Finally, he then began addressing Jared, who responded, “ita vero”.

Well thank bloody God for that. I wasn’t too proud to say that I’d still had my worries that he might back out.

As if he’d sensed that, he said, Never.

When it came time for me to respond to the Prelate, I said, “ita vero”. I could have been mistaken, but it looked like Jared breathed a sigh of relief.

Only the fact that the Prelate was holding our wrists in place stopped me from wrapping my arms around Jared when his mouth met mine, giving me a drugging kiss followed by a sharp bite to my bottom lip. He took only one sip of blood before pulling back, giving me a chance to return the bite and take a sip of his own blood.

If the Prelate hadn’t still been holding our hands in place, I most likely would have backed away, on guard, when a breeze suddenly began to build around us.

It’s okay, it’s supposed to happen.

It would have been nice if Luther had mentioned this part. Trusting Jared, I remained still and quashed my anxiety. As if that cleared the mental pathway, the psychic connection suddenly snapped into place. I’d expected it to be similar to the link I’d had with my Sire; for Jared to be a small presence in the back of my mind. But it wasn’t like that at all. It was almost like I now had an extra sense, and that sense was totally focused on Jared − on his mood, his welfare, his whereabouts, his emotions, hell, even his vitals.

Pulling me from my musings, heat suddenly spread along my third finger. I had to resist the urge to snatch my hand back at the sensation of someone scraping at the base of my finger with a sharp nail. Then, where a wedding ring might have been, was a black, intricate, beautiful, and almost Celtic-like knot around my finger. The exact same one circled Jared’s ring finger. Touching mine, I realised that although it was much like a tattoo, it was also bumpy. Like brail.

Knots are different for each couple, Jared told me. Yours won’t match anyone’s but mine, and vice versa.

Now I understood why Luther hadn’t told me. He’d known I’d find this kind of nice, and he’d wanted me to have the surprise. Happily accepting Jared’s kiss, I said, I love it.

Good, because it will never come off, never fade, never alter in any way.

As the Prelate then made some sort of gesture, the guests rose from their seats and clapped. Oh. It was over.

“And now for the feast,” announced Antonio.

(Jared)

The Binding feast was taking place in the grand garden of Antonio’s mansion. The numerous tables circled the space that had been designated to be the ‘dance floor’. Seated with Sam and I on what was the main table were Antonio, Evan, Luther, Sebastian, Wes, and Lena. Although the garden had been decorated beautifully with torches, candles, butterfly lights, and a huge banner, I was too distracted by Sam to truly appreciate any of it.

She was absolutely enchanting, and that was nothing to do with her new Keja allure. It was because she was the most amazing creature ever. I’d felt connected to her before, but now I was linked to her on a whole other level. This new sense I had was totally attuned to her and only her. I couldn’t just feel her emotions, I could feel her − her heartbeat, her general mood, her thirst level, her energy level, and − best of all − I’d always know exactly where she was. No one could steal and hide her from me again. Not ever.

When Antonio slowly rose from his chair, champagne flute in hand, all the chattering stopped. “Firstly, I would like to thank you all for coming and celebrating this glorious night with us. I am sure you will all agree with me that the ceremony was beautiful. I felt honoured to be there. These two people are incredibly special in many ways. Both are independent, strong-willed, inspiring characters who I, just like many others here at The Hollow, have grown extremely fond of. And so, I was more than happy to bless their joining. I would ask you all to raise your glasses.”

As they all did, Antonio looked at us. “To Jared and Sam…May you enrich each other’s lives and find happiness everlasting.” After everyone had sipped some of the champagne flavoured NST from their glasses, he added, “I hope you all enjoy the upcoming feast, but before it begins, I wish to hand you over to Evan.”

Oh, great. When my brother stood wearing one of his smirks, I quietly groaned. So did Sam.

“As it is tradition that a friend of the couple gives a little speech, I thought I’d say a few words.” Turning to us, he flashed us a huge grin. “Sam, I have to say you look beautiful. And Jared…well, you look all right, I guess.” Punk.

