living covenant 03 - eternal covenant (12 page)

There was no way I was going to broadcast my new ability, so I focused on my mother instead. “We have to come to a compromise,” I said. “I don’t want a big dress. Paris and Kelsey don’t want their bridesmaid dresses either.”

Mom darted a look over her shoulder, causing Kelsey and Paris to shrink in their chairs. “Is that true?”

“N-no,” Kelsey stammered. “We love our new dresses.”

“Cowards,” I hissed. “They hate them and want to wear the dresses they already have.”

“I don’t care,” Mom said. “I don’t like those dresses. The new ones are much better.”

“Mother!” I mimed choking myself because I didn’t know what else to do.

“That’s cute,” Aric said, exhaling heavily. “You need to meet us halfway. This is our wedding. We deserve a say in how it’s going to go down.”

“Okay, I’ve had enough of this,” Mom said, slamming the tenderizer against the cutting board. “You don’t get a say. Not anymore. You’ve both been nothing but complete and total pains. I’m sick of it.”

“Me, too,” Helen intoned.

“From now on Helen and I are making every decision and you two will nod, say ‘yes, ma’am’ when asked a question, and otherwise be happy people when talk of the wedding arises,” Mom said. “There will be no ‘but mom’ or ‘I don’t like that’ or the faces you two make when you think no one is looking.

“I’m sick of your attitude and I’m sick of listening to the nonstop whining,” she continued. “From now on, it’s my way or the highway. I don’t care how cliché that is. That’s the way of the world.”

“My way, too,” Helen said.

“That goes without saying,” Mom said.

“But … .”

“No!” Mom waved the tenderizer in my face. “Go sit in the living room with your fathers until dinner is ready. I don’t want to hear one word of complaint.”

I risked a glance at Aric. He shrugged. He was at a loss, too.

We sat on the couch next to Dad and I stared holes into the back of his head until he finally shifted.

“I really sorry,” Dad said. “I thought for sure they would compromise.”

“This is all your fault.”

Dad patted my knee. “I think you’ll look lovely in that tiara.”

I shredded the linens in the other room before I could think twice about the intelligence associated with it.

“Zoe!”

12

Twelve

^“
We’ve been banished from our own house,” I lamented a few hours later, following Aric through the woods as we headed toward the river.

“We haven’t been banished,” Aric argued.

“They told us not to come back until we adjust our attitudes,” I pointed out. “I don’t think that’s possible for me. Therefore … we’ve been banished.”

Aric chuckled. “They were pretty ticked off at us. Do you think we’re being unfair?”

“I think I’m the wrong person to ask,” I replied. “I never think I’m being unfair. I think it’s a personality glitch.”

“You don’t have any personality glitches.”

“Aric, you’ve got me,” I said, waving my left hand for emphasis, the waning sun glinting off the large diamond in my engagement ring. “You don’t have to lie.”

“Fine. You might have a few glitches,” Aric conceded. “Everyone does, though. I’m clearly not perfect.”

“Are you fishing for a compliment, or playing at being humble?”

Aric made a face that was a cross between annoyed and amused. “Do you think I’m fishing for a compliment?”

“You’ve been asking me to show you memories in which you’re shirtless all day,” I reminded him. “You like compliments.”

“Hey, I only wanted to compare my thirty-year-old physique with my twenty-four-year-old physique.”

“And?”

“I think I’m getting better with age.”

“Like a fine wine,” I said, grinning as Aric winked at me. It only took a moment for the jocularity to wane. “What are we going to do about our mothers?”

“I’m considering locking them in a closet.” Aric climbed over a fallen tree branch and then extended his arms to help me.

“I’m capable of walking myself. You know that, right?”

“You were sick most of the day. Indulge me.”

I internally sighed but did as instructed, letting Aric help me over the tree before falling into step next to him. “I don’t want a new dress. I like the dress I picked out.”

“Hmm.”

“Wait … did you not like my dress?”

“No,” Aric balked, shaking his head with enough vehemence I realized he was lying. “It was cute.”

“You hated it.” For some reason the realization hurt more than a hundred snide remarks from my mother ever could. “I … thought it was me.”

