by Anna Santos
* * *
JESSICA
Jessica nibbled her lip, aware that she was lying. The headaches should have stopped. But the blood Anna gave her was probably leaving her system and it would make it harder for her to keep her memories for much longer. At least, she wasn't having any nosebleeds.
“Okay, so don't overdo it, just take things slow,” Marcus requested.
Jessica nodded, stepping back and holding her left arm with her right hand while staring at his chest.
“Honey…”
“We just need to stop talking about the past. Let’s focus on the future and I’ll be fine,” she explained.
“Okay, then let me worry about Francesco and Alaric.”
“And what will you do about the slaughtering of my parents and coven?” Jessica asked, clenching her teeth and fisting her hands.
“If Francesco fails to give me a valid reason for being in possession of your family’s grimoire, I’m going to take this case to the High Council.”
Jessica’s eyes softened and anger disappeared. “I always wanted to know why they targeted my family. We were peaceful and our magic didn’t harm anyone. I want to know why he did it,” she mumbled, sadness lacing her voice. “They didn’t deserve to die
“We will get you some answers,” the king assured. “Eric,” he called as if he had remembered something important. “We need to—”
“You said we were going to go out after this talk.” Jessica interrupted, looking at her mate with her pleading eyes. “Don’t go to Eric's office and spend all afternoon talking about plans and worries. You promised me a date in town.”
“Okay. The talk can wait,” he said, smiling, his eyes full of love as he drew closer to her. “Now, stop pouting.”
“Is anyone else hungry?” Anna asked, looking at her watch.
“I am!” Jessica replied excitedly. “Let's go downtown and eat. I'm dying for a cheeseburger and some fries.”
“Hamburgers?” the king cringed. “Can't Rose cook it here?”
“Of course not!” Jessica exclaimed with a scoff.
“I'll phone in an order to Steve then go to town and bring them back,” Shane offered. “We can’t prepare the security measures in time for everybody to go, but if you write the order down, I'll get take-out.”
“Cool,” Jessica said happily. “But who’s Steve?”
“The man who owns the burger place,” Eric informed.
“Sweet,” Kevin said, grabbing a pen from the desk. “Jessie, do you want a Coke or some other soda?”
The king ignored the chatter of his family placing their orders and looked at his son. “We still need to discuss tomorrow's reunion and Jessica's security measures. I want you to assign some bodyguards to protect your mom. I don't want her leaving this house without security.”
Eric declared, “She shouldn't leave the house, under any circumstances.”
“Hey,” Jessica complained, overhearing their conversation. “I'm not your prisoner! Besides, I can take care of myself.
“I know you can, Mom. Do…Do you mind me calling you Mom?”
“Not at all!” She smiled widely, making him smile back at her.
Eric looked happy and it made Jessica also feel happy because she could finally understand why she loved him so much and liked to spend time with him. He was young when she died. He must have felt lonely and lost. It was nice to see how he grew up to be a nice person, and her death didn’t make him an angry and tormented person.
Eric reminded her, “Jessie, you are still a human, even if you have powers. You are…fragile. Besides, I don't want to lose you again.”
“Everything will be just fine,” she reassured him, patting his left cheek. “Now, my gorgeous, blond, and blue-eyed son, what do you want to eat?” She tousled his hair and giggled.
“Ice cream,” he said. “Meanwhile, I'll take care of everything so you and Dad can go to town for some shopping.” He kissed her cheek. “Be patient with him. He can be really stubborn and reluctant in the modern world,” he whispered in her ear, then left the room.
“I heard that!” his father grumbled.
* *..*
Jessica didn’t know if she could ever get used to so many security measures or the number of bodyguards they took with them to leave the palace. It was absurd the amount of preparation necessary for her and the king to go shopping in town.
The king’s staff also seemed curious about her, as well as the sudden changes in their king. They were not accustomed to seeing him dressed in a simple modern attire—white shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. His hair was short and he had shaved. The looks on Eric and Anna’s faces were comical, it made her chuckle when they’d first seen him in the office. The staff was equally dumbfounded about the king’s announcement that Jessica was his soul-mate and their new queen. Marcus had not cared to explain things further. In time, they would accept it. Anyway as the king, Jessica knew that he wasn’t accustomed to explaining things.
Nevertheless, Jessica was aware that her being the king’s new soul-mate was going to be the talk of the town. She hoped that everyone in the community would welcome her, especially since the king now planned to resume his duties and stop being a recluse. She would just have to get used to being in the spotlight. After all, he would announce to everyone the following day that it was their intention to be wed the next weekend.
As for Jessica, she had wanted to look perfect for the first outing with him. It was a hot day, so she decided on a summer dress with an intricate floral design. She curled her hair so it would cascade down her shoulders in beautiful golden waves. Her makeup was a fresher natural look that highlighted her blue eyes. She wore black high heeled sandals that accentuated her already long legs. As she was leaving she put on a light pink lip gloss.
When she and the king arrived in town she felt relaxed and was happy to be out and about shopping. She was excited at the prospect of transforming Marcus into a modern and well-dressed man. This undertaking shouldn’t be too difficult because he was already so gorgeous that she had a hard time taking her eyes off of him.
