will always have them.
“I still can’t believe this house is mine and there are all these people in it,” she says, motioning around. We’ve gotten more done, including the flooring and everyone has brought their own little bit of flair to it. Texas keeps trying to paint the walls with glitter, and Ava keeps trying to stop her. Coby has undertaken decorating some of the walls with his art, which is fine as long as it’s not “emo,” according to Ava.
“I lost Mom and now there are all these people. They can’t take her place, but I don’t feel alone. You know?”
“I do.” I had been alone for over a hundred years and then I met her and I knew I would never be lonely again.
“You always said that noctali don’t live well together, but somehow we’ve found a few that can do it. So far, at least.”
“So far.”
Thing
s could still change. Fights will break out. There will be more deaths. The house will probably sustain more damage. But I will always have my Ava.
Ava
Of course the whole “you can stay for one week” thing does end up becoming two weeks, and then three and by the time I’m going back to school in September, Helena and Di have built a cabin on the property and Tex is talking them into building a pool. Apparently Di has taken to carpentry and spends a lot of time during the day working on the house.
I still don’t trust her, but she’s slowly earning some it back, inch by inch. I’m constantly checking in with Viktor and Peter to ask how they feel about it, but, as usual, they’re pretty tight-lipped. I know it must be hard for them to have her around, but they seem to be adjusting and I even catch them laughing together a few times. Who knew?
Torie turns out to be dry and witty and so funny that she has us all rolling on the floor. Seth is quiet, but so thoughtful. He is the first one of the three to be able to feed without killing. He has a soft spot for abandoned animals and brings a litter of kittens into the house, and if we let him, he’d turn the place into a zoo. Rob and Coby are close, and I think there might be something romantic going on, but I don’t mention it to Tex. I’m pretty sure she already knows, because she’s definitely been watching them.
Jamie comes up when he can, but his niece, Jaymie-Dawn takes up a lot of his time when he’s not at school or sports. Brooke stays with us when the baby is first born, but moves back in a few weeks later and she’s just as in love with little Jaymie-Dawn as Jamie is, and Brooke does a lot of babysitting.
Dad and I are . . . coping. Moving forward. I still haven’t told him everything about everything, but I give him little bits every day, and he’s accepted the fact that I’m going to be gone in the middle of the night, but still tries to set a curfew. I smile and tell him that I’ll do all my homework and be a good girl and he relents.
I still have no idea about what I’m going to do after my senior year, but Peter thinks we should travel through Europe for the summer and then I can figure out whatever I want. I start making a list of things I want to do and the list grows, and grows and grows . . .
I read one letter from my mother per week, savoring each word and re-reading them whenever I get the chance. I hear her voice in my head and smell her scent and I look down at the ring on my finger and know that she would be happy for me. Even though I’m not even eighteen and I’m engaged and immortal. I’m her daughter, and she loves me. Even though she’s not on earth anymore, her love still stays with me, and will stay with me for the entirety of my existence. Her love for me will last forever.
So will mine for her, and mine for Peter, and his for me.
It’s time for our dawn . . .
Ma Fleur,
Time passes. Things change. This is and always will be the case. But love will always endure. If you never listen to anything I have to say in these letters, listen to that.
Love lasts.
And it is always darkest before the dawn . . .
With my love eternal,
Your Mother
About the author:
Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA and Adult New York Times/USA Today Best Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.
Other books by Chelsea M. Cameron:
Nocturnal (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book One)
Nightmare (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Two)
Neither (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Three)
Neverend (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Four)
Whisper (The Whisper Trilogy, Book One)
Deeper We Fall (Fall and Rise, Book One)
Faster We Burn (Fall and Rise, Book Two)
Together We Heal
My Favorite Mistake (Available from Harlequin)
My Sweetest Escape (Available from Harlequin)
Our Favorite Days (My Favorite Mistake, Book Three)
Sweet Surrendering
Surrendering to Us
Dark Surrendering
For Real (Rules of Love, Book One)
For Now (Rules of Love, Book Two)
Deep Surrendering
UnWritten
Behind Your Back
Back to Back
Bend Me, Break Me
Style
Second Kiss (Violet Hill, Book One)
Double Exposure (Violet Hill, Book Two)
Into Your Arms (Squad Stories, Book One)
Find Chelsea online:
chelseamcameron.com
Twitter: @chel_c_cam
Facebook: Chelsea M. Cameron (Official Author Page)
Instagram: @chelccam
Sign up for her Patreon
Nocturnal (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book One) is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 Chelsea M. Cameron
Cover by Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations
chelseamcameron.com.com
Nightmare (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Two) is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 Chelsea M. Cameron
Cover by Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations
chelseamcameron.com.com
Neither (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Three) is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 Chelsea M. Cameron
Cover by Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations
chelseamcameron.com.com
Neverend (The Noctalis Chronicles, Book Four) is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 Chelsea M. Cameron
Cover by Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations
chelseamcameron.com.com
The Noctalis Chronicles Complete Set Page 103