Eternal: More Love Stories With Bite (30 page)

There was a long pause, and the next time she spoke, it was with a whisper. "I'm sorry, baby. I always wanted better for you."

She hung
up.
Mama was my last, best hope to help me keep my dream—me and Liam making a life here, with everyone we loved. But now, if I wanted the biggest, most important part of that dream, I'd have to steal it.

I let the phone fall on the muddy ground beside us.

"There's no choice now." Swallowing my tears, I slid my arms around Liam and held tight. "Luckily, I got an escape plan."

* * * *

Vampire weddings are pretty much like human weddings, except there's no priest, no talk of kids, and instead of kissing each other, they bite.

To avoid Gavin at the reception, I stuck as close to Bridget as I could, playing the perfect maid of honor. Every time she tugged her veil to cover her burn, I got a pain in my heart, wishing for her sake the scar could have healed for the wedding. Maybe for their tenth-anniversary party.

Soon it was time for the first dance, when she and Michael left the bridal table and glided to the center of the floor, hypnotizing the whole crowd. Even the dozen or so other vampires couldn't take their eyes off the blissed-out couple as they swayed to the bittersweet sound of Martin Finnegan's band.

I headed straight for Liam, who was leaning against the far post of the open park pavilion. He was the only one watching me instead of the bride and groom—or so I thought.

He tensed suddenly, his gaze darting to my right. I veered left, but I was too late.

Gavin stepped in front of me, reeking of hair gel. "Cass, you look real pretty tonight."

"Thanks." I tugged my sky-blue wrap tighter and tried to dodge him. "So do you." Not really—if anything, he looked ridiculous, with his curls pasted down and his tie all crooked.

He put his hand on my arm to stop me. I gave him a deadly glare, which made him let go. Whatever else might be wrong with Travellers, we're not violent. Any man who beats his wife or kids will get a hundred times worse from the other men.

Gavin shoved his hands in his pockets. "Will you dance with me? Please?"

"Thank you, but I owe the first dance to my fiancé."

"Your—" He looked behind me, where I could hear the thump of Liam's cane as he approached. Then Gavin gawked at the engagement ring still on my finger. "Didn't you get the message from your dad?"

I gazed up at Gavin, my eyes wide and empty. "You mean Brendan? Nope. No message."

His jaw tightened. "You sure?"

"She said she didn't get it." Liam put his arm around me. "Is there something you want to tell us?"

Gavin's teeth ground together, and I knew he wanted to shove the news in Liam's face, but it wasn't his place to tell. Until Brendan announced it to the whole family, it might as well not be true.

Liam took my hand. "Cass, isn't this one of your favorite songs?"

"Yeah, I don't want to miss it. Bye, Gavin."

We turned for the dance floor, but Gavin grabbed Liam's shoulder. "You wait," he growled. "Your time is comin'."

"Yep. Sure is." Liam slipped out of Gavin's grip and led me away with barely a break in his stride.

"You act all smug, he'll get suspicious," I said as I looped my arms around his neck for the slow dance.

"It's hard acting normal, knowing that in an hour we'll be on that highway together." He spoke low in my ear. "Knowing that, come Monday, we'll be married, and come Monday night..

My fingers tightened on his shoulders. "We have to wait until nighttime? Can't we go straight from the courthouse to our motel?"

"Whatever you want. Your whole long life, whatever you want." He gazed into my eyes. "I'll steal the stars outta the sky for you, Mary Cassidy. Every last one."

"I don't need them all. One or two might be nice, long as the sky's not using them."

I leaned my cheek against his chest as we surrendered to the music. I wondered if we'd find a place up north where a man would play Irish fiddle like Martin Finnegan.

When the song ended, Liam whispered, "My car's unlocked, next to the gazebo."

"Meet you there when they cut the cake."

We stepped away half as far as our arms would reach, but didn't let go. "I still can't believe it," he said. "I can't imagine a world where this works. It's like our life is a burning building, and I'm running down the hallway toward the door, but I can't see anything in all the smoke. I can't see you."

My stomach turned cold from the
look in his
eyes. "You don't dare
believe
it. You've always been a pessimist."

"Works for me." He winked. "That way
I
get
a
lot
of
good surprises."

* * * *

"Keep smiling," Bridget said, clutching the knife. "It can't look like we're saying good-bye."

"I love you." I grasped her bouquet, which I'd caught even without gouging out Ellie Sherlock's eyes. "I'll miss you more than anyone."

