Who had been the worse friend?
Standing in the middle of the crowded airport, surrounded by Romanian travelers who were all hauling their luggage off spinning baggage carousels as announcements were made in numerous languages, Mindy suddenly looked scared, and I remembered one crucial detail from our shared history.
My eighteenth birthday, on the night that Lucius had almost been destroyed, when nearly everybody else, even my parents, in a way, had turned their backs on me and him, Mindy had called to warn me that he was in deep trouble.
She'd had her doubts about Lucius, feared that he might even be hurting me, but in the end she'd come through and tried to save his life, because she'd already known that I loved him.
Maybe if I hadn't shown up in the barn that night and tried to intervene, things would have gone a little differently. Maybe Ethan Strausser would have grabbed the stake instead of Jake, and Lucius would be gone...
All at once my feet were freed and I wasn't just walking toward Mindy—I was running. And without even thinking about how things might be awkward between us—I was a vampire, for crying out loud, and we hadn't seen each other since my transformation—I shoved through the crowds and held open my arms just as Mindy saw me, too, and threw her own arms wide, so we both crashed into each other and started crying so hard that we didn't even have the time or the composure to say hello.
We hung on to each other for a long time, ignoring the people who pushed past us, some cursing mildly in Romanian. And when we finally calmed down, I blurted out the question I'd been wanting to pose but had been too scared to voice, thinking maybe it was enough just to ask Mindy to fly to Romania for the wedding of a friend she might not even like anymore.
"Will you be my maid of honor? Please?"
Mindy pulled away from me and dragged her fingers under her eyes, which were dripping mascara all over her cheeks, then said, with a shaky, still half-teary smile, "Jeez, Jess, I thought you'd never ask!"
I wiped at my own face, trying to clear away some of my tears, too. "I was afraid—"
That you'd say no. That you couldn't in good conscience support my marriage to a vampire. That we weren't friends like that anymore...
But before I could find the right words, Mindy squeezed my arm, stopping me from saying more. "Who else is gonna do your hair on the most important day of your life, Jess?" she teased. "Huh?"
For some reason I almost started to cry again—but I was laughing, too. "Nobody but you," I promised, knowing that everything that had happened between us, all of the weirdness, had been fixed.
Or maybe there was one more thing to say, because suddenly Mindy got serious. "You're really a—" She glanced around, probably checking to see if there were any English speakers who might overhear. Then she leaned close and whispered, "...vampire?"
I straightened a little, not wanting to hide what I was or act ashamed. "Yes. I am."
Mindy studied my face for a long time, like she needed to see that I was still really, truly me and not just some bloodsucking creature beyond her understanding. Gradually, I saw her smile not only return but get steadier and warmer, as if she was setting aside her last reservations about me. About us. "That's cool," she finally said with a nod. "That's okay."
I hadn't known that I needed anybody's endorsement, but I guessed I needed Mindy's, because it felt good to hear somebody say that out loud.
What I was now ... It really was okay.
"Thanks," I said, as my own smile got even bigger.
I'd been ecstatic about marrying Lucius, but having my best friend back ... It filled some empty place in my heart, and although we were pretty much adults, and I was about to be married, I reached out and held her hand, just like we used to do when we were little kids on the playground.
"Let's get your bags," I suggested, pulling her toward the correct carousel, where most of the luggage had already been claimed. As we stepped up, though, I saw three big, new looking, faux Louis Vuitton suitcases conspicuously taking the ride around for probably the tenth time. When they reached us, Mindy let go of my hand and hauled one, then another, off the belt, and I hurried to grab the remaining bag before it could spin by again.
As the heavy suitcase thudded to my feet, I looked at Mindy, confused. "Three pieces of luggage? But I thought you can only stay for three days, tops?"
Mindy looked at me as if I were the one who was out of my mind. "This is the biggest event of your life," she reminded me. "It's gonna take a lot of hair product!"
I started grinning like crazy then, feeling completely happy. I was about to marry Lucius, and Mindy really was back...