Evan included all the guests as he continued. “As most of you know, Sam and Jared didn’t get off to a great start. But a lot of duels and whippings later, here they are…still fighting. But I suppose that means that this big step will suit them, because I’ve always thought that Binding was a bit like a war − both sides think they’re right, and neither wants to back down…the only difference is that you’re sleeping with the enemy.”

Rowan thought that was hilarious. Marcia shot her life-partner a dirty look.

“Despite all the duelling, I truly believe that Sam is perfect for Jared. She has a number of qualities that I could list, but what I really love about her is that she makes my brother smile. Not a lot of people can do that. On that thought” − he looked at me, then − “Jared, you’re a lucky bastard. Sam, take pity on him, he’s only eleven.”

I tried not to smile, but unfortunately it didn’t work, particularly since Sam was laughing.

“It’s no secret that Jared is popular with the females, just as it’s no secret that he once enjoyed that. But as it’s clear that he’s utterly devoted to Sam, I think it would be a good idea if those of you who have a key to his apartment now hand it over.”

I gawked as practically every female rose and came to the main table to place a key in the glass bowl that Evan was holding up. I could feel that Sam was irritated, but when Fletcher skipped over and put a key in the bowl, she realised that Evan was just pissing around and had obviously handed out keys earlier. Laughing, she discretely flipped Evan the finger. I scowled at the jerk.

Once everyone was seated again, Evan smiled at us. “I don’t think I’m in the best position to give either of you any advice since I haven’t yet Bound myself to anyone, but just think of it as a football game: there’ll be a lot of shouting, balls are going to get manhandled, and there’ll be some hard tackles…but if you keep at it and try real hard, there’ll also be smiles and a whole lot of scoring.” Nodding, he then sat again on the seat beside mine as everyone clapped.

“I could hit you for the key stunt,” I told him. He just laughed.

And so the lavish feast began. Rum-flavoured NSTs were passed around as course after course was served − all of which were delicious − while the same band from the yacht played a variety of songs that covered all genres. I had to agree with Sam; Fletcher had most likely chosen the music once again. Most people got up to dance. Chico and Jude danced together a few times, which drew eyes. Sam got up dancing several times but would sit her ass back down the second a ballad started – still not a fan of slow dancing. She was therefore grateful that Binding ceremonies didn’t include a ‘first dance’ like weddings did.

Dancing not far from her were my brother and one of Bran’s consorts − or ‘pretend’ consorts – Alora. As usual for whenever he was close, the redhead slightly resembled a flighty deer. I literally had no idea what her problem was. I’d seen the way she looked at him, seen the deadly looks she had shot any females who went near him. It took a lot to not go over there and ask what had crawled up her ass and died.

The moment the song ended, she scampered. I couldn’t help chuckling. Nor could Evan, who then made his way to me.

“Not so smooth anymore, are you?” I joked.

“Or maybe I’m too smooth and it’s making her flustered.”

“Have you told her about Luther’s vision; that she was in it with you?”

He shook his head. “That would spook her out and send her running.”

“She looks close to running anyway.”

“She has her reasons.”

“And you’re not going to tell me what they are,” I quickly realised.

“Another time,” he promised. “This is your Binding. This is about you and that stunning woman over there who David is drooling over.”

Yeah, I’d noticed that, and I had every intention of whisking her away any second now. I knew from experience that Binding celebrations could go on past dawn and I wanted some time alone with her.

I squeezed my way through the crowds to where she was dancing with David and tapped him on the shoulder. I didn’t have to say a word; he instantly handed her over to me, congratulating us once more.

Pulling her close, I kissed her softly. “Ready to leave yet?”

Smiling, she arched a brow. “Anxious to get me out of this dress?”

“Actually, I’m totally fine with you leaving it on while I bury myself inside you.” I’d been imagining doing that all night long. “Come on, let’s go. I want you all to myself.”

“But we’ll miss all the fireworks.”

“I’ll make you come so hard you’ll see plenty of fireworks.”

