Battle With Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

Maybe she’d prepared me just in case. She’d been a planner—genes that had skipped me.

We turned a corner in the brush, right before the trees, and an explosion of emotion stopped me short.

The unruly brush cleared away, and a scene plucked from my memories rose before me. The garden was so similar to the one I’d seen in the Underworld, only this one was perfect. The white lattice, a little worse for wear because of the weather, arched high above us, crawling with fragrant, blooming roses. It extended over the pathway, blue sky peeking through the tops even though it wasn’t day.

“How…”

Managed but still unruly plants lined the sides of the path and a swarm of flowers blanketed the grounds. Beautiful chaos, enhanced to make the biggest possible impact.

The emotion welled up into small sobs.

Romulus had been here.

I couldn’t pinpoint the proof, but wasn’t that proof in itself?

The little gaps in my mind had been filled in with the kind of beautiful details only achievable by a master. I remembered all the colors, for example. The scents. But I didn’t remember exactly which flowers he’d used. My father had filled in the details, and it had been similar to what I remembered—a mess of color.

This wasn’t a mess. Although the flowers were everywhere, they gave the impression of a sort of soft, beautiful design leading the eye along until it ended at the repainted and repaired gazebo beyond. The bushes on the sides were natural, not magical or altered, but healthy enough that their vibrant colors showed through. They had been trimmed, I saw now, but not groomed. Not at all. The branches still stuck out in all directions, shaggy and shabby, but of a height that lent a certain youth to the garden. A freshness. It looked like it would’ve in my childhood, not like a place that had been abandoned to years of neglect.

I couldn’t speak. This wasn’t like in the Underworld, where Lucifer’s garden had made me steep in memories of my mother and pushed me toward Cahal. This time love thrummed through me, coloring everything I saw and stripping away the pain of her passing.

“This is perfect,” I croaked out, clutching Darius. My eyes moved over those beautiful flowers, an explosion of color and fragrance. An environment where plants could proliferate and thrive without rules or restrictions. This was probably what she’d been trying for.

“Romulus nailed it,” I said, bowing with emotion. “My mother would’ve absolutely loved this. She would’ve lost her mind over it. I wish she could see it.”

“Ah. You’ve ferreted me out. I should also mention that we are trespassing.”

“You didn’t buy it?”

“No. I didn’t know how you’d feel about that.”

Tears dripped off my jaw line. “How the fuck do you always manage to be so perfect?”

“I’m a vicious beast that exists because of stealing blood from mortals. I hardly think perfection is one of my attributes.”

“I’m not mortal.”

“Are we sure about that?”

“Yes. I overheard a conversation between Lucifer and Tatsu and pieced together the gist. I was dying like an immortal.”

He flinched. “Please don’t mention that again. My guilt is hard to bear.”

We wound around to the gazebo.

“You did all this, but didn’t buy it? Why the restraint?”

We stepped up into the enclosed space and looked out at the flowers for a moment, the beauty arresting me. He turned me to him, his hazel eyes like liquid gold. He slowly lowered to one knee.

“Reagan Somerset, you are my everything. I cannot contemplate an existence without you in it.” He pulled a black velvet box from his pocket and opened it. Two bands twinkled up at me, one inlaid with rubies alternating with diamonds, and the other with sapphires. He was paying homage to the two halves of my magic in a way that would allow me to punch someone in the face without worrying about ruining the settings. “Would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

I smiled and maybe cried a little and possibly tried to sink to his level. He stood so that I would too.

“Yes,” I said, allowing him to take my hand and slip the rings over my finger. They fit perfectly. Of course they did.

“I love you,” he said, and kissed me so deeply it dried up all the air in my lungs.

Sometime later, we sat on the gazebo bench and looked out over the flowers. “When I was in the Underworld, I wished you could be there with me to experience the garden Lucifer had made. It was nothing like this. Close as far as the overall layout, but Romulus gave it something that…” I shook my head, tears swimming in my eyes once again.

“I’ll explain that gold now. I’m from a different time than you—”

“Understatement.”

“During my time, marriages were typically arranged, but when they weren’t, it was customary for a man to ask permission from the father of his intended.”