The Dark-Hunters, page 156
Cassandra had a suspicion most of that was because they owed so much to Phoebe’s husband.
Melissa, the clerk assigned to help them, appeared around the age of twenty. She was a skinny blond woman no taller than five ten, which for a Daimon was tiny.
“This one could be easily altered by Friday,” Melissa said, holding up a sleek, gauzy dress that shimmered in the faint light. It was an iridescent silvery white. “Would you like to try it on?”
“Okay.”
As soon as Cassandra saw it in the full-length mirror, she knew there was no need to go any further. It was gorgeous and she felt like a fairy princess in it. The material was buttery soft and slid sensuously against her skin.
“You’re so beautiful,” Phoebe whispered as she stared at her in the mirror. “How I wish Mom and Dad could see you right now.”
Cassandra smiled at her. It was hard to feel beautiful with her stomach sticking out a mile, but at least she had a good reason for being fat.
“You are lovely,” Kat concurred as she helped to adjust the floor-length hem.
“What do you think?” Melissa asked. “I have more if—”
“I’ll take it.”
Smiling, Melissa moved forward and helped her out of it, then took measurements for the alterations. Kat and Phoebe left the dressing room and went outside to look for accessories.
“You know,” Melissa said as she measured Cassandra’s waist, “I have to say that I admire you for what you’ve done.”
Cassandra looked at her with consternation. “What do you mean?”
“Finding a Dark-Hunter to protect you,” Melissa said as she made notes on a small PDA. “I wish I had someone like that to look after my little ones when I’m gone. My husband died three months ago, and though I have another two years, I can’t help but worry about them.”
Two years …
Melissa looked younger than that. It was hard to imagine the vibrant, healthy salesclerk dying of old age in such a short time.
The poor woman had lost her husband. Most Apollites married people within a few months of their own age for that reason. It was considered a bonus to find a spouse who shared your birthday.
“Is it … painful?” Cassandra asked hesitantly. She’d never seen an Apollite die of “natural” causes.
Melissa made another note. “We make a vow here to let no one die alone.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
Melissa met her gaze. Her eyes were filled with unspoken emotions, but it was the fear there that reached out and made Cassandra shiver. “Do you want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“It’s unbearable. My husband was a strong man. He cried like a baby all night long from the pain of it.”
Melissa cleared her throat as if her own pain were too much to bear. “I sometimes understand why so many of our people kill themselves the night before. I even thought about moving my children to a new community so that they would have the choice, but up on the surface, we have too many predators to fight. Other Apollites, Daimons, Were-Hunters, humans, and Dark-Hunters who are looking for our brethren. My mother brought me here when I was just a child. But I remember the upper world well. It’s so much safer here. At least we can live openly without fear of someone learning about us.”
Cassandra couldn’t breathe as thoughts tore through her. She had known it wouldn’t be pleasant, but what Melissa described was so much worse than what she had imagined.
It would be bad enough for her to suffer … but what of the baby? He was so innocent. He didn’t deserve such a fate.
But then who did?
“Oh, here now,” Melissa said quickly, “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s okay,” Cassandra said past the lump in her throat. “I asked and I appreciate your honesty.”
As soon as they were finished, Cassandra no longer felt festive, nor did she want to continue shopping. She needed to see Wulf.
She found him in the bedroom of their apartment, flipping channels on the TV. He turned it off the instant he saw her. “Is something wrong?”
She hesitated at the foot of the bed. He sat back against the pillows, his feet bare and one leg bent. The concern in his eyes meant the world to her, but it wasn’t enough.
“Will you hunt my baby, Wulf?”
He scowled. “What?”
“If our son grows up and decides he doesn’t want to die. Will you kill him for it?”
Wulf held his breath as he debated. “I don’t know, Cassandra. I really don’t. My honor commands it. But I don’t know if I can.”
“Swear to me you won’t hurt him,” she said, moving to stand beside him. She grabbed his shirt and held tight as fear and agony washed through her. “Promise me that when he’s grown, if he turns Daimon you’ll let him go.”
“I can’t.”
“Then why are we here?” she shrieked at him. “What good is having you as his father if you’re going to kill him anyway?”
“Cassandra, please. Be reasonable.”
“You be reasonable!” she shouted. “I’m going to die, Wulf. Die! Painfully. And I’m almost out of time.” She let go of him and paced back and forth, trying to breathe. “Don’t you see. I won’t remember anything after I’m dead. I’ll be gone. Gone from all of this. From all of you.” She looked around the room frantically. “I won’t see these colors. Your face. Nothing. I’m going to die. Die!”
Wulf pulled her into his arms as she sobbed against his chest. “It’s okay, Cassandra, I have you.”
“Stop saying it’s okay, Wulf. It’s not okay. Nothing we can do will stop this. What am I going to do? I’m only twenty-six. I don’t understand. Why do I have to do this? Why can’t I see my baby grow up?”
“There has to be something to help you,” he insisted. “Maybe Kat can talk to Artemis. There’s always a loophole.”