“Cocky bastard. Okay, let me just tell—”

“No, trust me, you don’t want to tell anyone.” I began leading her to one of the darkened corners.

“Why?”

“Because it’s tradition for the guests to then line up for the newly Bound couple to shake their hand.”

“That’s a bad thing?”

“Yes, because all the guys will kiss you, and all the women will kiss me; it’s an age-old thing that, dumb as it is, people still do − it’s supposed to get the blood running.” The only thing it would do was piss me off and make me contemplate who to kill first.

Her smile fell. “You’re right, then; I don’t want to tell anyone. Let’s just sneak away. But first…there’s a little someone I’d like to see.”

I didn’t need to ask who she was talking about. “We can do that tomorrow.”

“You want her gone, don’t you? If we do this now, you won’t have to spend one more second worrying about her. We can start our life as a Bonded couple without there being any loose ends that need tying up. She’ll be gone from our lives for good. Then we can concentrate on enjoying this night.”

Well, when she put it like that...“Okay, let’s go.”

“Wait, where’s Evan?”

I frowned. “Evan?”

“He’s still linked to her, remember. We need Chico to use his darts to put him unconscious for a while. That should help him skip the pain.”

Nodding, I led her to where Evan stood, laughing with a dark-haired Keja female – and being scowled at by Alora for it, who was sat with Bran not far away. “Magda,” was all I needed to say for him to understand.

“Sorry to ask you to leave the party early,” said Sam, “but we’d like to get this part over with.”

Evan held up his hand, smiling. “Hey, it’s okay. I want her dead as much as you both do. I want my link to her gone for good. That’s better than any party could be.”

“One of Chico’s darts will put you unconscious until it’s over.”

Evan kissed Sam on the cheek, still smiling. “Make it painful.” He then patted me on the back and headed for Chico.

Taking Sam’s hands, I teleported us to the main door of the containment cells beneath the large mansion. One of the guards slid open the door’s small window, saw it was us, and opened the door wide. Having exchanged nods with him, Sam and I followed Magda’s scent as we walked down the row of cells – all of which were constructed of unbreakable glass thanks to one of the vampires within the legion who had an affinity to glass and could shape and manipulate it.

Some of the cells were empty, and some contained weary looking vampires who clearly knew this was the end for them. Eventually we reached Magda’s cell. She was curled up on the floor, shaking, panting, sweating, and moaning. Brook was in the neighbouring cell, also huddled on the ground as Magda’s pain tormented him through their link.

Obviously having sensed us, she opened her eyes.

Sam smiled pleasantly. “Hurts like f**k, doesn’t it?”

“Fuck you, bitch,” hissed Magda, glaring at Sam with utter hatred in her bloodshot eyes.

“I’d like to call you the same thing, but you don’t have warmth and character.”

Magda’s eyes shot to me and there was a plea for mercy in them. Was she for real? When I snorted, she slid her gaze back to Sam, curling her upper lip. “He still cares for me.”

Sam cocked her head. “Not getting tired of this?”

“He’ll always care for me. He still feels linked to me.”

“No he doesn’t, silly.” The mock pity on Sam’s face almost made me laugh. She held up her hand, admiring the knot on her finger. Magda’s eyes honed in on it, and her face quickly twisted into a hideous scowl. “I did warn you that you’d lose the long-term fight, Magda. All you had to do was let it go. That would have been the fair thing to do for Jared, considering you owe him big time. And you would have escaped this agony that you’re in now. Such a silly girl.”

Magda growled. “Just you remember he was mine first. He loved me first. I’m the one who made him.”

“Yes, you did make him. And as much as I’m grateful to have him, it seems that I actually have enough goodness in me to wish that you hadn’t taken his human life from him. Jared and Evan – they both deserved to live long happy, human lives. And Magda, you deserve to die. That’s right, I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you, and no one will f**king care. But on a lighter note, you won’t have to endure that pain much longer. You should thank me for putting you out of your misery. Ordinarily I wouldn’t put a dog down.”