28. Montana

Two armed guards drove me to St Patrick’s Cathedral in the city in a huge black vehicle with metal bars on the front of it. Two smaller cars drove ahead of us and two more behind. I guessed Erik wasn’t taking any chances on me being kidnapped again. I’d be walking down that aisle one way or another, and I just had to hope he stuck to his word and kept his plan in place to help Callie. If he decided not to help her out of spite, I wouldn’t be surprised, but luckily for me, I had a backup plan.

I hadn’t seen Erik since he’d come to my room, and now I suspected the next time I did would be at the altar. Would Callie be there when I arrived? The possibility set my heart pounding and my gut spinning. For all the world, I wouldn’t have wanted to be reunited in this way, but I couldn’t deny that I was desperate to see her face.

The SUV pulled up outside an enormous cathedral and I gazed out at the heavily guarded street, taped off by two cordons. A horde of angry rebels were held back by a line of armed vampires, holding placards with their horrifying demands written across them.

We have the right to bite!

Let us hunt the human runts!

We’ll riot ‘til we die-et!

They made me sick to look at, so I returned my gaze to the gothic building which stretched up above me, tapering to three sharp points at the top of it. It looked ancient, the cream stone weathered and cracked, but besides that, it was breath-taking, a building that must have been in place long before the final war.

A group of photographers stood ready beside the arching entranceway, and white petals were scattered across the street, dancing in a gentle breeze. The sky was the lightest it could be without breaking through the clouds and I suspected Valentina had a hand in it. I wondered if she was a captor to the royals now, forced to wield the weather, or if they still had no idea she had come with Julius and I willingly.

My driver stepped out of the car and the photographers started clicking their cameras, readying for the moment I appeared. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, taking a deep breath.

Find Callie. Wait for the slayers. Then run like hell when the chance comes.

Nightmare was concealed deep under the folds of my dress, strapped to my thigh with the use of my suspenders. I’d had to leave Valentina’s phone behind because every time I’d tried to secure it to my leg, it kept pushing buttons, making noises I didn’t know how to stop, and the damn thing kept sliding out of the suspenders anyway. But Julius had the information. If he could be here today and get inside, he would.

I feared how easy it would be for me to reach my blade beneath the swathes of material, but it sang a soft tune against my leg, sending a wave of comfort through me.

Time to rise, Moon Child.

I wondered what that meant but didn’t have a moment to concentrate as the driver pulled my door open. Flashes exploded from the cameras, and I was half blinded as I exited the car, taking in the entourage awaiting me.

The driver gestured for me to go ahead, and I raised my chin as I walked toward the cathedral.

The rebels started jeering, calling out my name and begging for my blood, fangs bared and tongues slicking out with a hunger that made my skin crawl.

I shuddered, focusing my mind on the desperate situation I was in, being part of a wedding I’d never wanted to walk into, clutching onto an escape plan I couldn’t be sure would work out.

Callie could be just beyond those huge wooden doors.

If she’s here, I’m going to lose my mind.

If she’s not, I’m going to scream.

As I made my way up the steps with surprising grace on my heels, two guards pulled the doors wide.

I stepped into a grand entranceway and found my view blocked by a large red curtain.

Two female vampires darted toward me wearing beautiful navy gowns. I eyed the white flowers in their hands as both of them took hold of my arms, their fingers tightening on me like manacles.

“What are you doing?” I tried to pull free, but they held on.

“Just walking you down the aisle,” one of them said with a bright smile, like she wasn’t manhandling me.

I scowled back at her, not liking this. I wanted to do this on my own terms, not dragged along like an animal to slaughter.

“That won’t be necessary.” I yanked my arms back and they released me, sharing a look of unease.

“The last one didn’t go so easy,” the brunette muttered, and my heart beat a little harder. Did she mean Callie?

“I’m good,” I confirmed, plastering a false smile on my lips. “I’m here to marry the man I want above all others.” Hell, I wished that didn’t sound so much like the truth. “No need to force me down the aisle.”

The vampires swooned, apparently buying my bullshit as their eyes glimmered with emotion. They pointed me toward the curtain, and I pressed my shoulders back, stepping that way. The women pulled the curtains aside and an incredible room opened up before me. Arching pillars led all the way up to an impossibly high ceiling, and a bright aisle swept away from me between long rows of pews which were crammed full of beautifully dressed vampires.

I blinked hard, my eyes tearing across the end of the aisle as I hunted for my twin. Two women stood there in white dresses with their backs to me and several guards stood around them in menacing stances. The girls were both blonde. And for a moment, my thoughts tumbled as I didn’t recognise which one was my sister.

One of them glanced over her shoulder, and I realised Paige was the girl on the left. So, the one on the right was…

My heart drummed in my ears, and I strode up the aisle at a fierce pace, abandoning any etiquette as I broke into a run, hearing the click of heels hurrying after me. The surrounding audience rose from their seats, gasping and clapping as they spotted me.

“Oh look! She just can’t wait to be married,” a man cooed, clutching his heart as the woman beside him released a sob of joy.

Callie turned.

I ran faster.

My heart screamed.

My soul begged for its other half.

I reached the end of the aisle with a thousand words on my lips and tears burning the backs of my eyes.

