“A new year is a fresh start,” he continued, “a new beginning and I think it is the perfect day for a wedding.”
Wedding?
Kerstyn shot up, the water splashing over the side of the tub.
Dimitri stood and Kerstyn watched him cross over to the counter. A small, deep red, velvet box rested on the corner. He must have placed it there while he was undressing, though she hadn't noticed, being unable to tear her eyes away from the sight of him stripping.
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“I received my very first vision the night I came across this ring. It had been a mere glimmer of the future.” He dried his hands off on a pristine white towel before taking up the box. Kerstyn could feel her heart slamming in her chest as he came toward her. “In that glimpse of the future, I knew I was to meet my mate, though she was not revealed to me. I did not know what she would look like or when the paths of our lives would cross. I only knew that I would find her.” He sat on the edge of the tub. “When I saw this ring, I knew it would be perfect for her. For you.”
Kerstyn’s skin turned to gooseflesh despite the heat of the water. Her eyes shot from the box in his hand to his sparkling diamond gaze.
“Kerstyn Ingmar, will you be my bride?” he asked, slowly opening the box.
“Oh, my, God,” she gasped as tears slipped unnoticed from the corner of her eyes.
“Is that a ‘yes’?”
Unable to speak, she frantically nodded her head. She did not look down. At the moment, she did not care what the ring looked like, all she wanted to do was kiss her vampire. She came to her knees in the tub sending more water crashing over the sides as she threw her arms about his neck. Her wet body molded against his as their lips met. Fire spread through her as fireworks of happiness exploded in her mind.
“Do you not want the ring?” he asked between kisses.
Kerstyn laughed and pulled away. “Let’s see it.” Her heated gaze traveled over his chest before falling to the ring. Her breath escaped her lungs. A ring of small rubies surrounded one obscenely large sapphire.
“It’s stunning,” she whispered breathlessly. Her fingers trembled as she lightly ran them over the smooth, square face of the sapphire.
“I have been holding onto this for a very long time,” he said, carefully pulling the ring from the cushion in the box. Kerstyn held her hand out for him and watched with wide eyes as he slipped the ring onto her finger.
“Where did you find it?”
“I won it in a card game from Henry VIII.”
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Kerstyn turned surprised eyes up to him. “Really? That is…not very romantic, but an interesting story.” Her excitement was put on pause as a sobering thought occurred to her. “Dimitri, you aren’t doing this just to make me feel better, are you? What I mean is, to get my mind off―”
“Kerstyn, if vampires, witches, and curses did not exist and I was an ordinary man, I would want to grow old with you by my side.” He bent down and kissed the ring. “We will be bound on our wedding night. Your life force will be connected to mine. You will not become a vampire, though you will have the strength of one without the side effects.”
“I don’t understand? You said―”
“I will not change you into a vampire, but I will bind you to me. For as long as I live, you will live. You will never age and never grow ill. Together, we will live forever.”
Kerstyn shivered as Dimitri said the last word.
Forever.
Never had she heard a word more beautiful or spoken with such promise.
She kissed him again, this time long and slow. His growl of pleasure ignited her lust. Her worry and stress was banished to the far reaches of her mind as he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer to him.
She ran her hand down his hard chest, tracing the line of his muscles until her palm came to rest against the thickness that pressed against his wet boxers.
“Kerstyn,” he groaned and she playfully rubbed her hand against the head of his penis. He hissed and she pulled away, sinking back down into the water careful not to get her engagement ring wet.
“I’m an awful tease,” she said with a mischievous smile.
“Reading my mind now, are you?”
She laughed and settled her back against the jet again. “So, you want to get married on New Year's?”
“At midnight.”
“I wouldn't have thought you were a romantic at heart?” He shrugged. “I had given up on romance long ago. For centuries, I lived as a shell, hollow, void of emotion. Then I received my first vision and hope blossomed within me. That hope is what gave me the strength and the drive to continue through this dark world.”
