Slay Alive

Chapter 30

thirty

One week later…

“Where do you want this?” Donnie asks me. He’s carrying one of my cases, this one holds the rings with semi-precious stones.

“Oh, you can set it over there,” I tell him, pointing to the side of my booth. I’m setting up at the jewelry showcase I booked the night my life went to shit. To shit is the only way to describe falling in love with a vampire soulmate and then losing him to save the fucking world.

It’s been difficult acting normal. To my family, I just got dumped by a douche none of them liked.

“We just never thought he was the one for you, honey. You’ll see this will all work out in the end,” my mother had told me when I announced at a family dinner that Preston and I were over when they asked about him.

“He never looked at you right,” my father added later that night. “I want to see you with a man that looks at you like you’re his soulmate, honey.”

I’d broken down in his arms and then we’d watched my comfort witch movie to calm me back down. Dad thought I was crying over never having a soulmate connection with Preston, and that’s what he’d go right on thinking. There was no way to tell him I’d found that love and lost it just as fast.

Donnie and Gio, though. At least they knew. They were doing their best to understand. Tamsin sticking around helped.

“Rhiannon sent me here but didn’t give me an exit plan. I think I’m on a quest or something,” she said while we ate burritos and margaritas.

“What kind of quest?” I asked.

“Dunno but if I get to keep having these burritos I’m not really that keen to find out. What’s the rush?”

We’re looking for a bigger apartment but for now Tamsin is sharing a room with me.

“Okay, I got the table! You want it in back or front?” Tamsin balances the heavy solid custom oak display table that my dad made me for my jewelry. It weighs easily around a hundred pounds on its own and she’s got it stacked high with a few of my heavier metal jewelry cases. She’s carrying all of it like it’s nothing. Tamsin got to keep her hunter strength. Regrettably, I did not.

I point up front. “Up there would be amazing. Thank you!”

“I swear to god, her carrying shit around like Xena is hard to get used to but it’s useful,” Gio says. “I say we just strap the couch to her when we move.”

Of course Gio is taking everything in stride. He always does. Alternate dimensions and vampire soulmates? Sure, no problem. He’s a wonderful best friend.

We enjoy the perfectly crisp autumn day while we set up for the jewelry show. I’ve been trying to get into this showcase for years. Now that I’m here everything feels surreal. I thought I’d feel happier. Cade’s absence weighs me down but little by little, my spirits lift. It’s hard not to. I’m in my element, showing pieces to customers and my friends are with me.

Even if my new normal is missing Cade, at least I had him. So many people never meet their soulmate. I saved the world with mine.

Tamsin talks Gio and Donnie into burritos so the three of them head off with Donnie trying to explain what football is to her and the sight warms my heart. Seeing them all together, three of my favorite people smiling and walking in the sun, does wonders for my bruised heart. There are so many different types of love and theirs is the one I know the best.

“Excuse me, can I see the silver cross you’ve got there?” A customer asks from behind me.

“Sure thing!” I plaster a smile on my face, pick the cross up and when I turn I drop the fucking thing when I see who it is.

“Preston, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“Bon-bon, I missed you.” Preston Huntington in the flesh stands there with a look on his face that I bet he thinks is alluring but just makes him look as stupid as I know he is. A full body ick rolls through me and I point to the showcase grounds exit.

“You need to get the hell out of here. Now.”

“Bon-bon, I’m sorry. Look, I know you’re upset with me about the other night but I wasn’t thinking right. I think the whole promotion thing just went to my head. I didn’t mean any of it. I came here to ask you to move with me to Boston. And to do this,” Preston pulls out a velvet ring box and my blood pressure skyrockets.

My mouth drops open. “Are you shitting my dick right now?”

Preston frowns. “Oh come on, Bon-bon. Don’t talk like that. It’s vulgar. I’m trying to make this moment special,” he says as he gets down on one knee. A woman at the stall next to us gasps and points.

“Young love!” she cries and dabs at her eyes. “Look everyone!” She waves over a group of people to stand with her and everyone starts losing their collective shit over the sight of Preston down on one knee. Looks like Preston’s going to have an audience to me telling him to kick rocks.

I lean over the table and hold up one finger as I speak, “First of all, don’t you dare try and give me a shut up ring and second of all,” I hold up two fingers, “stop calling me Bon-bon. I fucking hate that name. Third of all, don’t you ever tell me what to do again. There isn’t a man alive that can tell me what to do.”

“Bonnie, what are you doing? You’re making a scene and embarrassing me! Stop it.” Preston whisper-screams and looks around nervously because the small crowd has grown to a large one of around fifty people. Where is everyone coming from?

“I’m the one making a scene? Get real, Preston. I didn’t ask you to come here and ruin my showcase and stop telling me what to do!”

“What about a vampire? You keen on listening to one of them, hunter?” A voice asks and I almost pass out. I know that surly British voice.

I look to the side and there he is. Cade. But it’s also not Cade. For one, it’s daylight and he’s not wearing his shades or toting his umbrella. He is in a black leather duster and boots with a tight black shirt and ripped jeans underneath. His hair is tousled as normal, that mix of styled and ‘ yep, that’s what it would look like if I ran my fingers through it’ style. Cade is pale like he’s always been but there’s something about seeing him in the daylight that takes me by surprise. It’s his eyes, I realize. His eyes stand out even more in the light.

