We exchange matching, white gold bands encrusted with day crystals. We don’t need the day crystals in my ring, as they are also in my necklace, and one was also placed at the twelve mark in Nathanial’s watch, but we thought it was a nice touch.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husbands and wives. Alexander, Nathanial—you may now kiss your brides.”
Nathanial takes me in his arms, dips me down and plants the most loving and passionate kiss on my lips. With my head resting in the palm of his hand, and his other hand at the small of my back, I wrap my arms around his neck and release my inhibitions. As our lips passionately move together in unison, our tongues move across one another’s lips with the softest motion. Our family cheers as I almost forget we have witnesses. With one swift motion, Nathanial stands me back on both feet and our lips begin to part. Just like our first kiss, we notice everyone staring at us. I can’t help but let out a little chuckle.
Chapter 13
Celebrations
Back at the hotel, the dining area is set with a beautiful spread of food: sushi, fruit, prime rib, and other dining options for our mortal friends. Florence prepared soup and desserts for us vampires. We enjoy a wonderful meal together, filled with toasts, and the Cristal champagne pouring over. Once done, the on-duty butler clears the table, and needs to be compelled not to remember the blood involved in the meal.
After the servants leave, the lights dim—and candles magickally light, surrounding us with the blazing fires of love. Music begins to play from the stereo system. I recognize this song. Oh, what is it?—got it: “‘At Last’ by Etta James. This is the perfect song for our first dance as husband and wife. Nathanial leads me to the middle of the room, and Alexander does the same with Matilda. With my hand in his, we begin to move to the soulful sound of a legend. ‘At last my love has come along’; I couldn’t have said it better myself, I think as I rest my head on Nathanial’s chest. He holds me tighter, and I feel like everything is right with the world.
After the song is over, the stereo continues to play on random. A variety of songs from over the years, including good ole Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, are pumped through the speakers for everyone’s enjoyment. I really had hoped for a beautiful classical dance at my wedding, but realize now this is so much better, and it wouldn’t fit for such a small wedding. We have a blast dancing and singing the night away. After a while, we start playing a game called Flippy Cup, breaking off into teams—guys against the girls—and each pour a small about of our beverage of choice into a cup to drink. We line up around the table, girls on one side, the boys on the other, ready and waiting. At the count of three, the first person on each team shoots back their drink, balances the cup on the edge of the table, and with one finger flips the cup. Once it lands upside down, the next person goes. The first team to finish wins. After a few rounds—and a few good laughs and cheers—we dance some more to the radio. I think everyone is enjoying their evening. I know it’s the best night of my existence.
Elijah hands Alexander and Nathanial each a key. We all look confused as we’ve been settled in our rooms for over a week now. “Tonight is your wedding night, and we thought it would be wonderful for you to have a night alone in the honeymoon suites. Luke and Eliza have agreed they will take Nik tonight.”
“I can’t believe you did this. Our wedding is more than I ever dreamed, and it is because of all of you.” I hug each member of my family, and Nathanial follows, then sweeps me off my feet, carrying me to our new suite for the night. He continues right over the threshold, so to speak.
“Well this is it, Beautiful. We are finally husband and wife. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
“Well, I guess that makes me the luckiest woman.”
Taking me to the room and laying me on the overstuffed king size bed, Nathanial smiles and leans in for a kiss.
“Sophia, I am so in love with you, and can’t wait to begin the rest of eternity with you. Thank you for marrying me.”
“Who else would I marry? You’re the only one for me.”
We both stand up in front of the bed, and I begin to pull the bobby pins from my pinned up hair, allowing the tousled curls to fall around my face and shoulders. Nathanial takes his suit coat off and tosses it to the chair in the corner. I stand before my husband, and he spins me so my back is to him. With a soft kiss to the nape of my neck, he slips the straps of my dress off my shoulders. With a slow gentle motion, Nathanial pulls the zipper of my dress all the way down, and the white satin falls to the ground. With a swift turn, I face the love I never thought I’d know and one by one undo the buttons of his crisp, white dress shirt. Nathanial’s tight, rippled abs make me melt. I run the tips of my fingers down his chest, resting them on his abs. My palms open, rubbing against each ripple and muscle. Nathanial lifts me in his arms, placing me with care onto the oversized down pillow. Nathanial and I’ve been intimate before, but this is even better; I feel such a connection to him. We are husband and wife—nothing is more special. I can only imagine what it would have been like if we had waited until now. With a gentle kiss to my lips, then my cheek, and finally my neck, I feel a slight sting as Nathanial bites my neck, drawing in my blood to him. I follow suit and with a small nip we both exchange blood. This is the most intimate act two vampires can partake in when in love, an absolute bonding of each other. It solidifies our oneness with blood and each other.
“I love you more than you could ever know,” he whispers.
