Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.
I'm still working on the next chapter of TTD so I decided to upload a chapter of this that's been mostly completed for a while now. There's a small nod to the VA movie in here and it makes me laugh every time I read it. Have you guys seen the movie? Can you pick out the line I'm talking about? Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!
"Are you alright?"
Adrian's soft voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I noticed for the first time that the scenery outside the car, which had been whipping by as we'd driven, had come to a stop. The cabin we'd pulled up in front of, if you could even call it that, was a colossal three story home, made of actual wooden logs. Huge panes of glass surrounded the glass front doors, making the entire entranceway a huge wall of windows. Without leaving the car I could see the warm cabin decor, complete with an antler chandelier hanging in the foyer.
I focused on my reflection in the side mirror and took a steadying breath, then turned to smile at Adrian. He smiled back, but wasn't fooled.
"Don't be nervous, Sage," he said gently, taking my hand. "If they don't like you, it's not because they don't like you. It's because they don't like anyone who can't help their reputation or fortune. And I'd bet they don't even really like those people either."
I laughed briefly, but I still felt like I'd swallowed ten thousand butterflies. It wasn't that I didn't know what I was up against. I'd met Adrian's father before and I'd spoken to his mother briefly on the phone right after she'd been released from prison. She'd called Adrian's phone and I'd answered. That was an awkward conversation, but it was leagues better than the one time Adrian and my dad had been in a room together. After that experience, I wasn't sure why this dinner was bothering me so much. Tonight would be a piece of cake compared to many of the things Adrian and I had been through together.
"Are you ready?" he asked, interlocking our fingers as he spoke. "Or do you want to sit here awhile? I can say I was on the phone or something and we could just sit."
"No," I shook my head. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Besides," I smiled, a real one this time. "Jill's already here. And Sonya. I'm sure they'll be happy to see us."
He started to agree, but the sound of an engine coming up the long driveway caught our attention and we both turned to see a black SUV pull in next to us. Dimitri was in the passenger seat and a guardian I didn't know was driving.
"Looks like the queen has arrived," Adrian smirked and we both jumped out of the car to greet the newcomers.
"Cousin," Adrian smiled when Lissa hopped out of the back seat of the SUV. "Long time, no see."
Lissa grinned and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "It's so good to see you!" Then she pulled me into a hug. "Sydney!"
I hugged her back, asking how she'd been and hoping she hadn't had to go out of her way to visit with us today. Before she could finish assuring me it was no trouble at all, Rose came up and pulled me into an even bigger hug then Lissa had.
"Sydney, we came all this way to see you guys because we missed you. You don't have to apologize!"
I rolled my eyes and pulled back, but Rose kept my hand in hers. "Are you alright?" she asked softly. "I mean, with seeing Adrian's parents and everything? I know how they can be."
"I'm fine," I assured her, even though I was still terrified and I was pretty sure she could tell.
"She'll be better once we get inside and in front of the fire," Adrian said, gripping my free hand and tugging me toward the house. He'd grabbed our bags from the back of the car while I was distracted by Lissa and Rose. Dimitri, Christian and the guardian I didn't know were all carrying bags as well. Lots of them.
Even though I couldn't see any other guardians around, I knew that there were probably quite a few stationed around the perimeter of the house and around the resort town we were staying in. With Lissa and Jill both attending this little weekend get together, I knew there were probably more guardians than was strictly necessary, but I appreciated their efforts in keeping my friends safe.
Adrian didn't bother knocking, instead he pulled me into the foyer and dropped our bags with a loud thud.
"Adrian!" Jill's voice echoed through the house and a moment later she was running into the foyer and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Adrian laughed and hugged her back. "Good to see you too, Jailbait. You too, Eddie."
I glanced around Adrian and Jill and noticed Eddie walking over to greet us. A huge smile split my face as I hugged him, then greeted Sonya and Mikhail.
"Did you guys get in okay?" Sonya asked Dimitri after everyone was finished greeting each other.
"No problems," Dimitri said. "There are guardians all over this town. We should be well prepared in case anything happens."
"Nothing's going to happen," Jill declared, tugging me into the living room. "This weekend is going to be happy and fun and we're all going to enjoy it."