One brown, one blue.

I never thought I’d see those eyes again.

“Who’s asking?” I whisper with a wobbly smile on my face. Tears prick my eyes and I know I’m going to bawl in a second.

“Vampire? Are you two larping or something?” Preston turns to face Cade. “Hey, listen pal, I’m trying to propose to my girlfriend right now. Come back later if you want to buy some jewelry.”

“I’m not your girlfriend,” I snap at Preston. “I’m his.”

“Oh my god, she has another boyfriend!” The same old biddy who crowed about young love informs the group. “So scandalous! I love a love triangle.” The crowd starts chittering and whispering so I guess everyone loves a love triangle.

Cade holds a hand up, silencing the crowd. “No love triangle here. You heard her. She’s mine.”

Desire lights up every last nerve ending in my body when he says that. Gods, I love this vampire.

Excitement shoots through me and I come alive when I hear those two words. “Hell yeah, I am.”

“What the fuck, Bonnie!” Cade smiles at me while Preston loses his shit. “Wh-what? You’re cheating on me?” he explodes. “You cheated on me! And with him?!”

“I didn’t cheat! You broke up with me.” I remind him but I’m barely registering Preston and his yelling because I’m staring at Cade.

“So what? I told you I was confused and can you blame me? It’s so hard to take you seriously, just look at you. You went out and fucked the first goth punk looking weirdo who could find? Even now you’re a joke!” Preston explodes. “Bonnie, you fucking slut!”

I ignore Preston’s tantrum because I’m too busy stop, drop, and rolling beneath one of my display tables to get to Cade. Preston doesn’t matter. My soulmate is here. Nothing else matters but Cade.

I’m getting to my feet when Preston goes down like a sack of potatoes. It’s not a far fall since he was still on his knee but he hits the ground so hard he bounces.

“You kicked me!” Preston howls. He’s sprawled on the ground holding his face and looking up at Cade with a bloody lip.

“Talk to her like that again and I’ll do more than kick you.” Cade drops down into a squat and catches Preston’s collar when he tries to crawl away. He holds up the velvet ring box and looks inside with a sneer. “This is a piss poor ring, too. She would never choose this. You didn’t even try, did you?”

Preston screams. Honest to gods screams. He also flails but it’s no use, he can’t break Cade’s hold. “Stop your screeching, you’re giving me a bloody headache.” He shoves the ring box right into Preston’s mouth and cuts off the man’s next shriek.

“You listen well and you listen good. When you see Bonnie, you keep walking. You don’t speak to her, you don’t look at her, you don’t breathe her bloody air. If I find out you’ve come anywhere near what’s mine no one will ever find you.” He slams Preston against the ground. “Now, apologize,” Cade says and smacks Preston on the back of the head and the ring box falls out.

“I-I’m sorry, Bonnie. I’m sorry,” Preston blubbers. Is he crying?

I watch him for a second and confirm that he is, indeed, crying. “Apology accepted.” Cade drags him to his feet when I say that and tosses him down the aisle between the tables. “Have fun in Boston!” I call after him and Preston breaks into a run.

“The men here are disappointing,” Cade mutters and points after Preston’s sprinting form. “You really dated that sniveling, pathetic-”

I grab him by his coat and yank him to me. I kiss him, or at least it starts out as a kiss. All it takes is that first brush of my lips for Cade to take over. He picks me up and claims my mouth hungrily. I wrap my legs around him and open my mouth to him. The only thought in my head is to get as close to him as possible. All around us the crowd bursts into cheers and clapping.

“I thought I lost you,” I whisper against his lips. “I thought I was never going to see you again.”

Cade brushes my hair away from my face and shakes his head. “Never. You will never lose me. I will always find you, in this reality or the next. In every bloody world, I will always find you. You’re mine and I’m yours. Nothing is ever going to change that.”

I lose it when he calls me his. “I love you. I love you so much. I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner. I should have. I should have told you as much as I could but I was scared. I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t have to say it. I knew.”

“Still,” I say and shake my head. “I should have said it. I love you, Cade. I love you.”

“I know, Bonnie.” He kisses me again. This time it’s slow and gentle. He takes his time exploring my mouth and I savor the taste of my soulmate. Cade shifts, he’s still holding me up and the dress I’m wearing rides dangerously high on my thighs but I’m not moving, not even if my whole ass shows to the crowd still watching us like we’re their own personal romcom. On second thought, this might not be the best place for our reunion.

I tap his shoulder and point back at my stall. “Let’s go sit down. I’ve got chairs. We can get some cover from our friends,” I say jerking my chin at the crowd. Cade grunts in agreement and vaults over the table with me in his arms.

“Now that’s a man. They don’t make them like that anymore,”a woman sighs and she’s right. They don’t. Because men can’t jump like that.

“You’re still a vampire, but how?”

“The term is daywalker. Rhiannon made it special for me.”

