VA 2 - Blood Jewel (2 page)

A look of discomfort came over his
face. “I’m sorry, Marsala. I should have allowed you to help choose
the house. It was thoughtless of me to not consider
that.”

I was humbled by his reaction and
reached for his hand. It was so cold against my warm one as I said,
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m not displeased. I’m just
surprised is all. Pleasantly surprised, that is,” I told
him.

He placed his cold palms on each
side of my face and looked into my eyes as he said, “I want to make
you happy, Marsala.”

I smiled at his words because he
had no idea that just being with him made me happy. “You are
already making me happy. I am quite pleased by our
match.”

We were silent the rest of the
short ride to the home we would soon share, but he held my hand
tightly in his. When the carriage stopped, he said, “This is it.
This is where we are going to begin our lives together.”

I turned to see the place I would
now call home. It was dark outside, but I could see it was nothing
like the cottage my father purchased for my mother when she became
his quadroon nineteen years ago. The only word I could use to
describe the house before me was mansion and it left me
speechless.

“You aren’t saying anything. Does
that mean you dislike the house?” he asked.

I turned to him to explain. “No, I
think I’m just a little shocked because I expected a small cottage,
not a house of this magnitude. It’s beautiful.”

“Is it too much? Would you prefer
a quaint cottage outside the city instead?”

I adored his eagerness to please
me. “No. You chose this and I love it.”

He dangled a key in front of me and
asked, “Would you care to see the inside?”

“Yes, of course.”

I looped my arm through his as he
led me from his carriage toward the front door through a gate made
of black wrought iron. As he used the key to unlock the door, I
noticed a symbol above the entrance. It was ornate in design and
made of black wrought iron to match the gate and fence around the
courtyard.

“What it that symbol?” I asked
curiously.

“It’s a Sigil,” he
replied.

I felt so young and naive for not
knowing what a Sigil was and I debated asking for an explanation
when Jean Phillipe said, “It is a symbol identifying this house and
its inhabitants to others like us.”

I didn’t recall a Sigil over my
mother’s door, but I felt a deep sadness come over me as I realized
he intended on treating me as a mistress and not as his legitimate
wife. “Oh, I see. You are referring to the arrangement between
manquadroons and their mistresses?” I asked.

“No, Marsala, I’m not referring to
manquadroons or mistresses. I’m referring to vampires and their
covens.”

I was abruptly brought back into
the present when I felt a sudden pain through my heart, the place
where I always felt my connection to Curry. I briefly wondered if
someone had driven a stake through my heart until I looked down and
confirmed there was nothing protruding from my body. There was only
one conclusion I could draw.

“Marsala, what is wrong?” Madon
asked, concerned after seeing the pained expression on my
face.

“I felt it the moment it
happened,” I said in disbelief although I had waited 22 years for
the day to come.

“I don’t understand. What has
happened?” Madon asked in confusion.

I never told Madon or Wythe about
the curse placed on me by the gods the day Curry walked into the
sunlight away from me. They believed he met his true death on that
day after the eclipse and I would have thought the same if the gods
hadn’t cursed me.

My punishment was devastating, but
simple. I felt Curry every moment since we were separated. I felt
his happiness without me and I was forced to endure the pain of
feeling him find the one to complete him-his Agápe.

I looked at Madon’s worried
reflection and decided it was time to tell him and Wythe the truth.
“He has found her.”

Madon’s enraged expression told me
he understood who ‘he’ was as he shook his head in disbelief. He
shut his eyes tightly trying to block out my words. “No. It can’t
be because he met his true death years ago,” he argued.

“It’s true. Curry is very much
alive and he has found his Agápe. Now, we must find them because
the girl has to die.”

New Orleans Compound

Curry

As I watched Chansey hold her hand
out to admire the way her new diamond engagement ring sparkled on
her finger, I wanted to kick myself for giving her quite possibly
the worst marriage proposal in history. Idiot! Who deserved a
marriage proposal following an argument about being turned into a
monster? I was lucky she even considered accepting because I was
such an inconsiderate ass.

She deserved so much more than
this. When I imagined all of the perfect ways I would propose to
Chansey, none of the images in my head included it happening at
this compound for monsters nor did my visions include my family
being down the hall overhearing every intimate word shared between
us.

“I want to go tell the others
right now,” she beamed.

Her words told me she hadn’t put it
together that the others heard everything and already knew about
our engagement. She looked so happy, so I couldn’t bring myself to
spoil it for her in this moment. I would save that for
later.

When we left my quarters, my family
was gathered in the living room waiting for our announcement. I
took her hand in mine as we entered the living room. I should have
felt silly for announcing what they already knew, but I couldn’t
feel anything but joy as I happily reported, “Chansey and I have an
announcement to make. I have asked her to marry me and she has
agreed to be my wife.”

I knew they were not surprised, but
they kindly acted as though it was news to them for Chansey’s sake
as they congratulated us.

“Show us your ring,” Lairah said
as she grabbed Chansey’s hand for inspection. She turned her hand
at all different angles to see the diamonds reflect the light from
it’s many facets. “An Edwardian filigree setting with an emerald
cut center stone weighing approximately three point six carats,
maybe three point seven, in platinum.”

“If you say so,” I replied dryly
because I had no idea what kind of language she was
speaking.

Lairah shook her head with disgust
at my lack of expertise. “I do say so and it is an excellent
choice, my dear boy. Your taste in fine jewelry is impeccable even
if you were unaware.”

“Would I have a choice after
living with you and Gia all these years?” I questioned.