"I agree," smiled Lissa. The two sisters had become much closer since our mission in Palm Springs ended three years ago. Now Jill was in college with Eddie as her guardian/boyfriend, but she still made time to see her sister. Seeing then together made me miss my sisters.
"Adrian, dear." Daniella Ivashkov swept into the room in a blur of blue silk. Her husband, Nathan, walked in behind her, not nearly as enthusiastic about his son having arrived. Daniella pulled Adrian into a hug. "It's so good to see you. I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, Mom," Adrian said, holding her tight for a moment, before releasing her and tugging me over. "Mom, this is my girlfriend Sydney."
Daniella put on her brightest smile for me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. But her movements were stiff, her smile forced. I could tell she was uncomfortable, I just didn't know if it would pass or if she'd always be like this. Her jewelry jangled on her wrists as she pulled back.
"It's nice to meet you," she said, her voice polite, but no longer as enthusiastic. "My son's told me so much."
I gave her a big smile back, feeling just as awkward as she probably did. "Adrian's told me all about you, too."
Finally Nathan stepped forward and shook my hand. "Good to see you again, Miss Sage. Adrian," he added as an afterthought to his son."Why don't we all head into the dining room? You're late and we were about to begin the dinner without you."
"Of course they were," Adrian muttered under his breath as his parents turned to their Queen.
It was fairly early in the morning, but I knew the Moroi would all be getting to bed soon. I was alright with that. Adrian and I had planned to arrive late in the Moroi day, and then spend the afternoon skiing at the resort a little ways from his parents cabin. I'd never had the opportunity to ski before, but Adrian swore I'd be a natural. I was still a little nervous, but I was almost positive that it wasn't from the thought of skiing.
The Ivashkovs greeted Lissa and Christian with more respect than they'd shown their own son, or anyone else in the room for that matter. I knew they weren't the type of people to openly scorn my relationship with Adrian or having guardians sit down to meals with them, but from what Adrian told me, they didn't particularly approve of any of it either. That was fine by me. As long as they were polite they could think whatever they wanted to after this weekend. I had a pretty good idea where I stood with Nathan, but it was Daniella that was proving hard to read. She put on a mask of politeness that Nathan didn't seem to bother with. I couldn't tell if she was just uncomfortable with me being human, or if she really hated me for it.
As we all took our seat at the large dining table, I decided to stop focusing on it. I'd find out soon enough.
Dinner, aka a heavy breakfast for Adrian and I, went reasonably well. Nathan made a few uncomfortable comments between courses, but it wasn't too bad. Not when Jill and Eddie and Rose and the rest were here. They felt like backup in a way, acting as a buffer for all the awkward conversation. Daniella's comments, however, were harder to buffer. She was polite, and even asked me about myself and my family a few times, but there was a coldness about her that made it hard to believe she actually cared to hear my answers. She was like that with everyone around the table—including her husband—so I assumed I shouldn't take it personally.
Finally, between dinner and dessert, Adrian brushed his fingers along my thigh, stealing my attention away from a conversation with Rose. When I met his pretty green eyes they were twinkling with nervous energy and I smiled at him, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. We both took a moment to glance around at all of our friends before Adrian leaned over and kissed my cheek.
"Now or never, right?" he murmured and I nodded, feeling my stomach tighten into a knot at the news he was about to share.
"Since everyone's here, I'd like to say something," Adrian said, pushing his seat back a little and standing up. For a brief second I wondered if this was really such a good idea, but he was already speaking. "I know my relationship with Sydney took a lot of you by surprise. All of you, actually. Except for Jill." He smiled at her and tapped a finger to his head and she laughed. "But I can't tell you how grateful I am that you've all been so accepting of us. I know it's unusual and goes against a lot of social norms, but we really do love each other and I'm not sure we would be as happy as we are without all of you in our lives."
Adrian's dad twisted his lips in a way that was probably a grimace, but I was going to pretend was a half smile. His mom was looking up at him with big watery eyes, but was avoiding eye contact with me entirely.
"That's why we wanted you all to be together when we told you that we've decided," he smiled down at me and took my left hand in his, giving it a firm squeeze, "to get married."
There were gasps and smiles and laughter, a few tears (from Jill, of course), and one notable sigh from Nathan, but everyone seemed to be handling the news well enough. That was, of course, except for Adrian's mom. Daniella was smiling, though it was so tense it might as well have been a frown. I guess I had my answer about her not liking me. I'd known it was a very likely possibility, but actually seeing it written across her face like that, left me feeling deflated.
