In a blur of movement, Rafe grabbed her by the forearm. “Time to pay the piper,” he said. She struggled in his grasp, but she was no match for Rafe's strength as he propelled her across the room. For the first time since I had met her, she looked old and scared.
I stared after him. I knew suddenly what he was going to do. It gave me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I didn't want to watch, but I couldn't look away. Preternatural power filled the room. It made it hard to breathe, lifted the hair along my nape.
Edna's eyes grew wide with revulsion when she realized what he intended to do. “No!” She tried to escape his grasp. “No, damn you!”
“Oh, yes,” Rafe said.
His fangs extended, and his eyes went red as he pulled Edna into his embrace. She sobbed once, a sound that tore at my heart, and then she fell silent. Though it seemed he drank from her forever, in reality only a few minutes passed before he lowered her body to the floor. Kneeling beside her, he tore a gash in his wrist and then held the bleeding wound to her mouth. When she resisted, he forced her to drink. After the first swallow, she grabbed his wrist and held it to her mouth as though she were drinking from the fountain of youth. How quickly revulsion turned to need.
Sickened, I turned away to find Susie watching avidly. Her eyes were bright, her body quivering, as she watched Edna drink from Rafe. Cagin's expression was impassive.
Realizing what her own fate was going to be, Pearl darted toward the door, only to be stopped by Cagin. She put up a good fight for a woman her age, but, like Edna, her strength was as nothing when pitted against a creature with Supernatural power.
She renewed her struggles when Rafe stood and walked toward her.
She stared at Rafe, her eyes narrowed with hatred. “Damn you,” she said. “May you rot in hell for all eternity.”
“Most likely,” Rafe said.
When Cagin dropped her arm, Pearl backed away from Rafe, but there was no place for her to go. When her back hit the wall, she let out a high-pitched squeal, like a rabbit caught in the jaws of a lion. She glared at Rafe, her expression one of mingled fear and defiance when he pulled her into his arms. Knowing it was useless to fight, she squeezed her eyes shut as he bent his head to her neck. And then, like Edna, she went limp in his arms.
And, like Edna, she took one drink of his blood and wanted more.
When it was done, Rafe helped both women to their feet.
For a minute, they looked at each other as if they were strangers, and then they joined hands.
“I don't guess I need to tell you what happens next,” Rafe said, glancing from one to the other. “If you don't want what I've given you, the sun will put an end to it. If you decide to accept it, I wish you well in your new life. Oh,” he said, glancing at the bodies behind the table, “you might want to clean up the mess.”
“Wait!”
Rafe looked at Pearl, one brow raised.
“Travis,” she said.
“What about him?”
“If I bring him across, what will it do to him?”
“I imagine he'll be the same arrogant ass as a Vampire that he was as a hunter,” Rafe said with a shrug. “Just keep him the hell away from me.”
With their heads together and their arms around each other, Edna and Pearl staggered to the far side of the room. Clad in bulky sweaters, jeans, and comfortable shoes, they were the most unlikely-looking Vampires I had ever seen. I couldn't help wondering how they would fare in their new life, and if being Undead would have any effect on their wardrobe. I laughed when I heard Pearl say this would be the best Halloween ever.
Rafe looked at me, and then he held out his hand, a question in his dark eyes.
I looked at Edna and Pearl. I looked at the bodies on the floor. I thought about what it would mean if I went with him. I thought how dreary my life would be without him. And because I loved him, because I couldn't imagine a future without him in it, I put my hand in his and we left the building.
Susie and Cagin followed us outside.
“Well,” Cagin said with a wicked grin, “that was worth the price of admission. Now what do we do?”
Rafe looked at me and smiled. “Now,” he said, “I'm taking my bride home. How about you?”
Cagin looked at Susie. “What do you say, beautiful? Do you wanna get married?”
Susie smiled at him. “I think I'd like that.”
“Thanks for your help,” Rafe said, glancing at Susie and Cagin. “And keep in touch.”
“Will do,” Cagin replied.
Susie and I hugged, then Cagin took her arm and they disappeared into the darkness.
Rafe lifted me into his arms. “Told you they'd wind up together,” he said, and the next thing I knew, we were at Rafe's house, in Rafe's bed.
It was where I wanted to be, where I wanted to spend the rest of my life.
“No regrets?” he asked. “You're sure this time?”
