Ten, p.47
Ten, page 47
“Oh, she seems quite feisty, doesn’t she, Lorcan?” the king asked. “You know, I feel so very sorry that you had to grow up without the guidance of a father. You’ve had such a tough time, haven’t you with no one to teach you the little things like the difference between right and wrong—”
Paige shot Lorcan a look, but the former Lord Pendragon remained remarkably passive. Arthur paced as he continued with his diatribe.
“I mean, your own brother killed me on the very same battlefield that you were born upon. We really all must commend Merlin’s quick thinking to save enough of my blood to not only sire you and continue my line but to eventually save me with the glorious technology of this twenty-first century—”
“Is there a point to this?” Lorcan asked flatly.
“The point is, you never had me to guide you, but it seems that you are doomed to be cursed with the same foibles that nearly ruined my kingdom and my life,” Arthur said. “Dear sister, my own house was nearly destroyed by infidelity. A man I loved like my brother was manipulated by my own son. He tried to steal my wife, and I’m sure you’ve all heard the legends about how that ended.”
“Believe me, we have our own vows to uphold, Arthur,” Lorcan said as he looked at Mina. “Infidelity is not a crime in our marriage.”
“Oh, you can treat yourself to all the whores in this world that you want, my son,” Arthur sighed, “But you swore an oath to only be married to my sister unless you had her consent, did you not?”
“Lorcan, what is he talking about?” Mina asked.
“Did you not swear this to Meenakshi?” Arthur asked as he leaned next to his glowering son. Merlin tapped his fingers on the
table as they waited with bated breath.
“I did,” Lorcan muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Arthur asked.
“I did swear an oath to be married only to Meenakshi without her prior consent.”
“Then explain this,” Arthur asked as he presented a glass vial to the table. Paige sunk lower in her chair as whispers flooded the room. Lorcan stared at her in horror. The sheriff snatched the vial, opened it, and poured a single drop onto her finger. She took a taste and then proceeded to hobble around the room to sniff both Lorcan and Paige. She gave a nod to Merlin and to Arthur.
“Tell me, Lorcan,” Arthur said as his son grew even paler. “Did you ever swear an oath with this woman who you clearly shared blood with at a very intimate level? Did you ever make a promise that she too was bound by?”
Lorcan remained silent and all eyes turned to Paige. Merlin gave her an expectant look.
“Girl, did you ever swear an oath to this man, an oath that you were bound by?” the sheriff asked. “If either of you lie, it will only get worse.”
“Yes,” Paige said softly. “We made a promise to always tell the truth to one another, if we were sharing a drink. I’ve never broken it.”
“You used the same oath that we used in the mountains,” Merlin said shaking his head. “You couldn’t even be creative?”
Mina pushed away from the table. “I think I’ve heard enough,”
she said. “You broke an oath with me. . . for what? For a human girl?
Is that all I’m worth to you?”
“That thing isn’t human,” the sheriff added. “At least it makes my job simple. I can have you both put to death, and we can be done with this before dawn.”
“Not so fast,” Merlin said. “What good are the senseless deaths of a disgraced lord and his secret bit of bestiality? I know of a way we can put this indiscretion to good use and offer reparations to all the disgraced parties with the added benefit of a little entertainment.”
“After all, you may be misguided, but you’re still my son,” Arthur said. “And I would hate to lose my son all over again.”
“What exactly do you propose, Lord Merlin?” the sheriff asked again.
“What a perfect choice of words, sheriff,” Merlin sighed.
34
GEORGIA SAT UNCOMFORTABLY in her front row seat. The confused crowd of vampires whispered amongst themselves as they waited to see just what sort of court announcements would be posted before they could leave. Large signs near all the doors declared that the Cesare had declared three more full days of sanctuary for the entire United Kingdom. Minerva, Steve, and Mr.
Lambley all looked drawn out and pale but still managed to sit at attention as they waited for the ceremony to begin.
“What is going on?” Georgia asked.
“Beats me, Sweetheart, but they aren’t letting anyone leave till court is finished. I guess with all the fuss about King Arthur not being dead, everything else sort of slipped to the wayside,” Steve said. His face shifted to one of concern as neither Lorcan nor his date joined them on the pew. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“What’s going on, mien bruder? Everything is going insane,”
Minerva hissed. She grew deathly quiet as Arthur strode into the room. In his neatly tailored suit and ponytail, Georgia gave a hopeful sigh. The light dimmed in her eyes, however, as she heard his posh British accent as he made small talk with the crowd.
