Spirits

Chapter 35

"What is that boy doing here?" My father roared. "Get him out!"

His usual calm disposition was gone, replaced with a red face and the bellows that only belonged to the wild beasts he hunted. His mouth was open and the skin around his face looked taunt, ready to peel off.

The guards who had been watching in stunned silence as the man had entered lept into action. Dropping their weapons, they grabbed Jax and pulled him to his knees. Their pressure must have hurt Jax because he flinched momentarily, but resumed his relaxed and humorous tone easily.

"This was not the welcome I was expecting." He received a harsh blow from my father and his head snapped to the side. I wondered if a movement like that had cost him his lip the other night.

"Hold him down. Pastor," my father faced the pavilion once again, "please continue the ceremony."

The man stuttered but his words continued. I didn't look away from Jax as the final verses hung in the air. Liu Ming was nowhere obvious, but I knew she had to be near.

"Then, by the power invested in me, I pronounce you both man and wife, you may kiss the bride."

Jax never looked away and instead pulled one hand free to the corner of his mouth. He turned an invisible lock and his mouth fell open like a drowned victim gasping for air. I wasn't sure if I understood him, but I tried to nod as my head was forced away from him. Nicholas grasped the back of my head, fingers digging into my curls.

He closed his eyes as he brought our heads together, his lips were hard and possessive like he was claiming me as his own. I felt the surge of disgust flow through me and I remembered Isabella telling me about her wedding. This was the event she remembered as her first realization that she belonged to someone else for the rest of her life.

Allowing myself a moment to think of My companions, waiting for me in the crowd, I whispered through my lips, "Till death do us part."

Nicholas's eyes shot open just in time to feel my teeth sink into his lips, bringing blood with them and transfer what I hoped was poison. His grip on me released and he backhanded me away from him. The sting of my face was nothing compared to him.

From my spot on the floor, I could see people stand and begin running. While most looked shocked, some seemed to understand what had happened and were backing away from me slowly. Jax's face was frozen in disbelief as he stared at me, perched on the floor. Nicholas's lower lip was bleeding from where I had bit him, but the red liquid was matched with slow, bloody tears from his eyes.

Nicholas shook as my poison began working its way through him. Unlike Captain Pierre and his cruel sailor, Nicholas did not die immediately. His skin began to heat as a bright rash seared his body. The beads of sweat pouring down his face mixed with the blood to form red welts and his clothes were thoroughly soaked. His desperate shouts for help were unanswered, people standing back, shocked to paralysis by the sight. His body racked up and down with seizures and uncontrollable movements.

If it had been anyone else, even my father, I would have felt pity, but as I watched my husband quiver in pain on the floor, I only felt satisfaction. That might make me a monster, but perhaps the birth of one monster in the world could be evened out by the death of another.

When his body finally rested, minutes after our union, the crowd began to stir. Waves of guests fled the enclosed space and their terrified shrieks faded with them. Even some of the guards looked less sure of themselves and backed away into the walls.

A small group of young, well-dressed women stood frozen in their seats, facing the now still body of my late husband. Their faces were pale as though they had glimpsed death himself.