When Von came back down the stairs, he was winded. “Don’t move. I want this to be perfect.” He shoved the sandwich he’d grabbed from the kitchen into his mouth in four enormous bites, choking it down before fiddling with his phone so he could cast The Way You Look Tonight on the stereo system. Frank Sinatra sang throughout the house, making me feel cozy and loved.
“What’s going on, babe?” I asked with a lazy smile.
It was then I realized that Von was sweating. “I love you. That’s what’s going on.” The air gusted out of my lungs when he sank down on one knee before me. The bold look in his eyes was painted with small brushes of insecurity. My heart thudded unevenly when Von Vandershot presented me with a very specific small, square box.
“Von? What is this?” I asked cautiously.
“The best gift of your life.”
“A unicorn?” I guessed, feigning excitement as my voice cracked. My palms were clammy, and though I wanted to make light of the situation, I gulped at the big ramifications of what might be inside that velvet box.
“Ollie gave me his blessing when I first got back and asked him for your hand. I went out and bought this that very day.”
“You actually bought me a unicorn?” I don’t know why I was doing shtick. I think I was in shock. I guess part of me still thought Von wanted to marry me in theory, not with the actual preparation of going to a store and picking out a legit ring.
My brain started to stutter as I took in the sight of Von on bended knee before me. He’d asked me to marry him just about every day since we’d gotten back together, but none of those proposals had felt like this – raw and real, demanding an actual answer.
“I’ll buy you a unicorn another day, darling. Today, I’m offering you a ring.”
“Dad!” Mariang shouted through the house like a madwoman. Her eyes were on the box, and she looked like she might rocket off the couch. Her hands had stilled on her cheeks, framing her shocked face. “Danny, Lynna! Get in here now! Hurry!”
Ezra and Danny bolted into the living room. Danny had his knife drawn, ready to fend off an attack. Ezra’s fists were clenched, chest puffed as he stood protectively in front of Lynna, who trotted in behind him. “What is it?”
Mariang stood, jumping up on the balls of her feet and pointing to the black box Von still hadn’t actually opened or handed over. “It’s happening! It’s finally happening!”
Danny’s shoulders deflated when the promise of a monster fight was gone. He sheathed his knife and crossed his arms over his chest, holding his post in the archway. Boston shot up off the couch to give Von and me some space for our moment.
Mariang flew into Danny’s arms so they could watch together. Boston got out his phone and videotaped it for his family back in London. Ezra gave Lynna his handkerchief, since she was already tearing up.
I just sat on the couch with my cheeks burning and my mouth wide open like a fish.
Von looked up at me from his place on the floor, closed box presented like an offering. His words came out slow, with patience and promise that reminded me why Von was my best friend. “October Grace, November Peach, will you marry me now, and in every life after this one?”
I was frozen on the spot, wanting, but unsure how to form whole words, though I knew I needed just the one. Then Von gently opened the box, blinding me with the ring that was just like Von – a little too much. “Holy iceberg, Batman! Are you serious?” I blasted, before I remembered the whole thing was being taped.
Mariang and Lynna let out incoherent bleats of incredulity, letting me know I wasn’t overreacting. Mariang couldn’t help herself, and let out a thunderstruck, “Is that real?”
Von frowned, examining the overlarge square-cut diamond in a white gold setting, to make sure the jeweler hadn’t replaced the gem with a Ring Pop or something. “Of course it’s real. It’s supposed to be three months’ wages. Did you really think I’d skimp on the thing that she’ll look at every day? My love is as real as this diamond.” His eyes locked in on mine. “It’s supposed to remind you of how much I adore you. My love for you is grand. No point in pretending we’re average.”
In true Von fashion, everything was always more than I expected.
“Von, it’s too much,” I protested, though I couldn’t take my eyes off the sparkle. It was too perfect. Too clean. Too shiny. Entirely too much. I’d never owned real jewelry before. It was like going from training wheels on a kid’s bike to a motorcycle overnight.
