Life's Blood (The Cordelia Chronicles) (23 page)

“Chaseyn says they’re in place,” she said. “It’s time. Let’s go.”

***

What had seemed like a long walk the night before passed in a blur today. My knees wobbled with each step--nerves. And maybe a bit of sadness that my own mother couldn’t attend. Still, I pressed on, a smile etched on my face.

As we walked through the city streets, the locals waved and smiled, hollering what I hoped were well wishes for a happy future in their native language. I nodded and waved and smile my acknowledgement. Such warmth and happiness. I only hoped it would last.

Rather than climb the nearly two-hundred steps through the Covered Staircase to the top of the hill, we took the sloping path nearby. I was out of breath by the time we reached the top, so we paused for a moment before taking the path to the location where our garden ceremony was set to take place.

As we rounded the corner to the small stone building where the minister lived, the garden came into view. It had been transformed into a winter wonderland, complete with an archway that stretched the entire length of the garden walkway. Twinkle lights covered every tree and bush. The sun was just starting to set on the horizon, and the sky was aglow with a pinkish hue.

“Wow,” I said under my breath as I took in the sight. “I can’t believe Chaseyn did all of this in one day.”

“It’s amazing what money can buy,” Addie chuckled, and I saw Mina throw her a warning glance. “Sorry…what I meant was, isn’t it amazing?”

I couldn’t say anything as I scanned the scene laid out before me in search of my one true love. And then, he stepped into the glow of the spotlight shining at the end of the archway, which was made from the branches of some sort of coniferous tree. In a three piece charcoal suit with a thin pinstripe, he looked every bit the man I had imagined would one day meet me at the altar. The blush-colored ascot and handkerchief complimented the color I had picked for Addie’s dress, and I knew he had selected it based on intuition alone. He knew me
that
well. There hadn’t been time to wait until I had made my selections for Chaseyn and Eli to have their fittings.

When our eyes met, an electricity sizzled between us in a way I had never experienced before. Chaseyn, who rarely showed any form of emotion, was grinning from ear to ear. There was a sparkle in his eyes that I hadn’t seen in weeks--not since he first started experiencing signs of aging.

Addie made her way down the path to the makeshift altar at the end, where she was joined by Eli, who was looking nearly--though not quite--as handsome as Chaseyn in his grey suit and blush tie. Like Addie, Eli was carrying a massive wedding candle--though I doubted he had complained about its heft the entire way to the church the way Addie had.

Together, they presented the candles to the minister, who lit each one ceremoniously. The gesture was intended to symbolize the sacred union between two souls and their family’s wish for the couple to spend a long, happy life together. I had my fingers crossed that Chaseyn had a soul to unite with mine. He was only
half
vampire, after all. I heard a snigger from someone in the small crowd of strangers who had gathered round to watch our nuptials--clearly someone who knew enough about us to share my thoughts. And that’s when I laid eyes on
him
. How dare he show his face here.

Mina caught on to my distress, following my gaze into the distance to where James stood, hands in pockets, chest puffed up. He was wearing a blush tie with a dark suit similar to Eli’s, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he also had the power of intuition.

“What’s he doing here?” I hissed.

“Chaseyn asked him to come, Lia,” Mina said, patting my arm gently. “They were so close, sweetheart. James was all he had for so long. You have to trust Chaseyn about this, just like he’s doing for me and Balthazar.”

As if on cue, Balthazar appeared next to James and escorted him to one of the few white folding chairs that had been set up in front of the altar. We’d also invited the women from the bridal shop and hair salon, Andrei--our tour guide--and a few of the people who worked at the hotel. They’d all donned their finest and come out for the special occasion.

Balthazar smiled widely at Mina and I before taking his seat, and I felt better knowing he had the situation under control. That was his specialty after all.

All of a sudden the sound of an accordion, violin, and clarinet filled the air as they played a traditional Romanian wedding march. A trio of men stood to the left of the altar playing the lively tune. Chaseyn had thought of every last detail.

