living covenant 03 - eternal covenant (13 page)

“No one needs your sarcasm, young lady.”

“Who says I was being sarcastic?”

“Your tone.”

I linked my fingers with Aric’s as we trailed behind our chatting mothers, taking the opportunity to send him a fond memory of our first night in the hot tub together. He looked positively morose when we hit the stairs heading to the deck.

“You’re breaking my heart, baby.”

“Just think, in a few days we’ll get to go back to that life,” I said. “It will feel like Heaven.”

“I can live with that.”

13

Thirteen

My dreams were jumbled that night, and it wasn’t until I woke the next morning that I realized why. I’d gone out of my way to entertain Aric with some of my favorite memories, even though in sleep I couldn’t be sure he saw them. He had a lazy grin on his handsome face when I shifted my eyes to him.

“Are you awake?” I whispered, almost worried to hear the answer. Would he think I was acting as schmaltzy as I felt in the dreams?

“Why are you asking that if you think I’m asleep?” Aric whispered back, keeping his eyes closed.

Well, that answered that question. “I didn’t know if you … saw anything … last night.”

Aric’s eyes were slow to open, the warm orbs hitting me with a twinkle of amusement. “I did see something,” Aric said, tightening his arms around my waist. “I saw that time we went skinny dipping in the river and you were convinced something brushed up against you.”

“I still maintain there was a snake down there – and not yours,” I said, although I couldn’t help but laugh. I loved that memory, too.

“I also liked that you picked the day you moved into the apartment with me after graduation,” Aric said. “That was one of my favorite days, too. I even liked the argument about closet space.”

I snickered. “Who won that argument?”

“There’s a reason I designed this bedroom with two walk-in closets,” Aric said, his fingers tracing a lazy circle on the back of my neck. “Tonight I want you to show me the first time I brought you here … the time after it looked like a house but before we moved in.”

I snorted. “You just want me to revisit that memory because you got lucky on the floor.”

Aric didn’t bother denying it. “Three times.”

“You’re kind of a pig.”

“I know,” Aric said.

We lapsed into comfortable silence, happy to keep the world at bay for a few more minutes. Once we got out of bed we’d have to face our mothers, and no one wanted that.

“I wish I knew how you were doing it,” Aric said, brushing a kiss against my forehead.

“I honestly don’t know,” I replied. “I didn’t realize I was capable of doing it until you woke up from my dream.”

“It makes me wonder what else you can do and don’t realize,” Aric said. “It also makes me jealous.”

“I … .” Hmm. Which one of those problems did I want to tackle first? “I have a feeling that more powers are going to reveal themselves when we least expect them. Are you okay with that?” I opted for the heavier problem first.

“I am okay with that,” Aric said.

“What if I can’t control them?” I prodded. “I don’t think you’ll be happy with them then.”

“Zoe, you’ve done amazingly well with the powers you already have and your learning curve is off the charts,” Aric said. “I have faith you’ll tackle them one at a time. Personally, I’m in love with this new power. I love it almost as much as I love you.”

“That’s probably because it’s only showed us good things so far,” I said. “We’ve had a few bad moments in our past, too.”

“I know,” Aric said. “I can live with those.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be reminded of our year apart?”

“I don’t,” Aric said. “I don’t believe in changing the past, though. That year apart got us here. I’m happy here. I wouldn’t change it.”

“Not even the part where I cried for several months straight?”

Aric’s expression softened. “You weren’t the only one crying. And no, not even that.”

“You’re an odd man.”

“I know,” Aric said, sighing as he stretched. “Are you hungry? I’ll cook breakfast if you show me that day I first showed you the almost-finished house.”

I grabbed his hand to still him as he moved to get out of the bed. “You said you were jealous of the new … talent,” I said, searching for the right word to describe the memory gift and coming up empty. “Why?”

“There are a few memories I would like to show you,” Aric said, tapping my nose. “As it is, we’re getting everything from your point of view. It’s nice, don’t get me wrong, but I would like to show you a few things from my perspective.”

“Like sex?”

Aric looked as if he was going to argue and then merely shrugged. “There’s more I’d like to show you, but I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a big part of it.”

“That’s because you’re a pervert.”