He walked over with a sheepish expression on his face. “This must be terribly awkward for all of you,” he said as he approached.
“For you, especially, Geoffrey. It must be hard to see a servant as your grandfather and your king, but rest assured, I will try my best to get to know you in the years to come. Your mother speaks of you all
the time, and with my memories from this body, I do feel as if I know you already.”
Steve and Minerva stared coldly. Arthur returned their contempt.
“As for you two, I must say, I’ve enjoyed the opportunities that you’ve given me,” he said in his most refined, upper-class accent.
“You were nothing more than a Pendragon snake leapfrogging on the success of the Jaeger family,” Minerva spat.
Arthur took her hand and kissed it. “I do have memories from this host, Minerva. You’d be wise to remember that. I am no longer your toy to play with, schatzi,” he said in the most civilized of voices. “I can fight back now.”
“I look forward to it,” she said before blowing him a kiss.
“As for you, Steven, I hope times haven’t been too tough,” Arthur said.
“I’ll be just fine,” Steve said with one of his trademark grins.
“Oh, we’ll see about that. Miss Sutherland, would you do me the honor of joining me tonight?” Arthur said.
Steve rose to his feet. Arthur raised a brow.
“Please, I don’t need any more pissing matches on my account,”
Georgia sighed as she let Arthur take her hand. He led her onto the stage and to a special little ornate loveseat set to the side of the main thrones.
“It’s like George R.R. Martin meets Lay-Z-Boy,” she muttered as she took her seat on the velvet cushion. Arthur settled beside her and shot a triumphant look at the stewing Steve.
The crowd grew silent as the Jaeger, Bam-Yin, the sheriff, and Merlin all made their way to the stage. The other two lords, one clearly Chinese and the other Spanish, took their spots on the opposite side from the white-hooded form with the snake tattoos.
Merlin stood front and center again, spreading his arms wide in that favorite demagogue way of his. Georgia barely hid the contempt on her face as she watched him strut.
“Lords and ladies, good creatures of the night,” he said. “It is my pleasure to present our official court. It is also my honor to announce that in recognition of the return of our once and future king, sanctuary has been extended for three more days. The reason for
this extension of our celebration is already momentous enough, but why not celebrate further with more grand and glorious news?”
The ballroom doors burst open, and Lorcan and Mina walked hand in hand towards the stage. Both looked shaken and pale, but they held their heads high as they stood in front of the confused crowd.
“On this, the solstice of our fifteen-hundredth-and-second year together, we who were once one declare that we are one no more,”
both Lorcan and Mina said. Georgia could see Vlad jump to his feet from his seat near the back.
“I have taken back what belongs to me,” Mina said as she tilted Lorcan’s head to show off two little welts.
“And I have taken back what belongs to me,” Lorcan said as he pushed Mina’s hair to the side to reveal two little welts as well.
“Very well then, I declare you divorced,” Merlin said before anyone could object. He took Mina’s hand and led her back to a throne. She nearly fainted as she collapsed against the seat.
The crowd murmured in confusion. Merlin continued to fuss over his pale daughter, while Lorcan tottered uneasily on the stage. He finally dropped to one knee, but no one ran to help him.
“My son has been quite troubled, and he freely admitted to breaking his oath to my dear sister, Meenakshi,” Arthur said as he overtook center stage. “However, we are a forgiving and loving house, and my sister put the happiness of her former husband and her family above her own. She set him free so that he could follow his heart and make right his errors.”
It was Steve’s turn to jump to his feet. “Lorcan, what did you do?”
he asked.
Arthur smiled and dragged Lorcan to his feet. Georgia gasped as she saw just how empty and hollow the former Lord Pendragon’s face had become.
“My dear ladies and gentlemen of the night,” Arthur said proudly.
“The time has come for another Pendragon wedding!”
Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Ivan held up a syringe menacingly. She shook her head.
“I’ll be fine,” she said.
“Sorry, if I don’t trust that,” he said before jabbing her in the arm.
“I remember the mess you left in Chicago.”
She heard the first few bars of the wedding march as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She did manage to spit in the general direction of her handler before she finally had to walk into view. All eyes in the room turned to face her. Ivan gave her a shove.
“I’ll remember this,” she growled as she took her first stuttering steps into a cavern filled with vampires. She stared down at her sleeveless red dress with the daringly-low neckline. Her veil consisted of black mesh stapled onto one of the former Lady Pendragon’s repurposed pillbox hats.
