"I am complete. I don't need one more second of anything from this universe to be complete. I'm not going with you and I'm certainly not giving Rein my blood. I believe we are done. Now, be a good boy and fuck off." I stood my ground, my feet stuck deep in the sand. "You can't take the ring off me, not without it destroying you. Go ahead, Caspian, try. I'd enjoy watching that."
Fury bled over his features, bringing out the evil he was. His breathing quickened and for a second I thought he might take me up on my dare.
"You foolish girl, I'll have the ring and laugh as Rein drains the life from you. Don't you know you could rekindle the love you shared? You could have had a short time of pleasure with him, but now I won't grant you that."
"I don't believe you can do much about it." I kept my gaze on him, wanting this creature to understand I wasn't afraid.
"You can't leave here without us circling. Are you prepared to live like that?"
"Oh, look, here comes Nix and Yuri. I think you'd better make your exit."
My boys were coming fast along the shore. Caspian shot me a look and took off in the direction he'd come from. Nix and Yuri went past me, following. I knew Nix needed to see where Caspian had come in so he could seal the hole in the dimension.
Not long after, I could see their outlines in the distance, moving closer.
Nix reached me first.
"He's gone and the opening is sealed. No more bell-ringing." His scold was meant as a tease, but underneath had been a message.
"I won't ring any more bells, ever."
"Rachel, are you okay? What did he say?" Yuri's face was filled with concern.
"He actually thought I'd give him the ring. He said Rein will drain me and become the most powerful."
"What did you tell him?" Nix asked. He dropped down on the sand, looking as if he'd aged.
"I told him to fuck off."
They both erupted in laughter.
"I know he can't take the ring without it destroying him and I'll never take it off. He said they'd come after me, but I don't care. I'm not going to hide. I want my life." But how could I cope with school if I was being hounded by vampires?
I thought of Abigail Westshire-Butler. She'd faced an impossible situation in her day, but she'd found a way to have a life.
∞
They'd sung happy birthday and I'd blown the candles out on my cake. The evening had worn on and we sat under the stars, surrounded by patio lanterns and several brightly burning torches. I listened to crickets calling for their mates and the soft sounds of the waves drifting up to the castle.
Then a thought struck me. Why hadn't Marion been harmed? She'd had the ring.
Yuri was busy tossing bits of crumpled birthday wrap into an empty punch bowl on the table across from us.
"I don't mean to interrupt something important, but how is it that Marion wore the ring and didn't get attacked?"
The ball of mangled paper fell to the ground before reaching its targeted destination.
"She..." Yuri sat with his mouth partly open. He'd come to some realization.
"Rachel, I think you might be on to something. I never even thought of it—the why."
The revenant stood, pacing around the patio, nearly walking into the lights strung around the perimeter.
Nix returned from inside the castle.
"What's going on?"
I knew he'd been hurt because I'd removed the branding, and prevented him from reading my thoughts.
"Marion wasn't attacked when she wore the ring. They could have broken her—made her give it up—easily." Yuri seemed lost in his thoughts, trying to figure it out.
"Why do you believe they left her alone? Rein?" Nix sank into one of the deck chairs closer to where I was.
The revenant shook his head. A slow smile came over his face.
"No, not Rein—Lennox. I wonder if Lennox was able to keep them away while she wore it. He loved her and would protect her. She had that ring for years, and was never attacked, that isn't a coincidence or luck. Something prevented Marion from getting harmed."
The ring grew warm on my finger again. I shook my hand and little sparks flew out from the diamonds.
"If I really want protection, I guess I should go bunk at Marion's place." I'd said it as a joke, but when I heard my statement, it made sense.
"There you go, Rachel that is where you need to live. If you are close to Marion, I suspect you'll both be protected. Lennox won't allow anything to happen to Marion, even from inside the ring." Yuri stooped to pluck the ball of wrap from the patio. He chucked it into the fire pit, and it caught instantly.
"What about school, Abby's Road? Will they come after me there?" We'd managed to solve half the problem, but I needed more.
"Yuri and I will have to keep an eye on you while you go to school. If you insist on going back into your world, it's the best offer I have." Nix's expression had hardened, but his eyes told me another story, one of a broken heart.
"Do you think Marion will agree to my staying with her?" I already knew the answer. She'd practically asked me to move in when I'd agreed to go to her home for Christmas.