“I might be a pervert, “Aric conceded, grabbing me around the waist and causing me to squeal as he rolled on top of me. He lowered his voice until it gave me chills as he pressed his lips close to my ear. “Something tells me you like me being a pervert.”

Something told me he was right. Something also told me all the laughing and screeching was going to be a thing when we finally joined everyone in the other room. I opted to live with it rather than quiet. We deserved a morning of bliss.

“GOOD MORNING
everyone,” Aric said, breezing into the kitchen an hour later with me on his heels. He was a lot more chipper than I, mostly because he got energized after sex and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. My muddled mind didn’t stop me from pulling up short when I saw the strange man sitting at the table between my mother and Helen.

“Zoe, what do you want for breakfast?” Aric asked, his attention trained on the refrigerator instead of our family. “I’m guessing you want eggs, hash browns and toast. Do you want sausage or bacon? You’ve already had your sausage allotment for the day, so I’m guessing bacon will do for the both of us.” He slid me a sly wink as I tamped down my mortification.

“Aric.” My voice was a low rasp and he ignored it.

“What’s on everyone’s agenda today?”

Helen was the first to break the uncomfortable silence settling across the rest of the room. “We have a guest, Aric.”

Aric finally shifted his head and took in the table’s occupants, pursing his lips as James dropped his head in his hands and Dad scorched him with a death glare. Mom’s expression was unreadable, but Paris and Kelsey were so giddy they both shook as they hid their mouths to avoid mirth detection from my mother and Helen.

“Huh.”

“That’s all you have to say?” I asked dryly.

“I’m kind of hoping it’s a dream,” Aric said. “You’re not doing this to spite me, are you? I’ll let the day we did it on the floor three times go from the memory circle if you make this nightmare go away.”

I exhaled heavily. “This is real.”

“And I guess that means you’re a real priest,” Aric said, locking gazes with our guest. “How the hell are you?” He was going for levity, but this was probably the wrong room for him to practice his comedy act.

I elbowed him in the stomach. “You can’t say hell in front of a priest,” I hissed. “He’ll make you say a bunch of prayers and flog yourself if you’re not careful.”

Aric arched an eyebrow at the flogging reference and I instantly knew what he was thinking.

“Don’t even think about it,” I warned. “You’ll go to Hell. I plan on going to Heaven because I’m such a good girl.”

Aric opted to ignore the statement. “Just so I’m clear, this isn’t a dream and you’re a real priest, right?”

“Aric, this is Father Francis DeVry,” Helen said through gritted teeth. “We’re talking to him about officiating the ceremony.”

I screwed up my face in confusion. “We’re not Catholic.”

“Eat your breakfast, Zoe,” Mom ordered, causing me to shift my gaze to Aric.

“You’re not Catholic, right?” I asked. “It seems I would know if you were Catholic.”

“I’m not Catholic,” Aric confirmed. “Why? Would that make a difference?”

“No.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“Because there’s a priest sitting at the table looking at us as if we’re about to sacrifice a virgin,” I answered. “I was just asking.”

“You two are in big trouble,” Helen said.

“We usually are,” Aric said, blasé as he turned back to the refrigerator. “Sausage or bacon, Zoe?”

There was no way I could answer that with a priest present. “Ham.”

“Of course,” Aric muttered, continuing his breakfast item search while I shuffled closer to Father Francis.

“Um … why is there a priest here?” I asked.

“He’s going to conduct the ceremony,” Mom answered.

“We hired a guy to conduct the ceremony,” I replied. “He’s nondenominational.” And wouldn’t accidentally douse us with holy water and try to cast the demon out when no one was looking. What? I’ve seen
The Exorcist
. That way lies freaky head-spinning threats and projectile vomiting … and no one wants that.

“Father Francis is renowned throughout the state,” Mom explained. “He conducts all the ceremonies for high-profile people in Michigan.”

That sounded absolutely ludicrous. “Aric?”

“We don’t want a priest,” Aric supplied, tipping the bag of hash browns and emptying it into a frying pan. “We’re not Catholic. No offense, Father Francis, but we really don’t want a Catholic ceremony. We plan on going more … bohemian.”

“They mean fruity,” Helen said.

“We mean bohemian,” Aric corrected. “We’re going for a relaxed atmosphere.”