“Nate, I’m only alive when you’re with me, and I never want to know life without you.”
In each other’s arms, the night continues on with complete romance and passion like never before, as we make love for the first time as husband and wife, sharing our love of one another in every way possible, together forever, the way it should be.
Waking in the morning, everything feels new and different, lying in the arms of a beautiful man; one who is now mine to keep, as I am his. We take our time rolling out of bed and proceed to shower. I can’t help but want to hurry; I miss Nik. It’s been wonderful to have alone time, and it’s not like I’m not with Nik twenty-four hours a day. It’s just, he means just as much to me as Nathanial. Nik is the closest I’ll ever get to being a mother, and I will not let him down.
“Are you ready yet? I wanna go see the little McCord I’m in love with.”
“I know what you mean. I just can’t wait to see the sights of Canada. I know Nik is young, but to show him a new country…I just can’t wait.”
“Yeah, you kinda said that already. So let’s go.”
“Okay, you’re the boss. One thing I learned from my dad is a good man always listens to his wife.”
“We’ll have a long and happy marriage, if you remember that,” I joke.
We walk down the hall to the elevator and hit the top floor button. As it starts to move, Nathanial pushes me against the wall, pressing his lips to mine. In a deep passionate kiss, he holds me tighter, and then our lips part.
“What was that for?”
“I just wanted to kiss my beautiful wife.” Nathanial smiles with one corner of his mouth higher than the other.
“Why is it every time you touch me, I melt, and my heart slips a beat?”
“Well, we better be careful. Your heart doesn’t really have extra beats to skip. Although, if I had to guess, it would be because I’m just so handsome, you can’t resist me.”
I playfully slap his arm. “Or maybe, it’s just the fact that I finally found my soul mate.”
“Yeah, I guess it could be that too.” He bends down and gives me one more soft kiss as the elevator comes to a stop.
We notice everyone discussing something when we get to Elijah and Florence’s suite.
“Well, look who finally decided to join us,” Caspian announces with a smile on his face.
“First off, you can all stop looking at us like that—like you know exactly what we’ve been doing. W
e’re married now: and plus, you all do the same darn thing.” I feel the redness flushing my checks.
Everyone bursts out laughing, and I turn to bury my head in Nathanial’s chest.
“Okay, Sis, you can chill. We’re not looking at you because last night was your honeymoon. We’re looking at you because something happened last night; something that may help us save Ben,” Caspian tries to explain.
“What do you mean ‘something happened’?” I ask with concern.
“A woman…well, an angel…well, not really an angel…I mean she’s an angel, what they call one of the Twelve—”
“I remember; we learned a little about the Twelve. That angel, Martian mentioned them. He works for one of them.”
“She said they call her Katherine, and she wants to help Ben. Katherine doesn’t agree with the destruction of all half-breeds or nephilim. From what I gathered from our brief meeting, she trains nephilim to work for the greater good of man. She told me she would be talking to a guardian angel called Michael. I’m to meet him later today. She will inform him of his duties when it comes to us and to Ben. I felt so much peace with her, and I believe we can trust her.”
“Okay, so what’s the plan then?”
“No plan. Today we are going sightseeing just as planned. This Michael will find me when it’s time. I assume it will be sooner than later.”
Chapter 14
Caspian’s Encounter
Last night, when Katherine appeared to me, I was unsure if I could trust her. But something about her made me feel peaceful. Today, the family will explore the sights of Banff, and I’ll be on the lookout for Michael. I hope that he’ll have some insight that will help us save Ben. Maybe he’ll even give us something to take back, and teach the others at the school.
We came here as a family to protect Ben from the angels that wish to destroy him. We ended up having a memorable family vacation, and my sisters had a beautiful wedding that none of us shall forget. Now it’s almost just over a week, and we may have found a way to save Ben. Along with our friends, my family and I drive to a place called Moraine Lake, not far from the hotel we’re staying at.
We park the cars and take a little trail that intertwines through the trees and mountain rock. The trail is a little icy, and we help our mortal friends to steady themselves as we maneuver our way through. Reaching the end of the trail, we are left facing the clear, teal blue body of water. The snow-covered mountain is the perfect backdrop for such a creation. The hundreds of evergreen trees and the frozen shoreline make the area picturesque. The water is clear and emerald green, matching Sophia’s eyes. I’ve been here before, when the family lived in the area, But never before—and never since—have I seen such beauty. I can hear the click of Sophia’s camera as she takes hundreds of photos. Thank God for digital cameras. I remember years ago, when we went to Asia, she took something like thirty-six rolls of film in the month we were there. She has always loved capturing all her memories in pictures. I think that’s why she was such an artist when she was mortal. And then, when she was just Embraced, she had to draw the pictures.
