by Clare Willis
“I received a visit from a friend of mine on the Council.”
Sunni bristled. “Why would you even talk to any of them? The Council ordered you to kill me!”
“Yes, but they realize they were wrong, and they have forgiven me for defying them. “ She sniffed. “Well, goody for them. “ Jacob sighed. “I know this is hard for you to understand, Sunni, but my association with the Council goes back too far to ignore them.” “Was it Scipio you talked to? “ Jacob nodded. Sunni bit her lip. Since she knew that it was Scipio who had freed Jacob from jail, he was the one member of the Council whom she felt she could forgive.
“Okay, so did Scipio just want to tell you that they’re not going to throw you in jail next time they see you?”
“More than that. They want me to rejoin the Council.”
“As a yeoman? It’s too dangerous!” “No, Sunni. My fighting days are over, I hope. They want me as an advisor. ”
“Seriously, Jacob, what kind of advice do they want from you?”
“They want me to aid them in shaping their policies about the interactions between vampires, humans, and dhampirs.” He put his arms around her and kissed her hair. “I think we might be on the verge of a sea change in our laws about miscegenation.”
She squeezed his slim waist. “And what makes you the expert in these things?”
He tucked a lock of jet-black hair behind her ear, and then circled her cheek with his fingers. “Why, you do, of course. Every moment with you is a learning experience. And I hope to have many more of them in the years to come.”
He gave her a long, lingering kiss. Finally he broke away, but kept his arm around her waist, with her body tight against his. “So, what’s your news?”
Sunni swallowed hard. “Alastair just gave me a letter. Dennis was my real father and I never knew it.”
Jacob nodded, his expression barely changing. “Hmm, that makes sense. He knew it would make things very, very complicated if he told you. He was trying to protect you.”
“I’m getting a little sick of men trying to protect me.”
Jacob stood up straight and made a salute. “I promise I will never protect you again.”
“Yeah, right.”
He smiled. “I would think you could protect me now.”
“Speaking of complicated vampire things, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”
“Anything. ”
“How long am I going to live, exactly?”
Jacob shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m not sure anyone does. But we are going to have a very long time together, my love.”
“Hmm. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the idea of being carded forever. ”
Jacob frowned. “What does it mean to be ‘carded?’” She chuckled. “Never mind. Let’s go look at the sunset.”
He took her hand and led her to the bow of the yacht. As it plowed westward into the open ocean, they watched the last rays of the sun dip below the horizon.
Epilogue
The wedding would have been the envy of any woman with a romantic heart. Even Sunni would have been envious, if it hadn’t been her wedding. When they visited Jacob’s farm in Rhode Island in the spring, Sunni was amazed to find a field full of wildflowers that exactly matched the vision she’d had while she was hovering between life and death in the alley in San Francisco. She knew right away that this was where her wedding should be held. But there was one little snafu. Jacob hadn’t asked her to marry him. So she threw herself down on one knee amidst the primroses, goldenrods, and black-eyed susans, and proposed to him.
Jacob laughed, but he seemed taken aback, and didn’t immediately answer.
“What’s wrong?” Sunni asked, feeling chagrined.
“I thought you didn’t want to get married,” Jacob said.
“I do, and I want to do it before these flowers die,” she said.
So two weeks later, after a whirlwind of preparations, they gathered in the field, under a three-hundred-year old oak tree that still bore the initials Jacob’s son had carved into it with his penknife. Jacob’s half brother Isaiah played a happy tune on the fiddle while Sunni walked in, holding a bouquet of yellow tulips tied with a white ribbon. She was flanked by Isabel and Delia, who had been told to wear whatever they wanted, so Isabel was as conspicuous as a stop sign in a hot pink sundress, while Delia had opted for a little black dress.
Sunni, following her vision, wore a 1920s tea dress of white handkerchief linen, fine and thin as tissue paper, and Jacob a white linen shirt, untucked and open at the neck. A small band of friends and relatives encircled them, a ragtag blend of humans and vampires, although most of the humans didn’t know they were in supernatural company.