“That’s our cue,” Mina said with a wink. She folded my arm around hers, and we took our first steps along the path leading to the altar. To Chaseyn. It was then that I realized it was lined with hundreds of white rose petals. Every last detail…

“Who gives this woman to be wed to this man?” the minister asked with a thick accent, though his English was impeccable.

“I do,” Mina said proudly, pulling me in for a tight embrace. She kissed me quickly on each cheek and then placed my right hand in Chaseyn’s left hand. I’d always imagined this happening so differently, but with the exception of my mother and grandmother’s absences, I couldn’t have arranged a more perfect wedding if I’d had years to plan it myself.

I handed my bouquet to Addie, and Chaseyn handed something to Eli, freeing his right hand so he could hold both of mine in his. I squinted into the darkness to see if I could make out what it was. Did men carry something similar to a bouquet in Romania, I wondered? But that’s when I saw it--an ebony-colored cane with a mother-or-pearl handle. How had I not noticed it before?

My eyes bulged as I glanced at the cane. I cocked my head in question, hoping Chaseyn would acknowledge, but he ignored the gesture. Instead, he mouthed the words “I love you” and turned us both to face the minister. Clever. Still, I couldn’t help but notice he seemed to be favoring his right leg ever so slightly. I hated this, watching his health deteriorate, and I cursed myself for letting Chaseyn talk me into delaying our quest for the cure. At the same time, I loved knowing we would forever be united in matrimony.

Because the Church on the Hill was Protestant rather than Orthodox--like most places of worship in Romania--there were no special classes, catechism, or conversions required for the minister to perform the service. And because three of our guests were vampires, we couldn’t hold the service in a house of God. So, we kept it simple.

The ceremony was short. Just the basics. We refrained from writing our own vows, choosing to keep with tradition instead. The service was remarkably similar to one that would take place in North America, and I suspected Chaseyn had planned it that way. It was all very familiar. Of course, all direct spiritual references were removed. But aside from that, we said the typical “I dos.”

When all was said and done, I couldn’t wait for the minister to announce us husband and wife. After we signed the official paperwork--which Chaseyn had also managed to procure in record time--Chaseyn was told to seal the deal by kissing me.

And it was the kiss to end all kisses.

We let the kiss linger a little longer than was polite, but we couldn’t help ourselves. And when we turned to the audience for the first time as husband and wife, a loud cheer erupted from the crowd. At least fifty people had gathered around the garden, and they were all looking at us with warmth and adoration. Before we could leave, Addie insisted we pose for pictures with the few friends and family we had in attendance.

Just as we were wrapping up our makeshift photo session, large snowflakes began falling from the sky, the perfect finale to a perfect ceremony. We looked up, hands outstretched to catch the flakes. As the snow swirled around us, it felt like we were figurines inside a snow globe that had just been shaken. I spun in a circle marveling at the site. After a moment, Addie handed me my bouquet as we prepared to make the short walk from the ceremony site back to the hotel. But my happiness at our nuptials was short lived. When Chaseyn turned to grab his cane from Eli, I could no longer mask my concern.

“When did you get that?” I asked, moving to Chaseyn’s left side so we could walk hand-in-hand without inhibiting his use of the cane.

“I thought it went well with the suit,” Chaseyn quipped, trying to make light of what he knew was a sensitive subject.

“Seriously, Chaseyn, we’re running out of time.”

“Let’s talk about this later,” he pleaded. “Now is
not
the time.”

“That’s what you always say,” I replied. “But we really are running out of time, and if we don’t talk about it now, we might not have the chance. We should have spent today on the road. We could have got so much more done if we just kept going.”

“But what if it’s not enough? What if we don’t find the cure in time?” Chaseyn asked as we started to make our way through the crowd. We smiled and nodded graciously at the well wishers who patted our backs and shouted their congratulations as we passed by.