“Like you have?” she demanded hysterically. “You can’t escape being a Dark-Hunter any more than I can escape being an Apollite. Why are we even getting married? What’s the point?”
His gaze burned into hers. “Because I’m not going to let it end like this,” he growled fiercely. “I have lost everything I cared about in my life. I’m not going to lose your or my child to this. Do you hear me?”
She heard him, but it changed nothing. “What’s the solution?”
He pulled her roughly against his chest. “I don’t know. But there has to be something.”
“And if there’s not?”
“Then I’ll tear down the halls of Olympus or Hades or whatever I have to to find you. I’m not going to let you go, Cassandra. Not without a fight.”
Cassandra held him close, but in her heart, she knew it was futile. Their days were finite, and with every passing hour, she was drawing irrevocably closer to the end.
Chapter 14
By the time Friday came, Cassandra was more than ready for the wedding to be behind her. Her sister and Kat had kept her busy and frantic the whole week. Wulf had stayed blissfully out of their way.
If they ever asked him his opinion on anything, his answer was always, “I know better than to get in between three women arguing. If you’ll remember, the whole Trojan War was started over that.”
Chris wasn’t so wise and had finally learned to stay out of the apartment as much as possible. Or to run the minute he saw the three of them approaching him.
Now Cassandra stood in the bedroom, dressed in her wedding gown and waiting. Her long, strawberry-blond hair was left down around her shoulders as was the custom of Wulf’s people. She wore a silver crown intertwined with fresh flowers—another Nordic custom. Chris had told her that the crown had been passed down from Wulf’s sister-in-law through all the generations of his family.
It meant a lot to her to be wearing it now. To feel connected to Wulf’s past.
Wulf would also be wearing his family sword for the event, and when their baby married, he too would carry the sword strapped to his side.
The door opened slowly to reveal Urian on the other side. His long blond hair hung around his shoulders and he was dressed in an elegant black silk tuxedo. “Are you ready?”
They had decided after much debate to let him be her sponsor. Apollites didn’t have the same customs as humans. Since there was a good chance the bride’s parents were already dead, they chose a sponsor who would escort the bride down the aisle and deliver the customary words to unite the couple.
Cassandra wished they could have a minister for the event, but both she and Wulf had agreed that it would jeopardize the community too much to bring one in. So they would be married in true Apollite fashion.
At first, Urian had balked at the idea of being her sponsor, but Phoebe had quickly convinced him it would be in his best interest to play along with their wishes.
“You will do it and play nice with Wulf or you’ll sleep on the couch. Forever, and considering your age, that means something.”
“Is Wulf ready?” Cassandra asked Urian.
He nodded. “He and Chris are waiting for you in the main complex.”
Kat handed her the single white rose that was wrapped with red and white ribbons. Another Apollite custom.
Cassandra took the rose.
Kat and Phoebe took their places in front of her and led the way. Arm in arm, she and Urian walked behind them.
The Norse custom was for weddings to be held outside. Since such a thing was even more dangerous than bringing in a minister, they had rented the open merchant area. Shanus and several council members had gone out of their way to bring hydroponic plants and flowers to simulate a garden center.
They had even constructed a small fountain.
Cassandra hesitated as they entered the complex.
Wulf and Chris stood in front of the hastily constructed waterfall that still managed to be beautiful. She had half-expected Wulf to be dressed in his Nordic clothes. Instead, he and Chris were in tuxedos that matched Urian’s.
Wulf wore his hair long and loose, brushed back from his face. The silk of his tuxedo molded perfectly to his body, accentuating every muscled curve. Never in her life had she seen a more handsome man.
He was completely gorgeous.
“I’ll take it from here.”
Cassandra gasped as she heard her father’s voice behind her.
“Daddy?” she said, whirling to find him there with a wide smile on his face.
“You didn’t really think I’d miss my baby getting married, did you?”
She ran her gaze over his body, her heart hammering. She couldn’t believe he was here with her. “But how?”
He indicated Wulf with a nod. “Wulf came to the house last night and brought me here. He said it wouldn’t be a wedding for you unless I came. And he told me about Phoebe. I spent last night in her apartment with her so that we could catch up and then surprise you.” His eyes welled with tears as he stared at her stomach. “You look beautiful, baby.”
She threw herself into his arms, or at least as close as she could, given her distended belly, and held him tight. It was the best present Wulf could have given her.
She was blubbering like a child.
“Should we call the wedding off before you drown us in tears?” Kat asked.
“No!” Cassandra said, pulling herself together with a sniff. “I’m fine. Really.”
Her father kissed her cheek, tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, and led her to Wulf. Kat and Phoebe moved to stand behind Chris while Urian took his place by Phoebe’s side. The only other person present was Shanus, who stood back but watched them with a friendly expression that said he was more than happy to bear witness to the event.
“Thank you,” she mouthed to Wulf who gave her a small, heartrending smile.
In that moment, she felt the full depth of her love for him. He would make a good husband to her for the next few months and he would be a great father.
In spite of what Chris said.
Once they reached her soon-to-be husband, her father took her hand and placed it in Wulf’s. Then her father took the red and white ribbons from the rose and wrapped it around their joined hands.