“I'm sure. I just wish…”
“What do you wish, love?”
“That we could get married, really married.”
“Means that much to you, does it?”
“I know it's silly. It's just a piece of paper, but…”
He put his fingers to my lips. “If it's that important to you, then we'll do it.”
“How? It's against the law. No minister is going to marry us.”
Rafe grinned at me. “Hey, you're forgetting who you're talking to.”
I batted my eyelashes at him. “Don't tell me. You're going to arrange a little Vampire hocus pocus.”
“Something like that,” he said. “But first…” He drew me into his arms and kissed me and, as always when Rafe touched me, I forgot everything else. The past few days, Edna and Pearl, my close call with death, none of it mattered now. Rafe's kisses were like liquid fire, heating my blood, melting my bones, leaving me breathless with wanting, trembling with desire.
Our clothing disappeared as if by magic, and then we were lying side by side in a delicious tangle of arms and legs and deep, wet kisses. When he rose over me, I was more than ready. I felt the welcome prick of his fangs at my throat as his body melded with mine, and then there was only pleasure, endless sensual pleasure, and Rafe's voice whispering that he loved me.
I was getting married. I didn't know where, I didn't know who would perform the ceremony. Rafe said I shouldn't worry about anything but buying a wedding gown, and I took him at his word. I chose a floor-length dress with a square neck and long, tapered sleeves. My veil was also floor-length, as delicate and beautiful as butterfly wings.
Susie and Cagin had agreed to act as best man and maid of honor.
It was near midnight when Rafe and I arrived at the place where we would exchange our vows. I was surprised when he pulled up in front of a church. It was a lovely old place, surrounded by tall trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. The fragrant scent of evergreens and flowers filled the air.
A priest was waiting for us inside the doors. He was of medium height with warm hazel eyes. His hair was black and wavy, laced with silver at his temples. And he was a Vampire. A very old Vampire. Power radiated off him like heat from a fire.
Rafe introduced him as Father Giovani Lanzoni.
“This is indeed a happy occasion for me,” the priest said with a smile. “Many years ago, I officiated at the marriage of Rafe's grandparents and, more recently, at the marriage of his mother and father. And now this.” He beamed at us. “Truly, a happy day.”
I smiled back at him, momentarily saddened to think that I would never have children, never see them marry or have children of their own. Just then, Rafe squeezed my hand, and I wondered if the same thoughts were running through his mind.
A few minutes later, Father Lanzoni directed me to a room where I could change into my wedding gown.
I grew increasingly nervous as the minutes passed. I wished my parents could be there, but it just seemed easier this way. Getting married at night, while uncommon, wasn't all that unusual. However, if my parents had been invited, they would have expected a reception with food and drink. And then there was my father, who photographed every occasion, large or small. Trying to explain why the groom and my maid of honor didn't eat or drink and why they didn't show up in the wedding photos was just more than I could handle.
My heart skipped a beat when I heard a knock at the door.
“Are you ready?” Susie called.
“Yes, come in.”
“Oh,” she murmured, “you look beautiful!”
“Thank you. So do you.” She wore a long green dress that flattered every curve, and a pair of white gloves. I stared at the mirror as Susie came to stand beside me. I was there, as plain as day. There was no image of Susie. “Does it bother you?” I asked. “Having no reflection?”
“It was kind of freaky at first,” she said with a shrug. “It made me feel like I didn't really exist, but I'm getting used to it, like everything else. Come on, your bridegroom is waiting.”
I picked up the bouquet Rafe had given me, a single red rose surrounded by a froth of white roses and baby's breath, and followed Susie out of the room.
The chapel was filled with old-world charm. The altar and the pews were carved from oak. Shafts of silver moonlight shone through the stained glass window above the altar. The carpet was a deep blue. A sad-faced Madonna stood in one corner, her arm outstretched.
Rafe was waiting for me at the altar. He had always been the most handsome of men, but now, clad in a black tux that complemented his dark good looks and emphasized his broad shoulders, he was devastating. My insides melted like hot wax when he smiled at me. Cagin stood beside him.
It wasn't until I was following Susie down the aisle that I realized there were other people in the chapel. Rafe's grandparents sat together, holding hands. Brenna wore a long-sleeved white blouse and a bright yellow skirt. Her only jewelry was the amber and jet necklace at her throat. Roshan wore a black suit that made him look dark and a trifle mysterious.