They would go out to dinner after shopping, like a real date as normal couples did. A couple followed by a security force, but still a couple. She found the huge emotionless guards dressed in black suits a bit intimidating. They were big and scary werewolves that followed their every move. But this was the price she paid for her mate being royalty, the ruler of that supernatural kingdom in the countryside.
When they arrived in town, things were more difficult than Jessica had foreseen. People crowded around to see their king the moment they stepped out of their black SUV. It was clear that people respected him and admired him. The king smiled and greeted everybody as the bodyguards managed the crowd. Jessica suddenly felt really shy. She leaned against Marcus, and he took her hand in his, making her feel safe. Still, it was like being out with a celebrity.
People followed them as they browsed the local shops and walked along the store fronts. Marcus did his best to speak with them, but Jessica remained a bit in the background even though she sensed some curiosity as to who she might be.
Finally, Jessica chose a clothing store that had numerous designer brands in various sizes and pulled the king in. As soon as they entered, a hush fell over the store as the bodyguards requested the costumers to go out and give the royal couple some privacy. Everyone graciously complied and left the store quickly. A few shopping assistants remained to help them.
Away from so many curious eyes, Jessica was able to relax. She spun around like a kid in a candy shop and then began to choose from among the racks of shirts and jackets, sweaters, and shoes. She had two shopping assistants gather the clothes to show Marcus and help him try them on.
For a couple of hours, Jessie had fun watching Marcus try on everything she chose, even when he couldn’t disguise the ‘are-you-kidding-me’ reaction to certain styles. She texted Anna and Jason between fittings and gestured for him to show her every angle, giving him a sinful smil
e when the clothing fit well and he looked sexier.
After buying almost half the clothes Jessie had picked out, it was Marcus’ turn to browse the ladies section and choose some sexy dresses for her to try on. She didn’t mind at all, in fact, she even added some sexy lingerie that Marcus wasn’t allowed to see.
The shop clerks wrapped up all their purchases and the bodyguards filled the back of three of their SUV’s with bags.
When the king and Jessie finally exited, they began to go to their next desired location, but there was a crowd waiting to see them that followed along. Next, they attempted to sit outside and have an ice cream, but the crowd was too noisy for them to have a conversation. Marcus tried to accept the distressing situation, but Jessica noticed that he seemed tense about so much attention. He also seemed to be growing anxious, so she gave up on the idea of going for a walk and instead they returned to the palace.
Little did they know that in addition to attracting the attention of a crowd they had also been photographed. Jessie was the only focus of the mysterious stranger. He documented her every move from walking down the storefronts, exchanging spoons filled with ice cream, to their smiling and hand holding. He paid special attention to get the most intimate moments. Due to the immense size of the crowd, no one noticed a stranger with a camera.
Chapter Eighteen—Decisions
JESSICA
As the afternoon ended, Jessica and the king returned to the palace. She was tired and wanted a nice bath and get a foot massage before asking Rose to prepare dinner. Then she wanted to go to bed and sleep wrapped in her mate’s arms, knowing his view on keeping his commitment to wait for their wedding night to make love to her. But that wouldn’t stop her from trying to entice him into changing his mind, with the help from a few items she had purchased that day.
She envisioned her plan as they walked along the corridors and did not pay attention to the fact that they were going in the opposite direction of their bedroom. Jessica had no energy to sort and hang all of their new clothes and planned to do that the next day. The bags from their outing were being brought in the same direction they were going by the bodyguards, she intended to get into one bag that she thought would help her in her plan to seduce her king
She was surprised when the king showed her to a new room, a smaller but comfortable bedroom with a king-sized poster bed decorated in patterns of red and black. For a moment, she didn’t say anything, but the thought that he didn’t want to sleep next to her anymore crossed her mind. Melancholy must have shown in her face, because he cleared his throat to get her attention. The bodyguards piled the bags on a red leather sofa and left, giving them some privacy.
“We are going to sleep here while our bedroom is being remodeled,” he informed her, drawing her closer with a hand on her back. She shivered, goosebumps broke out on her skin at his touch and the sound of his voice. His voice was sweeter when he spoke next. “I spoke with Eric before we left, so he is designing a new bedroom for us. We need to add extra space for your things. But it will be ready for our honeymoon night.” Jessica nodded, hypnotized as he leaned closer and brushed his lips against hers. “He will show you some designs to choose from, tomorrow,” he added with a smile. “You didn’t think I was going to banish you from my bed, did you?”
“It crossed my mind,” she confessed, fisting her hands in his shirt and making him move closer so she could press her mouth against his once again.
Sometimes, a feeling of losing him would hit her and she would become unsettled and panicky, so she didn’t want to be far from him. Despite spending time together during the day, she felt like she had been apart from him for far too long. They had barely kissed or touched. Public displays of affection were out of the question for the king, she knew that.
“Did you enjoy yourself in town?” he asked.
“It was not what I was expecting,” she admitted. “But I enjoyed the runway show back at the store and eating ice cream with you.”
