Chapter 24
Vesper had no idea how much nonhumans enjoyed dancing until she watched all of the attendants at her wedding dance on top of what should be an incredibly cold mountain. It should have felt absolutely frigid outside during her wedding, the cake, and the dancing after, but it wasn't. She actually felt quite flushed as she danced against her husband. He had had large outdoor heaters placed around the area where they'd been wed and the tables where they'd sat and eaten the absolutely delicious cakes that they'd had made for the big day. Mr. Hughes had chuckled and his entire face had brightened for quite some time after he'd seen the groom's cake that she'd had made. It was in the shape of her two cats, with red velvet cake within and cream cheese frosting. It had been beautiful and enchanting, and she'd stood at his side smiling through the whole thing, still heated from the quick coupling they'd had in the corner behind the curtain, their guests nearby, but with no one wanting to interrupt.
"I certainly never thought I'd ever be able to hold you this close, my dear ayperi." Mr. Hughes murmured against her ear and she shivered as the warm air from his mouth teased over the shell of her ear.
"Well, now you can, and closer." Vesper grinned up at him, her arms surrounding his shoulders again so she could tilt up and let his hard mouth find hers once again in a hard, soul-searching kiss.
"Natasha really is okay?" Vesper asked again, concern filling her face again as he husband swung her around to a softly orchestrated waltz.
He nodded, remembering more the way that Natasha had physically changed when she'd yelled at her oldest brother than the situation with the satyrs. He'd told Vesper the bare bones of what had happened. She would get the whole story from Natasha later, he knew, but he wasn't sure the half-elf would even know that her hair had changed color, or that her whole body had seemed to instantly become coated in something that shimmered as if she was fluid with sunlight hitting off of her. He hadn't been the only one to notice, he knew Faeron had been troubled by it, but no one had said anything. No one had wanted to. She had been furious.
"She is fine. And it sounds like you won't be the only one setting up a nursery soon." He smiled at the look of wonder on his wife's face as she looked over at where Ailen was dancing with Jo. Had her friend really had sex with one satyr? A single satyr?
"Vorhees is going to turn into a daycare center if you don't start handling your employees better, Mr. Hughes." Vesper chuckled at the look of terror that filled his eyes and squeezed the hand that held hers tightly for a moment.
"I am going to have to build more around our home. Faeron will want out of the spa, and Natasha will want to live outside of it, as well. Well have our own little suburban tract of homes if I don't put a stop to all this mushy love shit."
"I like the mushy love shit." Vesper kissed the area where his neck was a little flushed, he loved the mushy love shit just as much as she did.
"Thorontur could be a problem." He frowned, looking out into the darkness.
"Thorontur is an asshole." Vesper watched him frown down at her.
"You have a really disagreeable mouth tonight." He said to her.
"Because my mouth wants some alone time with parts of you right now." She whispered in his ear and watched as the red skin on his neck crept a little farther up towards his chin.
"Cynric is back." Mr. Hughes said softly as they passed a few couples on the floor. Wei was dancing with Fionna, and he looked happy and laughing. Yu had taken the dragon children in earlier, with Yegor and Aidan going as well, their many children following as well, but with more argument.
"Good. I hope they'll all be ok." Vesper looked over and saw Ailen put his hand on his flock leader's shoulder and smiled at the warm way they spoke to one another.
Mr. Hughes had just spun her past where Domino and Jo were walking when she realized that they were headed towards Anya. Biting her lip, she slowed Mr. Hughes down and watched as Anya, who had been sitting on a chair speaking with Sergei and Yakov, turned with smiling eyes that fell somewhat at the approach of the two vampire women. Domino had looked mildly upset, and Jo had seemed to be trying to calm her friend before they reached Anya.
She wasn't close enough to hear what was said, but Domino had said something, and it had made the wolves around Anya growl deep in their chests and Anya bristled back and straightened her back as she dropped her jaw in shock at the blond vampire.
Vesper sighed and clutched tightly to her husband as she stopped their progress on the dance floor. It was late, she supposed she'd made the vampire wait long enough for this much needed conversation to occur. Arc looked at her confused and then he tensed when he heard the vampire yell behind him. He turned with her and they quickly made their way over to the vampires, light siren, and wolves. Vesper watched as Cynric stepped forward as well, probably to try to calm the situation.
"You are such a spoiled little-." Domino stopped talking when Mr. Hughes put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look and see who had touched her.
"Vesper, I'm so sorry, I didn't-." Anya said, her voice a little shaky as she stood up, her wolves standing with her."
