by Anna Santos
I said nothing as he kept staring at me, waiting for me to speak. But I kept opening my mouth and closing it without words coming out. My mind was also void of thoughts though he was trying to tune in. Therefore, he was unable to understand what answer I was going to give him.
I was amazed and had been totally caught off guard with his proposal. I was so out of breath, my heart was making an insane noise in my ears, and I had my eyes open but I wasn’t actually seeing anything. Marriage seemed a rushed decision to make without thinking about the cons and the pros. Marriage seemed to be a word that would come out of someone else’s mouth, not mine. For a long time, I’d seen marriage as a cage: a golden, shiny cage.
When I faced Shane’s eyes, they had lost their shine. He was sensing my reluctance to accept. I fell on my knees, putting my hands over his, covering the beautiful and perfect proposal ring he had bought decades ago. Tears were stinging my eyes, and I had a lump in my throat, making it hard for me to verbalize my thoughts. I breathed deep several times and untangled my thoughts in order to explain to him what I was feeling about his proposal.
“I’m not going to lie.” My voice came out weak, whispery. I cleared my throat. “Marriage has always scared the crap out of me.”
“Why?” Shane asked, moving his hands so my hands would fall between his. I felt the sapphire touch my palm. It was perfect. I had never imagined a ring so perfect. Shivers ran down my spine. Emotion blurred my eyes and clenched my heart.
“I could give you a nice feminist speech about why I thought marriage was a way to imprison women and…”
He raised one hand to touch my lips with his fingertips.
“I’m sure you can, but I’ve explained to you why I want to marry you.”
“I thought we were already committed, we’ve marked each other.”
“We did, but I want to share our happiness with the others in a ceremony.”
“But…” My voice trembled as tears fell down my eyes. “What if Kevin never wakes up… if he’s gone?” Shane hugged me tightly when the sobs took over my body. I cried like a helpless, abandoned little girl.
“I wish I had the power to cure him,” Shane whispered, making circles on my back so I calmed down. “I’m here, honey. I won’t leave you. You aren’t alone.”
I nodded, restraining my tears and trying to sound coherent about what I was going to tell him. “I’m sorry.” I breathed deep to contain the shivers. “I… have never wanted to get married before, because I didn’t really have a lot of family to invite, and it seemed silly. Besides, I didn’t think I could commit so strongly to someone, that I could love someone like I love you.” Despite my efforts, my words came out messy and sobbing. I didn’t know if he’d understood anything that I said. His right hand was resting behind my back; I could feel the box in his hand. His other hand was caressing my hair while his lips were against my cheek, wet with my salty tears.
“I know this wasn’t the best moment to ask you to marry me.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I sniffed. “But it isn’t your fault that my life is messed up. And I think the ring is beautiful. It’s really beautiful, Shane!”
His fingers cleaned my eyes while my hands grabbed his forearms, trying to balance and look him straight in the eyes. “I’m here for you. You won’t be alone, honey. And Kevin will be fine.”
“You don’t know that. I appreciate your optimism, though. But…”
“Even if you think we shouldn’t get married… or you don’t want to get married. The ring is yours.” He cut me off before I could finish my sentence. His hands were trembling, and I could feel the vulnerability in his voice.
“I don’t mind getting married to you,” I whispered, biting my lower lip. “I love you.”
He curved his lips into a smile and his eyes sparkled. “You don’t mind marrying me,” his voice echoed. I nodded, and he kissed my lips, making me lose my breath.
“But…” I resumed what I was going to say before. “We are going to take things slow. Kevin isn’t recovering, so I need to prepare myself for the worst.”
“I’m so sorry, honey,” he whispered, holding me tighter. His hug made me burst into tears again. The idea of losing my brother after all we’d done to find a pureblood, after finding family I didn’t know existed, was excruciating.
“It’s all my fault,” I cried, feeling the sobs ripple down my spine, tainting my soul and turning my heart to dust. “He’s never going to meet you or Eric or even Grandpa.”