We all break off and take various paths and places for us to enjoy from our surroundings. The brisk air is refreshing, and I watch as every breath that I take frosts before me. I take off down a separate path, alone, feeling a pull in that direction, but I proceed with caution.
As I reach the top of the path, I can no longer hear my friends and family, which means they can no longer hear me either. With our enhanced hearing, it means I’m a long way away from them. If we concentrate, we can hear for miles. Maybe I should try. I have no idea how far I’ve wondered away from them. I’m not sure why, but I have this overwhelming feeling that I need to be here.
Suddenly, standing there before me is a tall young man, with dark hair and enormous white feathered wings. Even as a man, I can see his magnificence. “Are you...Michael?”
“Yeah; guess that makes you, Caspian. Are you the blood-sucking demon I was ordered to help?”
“Wow, who knew an angel could be such an ass? Yeah, I’m Caspian. But let’s get one thing straight…I’m no blood-sucker! My family and I feed on animal and donated blood, as well as a synthetic blood my uncle has created. So, no, I wouldn’t call myself a blood-sucking demon. I would prefer you use the term vampire instead.”
“Yeah, whatever you say,” he mumbles.
“Look, I was told you could help my friend, but I’m beginning to think that this Katherine-chick was mistaken.”
“I have my orders, and I will fulfill them no matter how unhappy I am about them.”
“You don’t want to help a nephilim?’
“No, I have no problem with helping the earth bound. My problem is…well, it’s none of your business. So let’s just get to work.”
“Look, whatever it is that’s pissing you off so much…I suggest you leave it here. My family and friends don’t deserve your attitude. We have an eighteen-year-old boy that is scared for his life. He is good, and pure, and deserves to live his life. My family and friends are here to help with the fight against evil. We have a group of supernaturals who are training and learning about all the evils in the world. Normally we fight other vampires and demons, but right now, our biggest fight is a group of angels who are going around killing innocent people because one of their parents was an angel. That’s not their fault! And it won’t determine who they become. Some of the biggest monsters are mere mortals. Wouldn’t it be better to hunt people like Dahmer or Manson?”
“Slow down, I agree with you. But angels take care of our own, just as humans are to take care of their own criminals. Now look…life isn’t wonderful no matter where you are. All we can do is try our best to get by. For me, my best is protecting those I love and following orders when given them. Now, can we just get this over with so I can get out of here?”
“Okay. So what do we have to do? How can we help Ben?”
“The angel hunters know where to find him, so we have to throw them off his trail. Do you have someone who can do a cloaking spell? That way they won’t find him; he will look different, and his abilities can be hidden from them.”
“Yeah, we have witches who we work with.”
“They will have to be some pretty powerful witches to pull off a cloaking spell,” Michael huffed, thinking I don’t have a clue as to what he’s talking about. “I guess I’m going to have to help there too.” Michael rolls his eyes.
“Well, they are the Magnificent Ones; powerful enough for you?” I snarl back, beginning to get really sick of this dude’s attitude. What the heck is with these angel types? And they say vampires are bad.
“You mean the actual Magnificent Ones? You work with the most powerful witches of this day and age? Yeah, if that’s who they really are you should be alright. You get that taken care of, and I will find you again in a week. We can then see if everything is working out. If you don’t succeed, I can get in a lot of trouble, so I suggest you don’t let me down. Because you don’t want me to get mad. I have a little pent up anger I would just love to take care of.”
“Yeah, I kinda gather that. Maybe you just need a good lay.”
With one huge flap of his wings, Michael knocks me off my feet. I fly backwards and land on my ass in the melting snow. Looking up, I see he’s gone just as fast as he appeared. The only trace of him is a single white feather twirling to the ground from above. Getting back to my feet, I grab the feather before it reaches the ground and shove it in my pocket before I head back down the trail.
I decide to keep my encounter to myself until we get back to the hotel. I don’t want to ruin the day.
“Caspian, how was your walk? You were gone for a while,” Florence asks as she pulls a glass of her blood punch from the picnic basket we have in the car.
“Very peaceful; this is a great place. I understand why you chose to come back here.”
“Well, after we all have a little to eat, we can head on to Radium Hot Springs. You
kids are going to love it there.”
The hot springs are the perfect place to relax. The cool air and the natural, fresh hot water cause steam to rise off it, creating a cloud of steam. Everyone brought their bathing suits, and we enjoy some time together. What might be a slight sulphur smell to most is a touch stronger to us immortals, but looking at the mountain rock that surrounds us and the snow only feet above makes the smells more tolerable. A small stream trickles down the side of the mountain from the melting snow above. The sun shines high above us in the sky, bright yellow, like a fresh lemon pie floating in the heavens. Who could ever want to leave this place if they didn’t have to?
Chapter 15
Ideas
Everlasting Embrace (Embrace Series) Page 7