"Congratulations," she said gracefully enough along with everyone else, but she walked over and took Adrian by the arm. "Adrian, dear, may I speak to you for a moment, in private?"
By now all of our friends had enveloped us with hugs and congratulations, and Adrian extricated himself from the group to go speak to her. Rose, meanwhile, wrapped her arms around me.
"A few years ago I would have called you crazy, you know," she laughed in my ear before pulling back. "But you guys just work together. I'm so happy for you both!"
"Yeah, Sydney," Christian came up and surprised me with a hug too. "Welcome to the family."
Somehow, between hugs, I made eye contact with Nathan. It was awkward, but I felt the need to say something so I walked to his side of the table and sat down.
"Hi, Mr. Ivashkov," I smiled, watching his reaction cautiously. Before he'd even had the chance to reply Adrian's voice rang out from the doorway of the dining room. He was standing there, facing his mother, completely oblivious, or maybe indifferent, to the people watching them.
"Sydney's not pregnant, Mom!" he yelled. I blinked in surprise, but the look on Daniella's face was enough to understand what was happening.
"Lower your voice, sweetheart," she cautioned gently. "I'm just saying, if she was there's no reason to jump into anything. There are plenty of options..."
"There's no need for options!" I could see by the way his jaw tensed that he was too angry to care about propriety and wasn't planning to do as his mother wished and keep his voice down. "Sydney isn't pregnant, and if she was, there still wouldn't be any options besides keeping it. Because we're in love and when you're in love you get married and make babies together."
Beside me, Nathan picked up his drink—scotch, I think—and took a long, slow sip.
"Sweetheart, I'm just trying to be realistic."
"No, Mom," he said and his voice cracked the littlest bit. "You're telling me that you don't think I should marry Sydney. And I'm telling you it doesn't matter whether you're with us or against us. We're getting married. We already have the license. We were planning on having a surprise wedding this weekend."
"Would have been nice to know," I heard Jill mumble from a few feet away. Nathan just took another sip of scotch, finishing off his glass.
"Adrian, that's ridiculous," Daniella exclaimed lie he was a small child who'd done something naughty. "You can't marry a human. Your father and I have put up with your flings because that's all they were, but this is getting out of hand."
"Getting out of hand?" I repeated, dumbfounded.
"You'd think she would have realized how serious you two were after he told her for the thousandth time. But I guess not," Jill shook her head next to me.
Nathan sighed and stared longingly into his empty glass. "I told her she wouldn't be able to talk him out of this. Said he was serious this time." His words startled me, but he just looked over at me, resigned. "I don't like this anymore than she does, but I've never seen my son more determined to do something stupid, despite all of the stupid things I've seen him do. I've never seen him more serious about anything either. I told her all of that and she didn't believe me."
"Mr. Ivashkov," Jill leaned in, just as stunned by this as me, "are you supporting Adrian and Sydney?"
"Supporting? No," he said, like even the thought was preposterous. "The idea of a human and a Moroi, a royal at that, getting married is just ludicrous. But there isn't much I can do aside from cutting off Adrian's inheritance. I don't think that will work this time. He's doing too well to let that stop him, I think. He's making enough money on his own to survive. I imagine he'd say something poetic about you being more important than the money if I even bothered to threaten him with it. I'd rather skip that speech, thank you." He glanced into his empty glass again, tipping it from side to side as if hoping there was still a mouthful in there he'd missed somehow. "You might not be a Moroi Sydney, but you're a smart, hardworking sort of girl. Believe it or not, I do respect that and what you've done for my son. I didn't know what to do with him before he met you. I still don't, but at least now it isn't my problem anymore. He's got you."
Rose, who had been staring open mouthed at Nathan as he spoke, turned to me with a confused smile on her face. "I feel like there was a compliment in there somewhere."
Nathan ignored her and stood to find himself another drink. "Oh, let it go, Daniella," he called to his wife who was still arguing with Adrian. "They're getting married whether we like it or not. No use arguing, you know he'll never listen."
