Thus far, she’d been unable to do it, though her chances had been many.
Weak. You are weak.
“The king grows impatient for his bride,” Elias said, vibrating every hair follicle on her body. She turned, catching him in the act of raking her with hungry eyes. “You’re here. In a dress.” The scar bisecting his mouth turned white, anger igniting his deep brown eyes. “Where the hell have you been?”
It was almost impossible to hear over the wild rapping of her heart—and she hated knowing he could hear every single beat. “Wherever I want to be.”
“You…” A muscle worked in his cheek. “You left my credit card behind on purpose so I couldn’t track you.”
“Get used to it.” Her attempt at flippancy came out sounding breathless. “I’m leaving as soon as I walk Ginny down the aisle.”
Frowning, he stepped into her space. “Where are you going?”
Do not show him your fear. “Russia. I’ve been called back and rightly so.”
Elias choked a sound, a wealth of knowledge written on his face. Oh yes. He knew what awaited her there. But she refused to entertain the possibility that he gave a damn. That possibility would give her hope, and as soon as she stepped off the plane in her home country, hope would cease to exist.
“Yes. It’s…been real.” Unable to bear his presence any longer without letting her emotions get the better of her, she stepped past Elias and hooked her arm through Ginny’s. “Shall we?”
The two women—one human, one vampire—moved from behind the screen and stepped onto a white runner strewn with flower petals. At the altar, Jonas Cantrell waited, his never-flagging intensity riveted on his bride. Recalling the romantic turmoil of those first couple of weeks between Jonas and Ginny, Roksana couldn’t help but crack a small smile at where they’d ultimately landed.
Jonas met Ginny when he’d shown up on her embalming table, a victim of a prank. Humans were forbidden from having any knowledge of vampires, so he’d been seconds from erasing her memory when she’d informed him her life was in danger.
With no choice but to leave her memories intact so she’d trust him to watch over her, he’d enlisted Roksana’s help as a bodyguard.
Now Ginny’s funeral home was a halfway house for freshly Silenced vampires.
Yes, things had certainly changed since Ginny and Jonas found each other. Vampires had once lived by three very important rules and were killed for violating them:
1. No relationships with humans
2. No drinking from humans
3. No taking of human lives
Jonas had cleanly broken the first two before ascending to the vampire throne, however, and now consequences for breaking the rules were meted out in a more compassionate and understanding manner, especially for new vampires, though they still stood.
Roksana felt as if her heart might break now, knowing she’d never see Ginny or Jonas or Tucker, the wise-cracking, Uber driving vampire ever again, but she would do it all over in a heartbeat. She’d even miss the vampires currently recoiling over having a slayer in their presence. They knew better than to utter a single negative word to her. She’d been marked off limits by Elias, no doubt because he wanted to kill her himself one day.
Part of Roksana wished he would.
Then she wouldn’t have to live with the shame of failure.
I came here to kill vampires and became their pal, instead.
She’d become the pathetic girl who couldn’t stay away from a man who doesn’t have the capacity for love, all because they’d shared one magical evening, before everything fell apart. For that, she would return home a disgrace and accept her punishment.
Possibly even her death.
They only made it halfway down the aisle when Ginny handed Roksana the bouquet and ran toward her king, throwing herself into his waiting arms. Roksana absorbed the sight of such beauty. Holding it tight to her breast and offering thanks to whoever was listening that she got to be a part of it.
And she couldn’t help but offer up a silent tribute to a wedding that never got to take place like this one.
Taking one last, longing glance, she turned and walked back up the aisle, not stopping to acknowledge anyone or anything. Just going, going, gone—
Elias blocked her from entering the stairwell. “Not so fast.”
Her pulse tripled and she tried desperately not to show it. As if he couldn’t hear every little punch inside her veins, every shallow breath in and out of her mouth. Bastard. “Out of my way or I’ll stake you.”
He performed a casual lean against the stairwell door. “You’re welcome to try.”
“There would be no trying, silly man. Only execution.”
A line ticked in his temple. “So what’s stopping you?”
“Wedding etiquette.”
The right corner of his mouth twitched. “Right.”
Roksana sighed and studied her nails. “Are you going to miss me, bloodsucker?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but forged ahead on a fool’s mission. One she’d gone on too many times to count, burned every time. “Face it, I’ll be back in Russia…this time tomorrow.”