CHAPTER 59

Mimi

"You look beautiful, my dear. If only your father were here to see you," Trinity Force said as she adjusted Mimi's veil in the car.

"He's not really my father. You know that, right?" Mimi asked. "Like you're not really my mother and Jack's not my brother. Otherwise, why would I be bonded to him?"

"Family is family," Trinity said. "Maybe we are of a different sort, but we are still a family. We can learn from the humans too."

"Whatever," Mimi said, rolling her eyes.

So. It was finally here. Bonding day. She was wearing the gown of her dreams. A custom-made creation: a real Balthazar Verdugo. Made from fifty yards of the finest Parisian silk jacquard, woven with dozens of tiny silk rosebuds, tinsel paillettes, antique lace, and ostrich feathers, the dress had taken two thousand hours to make, not counting the one thousand hours the Belgian nuns spent on the embroidery. She carried a rosary in her purse: the same one she had carried at the last bonding, in Newport. Diamond-and-pearl earrings from Buccellati were her only jewelry. Mimi checked her reflection in the rearview mirror, liking how her lips were red and juicy underneath the veil. She looked absolutely perfect; if only she felt the same way. Instead, Mimi wondered if she was making the biggest mistake of her life.

Bonds are made to be broken. Like rules.

The car pulled up to the church. Inside would be her whole Coven. The vampires would celebrate tonight. There would be dancing and fireworks and many toasts to the happy couple. Everything was perfectly orchestrated. All she had to do was slip into the role. She could do that, if she could just stop listening to Kingsley's voice in her head.

She stepped out of the car, and a sudden gust of wind lifted the veil from her face. Her mother walked her just into the anteroom, where Mimi would wait until it was her turn to enter.

Inside the church, the bondsmaids were walking slowly down the aisle, with the little petal girls.

Trinity turned to give Mimi her last words of motherly advice: "Walk straight. Don't slouch. And for heavens's sake, smile! It's your bonding!"

Then she too walked through the door and down the aisle. The door shut behind her, leaving Mimi alone. Finally, Mimi heard the orchestra play the first strains of the "Wedding March." Wagner. Then the ushers opened the doors and Mimi moved to the threshold. There was an appreciative gasp from the crowd as they took in the sight of Mimi in her fantastic dress. But instead of acknowledging her triumph as New York's most beautiful bride, Mimi looked straight ahead, at Jack, who was standing so tall and straight at the altar. He met her eyes and did not smile.

"Let's just get this over with."

His words were like an ice pick to the heart. He doesn't love me. He has never loved me. Not the way he loves Schuyler. Not the way he loved Allegra. He has come to every bonding with this darkness. With this regret and hesitation, doubt and despair. She couldn't deny it. She knew her twin, and she knew what he was feeling, and it wasn't joy or even relief. What am I doing?

"Ready?" Forsyth Llewellyn suddenly appeared by her side. Oh, right, she remembered, she had said yes when Forsyth had offered to walk her down the aisle.

Here goes nothing. As if in a daze, Mimi took his arm, Jack's words still echoing in her head. She walked, zombie-like, down the aisle, not even noticing the flashing cameras or the murmurs of approval from the hard to-impress crowd.

Almost halfway down the aisle, she saw someone she wasn't expecting, and she almost stumbled on her satin heels.

Kingsley Martin stood at the end of a pew, his arms crossed. He was wearing a tuxedo as well. Just like any other guest. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in Paris! He was supposed to be gone! He looked directly at Mimi.

She heard his voice loud and clear in her head. "Leave him."

"Why should I? What do you promise me?"

"Nothing. And everything. A life of danger and adventure. A chance to be yourself. Leave him. Come with me."

He really had some nerve. She had already made her decision! She couldn't leave her twin in the middle of the bonding, in front of the entire Coven! They would laugh about it for centuries, she knew. Who did he think she was? Was he smirking? He totally was. He knew he was making her squirm. Well, she would show him. She would throw this in his face, make him wish that... he had never...

What was she thinking? Kingsley was here. No matter what he said, his actions spoke louder than his glibness. He was supposed to be in Paris, but instead he was here, in the church, at the bonding, because maybe, just maybe, he felt something for her, something real and true and wonderful and something he could not deny, no matter how many jokes he made about it.

Maybe he was here because he loved her.

Let's get this over with, Jack had sent. Jack would love her once they were bonded. But only as his duty. Only because the bond would force him. Mimi held Kingsley's gaze.

"I can't..."

CHAPTER 60

Bliss

What was Mimi doing? Why had she stopped in the middle of the aisle? Who was she looking at? Kingsley Martin? Bliss hadn't seen Kingsley since the trial.... How strange that he was here for the bonding. Wasn't he a Venator of some sort?

Martin!

An image appeared. A thin boy, sickly and frail, following on the heels of his older, stronger, smarter cousin. A boy who admired and adored his childhood hero, his Gaius, his protector and his best friend.

Gemullus.

Bliss saw it: The lord Emperor Caligula taking the throne, his younger, frailer cousin by his side. Tiberius Gemellus. The true heir. But there was no envy in Gemellus's heart. Only adoration. He loved him so. He would do anything his emperor commanded him to do. Even agree to the Corruption.

She saw them: Caligula taking the blood of Gemellus, and Gemellus transforming from a sickly boy to a strong one. Stronger than he had ever dreamed; faster, and more powerful, the entire being transformed. And then the despair... the agony of the soul unbound... the cries of the many in the undead blood, and then penance before Michael... and forgiveness... and a mission.

And suddenly everything fell into place. The Visitor's voice spoke so fast, Bliss didn't understand what he was saying.

"Of course. Gemellus. Ofcourse! Michael was a crafty one.Trust in him to trust a tra itor. We must strike now. Now. Now. Now."

The unfinished church. In the sacred laws, a church must be completed to be fully consecrated. Of course. Where best to hide the gate than in a sacred spot that was not at all sacred? A church that even a Silver Blood could enter?

Without knowing what she was doing, Bliss cried in a voice darker than the deepest echelons of hell.

"Croatan! To me! This is our destiny! The Gate of Time is here! Arise, dark demons of the deep! Arise and awake, your time has come!"

And suddenly all was mist as the Silver Bloods entered the church, the only church they could enter in the known universe, and they surrounded Kingsley, enveloping him in the silver mist, thick and impenetrable. They blanketed the church in darkness, their laughter crazed and agonized.

"The girl! Don't forget the girl!" rasped a voice.

Bliss looked. Schuyler was running down the length of the aisle, running to help Kingsley while the Coven stood in shock. It was as if Schuyler were moving in slow motion through a still crowd.

"No! Schuyler! Stay back!" Bliss yelled, running to save her friend from the demon's reach.

But Leviathan got there first.