To say Adrian was shocked by his father's outburst was an understatement. His jaw practically hit the floor. I had to admit, I was just as bad. I still couldn't believe Nathan Ivashkov was being so, well, not nice but... calm about everything. And he was barely picking on Adrian. He'd almost sounded impressed when speaking about how Adrian would take care of himself now, even if that meant being cut off from the money.
Daniella sputtered, just as speechless as the rest of us. "Nathan, he can't just—"
"He's an adult. Fight with him now and you won't get to see your only son get married. You know you'll end up crying about how unfair it all is later, so just do us all a favor and let it go."
Daniella looked indignant for a full minute before she heaved a sigh, her delicate shoulders slumping. But, resigned as she appeared to be, she still turned to me with narrowed eyes. Jill stepped up beside me, a show of support I was eternally grateful for.
"I will hold my tongue," Daniella said slowly, "but I want you to know I do not support this marriage." Adrian started to argue with her again and she put out a hand to stop him, but her gaze was still fixed on me. "I'm worried for my son, Sydney. It can't work between you two. There's too much prejudice between our people. You'll both be hurt in the end."
"That's ridic—" Rose started to say, but I stepped closer to Adrian and his mother before she could finish.
"Mrs. Ivashkov," I said. "If that's the real reason you're against me marrying your son, than I understand your concern. There is prejudice in this world. There are plenty of people out there who will make our relationship difficult. But, if that's what you're worried about, don't you think it would be more helpful to help us overcome that prejudice than add to it?"
Adrian grinned at me and took my hand, giving it a tight squeeze. His mother would either see the beauty of my logic, or she'd switch up her argument. Either way, Adrian and I were still getting married this weekend. We'd even hired a priest for tomorrow evening.
After a moment, Daniella sighed. "This is really what you want?"
Adrian gave her a small smile and wrapped his arms around her. "Marrying Sydney is all I want, Mom. But I'd really like you to be there for it. Sydney's mom and sisters are coming in the morning. I want my family there too."
I heard Daniella sniffle, and when she pulled away she dabbed below her eyes with the edge of her finger. "Alright. If it's what you want and you won't listen to reason," Adrian gave her a look which she ignored, "then, I guess, all I can do is be there and hope for the best."
Adrian's grin lit the room like a thousand watt bulb. "Thank you!" He tugged his mother into a hug, before turning to his father. He sobered, but was still smiling. "And thank you, Dad. I know you're not happy, but Sydney's the best thing that ever happened to me."
Nathan Ivashkov was clearly not the emotional type, and his brief nod and shrug didn't even faze Adrian who was still grinning like an idiot.
"We're getting married," he said, pulling me to him. His smile was contagious. "We're getting married tomorrow!"
"I know," I said grinning back.
Through some sort of unspoken agreement the others all began to trickle out of the room. Even Nathan took Daniella's arm and led her into the living room, two drinks balanced in his free hand. Adrian's forehead dipped to touch mine and I breathed in the scent of him. He was all mine, I'd known that for years, but knowing that it would be official tomorrow was a heady thought. Adrian seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"Well, the hardest part is over. Now we can just bask in the glow of knowing our forever starts tomorrow."
I smiled, but shook my head. "Our forever started a long time ago," I said. "Tomorrow is just us announcing it the world."
I felt his chest rise in a silent laugh as he pulled me tighter to him. "That's true, but still. Tomorrow you become mine, legally. No one can ever try to take you from me."
"I become yours, do I?"
He laughed again at my raised brow. "And I legally become yours. I know you already called dibs, but a marriage license holds up better in a court of law."
I laughed with him, just holding him close and feeling the heat of his skin through both layers of our clothes. The sparks of electricity I always felt when he was this close sizzled through me.
"You know what tomorrow is also the beginning of?" I asked eventually.
"What?"
"Our honeymoon." I was sure he could feel the smile spreading across my face as I leaned into his chest. I could picture a smile of his own doing the same.
"Oh, I am aware," he laughed quietly into the top of my head. One of his hands dipped low on my back and I swatted it away with a laugh. "Trust me, I am very aware."
His fingers eventually found their way up to my chin, tipping my head back so I could see those brilliant, smiling green eyes of his. And that was all I'd ever need. It didn't matter if Adrian's family was happy, or if mine was happy. Tomorrow wasn't about them. It was about us finding happiness for ourselves, and they'd either get with the program, or learn to deal with it eventually. But tomorrow...
Tomorrow was all for us.