42nd & Lex (42 page)

“Later, love. Later,”
he thinks back. Ah, so he’s
changed his mind.

Arius is watching us with a huge smile on his face. I
can tell he is politely waiting for us to finish our conversation before
beginning the ceremony.

Lucan had explained that only when a vampire finds his
Sodalis does he become truly immortal. Without a complete soul, vampires age
and die like humans, only at a much slower pace. It’s why Arius looked so old. In
the two thousand years since Arius had become eligible, he had never found his
Sodalis. He’d been thirty years old when he was turned, middle aged for a man
in that time, but now he looked closer to one hundred. This was why Arius had
been so pleased when Lucan announced me. It’s why he looks so happy now. 

“Lucan, you seriously owe me for this. I thought you
had to take my blood, not the other way around!”
The thought of drinking blood
makes me weak in the knees. Maybe kneeling through this thing wasn’t such a bad
idea after all.

“Trust me, love. It’s not that bad. Just think of
something pleasant, something you like—French toast maybe— and it won’t taste
like blood at all.”
Lucan squeezes my hand again as Arius calls the
ceremony to order.

“Revered guests,” Arius begins. “Welcome. This is a very
special ceremony. One that, sadly, does not take place but once or twice in a
millennium. Today we seek to join two Sodali together:  Lucan Padraig O’Reilly
and Abri Elizabeth Cole.”

So far, this is sounding like a wedding to me. 

“Abri, are you entering into this Sodali binding freely
and of your own will?” Arius continues.

“Yes, sir,” I reply. My voice bounces off the stone
walls. I feel my face redden again.  

“And Lucan, are you absolutely certain she is your Sodalis?”

“Aye, Reveré.” Lucan bows. I take that opportunity to
glance at his muscled shoulders as they bunch together. Bad move, the flush is
moving down my neck and across my exposed chest again. At least my body has
forgotten why we are nervous; my mind is going to take a little more
convincing.  

“Then it is so,” he finishes.

Arius, Sophie and Jonathan begin a strange sort of
chanting in a language I don’t recognize. It continues on for several minutes
as the candles flicker wildly to the rhythm of their voices. I look down at our
joined hands and realize we are glowing—and not in a newlywed kind of way, more
like a radioactive kind of way—from a white light wrapped around our hands. I
try to reach out to Lucan with my mind but all I hear is static. When I try to
squeeze Lucan’s hand to get his attention I discover I can’t move either.

A rush of emotions overtakes me: love, peace, desire,
trust, all rolled into one. There is a shift in my soul again, much stronger
even than the one I felt the first time Lucan and I were in the elevator
together. There is a sense of completeness, as if the last missing piece of my
life has suddenly fallen into place. My soul really had been missing something,
something that has rested with Lucan for over five hundred years.

“Lucan?”
I reach out with my mind. “
Can you
hear me?”

“Aye, love. It will be over soon.”
His face looks
strained. I hope the mending of his soul isn’t painful because I feel fine—more
than fine, actually. He gives me a small shake of his head in response.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Sophie steps forward and takes the large knife in her
hand. It is gold with ancient symbols engraved on the hilt. The tip of the
blade looks sharp enough to pierce steel—or flesh, as the case may be. She holds
the knife out to me and I grasp it with my free hand. 

“In order to rejoin the soul there must be a sharing of
the earthly bodies that contain the soul.” Her voice dances across the room and
the candles seem to flare in response. “Given our nature, an exchange of blood
is what’s required.”

Her easy Southern accent does nothing to ease my
stomach’s somersaults. I'm not squeamish by any means, but tasting someone
else’s blood is going to be a first for me. Sure, I’ve stuck my own finger in
my mouth a time or two after an unexpected cut, but that doesn’t raise to the
same level of ick as tasting another person’s blood. This goes against every
mantra of human disease prevention ever written.

“Abri, Lucan, you shall now each pierce the other’s body
and exchange blood. Fear not, cheré, only a small amount will be taken.” She
tries to convey concern with her eyes, but I think they read more of hungry
disappointment.

“Ladies first,”
Lucan thinks to me.  

“What do I do?”