I hid my face against his neck, hugging Shane’s torso and gripping my fingers on his shoulders. I wanted to be as close to him as I could.
“It’s nobody’s fault.”
“It’s Alaric’s fault,” I disagreed, my voice sounding stronger because of the hate.
“Anna, look at me,” he demanded, lifting my chin so I would look him in the eyes. “You aren’t alone anymore. We are going to be a family, and you have new family members. So you need to stop blindly pursuing revenge.”
“He needs to be stopped. Vincent was going to kill you tonight. And he had spies in your town. Why isn’t Grandpa doing something to stop him?”
“He is. We are. Alaric is hard to find.”
“Shane,” I called out, feeling misunderstood. But before I could say anything else, the phone rang, startling us both. We both looked at the screen and saw Eric’s name. I was faster than Shane to grab the phone from the floor and answer it.
“Yes?” I asked out of breath.
“He woke up,” Eric said with trembling voice, “but then he passed out again. You should come.”
“We’ll be right there,” I assured and stared at Shane. He had heard the conversation.
“Yes, we should go. We’ll talk about this later.” He closed the box and put it in his pocket then turned his back to me before I could say anything else.
He was putting his pants on when I straightened up and looked for my clothes. I noticed how sad he looked. It made my heart hurt.
“Shane, you are my mate. I’m not rejecting you or making plans to leave you or anything like that. I don’t want to make you sad. But you can’t ask me to simply forget what Alaric did to my parents and brother, can you?”
“I’m not asking you that,” he answered. “All I want is for us to be together…”
“We will,” I assured, moving closer to him. “I won’t ever leave you, and there aren’t any more secrets between us.”
“Just to be clear, I asked you to marry me and you said yes, yes?”
I nodded, feeling the tears fall down my face again. I wiped them, rejoicing with Shane’s smile and sweet stare.
“I’ll formally request your grandfather’s blessing after things calm down and once Kevin is safe at home and out of danger,” Shane said, finishing with a kiss on my lips.
“I’m sure he won’t be opposed.” I smiled, finishing with a theatrical vow just to match his formal tone. “Now, we need to move, because I want to be there when my brother opens his eyes again.”
Kevin had woken up! My brother was reacting to the cure! Soon enough he would be out of the clinic and living his life again. And he was going to meet Shane, Eric, and Grandpa.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Annabel
I vividly remembered the day I first met my brother. We don’t normally remember much from when we are very little kids. However, I had a strong memory about that particular event. I don’t remember events from the time he was inside my mom’s belly, but I remembered the day after his birth, the day I met him.
It had been a long birth. Dad was worried sick during the delivery. Kevin just didn’t want to leave mom’s womb.
The next day after his birth, I stalked my mom’s bedroom door. I stood there watching people go in and out, my three-year-old self staring at the grown-ups’ legs, holding myself at the door and peeking inside like an eager voyeur.
No one seemed to notice or understand that I was simply worried and curious. I wanted to get in, but I didn’t have
permission. I really wanted to see both the baby and my mom, and I was holding in tears of frustration. Everybody was saying that the baby was gorgeous and healthy. I was beyond happy to have a baby brother. Now if only they would let me see and hold him!
I was peeking inside again, toes on the edge of the bedroom’s entry, when a body shadowed my little figure. I turned around slowly and looked up to the six-foot-tall man who was staring at me with a smile on his lips.
“Daddy!” I screamed, glad to see him. I jumped up, arms stretched out and hands open, hoping that he would grab me and take me to his arms.
“What are you doing here, Anne?” he asked, lifting me up in the air.
I put my hands on his cheeks and mumbled breathlessly, “I want to see the little baby.”
“You want to meet your little brother?”
I nodded my head, and the next thing I knew, I was over my mom’s bed, gawking at the baby. I was thinking how tiny and adorable he was. He had a small, round, hairless head and his eyes were still closed. He was holding his fisted hands really tight. He was so cute! I really wanted to hold him.