Scipio, dressed in a Roman toga, welcomed the group in a sonorous baritone that made Sunni wish she’d organized a longer ceremony. He called Enzo, and the vampire came to stand in front of Sunni and Jacob. He had dressed for the occasion in a blinding white suit with a black shirt and red tie. He bowed deeply to them and recited a love poem by Dante Aligheri.
De gli occhi de la mia donna si move
un lume sì gentil, che dove appare …
As he continued, his voice low and caressing, Scipio began to weep. Sunni glanced at Jacob in alarm. She had seen Jacob cry tears of blood, and one of her greatest fears was that the wedding would incite the vampires to gush crimson fountains out of their eyes that would make everyone who wasn’t a vampire think that some kind of biological weapon had been deployed. But Jacob had explained that the blood tears only happened when a vampire was in the deepest extremes of emotion, and the sentimental happiness of a wedding would produce only normal lacrimation.
“And now I will recite the poem in English,” Enzo said.
Jacob held up a hand. “That’s all right, my friend, I will do it. ”
Enzo raised his eyebrows in surprise, as this hadn’t been part of their preparations. As he stepped back into the crowd, Jacob took both of Sunni’s hands in his.
My lady’s eyes shine forth so dear a light
That, wheresoe’er its gentleness appears,
A world is soon beyond description seen,
Such is the wonder of their blissful height.
Jacob’s eyes glistened as he gazed at his soon-to-be wife. “Everything in the world is more beautiful when I experience it with you, my love.”
They exchanged simple gold bands, and then they kissed. The kiss was so long and so profound that Sunni forgot where she was and what she was doing. The young vampire, Patrick, who had been hiding out under the shade of the oak tree, let out a whoop that finally broke them apart. When Sunni turned to look at him she saw Patrick handing her assistant, Carl, a handkerchief to dry his tears.
Sunni learned at the reception that vampires love to dance. Any ungainliness they might have had while human was erased, and they never got tired or developed blisters. At midnight Sunni finally called a break so that she could throw the bouquet, and it landed squarely in the strong and steady arms of Isabel, who exchanged a knowing look with the boyfriend she’d brought from San Francisco.
Finally the party was over and everyone had gone home. Sunni and Jacob sat together on the couch in the small, formal parlor of his colonial farmhouse. The house was wired for electricity, but now the only light was from the moon gleaming through the wavy glass of the tall mullioned windows. Sunni leaned against Jacob’s chest, her ankles propped on the arm of the stiff satin sofa, a glass of champagne in her hand.
“We’re going to need some new furniture,” Sunni said.
“What’s wrong with this furniture?” Jacob patted the back of the sofa, and a cloud of dust was released into the air. “I thought you liked old things. ”
Sunni leaned her head back. She pulled Jacob to her and gave him a lingering kiss. “I love old things,” she murmured. “But this sofa is awful. When’s it from, 1860? That was the worst era for furniture.”
“It serves its purpose.” Jacob slid his hand
up Sunni’s bare leg. “I think we could do anything we wanted on this sofa.”
“Could we make a baby?”
The progress of Jacob’s hand stopped at mid-thigh. His face grew serious. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yes. It’s what I’ve always wanted. I just didn’t know it until I met you.” She nudged his hand so that it continued on its way. “And it’s not illegal anymore. The Council has changed the rules, thanks to you.”
“And to you,” Jacob said, his lips against her mouth. “The old ways are giving way to the new.” His tongue was warm, slick and velvety, and Sunni felt herself start to melt.
“I would be the happiest man in the world, to have a family with you, Sunni,” Jacob said, his voice thick with emotion.
Sunni carefully placed her champagne flute on the worn wooden floor, and then sat up so that she was straddling Jacob’s lap. She slid both hands under his loose shirt, feeling the hard ridges of muscle in his abdomen, and higher, until they rested on his chest. His heart was pounding hard, and his breath came in shallow, labored pants. He grabbed the back of her head and kissed her so hard she tasted blood, but she didn’t back away. She jerked her arms so that the buttons popped off his shirt, and he laughed without taking his lips off of hers. She filled her fists with his thick, wild hair. And then they were making love, and everything old was new again.
Table of Contents
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
