Nevermore, the Complete Series (59 page)

“I will. I can’t wait to see you again,” I replied quickly and hung up.

Thursday came and went as Eila and I practiced Nevermore on my old piano. We spent nearly two hours non-stop practicing until both of our fingers’ became too sore and stiff to play any longer. Salem served us lunch afterward during our break, and then we resumed practicing even more until she had it spot on and I felt confident that she would play perfectly at the wedding. I was a little surprised by how close I was beginning to feel toward her, it was almost as if we had known each other for years. I regretted whatever ill feelings I had originally felt for her.

I tried hard not to dwell on the loss of Karen and Paul as Eila and I discussed wedding plans and shopped for invitations together and browsed flower shops on Friday. She practically became my shadow during the few days following my birthday, and I insisted that she be my maid of honor – a role I had always imagined Karen filling. Jason was ecstatic, if not a little shocked, when Salem requested he take part in being his best man. Hannah hadn’t returned any phone calls since we arrived in Willowshire, despite Salem’s constant attempts to reach her. She was the only guest not scheduled to be there. Desmond had called on Thursday night to say he would arrive on Saturday morning with Melissa and to expect plenty of presents on their behalf. We didn’t need a caterer as Salem could summon all of the food – the only things missing were my dress and a set location.

As Friday night came upon us, Salem approached me in the living room of the house. He sat beside me on a white sectional he had summoned the night before; it perfectly matched the one that my father burned down not so long ago. I was sitting cross-legged with my laptop perched up on a pillow on my lap, frantically looking for a wedding gown that caught my eyes.

“I can summon you any gown your heart desires,” he said as he peeked over at the computer screen.

“The only issue there is that I am not having a very easy time finding the perfect one!” I said and threw my hands up in frustration.

Salem pulled my hands down gently and held them in his own while smiling at me. “Regardless what your dress looks like, it will be perfect. You will look fabulous and no one is going to even care what the dress looks like! You could walk down the aisle in a paper bag and no one would think any less of you.”

“Now there’s an idea,” I said with a chuckle and shook my head, “but I don’t want to wear a paper bag to our wedding. I want to feel like a princess…which is something I never wanted before. What have you done to me? Weddings and romance and boys never mattered to me at all really before I met you.”

“I am glad,” he grinned and leaned over, shut the lap top and kissed me. “Let me decide what dress you wear.”

I stared at him inquisitively, wondering if he was being serious. “You want to choose my wedding gown?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I have the perfect idea in mind.”

My attempt to keep my face calm and blank was failing me, but I didn’t want him to think I didn’t trust him. “And if I don’t like it?”

His grin never faded. “There is no chance of that. You will love it the very second you lay eyes on it.”

“I’ll give you a chance, but if I don’t like it-,”

“You will like it,” he repeated and kissed me again. “Trust me.”

“I do,” I whispered and my heart galloped as I realized what I had just said…and that in two days, I would be saying those words in a completely different context.

“As for a location,” he began and plucked the laptop and pillow from my lap, “I was thinking, perhaps we could have the ceremony by the lake or even in the woods near the creek.”

“But, Salem…are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I see no reason why it shouldn’t be. The debris left over from the house might get in the way of having it by the lake, but the woods is secluded and a nice place.”

“You won’t feel uncomfortable being there?”

“Not at all,” he replied. “So, is it settled?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is, as long as you are okay with it, too.”

“I don’t have a problem with it at all; I couldn’t think of anywhere else.”

“Perfect!” he said and without warning lifted me up from the couch and cradled me in his arms. “We have much planning to do tomorrow, so I believe we ought to take a break from all of this and go to sleep.”

“Sleep,” I said with a yawn, “sounds good.”

Salem and I were disturbed from our sleep when the doorbell rang. I ran to the front door in my pajamas, nearly slipping on the floor with my socks, and with a heavy sigh of relief I pried the door open. My eyes took a while to adjust to the bright sunlight seeping in through the wide open door, and I felt like an idiot squinting to try to figure out who my guests were. Then, I noticed it wasn’t just the heat that made it difficult to decipher who they were – it was their appearances. Desmond had cut his hair short and I had to admit he looked very handsome, and much less rugged and dirty. He was dressed casually in a t-shirt and dark blue jeans, which was unusual for him – he almost always dressed nicely. Melissa didn’t look much different from the last time I had seen her.

“You made it!” I exclaimed and hugged my foster father. “You look great, by the way – I love what you did with your hair.”

He smiled and looked me over. “You look quite lovely yourself, Alexis.”

“Thanks, and so do you, Melissa,” I said as I welcomed them inside.

“Is this your place?” Mel asked as she glanced around the house slightly disapprovingly.

“I suppose it is, now,” Salem said as he entered the room clad in a button up black shirt tucked into black slacks.

“Well, I certainly feel underdressed now,” Desmond commented as he shook Salem’s hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Don’t worry, dad…he always dresses like that,” I laughed.

“It is nice to see both of you as well,” Salem said and embraced Melissa briefly. “We are both glad that you could make it out here.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Desmond said, staring at me with a wide smile.

“I’m sorry we don’t have much place for you to stay. Well, we could make up the living room if you wanted. We’d normally have an extra room but some of my friends are still staying here right now…before they move to Denver…”

“No, that’s okay. We’ve already made reservations at a little inn down the road, but thank you.”

We entered the kitchen and I offered them drinks. Desmond and Melissa both opted for ice water, which wasn’t surprising. I poured myself a glass of cranberry apple juice and went to sit with them at the dining table after delivering their water.

“So, been anywhere exciting lately?” I asked.

“Well, we were in Romania for a bit, then we took a trip to Antarctica, just got back, actually. It was cold. Too cold. I mean I’m no fool, I knew it would be…but boy, was it a shock. It was worth it though, the sites were incredible.”