I don’t know what I said to convince my parents to let me hold him, but they did. I held and cuddled him contently. I smiled, happy to have him in my family. My father’s words were left imprinted in my head from that day.
“Kevin is now a part of our family, Anne. You have to take care of him and love him unconditionally. Protect him and give him love, like we will do.”
And I did. I did everything my dad asked me to. I took care of him. I protected him from other kids. I tolerated his evil pranks and his stubborn whims. When we were left alone, without our parents, I took care of him and made sure that hate and pain wouldn’t consume him and turn him bitter and mean…
***
I was the eldest; I was the one who should have been on that bed and not him. I couldn’t wait for him to open his eyes again, so I could hold him, cuddle him, and make sure no one would ever hurt him again.
At that moment, I was seated on the couch, staring at the ground, lost in my thoughts. I was holding my breath, praying to divinities in some subconscious part of my mind to make Kevin open his eyes again. The doctors had already examined him from head to toe. He seemed to be only sleeping. Even waking up from his coma, he was being lazy!
Shane was on the opposite side of the room, sleeping on one of the couches. He had been really quiet since we left the hotel room. I knew he was a bit disappointed because I wanted revenge on Alaric. He thought I was on a suicidal path, and that he would lose me. I couldn’t blame him, but I needed him to understand that making Alaric pay for what he’d done was important to me. I needed closure to be completely happy with Shane.
As hours went by, I became tired and grumpy. I couldn’t think straight anymore. I was feeling impatient and desperate. Why wouldn’t Kevin open his eyes once and for all? Had it been a false alarm? Was Kevin recuperating or falling back into coma?
I needed to rest, so I laid my head back and closed my eyes. I guess I fell asleep, because when I opened my eyes again, it was daytime. Shane was holding me in his arms, and my head was on his shoulder. I was holding my hands to his shirt, feeling warm and safe, even though I felt as if my whole body had been beaten up several times. When I looked up to his face, he was awake and staring at the wall. He looked down and smiled, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.
“Do you still love me?” I asked with sleepy voice.
“More than my own life.”
“So why the broody stare last night?” I wondered, sitting down by his side and fixing my clothes. I was feeling sore and my body longed for a proper bed to sleep in.
“I was mad at myself because I rushed things last night,” he explained, combing his hair and making it even messier and adorable. I bit my lip. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want my proposal to be so lame.”
“Your proposal was just fine. You hadn’t the best timing, though,” I added and glimpsed at Kevin.
“You saw the box.” I shrugged, putting my hands inside the pockets of my blazer. “I had a speech prepared for when I would ask you to marry me. I had a list of reasons why you should accept.”
“A speech,” I mumbled, arching an eyebrow at him. “Do tell, I’m curious now,” I teased him, grinning.
“It feels silly now.”
“I doubt that. You are always really good with words and at persuading me.”
“Okay, it was more or less like this. Annabel, sweetheart, love of my life, I swear that I don’t want to steal your freedom,” Shane said. “You can read my thoughts. So tell me, does it look like I want to trap you and make you give up of your former life? And as concerning babies—I want to have babies with you, but only when you’re ready to have them too. I promise, I won’t pressure you anymore until Kevin is well and strong again.” He pulled me back to his arms and kissed my mouth. “But I want to marry you, and I need to know if you want to marry me, too.”
“Hmm,” I mumbled with furrowed eyebrows. “How did you know Kevin existed before you made that speech?”
“I added that part later.”
“It’s a great speech,” I confessed, touched by the fact that he knew me so well as to address my concerns in his marriage proposal.
“What matters is that you said yes,” he said, laying me down on top of him on the couch. It felt a bit uncomfortable, especially because something was poking me on my hip.
“Is that box still in your pocket or are you just happy to have me on top of you?”
“Both,” he answered with an evil smirk. I giggled.
