by Anna Santos
“Fine,” Valentina replied, grabbing the finger with both of her fingers as if Jessica had some sort of infectious disease that she did not want touching her. “We will see you at dinner then. Maybe you will be less angry, so we can have a proper conversation.”
“I don’t have anything else to say to you.”
“Oh, but you do.” Valentina smiled, proudly. “I'll let Marcus explain it to you. I’ll see you later.”
Then Valentina left, sashaying her hips like a feline and making Jessica even angrier.
“And what are you smiling about?” she snapped at Marcus.
“I have never seen you jealous. You look so damn hot!”
“Don’t try to sweet-talk me out of this. What do you have to say in your defense?” She folded her arms, giving him an angry scowl.
“I love you, just you, and nobody else.”
Jessica growled at his answer and then pouted, speaking with a displeased, girlish voice. “She was totally hitting on you!”
“I did nothing to give her hope, and I surely didn’t reply to her sexual advances.”
“She…tried to replace me in your bed after I was dead?” Jessica asked, aggravated.
She knew what was happening there since Marcus did no effort to conceal it and had his mind link opened. She ran to the library as soon as that deceiving woman started to put her hands on Marcus. But she knew that it was not his fault. Valentina was the one to blame. She had tried to seduce Marcus but he didn’t even feel a bit aroused by her. No. He was not affected by her breathtaking beauty. Jessica couldn’t accuse him of that. His behavior was pristine, and he managed to discover a lot of secrets that Valentina had once again omitted.
“Yes, she tried. She did not succeed.”
“And you said that she was my friend!”
“She was. I thought she was.”
“If I didn’t trust her before, I trust her even less now. Can we just send them away? I don’t really want her at our wedding, ruining our happiness.” She widened her eyes and stared at him with big blue eyes, hoping to convince him.
“We can do whatever you want, baby,” Marcus whispered, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her closer. “I’m not happy with their presence here, either. After tonight, we can send them away and never think about them again,” he declared with a husky voice, walking her back to his desk where he sat her on top.
“What are you doing?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “I thought it didn’t arouse you.”
“It didn’t with her, but I am definitely aroused with you.” He kissed her lips. “Stop pouting. Nothing happened here. I left my mind link opened as I tried to make her talk, but nothing happened.”
“That slime—I could slap her in the face,” Jessica complained.
“But you heard what she said about your blood, didn’t you?” he asked, putting his hands on her face and staring into her eyes. “I could barely control myself last time. If I need to drink more, I don’t know if I’m willing to hurt you just to stay younger.”
“She said you must drink it, and I don’t want you to die. Maybe we can do it some other way. I could pour my blood into a glass, then you wouldn’t need to bite me if it scares you. Maybe, as you develop a habit of drinking it, you will be able to better control your urges when it comes time to bite. Anyway, I have to talk to her, which is why she was so full of herself. She has yet another secret, and I’m getting really tired of secrets!”
“We can speak with them after dinner. I want her husband in the same room. I really didn’t like the way she behaved here.”
“He should put a leash on her!”
“Yes, but now let’s forget about her. I want to know what Anna brought you from New York.”
Jessica relaxed with the thought. She put her hands on her cheeks before speaking with excitement, “Oh! The most beautiful thing! It is absolutely amazing, and it’s a perfect fit! She is the best friend ever!”
“What is it?”
“My wedding dress. She remembered I had taken a liking to this dress last year, so she went to look for it at the store. But it was no longer on display and they had to find it in storage. But she got it! And I love it so much!” She laced her arms around Marcus’s neck.
“I’m glad you are excited about our wedding, honey.”
“Of course! And now that I have the perfect dress, nothing can go wrong. Wait,” she said, stopping to think. Gasping, she realized the clock was ticking down toward their big day. “I still need the perfect shoes. But I texted Dulce, and she is coming again tomorrow, so we can storm the stores to find them and some lingerie, maybe try a fancy hairstyle and makeup.”
