Though what I feared most was this ability getting out of hand, because if Ava lost control of this magic, she could destroy it. This kind of power had personal consequences for everybody.
So I had to do my best to keep her magic reigned in. At any cost.
Chapter Sixteen
AVA-MARIE
When my eyes opened on October eleventh, one thing crossed my mind.
Holy shit. I’m getting married today.
I was already married, but… I was having an actualwedding.Not something I’d chosen at the last minute, not a choice to save Charlie’s life, but a real commitment. One that I was going to make in front of the whole world.
The thought made a pit of anxiety grow and tighten within my stomach, and I didn’t know why. I took a deep breath to try and settle it, but it didn’t go away. Oberi stirred on the bed, shifting into a phoenix as she looked at me curiously.
The bedroom doorbangedopen, and Kallie cheered, “Wake up, bitch! It’s time to get married!”
Opal and Ivy came romping in, cheering behind her. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I’d spent the night in a bedroom inside the Ladies’ Court. I’d been out like a light, but now that I was awake, I immediately felt strange. I tried to place the feeling, but found that I couldn’t give it any words. My failure to understand what I was going through only made my worry grow.
“You okay?” Opal asked, and she paused to take in my expression. “You look pale.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I just need some makeup. Let’s go.”
I got into the robe that I’d received at my bachelorette party, and my friends and I traveled to the palace temple together. Oberi flew overhead, cooing a wedding song. Before I could start getting ready I had to partake in rituals, both Elvish and Hawkei, to prepare me as a bride. These rituals would take place in the temple pool, in a room off of the main sanctuary and removed from the main chapel.
Charlie’s half of our bond was quiet. We’d promised each other we wouldn’t communicate at all until the ceremony started, but damn if it wasn’t hard to reach out to him right now. It was weird for my head not to be filled with his thoughts. It felt strangely quiet.
When I got to the magic pool within the temple, my mother, Grandmother Eleanor, and the Great Mystic were standing beside its waters. Kallie, Ivy, Opal and Abigail were nearby. Everyone wore huge smiles, though I found I had to force mine.
What was wrong with me?
“Isn’t this wonderful?” Mama gushed, like she’d been dreaming about this day since I’d been born. “You’re finally getting married.”
“Indeed. I never thought I’d live to see the day,” a soft, warm voice said as quiet footsteps approached from behind me.
My heart lifted, for I knew that voice. Grandma Haloke had arrived, looking exactly as I remembered. Her long hair hung over her shoulder in a braid, and she still carried herself proudly, wearing Grandpa Liwanu’s shawl around her shoulders.
“Grandma,” I said, and I reached out to embrace her. “I’m so happy you came.” I hadn’t seen her in such a long time. I knewshe’d come to Ilamanthe recently, but I hadn’t been able to visit her.
This was the first time she’d seen me in a wheelchair. I worried she’d get upset, or look bothered, but she treated me the same as ever. I was grateful she didn’t bring it up— I didn’t want to relive what had happened, especially on a day like today.
“I wouldn’t miss this wedding even if the ancestors forbade me to come,” Grandma Haloke replied. “Eleanor and I made you a very special present.”
“Yes,” Grandmother Eleanor said with a twinkle in her eye. “You’ll see it during the ceremony.”
“I can’t peek now?” I complained.
“It would ruin the surprise,” Grandma Haloke said, appearing quite mischievous. People said I looked like her when I was concocting up a villainous plan, and I certainly could see it. She got the same smirk I did when she was plotting something. Though she was a Water elemental, I was sure some of the fire inside of me had come from her. She’d raised dragons for a living, after all.
Beside Grandma Haloke was her daughter. Jackie was my dad’s sister, and technically my aunt. But she was only a year or so older than me, and we’d grown up together. She was more like my cousin than anything else. I knew her as Jackson growing up, but seeing her now, I knew she was always meant to be Jackie. Her hair was long, past her hips now, and she had the most elaborate cheekbones that I woulddieto have. She was even taller and thinner than I remembered. A model if there ever was one.
“Prison life did wonders for you. You look great,” Jackie teased. “Maybe I should do a few years behind bars and work on my complexion.”
Prison was no place for a girl like Jackie. I’d seen how the inmates had treated Ivy, and my friend was tough. My cousindidn’t need to experience anything like that. Jackie deserved to be loved and accepted everywhere she went.
“Please,” I said flatly. “Nothing could make you more beautiful than you already are. You’ve always been prettier than me.”
“Nonsense.Allof my children and grandchildren are beautiful,” Grandma Haloke scolded.