“Does anyone want coffee?” Eric asked. Shane and I looked at the door and saw him holding three cups of coffee. I didn’t answer; I just ran to grab a cup and brought another to give to Shane. The coffee smelled really good, and I badly needed caffeine.
“Did he say anything else after I left?” Eric asked Shane.
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“He started to talk in his sleep,” Shane explained.
“What did he say?”
“Random things,” replied Eric, “like I don’t want to leave and what seemed like a name, but I’m not really sure. It sounded like Bee or Beck or something.”
“Why did no one wake me up?” I asked with a grumpy voice.
“You needed to sleep, and Kevin was still sleeping. So it wasn’t a necessity to wake you up,” Eric answered. I sulked as I drank my hot coffee.
“You put in cinnamon,” I said, looking at my uncle with shining, reminiscent eyes.
“Don’t you like it?”
“Dad used to do the same to his coffee.”
“Yes, he was the one who taught me.”
“Aren’t you tired, Uncle?” I asked, because he had suffered the most the last few days. Firstly, he donated a lot of blood, and secondly, he’d been there almost as many days as I. He looked pale and tired.
“I’ll rest when Kevin wakes up.”
“Good morning,” Sasha said, walking in and ruining my day.
What the hell was she doing there?
“Hello, honey,” Eric greeted her with a big smile as she sat next to him and gave him a kiss.
“I came to see Kevin,” she said, talking to Eric, but I knew she was also excusing herself to me and Shane. “I heard he woke up.”
“Yes, but he fell asleep again. We’re hopeful he might wake up again soon enough, though.”
“Do you think he will need more of our blood?”
“No, it was enough. Now he will need normal blood to gather strength and fully recover. Let’s hope he doesn’t have any brain damage and remembers who he is and his life.”
“Okay.” She smiled and looked at the bed with a hopeful stare that intrigued me. It was like she actually cared about Kevin and whether he woke up or not. Maybe she was not that insensitive. One could hope!
An awkward silence fell, and Shane and I stared at each other, drinking our coffee and sharing ideas about Sasha’s reasons for being there
. She stared at us, like she knew we were talking about her. When we looked at her, she just smiled and held Eric’s hand.
“Is Kevin staying with us at the palace when he can finally leave this place?” Sasha asked, making Eric smile at her and nod.
“Of course. We are planning to spend some time together. Anna is joining us, too, aren’t you, Anna?”
“Yes,” I whispered and put my cup down on a little table next to the couch. So she was planning to spend some time at the palace. That was not good news for me.
“Good morning,” said Jason, coming in with a huge smile and staring directly at Sasha. “Good morning, gorgeous,” he smirked at her, and Sasha blinked and rolled her eyes.
“It was,” she muttered, and I couldn’t help but giggle at the face that Jason made.
“Is there any news?” he asked me, since I had texted him about Kevin’s opening his eyes.
“He’s still asleep.”
“Lazy like ever,” Jason said, and I smirked again. Yes, Kevin’s laziness was well-known among our family.
“I heard that, you dog!” a weak and barely audible voice said from Kevin’s bed, and we all stared. Was Kevin awake? It was him talking, wasn’t it?
Everybody jumped to their feet and ran to the side of his bed. And there he was: Kevin, his eyes blinking as they adjusted to the light and to our faces. “Wow, so many people swirling around me!”
“Kevin?” I asked as he stared right at me.
“Annie,” he mumbled and tried to give me a faint smile. “Where am I?”
“You’re in a clinic. Don’t you remember what happened?”
“It’s all really confusing. I was having the weirdest dream! With a girl… and…”
“What else is new?” Jason interrupted with a naughty tone, touching him on his arm.
“Ouch,” Kevin complained and trembled in bed. “It burns, it burns!” he kept saying, making us all stare at him, confused about what to do.
“What hurts?” Eric asked, making Kevin look at him.
“Dad?” Kevin asked, his eyes wide open. “Dad, is that you?”