I gazed into his eyes, seeing the insecurity poking through his flourish. I could feel him crashing, wondering if he’d somehow picked the wrong ring, which wasn’t the case. My fear was that he’d picked the wrong girl – not good enough to be seen wearing something so giant and amazing. “Please, darling,” he whispered in earnest. “Marry me.”
It was only when I worked out a barely audible croak of “yes” that I realized my face was wet.
I felt horrible when Von gusted out a breath of relief. I’d put him on hold for too long, but never again. We were going to be a family, the two of us, and then the three. Von slid the ring on my finger, my eyes panicking at the thing that was clearly too nice for me, too beautiful, too adult.
Then it hit me: I was an adult. I don’t know how all the grownup choices snuck up on me, but somehow I’d gone from “kid” and “Bait” to a woman with a fiancé and a baby on the way. Von was still on his knee, hugging my belly and promising both of us details of the incredible life he was determined to provide.
And darn it, I began to believe in the magic he lavished on us.
Twenty-Eight.
Little Box, Black Box
Champagne and sparkling cider was brought out, congratulations and hugs exchanged, and through it all, Von never left my side. He held tight to my hand even when Mariang practically leapt into his arms with excitement. She attacked me with the same fervor. “Now you’re legally my sister! We’re really sisters! I have a sister on paper! Like, a true sibling!”
“Oh, babe,” I grinned as I hugged her. “You were my sister the first day I met you.”
I warned Danny with a silent threat in my look not to be a jerk to Von, but when he stuck his hand out to his brother, there was no note of animosity to be found. His shoulders were relaxed, his face – well, he still looked a little monster of Frankenstein-ish, but there was no aggression that surfaced. He shook Von’s hand politely and then pulled me in for an awkward hug, as if he’d only observed the social norm from afar. “It’s about time you caved and joined our family. You’re already one of us, October Grace Vandershot.”
And just like that, I belonged. After being displaced so many times, I couldn’t put this powerful feeling on a shelf to examine later. It flowed out of my tear ducts, brimming over with happiness I had not been prepared for. Von was giving me himself, which was gift enough, but he was also giving me a family with a real mama and more brothers than I could ever dream of. I would get to keep Mariang and Ezra, which was a bigger treasure than the crazy square-shaped diamond on my finger.
The awkward pat on the back shrug-hug Danny had started mutated into an actual embrace as my tears dotted his shoulder. I released Von’s hand and clung to Danny, knowing my surly big brother wouldn’t lie to me and tell me this was forever if it would all implode in a day.
“It’s alright,” Danny promised me. “No need to cry. You’re really so distraught over becoming one of us?”
I laughed through my tears. “I never dreamed I’d get this lucky.”
“It’s got nothing to do with luck. It’s you we love.” Danny’s declaration rang in my chest and made September do a little roll that even Danny felt. “Wicked! Did you feel that? Did she just kick me?”
I took his hand and placed it right on the money spot so he could feel her again. His smile couldn’t be contained or tucked away when September punched him square in the center of his hand, like a miniature high-five. The others were still clapping Von on the back and teasing him about the disco ball he’d
bought me, but Danny and I were having a solid brother-sister moment. Danny had emotion in his eyes – real, consuming emotion as he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I promise you, I’ll watch over September. I’ll help Von keep her safe. I’m by your side through it all.”
Danny’s declaration was fierce and unexpected, drawing me tighter into his arms. I don’t know when it was that we became friends who swore oaths of loyalty to each other, but here we were. “Luckiest cousins in the world, right here,” I said, pointing to Mariang’s barely-there belly and my bulbous one.
Danny lowered me onto the couch and lifted my feet to rest on the ottoman, being careful with me, as if I was precious and breakable. He sat on the arm of the couch, holding my hand to pull for me until Von flopped down on my other side to take his place. “My fiancée,” Von breathed, enraptured by the word itself. “Isn’t she beautiful, Danny?”
