Fifth a Fury

Page 79

“What did you expect?” Jess asked as we cut across the living room. “He’s a god ruling his own version of heaven and you, my dear friend, are his chosen goddess.”

Chapter Forty-Three

JAYA HAD DONE EXACTLY what I’d hoped.

The small arch she’d crafted from vines and palm leaves from my island framed the open-air altar where I stood. The celebrant—a middle-aged man with a bald head and iron-pressed grey suit—stood behind me. Cal waited off to the side in a charcoal suit, complete with waistcoat and cravat. I’d told him not to dress up, but my command seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. At least he’d obeyed when I’d asked him to video call Eleanor’s father and wedge a small table into the sand so my laptop could record and transmit our ceremony.

Ross Grace had been polite—even after I’d hung up on him previously—and run to get a glass of champagne that he’d been saving for special occasions. He now waited quietly, watching my beach and the glowing sky, poised for Eleanor to arrive.

I’d yet to meet Eleanor’s mother, but at least her father was in attendance. He could watch his stunning, amazing daughter swear her life to mine.

She was no longer his.

But I would share her occasionally because that was what good husbands did.

Jess appeared on Arbi’s arm. The man who’d once had a job of keeping imprisoned goddesses in line and bowing to every sinister guest’s request now had a much more important calling. He’d been tasked with being head of staff, ensuring food was plentiful for us and the locals who lived on neighbouring islands, the villas were maintained even while currently out of use, and being at the beck and call of the two women who remained here.

Jim Campbell wasn’t a part of our wedding witnesses, having flown to see his grandchildren in Chicago at the same time as Louise Maddon and her team flew home to Geneva. Louise had returned with a personal payment, along with a bank deposit substantial enough to fund another wing at her hospital. A gift of thanks for her tireless work giving me back my legs and life.

Campbell had also left with a gift. A hefty sum that spoke of gratefulness for his care toward Jess, Cal, and Skittles. He’d left with my blessing. He no longer thought of me as something to exterminate and I managed to accept his reasoning for his betrayal.

I’d expected his departure to be our last interaction. However, he’d requested if he could return in a month. Now that elixir had been destroyed, girls released, and no future imprisonment planned, he’d second-guessed his retirement.

Regardless of our amicable respect, despite the treason and tragedy we’d both caused, I couldn’t make up my mind if I’d welcome him back. He was still the reason Serigala was bombed and so many animals crucified. But he’d redeemed himself by saving others’ lives.

Ah well, that decision could be made another day.

Today was my wedding and all I wanted to focus on was my wife-to-be.

Cal sucked in a breath as Jess continued her laboured stroll toward us. She shared most of her weight with Arbi, her face tight with strain. Determination to keep going and not give in sparkled in her gaze. Her blonde hair had been coiled and pinned, complete with a sprig of jasmine in the fairness. Her lips glistened with gloss and her smile seemed to stop Cal’s heart as he jerked beside me.

Jaya had done well, choosing a golden dress that skimmed Jess’s ankles with a floaty hem, adorned with just enough lace and decoration to be perfect without overshadowing the bride.

Not that anything could overshadow Eleanor.

She could wear kelp from the ocean, and she’d still look exquisite.

Speaking of the bride...where the fuck is she?

I fought the urge to fidget, clasping my hands around the cane wedged into the sand in front of me. I’d managed to walk unassisted. My endurance increased each day. However, my balance still came and went and I had no intention of falling on my ass as Eleanor walked down the aisle.

Pika sensed my building tension, nibbling at my ear with his beak. “Jinx. Jinx!”

I stiffened, looking at the tiny parrot on my shoulder. “Another new word, huh? Decided to expand your vocab, little nightmare?”

Pika narrowed his black eyes, that cheeky look that always heralded mischief appeared. He squawked and stomped his claws on my blazer, kicking up a fuss. The ribbon where I’d tied our wedding rings dangled preciously in his talons.

“Don’t you dare drop that.” I growled as he fluttered around my head, the silver ribbon in question swinging wildly.

Three rings hung from it, clinking together with flashes of flawless Hawk diamonds as Pika continued to zip and dip. The glitter reminded me of the first diamond I’d given Eleanor. Disguised as a guest’s payment for the cave fantasy, but really, it’d been a troth of my love for her even then. Eventually, I’d commission that stone to be turned into a bracelet or necklace—another piece of jewellery for the woman who owned me in every way.

“It was a mistake giving that damn bird a fortune in rings. What if he flies out to sea and drops them, just to piss you off?” Cal muttered, his gaze locked on Jess as she continued to close the distance between us.

“He wouldn’t.” I held out my hand, keeping one fisted on my cane and the other acting as a perch for the chaotic caique. “Would you, Pika?”

He chattered and chirped, sitting on my forefinger and spearing his wing into the sky to preen. The rings continued to swing, almost as if he’d been a thief and pilfered them, instead of being my ring bearer.

Soft waves licked around my ankles, soaking the linen suit I wore.

I’d stood in my walk-in wardrobe for longer than I wanted to admit, staring at the racks of severe, regal, and CEO suits that hung on hangars ready to be worn. Ties of every colour waited to be chosen. My uniform of my past felt familiar and appropriate for an event as special as a wedding.

But...as I’d reached for the usual dark and dense fabric, I’d stopped. The man who wore suits for power as well as protection had died in Geneva and not come back. I was marrying Eleanor today with a much lighter soul and not nearly as many sins that needed to be hidden within a stifling suit.

Today, I was free and I’d chosen simple linen trousers, rolling up the cuffs to reveal bare feet that patrolled the sands of my Elysium. A white shirt tucked in with buttons undone around my throat to let humid air lick around my chest, and a blazer that held a simple orchid pinned to the breast pocket.

I was underdressed for my own wedding but it felt like the perfect choice because I was underdressed in all manners when it came to Eleanor. The only decoration that’d felt appropriate was the dangerous purple flower that’d started me on this journey. A path full of deceit and corruptibility, using sex against women and possession against life, but it’d ended with four hundred bottles of elixir being destroyed by Mrs. Bixel in Geneva at my command.

Those who deserved to die had died—including me.

Those who deserved to be freed had been freed—including Eleanor.

Life had untangled the mess I’d caused and I’d never been so fucking grateful.

“You look amazing,” Cal murmured as Arbi relinquished Jess to him the moment she was close enough.

She smiled as her eyes glowed with affection. “You don’t look so bad yourself.” Throwing me a glance, she added, “You either, Sullivan.”

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