Vesper shook her head, "Cynric, is there somewhere I can go with Anya and Domino? We need to talk."
Cynric looked at her with a frown on his face, then to Mr. Hughes, before he finally nodded.
"There is a cavern near here. I can take you there."
"I should go, this is about me." Mr. Hughes clutched his wife's hand.
"Oh, you are absolutely not invited, my love. I will take care of this." Vesper told her husband sternly and then looked at the other two women.
"Vesper, I-I'm sorry, this is your wed-." Domino looked at her, tears filling her eyes as she realized what she'd done, what she'd interrupted.
"No," Vesper smiled, "Let's get this settled now so that I can go to bed with my husband tonight knowing that this has all been handled."
She didn't wait for either of them as she let Cynric guide her to the cavern that she spoke of. It was somewhat dark inside, but he had gone to a far wall and lit a torch. Looking around her, she realized that the room had a large, comfortable looking bed and a pile of blankets and extra pillows along a nearby wall. It was quite the romantic place, actually. She'd rather be in here with someone else. DOING something else, but this had to be done.
When Cynric stepped back out of the cavern, Vesper folded her arms in front of her and looked at the vampire.
"What happened?" She asked.
Domino frowned, looking at the two of them for a moment, and then she sighed.
"I am so sorry, Vesper. I-." She stopped for a moment when Vesper shook her head sharply at her, "Earlier, when we were in line for cake, we passed the table where Anya was sitting talking to some other nonhumans. Someone made a comment about how it had been rumored that 'Mr. Arc' had preferred Anya at one time, and Anya made some flippant comment about how 'tonight could very well have played out completely differently.' I can't handle this anymore, she has NO idea what she did to him."
Vesper sharpened her eyes in accusation at the light siren who blushed and shook her head as she apparently tried to remember the conversation that she'd had earlier in the evening.
"Vesper, I didn't, wait..." Anya rubbed her forehead, "Was it when I was talking to Deandra and Mark? Are you? Oh Jesus. I can't fucking win for losing with you."
Vesper frowned at the way Anya became so irritated. She knew that Mark was Anya's ex-boyfriend. A man that Mr. Hughes had wrongfully had Anya set up with partially to keep tabs on her.
"That was Mark?" Domino obviously knew the story, as well, but hadn't met the actual players.
"Yes, that was Mark, and I was talking to Deandra about how I had thought that her husband and I might have one day gotten married ourselves. Jesus, Domino, I thought you vampires had really good hearing." Anya still looked angry, rightfully so this time, she'd been accused of something she hadn't done.
"Well, shit. I'm sorry. No, really, Anya, I am really sorry. I am just so on edge with you. I tried so hard not to be, but it's hard." Domino put a hand on the light siren's arm when the woman initially scoffed at her apology.
"Why do you hate me so much?" Anya asked, "You didn't hate me when we first met."
Vesper watched as Domino sighed, leaning back against one of the walls of the cavern.
"I didn't hate you until I knew what you did to Mr. Hughes. What he did because of you." Domino told her.
"What I did to Mr. Hughes?" Anya furrowed her brow, she was pretty sure that she'd been hurt when the angel had rejected her a hell of a lot more than he'd been hurt.
Domino dropped her jaw a little and looked from Anya over to Vesper and then back. As if to say 'is this bitch serious?'
"Anya doesn't know, Domino. She only knows what he did to her when she left the spa. He let her leave when she didn't want to, when she thought she wanted him. She dated a man, Mark, that she was falling in love with, only to find out that he was basically sent to spy on her. She'd pretty much fallen for and wanted her wolf pack, and Mr. Hughes had taken them from her, forced them to remove a bond that she hadn't wanted removed. She doesn't know what happened to him." Vesper stepped towards the vampire.
Domino frowned, "You have no idea what you being a light siren did to Arc? You have no idea that he cut off his wings because knowing you, knowing what you are, made him feel like he wasn't worthy of them?"
Anya gasped, shaking her head, not believing what was being said, "But he has wings."
"His wings grew back with Vesper touched him. When I first got to the spa last year, he'd cut off his wings. He was miserable, he hated himself, loathed himself, and he said, he SAID that he didn't deserve them because of what he'd done." Domino explained, her voice angry as she told the light siren what she should have been told a long time ago.
"I would never have wanted him to do something so stupid."
"Well you didn't stop him, you couldn't be bothered to forgive him for not loving you." Domino threw at her and Anya signed and sat on the corner of the bed.
"I was selfish, Domino. I was." Anya looked down at her hands in her lap.