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“Mr. Arsov, you sure know how to set a girl’s heart a-flutter,” Kerstyn laughed as a pink blush pressed across Dimitri’s cheeks.
“Well, I have a lot of planning to do if we are going to be married on New Year's. Two months is not much time. I need to send invitations out right now. God, and I have to find a dress. You’ve just given me one more thing to stress over,” she teased.
“Something positive,” he laughed.
“Yes. I am not going to think about this weekend. I am going to focus on the future. The two of us together,” she declared, even though the thoughts of the coming days hovered in the back of her mind like a dark cloud.
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Rain. The heavy droplets poured from the angry heavens relentlessly crashing down upon the attractive facades of the decadent hotels and casinos that lined the Strip.
“This storm certainly matches the general mood within this room,” Kerstyn sighed as she tossed a bridal magazine on the glass coffee table in the office of the suite.
Leaning back, she tossed her hair over the edge of the sofa, tilting her head back so that she could gaze up at Dimitri. The lines of his face were hard, his eyes cold and focused, and yet, his fingers began to entwine in her hair.
Dimitri, along with Gabriel and Gannon, had their eyes locked on Silvie, who sat on the loveseat across from Kerstyn.
“When will Ven arrive?” Dimitri repeated his question.
Silvie remained still, her eyes closed, her brow wrinkled from concentration.
Kerstyn’s eyes fell from her fiancé’s face to join in the staring.
Silvie had not moved or spoken one word since the men had entered the office. When Dimitri had inquired if she knew exactly when Ven would arrive in Las Vegas, she had closed her eyes and became dead to the world…or at least this world.
“Thirty-minutes.” Silvie’s voice was not her own; it was deep, rhythmic, and ethereal. As her lids slowly lifted to reveal her dark gaze, she asked, “Shall we go over the plan again, one last time?” Dimitri nodded.
“I will meet the bastard at the airport,” Gabriel said. “I should be a polite host and welcome him to my territory, especially since he will be departing from this Sin City vacation in a body bag.”
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His comment drew a dark chuckle from Gannon, who stood beside him dressed in what Kerstyn had labeled his double-oh-seven outfit.
“I will arrange for a group of our men to escort Ven’s envoy to Henderson. We already have soldiers posted in the town. Ven and his men won’t be doing anything we don’t know about,” Gannon added.
“Once the two of you return, Silvie will bind my power, matching my strength equally to Ven’s,” Dimitri said.
“I still think that's an idiotic idea,” Kerstyn huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Everything will be fine,” Dimitri insisted.
“Yeah, you keep saying that,” she sighed.
“And you keep saying that,” Dimitri countered and gave her a wink when she shot him a hard glare.
“I just don’t understand why you won’t use your power and annihilate him.”
“I want a fair fight.”
Kerstyn rolled her eyes. She knew she was not the only one who thought Dimitri’s plan was absurd. Gabriel had voiced his opinion on the topic earlier in the evening. But, there was no changing Dimitri’s mind.
Old and stubborn
, she thought with a smile. The light tug on her hair told her Dimitri had heard her remark.
“It is unnecessary and all you are doing is putting yourself in danger,” she said.
“There is no danger,” Dimitri firmly stated.
“Mr. Big Bad Vampire, there is always danger.”
“Kerstyn, I must do it this way.”
Kerstyn snapped her mouth shut.
Damn Dimitri and his
overactive sense of honor.
She knew he wanted a fair fight with Ven, but she would much prefer that he kill his enemy quickly. She doubted that Ven even understood honor.
Saying nothing more, Kerstyn stood and left the office, heading to the bedroom. Closing the door behind her, she turned and was not surprised when she found Silvie standing in the center of the room.
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“You are upset?” the witch asked with a tilt of her dark head.
“Worried,” Kerstyn corrected.
“His powers will not be removed. I am going to say a simple spell that will limit his abilities. He will be able to break the spell and access his power if necessary.”
Kerstyn huffed, her annoyance flashing in her eyes. “He explained it to me and I think it's ridiculous. What I want to know is why are you agreeing to do this?”