“That reminds me,” he said, looking with amusement at her face. “I have to buy a new suit. Something black, no?”
“And a tie. Wait, I’ll buy you the tie. I want it to match my dress.”
“Jessie,” he whispered, kissing her forehead and gazing at her with beaming eyes. “I still need to properly ask you to marry me. I have a ring to offer you.”
“You can do it now. Go get the damn rock so I can flash it in Valentina’s face.”
Marcus smirked and shook his head. Jessica sulked with his denial.
The king explained, “We have two hours to prepare for dinner. We need to shower and, after that, I will kneel and place the ring on your finger. You may dress in the white and pink dress we bought—oh, never mind. I will show you,” he said, probably remembering that she had lost the memory of that. “I loved how you looked in it. And then we will come downstairs and flash whatever you want in Valentina’s face.”
“Okay,” she agreed with a wide smile. “Take your bride to our bedroom, my gorgeous king.”
Marcus took her in his arms and sped his way to their bedroom.
Chapter Thirty-One—Memories and Their Consequences
JESSICA
Dinner was served in the ballroom. We needed to use that part of the palace for such a grand table, and it put enough space between me and Valentina so I was not bothered by her presence. I loved its vaulted ceiling with big crystal chandeliers and the French doors that opened out to a view of the gardens. It was a nice room for a party. I was having a party that weekend, my wedding, likely inside that enormous space. Yet, I still had many details to discuss with Eric and not much time before my wedding day. At least I had the dress, which lifted a huge weight off my shoulders, thanks to Anna.
Marcus had asked me to marry him an hour before dinner. As if he’d needed to, but he did want to put a ring on my finger and get my answer. After all, I couldn’t remember the first time he had proposed, and it had been the other me who’d answered. I hated to lose memories. But no harm had been done. Everything would be okay from now on.
The ring on my finger was gorgeous. I touched it constantly with my thumb and played with it around my finger, remembering Marcus on his knee with the open box in one hand. He had made the sweetest proposal, but I couldn’t let him finish before I answered yes, jumped like a crazy bunny, and threw myself into his arms, almost making us fall to the floor.
The ring was exquisite, indeed. A simple solitaire set with four prongs, but really elegant. In addition, he gave me a matching diamond necklace that took my breath away when I felt it around my neck and saw it in the mirror. It looked perfect with my sleeveless dress. I was being pampered by my mate, and it felt good. I liked jewels and nice things. I was a bit materialistic, I have to confess, but what girl isn’t? We like to look good; our clothes, accessories help. And nice jewels offered by the love of our life help even more.
I had almost forgotten the rage I felt toward Valentina, with the help of a massage and playing in the shower. I couldn’t conceal my smile every time I remembered the shower we shared before getting dressed. Who needed rouge, when I’d just had amazing sex? I felt the blood rush to my face just thinking about it. There is nothing better than sex to help me relax. And I was giggling like a fool as we came down to the ballroom to greet our guests as they appeared at t
he front door with Eric.
I wasn’t going to let Valentina spoil my happiness, so I gave them my best smile. I greeted my former brother, loudly kissed my gorgeous son, and even smiled at Valentina, praising her gorgeous, shiny white dress. She did look good in it. Her daughter wore something simpler and was nice when I greeted her. At least she was not trying to kill me, like when we first met.
Moments later, Shane, Anna, and Kevin came down and greeted their family just as the doorbell rang. My guests had arrived, and I was really pleased to have more company to dine with us. I had invited Dulce and Sebastien. I opened the door and almost jumped into their arms because I was so happy that they were able to come. They both looked really sharp. Dulce was wearing a pretty red cocktail dress and Sebastien wore a suit. I had never seen him dressed that way, and I liked it a lot. They were a really hot couple of twins! They had the same eyes and nose, but still one could mistake them for a handsome couple. Dulce wore her hair loose and curled, and Sebastien had his usual ruffled hair. I had never seen Kevin so happy to see them. He gave his arm to Dulce and walked the twins inside to greet the rest of the family.