“And I’ll enjoy seeing you tamed, bitch,” Ivan hissed in her ear.
“Remember what the master said.”
Her head swirled, and everything blurred, but she somehow managed to find the strength to put one foot in front of the other. She muttered the names under her breath, “Tina and Toy, Nadia and Kayleigh, Kyle and Morgan.”
“Lorcan and my mom,” she finished as she made it halfway up the aisle.
“What the hell is going on here?” she heard. “You promised me that you wouldn’t touch her!”
“Tina and Toy, Nadia and Kayleigh, Kyle and Morgan,” she repeated. She nearly stumbled but dug deep and kept herself upright. “Lorcan and my mom. My dad and little sister too.”
She could see her great-grandpa, Steve, thrashing as a blonde woman held him back. As she passed him, he grabbed her wrist.
She jerked free and walked right up the stage. She could barely hear anything as the world continued to spin. She saw one of the servants slide a table with a golden cup on it onto the stage.
Lorcan took her hand. She could feel him shaking even worse than she was. “Tina and Toy, Kayleigh and Nadia, Kyle and Morgan,”
she chanted. She glanced at the weakened vampire out of the corner of her eye. “Lorcan and my mom,” she finished.
“Lords and ladies, creatures of the night, you are gathered here to witness a most rare and wondrous of weddings— that of a human deemed worthy enough to share blood with a vampire not merely as food but as a companion as well,” Merlin said as the pair struggled to stay on their own feet. “Indeed, to honor the humanity of our dear Lorcan’s bride, they have requested not only a ceremony of the night but to be bound by the laws and religion of the mortal gods—”
“What?” Lorcan hissed as he turned to face the triumphant Merlin. The exertion nearly sent him reeling. Paige took his other hand and turned his attention back to her. She bit her lip and then whispered.
“It was one of the conditions,” she whispered.
“What conditions?” he asked horrified.
“The ones that let us all walk out of here alive,” she choked out.
“No, I can’t let you do this. Do you have any idea what that bastard could make us promise?”
Paige closed her eyes and nodded one more time. “Just get this over with,” she growled.
“Paige,” Lorcan hissed.
“I won’t make any promises I can’t keep,” she muttered as she watched a vampire pull out a bible and start reading verses about the sanctity of marriage.
“You bastard! You lied to me,” Steve yelled as he was forcibly dragged from the chapel. Paige grimaced as she heard the doors slam.
“Lorcan and Paige, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?" Merlin asked.
“I have,” both Lorcan and Paige said reluctantly.
"Will you honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?"
“Yes,” Paige said softly. Lorcan finally choked out an “aye,” a few seconds later.
"Will you accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"
“What is that even supposed to mean?” Lorcan snapped. Paige stomped on his foot, and they both spat out “yes” in unison.
Merlin squinted as he read a little slip of paper tucked into his bible. “Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church, or some other nonsense like that,” he read. “Now comes the part you both should know, but I wrote it down anyway, so we could be perfectly clear.”
Paige squeezed Lorcan’s hand and then took the slip of paper.
She cleared her throat and read, “I, Paige Presley DeMarco, take you, Lorcan Darcy of House Pendragon, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. . .” she trailed off until Merlin’s glare finally wore her down.
She choked out, “I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”
The crowd gasped as her words echoed throughout the chamber.
All eyes turned towards Lorcan. He mouthed, “I’m sorry,” before he took the slip of paper. “I, Lorcan Darcy of House Pendragon, take you, Paige Presley DeMarco, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health and I will. . .
love you and honor you. . . all the days of my life.”
Merlin eyed Paige. “You missed a clause,” he warned.
“And I’ll also obey you, Lorcan,” Paige growled.
Lorcan’s eyes widened in alarm as the cup was shoved into her hands. Paige chomped down on her wrist and watched the blood dribble into the goblet. Once there was a solid layer in the bottom, she reluctantly handed it over to him.
“Then I shall have to obey you as well, Paige,” he said quickly before tearing into his own wrist. He swirled their blood together and took a sip before Merlin could so much as react. Paige snatched the cup and gulped down the rest.
“The vows are said, Merlin,” Lorcan said. “What are you going to do now?”
“Very well then, as your vows have been witnessed by the congregation and your mortal gods, I do declare you man and wife.
