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Extract
Looking into the mirror, I adjusted my black tuxedo and ascot tie. Then, I combed my hair back once more and looked into my own green eyes, bright with anticipation.
“Well, well, don’t you look gorgeous,” Drake Summerfield teased as he crossed the room and looked into the mirror behind me.
“Thanks, Drake,” I said, smiling, “but I don’t think gorgeous is the right word.”
“No, dapper is more the word, but it seemed inadequate.” He returned the smile. “Are you sure this is what you want? To marry Leila?”
“More sure than anything.” I pulled the front of my jacket down, adjusting it once again even though it didn’t need it.
“Well, she could always become a vampire for you,” he said, matter of fact. Drake and I were both vampires. I was the head of the North Coven and he was the head of the South Coven, but we have been friends for what seemed like an eternity.
“No, she doesn’t,” I replied, my eyes suddenly flaring.
“Then, how do you think you’ll manage it?” Drake asked.
“One day at a time.”
“You love her very much, do you not?” When it was just the two of us with no humans around, we tended to let down our guard and slipped into our older vernacular.
“Yes, I do. Over all of my years, I have never met anyone like her before,” I said, as my mind drifted back over the centuries. “Where has the time gone, Drake?”
“I don’t know, but the only ones who are getting older are the children,” Drake joked.
“Luckily,” I replied, laughing. There were many drawbacks, but that was one perk of being a vampire—you don’t age. I was turned when I was thirty-three and I haven’t aged a day since.
“Well, I think it’s time that I retrieve your lovely bride,” Drake said, looking at his watch. Then, he glanced up at me with a gleam in his eyes. “If you aren’t at the altar when we get there, I will marry her myself.”
“Like hell you will,” I replied. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”
Drake laughed. “Yes, you have.” He clasped my shoulder, then pulled me in for a quick man hug. “Congratulations, you lucky bastard.”
“Hey, now, leave my mother out of this,” I joked.
He laughed as he walked down the hallway toward the room where Leila waited.
I took a deep breath, not sure why I was suddenly nervous. I hadn’t been nervous in centuries, but here it was, rearing its ugly head.
“Ready?” A voice asked from the other end of the hallway. I turned and it was Kellen Tussand, with his dark wavy hair and muscled good looks, wearing a tuxedo. He looked young, despite his being a vampire. In fact, I turned him when he was twenty-five. Looking at him now, he hadn’t aged at ll since that day, even though he was centuries old.
Kellen and I had become friends and he was dying on the battlefield toward the end of the Revolutionary War, so I carried him to a nearby cave. I gave him my blood and sat with him as he died. Then, I gave him my blood after he awakened, turning him into a vampire. But that was long ago and he has been a trusted member of my coven ever since.
After my best friend and colleague Charlotte St. Claire had betrayed me and had nearly killed Leila and the baby, Kellen had helped to stop the vampire werewolf war, so I gave him the job as my personal assistant, in charge of my affairs. We were friends before, but now we were
closer and I trusted him with my life. Even though Charlotte had betrayed me, I refused to let that prevent me from trusting others. It was an isolated incident. The thought of it pains me, when I allow myself to dwell on it. I trust the people around me until they do something that made them untrustworthy. Then, I never trust them again. Trust and loyalty are big issues with me. Anyone who knows me, knows that.
“Well, Lance,” Kellen said, clasping my shoulder. “Your bride awaits.”
A broad smile spread across my face as I forced the memories from my head. This was the happiest day of my life and I intended to enjoy it. “After you,” I said, gesturing to him, then I followed him out.
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