12
After this announcement the next few minutes all happened in a whirlwind of well wishes and congratulations. Suddenly we both found ourselves out of our seats, along with the rest of the room. Then we were separated, pulled from each other so that my human family could show me their love and affection upon hearing the good news. But I wasn’t the only one, I thought with a smile when I saw that he too was receiving his own version of affection. Manly back slapping and heavy handshakes were in place of my family’s cheek kissing and belly rubbing.
I couldn’t help but look back over my shoulder at him when I was yanked forward by my tearful mum only to find him looking back at me doing the same when being embraced by his brother.
The poor hotel staff didn’t know what to do when they had been about to serve the first course but thankfully Sophia, already knowing the happy news, took charge and told them to wait. But during all of this I couldn’t help but be drawn to one person in particular, and this time for once it wasn’t Draven. No, it was the sight of Ari nearly in tears that had me suppressing a frown when being hugged by my dad and being told,
“Well done, Kiddo.”
“Thanks dad,” I said still looking at Ari who was now desperately trying to get my attention, even though she already had it.
“Well it’s not like she had much to do but just lie back and enjoy it and my oh my, but with that man I would say enjoy it she certainly did…oooweee!” My horny old grandmother said making my dad groan and my mum choke out an outraged,
“Mother!” My sister and Frank burst out laughing and I looked down at my nan, giving her a wink when no one was looking. She let loose a cackling laugh gaining another stern look from my mother making me and Libby giggle. Then my mother’s scowl landed on my quiet granddad expectantly. Oh yeah, this was going to be good I thought with a hidden grin. He didn’t disappoint.
“Don’t look at me like that Joyce, you wouldn’t have been born if your mother hadn’t forced herself on me that night,” my granddad said smirking and winking at his wife, who faked a blush. It had to be said that when my family loved, we did it wholeheartedly.
“Dad!” My mother shouted this time, letting half the room know that my grandparents were once again causing my mum embarrassment.
“Congratulations sweetheart and well done,” my granddad said winking and reusing my father’s words on purpose, that being his new sport in winding up my mother. I smiled and leant down to kiss him on his cheek.
“Thanks Gramps,” I said but there was the other side of this conversation that I couldn’t exactly have. No, I am not sure they would have understood it from my side if I had started to explain just what I had to do exactly to get pregnant by Draven. I could just picture it now…
‘Well actually, it is well done me as I had to travel back in time to fool my two thousand year old younger husband’s self into sleeping with me, in order to get me pregnant to save the world from ending, so yeah…yay me!’
Thankfully however, I didn’t say this or the hundred and one things I wanted to say right then. Like how their granddaughter, daughter and sister was now a Vampire, demon angel human hybrid. Oh, and had basically saved the world with her husband and his band of merry Demons and Angels by my side. I also wanted to tell them how I also wouldn’t age from this point on and how they never needed to worry about me ever again…or ever buy me anti-wrinkle cream for my birthday…which let’s face it, was a shitty gift to receive on your birthday anyway. I mean getting older sucked, so why then make someone feel even worse about it by pointing it out with a gift?
But getting back on track, yeah, there were so many things I wanted to tell my parents right now, but thankfully good sense was on my side, keeping me from saying anything but,
“Excuse me a minute mum, dad, but Ari needs to speak to me.” And it was more than obvious that she did. In fact, it looked as though if she didn’t get to speak to me soon then she would just end up bursting into tears. This was when I really started to get worried. I knew we weren’t sisters in the biological sense but after our time together at the colony and our implanted memories of growing up as sisters, then that had forever forged our connection.
The second I was within grabbing distance of her she frantically took my arm and told me,
“I’m so sorry!” I frowned not understanding what she was so sorry for, but the tears that were now spilling over her long lashes told me that she certainly felt like she had reason enough to be feeling bad.
“What on earth could you be sorry for, honey?” She didn’t answer me, and it looked for a moment that she couldn’t physically get the words out. But with her one guilty look down at my belly, it had me taking a deep breath and taking Ari ten times more seriously. So serious that when she took my hand in hers I followed her without question as I was lead quickly into the women’s bathroom.
The second the door closed behind us she let go and the flood gates opened as she burst into tears.
“Oh Ari, come here,” I said pulling her into my arms and letting her get it all out.
“I am so…so, oh God I am so sorry, Keira!” I felt her shuddering against me as she started to sob out her confession.
