Bloody Angel: Book 3

Bachelor(ette) Parties

Lilit giggles with a blush, her smile wide on her face which she tries to hide behind her hand.  Papa watches her with his own warm smile, pulling his mask off his face to drink his tea letting out a loud hum of delight.

“Delizioso! I did not know we had such tea here. The ghouls, they have been holding out on me!” He takes another deep drink, muttering to himself in Italian.

“Not by choice, I assure you,” Annie tells him as she takes the seat next to him. “It's one I made, and I'm glad you enjoy it Papa. I could make a batch for you if you'd like.”

“Oh, do not trouble yourself, bambina. Not for an old bothersome man like me.”

“Papa…” Annie gently chides him once more, looking at him over the rim of her cup but he just chuckles, waving a hand dismissively before turning back to Lilit.

“So tell me, piccola strega. Ease my curiosity.” Lilit sits up more and looks towards him, a smile still lighting up her face. “There are so many fine men and women here. Why choose a ghoul to marry? They, ehehe, may be fun, or so I have heard, but to marry one? This has never been done. Not that we really had rules against it.”

“Well,” Lilit says slowly as she lowers her cup. “We don't really have a choice, Papa.”

“No choice?” The man blinks as he looks at her, moving his mask back over his face for several breaths. “Do not tell me that Cardinale let his ghoul run amok and you are being forced into a situation you don't wish! We are people of free will here! Oh, that Cardinale will hear about this!”

“No, Papa!” Lilit sighs and sets her cup on the coffee table in front of her before leaning over to reach for him as he starts to rise to his feet, muttering angrily in Italian, but her fingers finding his knee before turning over in silent askance for his hand give him pause. He looks at her wearily but lowers his hand to hers and she takes it with a gentle squeeze as he settles back in his chair. “Papa, no one has forced me with anything. I am with Mountain of my own free will. I love him, and he loves me. He takes very good care of me.”

“Then what is the no choice? I do not understand.”

Lilit thinks for a moment, trying to figure out the best way she could explain it to him before opting to try and explain it as it was explained to her. “Ghouls pick a chosen mate, someone they wish to be with but with any relationship those can fade and end. Very rarely a ghoul will find their true mate, someone who they've been destined to be with. There's a connection that runs deeper than anything else connecting that ghoul to his or her true mate once they find them. That's what's happened to us and it’s why we didn't have a choice. I'm his true mate.” Lilit's eyes flash for a moment before she sighs with a small smile, bringing her other hand over to pat the top of his. “Simply put, Papa, we are soul mates, and now that we are together it would kill us to not be with each other.”

Papa looks at her, his brows furrowing as he brings his mask back to his face, taking several breaths. “But you are human? That mate thing would only be with ghouls, no?”

“Usually, yes, yet it's happened for us. It's even rarer than finding your true mate to begin with.” Lilit gives him a smile as he mulls that over, muttering under his breath it Italian once more as she turns to Annie, switching to her mother tongue. “Firefly, should I tell him about the baby now?”

Annie raises a brow and gives a shrug, responding in their mother tongue. “It's up to you, Spring Flower.”

“Papa,” Lilit says slowly as she turns her face back towards the elderly man. “There is another reason why we've chosen to get married.”

“What other reason, piccolina? Love is not enough?”

“We would marry for love no matter what, but something has come from that love.” She shifts so she's perched on his armrest, bringing his hand up to lay it across her belly so he could feel the slight swell hidden by her loose dress. It takes a few moments before Annie sees him figure it out and his face goes from downturned confusion to a large grin, his eyes widening in happy surprise.