I roll my eyes. “How come everyone got to keep their cool ass powers and I’m back to being a normie. This is bullshit.”

Cade glances back at the jewelry on the table and chuckles. “You made all of this and you think you’re a ‘normie’? You’re an artist. A talented one at that. I’d never be able to create something so beautiful as these. These put to shame that ring he tried to put on your finger.” Cade gestures back at the ring box laying in the dirt.

He’s right. I saw the ring. It was ugly as hell.

My cheeks heat with pleasure at his praise. “Thank you. I do appreciate that. But Tamsin is still hunter strong and you’re all with the supernatural powers. Even if I can make art, that’s not going to get me out of any tough spots if the forces of evil attack.”

“You’ve reached your saving the world quota, having done it the one time already, Duskweaver.”

“My last name is Flores, actually.”

“Flower? Suits you.”

“You suit me.” I hug him tight while Cade strokes my hair. “But how are you here? I-Tamsin said that you vanished after the cathedral. She said Rhia told her you were alive but that was it. Where have you been?”

“I’ve been here, looking for you. At least I was after I died.” Cade drops his news so casually on me I almost pass out.

“You died?”

“I did. Don’t recommend it. I got the whole white light bit. Thought I was, you know, going on yonder,” he says, waving at the sky, “but the light was just Rhiannon holding a cellphone over my face to wake me up.”

We sit in the chairs at the back of my stall and I cover my face with my hands. “Rhia.”

Cade pulls my hands down from my face and threads them with his. “She gave me a do over, said we made the ultimate sacrifice willingly and this was our reward. I would have found you sooner but she dumped me off in the city with no directions other than ‘find her’. There was an acclimation period. This world is strange.”

I squeeze his hands. “Yeah, I guess it is. She dumped Tamsin off in front of my door the morning I woke up here. I’m sorry she didn't do it for you.”

“Even if she did, I wouldn’t have knocked,” Cade says and I raise a questioning eyebrow at his words.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“There’s no way I’d come to you with nothing to offer. That’s not my way. I mastered this world first to give you exactly what you deserve.”

I laugh and lean my head against his shoulder. “You mastered the world in a week?”

Cade shrugs. “It’s not so hard once you get a rhythm down or with the proper motivation.” He lifts my hand to his mouth and brushes his lips across my knuckles. I relax, the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding finally feels safe enough to let go with Cade sitting beside me. He rubs his finger over my knuckles and then down to my ring finger.

“If anyone’s going to put a ring on your finger, it’s going to be me, my hunter,” he says softly.

I lift my head in surprise. Marriage wasn’t something I’d thought about when it came to my vampire soulmate because what’s a wedding license and a ring when the universe fates you together. Now that’s forever.

“What?” I whisper.

Cade leans in and kisses the top of my ear. “You heard me,” he whispers into my ear. I moan when his lips brush my ear. I lean towards my soulmate and my heart starts to race as the inevitable heat of wanting Cade sweeps through me. The dirty dirty things I’m going to have this vampire do to me tonight is enough to make me weep.

I lick my lips. “Cade…”

“Holy shit, it’s Cade!” Tamsin bounds into the back of my stall with a burrito in each hand and waves her burritos in excitement. “The whole gang is back together again! This is the best day! I knew Rhiannon wasn’t going to let you be heroes for nothing.”

I clear my throat and sit up, trying to not look like I was thinking about climbing Cade like a jungle gym.

Gio and Donnie are a step behind Tamsin and send wide ‘omg’ eyes when they catch sight of Cade sitting beside me.

“This is Cade?” Donnie asks and gives Cade a once over while Gio lets out a low whistle of approval.

“Bonnie-bear, this man is drop dead gorgeous. ”

I smile and look at Cade. “He’s a vampire still and yeah, my soulmate is a total smoke show.”

“A vampire?” Donnie blinks in surprise. “Like, he eats people?”

“No, you’ve got me all wrong. I don’t eat people. ” Cade rises from his seat and holds out a hand to shake Donnie’s hand. “That’s strictly zombie territory. I drink, big difference.”

Donnie goes pale but Gio bustles forward and hugs Cade. “Welcome to the family, Cade! If you’re with Bonnie-bear then you’re with us.”

I smile and watch Gio pull Donnie into his hug with Cade.

Tamsin hands me a burrito and slides into the seat next to me. “Here, I got you this.”

“Thanks.” I take the burrito and watch my best friends sandwich Cade into a monster hug. Tamsin giggles when Cade turns the table and picks both of the men up like they weigh nothing. Tamsin unwraps her burrito and kicks her feet up on a storage crate with a happy hum. The realization that I’m perfectly content hits me like a ton of bricks. How could I not be, surrounded by the people I love on a perfect autumn day with a burrito in my hand?

I never thought I would be this happy but here I am.

“What are you thinking?” Tamsin asks around a mouthful of burrito. I don’t tell her about how perfect the day feels. How the weight of this moment is new and scary in the very best ways because I can see my life full of a million more like it.

No, I don’t say any of that.

“That we’re going to need a bigger house.” I unwrap my burrito and take a big bite. I’ve never had it this good.