Authors: Cassandra Gannon
His
jaw ticked. “Is it because of Prince Charming? Do you not wish to acknowledge
your connection with me, because of your inappropriate feelings for him?”
“Inappropriate?
Wow. You must have watched a more interesting cartoon than I did.”
“Any
feelings you have for another man are
wrong
. I do not accept them.” He
arched a brow. “And I suspect that Disneyland is squalid and miserable place.
I have not heard of it and I have heard of every kingdom worth hearing about.”
“I
think Mickey’s team of super-lawyers can have you thrown in jail just for
saying that.” Jane shook her head. “Seriously, is this some kind of weird
royal rivalry thing, where you want to prove your scepter is bigger than
Charming’s?” Since Slade was planning to marry a princess, she’d enjoyed pretending
that she had royal fiancé of her own, but enough was enough. “Because, there’s
no need. Prince Charming doesn’t exist, you moron.”
“Doesn’t
exist?” Blond brows compressed. “Why do you keep speaking of him, then?”
“Because
he’s
Prince Charming!
He’s the perfect man that little girls dream
about. Then we grow-up and realize a guy on white horse isn’t going to charge
to our rescue, no matter how many movies tell us otherwise.
Slade
began to look more cheerful. “You mean… you just
invented
this man?”
“
I
didn’t invent him, he’s a fairytale. One of our most famous stories. He’s the
ideal husband.” She shook her head. “
Everyone
knows that, Slade. I
mean, how could you not realize I was messing with you? Do you
really
think some handsome prince would wander into the grocery store and decided
I
was his dream girl?”
…Except
that seemed to be exactly what was happening, didn’t it?
Caribbean
blue eyes regarded her steadily and things suddenly seemed a lot less funny.
Jane
felt her heartbeat speeding up. Her amusement faded into something like terror.
“Slade, come on. You’re not serious about this…” She began.
He
cut her off. “So, you aren’t planning to marry another man?” He still seemed
halfway convinced that Charming was going to show up with a glass slipper.
“I’m
not going to marry
anybody
.” She deliberately stressed the “anybody”
part, so he’d know it included “any
Vampire,”
too. “I mean it. I’m
not
your Eternal-One. That’s not even up for debate.”
“Oh,
I don’t plan to debate it.”
Jane
decided to interpret that in the best possible way. She could hear her heart
beating in her ears. “Good, so I think we should forget this whole thing ever
happened. You’re just… confused.”
“No,
Jane. I’m not confused, at all. You are my Eternal-One. There can be no
debate, because it’s empirical fact. And now you tell me that there is no
other prince in your life, so all of our problems are solved.” He beamed at
her, like he’d singlehandedly solved world hunger.
Jesus,
he
was
going crazy.
“
My
problems aren’t solved. Not even close
.
” She shook her head. “Your
problems aren’t solved
either,
if you stop to think about it. All you
want is Infinia, remember? Even if it
is
true and I
am
your
Eternal-One --which I’m
not
-- I can’t give you a kingdom, Slade. Only
Allandrina can do that. It’s why you’re planning to marry her!”
Slade
frowned. “I do not know why you continue to worry about that woman. I have
already decided I cannot marry Allandrina.”
Jane
refused to be relieved over his change of heart. “Since when?” She demanded.
“Six seconds ago?”
“Since,
you made it clear that you would never tolerate the plan. And you were right,
as you usually are. I was a fool to even consider such a cold transaction.” He
sighed. “My only excuse is the divorce left me hardened to the idea of
romance. I had given up on finding you.”
“You
think you were looking for
me?
”
“I
know I was. My Dark Instincts all told me when I’d found you, but bitterness
blinded me to the truth. I am ashamed of that. My plan to wed that princess
was an insult to you and our connection. Forgive me, Jane.”
Jane
stared at him. “You want me and not Allandrina?” She finally asked, knowing
it was a mistake to be so delighted by that fact.
“Of
course
. How can you even question that? Even before I realized we were
Eternal-Ones, you were the only…” Slade trailed off and blinked as if a new
idea occurred to him. “Wait, did you create this Prince Charming, because you
were upset over my supposed feelings for
Allandrina?
” He seemed thrilled.
“That is a ludicrous --yet encouraging-- idea. I forgive you for lying. Jealousy
is a good sign.”
“
You
forgive
me?!
” It felt like all she could do was echo the utter
craziness he was spouting.
“Of
course, I do.” Slade gave an arrogant nod. “I was going insane, picturing you
with another man. Just as you were upset that I would stupidly consider
marrying another woman.” He smiled the kind of smile that made her want to
punch him. Repeatedly. “It is actually very sweet. But I promise there is no
need for you to concern yourself about Allandrina. I never even
met
the
woman, Jane. She means nothing to me. Nothing at all.”
“You
are the most egotistical idiot in the world! This isn’t about me being
jealous! I don’t care
what
you do.”
“You
do not mean that.”
“Yes,
I do!” She shouted, even though he was right. “Sleep with every tiara-wearing
twit in the land, if it makes you happy. I just want to go back to my old
life, lock myself in my apartment, and be safe and alone forever.”
Slade
rubbed the back of his neck, apparently irritated that she wasn’t rushing off
to buy
Vampire
Brides Magazine
. “You cannot be alone.” He
complained. “Without you,
I
would be alone and that is the last thing I
desire. You are needlessly complicating this wonderful news. We are Eternal-Ones.”
“Bullshit.”
Slade
sighed at that succinct answer. “You are always so difficult to reason with.”
“
I’m
difficult?”
“Yes!
You have fought me every step of our journey.”
