30. Montana

The priest gestured for Miles and Paige to approach him first and adrenaline poured through my veins. I glanced at Erik, wondering when exactly he was going to initiate his plan.

“We gather today to wed the Belvedere brothers to their beautiful brides,” the priest announced. “They all enter into their partnerships joyfully and with the knowledge that love is both our destined path and life’s most treasured gift.”

Yeah, there’s a real joyful bunch of ducks in this line-up.

I glanced at Callie, unsure why she was snuggling up to Fabian instead of kneeing him in the balls. It was probably the most disconcerting thing of everything going on right now, and that was saying something.

Erik didn’t look at me, seeming totally transfixed by the priest, but I sensed a tension in his posture.

Maybe a heads up on the specifics of this plan would have been nice, asshole.

I could hardly listen to the words Miles and Paige were speaking, prompted by the priest. My heartbeat reverberated in my ears, and I stole a glance over my shoulder, wondering if anyone was going to rise to stop this. But everyone looked content, gazing back at me with light in their eyes. I spotted Hank in the front aisle, his face seeming entirely different somehow. Alluring, captivating-

Holy fuck.

The truth hit me like slap. Clarice had sired him. Made him one of them. And he was actually smiling as if it didn’t bother him at all anymore. He raised a hand as he caught my eye and I shook my head in horror, turning away as shock sped through me.

I focused on the priest again as he addressed Miles and a moment later, Miles answered, “I do.”

“Paige West, do you take this man as your chosen husband?” the priest asked. “To treasure and adore for all of time? To bear the fruit of his loins and join him in his eternal form?”

Paige hesitated a moment, taking a breath. “I do.”

Clarice moved forward, holding out her hand to them and they each took a ring from her palm. The priest spoke as Clarice encouraged them to place the rings on one another. I turned to Erik, and he finally looked down at me with a terse smile. I knew what it meant. We were next.

Clarice placed a silver crown on Paige’s head and applause broke out. She and Miles stepped away from the altar, hand in hand, giving the crowd bright smiles. They returned to the line-up, and I didn’t have a moment to think before Erik guided me toward the priest.

Oh fuck, this is actually happening.

The priest smiled at us, but I couldn’t find it in me to smile back, a weight dragging at my lungs. I felt Callie’s eyes on me and wanted to turn and tell her I was okay. That we were going to get out of here. We might just have to do it married…

“Erik Belvedere, turn toward your beloved,” the priest instructed, directing me to do the same.

I gazed at Erik with trepidation in my heart, and as his grey eyes met mine, I knew there was no backing out of this now.

“Erik Belvedere, do you take this woman as your chosen wife?” the priest asked. “To admire and protect for all of time?”

My lips pursed at his words, but Erik gave me one of his usual smirks. “I do.”

My heart thumped fiercely. It was just words, they didn’t matter, so why did it feel like they did? Like taking these vows would really mean something?

The priest turned to me. “Montana Ford, do you take this man as your chosen husband? To treasure and adore for all of time? To bear the fruits of his loins and join him in his eternal form?”

My lips parted, but no words came out. The fruits of his fucking loins??He can keep his goddamn mango dick away from me if it ever wants me to bear anything for it.

Erik gave me a prompting look and my heart free fell in my chest. I had to answer. The crowd was waiting, the priest was getting sweaty. But still, the seconds ticked on until I gave in to the inevitable. It’s just words.

“I do,” I breathed, and a fire lit in Erik’s eyes like he wasn’t entirely hating this part of the plan. In fact, I had the suspicion he could have got his plan moving along well before this moment, but here we were. Fucking married. Husband and wife.

Clarice moved forward, offering us two gold rings, and tears glimmered in her eyes as she gazed at her brother.

Nightmare burned with expectant energy, making my back straighten.

Twins of sun and moon will rise. Rise, Moon Child.

I could barely process its words. Was I walking the path of the prophecy right now? Was doing this somehow a part of it?

I took courage in the possibility. If this was my fate, I’d dive into it with both feet. I’d do whatever I could to break the curse.

We each took a ring, and Erik lifted my hand as the priest spoke. “May you adore each other for all of time. May love flow between you as powerfully as the waters of Hvergelmir, with all the strength of Thor’s Hammer and burn as brightly as the fires of Muspelheim. May the joy of your endless youth and the wisdom of a thousand ages bless your hearts until the final battle of Ragnarok is upon you.”

Erik slid the ring onto my finger and held out his hand for me to the do the same. As I pushed it on, something burned within my left palm, and I gasped. Erik frowned, turning his right hand over and eyeing it too.

Power surged into me, dripping through my body and claiming my heart with a violence that made my knees tremor. A presence seemed to move closer to us, but its aura was light and beautiful, unlike Andvari’s. I knew it was a god. It had to be.

I turned over my hand as the heat grew in my skin, the warmth of some unknown magic coursing through my veins. As I watched in fear, a silver X emerged across my palm, shimmering with some unearthly light.

“By the gods…” Clarice gasped, grabbing Erik’s wrist. “It’s the rune of partnership.”

“The what?” I demanded, dragging my eyes away from the unsettling mark and finding Erik with the exact same X on his right palm.

My heart tugged and I had the immediate urge to be closer to Erik, like a burning need inside me I could never sate. He nudged Clarice aside, grabbing my arm and yanking me into a world-altering kiss before I could even draw a breath.

“Er- you may kiss the bride!” the priest announced a beat too late.

The mark on my palm came alive with power, sending flames skittering through my entire body. I moaned, gripping his jacket, and pulling him closer still, needing his body against mine. The potent magic danced though the centre of my being and made me feel bound to Erik in a way I could never have imagined. My heart was his. My soul. My blood. We were like one being in two bodies, and I couldn’t get enough of him.

My senses felt so heightened, like his touch was a thousand times more compelling than it had been just moments ago.

“Fuck,” Erik breathed against my lips, pulling away from me with a confounded expression.

Clarice moved toward me with a silver crown in her hand that was encrusted with diamonds. She placed it on my head and the weight of it took me by surprise, jolting me awake from the fierce energy spiralling through my blood.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. Prince and Princess of the New Empire,” the priest called, and applause rang in my ears.

My feet were rooted to the spot, my body weak from what had just happened, and my mind swirling with the new sensation settling into my bones.

Erik took my hand and as the marks on our palms met, a violent eruption of power took place inside my chest. I sucked in a breath, pulling my hand free and taking a step away from him, suddenly afraid of this new bond.

We took our places beside Fabian and Callie, and my sister’s eyes drilled into mine with a question burning in them. “What have you done?!”

I gazed down at the X on my palm, feeling like I’d just taken much more than a wedding vow. That the words we’d spoken had truly linked us for all eternity, and no matter what happened today, I could never part from Erik. It left me with a terrifying realisation. Because if I could never be away from him, how was I ever going to escape?