Go forth and finish your communion. I suppose that means you get to kiss the bride,” Merlin said.
Lorcan slowly lifted her veil. Paige then leaned over and let Lorcan press his cold lips against hers. She fought back the urge to cry as she heard the audience gossiping. She looked over and saw a stunned Georgia Sutherland watching her with sympathy.
“I did this for your brother,” Paige spat as she was led past the stunned human. “Maybe you can help him out next.”
“What did you say?” Georgia said as she rose to her feet. Paige didn’t have any time to clarify as she and Lorcan were whisked out the stage doors and dragged all the way back to her suite.
Merlin and Arthur both clapped sarcastically as the newlywed couple landed on the bed. Lorcan growled.
“Oh, save that energy for your new wife, Mordred,” Arthur sighed.
“I should have told everyone just who the hell you really are—”
“Why don’t you?” Lorcan snapped. “Reveal that I’m the murderer, get me killed, and set Paige free. She doesn’t deserve to be a part of this mockery—”
“Oh, you are not getting off so easily, Mordred. Not after everything that you’ve done. There was no way you were ever going to live happily ever after in the world that should have been mine,”
Arthur said. “And to think that of all the faces in the entire world that you had to choose, you ended up trapped in the one that I hate most
—”
“Blame your father for that, not me!” Lorcan snapped.
“What is he talking about?” Paige asked.
“Oh, you’ll know soon enough when his blood is crawling around inside you,” Arthur said as he paced around the bed. “You’ll know everything about him, and you’ll be a good, obedient little dog, and show all the other clans just how loyal a bitch can be. You’ll keep each other in line, and you’ll bring all the others into the fold, won’t you, Paige?”
“That was the deal, wasn’t it?” she asked flatly. “Did you have to go old-school Catholic on us, or was that just an extra slap?”
Arthur gave her another smirk. “Oh, that? Well most of that crowd still thinks that humans are god-fearing little cowards, so it makes
them think that you’re more invested in the affair, but above all else, it will horrify that little Jaeger great-grandfather you have to no end,”
he said.
“Wow, he still has that much power over you,” Lorcan said. “Tell me, Father, was that really your smug victory, or was it your host’s?”
“You really should save your energy for your new bride,” Arthur said. “I know you’re weak, but you do have the family name to defend. I’ll expect to find you suitably bonded by tomorrow, and then you’ll start taking care of the rest. Am I clear?”
Paige shot Lorcan a look, but the former Lord Pendragon remained remarkably passive. Arthur paced as he continued with his diatribe.
“I mean, your own brother killed me on the very same battlefield that you were born upon. We really all must commend Merlin’s quick thinking to save enough of my blood to not only sire you and continue my line but to eventually save me with the glorious technology of this twenty-first century—”
“Is there a point to this?” Lorcan asked flatly.
“The point is, you never had me to guide you, but it seems that you are doomed to be cursed with the same foibles that nearly ruined my kingdom and my life,” Arthur said. “Dear sister, my own house was nearly destroyed by infidelity. A man I loved like my brother was manipulated by my own son. He tried to steal my wife, and I’m sure you’ve all heard the legends about how that ended.”
“Believe me, we have our own vows to uphold, Arthur,” Lorcan said as he looked at Mina. “Infidelity is not a crime in our marriage.”
“Oh, you can treat yourself to all the whores in this world that you want, my son,” Arthur sighed, “But you swore an oath to only be married to my sister unless you had her consent, did you not?”
“Lorcan, what is he talking about?” Mina asked.
“Did you not swear this to Meenakshi?” Arthur asked as he leaned next to his glowering son. Merlin tapped his fingers on the
table as they waited with bated breath.
“I did,” Lorcan muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Arthur asked.
“I did swear an oath to be married only to Meenakshi without her prior consent.”
“Then explain this,” Arthur asked as he presented a glass vial to the table. Paige sunk lower in her chair as whispers flooded the room. Lorcan stared at her in horror. The sheriff snatched the vial, opened it, and poured a single drop onto her finger. She took a taste and then proceeded to hobble around the room to sniff both Lorcan and Paige. She gave a nod to Merlin and to Arthur.
“Tell me, Lorcan,” Arthur said as his son grew even paler. “Did you ever swear an oath with this woman who you clearly shared blood with at a very intimate level? Did you ever make a promise that she too was bound by?”
Lorcan remained silent and all eyes turned to Paige. Merlin gave her an expectant look.