“You said we had plenty of time,” I stammered.

“Well, I’m starting to realize I may have been wrong,” he said, stumbling over a loose stone on the cobbled path. Chaseyn was as agile as a cat, but he gripped my hand tight to keep from falling, and I held him steady. “I couldn’t stand the thought that I might leave this world having never been united with you.”

“We’ll leave right now,” I said, and Chaseyn nodded his agreement.

“But the changes in me are happening fast now, love,” Chaseyn said. “I don’t know if it will be enough. We need to prepare for the worst.”

“And hope for the best,” I added.

***

Chaseyn and I moved stealthily through the city streets back to the hotel. I had always imagined my wedding night so much differently than this, but then again, I never dreamed my prince charming would be a vampire.

Instead of spending the hours until dawn finding fun and creative ways to entertain each other in bed, we quickly tossed our belongings in our bags so we could hit the road as soon as possible. We checked out of the hotel and waited for the others to do the same. Mina and Balthazar were already in their car, eager to resume their search--motivated by Chaseyn’s escalated state of deterioration.

“We’re going to get a head start. By the way, Eli and Addie are coming with us,” Balthazar said through the driver-side window. Just then, Addie and Eli had appeared at our side, and we said a quick farewell before they jumped into the backseat of the car. “It’ll give you two some time alone to…talk.”

Looking at Chaseyn propped up on the cane, I didn’t know what else he expected us to do. I was terrified any form of excess physical exertion would break, snap, bust, or pop some part of Chaseyn’s anatomy. Besides, we’d already checked out of our room, and my first time was not going to be in the backseat of a muscle car.

“We’ll see you two at the next stop,” Mina shouted from the passenger seat.

Before we could respond, Balthazar pinned the accelerator, and the car squealed down the road. Considering the hotel was on a very narrow road with a widely used pedestrian area across the street, Balthazar’s actions startled everyone in sight. Chaseyn and I smiled and mouthed our apologies. I was already inside the car when I saw someone approach Chaseyn, who had been fiddling with our bags.

“I’m glad I caught up with you,” James said, slapping his brother on the back.

“It’s not too hard these days,” Chaseyn chuckled and gestured to his cane. “Even a mortal could keep pace with me.”

The two of them seemed to find this comment hilarious, and they started laughing like they were old buddies, which I guess they were. Still, it made me uneasy to think James could weasel his way back into Chaseyn’s life so easily. Chaseyn wasn’t naïve--not by any stretch of the imagination--but it seemed James had some sort of hold on him. I wasn’t immune to his charms, though, and I wanted to know the real reason he was here.

“I picked this up for you,” James said, handing a small package to Chaseyn. “Consider it a peace offering. No…a wedding gift.”

Chaseyn carefully unwrapped the velvet satchel to reveal the next item on our list of the ingredients we needed to make the antidote--eye of capercaillie, a turkey-like game bird common to that part of Romania. James had somehow managed to obtain the exact package we’d planned on picking up from the apothecary in Bistritza.

“How did you know?” I asked, but Chaseyn interjected before James could answer. I wondered who had entrusted James with our secret and why. I certainly hadn’t told him about the antidote, and I hoped the same was true of Chaseyn. I knew they had some sort of brotherly bond, but I wanted to believe he wouldn’t reveal our plan to James. They hadn’t seen each other in years, and the reason they‘d grown apart was because Chaseyn had realized his brother‘s corrupt way of life was not the path he wanted to take.

Maybe I was more naïve than I’d thought. I had believed running into James was a coincidence--that he’d just happened to be at the same place as us at the same time. Moreover, I’d assumed he’d moved on after our encounter the night before. But now I knew I was wrong. He wasn’t here by chance, and he wasn’t leaving any time soon.

“So that’s why you’re here,” Chaseyn said, and the look on his face told me he’d just had a revelation of sorts. “Mina called you.”