“On that note, I need to run outside and finish that … thing … we were doing yesterday before we got distracted,” Paris said.

It took me a moment to realize what she was referring to. “Oh, right. That … thing.”

“What thing?” Mom asked, obviously missing the point of our subterfuge.

“Just … the thing,” I said. “Go ahead. I don’t blame you for wanting to get out of here right now. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be here either.”

Paris snorted. “It shouldn’t take long,” she said. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

“I’ll go with you,” Kelsey offered, scurrying behind Paris. “Anything is better than watching what’s about to happen.”

She wasn’t wrong. I waited until they were gone before unleashing my annoyance. “Absolutely no offense is intended here, Father Francis, but we’re not doing this,” I said. “We have someone to perform the ceremony. Why would you bring someone else in?”

“We’ve already talked about this, Zoe,” Mom countered. “Your plans didn’t work for the bigger picture. We’ve had to cancel all of your plans.”

I already knew that, but the way she said it made me want to cancel her face. “I can see you guys taking over the cake … and dress … and tuxes … and food … and linens … and tables … and everything else,” I said, my heart rolling as I realized exactly how much control I’d ceded. “I don’t understand this, though. We’re not Catholic. We’re not going to become Catholic. Why would we want a Catholic priest to conduct our ceremony?”

“Because he’s rather a celebrity,” Helen said, shifting in her chair. She was almost giddy. “He conducted a wedding for that woman who is on the soap opera you like. What’s her name?”

I honestly had no idea. I also didn’t care. “I don’t want a celebrity wedding,” I said. “I don’t want a Catholic ceremony. They’re long. They have a lot of bells and whistles we don’t need. They’re … boring. No offense.” I shot Father Francis an apologetic look.

“None taken,” Father Francis said, although his tone didn’t match his tight smile. “If you wish to go to Hell, by all means, you should go another way for your ceremony.”

I narrowed my eyes. This had to be a joke. There could be no other explanation. “I’m pretty sure we’re already in Hell,” I said, jolting when Aric’s hand came down on my shoulder. He was trying to anchor me … or keep me from popping off at the mouth. “We don’t need additional help.”

“Zoe Lake, I did not raise you to be this … obnoxious,” Mom said, taking me by surprise. If she didn’t raise me to be this obnoxious, who did? “You’ll be polite to the father and you’ll agree to him conducting the ceremony. That’s all there is to it.”

My anger built up again, lashing out with enough strength to rock the table, and then died with a whimper rather than a wail. Aric widened his eye, surprised, but didn’t say a word as Mom shot me a glare that would’ve shriveled the courage of a normal person. I wasn’t a normal person.

“What was that?” Father Francis asked, confused as he studied the table. “I … do you have a dog?”

I cast a sidelong look in Aric’s direction. “Kind of.”

I could tell Aric didn’t want to laugh, but he couldn’t help himself. “It’s a handsome dog.”

“Where is it?” Father Francis asked, narrowing his eyes as he glanced around. “Where did it go?”

“Don’t worry about the dog,” I said. “The dog is … not part of this conversation.”

Aric mock barked, causing Father Francis to balk and Mom and Helen to frown.

“We’re not having a Catholic ceremony,” I said, collecting myself. “It’s not going to happen. Thank you so much for coming out, but no matter what our mothers have told you, there is no possible scenario in which your services will be needed.”

“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Father Francis said, making a move to collect his folder from the table. “If you change your mind … .”

“We prefer living on the edge,” I replied, narrowing my eyes when I saw Paris walking the back edge of the property. She was clearly chanting a spell – which shouldn’t be a problem since Father Francis couldn’t hear it – but she was also casting short spurts of light out of her fingertips. I had no idea she would be juicing the wards with her limited magical mojo. “Um … .”

It was too late. Father Francis turned and stared as Paris continued her rounds. Helen and Mom’s eyes widened to comic proportions while Dad and James returned to sharing the newspaper. Aric appeared as dumbfounded as me.

“What is she doing?” Father Francis asked.

There was no way to explain it, so I decided to go with the easy answer. “Casting out evil.”

“Does this have something to do with the dog?”

Aric barked again, causing me to smirk while Father Francis’ cheeks flushed with color.