“Girl, did you ever swear an oath to this man, an oath that you were bound by?” the sheriff asked. “If either of you lie, it will only get worse.”
“Yes,” Paige said softly. “We made a promise to always tell the truth to one another, if we were sharing a drink. I’ve never broken it.”
“You used the same oath that we used in the mountains,” Merlin said shaking his head. “You couldn’t even be creative?”
Mina pushed away from the table. “I think I’ve heard enough,”
she said. “You broke an oath with me. . . for what? For a human girl?
Is that all I’m worth to you?”
“That thing isn’t human,” the sheriff added. “At least it makes my job simple. I can have you both put to death, and we can be done with this before dawn.”
“Not so fast,” Merlin said. “What good are the senseless deaths of a disgraced lord and his secret bit of bestiality? I know of a way we can put this indiscretion to good use and offer reparations to all the disgraced parties with the added benefit of a little entertainment.”
“After all, you may be misguided, but you’re still my son,” Arthur said. “And I would hate to lose my son all over again.”
“What exactly do you propose, Lord Merlin?” the sheriff asked again.
“What a perfect choice of words, sheriff,” Merlin sighed.
34
GEORGIA SAT UNCOMFORTABLY in her front row seat. The confused crowd of vampires whispered amongst themselves as they waited to see just what sort of court announcements would be posted before they could leave. Large signs near all the doors declared that the Cesare had declared three more full days of sanctuary for the entire United Kingdom. Minerva, Steve, and Mr.
Lambley all looked drawn out and pale but still managed to sit at attention as they waited for the ceremony to begin.
“What is going on?” Georgia asked.
“Beats me, Sweetheart, but they aren’t letting anyone leave till court is finished. I guess with all the fuss about King Arthur not being dead, everything else sort of slipped to the wayside,” Steve said. His face shifted to one of concern as neither Lorcan nor his date joined them on the pew. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“What’s going on, mien bruder? Everything is going insane,”
Minerva hissed. She grew deathly quiet as Arthur strode into the room. In his neatly tailored suit and ponytail, Georgia gave a hopeful sigh. The light dimmed in her eyes, however, as she heard his posh British accent as he made small talk with the crowd.
He walked over with a sheepish expression on his face. “This must be terribly awkward for all of you,” he said as he approached.
“For you, especially, Geoffrey. It must be hard to see a servant as your grandfather and your king, but rest assured, I will try my best to get to know you in the years to come. Your mother speaks of you all
the time, and with my memories from this body, I do feel as if I know you already.”
Steve and Minerva stared coldly. Arthur returned their contempt.
“As for you two, I must say, I’ve enjoyed the opportunities that you’ve given me,” he said in his most refined, upper-class accent.
“You were nothing more than a Pendragon snake leapfrogging on the success of the Jaeger family,” Minerva spat.
Arthur took her hand and kissed it. “I do have memories from this host, Minerva. You’d be wise to remember that. I am no longer your toy to play with, schatzi,” he said in the most civilized of voices. “I can fight back now.”
“I look forward to it,” she said before blowing him a kiss.
“As for you, Steven, I hope times haven’t been too tough,” Arthur said.
“I’ll be just fine,” Steve said with one of his trademark grins.
“Oh, we’ll see about that. Miss Sutherland, would you do me the honor of joining me tonight?” Arthur said.
Steve rose to his feet. Arthur raised a brow.
“Please, I don’t need any more pissing matches on my account,”
Georgia sighed as she let Arthur take her hand. He led her onto the stage and to a special little ornate loveseat set to the side of the main thrones.
“It’s like George R.R. Martin meets Lay-Z-Boy,” she muttered as she took her seat on the velvet cushion. Arthur settled beside her and shot a triumphant look at the stewing Steve.
The crowd grew silent as the Jaeger, Bam-Yin, the sheriff, and Merlin all made their way to the stage. The other two lords, one clearly Chinese and the other Spanish, took their spots on the opposite side from the white-hooded form with the snake tattoos.
Merlin stood front and center again, spreading his arms wide in that favorite demagogue way of his. Georgia barely hid the contempt on her face as she watched him strut.
“Lords and ladies, good creatures of the night,” he said. “It is my pleasure to present our official court. It is also my honor to announce that in recognition of the return of our once and future king, sanctuary has been extended for three more days. The reason for
this extension of our celebration is already momentous enough, but why not celebrate further with more grand and glorious news?”