“
Your
journey, Slade. I’ve been a really good sport about you dragging me into
Army
of Darkness
, but it’s never been about
me
. This whole becoming-a-king
plan is about
you
. Just like this Eternal-One thing is about
you
.
And what
you
want and what
you
think.” She waved a hand. “You’ve
never asked me what
I
want. Not even once.”
He
seemed baffled by that. “If I asked you what you want, you would tell me
things that I do not wish to hear. You would tell me that you plan to leave me
and not be my Eternal-One.”
“
Yes.
That’s exactly what I’m telling you!” This couldn’t be true. There was
just no way someone like Slade wanted
her
. It was another one of his
loony ideas that would lead to badness and heartbreak. “This whole thing is
ridiculous. Just sit there and try to regain your normal
kind-of
-sanity,
while I figure out what to do next.”
“I
do not understand your attitude. I
expecte
d it, but I don’t understand
it. Many women would be
thrilled
to have me as an Eternal-One.”
“Many
women
have
been your Eternal-One and none of them were thrilled.” She
retorted. “You got it wrong with Melessa, right? And didn’t you tell me that you
thought Damien’s wife was your Eternal-One, before that?”
“I
was tricked into believing Karalynn was mine! I was influenced by a magick
book and not thinking clearly. Many of the words I spoke to her were not even
my own. There was a
spell
that fogged our reality!”
“If
you say so.”
“I
do
say so! Yes, I was wrong about other women in the past, but I am
not
wrong about you. Even you must sense the bond between us, Jane.”
She
shook her head. “I don’t.” And, even if she did, she would never, ever admit
it.
“You
do.
” He insisted. “You
have
been a good sport about our journey,
Jane. And I know you well enough to know that you are
rarely
a good
sport.”
“Way
to woo me, ass hat.”
“I
am simply being honest. You would
never
be this accommodating with another
man. We both know that.”
She
turned away, unwilling to consider the truth of that statement. Every
conceited word out of his conceited mouth annoyed her. “You’re twisting this
around.” She snapped. “You’re my ticket out of this dimension.
That’s
why I’ve been sticking with…”
Slade
cut her off, catching hold of her arm and swinging her back around to face
him. “You would have left anyone but me
days
ago.” He continued
passionately. “You would have used those golf clubs to kill any other man who
brought you to this realm against your wishes. You would never,
ever
have fed another Vampire. Not Jane Squire, cynic and loner. You’ve only done all
this because of me. Because I’m
me
.”
“You’re
admitting that it’s your fault? Good! I totally agree.”
He
ignored that too and kept going. “You did these things, because --deep down--
you know that we’re supposed to be together. You
want
to be with me,
Jane. We belong with each other and you know it.”
Jane
shook his off hand, adrenaline pouring into her system. “No.”
Slade
regarded her like he was seeing her for the first time. “That’s it, isn’t it?”
For someone who worked hard at acting like an idiot, he was always so annoyingly
perceptive. “That’s why you’re fighting so hard to leave. You already
know
you’re mine. You’ve known longer than I have and it frightens you.”
Frightened?
She was fucking
terrified
. What if this was all a trick? What if it
wasn’t?
“I’m not yours. I’m not
anyone’s
. I never have been.”
“You
always
have been. You were born to be mine, Jane. It took me thirty
years to find you, but I did it. There is nothing I wouldn’t brave if it meant
being together.”
She
took a step backwards. “We’re not
supposed
to be together. You’re
supposed to be the hero of this movie and I’m supposed to be one of the damn
extras. When have you ever seen the hero ride off into the sunset with an
extra, huh?”
“That
entire statement is faulty. You are
not
an extra. You do not even
believe in heroes. And I would burn to ash if we went into a sunset.”
“Because
you’re a
Vampire!
You live on magical islands, and you have giant
butterflies as pets, and you’re so frigging shiny it hurts my eyes.
I’m
a
normal person and normal people don’t get mixed-up with Vampires! We do normal
things and live normal lives.”
“You
have had more fun with me than you ever did in your ‘normal’ life.” He
retorted. “
This
is the existence you were meant for. Standing at the
middle of the story, not hiding in the background.” He waved an expansive
hand. “Your whole face lights up at the memory of six weeks when you had an almost-leading
part on that
Dracula
show! You
loved
it, but you were scared and
so you gave it up. This is the same thing, Jane. Don’t you see that?”
“I
didn’t give it up! That was just a short term role, Slade. It wasn’t meant to
last.”
“It
might have lasted, if you’d taken the chance. You said yourself that Clarissa’s
story was unfinished.” He watched her closely, still seeing far too much. “I
know you, Jane. Did you even
try
to stay on the picture box?”
No.
But she’d wanted to…
Jane
swallowed, because deep down she knew he had a point. She should have fought
harder for Clarissa. The writers killed her off without even a final scene. Jane
had
been scared to take a chance and try to change things. What if she
tried to stay and they didn’t want her? No one ever wanted her.
Slade’s
voice was deep and sure. “You and I can write our own story, Jane. Together,
we can do anything. Have faith in yourself. Have faith in
me
.”
Jane
squeezed her eyes shut. Slade was about million times more important than any
acting job. Putting her faith in him would be like stepping of a bridge. Her
fingers instinctively curled, like she was trying to cling to an invisible railing.
Thirty years of stark pragmatism had her hanging on for dear life. She
couldn’t do this.
She
couldn’t.
“You’re
not going to confuse me, Slade. I won’t let you. You can talk me into all
kinds of shit, but not
this
.” Jane kept edging away from him, wanting
to increase the distance between them. Being near Slade messed with her head.
Right from the beginning, he’d been able to slip passed her defenses and drown
out logic. He could make believe the impossible. “I want to go home and you
can’t convince me to stay.”