Odd, I remembered what she'd said about feeling like something was going to happen—something she couldn't stop. Had the warning come from Lennox? Did he give her the feelings and the dreams? I wondered.
"When should I ask her?"
"She's having Christmas alone. Why don't we go and take Christmas dinner to her?" It was Nix who suggested it.
"What if she gets suspicious of you two?
Nix scrunched his face up. "How could she suspect two handsome and charming guys?"
"She knows I was dating you, but Yuri? How do we explain the sudden change of heart?" I had a mental picture of Marion slamming the door in my face.
Yuri shook his head. "She'll be thrilled that you need her. She won't even bat an eye at Nix or me. Let's get it all sorted and go."
∞
I stood at Marion's door, almost afraid to use the doorbell. Would she even answer? It was Christmas and she'd be missing Rein. For all I knew, she'd taken a sleeping pill and was out cold.
I waited, my nerves getting the best of me. Nix and Yuri were behind me, holding the boxed dinner. Wolfram had managed to do up a feast and pack it before we'd left.
"What time is it?" I whispered to Nix.
"It's six in the evening, the perfect time to sit down to dinner."
The door opened and Marion stood, looking far from her usual immaculate self.
"Rachel?" She made an attempt to fix her hair.
"Good evening and Merry Christmas, Mrs. Butler. We have brought you Christmas dinner and hope you will allow us in." Nix bowed, still balancing the boxed food.
"Rachel?" Marion blinked, trying to understand what was happening.
"Marion, I want to apologize for leaving the way I did. Would you allow us in? We've brought everything a Christmas dinner could have and I'd like to discuss something with you." My heart felt like it was lodged in my throat.
"Yes. Yes, that would be wonderful. I didn't make anything..."
"I had a feeling you might have been missing Rein, so we will try to fill in the loneliness with some food and conversation." Nix delivered one of his thousand watt smiles.
Marion studied me. "Rachel, are you okay?"
"I need your help, Marion. If your offer to live here is still on the table, I'd like to take you up on it."
"Rachel Owens, you've just given me the best present ever." She stepped aside as we filed in.
"By the way, this gentleman is Yuri Kastelic. He's a good friend of Count Vicar's." I noted her brows climb with the mention of Nix's title.
"I see, is he also—?"
"Nobility. He's from Europe, like Count Vicar," I explained.
"I'll have to get out the silver and the crystal." Marion suddenly came to life, leading us up the stairs and to the kitchen. "If you leave the food on the counter, I'll get it into the serving dishes. Thank you for bringing such a wonderf
ul Christmas present."
I looked down at my hand. The diamonds in the ring were sparkling and the ring felt alive on my finger. I glanced up to find Yuri staring at my hand. He made eye contact, nodding.
Twenty minutes later we were all sitting around Marion's massive dining table. She'd moved like lightning, setting our places, serving the food. Somewhere in her flurry of activity, she'd managed to change and fix her hair. The woman was remarkable when she had a purpose.
Nix held his wine glass up. "To Marion Butler; wishing you the very best this Christmas and for always."
"Here, here." Yuri chimed in. We all clinked and drank.
Marion set her glass down, a sad look in her eyes.
"What is it?" Nix reached, putting his hand on her arm.
She seemed flustered for a moment. "It's silly really. It was long ago. I loved someone, a man named Lennox. He left and I never heard from him again. He was Rein's father."
I sat, frozen with how brutally honest she'd been. This was a new Marion, a changed woman from the person I'd known during my time with Rein.
"I'm sorry. You don't know what happened to him?" Yuri spoke softly.
She shook her head. "No. He must be living a life far away somewhere. The truth is I still love him. I don't think I ever stopped. I always think of Lennox around Christmas. For years I'd hoped he would suddenly appear and we could be a family—sitting around the tree, opening presents, having a dinner."
Strangely enough, it was Nix who ran with the torch. He picked up his glass, holding it out to Marion. "Marion, I believe that true love is forever. Lennox might be closer than you ever imagined. This is the season of miracles, so never give up hope when it comes to love."
I felt the ring jolt and quickly moved my hand below the table so no one could see. Sparks flew from the diamonds.
Nix was right. Lennox was close and he seemed to be having no qualms about letting everyone know.
Whatever the future held, I knew being with Marion was the right decision. Fate does funny things, like having a vampire save you from a house fire or having you end up living with the one person you'd sworn you'd never give another second to.
Continued in: Abby's Road Part 2.
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Abby's Road Part 1 Page 15
