Life's Blood (The Cordelia Chronicles) (25 page)

“No, Eli, it’s because
I’m
a man,” Chaseyn deadpanned.

Before they could bicker about the subject, I made my way to the door and grabbed Chaseyn’s hand. We could pick up where we left off later. Besides, the sooner we made our way to the party, the quicker we could get back to the room.

“We’ll pick this up later,” Chaseyn mumbled as we walked down the hall, following closely behind Eli at a quick clip.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I replied.

***

The party was in full swing when we entered the restaurant. And we were joined by many more revelers than I had expected, given there were only five people at our wedding. But the dining room was full to the brim with people shouting our names as we walked into the room.

“Who are these people?” I whispered in Mina’s ear when she gave me a quick hug.

“Hotel guests and staff, gypsies from the nearby village, vagrants,” she chuckled. “After Addie asked if they could print a banner at the reception desk, word spread fast, and everyone wanted to help celebrate.”

That’s when I noticed the large sign that read “Congratulations Chaseyn and Lia” hanging in the center of the room. There were balloons and streamers decorating every inch of the large space, and music blasted through the speakers. Some of the tables had been pushed against the wall to make room for a dance floor, and some of the partygoers were already busting a move.

“This is great, Addie,” I said as I gave her shoulders a tight squeeze and planted a big kiss on her cheek. And I meant it. “I can’t believe you did all of this yourself.”

“I had help,” she said, the biggest smile spread across her face.

Addie was glowing with pride for what she had accomplished. But Eli’s smile was even brighter as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Chaseyn was wrong about him. Eli was over me and head-over-heels in love with my best friend. They gazed into each other’s eyes and got lost for a moment.

“Now, we eat,” a heavyset man said as he pushed through the kitchen door carrying a giant serving tray piled high with a variety of traditional foods.

A handful of tables were set in a row, and everyone in the room took a seat as the waiters and waitresses began setting serving bowls in the empty spaces between the dinnerware. We began passing the bowls from one person to the next, loading up our plates.

“What’s this?” I said pointing to a yellow mushy substance.

“Polenta,” Chaseyn replied. “It’s made from cornmeal. Put some of that mushroom gravy on it--you’ll love it.”

“And this?” I asked staring into a bowl filled with some sort of purple vegetable.

“Those are beets,” Mina replied. “Put some in that small bowl, and pour vinegar and pepper on them.”

I made a sour face, and everyone laughed.

“I promise it tastes amazing,” Chaseyn said. “Try it.”

So I did, and he was right. There were so many foods I hadn’t tried before, and every one of them was amazing.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything? You haven’t touched a bit of food,” I asked Chaseyn.

Though he’d loaded his plate, he hadn’t eaten a morsel. Even Mina and Balthazar were making a concerted effort to keep up appearances, pushing around the food on their plates and putting the odd bite into their mouths. They didn’t look much like they were enjoying it, but I appreciated that they were trying. Vampires didn’t need to ingest anything more than the nutrients found in blood to sustain themselves, and I was sure it had been years or decades--maybe even centuries in Balthazar’s case--since either one of them had touched anything that didn’t come from a vein.

“I’m not all that hungry,” Chaseyn said, a wry smile turning up the corners of his lips, but I failed to see the humor.

“Are you feeling alright?” I asked, panic setting in.

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine,” Chaseyn said, his voice gravelly as he squeezed my thigh under the table. “In fact, I haven’t felt this good in a long time.”

Chaseyn leaned in to kiss my neck, his teeth grazing my skin, sending shivers down my spine. He eased his hand beneath the skirt of my dress, coaxing the hem higher and higher as his fingers lightly caressed my thigh. Parts of me I didn’t even know existed began to tingle, and I warmed from the inside out. My eyelids fluttered, and heat seared my cheeks. I had to regain control fast.

“Lia, you look a little flushed. Is everything okay?” James asked from across the table. He knew what Chaseyn was up to. Of course he knew. And now, if I couldn’t pull it together, so would everyone else.

“Fine,” I said, clearing my throat and adjusting the napkin in my lap.

Chaseyn continued kissing my neck, despite the fact that all eyes were now on us. James chuckled loudly, and I was mentally kicking myself for letting him see just how right he was about Chaseyn and I. We’d waited far too long already. Tonight was the night. I was thankful when James finally returned his attention to the petite bottle-blond waitress he been chatting up. Looks like Chaseyn wasn’t the only one who would be getting lucky later this evening.

“Eat up,” I whispered over my shoulder to Chaseyn.

“But I told you, I’m not hungry,” he said, pulling down the sleeve of my cardigan to reveal my bare shoulder. He kissed a freckle there before looking me in the eyes. “I’m only interested in dessert.”

He held my gaze a moment, and the heat seared between us. I shrugged out of my sweater, and Chaseyn wrapped his arm around the back of my chair so he could run his long fingers up and down my arm.

“The sooner we put on a show for these people--eat, drink, dance--we can get back to our room,” I said through a smile. “So, pick up your fork, and start eating.”

Chaseyn didn’t have to be told twice. He started shoveling the food in his mouth so fast I was sure he wouldn’t be able to keep it all down. But he did, and within moments, the cook was wheeling out what I could only assume was intended to be our wedding cake. Though, it looked nothing like the traditional cakes we served at home.

“This was all they could whip up last minute,” Addie said apologetically.

“I’m sure it’ll be great,” I said, but after learning what it was, I couldn’t be so sure.

Called
papanasi
, the dessert consisted of what looked like several large donuts with a smaller donut on top of each one. The donuts had a cottage-cheese filling, and they were doused with sour cream and jam. To drink, the servers placed small containers filled with a berry syrup next to each of our plates. They also brought large carafes of lemon-lime pop and instructed us to pour a few drops of the syrup into our goblets and then mix it with the pop. The result was a sweet, fruity delight.