I was surrounded by people I loved and the dinner went perfectly. The vampires had steak tartare while the rest of us enjoyed Beef Wellington with boiled vegetables and mashed potatoes. To drink, Marcus opened a vintage bottle of red wine that he said was French. I had no idea; I wasn’t going to drink wine. I preferred to drink water or lemonade, as I didn’t want to freak out and start throwing fire orbs at Valentina’s face. That would have been funny, though. Nevertheless, alcohol can influence magical people in a bad way and make us lose control over our powers, so I stuck with non-alcoholic beverages to keep my powers in check.
For dessert, I had arranged for Rose to go into town with a chauffeur and bring us a couple of apple pies from the local diner. There had been no time to bake, but I wanted apple pie. I had no idea why, but I craved it, maybe because it reminded me of home. My mom used to make them and then leave them on the windowsill to cool. We would eat them after dinner while watching TV. It was fun. I missed those days with a tinge of sadness since now I knew that my parents had loved me and Valentina had been the one convincing them to let me go.
Everybody was being polite at dinner. Even Kevin found a way to get along with Francesco, talking with him about famous guitarists. My former brother was not so evil as I had pictured him. In fact, he was pleasant and rather funny. He and Marcus also had a relaxed conversation, during dinner, talking about wine and royal duties they had to perform.
Even Valentina was being pleasant, admiring our beautiful grandchildren and how nice it seemed to have a big family like ours. Her daughter was shy and didn’t talk much except for when her mother spoke to her. But her mother spent most of her time talking to Eric and having fun remembering the days when she used to be his nanny.
Eric was agreeable, as always. He even tried to pay attention to his cousin, who just smiled politely and made no effort to engage him in small talk. I was busy, listening to Marcus and counting the times that Valentina called Eric handsome or gorgeous. She was pushing her luck. First, she had hit on my mate, now she was hitting on my son. And I had no clue why in the hell Francesco would let her get away with such behavior. Maybe I was overacting, maybe she had no weird intentions toward Eric. She had raised him for I don’t know how many years. But it did appear as though Eric had good memories of her.
Everybody was having fun. I was having fun. My mate held my hand under the table, and I felt like the luckiest person in the world as I listened to him talk to Sebastien about boundaries and pack business and chatted with Dulce about her time in New York.
But then the conversation turned to the not so recent past. Valentina, who was talking with Eric about their lives in Europe, made her husband join into their conversation when she raised the subject of Isobel. That's right. Valentina started remembering times she had spent with Isobel, including her tastes, how she liked to dress, and the way she would cuddle her son in bed and sing him to sleep. Francesco reminisced about the nights that Isobel played the piano and made June sing. Marcus joined in, also talking about the past.
But I remembered nothing; I had no memories of Isobel inside me, at least not those ones. All I could do was nod and get caught up with Marcus’s memories. I could see his visual memories, and his were really sharp and photographic. He was a painter, so it was rather normal for him to have vivid pictures of things and events. My memory was not as vivid, and my mind was totally blank about the details they were remembering. Valentina seemed extremely happy, talking about my former self. I didn’t know if I should smile or rip her head off.
Was she trying to prove something by making everybody talk about Isobel? Was she trying to ruin my night? It was not like I wasn’t curious about what I was like in my other life. I was. I would’ve liked to remember everything. But that night was about me—me as Jessica and not as Isobel. Marcus had just put a ring on my finger. My new friends were there with me, and they had no idea what had happened two or three hundred years ago because they weren’t even born then. I wished they would stop talking about old events and start focusing on events yet to come.