The ballroom doors burst open, and Lorcan and Mina walked hand in hand towards the stage. Both looked shaken and pale, but they held their heads high as they stood in front of the confused crowd.
“On this, the solstice of our fifteen-hundredth-and-second year together, we who were once one declare that we are one no more,”
both Lorcan and Mina said. Georgia could see Vlad jump to his feet from his seat near the back.
“I have taken back what belongs to me,” Mina said as she tilted Lorcan’s head to show off two little welts.
“And I have taken back what belongs to me,” Lorcan said as he pushed Mina’s hair to the side to reveal two little welts as well.
“Very well then, I declare you divorced,” Merlin said before anyone could object. He took Mina’s hand and led her back to a throne. She nearly fainted as she collapsed against the seat.
The crowd murmured in confusion. Merlin continued to fuss over his pale daughter, while Lorcan tottered uneasily on the stage. He finally dropped to one knee, but no one ran to help him.
“My son has been quite troubled, and he freely admitted to breaking his oath to my dear sister, Meenakshi,” Arthur said as he overtook center stage. “However, we are a forgiving and loving house, and my sister put the happiness of her former husband and her family above her own. She set him free so that he could follow his heart and make right his errors.”
It was Steve’s turn to jump to his feet. “Lorcan, what did you do?”
he asked.
Arthur smiled and dragged Lorcan to his feet. Georgia gasped as she saw just how empty and hollow the former Lord Pendragon’s face had become.
“My dear ladies and gentlemen of the night,” Arthur said proudly.
“The time has come for another Pendragon wedding!”
Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Ivan held up a syringe menacingly. She shook her head.
“I’ll be fine,” she said.
“Sorry, if I don’t trust that,” he said before jabbing her in the arm.
“I remember the mess you left in Chicago.”
She heard the first few bars of the wedding march as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She did manage to spit in the general direction of her handler before she finally had to walk into view. All eyes in the room turned to face her. Ivan gave her a shove.
“I’ll remember this,” she growled as she took her first stuttering steps into a cavern filled with vampires. She stared down at her sleeveless red dress with the daringly-low neckline. Her veil consisted of black mesh stapled onto one of the former Lady Pendragon’s repurposed pillbox hats.
“And I’ll enjoy seeing you tamed, bitch,” Ivan hissed in her ear.
“Remember what the master said.”
Her head swirled, and everything blurred, but she somehow managed to find the strength to put one foot in front of the other. She muttered the names under her breath, “Tina and Toy, Nadia and Kayleigh, Kyle and Morgan.”
“Lorcan and my mom,” she finished as she made it halfway up the aisle.
“What the hell is going on here?” she heard. “You promised me that you wouldn’t touch her!”
“Tina and Toy, Nadia and Kayleigh, Kyle and Morgan,” she repeated. She nearly stumbled but dug deep and kept herself upright. “Lorcan and my mom. My dad and little sister too.”
She could see her great-grandpa, Steve, thrashing as a blonde woman held him back. As she passed him, he grabbed her wrist.
She jerked free and walked right up the stage. She could barely hear anything as the world continued to spin. She saw one of the servants slide a table with a golden cup on it onto the stage.
Lorcan took her hand. She could feel him shaking even worse than she was. “Tina and Toy, Kayleigh and Nadia, Kyle and Morgan,”
she chanted. She glanced at the weakened vampire out of the corner of her eye. “Lorcan and my mom,” she finished.
“Lords and ladies, creatures of the night, you are gathered here to witness a most rare and wondrous of weddings— that of a human deemed worthy enough to share blood with a vampire not merely as food but as a companion as well,” Merlin said as the pair struggled to stay on their own feet. “Indeed, to honor the humanity of our dear Lorcan’s bride, they have requested not only a ceremony of the night but to be bound by the laws and religion of the mortal gods—”
“What?” Lorcan hissed as he turned to face the triumphant Merlin. The exertion nearly sent him reeling. Paige took his other hand and turned his attention back to her. She bit her lip and then whispered.
“It was one of the conditions,” she whispered.
“What conditions?” he asked horrified.
“The ones that let us all walk out of here alive,” she choked out.
“No, I can’t let you do this. Do you have any idea what that bastard could make us promise?”
Paige closed her eyes and nodded one more time. “Just get this over with,” she growled.
“Paige,” Lorcan hissed.
“I won’t make any promises I can’t keep,” she muttered as she watched a vampire pull out a bible and start reading verses about the sanctity of marriage.