“Zoe, the dress is fine,” Aric said. “It’s just not what I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know you’re not frilly and stuff, but I still imagined you in a big white dress,” Aric admitted. “I don’t care that you’re not a virgin. Wait … that might’ve came out wrong.” He shook his head to dislodge the thought. “Anyway, I know it cuts down on my cool factor to admit I’ve been dreaming about the wedding, but … I have.”

“And in those dreams I wear a big white dress?”

“Yes.”

It was hard for him to admit. I knew that. Still … . “It’s not just the dress, Aric,” I said. “I could probably compromise on the dress. For the record, I will never compromise on the tiara, though.”

Aric snorted.

“I just … I had dreams, too,” I said. “I thought we would exchange vows in a quiet little ceremony and then get really drunk with all of our friends. By the time night fell Rafael would be able to join us and … we would be able to start our life together without twenty pounds of white dress weighing us down.”

“Is Rafael coming?”

Of course he would fixate on that. “He said he wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said. “That’s what he told me when we talked, by the way. The ceremony is during the day, but he promised to come to the reception. Are you going to pitch a fit about that?”

Vampires and wolves don’t get along. It didn’t help that I flirted with the idea of having a relationship with Rafael during junior year when Aric and I were broken up. Because I was already in love with Aric, that relationship never got off the ground. Aric was still slightly bitter about it.

“I think it’s a great idea,” he said, taking me by surprise. “If he shows up after the wedding, the ring is going to act as a great big sign that says that your mine whenever he looks at you.”

“You know he’s not interested in me, right?”

“I don’t know that.”

“He never really was interested in me,” I argued. “For a brief time he thought he might be, but he was right. We have absolutely nothing in common. He’s the one who told me I would make up with you before I decided I wanted to do it.

“He knew I loved you from the beginning,” I continued. “He stood up for you even when I thought I hated you that year. He was loyal to you. That should count for something.”

“It does count for something,” Aric said. “I know I’m irrational where he’s concerned. I can’t help it. That year almost killed me.”

“It wasn’t exactly puppies and ice cream for me.”

Despite the serious nature of the conversation, Aric snickered. “Well, we don’t have to worry about that again,” he said, reaching out to snag my hand. “In a few days we’ll be Mr. and Mrs. Zoe Lake. That’s something that’s going to stick forever, so don’t even think about ever getting out of it.”

“I wouldn’t want to get out of it,” I said.

“Good.”

“Without you I would starve to death.” I scampered out of Aric’s reach, laughing as his hand brushed past my waist. I hopped through the trees and landed next to the river, the totem about twenty feet from where we emerged. “There it is.”

Aric’s face remained neutral as he strode toward the totem, lifting his nose to the air to scent the area as he circled it. I gave him a few minutes to do his wolf thing and then joined him.

“Is it our friends from the ice cream shop?”

“I’m not sure,” Aric replied, wrinkling his nose. “I can smell a wolf, but only one, and I’m honestly not sure it’s one of the guys from the other day. The scent is faint.”

“What do you think it means?”

“See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.”

I made an exaggerated “well, duh” face. “Oh, really? I never would’ve figured that out on my own.” I smacked his arm. “I was asking whether you thought it was a warning … or a message … or just a really ugly piece of sculpture someone dumped to get rid of.”

“I think it’s too coincidental to be an accident,” Aric replied. “It was put here for a purpose.”

“What purpose?”

“This is your favorite spot,” Aric answered, running his fingers over the wood. “Someone knows you come down here once a week to get away from me.”

“I don’t do it to get away from you,” I protested. “I do it to … think.”

“About?”

“Usually what a pain you’ve just been,” I said.

“Very cute,” Aric said, poking my cheek. “I don’t know what to think about this thing. What did Paris think of it?”

“She thought it was creepy looking, but she didn’t feel any power emanating from it or anything like that.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t feel anything from it,” I replied. “It’s ugly and I don’t like it, but it doesn’t feel dangerous.”

“Do you think you could sense whether it was dangerous?” Aric asked, tugging on the totem and kicking at the ground to gauge how securely it was planted.