"I love you, too. I'd give anything to hug you right now, but then everyone would know something was up. So I'll just fix your hair instead, okay?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Okay."

She adjusted the tendril in front of my left ear, then touched my cheek with her soft, cool hand. "You go and love each other real good. Don't let it all be for nothing."

The crowd started to chant. "Cake. Cake. Cake. Cake! Cake!"

Bridget grinned and rolled her eyes. "Humans." Then she turned and flashed the knife. "Michael," she said in a singsong tone. "I got something for you."

I slunk away into the applauding crowd.

My getaway bag was hidden in the bushes near the empty gazebo at the far end of the parking lot, where Liam's car sat empty. I opened the trunk, which already held his own bag.

But where was he?
I
stared into the patch of dark woods between the parking lot and the pavilion. Maybe the dancing had
tired
him out, and he was walking slower
than
usual.

But the prickling of my spine made me reach into the
trunk
for the tire iron.

In the distance, the cake music cut off, replaced by laughing and clapping. Michael must've smashed cake into Bridget's face, or vice versa. It's not like they were going to eat it—Bridget said that to a vampire, baked goods taste like sand. But their parents insisted on cake, and even vampire couples had to bow to family wishes.

When the laughter died out,
I
heard a thump, then another, from the woods behind me. The thumps mixed with voices and soft grunts. Then came
the
sound of breaking glass.

Holding the tire
iron
tight,
I
slipped my feet out of my high heels and crept into the trees, ordering myself not to whimper if
I
stepped on something sharp.

Way off at the pavilion, a drum rolled, and the children chanted Michael's name.

A piece of wood snapped near me, loud as a bullet.

Then came Gavin's laughter. "Liam, look what you did, boy-o. Your big fat head broke the tree."

Billy Mallory, Gavin's cousin, joined
in.
"What'd that tree ever do to you, gimp?"

Fear moved my feet faster, but dread kept them stealthy. My hands grew sweaty around the tire iron, and
I
desperately
wished
for a vampire's night vision.

Just before
I
came to the clearing,
I
heard a third voice say, "Shit,
Gavin, I think
you killed him."

I
sucked in a hard gasp, then covered my mouth.

"Nah, he's still breathing," Gavin said. "Billy, what'd you do with my beer?"

Billy cackled. "I gave it to Liam, upside his head, remember?"

"Asshole.
I
wasn't done drinking it."

"Guys, I'm serious." The third voice, which I now recognized as Owen Mack's, shook as he spoke. "He's in real bad shape."

I reached the edge of the clearing to see the three twenty- year-olds hunched over a body that lay limp as a bag of laundry. Rage and sorrow rushed up my throat, wanting to burst out in a scream.

Gavin
fished in his pocket. "Here,
let's
try this." He tossed something onto the ground next to Liam.

Owen picked it up. "Who's Terrell James and why do you have
his
YMCA card?"

"I don't have it. Liam has it, because he picked Terrell's pocket at the mall. Terrell tracked him down, beat him up, and took back his wallet. Some stuff fell out."

"So when they find Liam's body," Billy said, "they'll think Terrell did it. Good story."

"Yeah. Cops hate blacks even more than they hate Travellers."

"But what if Liam wakes up?" Owen said.

His
back to me, Gavin picked
up
a stone twice the size
of
his fist and took a step toward Liam. "We'll just have to make sure he don't."

I didn't
think. I flew out of the shadows and swung the tire iron at Gavin's head.

He shifted his weight in time to keep me from being a murderer myself. The iron hit his shoulder.

Gavin yelped and spun, grabbing the end of the tire iron and hurling it to the side. I didn't let go, so I swung with it, catching my foot in the hem of my dress. My forehead struck something hard. I crumpled to my knees, the world tumbling over and over.

"Cass? Oh my God, did I hurt you?" Gavin knelt by my side.

"Don't touch me!" I swung the tire iron blindly, hitting him in a soft place and making him grunt.

"Gavin, let's run," Billy shouted. "I got my car."

"Cass, I swear," Gavin said. "I didn't mean to hurt him.
I
just wanted to scare him into leaving you."

"Shut up and go get help." I swiped my forehead and saw blood on my fingertips. "Now!"

Owen grabbed Gavin's shoulder. "Come on!"

Gavin kept babbling. "Cass, it wasn't even my idea. It was Brendan's."

The clearing went quiet. Billy and Owen started to back away. We all stared at Gavin as his face turned plaster-pale.