“Take the knife and prick my wrist just where you see
the vein. Then it will be my turn. But don’t drink yet.”
His thoughts are
short and to the point as if he dislikes this part as well. I follow Lucan’s instructions
as he offers me his free wrist. I have to give it a little more force than I would
have thought necessary, but on the second try, I draw blood. Lucan doesn’t even
flinch. I can’t take my eyes off the trickle of blood going down Lucan’s wrist
as I hand the knife back to Sophie. 

“Now you, Lucan.” Sophie gives him a slight bow and a
jealous smile.

Lucan takes my free hand in his, which is now dripping
blood down towards his elbow, and kisses my wrist. I can feel my pulse
throbbing under the pressure of his lips. His thoughts no longer contain words,
but I can see that it wasn’t displeasure I heard in his voice before. It was
restraint. His eyes are now as red as fire, burning with the desire for my
blood.

Everything is in slow motion now like the top of the
rollercoaster before the first big drop. Lucan’s lips draw back to reveal his elongated
fangs and I stiffen as he lowers them to touch my wrist. I can feel the blood
coursing there, waiting for his bite to release it. 

He strikes. My knees try to buckle from the amps that
hit me with a force I haven’t experienced since the first time we touched but I
am frozen in place. I dare say the feeling is near orgasmic, which is shameful
in this room full of people.

Lucan gazes at me through lowered lashes as he guides my
hand away from his mouth. His eyes are now violet as their natural blue fights
against the red. I muster the courage to look down at my wrist. The blood, far
less than I expected, pools around the small wounds and runs over the edge
towards the floor. Now I understand why the dress is red instead of white.

“You must now exchange blood. This act will seal your souls
together for eternity, repairing the damage done of becoming vampire,” Sophie
says rather matter-of-factly.

“Cheers,”
Lucan thinks as he extends his bleeding
wrist towards my mouth. Of all the times for humor… 

 I raise my wrist to him as well.
“All good things in
moderation.”

Remembering what Lucan said about thinking of something
pleasant while I drank, I conjure an image of his French toast just before his
wrist reaches me. As soon as our tongues touch the pooled blood, the white
light encircles us again.

There is a collective gasp from the assembled crowd,
both human and vampire alike. As soon as the blood passes my lips, the tastes
of powdered sugar and syrup flood my senses. Amazing. I think of chocolate ice
cream and I can taste that too. I can see the pangs of desire flare in Lucan’s
eyes as I feel the pull of him at my vein.   

After what seems an eternity, Lucan pulls himself away
from my wrist with one final flick of his tongue. I pull away as well.
Strangely, there is a small part of me that is disappointed in this fact. I feel
what I can only describe as a hunger pain in my stomach. I haven’t eaten yet
today but this is not the most appropriate time to be hungry. My neurons are
definitely firing on overtime right now. Surely, this is just a misfire.

Once the white light subsides, our wrists are free
again. A band of tattooed markings encircles our once bound wrists. They are
shiny and silvery in the dim light of the chamber, not like a normal tattoo at
all. I fight the urge to touch the skin as the air around it makes it feel
tender. My other wrist bares no trace of puncture marks from Lucan’s fangs.

“Friends,” Arius begins. “Go forth and bare witness of
what you have seen today, for this is the most sacred and precious of events. From
this moment, Abri and Lucan are rejoined as one. Whoever seeks to harm one,
harms the other. And yet each will bestow their own forms of protection unto
the other. Abri and Lucan, do you promise to protect one another as you would
your own bodies?”

“We do,” we say in unison. 

“And do you promise to honor one another and do no wrong
unto one another?” he continues.

“We do.”

“And you do promise to love one another?” Arius winks a
cloudy gray eye at us. I am sure this last question is not part of the normal
speech since Sodali are not always romantically involved. 

“We do.”

“Good,” Arius finishes. “I declare you bonded Sodali
from here until eternity. No one and nothing shall render you asunder. Now let
us celebrate!”

A cheer goes up from the gallery as Arius motions for us
to turn and face the crowd. Sarah and Mark wave at me and I waive back. Max is
smiling. Probably because my hair and makeup have withstood the exchange of
blood and I haven’t passed out and exposed myself in this crazy dress.