“You bastard! You lied to me,” Steve yelled as he was forcibly dragged from the chapel. Paige grimaced as she heard the doors slam.
“Lorcan and Paige, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?" Merlin asked.
“I have,” both Lorcan and Paige said reluctantly.
"Will you honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?"
“Yes,” Paige said softly. Lorcan finally choked out an “aye,” a few seconds later.
"Will you accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"
“What is that even supposed to mean?” Lorcan snapped. Paige stomped on his foot, and they both spat out “yes” in unison.
Merlin squinted as he read a little slip of paper tucked into his bible. “Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church, or some other nonsense like that,” he read. “Now comes the part you both should know, but I wrote it down anyway, so we could be perfectly clear.”
Paige squeezed Lorcan’s hand and then took the slip of paper.
She cleared her throat and read, “I, Paige Presley DeMarco, take you, Lorcan Darcy of House Pendragon, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. . .” she trailed off until Merlin’s glare finally wore her down.
She choked out, “I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”
The crowd gasped as her words echoed throughout the chamber.
All eyes turned towards Lorcan. He mouthed, “I’m sorry,” before he took the slip of paper. “I, Lorcan Darcy of House Pendragon, take you, Paige Presley DeMarco, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health and I will. . .
love you and honor you. . . all the days of my life.”
Merlin eyed Paige. “You missed a clause,” he warned.
“And I’ll also obey you, Lorcan,” Paige growled.
Lorcan’s eyes widened in alarm as the cup was shoved into her hands. Paige chomped down on her wrist and watched the blood dribble into the goblet. Once there was a solid layer in the bottom, she reluctantly handed it over to him.
“Then I shall have to obey you as well, Paige,” he said quickly before tearing into his own wrist. He swirled their blood together and took a sip before Merlin could so much as react. Paige snatched the cup and gulped down the rest.
“The vows are said, Merlin,” Lorcan said. “What are you going to do now?”
“Very well then, as your vows have been witnessed by the congregation and your mortal gods, I do declare you man and wife.
Go forth and finish your communion. I suppose that means you get to kiss the bride,” Merlin said.
Lorcan slowly lifted her veil. Paige then leaned over and let Lorcan press his cold lips against hers. She fought back the urge to cry as she heard the audience gossiping. She looked over and saw a stunned Georgia Sutherland watching her with sympathy.
“I did this for your brother,” Paige spat as she was led past the stunned human. “Maybe you can help him out next.”
“What did you say?” Georgia said as she rose to her feet. Paige didn’t have any time to clarify as she and Lorcan were whisked out the stage doors and dragged all the way back to her suite.
Merlin and Arthur both clapped sarcastically as the newlywed couple landed on the bed. Lorcan growled.
“Oh, save that energy for your new wife, Mordred,” Arthur sighed.
“I should have told everyone just who the hell you really are—”
“Why don’t you?” Lorcan snapped. “Reveal that I’m the murderer, get me killed, and set Paige free. She doesn’t deserve to be a part of this mockery—”
“Oh, you are not getting off so easily, Mordred. Not after everything that you’ve done. There was no way you were ever going to live happily ever after in the world that should have been mine,”
Arthur said. “And to think that of all the faces in the entire world that you had to choose, you ended up trapped in the one that I hate most
—”
“Blame your father for that, not me!” Lorcan snapped.
“What is he talking about?” Paige asked.
“Oh, you’ll know soon enough when his blood is crawling around inside you,” Arthur said as he paced around the bed. “You’ll know everything about him, and you’ll be a good, obedient little dog, and show all the other clans just how loyal a bitch can be. You’ll keep each other in line, and you’ll bring all the others into the fold, won’t you, Paige?”
“That was the deal, wasn’t it?” she asked flatly. “Did you have to go old-school Catholic on us, or was that just an extra slap?”
Arthur gave her another smirk. “Oh, that? Well most of that crowd still thinks that humans are god-fearing little cowards, so it makes
them think that you’re more invested in the affair, but above all else, it will horrify that little Jaeger great-grandfather you have to no end,”
he said.
“Wow, he still has that much power over you,” Lorcan said. “Tell me, Father, was that really your smug victory, or was it your host’s?”
“You really should save your energy for your new bride,” Arthur said. “I know you’re weak, but you do have the family name to defend. I’ll expect to find you suitably bonded by tomorrow, and then you’ll start taking care of the rest. Am I clear?”