“Ari, I don’t know…” I started to say when she quickly interrupted me as though she couldn’t contain the guilt any longer.
“I wasn’t there!” she shouted, and I gently pulled her back to look into her beautiful but now haunted blue eyes. They shimmered under the veil of tears ready to overspill, following others in their path.
“Ari?” I said her name in what could only be described as broken desperation, fearing like never before what she could mean by that. I started shaking my head as if trying to rid myself of the paranoia but one look into her eyes before following them down to my stomach and I couldn’t help it. I let out a gasp of horror as my hands flew to my belly, that suddenly felt empty of all hope.
“No…it…it can’t be…the prophecy, it was said that…” I knew I was rambling out whispered excuses that would never be enough.
“Oh God Keira, I am so sorry, but I wasn’t there! That night I didn’t know, I just thought by me being there would be enough but when I woke and found myself in his bed, then I knew…I knew I had failed you.” I looked up at her and all I saw was pain brought on by an emotion I knew all too well…guilt.
And like all those years I was burdened daily with the feeling, I knew just like now, it wasn’t her fault as it hadn’t been mine all that time ago. No, I couldn’t blame her for this, I couldn’t blame anyone for this. So, as I looked at her beautiful face masked by worry and sorrow, I knew there was only one thing left to do…mourn together.
“Oh Ari!” I said pulling her back to my embrace, so we could cry as sisters.
“Why didn’t you tell me, honey?” I asked once our joint tears had calmed for the moment.
“I thought I would get another chance to help. I was so angry at Vincent for stealing me away that I demanded he take me back to the room just in case. But then when I heard you had gone missing, I was so scared I wouldn’t get another opportunity…and well, it looks like I was right.” She looked down at her feet and I hated how broken she was because of it all. I wanted to say all the right things to ease her pain and anguish but right then all I could do was hold onto my own. And instead of finding my own feet, I found my hands cradling my stomach instead.
“After we got back I wanted to tell you so badly but how could I…? What type of sister would I be to ruin your big day like that? I just couldn’t do it to you and now I hate myself because now there is a room full of people out there that believe you’re pregnant along with your husband...he looks so happy, you both do and now I have taken that all away from you and…”
“Ari, stop,” I told her firmly taking her tear-soaked face in my hands and framing her face to get her to look at me.
“Please don’t do this to yourself, you’re not to blame and I never would…never,” I said pulling her to me and before we knew it we had both slipped to the floor to cry just like we did that day in the desert.
“I love you, sister,” I whispered in her hair making her grip onto me tighter.
“I love you too, my Kaybear…always, my Kaybear,” she told me back making me smile through my heartache. Just then two of my other sisters burst through the door and we both looked up to find Pip and Sophia looking panicked and ready to either kill someone or call the cavalry for the army they thought might be crammed in here.
“What in the girly Hell PJ party are you two doing down there crying like a couple of screeching bobcats?” Pip asked, and I reached up a hand knowing she would get the hint in helping me up. Sophia did the same for Ari, only ending up cradling her head to her shoulder as she burst into another fit of tears. It was in that moment that I hated what my next words would have to be, knowing that they wouldn’t stop there. No, the hardest part of all of this was having to tell Draven he wasn’t going to be a father…That would very nearly kill me.
So, I told them what had happened, to the background sound of Ari’s misery, which broke my heart even more.
“Show me,” Sophia demanded and at first, I frowned not understanding what she meant.
“Drop your shields. Drop everything,” she said again, this time more forceful. She looked almost as desperate as I did, but it was in that desperation that made me do something I never thought I would do ever again. I remember what it felt like to learn that as Katie I had been so vulnerable in their world, with them knowing my every thought.
So, I took a deep breath and for the first time since this all began, I started tearing down every wall I had ever built. I was destroying them, no longer caring about preserving my mind, protecting it or anything. I just needed to know right at that second if Ari was right. But in the end, it wasn’t Sophia who saw it. No, it was another being that had a piece of my heart…
It was Pip.
“Oh my god! I see it! I feel it!” she shouted excitedly, and my face shot up to hers in utter disbelief and asked,
“Really?!” The hope in both my eyes and voice was testament to how much I wanted it to be true.
“Oh Gods, I can see it too! Oh Keira, you’re going to have a baby!” Sophia said with pure joy lacing every word.
“I am? I really am?!” I shrieked out in shock and astonishment.
