Page 156 of Fallen

My eyes prickled. I hadn’t cried since transitioning to vampire, but now I came close. He’d remembered what I’d said about missing the sun, and he’d given me a handcrafted gold ring made of two sharks that met in the center, balancing a sun between their open mouths.

“You like it?” he murmured.

I raised my eyes to his. “It’s perfect.”

His smile held the warmth of a hundred suns.

Then it was Brien’s turn. He spoke his vows loud and clear, his gaze locked on mine. Like my ring, his was composed of two sharks, but instead of a sun in the middle, there was a crescent moon.

The priestess pronounced us bound for all eternity and we turned to face the crowd. They broke into applause. Champagne corks flew and fireworks exploded over the castle, a surprise from Cain and Talon.

The party that followed was epic. Only syndicate members had witnessed the ceremony, but the entire island showed up for the reception in the castle courtyard. A band made up of Tremblay Syndicate dhampirs played fast, fun club music.

Servers circulated with trays of canapés, and the serving tables were piled high with platters of roasted chicken, lobster salad, steak tartare, crispy Korean dumplings and a raw oyster bar, among other foods. Fountains spouted champagne, both plain and spiked with blood, and a thousand handmade chocolates were arranged into mouth-watering tiers in a vampire version of a wedding cake.

Cain prowled through the crowd like a lean, white-blond wolf, dancing with both thralls and vampires alike. Talon withdrew into the shadows beneath an oak tree, tossing down one blood-champagne after another. If I had to guess, I’d say that Eden had broken his heart.

Donald had returned from Quebec City in a stylish new suit to witness the ceremony. He wound his way through the dancers and raised his champagne glass to us. “May you enjoy many moons of happiness together.”

“Thank you,” Brien said, and we touched our glasses to his.

“The clean-up operation is on schedule,” he told Brien. “Whenever you’re ready to go, just say the word.”

Brien glanced at me. “What d’you think? Want to spend your honeymoon kicking some ass?”

I grinned. Yeah, this man got me.

But I had more interesting things in mind for the next few days. “Not for our honeymoon. How about two weeks from now?”

Donald inclined his head. “I’ll make preparations,” he said and faded into the crowd. A few minutes later, I saw him dancing with Lesa’s mom.

Zoe and Rafe came up on either side of us. After congratulating both of us, Zoe nodded at the mixed crowd of vampires, dhampirs and humans.

“Your father wouldn’t have invited the island humans to a ceremony like this.”

“No,” said Brien. “He wouldn’t have.”

Zoe broke into a broad smile. “Long live the new primus.” She touched her glass to Brien’s.

The other Kral brothers meandered over with their mates—Zaq and Renata, and the oldest brother, Gabriel, with his hand resting on his mate Mila’s ass. I had a brief, disorienting sense of surrealness.

Was this really me, laughing with the famous Dark Angels, one of whom I’d been assigned to stake?

And I couldn’t have been enjoying myself more.

My halmoni danced with both the guards who’d gone into hiding with her. After that, she took a seat at a table and regally entertained both vampires and dhampirs alike.

That was my halmoni. I swallowed a chuckle. In a few short weeks, she had the entire castle sucking up to her.

Brien’s arms came around me from the back. “What’s so funny?”

“My halmoni.” Turning to face him, I interlaced my fingers around his nape. “She’s an alpha if I ever saw one. Even the vampires try not to piss her off.”

A corner of his mouth hooked up. “I’m guessing you’re going to turn out just like her.”

I grinned back. “Be afraid, Primus. Be very afraid.”

“Oh, I am.” His fangs slid out. Cupping my nape to hold me still, he dragged the points down my throat. “But I have a plan.”

---