“I don’t know,” I said. “My guess is yes, though. I don’t feel anything when I look at it.”

“Well, your gut hasn’t steered us wrong so far,” Aric said. “That doesn’t mean I want to leave this hanging around. Do you want to set something on fire?”

“Are you sure you want to do that before we show it to your father?”

“That’s a good point,” Aric said, digging in his pocket for his cell phone. He snapped a series of photographs, making sure he got it every angle, and then took a step away. “Light it up, baby.”

I didn’t have to be told twice. After a long day – and an even longer dinner full of glaring mothers – I needed an outlet for my frustration. I briefly pressed my eyes shut, opening the magical door in my brain to let the fire out. I kept the burn controlled, letting only a small amount of heat out before slamming the door shut. When I opened my eyes again, the totem was engulfed but the rest of the area was unscathed.

“You’re getting really good at that,” Aric said, smiling. “Your control is fantastic these days.” He extended his hand and I wordlessly took it. “Pretty soon you’re going to be able to set fire to whatever you want without even thinking about it.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” I hedged. “In fact … I believe the more thinking I do about my magic the better.”

“Is this because you shredded the roses and linens?”

“I meant to shred the linens. I’m not going to lie. That was on purpose.”

“I know,” Aric said, leading me away from the totem. My fire was hot enough to burn it quickly. It would take only a few moments before the entire thing was reduced to ash. “I thought it was funny.”

“You’re the only one.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Zoe,” Aric said. “Our fathers thought it was funny, too. They’re too terrified of our mothers to admit it.”

“I didn’t mean for the roses to happen,” I said, biting my lip. “That could’ve gone really bad.”

“It didn’t, though,” Aric said, moving to head back to the house. “You realized you were angry and focused on the most harmless thing in the room. That’s a win to me. Before, you might’ve accidentally blown up the couch or something. I’m not going to get angry because you channeled your emotions into something that didn’t hurt anyone. I’ll never be angry about that.”

“Are you ever afraid of me?” I don’t know what propelled me to ask the question, but suddenly I needed to know the answer.

Aric’s face was earnest, devoid of all recrimination and reflecting only love when he turned to me. “No.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure that you’re the one thing in this world I will never fear,” Aric said. “I will fear for you. I will fear for us. I will never fear you, though. Don’t ever think that.”

His answer warmed me. “Thank you.”

Aric jerked me to him and gave me a long hug. “I love you. I don’t fear you.” His words were barely a whisper yet they echoed throughout my head.

We remained like that for a few moments before wordlessly separating and returning to our trek. Aric kept his arm around my waist for the entire walk. I was the first one to break the silence as we approached the house.

“I wish we could get in the hot tub,” I said. “An hour with you and a bottle of wine sounds just about perfect right now.”

“I could be talked into getting in the hot tub,” Aric said. “I have no problem having sex in public. It’s their fault for invading our house.”

I didn’t want to laugh, but I couldn’t help myself. “You have no problem having sex in front of my father?”

“Did you have to ruin my moment?”

I was still laughing when we landed on the lawn, and almost collided with our mothers. They stood close to the trees, their arms crossed over their chests, and they looked to be in no mood for games.

“What happened now?” Aric asked. “Whatever it was, we weren’t even here so you can’t blame us.”

“Where were you?” Helen asked.

“We were … taking a walk,” Aric said. His answer didn’t surprise me. I knew he didn’t want to give our mothers another thing to fret about with the wedding closing in. “We needed some time to talk.”

“Does that mean you’ll agree to our wedding decisions?” Mom asked.

Aric and I exchanged a quick look. “It means that I’m willing to revisit the dress situation,” I offered, earning a heartfelt smile from Aric. “I will not reconsider the tiara, though.”

“Fine,” Mom said. “I can live with that.”

“Great.”

“Now,” Helen said, pointing toward the house. “We need to get moving and pick more linens after Zoe’s … accident … this afternoon. We also have a cake tasting set up for tomorrow because you two were so lukewarm on the whole thing the other day. We’ll have to pay double to get the cake done on time.”

“That sounds awesome,” I said.

Aric pressed his lips together to keep from laughing while my mother cuffed me.