“YES!” Both Pip and Sophia shouted together. Then I turned to Ari and grabbed her to me as we cried together…this time in overwhelming happiness.
“You did it! I don’t know how but you did it!” I told her flinging my arms around her once more. However, our joyous moment quickly came to an abrupt end as someone suddenly burst into the room.
“Draven!” I shouted and before I could control myself I threw myself into his arms. Instantly they wrapped around my torso like a comforting cage he needed to keep me in. He tangled a hand in my hair to hold my head to his chest and he leaned down as if to take in my scent to calm him.
“Keira.” He whispered my name as he lifted me off the floor, so that my feet were dangling mid-air.
“Come on girls, let’s give them some time alone,” Sophia said softly and one quick glance at her face told me that she was so touched by the sight of me in her brother’s arms, that her small smile really held the weight of a mountain of happiness behind it. One by one they left the women’s toilets and I felt Ari’s hand touch mine that was gripping onto Draven’s shirt, giving it an acknowledging squeeze before she joined the other two.
“Keira, why can I…” I didn’t let him finish his sentence as the second he lowered me back to the ground I took a step back and placed my hands to where our baby grew inside me. Then I looked up at him with tears still in my eyes and said,
“I…I thought for a moment that I wasn’t…” I didn’t need to say the rest as Draven looked down at my belly and then suddenly dropped to his knees. I watched in awe as this mighty king looked up at me, kneeling in front of who I knew he considered as his queen, with sheer love and astonishment. Then he lowered his head as if first bowing to me before placing his forehead to my stomach.
It was such a profound moment that in his actions I became lost in a world of love for this man, thinking it impossible to have fallen even more in love with him. But there it was, this one fraction in time now burned to my memory forevermore. And just when I thought he couldn’t add any more depth to the feeling, he spoke. Voicing the most beautiful words I had ever heard coming from a father to be…
“Our child, I can sense our child,” he whispered in such a way it was almost barely heard but completely felt in every way possible. I felt it in my heart as if it started to beat a little harder, a little faster. I felt it in my soul as something within me seemed to light up and glow. I even felt it in my fingertips as I buried my hands into his hair, holding his head to my body. And he felt my response thanks to having destroyed my walls and letting him in.
He stood swiftly and had me back in his embrace before I could take my next breath.
“Gods I love you!” he told me fervently before crushing his lips to mine in a beautiful untamed kiss that felt like he was once again branding his soul to mine.
After this, I explained why I had been so worried, telling him of Ari’s gift. At first, he had been surprised but quickly understood my concerns, which begged the question of how and when? We were on our way back into the dining room after our emotional moment in the bathroom.
“I don’t understand when this could have happened?” I mused trying to think back to when Ari could have had her ‘influence’. The reply to my question didn’t really come from an unlikely source as Draven tugged back on my hand, but more so an unlikely place in time as its answer.
“That night…I felt something, could it be?” he said at first more to himself looking off to the side as if seeing a moment of time all play out in his mind. Then he looked back at me with a grin, prompting me to ask,
“What do you mean?” Suddenly his grin grew bigger and a slight more of a curve to one side told me he was feeling cocky and I soon knew why…it was the very last place I ever expected.
“In Jared’s office…the night before our wedding,” he told me dropping that baby bombshell.
“Oh my god, on his desk!?” I cried out in utter shock. Draven’s grin, if at all possible, got even bigger and definitely more bad boy, bad ass.
“The desk we broke,” he reminded me with great pleasure.
“No…it couldn’t be…could it?” I said first denying it, staring at my feet before looking up at Draven again for confirmation. His smug look said it all. After this I pulled Draven along with me until we found Ari and this time she was being comforted in private by another Draven.
It was obvious that Vincent was trying to discover what was wrong with Ari, but she seemed to be giving him a hard time of it, remaining silent on the matter. She was just shaking her head when she noticed Draven and I seeking her out. Vincent looked in the direction her eyes had taken and before he saw who it was the annoyed glare wasn’t easy to miss. Thankfully, the second he saw it was us, he calmed but even I knew his smile was still strained.
“Um…sorry Vincent but do you mind if I borrow my sister real quick?” I asked having to first clear my throat just to try and cut through the tension that was like a brick wall between these two. Vincent looked back to Ari and because of where I was stood I didn’t know what she saw, but when she flinched I gathered it wasn’t Vincent’s handsome grin.