“You’re right, you never had a
chance at poor taste,” Gia agreed, then she turned to Chansey and
said, “We trained him well. You’re welcome.”

“Um, thank you. I think,” Chansey
laughed.

“When is this wedding going to
happen?” Gia asked.

Chansey and I looked at each other
with uncertainty and she reported, “We didn’t discuss a date. It
was all a little sudden and unexpected.”

“Well, most of the wedding plans
will be based on the date, so we need it ASAP,” Gia
suggested.

“Yes, ma'am. We’ll get right on
that so we can let you know. Does that work for you?” I
sarcastically asked my pushy sisters since I could see they were
going to be all up in the middle of planning this wedding without
being asked.

They ignored my sarcasm and Lairah
clapped like a toddler as she squealed, “Exciting! Come on,
Chansey, let’s go look at some dresses online.”

Both of them looped an arm through
Chansey’s, one on each side, and they stole her from me to begin
making plans for the wedding of Lairah and Gia’s dreams. As Chansey
was being dragged away, she turned and mouthed the words, “Help
me,” but I shrugged my shoulders and offered her no assistance
because I knew it was better to let them have their way even if it
meant I would pay for it later with Chansey.

“Chansey better watch them
closely, or they’ll plan a wedding worthy of royalty for the two of
you since we all know they will live vicariously through her,”
Sebastian warned.

“Never fear, that one can hold her
own,” I reassured.

“We know Chansey is a little
firecracker that can hold her own. You don’t have to tell us,”
Solomon commented while he chuckled, referring to the argument he
overheard between us.

Living in a house of vampires had
it’s disadvantages. I hated how every exchange between me and my
future wife could be heard by the entire household and I needed to
consider options in alleviating that problem before we were married
if we decided to live here. “Sol, you don’t have to repetitively
remind me of how we have no privacy, so please don’t.”

“Sorry, I won’t mention it again,”
he lied, knowing he would never let an opportunity to yank my chain
go to waste. I had learned to excuse him over the years because he
was my best friend, but I wouldn’t allow him to cause Chansey
embarrassment or discomfort.

“Consider this your only warning
to never bring it up in front of Chansey. She won’t appreciate
jokes about how she doesn’t have a single private moment in this
house,” I warned.

“Curry, I got it,” he reassured
me. “You know I love taking a jab at you every opportunity because
you make it so much fun, but I wouldn’t do that to Chansey. I’m
scared of her.”

“As you should be. Chansey can be
a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” I warned.

Sebastian spoke up. “It’s not her
fault she isn’t meek and submissive. She’s designed to be strong
because a weakling couldn’t survive the life of an
Agápe.”

Survive the life of an Agápe. His
words reminded me of how she was always going to be in danger and I
was back to that place where I questioned if I had made the right
decision. My doubtful thoughts were interrupted when I heard
Sebastian ask, “When will you and Chansey be returning to
Pascagoula?”

“We’ll need to be back before Anna
and Grady return from their trip. I don’t want them to find her
gone and worry that something happened to her.” I laughed as I
said, “I’m afraid I did things a little out of order and now I have
to ask Grady and Anna for their blessing instead of permission to
ask for her hand.”

I felt a pang of nervousness at the
thought of asking for their blessing when they knew how badly I had
hurt Chansey not so long ago when I left her.

“They will be honored to have you
as a husband for their granddaughter,” Sebastian reassured
me.

The thought of their disapproval
made me feel anxious and I said, “I hope you’re right because I
don’t know what I would do if they didn’t give us their
blessing.”

“Chansey is an adult, so their
approval isn’t really a requirement,” Solomon added.

“I know that, but Chansey would be
heartbroken if they didn’t support our decision and accept me as
her husband. We haven’t known each other long by human standards
and as far as they know, I abandoned her for a job in New York not
so long ago. They don’t know that I’m back in her life and they
will probably think it’s a little too sudden for a marriage
proposal.”

“You’re always going to be a
worrier. My vote is to stop sweating it already,” my carefree
friend advised.

“I’d love to see how you would
handle your own Agápe. I guarantee that you wouldn’t be quite so
carefree about it.”

“Hate it for you, Bro, but that’s
an observation you’ll never get to make. Besides, I could never be
with someone that fragile,” he laughed.

I would likely never see him with
an Agápe. Statistically speaking, the odds of Solomon having one
somewhere out there waiting for him were zilch. However, it didn’t
prevent me from hoping that one would come along and knock him on
his smart ass. The sweet thought of seeing him meet his match in an
Agápe unconsciously made me laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he
asked.

I enjoyed making him the ass of my
humor without his knowledge and I replied, “Nothing you would find
funny.”

Sebastian caught my attention by
clearing his voice and said, “Curry, I think now is as good a time
as any to speak with Sully. Do you agree?”

He was referring to our intention
of asking Sully to join us. I agreed that it was the right time to
speak with him and Sebastian wanted me to be the one to extend our
invitation to Sully.

“Now that you have spent time
around my vampire family in this compound, do you think you would
like to join us permanently?”

I saw pure joy on Sully’s face as
he answered, “Yes. I would like nothing more than to stay and
become part of this family. I don’t believe Curry and I were
randomly reunited by the gods without a purpose. I believe this
haven is my destiny.”

“Our family welcomes you, but
please know that it is no easy task taking this lifestyle as your
own. The training and discipline required is incredibly difficult
and you must accept your role as a servant to those in need of your
help. If you are willing to give selflessly, we will gladly teach
you the skills needed to be a great mentor,” Sebastian
explained.