Cassandra stared at Wulf. His eyes were hot. Kind. They smoldered with his passion and with pride as he looked at her. It made her shiver. Made her hot.
His look touched every part of her body.
He tightened his hand on hers as her father began speaking the words to bind them together. “It is through night we are—”
“Light,” Urian whispered loudly, interrupting him.
Her father’s face flushed a bit. “I’m sorry. I had to learn this rather hastily.” He cleared his throat and began again. “It is through light we are born and through … through…” Her father hesitated.
Urian came forward to whisper in her father’s ear.
“Thank you,” her father said. “This ceremony is nothing like ours.”
Urian inclined his head and stepped back, but not before he gave Cassandra an uncharacteristic wink.
“It is through the light that we are born and through the night that we travel. The light is the love of our parents who greet us and welcome us into this world and it is with the love of our partner that we leave it.
“Wulf and Cassandra have chosen to be with each other, to ease their remaining journey and to comfort one another in the coming nights. And when the final night is upon them…” Her father stopped as his eyes welled up.
He looked at her. The misery and horror she saw in his eyes made her own well up.
“I can’t,” he said quietly.
“Daddy?”
He stepped back as a tear fell down his cheek.
Phoebe came forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Cassandra started toward him, but Phoebe stopped her. “Finish it, please, Uri.”
Phoebe escorted their father off to the side.
Cassandra wanted to join them, but could tell her father was already embarrassed and upset that he had spoiled her wedding for her. So she stayed by Wulf’s side.
Urian moved to stand with them. “When the final night is upon us, we vow to stand together and ease the one who travels first.
“Soul to soul we have touched. Flesh to flesh we have breathed. And it is alone that we must leave this existence, until the night comes that the Fates decree we are reunited in Katoteros.”
Cassandra felt her own tears starting again as Urian spoke the Atlantean term for “heaven.”
Urian stepped to the pedestal that held an elaborate gold cup. The three Fates were engraved on it. He brought it over to Cassandra. “Normally this would be the blood of both of you combined, but since neither one of you is particularly gung-ho for that, it’s wine.”
Urian handed the cup to Cassandra who took a sip, then gave it to Wulf who followed suit. Wulf handed the cup to Urian. As was the Apollite custom, Wulf bent down and kissed her so that the taste of wine was mingled with them.
Urian returned the cup to the pedestal and finished the ceremony. “Here stands the bride, Cassandra. She is unique in this world. Her beauty, grace, and charms are the legacy of those who have come before her and will be gifted to those who are born through her.
“This man, Wulf, on the other hand stands before us a product of…” Urian frowned as he paused. “Well, he’s the product of a bitch who can’t stand the thought of Apollo’s children ruling the earth.”
“Urian, behave!” Phoebe snapped from where she stood with their father.
He bristled at her command. “Considering the fact that I just bound a member of your family to one of the people I have sworn to annihilate, I think I’m being remarkably good.”
Phoebe cast him a glare that loudly proclaimed he’d be sleeping alone for at least a week.
If not longer.
Urian curled his lip at Wulf. It was clear who he blamed for his wife’s upset. “Fine. I’m glad I didn’t say what I really thought,” he muttered under his breath.
Louder, Urian returned to the ceremony. “It is your similarities that brought you together and your differences that add variety and spark to your life. May the gods bless and protect your union and may you be…” He paused again. “Well, you already are blessed with fertility so we’ll skip that.”
Phoebe growled low in her throat while Cassandra gave him a glare of her own.
Urian cast another murderous look at Wulf. “May the two of you enjoy every minute left to you.”
Then, Urian took the ribbons that combined their hands and tied them into a double knot. The ribbons would last for the night and in the morning they would be cut and buried for luck.
Chris and Kat led the way back to the apartment.
Her father came up to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. “I’m sorry I couldn’t finish.”
“It’s okay, Daddy. I understand.”
And she did. The prospect of saying good-bye to him hurt her too.
When they reached the apartment, Wulf, as was Norse custom, picked her up and carried her over the threshold. It amazed her because he had to do it with one arm since his other hand was still bound to hers.
Chris poured everyone drinks. “This is where Wulf’s people would get drunk and party for a week. All hail the Vikings, forerunners to the frat boys!”
“You can party,” Wulf said to him, “but I better not catch you drunk.”
Chris rolled his eyes, then bent down and said to Cassandra’s stomach, “Be wise, little guy, stay in there where Lord King Neurotic can’t kill all your fun.”
Wulf shook his head at him. “I’m surprised you’re here without your newfound friends.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m going to go find them shortly. Kyra is working on a new program and I’m going to test it.”
Urian snorted at that. “That’s one way of putting it.”
Chris’s face turned beet red. “And I thought he”—he indicated Wulf with his thumb—“was bad. What is it with you Peters women that you’re attracted to losers?”
“I think I resent that,” her father said.
Wulf laughed. “Boy, you better go find Kyra before you dig yourself in any deeper.”
“Yeah, I think I agree.” Chris excused himself and left.