“We will continue this later, Arianna,” Vincent stated firmly, and in that moment, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her immediate future. I wasn’t used to seeing Vincent this way and even I felt like flinching myself when I saw his tensed jaw and eyes of blue ice.
“Come brother, I wish to ask you something,” Draven said light heartedly obviously trying to ease the situation and his brother’s growing tension. Well, if there was one person in the world that could relate to him, it would be Draven and the same went for me with Ari.
I waited till I received a wink from my husband before giving him a nod in return, knowing he was telling me without words that he needed to help his brother.
“Ari, are you alright?” I asked softly feeling like I had lost her to her own mind for she seemed so far away. I nearly asked what it was she saw on the wall behind me. In the end it wasn’t my words that reached her but only when I reached out and touched her arm did she finally see me.
“He doesn’t know,” she said cryptically, and it made me look back over my shoulder at the two brothers. They were across the room from us and Draven seemed to be trying to get Vincent to open up to him, pretty much the same I was doing now with Ari.
“He doesn’t know what, honey?” I asked giving her arm a squeeze.
“What I am, where I have been, what you needed me to do…he knows none of it and I can’t tell him,” she said in a flat tone that told me only one thing…she was barely holding on to the last of her control not to break down.
“Why Ari…why don’t you think you can tell him?” I asked gently. This was finally when she looked at me and the red in her eyes told me straight away why Vincent was pushing her…he was worried.
“I can’t explain it but when I am with him it feels like I am doing something wrong…as if I let myself be free around him then I will only end up hurting him.” I frowned not understanding why she would feel this way but at least happy that she was finally opening up to me.
“What would make you think that?” She shook her head as if trying to rid herself of her own thoughts but with that one flash of pain in her eyes I knew she just couldn’t manage it.
“I don’t know but it’s just like…like I have been here before and every time I mess it up.”
“You mean you remember other men in your life?” I asked getting excited at the prospect that she might remember something of her past life. But then she frowned, and her lips made a flat line telling me I was wrong.
“That’s just it…I don’t remember there ever being another man before Vincent.”
“Okay, I would be lying if I didn’t say I am a little confused right now,” I confessed, and the little snort of a laugh told me I wasn’t the only one.
“Yeah, welcome to a day in my life,” she joked, and I was just happy to see a glimpse of the old Ari back, if only for a second.
“All I know is that I can’t tell him I went back in time with you or what it is you think I am,” she said but I grabbed her shoulders this time and told her,
“What we know you are…Ari, I am pregnant because of you.” She didn’t look convinced as she turned her gaze from mine to find the floor.
“You don’t know that…I don’t even know when I could have…” I stopped her by quickly asking her,
“Ari that night, my hen night, after we had been on stage…do you remember it?” Her deep blush told me that she did only I wasn’t convinced it was for the same reasons I had. Like standing on stage half naked singing Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 in Jared’s weird ass, fight club!
“How could I forget it,” she said under her breath and I knew I had guessed right, she remembered it alright but definitely not for the same reasons I did.
“After the dance and after, well Draven went all caveman on me, what happened to you?” I asked hoping to get the answer Draven was obviously hoping for. To be honest I think he would be content with any answer that was in this time frame, not one two thousand years into the past with his younger self. But one look at Ari told me this wasn’t going to be an easy answer…for her anyway. Not if that deep blush was anything to go by.
“I would rather not…” I stopped her by grabbing her arm and communicating with not only my words but also with a squeeze of my hand what this meant to me.
“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, Ari,” I said looking down at my stomach to indicate just how important it was. She followed my gaze and with a released sigh I knew she wouldn’t refuse me. No, instead she pulled me closer and said in hushed tones,
“After we…well after our sexy dance and my twirling baton thing, well let’s just say that your Draven might have been okay with it but mine definitely wasn’t,” she told me, and I couldn’t say I was surprised. I knew Draven had a possessive streak the size of Texas and I doubted that his brother was any different.
However, the massive difference in all of this was that Draven had claimed me years ago and Vincent was yet to accomplish the task. So, for someone who couldn’t yet openly enjoy the act knowing that he could then act upon his own wishes and desires… well then, yeah it was a bit like cock teasing a nymphomaniac, control freak that was well known for his possessive and dominating issues…that and like waving a flag with your naked picture on it to a Supernatural Bull! It made me wonder who I actually felt sorrier for in this situation, Nun Ari or Blue Balls Vincent?