“Yes, it was fun. I promise we will go out for dinner another time and won’t get as much attention as today.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I hope you aren’t having doubts about marrying me because of my rock-star status,” he teased then grinned widely, making her roll her eyes. Clearly, he got that line from Kevin.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you giving me any other choice. You said last night that we were going to marry. Yet, you never asked my opinion on the matter.”
“You didn’t refuse, either,” Marcus replied, smirking at her smart-ass attitude. “If I recall correctly, you were too busy trying to take my clothes off last night, when I told you we were going to marry. And you didn’t argue with the proposal.”
“You said we couldn’t make love if we weren’t married. So I had to agree to everything you wanted,” she complained, only to squeal when he tickled her neck with his lips and held her by the waist, pinning her against his body.
“Do you want me to get on my knee and ask you to marry me?” he asked, softly biting her skin, making soft moans leave her throat.
“Does anything I want matter?”
“Of course, it does, honey,” he whispered, stopping to stare at her face. “I love you. I’ll do anything to please you. How about tomorrow night we go out to dinner, and I'll propose to you? I'll even buy you a ring. What do you say?”
Frowning, she inquired, “Where’s my old wedding ring?”
“George took it with him before he...well, Anna’s mom had it. I don’t know what happened to it after their death.”
“I’m in a new body and we are going to marry again. Just buy me another one. We won’t ask Annabel about it, instead, I want something more modern.”
The king nodded, his hand cupping her face. “I’ll choose something beautiful like you.”
Jessica grinned, pleased. “I’m tired and I want to have a shower. Care to join me?” She let him go and sashayed seductively toward what she expected to be the bathroom.
“You go first. I’ll tell Rose to start making dinner, and I’ll look for Eric to see how things are progressing for the meeting tomorrow.”
“Suit yourself,” she said, dropping her dress before walking into the bathroom in her underwear.
Turning around, she giggled at him and witnessed how her mate followed her movements with flickering purple color in his eyes until she slammed the door shut.
* * *
Jessica took longer than she expected in the bathroom. She was feeling tired and nauseous, and her head hurt more than she wished to admit. She was hoping that the warm water would ease her pain.
However, after coming out of the shower wrapped in a towel, she glanced in the mirror horrified at what she saw. It was the reflection of her former self: her round face, long, wet brown hair, and golden eyes. She was hallucinating, and with her past experiences, she knew this to be a very bad sign.
She closed her eyes quickly and blinked to stop the vision. When she looked again Isobel’s face was gone, but she was bleeding from her nose. Panic overtook her, she began to shake badly as she covered her nose with toilet paper and then went carefully back to the bedroom to look for her cellphone.
“Anna,” she said, her voice trembling. “Where are you?”
“I’m on the road with Shane. Why? What is going on? Are you okay?”
“I needed your help,” she whispered, letting go of a sob as her body shivered with grief. “I’m fading away,” she cried, tears falling down her cheeks.
“What?” Anna asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“I’m bleeding from the nose. I’m going to fade away, again, and I don’t want to forget the love I have for all of you especially your grandpa. I want to keep remembering,” she explained between sobs.
“Oh, Jessie,” Anna mumbled with a sad voice. “Honey, you need to—Call Grandpa. Make him give you his blood.”
“I don’t want him to know. It would hurt him too much. He’s been through losing me once...I don’t want to forget
him.”
“Even if you forget him, you will still be with him. You will wake in his arms, and we will tell you everything about what happened.”
“I don’t want to lose who I am again,” she mumbled, shivering at the possibility of losing her memories. “I like to remember. I like...I like knowing you are my granddaughter.”
“Jessica, don’t be stubborn. You should tell Grandpa.”
“He has…still not completely…decided if he loves me. I don’t want to fail him.”
“Don’t be silly!”
“He didn’t like my new self until Isobel’s memories surfaced.”
“You are being reckless and stubborn...”
“I'm not,” she protested and then sighed deeply. “I need help. I'm not feeling well.”
Anna pleaded, “I don’t want you to suffer and I don’t want you to die. Please stop being stubborn and call Grandpa.”
“You don’t understand…I’m not just being stubborn. I don’t want to worry and scare Marcus. He is happy. We are happy.”
“Okay. Then call Kevin. He's at home,” Anna reminded her. “Ask him for his blood. It will help you for a bit longer. But you have to talk to Grandpa about this.”
“I’ll call Kevin,” she agreed, noticing the paper against her nose was getting red again. She didn’t have too much time.
Jessica hung up before Anna could say anything else. Then, she called Kevin.
Moments after her call, Kevin came to Jessie’s new room and found her in the bed, wrapped in a towel and holding a clean tissue against her nose. He didn’t say a thing, simply bit his pulse and sat next to her, putting his wrist against her mouth for her to drink.
After she drank what she needed, he finally spoke. “Grandpa is with Eric in his study. We are having company for dinner. Sebastien is coming with his twin sister who arrived today from New York. He wants us to meet her. So rest for a while and then get dressed and come downstairs.”