Danny drained his champagne. “It’s no surprise you married up.”
Ezra noticed my discomfort as I shifted on the couch, trying to find a spot that didn’t make my back hurt. “Where’s my head? This isn’t bedrest. Up the stairs with you, young lady. If the doctor said bedrest, this couch hardly counts as a suitable mattress.”
Ezra and Danny helped me to stand, leading me out of the living room and into the foyer. My eyes passed over the small table that usually had flowers on it, or someone’s keys resting there. I was walking so slow that at first no one noticed I’d stopped.
Amidst the joy and bliss of the moment, the only sound I heard was my heartbeat thrumming in my ears. My mouth went dry as the vast expanse of the mansion felt like it was closing in around me on all sides.
There it was – the black box from my dreams. As big as a shoe box, and bound with hard, black leather. I’d never seen a box like that apart from when Philip presented me with the weed inside. “What... I... What is that?” I asked, not bothering to hide my fear. It was one thing when Von and I conceived after having dreamy dream sex. It was quite another when a completely fictitious man gave me a pretend present that showed up in real life.
Ezra straightened, leaving me to retrieve the box, and letting Von take his place on my other side. “This came from Captain Finn while you were out.”
“It’s... I... Um, it’s not supposed to be here.”
Von squeezed my hand in a threat. “I swear, if there’s a ring inside that box, he’s too late. You’re already spoken for.”
“It’s not a ring inside,” I mumbled, unable to take my eyes off the box. “It’s a himila weed.”
The entire room gasped as one. Ezra stepped back, confused. “How can you possibly know that? I left the box sealed. Did Captain Finn tell you he was going to bring you one? How did he even acquire it?”
I shook my head, unable to make sense of how the box got here, how Finn got his hands on it, and how a fake weed in a fake box was somehow real. “If there’s a weed inside, I want Finn here right now. I mean, before anything else happens in the world. Before the next person breathes, I need Finn here to answer for this.”
Ezra’s furrowed eyebrows told me he didn’t take me as seriously as he should. “How do you even know what the himila weed is? I’ve never known a woman in my lifetime who’s taken it. It’s reserved for queens, and impossible to find. How did Captain Finn get his hands on something thought to be extinct at best, or dismissed entirely as a myth?”
Danny was tensed as if readying for an attack. “Just open it. It’s probably another book. You’re getting yourself worked up about something that doesn’t exist anymore.”
I gripped Von as Ezra presented me with the box like a jewelry salesman. I released both brothers and reached forward, unbuckling the leather latch without breathing, without blinking and without any answers.
Twenty-Nine.
Philip’s Long Reach
“Mariang should have some of it,” Danny insisted again.
“I really can’t keep having this same conversation. She can have half of it once Finn gets here and explains himself.” I was propped up in the bed, pillows squished between my back and the headboard, under my knees and at my left side in case... I dunno, but Von was obsessed with bringing me pillows, so I just let him, and made myself a little fort. “I’m really okay, Von. I think I’ve got enough pillows.”
“If you’d simply tell us what’s got you so worked up, then we could help.”
“I don’t know what kind of help I’ll need yet. I need Finn here. What’s taking so long? I’ll need a shrink too, maybe. A good one who specializes in Vampires, Mermen and Shapeshifters.”
Von moved into the hallway and brought me a second blanket, tucking it in over the comforter he pulled up over my lap. “Finn will be here soon enough. He’s not available at a moment’s notice. And not to be that bloke, but on the day we get engaged? He’s the last person I want in this house. And more than likely, this is the last place he’ll want to be when he finds out.”
“I’m not talking about the engagement. I need to know where he got the box and the weed. He shouldn’t have it.”
“I don’t think you realize what a grand gift this is. I mean, I’d tell you to send it back to the lousy git, but if it’ll keep September healthy, I’ll take whatever luck he sends us.”