"Come on," I said, starting to wheel the suitcase I'd claimed toward the exit. "Lucius has a driver waiting for us, and we have lots to do."
"I'm right behind you," Mindy promised, hurrying along with her two bags wobbling in tow. "Can't wait!"
I looked over at her and we shared a smile that summed up about fifteen years of friendship and all the hopes and dreams we'd had as girls about falling in love and getting married and living happily ever after.
Then I faced forward and led us both toward the waiting car.
The wedding was officially under way.
Chapter 2
"I'M THINKING A classic updo," Mindy said, head bent as she leafed through the pages of a special bridal edition of Celebrity Hairstyle magazine. "Depending, of course, on your headpiece."
I was torn between checking out the options and watching the passing scenery from the back seat of the Lexus SUV that Lucius had provided for our ride from the airport. Apparently he'd anticipated how much Mindy would pack, because the SUV had more storage than the other vehicles in the Vladescus' well-stocked garage ... the contents of which would soon be at my beck and call, too, hard as that still was to believe.
Outside the window, the dramatic vistas of the rising Carpathians unfolded, and now and then when we rounded a curve on the steep mountain road, I'd find myself staring at nothing but sky and grab the seat, because I still wasn't used to those hairpin turns, either.
Do I really live here?
"Jess?" Mindy tapped my sleeve. "I asked about your headpiece. It's gonna be a tiara, right? I mean, it has to be a tiara!"
I turned to see Min's eyes gleaming at the prospect of being part of an honest-to-goodness royal wedding—the kind we'd never really thought would happen for either one of us, in spite of what all our favorite Disney movies had taught us to expect. "Yes, it's a tiara," I confirmed, thinking Mindy might actually be more excited than I was about the wedding itself. I couldn't wait to be married to Lucius, but I was nervous, too, about the ceremony.
Would I follow all the proper protocol?
Would the guests have a good time?
And most important, would any of my relatives—Dragomir or Vladescu—cause any trouble? Because that was definitely possible.
"I can't wait to see the dress!" Mindy said, returning her attention to the magazine on her lap. "I bet it's beautiful!"
"You'll see it tomorrow," I promised, hoping she'd like it. And I hoped Lucius would like the gown I'd chosen. I'd designed it myself with the help of a Romanian dressmaker, and it was a little unconventional. But I wanted to wear something that would remind him of a certain moment we'd shared before I'd admitted to liking him.
I could still hear his voice as he'd stood behind me in a Pennsylvania dress shop, his fingers twisted up into my curly hair. "Don't ever again say that you are not 'valuable,' Antanasia. Or not beautiful..."
That was the first time I'd ever felt remotely like the princess I was still trying to learn to be.
Getting nervous again, I resumed staring out the window and saw the rooftops of Sighisoara in the distance. It crossed my mind to suggest a slight detour so I could show Mindy the charming medieval town, just like my Uncle Dorin had done for me the first time I'd traveled to Romania. But at the last moment I kept my mouth shut, because there was something else that I was eager to show Mindy first, even more than the n
arrow, quaint streets that Lucius had roamed as a child.
Leaning forward, I tapped the driver's shoulder, then read from a note I'd had Lucius write for me, butchering the words with my poor accent. "Se opreste cind ai lui Vladescu casa, te rog."
Although Mindy glanced up from her magazine to give me an impressed look, I knew my pronunciation was way off. But the driver—one of the stern young guards who'd once pinned my arms in a dark forest—must have understood, because he nodded without taking his eyes off the twisting road and agreed, "Da, bineinteles."
"What's that all about?" Mindy asked, seeming remarkably comfortable for a girl taking her first ride in rural Romania with a vampiric chauffeur at the wheel of a luxury SUV. "What's up?"
"We're going to pull over in a second," I said. "There's something I want you to see."
"What...?"
Before Mindy could even finish her question, the SUV slowed and eased to the side of the road. I pointed past my friend's shoulder, signaling for her to look out her own window.