“Especially the penguins,” Melissa added with a child-like squeal.

“Sounds like a lot of fun, aside from the cold anyway.”

Salem was about to take the seat beside me when the doorbell rang again. I heard the familiar voice of my grandfather and watched as he stumbled in behind Salem. He looked even frailer than I had remembered, gripping onto his cane with brittle, wrinkled fingers. My stomach churned as I wondered yet again if becoming mortal was the best idea after all. Richard joined the rest of us at the table. Salem introduced him while I retrieved a glass of milk.

“Thank you,” he said as I offered him the glass. “I’m glad to know Alex will have a father figure at her wedding after all.”

“Yes, as am I,” Desmond smiled. “It is very unfortunate what happened to Paul, however.
My condolences.”

“It is, and
thank you,” Richard said with a sigh and put the glass to his lips and began chugging down the milk as though he hadn’t drank in hours. Perhaps it was his way of ending the conversation on that subject.

“Do either of you have a preference on what we serve at the ceremony?” Salem asked, finally sitting down.

“You don’t already have an order in with a caterer?” Melissa asked. “That should have been taken care of already! You’ll never get what you want in time now!”

“Don’t worry about it, we have it figured out,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes.

“In that case, anything vegetarian would be great, as Mel is strictly no-meat. But, I am up for just about anything.”

Salem nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem. What about you, Richard?”

He shrugged. “If it’s cooked, I’ll eat it. Don’t be slapping one of those veggie meals on my plate, though.”

I zoned out momentarily as they continued discussing food. Eila was supposed to be getting flowers today – Salem offered to summon them, but she was insistent upon making the purchase. All of the very few invitations had been sent, which went out to Mr. and Mrs. Banner and the Williams’. The day was getting so close now, and yet I felt somehow unprepared. Perhaps it was the fact that my dress wasn’t ready, as far as I was aware. I could only imagine what Salem had in mind.

“Alex? Are you in there?” Richard asked as he prodded me with his cane from across the table.

“Huh?” I blinked and stared at my grandfather. “I’m sorry…I was thinking.”

“I was asking where you are having the wedding at. Yard here’s a little small.”

“In the woods, by the Victorian,” I answered, glancing at the empty chair beside me. “Where did he go, anyway?”

Desmond laughed lightly. “You must have been really deep in thought there. He said he had to make some last minute arrangements for the wedding.”

“Oh, okay…” I mumbled.

“Isn’t this the house your mom moved to after-” he trailed off, perhaps not wanting to bring up painful memories.

“It is. Mom left it to me when she…when she went away.”

“Ah…I thought so. I’m sorry Alex…I didn’t mean to…”

“No. It’s okay, really,” it was only a partial lie.

Richard raised a brow at me, but if he had a question he never said it. He agreed to stay in the living room for the weekend, and while he got settled in, Desmond and Melissa went to check into the inn.

All alone, I sat at the dining room table, wondering what Salem might possibly be up to. The only thing that came to mind was that he was coming up with ideas for my dress. With a light huff, I stood from the table and began clearing the half-empty water glasses and the finished off milk. My juice had become warm and unappealing so I placed it in the fridge for later and made my way upstairs to look for Salem.

The bedroom door to the now half-cleared out master bedroom was shut and the light was on; I could hear his feet shuffling around on the floor. I rapped my fist against the door, which felt a little awkward considering it was my room as well, but I didn’t want to ruin any potential surprises he may have had in store.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s me…” I called back. “Can I come in?”

“I am not quite finished yet. It will only take a few more moments, I promise.”

With a sigh, I leaned against the wall beside the door and waited. What felt like hours were probably more like five or ten minutes before he opened the door and let me in. I glanced around the room and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but he had a very suspicious grin on his face that led me to believe he had been up to something.

“What have you been doing?”

“I told you I was going to ‘design’ your gown, did I not?” he said, the grin never fading.

“Well, where is it?!” I asked, scanning the room again. “Please, please let me see it.”

Salem laughed and pointed to the closet. “Take a look,” he said.

I glanced at him one last time before running over to the closet and pulling the door open. Stepping backward, I looked into the closet with a befuddled expression. There was nothing in there
save for a few leftover clothes of Jason’s and Eila’s they hadn’t stuffed in one of the two cars yet.

“It’s empty…” I muttered and looked back at him. My jaw dropped in awe when I saw the garment held in his hands.

The dress was beyond amazing, even better than I could have imagined. The top was a white sleeveless heart shaped bodice embellished with clear beads, followed by a flowing white bottom covered in a layer of glittering pale purple, blue, and green tulle fabric – the colors reminded me so much of my raven feathers that I again began to wonder if I even possessed the ability anymore. If Salem retained his magic, why didn’t I? Instantly the question escaped my mind as I reached out and touched the gown, almost disbelieving it was real.

“It’s gorgeous, Salem…” I said as I tightly embraced him. “
It’s way better than anything I could have found online.”

“It will look even better on you tomorrow,” he said with a bright smile. “Along with this,” he said and offered me a sealed package.

“What is it?”

“Open it,” he instructed.

I pried the box open and stared at Salem with my mouth agape as I pulled out a sparkling tiara. “This is so beautiful…”

“You said you wanted to feel like a princess,” he said with another smile.

“Now I will feel more like a queen or something!” I laughed and gently placed the tiara on the edge of the bed and hugged him tightly. “Thank you so much, Salem. This is more than I expected.”

“It was my pleasure,” he replied and kissed me lightly. “I cannot wait to see you in it, walking towards me down the aisle…”

A flutter erupted in my stomach as I imagined it. “Nor can I,” I whispered.