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” Lucan asks me.

“Surprisingly, no.” I’m still unable to shake the weird
hunger pains in my stomach. “But you looked pretty touch and go there for a
while.”

He laughs. “Yeah, I think your blood is too much for
me.”

“Too much? Well, you’re kinda stuck with me now, aren’t
you?”

“That’s true, love, I am. And happily so, I might add.”

“Now, can I get out of this ridiculous dress before I
flash someone? I think I’m starting to sweat through the double sided tape and
it’s the only thing holding me in here.”

“Of course, when you put it that way. Cyrian will have
your things for you in the dressing room. I took the liberty of selecting
something for you for this evening’s gala. Don’t worry; it’s nothing as fancy
as this.” He brushes his hand along my bare arm, amping me playfully. 

“Thank you again for the necklace. It’s beautiful.”

“You’re welcomed, love. I had it made just for you.”

Wow. No one has ever given me jewelry before, never mind
having it made specifically for me. I lean in to kiss Lucan. “Thank you—” I don’t
have the chance to add anything more before Cyrian interrupts us with a polite
cough.

“I must talk with the Counsel for a second, but I will
meet you in the dressing chamber before we go upstairs.” Lucan kisses me again
before leaving me with Cyrian.  

I follow Cyrian back to the tiny dressing room. Max is
waiting for me inside alone, Sarah having accompanied Mark to the reception
hall. Hanging from the mirror is the most amazing ball gown I have ever seen. It
is a pale blue and covered in tiny, embroidered silver flowers and crystals—at
least I hope they are crystals and not diamonds. Max helps me into the
petticoat and dress and then works my hair into an up do. The sweetheart
neckline accentuates my new necklace. I feel like Cinderella at the ball.

I glance down at my right wrist for the first time since
I left the Chambers. The marks are almost invisible unless I catch them in just
the right light, like a snail’s trail.  

A knock at the door announces Lucan’s arrival and Max makes
his leave. This is the first time we have been alone all day. 

“You are the most beautiful woman in the world. I am
truly blessed to have found you.”

“As am I,” I reply. “I love this dress, Lucan. I don’t
ever want to take it off. So do you have a tattoo on your wrist too? Does it go
away or is it permanent?”

“It’s permanent, but it will fade a little so you’ll
only be able to see it if the light is just right.” Lucan is still ogling me as
he buttons his shirt. I’d rather he stay shirtless, but the thought of other
women eyeing him makes a small growl want to work its way out of my throat. I
catch myself just before it’s audible and instead focus again on my wrist.

“What do the markings mean? What language is it?” I
rotate my wrist in the light to catch the designs. 

“It’s an ancient form of Greek. It loosely translates to
‘Together born, together forevermore.’ Are you ready for the party, Mrs.
O’Reilly?”

“Yes, Mr. O’Reilly.” We have a while before we are
legally Mr. and Mrs., but I like the sound of it.   

Lucan has a sheepish look on his face. “I like the sound
of it too.”

I suddenly feel a possessiveness towards Lucan I’ve
never experienced before. That growl threatens to work its way out again. I’ll
have to ask Amelia later if this is normal.

Lucan and I walk into the dining room to another round
of applause. The room is floor to ceiling covered in flowers and candles. It is
definitely a celebratory atmosphere. I lose count of the names and faces of the
people coming up to congratulate us.

Sarah and Mark join us after the crowd dies down. We
exchange handshakes and hugs before Lucan takes Mark around the room to
introduce him. He’s become something of a celebrity as news of his fighting off
the venom rot has made the rounds of the Enclave and everyone is dying to meet
him.   

“So, was it the coolest thing you’ve ever done or what?”
Sarah whispers to me. “Mark won’t let me try it, he’s afraid it will hurt me.”

“It was weird, but it didn’t taste bad. It tasted like
French toast and chocolate ice cream.” Sarah looks at me like I’m crazy. “Not
at the same time. Lucan told me to imagine it tasting like something else and
it would taste like whatever I was thinking about.”

“Now I really want to try it,” Sarah laments. “If you
don’t have any ill effects from it, it shouldn’t hurt me either, right?”