She shifted in her seat and, when confronted with the view, had the reaction I'd expected, because I'd had it myself the first time Dorin had pulled over at almost that exact spot. I still had the same reaction every time I saw the place that was going to be my home. The mixture of awe and disbelief and maybe a touch of fear that made your jaw actually drop and that left me, and now Mindy, unable to think or say anything more than...
"Is that place for real?"
Chapter 3
"YOU'RE REALLY GOING to live there?" Mindy asked, without taking her eyes from the sprawling, soaring Gothic Vladescu estate. She took a step closer to the edge of the precipice, and I grabbed her sleeve, not wanting her to tumble down into the steep, narrow valley that separated us from Lucius's home. But Mindy seemed too transfixed to even notice that I'd stopped her. "You're actually getting married there?"
It was hard to tell if I heard awe—or concern—in her voice. Maybe there was a mixture of both. Or maybe I was projecting my own conflicted emotions about my soon-to-be house onto my friend.
Letting go of Mindy's sleeve, I shaded my eyes against the setting sun and joined her in studying the massive castle.
The vast stone edifice, the size of a city block, was magnificent, without a doubt. Like something straight out of a fairy tale. And yet, as my eyes traced along the rambling exterior, which was punctuated by spiked turrets and dominated by a tall watchtower, I couldn't help thinking that fairy tales always have dark twists. Little kids got lost in desolate forests and stumbled across witches intent on stuffing them into ovens. A handful of beans could lead to an encounter with an angry giant. And, as Lucius had reminded me in the shadow of the very stone walls I was observing, innocent girls could find themselves eaten by wolves, if they weren't always on guard...
Mindy interrupted my thoughts with a soft, low whistle. "That place is..."
She couldn't seem to articulate her thoughts, but I could finish them well enough.
Awesome.
Imposing.
Fearsome?
"Yes, I know," I agreed, dropping my hand and looking at Mindy. "It's almost too much for words."
She finally managed to tear her gaze away, too. "When you said you were getting married at Lucius's 'estate,' I didn't think you meant, like, an honest-to-goodness Cinderella, king-and-queen castle." Then she turned back to peer across the valley. "Where, exactly, will you get married in there? Is there, like, a special room just for weddings? Because it looks big enough to have a special room for everything."
I looked again at the castle, too, searching the towers and courtyards and tall, narrow windows—and trying to imagine the spot myself.
"Lucius won't tell me," I admitted.
Mindy spun toward me, clearly shocked. "What? You're joking, right?"
Although she'd never had a boyfriend—not unlike me too long ago—she'd been planning her own wedding since we were five years old. There was no way Melinda Stankowicz would ever let anybody—not even her one true love—surprise her with a location for the most important night of her life. Especially not if she was getting married in a place that held collections of weapons and was splashed with bloodstains, for crying out loud.
No, Mindy would have insisted on seeing the room ... or the chamber ... or wherever, exactly, her groom intended to tie the knot.
"The only thing I know is that I haven't even seen the spot yet," I told her. "Lucius purposely kept it hidden from me when he showed me the rest of the castle." Including a labyrinth of buried chambers that could only be called a dungeon, and a courtroom where one day I'd be expected to hand down judgments that might involve destruction.
"Jess, are you sure you don't want to see where you're actually exchanging vows?" Mindy interrupted my thoughts. I heard genuine concern—almost alarm—in her voice. "This is your wedding!"
"I know," I agreed. "Believe me—I've thought of that!"
I'd been very worried when Lucius had first suggested that I let him pick the location. But when I'd brought up the topic of choosing where we'd marry, my future husband had said to me, "I know the perfect place." Then he'd arched his dark eyebrows, mischief in his black eyes, and asked, "Do you trust me, Antanasia?"
I'd looked into those complicated eyes for a long time, knowing that this was a once-in-an-eternity chance to choose where I'd get married ... and thinking, just for a split second, that the vampire who'd stood before me had not too long ago surprised me with a stake pressed to my heart.
Lucius had been smiling, teasing, but there'd been something serious in his expression, too, and I'd had a feeling that he was testing our bond, just a little. Then I'd begun to smile, too, mirroring Lucius's own grin...
