Tell Me What Is Priceless (Siren Publishing Classic) (31 page)

“Yes, I really do. I just hope we can stop him,” replied Blaze as they flew down the highway.

Kale hit the brakes, slowing to a legal speed as they passed a speed trap. Once they were through it, he floored the SUV again. Blaze buckled her seat belt, and he threw a smile at her. “I am not stoned, and I did this for a living for a while. I was a top-notch speed racer on some of the fastest tracks in America. I got bored of it and quit. They were a tad down on my drinking and smoking weed. Another one of my life adventures that Zar paid for. With all the money he has and the things he has bought me, I think the happiest days of my life were when we were children. We had nothing. Shit, we were lucky if we had shoes. We always found a way to have fun. When our mother got really sick from the AIDS, I took off. I couldn’t stand to see her wasting away. Zar stayed with her and took care of her as he built his construction business into an empire. His computer games funded his investments, and by the time our mother died, he was a very rich man. I came home to see her in the end and then became the leech. I have been a leech ever since.”

“You are no longer a leech. You helped him with me, and now you are a part of his business. Zar is really proud of the turnaround you have made in the last six or so months.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Even with all that happened with Jenny, you have stayed straight. You didn’t walk away because things got bad.”

“I suppose that I have had a lot in the way of inspiration. I saw how he was with you, and I have watched you fight your way back to health. It makes my problems seem kind of trivial.”

“Nothing in life is trivial. Everything that happens can be a learning experience if you keep the right frame of mind. That is most often easier said than done, but…?”

“No shit,” Kale said, falling silent in thought. Blaze set her eyes to the sides of the highway, looking into the snowy trees. What she would learn from Zar’s death was beyond her imagination, and she didn’t want to think about it. There was little else to consider as they headed onto the winding road that led them up into the forest.

Kale slowed their speed down, suddenly worried because the road was wet with water or black ice. Blaze let her eyes scan the edge of the road, looking for tire tracks where they didn’t belong. Kale said, “We are nearing the spot where we went over the edge. I haven’t been up here since the accident. Have you?”

“No. We were talking about coming up here for New Year’s. Zar has been up here, but not with me. Kale,” she whispered. “What do we do if we are too late?”

He moved his hand over to hers and squeezed her fingers. “I don’t know, Blaze. I’m hoping that we have no reason to find out. Sit tight. The road is getting slippery.”

Blaze tensed, her eyes darting to Kale and then back to the road. A black SUV came around the corner, the vehicle’s movement reckless as it skidded toward them. The three pairs of eyes met, Kale and Blaze staring at Zar for that moment before the impact came.

Blaze stood in the solitude of the sunny graveyard, glad that the rain had finally stopped. March had come in like a lion, and she had feared that it would spoil this special day. She bent and placed the bouquet of mixed roses in a vase by the stone. Blaze figured that as her new life was about to begin, she need to put her past completely behind her. The only way she could do that properly was to visit his grave one last time. “I loved you so much once, and now it is time to put our life to rest. I hope you approve of what I’m doing. In all honesty, I hope that you have been reborn in a new, pain-free body. I find it irrational that a being smart enough to create a world that constantly recycles itself wouldn’t do so with the human spirit. I miss you, and so do the dogs. They are fine and as spunky as ever. Choey still barks at anything that comes in her yard, and Moosey still steals the paper out of my printer. Life goes on, and we must all adapt to change. You were a great and important part of my life, and I learned from you.”

Kale called out to her from the car. “Let’s go, Blaze. We are going to be late.”

She kissed her fingers and put them to the stone. “Bye, love,” she said as she turned to walk back to the car. Kale waited for her to get in and then shut the door behind him. He said to the driver, “Take us to the church. We have an audience waiting.”

Blaze smiled and leaned over to fix his tie. Kale groaned. “I never imagined how bad it would be to be missing a finger. I still haven’t gotten the hang of tying things.”

“Stop complaining. I didn’t exactly get off unscathed. My leg is now less attractive from having the dashboard imbedded in it, and my hair feels like it will never grow back.”

“Oh, but your hair is cute,” Kale playfully teased. “You look like a punk rocker. It grew quite a bit during the two months you were in the hospital and rehab. It looks even better since you had the top evened out. They really butchered it in the emergency room.”

“I think they were more concerned about stitching my head and putting my ear back on, rather than my hair. It would help if they would stop shaving the side of my head for every surgery.”

Kale glanced at her and shrugged. “At least the latest one removed some of that puckered skin around your ear.” He chuckled and stuck his tongue through his missing tooth. “I really wish they had found my tooth. I keep breaking the damn fake one. I am going to have to be careful how much I smile. I wouldn’t want a photographer catching me looking toothless.”

“Face it, Kale, you can’t remove bottle caps with your teeth anymore.” He shrugged innocence, and Blaze asked, “Oh, how was your first visit with Clair?”

“It was great. I just wish that the private investigator hadn’t taken so long to find Jenny. At least the court didn’t hesitate to give me visitation.” He sighed and then smiled. “Clair was a little leery of me at first, but she warmed up. I took her to the Peabody Museum and had a blast showing her all the dinosaurs.”

“I’m glad it went well. I’m sorry that my agent insisted that I had to be there for the release of
Star.
What a horror that book signing was. The store was packed, and those poor people ended up waited outside in the rain. I felt so bad for them.”