“Why, what happened?” I asked, thinking that I already had a pretty good idea.
“Well…” she almost started but then paused when looking down at her sleeve, one she started pulling the thread at out of nervous habit. I decided to take pity on her and grab her hand to take in my own, also saving her cute long-sleeved navy-blue dress from having its hems plucked apart.
“It’s okay, I get it.”
“You do?” she asked looking surprised. So, I looked back over my shoulder at my own domineering other half and said again without looking at her,
“Yeah, I totally do.” Then I looked back at her and told her the truth.
“I remember what it was like you know.” She frowned not understanding fully what I was getting at, so I told her.
“I remember how intimidated I was around him. How confusing it was to be drawn to something that scared me, to someone who made me even fearful to speak at times. A feeling so intense that you doubted yourself for it even being reality, like in some way something that powerful just…well it just couldn’t be real.” She looked thoughtful and then nodded both to herself and to me. But I wasn’t finished yet and she knew it when I said,
“I remember how intense he was around me and at first I mistook it for hate, if you can believe that.” Hearing this her eyes flew to mine and then after finding Draven’s figure across the room, she hissed,
“No, never, how could you ever think that?” Her shock made me laugh and I nodded telling her,
“It’s true. God, when I think back to the way he was with me, I will tell you it’s a wonder we ended up together at all.” Her disbelief was still easy to see in both her frown and scrunched up lips.
“I promise you, I am not exaggerating here. He looked like he didn’t even want me in his club half the time and the other half he was playing knight in an Armani suit by saving me in some way. Trust me when I say confused is an understatement.” She laughed when I said this, and I could finally see the tension lifting from her shoulders. I wondered at that moment what it would have been like to have had someone like me to relate to. Would it have made it easier or harder knowing what I had in store for me?
“But he adores you,” she said in a soft voice, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah, now he does but before we got together most of the time I think I was just a major pain in his royal ass.” Ari laughed again, and you could see it was acting like a natural healer for her burdened soul.
“What you…a pain in the ass…never,” she joked back being sarcastic and pretending to look shocked. This time I was the one that started laughing and soon we both were.
I quickly noticed Ari stop suddenly and a blush was once again highlighting the apple of her cheeks. I followed where her gaze had been before she lowered her eyes submissively and saw that Vincent was now looking at her like a starved beast wanting nothing more than to devour his next meal. Talk about lust vibes, jeez but my new brother in law was casting them out like he just activated a pheromone bomb and any second it was going to blow up in Ari’s face!
And that was all from seeing her laugh. Oh yeah, man did he have it bad. Now I knew who I felt sorry for more and that was definitely Ari. For she may not know it yet, but she was in massive trouble with that bad boy Angel…the question was, when? From the looks of him, I would say that she didn’t have long, that was for damn sure!
“Um…so anyway, getting back to that night…” I said trying to get back on track after first having to clear my throat and my mind for that matter. As thanks to Vincent, I now just had visions of him chasing her down like some wild beast man with wings, plucking her from the ground and flying her off somewhere, ready to have his wicked way with her.
“Well, after he took off his jacket and practically ran up on the stage to cover me up like my body was causing everyone offense or something he…what, wait, why are you laughing?” Ari asked me after I couldn’t help it, I snorted a series of giggles.
“Seriously Ari, you really think that’s why he did it?” She looked taken aback by the question at first and then released a sigh before admitting,
“Well, I don’t know why as other than him hissing at me about looking indecent and having to ‘deal with people’ whatever that meant, what else was I supposed to think?” Once again this had me bursting out laughing much to her annoyance.
“Oh Ari, seriously, he was annoyed because someone he is obsessing over was just up on stage doing a sexy dance and showing off one hot sexy ass in front a room full of people he no doubt wanted to rip apart for watching,” I informed her and by her gasp and now gaping open mouth, it looked as though that thought hadn’t even once entered her head.
“Noooo…seriously?” she said after the lengthened word ‘no’ came whispered through her teeth.
“Yessss…what did you think he meant by having to deal with people?” I asked truly curious to know.
“Well, I just thought he meant like to apologise on my behalf or something, you know in case I had embarrassed him or offended important people or something…stop laughing like that or he will hear you!” she hissed pulling me further away, but I couldn’t help it, I was now nearly crying with laughter and she too was trying hard not to let the infectious sound invade her irritation.