"Jess—seriously!" Mindy's voice brought me back to the present again. "You're letting a guy—even a guy as cool as Lucius—make that decision?"
In spite of the twinges of apprehension I always felt in the shadow of the Vladescu estate, I found myself smiling again as I turned to Mindy and said, very honestly, "I trust him."
Then I glanced at my watch, realizing we needed to get moving. "Come on," I said, heading toward the waiting vehicle. "We need to get to the Dragomir estate—which is much less impressive," I warned her, so she wouldn't expect too much. "I'm sure you can't wait to clean up, and we both need to get dressed for dinner, then round up Mom and Dad, too. The last time I saw them, they were off on some hike in the mountains, looking for a medicinal plant Dad remembered harvesting the last time they were here."
"Your parents came?" Mindy asked. "Really?"
"Of course," I said, surprised that she would be surprised. This was my wedding. Then I remembered how Mom and Dad had tried to stop me from going to Lucius's aid on that terrible night when he'd almost been destroyed in the Zinns' barn. Mindy probably knew most of what had happened that evening, including how my parents had taken away my car keys, afraid that Lucius really had succumbed to his darker nature and bitten Faith Crosse.
"I forgave Mom and Dad a long time ago," I told Mindy, not even bothering to ask how much she knew for certain. "They were only trying to protect me. They didn't know how bad things were about to get for Lucius."
"Yeah, I guess not," Mindy agreed as we reached the Lexus. But she held back a step, seeming to have something on her mind. "Jake...," she finally began, seeming hesitant to bring up the topic of my old boyfriend, who'd plunged a stake into the love of my life. "He..."
"He didn't really try to kill Lucius," I reassured her. "It was all a setup, to save Lucius's life, actually."
"Yeah, your mom told me the story," Mindy said. "There were so many rumors, and so much confusion after that night ... I had to finally go ask her what was true."
"Lucius tried to invite Jake to the wedding," I added. "Even volunteered to fly him here. He feels so grateful for what Jake did."
Mindy's eyes widened with surprise. "And...?"
I shook my head before Mindy could start thinking anybody else from school would be at the cerem
ony. "He declined. I think he'd rather just forget the whole thing." Maybe forget me, too, after how I'd treated him.
"Yeah, I can see him wanting that," Mindy said. "Jake doesn't seem like a guy who'd like a fancy wedding—especially one with vampires."
"I don't think he'd be comfortable in a castle," I agreed. Yet I still thought of Jake as a hero. A nice guy who'd tried to do the right thing. But I was destined for somebody very different. A prince who was probably at that very moment donning formal dinner attire, or running a razor over his jaw, being careful at the spot where his skin was scarred. Or maybe he'd be issuing last-minute orders to his staff, or pacing around his study, hands laced behind his back as he prepared the toast he'd give that night...
Although I saw Lucius every day now, my stomach started to tickle the way it always did when I thought of him, and I began moving us toward the SUV again, suddenly in a hurry. "Come on—let's go!"
"Where's the dinner going to be, anyhow?" Mindy asked, following my lead.
The driver reached out and opened the door for both of us, and as I climbed in, I grinned over my shoulder. "Let's just say that in a few hours, you'll get a much closer look at Lucius's house!"
"Oh, boy," Mindy muttered, climbing in, too. "Oh, boy..."
And for the second time that evening, I couldn't quite tell whether she was excited or scared. Or maybe I was projecting my own feelings again. For while I knew that Jake Zinn wasn't on the guest list, I still wasn't exactly sure who all might show up.
Chapter 4
THE VLADESCU CASTLE intimidated me with its sheer size and its grim history, and the stone walls could make it feel cold and formidable. But the dining room where Lucius and I held a pre-wedding dinner seemed warm and intimate. The people I loved most in the world had gathered near the long, gleaming mahogany table, which reflected the light from no fewer than four massive wrought-iron chandeliers, each one holding dozens of flickering tapers that cast a soft glow over the room.