The limousine stopped, and the driver came around to open the door. A barrage of photographers began to click away the moment Blaze stepped out of the car. Kale herded her up the stairs and through the double doors, shutting them on the warm sunny day. Nan grabbed Blaze’s hand. “It’s about time the two of you showed up. You have a church full of people waiting for you. Come on, Blaze, let’s go get you ready. Kale is on his own.”

Nan hurried her down the hall into a private room, glaring at her. “Where were you?”

“I had to pay my last respects. It was only right. Don’t get on my case, Nan. I have been through enough in the last six months.”

Nan pushed back her hair and then pulled it forward over her ear. “I wanted to show off those beautiful diamond earrings, but then it shows off the marks from the last plastic surgery. Oh well. You look beautiful.”

“I look like a punk rocker in an opal wedding dress. Oh, Nan, I am so nervous and so happy. If you had told me a year ago this was going to happen, I would have slapped you. I can’t believe this is real.”

“It’s real,” Nan said, placing the ring of white roses into her hair. She used the specially made clips to attach them to the short spikes on the top of Blaze’s head. Once the headpiece was in place, Nan arranged the long curls of hair around her shoulders under the lace. “At least they only had to shave the top of your hair. You still have a good portion of it long to look good for the wedding pictures.”

“That is just so comforting, Nan. I will have my wedding album to remind me that I have a crew cut accented with golden curls. Peachy.”

Nan turned to Trish and teased, “The bride with an attitude. I suppose we should get this started before she changes her mind.”

Trish smiled and headed out to signal to the organist. The wedding song began, and Trish came back taking her place between Nan and Kale’s sister. Blaze took a deep breath and pushed open the doors leading into the church. All eyes were on her, but her eyes were focused on the front of the pulpit. Mason offered his elbow, and she took it as he leaned and kissed her cheek. “You look like an angel,” he whispered.

“I came very close to being one recently, Mason. I thank you for the compliment, though.”

Mason threw her a look of disdain, and she grinned at him as he started down the aisle with her. He held her as she stepped up onto the raised platform and then took his place alongside Kale. The minister smiled at them and then said, “We are gathered here this day for the renewal of life and a celebration of living. I ask you all to listen carefully to their vows as they speak them to each other. The words hold truth that signifies the essence of unending love. Blaze?”

Blaze took a deep breath and put her hand to his face. She moved back a curled strand of his hair and said,

“You are my champion, my hero and mate.

Through the arrows of life we arrive at this date.

In the deepest darkness, you are my light.

In the whens of trouble my bravest knight.

I stand before you now in the shadow of yesterday.

And wish for sunlight to brighten our way.

I beseech you now to be my king.

To bind our eternity with the symbolic ring.”

Blaze held out her hand, and he removed the ring from her palm, slipping it over her finger. He put her hand to his lips and kissed it before beginning.

“You are the essence of strength and my inspiration.

You are my light and my salvation.

I stand now, humbled by the offering of your hand.

Yet only by your gift do I now stand.

I give you now my most guarded treasure.

For our love is priceless beyond measure.

I ask you now my queen to be.

Let this ring mark me as your fantasy.”

He put the ring to Blaze’s lips and then to his own, before placing it in her palm. She slipped it on his finger, and the minister said, “Bell Zeal, do you take this man as your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forth in good times and bad?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you, Zackery Andrew Russ, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forth in good times and bad?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. Please kiss your queen, sir.”

Zar adjusted the brace that was keeping his hip and leg stable as the bones rejuvenated, and stepped forward.

Blaze raised her eyebrows in silent question, giving him a minuscule shrug. Zar had been the lucky one in the accident. He had gotten away with only minor scratches and bruises. He had stayed with her for the first month and had then gone down to the medical facility at the college. Once he started the treatments, they had not allowed him to travel to come home. Blaze had been unable to go to him because of the back-to-back surgeries to repair the side of her face and her ear. Kale had been running the business and helping Nan with the wedding arrangements. She had spoken to Zar every night on the phone, but speculation of the end result had still been in question. There had been a series of tests to gauge his healing progress before leaving the college, but Zar hadn’t called her with the results. She put her hands to his face and whispered, “I missed you so much. Welcome home. How is it?”

Zar’s smile was radiant as he gazed into her eyes. “Art says that everything is going as planned. My bones are bonding back together and are getting stronger amazingly quickly. I am still in pain, but it’s not too bad. The best thing is that they sent me home with thirty ampoules of antidote, and I don’t have to go back to the lab for a month. I missed you so much, too. I never thought we would make it to see this day. Thank you for doing this so soon. I guess I’m a bit impatient. You are beautiful, and you are finally my wife. Did you say your final goodbyes to David?”

“I told you that I wanted to. I did it this morning.”

Kale cleared his throat, gesturing around the church with his gaze. Zar grinned and ran his palm down Blaze’s cheek. “I think we have an eternity to talk. Right now, everyone is staring at us. Kiss me, my queen.”

THE END

WWW.TAZARIANSAGA.COM

Kat Barrett lives in her small home with her husband of many years.

Kat loves nature, and spends much of her time gardening, writing or doing artwork. She is also involved in B.R.A.T Basenji rescue, and helps whenever she can.

She is grateful for her family, friends, and her fans and wishes to thank them all for their support.

For all titles by Kat Barrett, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/kat-barrett