“You’re funny Ari, you know that! Seriously hun, did you even look in a mirror that night?” She frowned at the question.
“You were hot! As in seriously H.O.T! And knowing the Draven brothers as I do, then Vincent no doubt was battling against himself the entire time from grabbing you the first moment he could and running away with you!” I told her making her snort and reply,
“Well, he did try and that’s why I ran from him…until he caught me of course,” she said in frustration.
“Run to where exactly?” I asked as now it was clear I was getting somewhere.
“Oh, I don’t know, I just ran to the nearest door I could find at the back of the club.” Her dismissive tone made me smile as now things, like Draven had said, were making sense.
“A broken door by any chance?” Her wide-eyed look said it all.
“You guys were in there?!” I laughed and nodded, now being the one to blush.
“But when I touched the door… that voice…it was…?” She let her question trail away as if she was trying to recall an answer to her own question by looking into the past. Looking into the past, instead of asking me, who was here right now I might add. I couldn’t help giving her vulnerable and naive mind a break as I finished off her sentence softly saying what she feared.
“Demonic?” Her eyes flashed to mine in horror and I couldn’t help but give her a small smile in return.
“It was Draven speaking from his Demon side.” Hearing this her mouth dropped and I was suddenly reminded just how new to this world she really was. She looked so concerned for me, it was almost painful to see.
Yeah, so she may have been a supernatural being trapped in a human mind, but that didn’t mean this was any easier on her. If anything, the not knowing who or what you were made it near impossible to fully understand. For how could a person really understand, when they lived in a world they weren’t sure which side they were truly part of?
It was this thought that made me gently pull her into my arms and hug her.
“It will be okay, we will figure this out honey, but in the meantime, please don’t worry about me. Draven’s Demon would never hurt me. And I know this may seem hard to understand right now, but he loves me just as much as Draven does,” I told her and only when I felt her head nod a little did I ease my hold on her.
“Well, at least that answers one thing,” I said after pulling back, holding her by the shoulders for a moment longer.
“Yeah?”
“You definitely were the reason I got pregnant.” My reply didn’t come from the fragile young woman in front of me but from the strong presence now at my back.
“Oh, I think I had something to do with that, Love.” Draven’s voice hummed before wrapping his arms around my torso and pulling me back to his tall, hard frame. Ari blushed and smirked at the floor.
“But yes, you are right sweetheart. Arianna, how can I ever thank you, for not only blessing me with…”
“Active sperm?” I interrupted making her burst out laughing and with her Vincent who had joined her side. For once it was nice to see the tension leave them both, if only for a moment and by me saying something silly. It was only when Draven growled that I started to join them.
“Sorry baby, should I have said Super Sperm…would that have helped your Man King ego?” I asked sweetly before turning in his arms and reaching up to kiss his jaw. Again, Vincent started laughing and when I looked back over my shoulder I winked at them both. Ari just shook her head in amusement, with a smile on her face.
“Oh, naughty little Vixen of mine, I know exactly what will help my ‘Man King ego’ and if you are not careful then you will be reminded of it right here in this room for others to witness,” he challenged, and this time Ari stopped smiling and looked almost as shocked as I did.
“You wouldn’t dare!” I threatened spinning on a heel to face him.
“Try me Sweetheart, because just remember, I have the ability to wipe everyone’s memory in the room, so even though they won’t recall the act, it should be fun seeing your blush whilst it happens,” he dared and even though his bad boy grin was answer enough, his words however, gave me enough reason to be worried and quickly offer him my submission. I bit my lip and lowered my eyes making him growl at the innocent looking gesture.
“Vincent, Arianna, if you’ll excuse us a moment, I believe I have to speak privately to my beautiful, blushing wife,” Draven said making me unsuccessfully fight a smile.
“But of course, Brother. As for you my sister in law, as always, it’s been a pleasure,” Vincent said stepping forward to grant me a kiss on the cheek. I couldn’t help but turn my head quickly before he stepped away, so I could whisper one word into his ear for only him to hear,
“Patience.” He pulled back slowly and the expression he gave me made me squeeze his arm. I knew that look and it was one that only belonged to a tortured soul. It was the same look I had given him that day on the mountain’s edge as I gazed down to Draven’s cave. It was when I believed my love was dead and with it the loss of half my heart and the loss of half my tortured soul.
Now I knew who I felt sorrier for and it was no longer Ari.
No, she no longer had my full sympathy.
It was…
Vincent.