Callie’s bright green gaze locked with mine, and I was taken aback by her appearance. Her face was striking, painted as well as mine. Her dress was so beautiful and enhanced the curves of her body. She looked different. And not just because of the makeup. She looked like a warrior, despite what they’d done to her. Her gaze flared with strength, and even the muscles in her arms looked more defined.

“Monty?” she gasped, her eyes widening, a desperate hope filling her expression.

I was dragged back into a moment from our past. Two young girls playing in the street of our Realm. We’d brought sugar-water to a dying honeybee. It had lapped it all up and flown away out of the Realm, toward the life we’d always dreamed about. “We saved him, Monty.”

“Callie!” I closed the distance between us, flinging myself at her.

She stumbled back on her heels, and we hit the floor in a tumble of white silk and netting, squeezing each other tight. A commotion broke out around us and hands dragged me off of her, pulling me to my feet. Callie was handled more roughly, forced upright and pulled away from me.

“Get off of her,” I snarled, reaching out and grabbing her hand. Her fingers intertwined with mine for the briefest moment before I was hauled back and planted five feet away between her and Paige, my heart ripping apart at being separated from her.

“You can reunite properly the moment the ceremony is over, I promise.” I turned to the woman holding me, finding Clarice there in a pale pink gown with a silver crown on her head. She turned to face the crowd with a bright smile.

“The girls are sisters!” she called to them. “They’ve been apart for quite some time.”

Applause rang out, followed by several comments about how adorable we were.

My stomach knotted as I gazed at Callie, trying to shake off Clarice’s iron grip to get to my twin.

“Wait until after the ceremony,” Clarice whispered to me. “Just hold on.”

Anger flared through me, and I turned back to my sister with an ache in my soul.

“Are you okay?” I asked, my heart squeezing hard with worry.

“I will be when this whole room is turned to dust,” Callie growled, loud enough for people to hear. A guard drew his sword, glaring at her with a threat in his eyes.

Callie rolled her eyes and I laughed, delighted that she wasn’t hurt. Or broken. And hadn’t lost any of the spark that had always lived in her. But she didn’t smile, her gaze trailing over me with pity.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” she whispered.

I shook my head, sorrow burrowing into my heart. “I wish you hadn’t come at all.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but the closest guard snarled at her, baring his fangs.

“We’ll move you further apart if you don’t shut your mouths,” he said in an icy tone.

Clarice waved a hand at him. “Oh, stop being so melodramatic, Jeffrey. The girls are pleased to see each other, that’s all. Leave them be and think on how you present yourself. It’s wholly unbecoming.”

He bowed his head in shame, backing up a bit to give Callie some room. She didn’t seem remotely fazed by his threat, and I had to admire her courage in the face of all this. At least I’d had some time to adjust to being in the company of so many vampires. She’d barely had a day and looked ready to take them all on.

Guilt ran through me as I thought of Erik and all that had passed between us. What would she think of me if she knew about my feelings for a vampire? Was I ever going to be able to tell her the truth about all this?

I glanced over at Paige, and she gave me a frown.

“Are you alright?” she mouthed, and I nodded, unable to conjure any more words.

The doors sounded again, and I looked back to find the red curtain fluttering in a breeze.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Felicia called as she stepped up at the edge of the altar in an extravagant pink dress. “The Belvedere brothers have arrived.”

The sound of music filled the air, and my heart stuttered as everyone in the room rose from their seats.

Miles appeared first, striding along the aisle with his chest puffed out. He wore a dark green suit with a white flower pinned to his breast pocket. He looked radiant…almost happy, but I swear I could see a few cracks in his facade. Especially when his eyes found someone in the crowd, and I spotted Warren gazing back at him with a painful intensity. Miles twitched a small smile of encouragement at him before schooling his expression, turning away from his true love as he reached the end of the aisle.

Miles threw me a wink before floating past me and moving to Paige’s side.

She drew in a breath, then smiled shyly at him. “Hi,” she whispered.

“Hey, are you ready for all the pizzazz and dazzlement, beautiful?”

She nodded, and I wondered what the last few days had held for her since the ceremony. I hoped Miles was treating her well, like he’d promised.

The curtain parted again, and my heart tumbled as Erik stepped through it in his ebony suit, looking more fit for a funeral than a wedding. He strode up the aisle as purposefully as if he were going into battle and was down it before anyone could take a decent photo of him.

He reached my side, and I heard Callie suck in a breath.

His presence sent an electric current coursing through my veins, but he didn’t look my way. He simply clasped his hands behind his back where he stood on my left, and I was glad I was between him and Callie, feeling like she might sense what had passed between Erik and I if she looked too closely.

Erik leaned toward me, his breath skating over my ear as he spoke directly to me and no one else, sending a shiver down my spine. “I was wrong before.”

“About?” I hissed, sensing he was about to insult me again. One last pot-shot for old time’s sake.

“What I should have said is that you look radiant. Fucking bewitching. It’s how I’ve felt every time I’ve called you passable and all the times in between. But you don’t need this dress to steal my heart, rebel. You stole it with mascara running down your face, wearing nothing but tacky underwear.”

My heart clenched like he had it in his grip, and I turned to him with a light growing in my soul that brightened up all the dark spaces inside me. His expression didn’t hint at any of the sweet things he’d just whispered to me, his callous mask firmly in place, but his eyes burned with them.

He took my hand, pressing a small piece of paper into it before leaning away, and I turned it over, glimpsing the words on it before anyone could notice.

When I say run, you run.