Silvie’s gaze dropped.
“I must,” Silvie answered.
“Why?”
Silvie turned away and slowly walked to the window. She stood and gazed out past the rain to the street below. The bright lights of the Strip cast shadows across her face.
“Why won't you tell me?” Kerstyn asked.
“I…” Silvie shook her head. “It is all a part of the design.”
“What?”
“This must be done.”
“You are speaking like Dimitri now. Cryptic answers don’t really help.”
“I’m sorry, Kerstyn.”
“Have you seen something, Silvie? Is it something Dimitri knows?”
“No, he does not―” Silvie slapped a hand over her mouth.
Shocked that she had let that information slip.
“You have seen something he hasn’t? But, I thought that you saw the same as he.”
“That was true,” Silvie answered, “once.”
Kerstyn quickly crossed the room and came to a stop before the window, beside Silvie. Her friend refused to look at her, to meet her gaze.
“What are you saying?”
Silvie did not answer. She remained still, her eyes lifting from the street to the dark clouds above.
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“Silvie―”
“Kerstyn, please, I can’t say. “
Kerstyn grabbed Silvie’s shoulders and spun her friend around to face her.
“What do you know?”
“Kerstyn,” Silvie sighed.
“What have you seen? What do you know?”
“This is a test, Kerstyn.”
“A test?” Kerstyn asked, her eyes narrowing. “For what?”
“For me. My uncle has shown me what is to come.” Kerstyn released Silvie’s shoulders. “Your uncle…the Shaman?”
Silvie meekly nodded. “Once I become a priestess, the visions I receive will be more extensive and more detailed revealing much more of the future. And I will have to keep my knowledge to myself, sharing what I know with no one besides my uncle. This is my final test.”
“Oh, Silvie. This must be torture, knowing what is to come.” Kerstyn’s heart dropped. She could not imagine how Silvie must feel.
She knew what was to happen to her friends and yet could say nothing and do nothing to change what was to come.
“This has been more difficult than I expected. I wish I could tell you what I have seen,” Silvie said with a sniffle, her eyes beginning to well with tears and she turned back to the window.
“Silvie, will you answer one question?”
“Kerstyn,” Silvie groaned in exasperation.
“Will you hear my question before you say ‘no’?” Kerstyn asked.
Silvie sighed and slowly nodded.
“I need to know,” Kerstyn swallowed, “will Dimitri make it through his fight?”
Silvie closed her eyes. “All I can say is,” she cleared her throat,
“Dimitri will survive the night.”
Kerstyn’s shoulders suddenly felt lighter. She had faith in Dimitri’s fighting abilities, but with his powers bound he would be on an even playing field with Ven. Or, rather, an even battle field with
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Ven. To know for certain that he would survive…Kerstyn felt as if she could finally breathe. Freed from her doubt and worry.
“Thank you, Silvie.”
Silvie turned, words ready on her tongue. The tap of knuckles against the door drew the ladies' attention and Silvie quickly swallowed her words. She was not surprised that Kerstyn would want reassurance that her mate would live through what would be a bloody battle.
Dimitri was incredibly old, strong, and skilled. He could handle himself.
Silvie watched Kerstyn cross to the door. Nausea twisted her stomach into a tight knot as her eyes became unfocused and images of the future assailed her. Kerstyn would meet her fate tomorrow night beneath the full moon and all would be as it should for better or for worse.
“I hope I am not interrupting.”
Dimitri’s deep voice drew Silvie’s gaze. He stood just inside the door, his shoulders blocking the entrance. She gave him a slight nod in greeting before coming forward.
“No, my vampire, you are not interrupting,” Kerstyn smiled.
Dimitri’s own smile was white and wide, revealing his sharp incisors. He stepped away from the door allowing Silvie to slip past him into the hall.
“I will be in my room until the men return. If you need me before then, call,” Silvie said as she walked away.
Dimitri shut the door as Kerstyn moved to the bed. She slowly lowered herself down onto the mattress, sitting on the edge, her eyes focused out the window.