I started to experience Marcus’s most vivid memories, so vivid that they made me feel jealous. Marcus was completely in love with Isobel. He would see every little smile she made as if she was the most amazing thing in the world. I could feel the love, and it was making me hurt. My heart began to stiffen inside my chest and my hands were trembling, but no one else seemed to notice. Marcus was distracted, talking with Francesco about some party he had attended with Isobel that Francesco had attended, as well. Eric talked about how well Isobel sang. Anna, Shane, and Kevin were talking with Dulce and Sebastien about other things. And my heart was hurting inside my chest, my breath was narrowing, my eyes were rolling back in my head, while my brain overflowed with memories that Marcus was downloading inside my mind.
I gripped my napkin fiercely, trying to control my breathing and cut the mind link so the memories would stop. In the process, I stared at Valentina and realized that she was staring at me, noticing what was happening to me. She had an evil grin, quietly staring but doing nothing to call other people’s attention to me. Did she plan that?
I felt blood running down my nose and falling into my lap. I shrieked, gasping for air when Giovanni finally noticed that something was wrong and called attention to it.
“Oh my God! Aunt Jessica is feeling sick,” she screamed, alarmed as she sped to my side and she put her napkin to my nose.
“Jessica,” Marcus called, noticing my trembling body and bleeding nose.
I could have almost screamed at him—he was too caught up in his own memories to pay attention to my cries for help inside his mind. And I could have killed Valentina because I was sure now that she had done this on purpose. She was the one who had encouraged the memories. She had planned everything in her sick mind. She knew that I would have a seizure—I felt it in my gut. She knew how to attack me without lifting a finger, and everybody had played along with her sick game, unaware of the consequences.
The next thing I remember, Marcus had me in his arms and was carrying me to our bedroom. I don’t know what happened next, but my body was shaking and I lost consciousness.
Chapter Thirty-Two—Rage
JESSICA
I woke up. Instantly, the memory of what happened before I passed out rushed to my mind and my anger boiled up. That deceiving damn witch relative—I could call her much worse names! I wanted to squash her like the cockroach she was. She was a disgusting being, and she needed to be taught a lesson. I needed to find her and make her understand that she could try to harm me, but I would harm her back. Who did she think I was? That same innocent little girl whom she tormented when I was younger? She was so wrong. She was going to pay.
With that sole purpose in my mind, I ripped the saline IV from my arm and sat up in my bed. The smell of anesthetic hit my nostrils and I knew I was in a hospi
tal room, so I guessed my seizure had been really bad this time to end up there. But I felt okay and had all my memories in place, all my rage in full force to bring out my magical powers and smoke that slut to ashes. All I had to do was find her.
I got out of bed, peeled off this poor excuse for a nightgown, and dressed in the clothes I found in the closet. There was no one in the hospital room to greet me, which kind of hurt. Plus, I felt angry at Marcus for all the love he still felt for his late wife. It was a bit insane to feel jealous of Isobel since I was her and all, but I was right there in front of him, so there was really no need to keep going down memory lane and flashing those experiences in my face. There was no need to make me feel like I was just a substitute and not the woman who should fill his dreams and have his attention. Was it so hard to love me, just me?
I sat on the bed and felt the tears streak down my cheeks. As I hugged myself, I felt the ring on my finger. I wasn't feeling as happy as I had been when he put it on me. It felt meaningless. So I took it off and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. He could have it back.
Dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, I snuck out of my bedroom, avoiding the nurses and analyzing where I was. It seemed familiar, although all hospitals look quite a bit similar. Still, I was sure that I was not in a human hospital; I was in a clinic, the same clinic that Kevin had been in while he was in a coma. I did know my way around there, so I cast a simple spell that made me look like one of the nurses I had just seen in the corridor. And walked freely down the corridor. Sometimes it was really practical to be a witch.
Making a list of priorities for escape was important. I was a pro at escaping. So first I needed a coat, and then I needed money before I could leave that place. Therefore, I went straight to the elevator at the end of the ward. I used to date a doctor there when Kevin was sick—he would fix me my shot of vampire blood, and I would show him a good time in his private office. I just needed to get to that elevator and press the button for the right floor.