While we ate our dessert, a few of the servers performed an impromptu traditional song and dance. After, they urged us out of our seats to join them on the dance floor. At first, they showed us the moves to a few of their dances, but soon, the sound of pan flutes, accordions, and violins blended with the heavy beat of modern-American music. We found our groove and began dancing to the beat.

Chaseyn looked happier and healthier than he had in days, which delighted me to no end. Together we moved to the music, partying and having fun with our friends, family, and a dozen or so strangers. After a few songs, Chaseyn left my side. When I tried to protest by tugging hard on his hand, he held a finger to his lips, and I knew he’d only be gone a moment. I pouted and watched him walk over to the sound system. That’s when the music slowed, and the sound of Peter Gabriel’s
In Your Eyes
drifted through the speakers. The iconic song from one of Chaseyn’s favorite movies--
Say Anything
. It was well before my time, but he’d made me watch the classic eighties movie at least a half-dozen times in as many months.

“Our first dance as husband and wife,” he said as he crossed the room, his arms outstretched, ready to take me in his embrace.

Everyone else moved to the side of the room, and they watched in silence as we moved across the floor. Chaseyn was a phenomenal dancer, and so long as I followed his lead, I didn’t look half bad myself. We glided around the room to the sounds of oohs and ahhs like two professional ballroom dancers. This was the happiest I could remember being since, well, birth.

When the song was over, everyone returned to the dance floor to continue the merriment. By this time, most of the guests had done their fair share of imbibing the local spirits. Everyone--aside from the vampires of course--was relatively inebriated, and it was evident in the vibe as people danced. Even I’d had a drink or two and was feeling a little heady from the buzz. I was feeling a little less modest than usual, so when Chaseyn started grinding against me, I was more than happy to comply.

“Get a room,” James shouted from beside us as he performed his own version of dirty dancing with yet another blonde waitress.

“I think we will,” Chaseyn shouted back. Tugging me by the arm, he walked to the stereo and turned down the volume so he could announce our intent to leave. “Thank you all so much for making this the most special day for us both. This has been the best day of my life, and we’re so glad you could share it with us.”

Everyone crowded around us once again, patting us on the back and wishing us well. While Chaseyn said goodnight to his mother and made plans to meet up with them the next day in Sibiu--the town where they had been the day before, I told Eli to be sure he and Addie set their alarm so they could join us for breakfast the next day. That’s when Addie pulled me aside.

“Here,” Addie said, handing me a bag when we were alone in the hall.

“What is it?”

“Just a little something you’ll be needing later,” she laughed.

I opened the bag to find a lacy black lingerie set--of course Addie would know I hadn’t come prepared with anything so seductive, as I hadn’t anticipated tying the knot on our trip. But the bag wasn’t empty yet. I reached beneath the tissues and pulled out a box of condoms. Would we need these?

“Chaseyn’s half-human, right?” she asked. “So, I figure there’s still a chance you could get pregnant.”

I questioned why I’d never considered that fact before. Of course we could make a baby together, and that was the last thing we need right now--another complication. It was nice to know we would one day have the opportunity, but not right now. I hugged Addie close to me, thankful she’d had the good foresight to think ahead. Something I clearly hadn’t done. I couldn’t say I wasn’t surprised, though, that she was the one to put it together. I was a little embarrassed about that.

“Now go,” Addie said making shooing gestures with her hands. “Go get laid.”

I rolled my eyes, gave her one more hug, and ran back into the dining room. As much as I hated to admit it--to be so obvious--I wanted to find Chaseyn and take him to bed. Now.

As Chaseyn and I made our way down the hall toward our room, he scooped me into his arms. We were laughing and kissing when we heard James call after us.

“Where do you two think you’re going so fast?”

“Are you serious, mate?” Chaseyn asked, stopping in his tracks but keeping his back to his brother as he spoke. “Where do you think we’re going? You’ve been pushing us together all day. I thought you’d be glad to see us leave.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for my brother getting shagged for the first time in…how long has it been, brother?”

“Are you stalking us now?” I asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” James laughed. “I was just on my way out for a quick smoke. Would you care to join me, brother?”

“You know I gave that up a long time ago,” Chaseyn said bluntly.

“That and the boozing,” James replied. “Not even a drop to celebrate your wedding night. But I bet you’re still feeling a bit heady from your first drink from the vein.”

“What do you want, James?” I questioned. I was getting fed up with his chit chat.

“Right, I came to tell you not to leave yet,” he said. “There is still something all you mortal types should experience at the Castel Dracula Hotel, and you haven’t seen it yet.”

“If we do this, will you leave us alone until morning?” I asked.

“But of course,” he said, motioning for us to follow him. “Just one moment while we wait for your two human mates. They must see this also.”

As if on cue, Addie and Eli appeared in the hallway. Chaseyn set me firmly on the ground--the mood was lost. As we followed James downstairs into a part of the hotel we hadn’t ventured previously, I took Addie’s hand in my own. Chaseyn and Eli walked close behind in silence.

When we’d taken the stairwell as far down as we could, we were joined by a hotel staff member who was dressed in a black-and-red-cloak--similar to the kind the mythical Dracula is always seen wearing in vintage horror flicks--and carrying a torch. She led us through a doorway into a dark corridor. There was another stairwell, but this one was so narrow, Addie and I had to let go of each other so we could walk single file. I reached behind me, and Chaseyn grabbed hold of my fingertips.

Finally, we came to a small room at the bottom of the stairs--no more than ten feet long and wide with a coffin in its center. There were detailed murals depicting the story of Dracula painted on the walls around us. We crowded together in the corner and listened intently as the innkeeper spoke in her native language. Addie, Eli, and I had no idea what she was saying, so James interpreted for us.