Page 38 of Fading Sun

Abigail continues the process of curling my hair, as if she’s done this many times. Morgan simply looks on in concern.

“Did you see anything?” I ask her. “Visions of what this marriage will be like?”

I need something—any bit of hope—to cling to.

“I tried,” she says. “I didn’t get anything. I’m sorry.”

I’d say it’s okay, but it’s not.

“Thank you for trying,” I say instead.

“Of course,” she replies.

Abigail finishes another curl, then sets down the iron, meeting my eyes in the mirror. “You won’t be alone in this,” she promises. “We’ll be here with you, every step of the way.”

“Thanks,” I tell her. “That means a lot.”

“It’s the truth.”

She continues with the rest of my hair, silent for a minute, focusing harder than she did for the previous curls.

I know she’s here as a source of comfort. And I appreciate it. At the same time, it makes my heart hurt knowing that my mom isn’t here to witness my wedding day.

“There’s something else,” she says, letting the final curl fall loosely down my back. “I’m sure you’ve learned how strict vampires are regarding the permanency of marriage.”

“I have.”

“Shifters don’t feel the same,” she says. “We believe that the most important romantic connection is that between mates. We respect marriage vows, but we also understand that a person’s first love doesn’t have to be their last love, no matter how much they believe at the time that it is.”

“You talk as if you’re still one of them,” I say.

And as if I love Damien.

Which, clearly, I don’t.

I also know that’s not the point of what she’s telling me.

“In my heart, I will always be a shifter,” she says with a wistful smile. “And I know that if you leave your marriage with Damien after you’ve finished what you need to do here, the Pine Valley pack will take you in. Especially since you’re not a vampire, and you’re therefore not bound to their laws. You’re star touched, like Ruby, and she and Connor are the alphas of the pack. Shifters respect their alphas. Just like I know they’ll respect you.”

Her words are touching.

Yet, they do nothing to calm my nerves.

Because I don’t want to leave Damien alone to be ostracized by the clan he’s worked so hard to build. Plus, this promise I’m making isn’t just to him. It’s also to them. I’m stepping up to be their queen, and whatever else happens, I want to be the best queen I can be.

They’re counting on me.

And I know with everything in me that I don’t want to let them down.

Amber

I’m not ready, I think as the ballroom doors open, as if by their own command.

Holding a bouquet of dried, black flowers—representing how vampires are preserved in time—I gaze around, seeing the space in a different, distorted light.

The crystal chandeliers are weapons hanging from the ceiling. The rose petals decorating the aisle are bloody arrows pointing toward the future I never wanted. And the gold moldings on the walls are cage bars, threatening to entrap me until the day I die.

Chairs have been placed in rows on the floor, and everyone’s staring at me, serious and expectant. There are a few friendly faces—Abigail, Morgan, Cassandra, and some others I know from training and time spent around the Fairmont—but for the most part, they’re strangers.

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