“For you and for Mariang,” Danny insisted, eyeing the box as if he wanted to steal it.
Boston sat in the chair at the desk in my light green, cream and gold room, elbows on his knees as he tried to shortcut his way to getting the information out of me. “So you had a premonition that Captain Finn would bring you a himila weed in this box? Is that why you’re upside-down about this?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m not the premonitions type. I just need Finn here.” I placed my hand on Von’s to calm his nerves as he tucked a third blanket around my belly. “I’m sorry our special day is going like this. We should be all happy and kissing till our brains fall out.”
“I can make your brains fall out tonight after this mess is swept up. Just tell me what’s going on.”
I shook my head, sinking back against the pillows as I eyed the box warily. Danny moved past it when he went to check on Mariang, looking at the box with longing, but resisting the temptation to steal it. “Boston, could you give us a minute?” I asked quietly when something dark began to dawn on me.
“Sure, but I could come back at any time,” Boston said with a finger of threat pointed between us like a school monitor. “I don’t want any children conceived out of wedlock. Not on my watch.” Then he broke into a silly grin, clapping his hands at his stupid joke before he left us alone.
I picked up my phone again and scrolled to the page I’d bookmarked, displaying it to Von. “These are all the side effects for my medication. None of them say anything about hallucinations, right? I need you to check for me. I’ve read it too many times; the words are starting to run together.”
Von’s eyebrows pushed together in concern as he read, moving aside a pillow so he could sit down on the side of the bed next to me. “Nothing here, no. Oh, but some of these are dreadful. What’s going on? Are you starting to see things that aren’t here?”
“No,” I whispered. “I’m seeing things that are here, which might be even worse.”
“I don’t understand, love.”
I reached out for him and clutched his forearms in desperation. “If it turns out that I’m crazy, please don’t send me away. Don’t have me committed. Don’t let anyone lock me up.” Fear gripped me as I pictured myself in the white scrubs I’d seen Bev wearing when she’d gone to stay at the mental facility. I didn’t have tears, but I had urgency as I swallowed my pride and laid it all out on the table for my fiancé to examine and turn me away at will. “What’s happening can’t be happening. It’s not real, but it is. I touched the box. It’s real. I felt it.”
Von’s wary expression had a dose of fear to it as he examined my pleading face. “I don’t understand what you’re on about. Tell me what’s twisted you so badly that even
I can’t understand you. I can always understand you. Slow it all down and run it by me again.”
“Kiss me,” I begged. “Kiss me and promise me you won’t have me committed. I’ll be so good for September. She needs her mama!”
“Of course I won’t have you committed. Why would you even say that? I’ve seen you when you were out of your mind over a stain on the rug. I’ve seen you at your worst and at your best. I’ll never leave you again. If they lock you up, I’ll come stay in the Loony Bin with you. Then we’ll both be mad together.” His words were sweet, and the kiss even sweeter. Von was tender as he cupped my face, bringing me forward so he could kiss me just enough to make the music swell, the colors blur, and my anxiety lessen.
“This?” I heard Finn utter from the doorway. “This is what you needed me to drop everything for? Rip my heart out, why don’t you!” He pounded his fist to his chest, anger and hurt fighting for top billing on his face.
“No! Finn, wait!” I tried to get up and go to him, but I was so swallowed by pillows and blankets, I couldn’t fight my way out of the ocean of linens.
Von held his hands up and helped situate me back against the headboard. “Obviously we didn’t know you were here. Have a seat. Apparently the little gift you got my girls has given October quite the scare. Care to share where you found the himila?”
“I don’t answer to you, kendi,” Finn scowled at Von, getting in the dig that reminded Von he’d once been a sex slave.
“Hey, knock it off. I need both of you to cool down. Finn, have a seat. I have questions for you.”
Finn remained in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “I’m not sitting on the bed you share with your half-vamp.”
Temper Page 17
