Page 57 of Vampire Visions

“I don’t know who broke her,” Jack shouted from several rooms away, “but someone needs to fix her. I’ve been walking around with a semi for two fucking days, and it’s starting to get weird.”

A groan sounded from the kitchen, causing Sloane to chortle. Her laugh was infectious, even if I wasn’t sure why she found the groan to be funny. I loved her like this; so carefree and relaxed.

Wait. Backup.

Was that what this tightening in my chest was whenever I saw her happy? Was that love? I knew that the affection I felt for Sloane was more than lust. Before, the unsealed bond would pull me toward her, but it didn’t affect my feelings for her. The way I felt about her had only intensified, but I wasn’t sure if it was too soon to love her. Was it?

Did love come with a timestamp? You must invest six months or more before you can say you love someone. Nah, fuck that. I wasn’t an expert, but I was pretty damned sure that wasn’t how it worked. The heart just wanted what it wanted. And mine wanted hers, even more now than before.

“I love my children. I love my children,” Charlie repeated as he left the kitchen. “Dominic is on his way to address some Vampyre business with you and Novak. He’s meeting Blaire now.”

“Of all the lawyers,” I started to complain.

Sloane cut me off, grinning wickedly. “I like Blaire. Does she come around often?”

“Ha. Ha.” I pushed as much sarcasm as possible into my words, parroting back Sloane’s answer when I asked about Lucifer. “She will now.”

* * *

Blaire and Dom arrived within the hour. The guys had all fucked off to the backyard, staying well out of our way. I sat in an armchair, Sloane perched on the side, observing Dom as he set up an ancient dip pen next to a tarnished chalice. Blaire pulled a handwritten contract out of her bag and placed it flat on the coffee table in front of us.

“We’ve already sealed our bond, Dom. Can’t we just skip to the signing and be done?” Sloane questioned the stiff vampire as he pulled out the ceremonial knife.

“You need a council member and a legal representative to bear witness to your promise before you can sign your life away to the House of Vampyre,” Blaire recited before grinning at me.

Dom sighed, waving his hand to dismiss Blaire’s law talk. “Formalities and all that. We still need to witness a promise. Doesn’t have to be an important or intimate one.”

“Good,” Sloane replied. “We're ready when you are.”

“We are?” I questioned her.

“Yeah, it's like the pizza promise I was telling you about.”

“Oh, right.” Pizza promise, sure. I wasn’t promising to buy her pizza. That was ridiculous. I could think of so many things to buy her that would be more fun than food.

“Stand here,” Dom commanded, pointing to the floor in front of him. “The vampire and his bride-”

“Nah, I prefer the hybrid and her groom.” When Dom looked at me like he was about to snap, I shrugged my shoulders. “What? She’s in charge, not me.” Sam snickered from where he sat on the couch.

“We’ll just skip ahead then.” Dom let out a heavy sigh before continuing. “I bind these immortal souls together. Their promises to each other shall be their vows for all eternity. May they live blissfully together through eons of time.”

“That’s it?” I asked. Surely there was more.

“Yes, that’s it, basically. You’ve already sealed your bond, so we skipped the blood magic part. Now you just need to speak your promises.”

I looked at Sloane, and she rolled her eyes at me. “I, Sloane King, promise you, Novak Malin, that we’ll always indulge in the activities that a DJ booth offers us.” Gods, if that wasn’t the perfect promise then I didn’t know what was.

“I, Novak Malin, promise you, Sloane King, that I’ll always carry your heels whenever you're too inebriated to walk in them.” When she grinned, I felt like I was on top of the world.

Charlie dragged his hand down his face, and Sam chortled. “What kind of promises are those?”

“Fun ones…” Sloane sassed, trailing off when Charlie grunted.

“You know that's not how this normally works, right?” Dom asked, worry making his voice rise a bit more than necessary.

“We’ve already mated. We made our promises in private. This was just for show,” Sloane informed them. Again. “This doesn’t mean as much to us as the first vows. I can assure you of that. Those were for us and us alone.”

Charlie finally relaxed, laughing as he stood up. “You sound so much like your mother right now.”