A Midsummer Night's Demon(41)

“So you knew vampires exist?” Lyn asked. Her hands clutched the material of the blanket, holding it closed around her.

“I suspected as much, based on some passages in our sacred tomes. However, I never had proof until tonight.”

“What will you do with this proof?” Ky asked, his voice thick with emotion.

It had been one helluva night. Between Lyn’s injury and being exposed as a vampire to a group of demons, he didn’t think he could take much more. If this old woman thought to expose his kind to the world, she had another thing coming.

“I will swear us all to secrecy.”

“That is absurd,” Matt replied.

“You challenge my decree, Matthias?” Karina turned on the male demon, the ire plain to see in the fire in her eyes.

“No, Priestess.” Lyn’s brother lowered his head, his gaze on the ground. At least he had the good sense to look properly chastised.

Karina appeared satisfied with the gesture because she turned her attention back to Ky. “You have expressed your intention to take one of us for your mate. That makes you one of us. We will not bring you, or your kind, any harm. We will vow before the Sun God and his Goddess tonight that we will never reveal what you are to anyone outside of our circle, for if we do the Gods will strike us with a curse.”

“But he has not completed the ritual,” Matt pointed out. “He has not truly committed to Lyn. They only made one leap, not three, over the flames.”

A pensive expression settled over Karina’s face, her attention returned to Ky. “Will you do so now?”

Jump two more times over the accursed fire. She must be kidding. Ky couldn’t believe she dared ask such a thing of him. The first jump had been difficult enough and that was before his mate had gone up in flames.

“Ky, please.” The soft, pleading tone of Lyn’s voice pulled at his heart. “We must jump two more times to complete the ritual. It is our equivalent of ‘till death do us part.’ Matt is right.”

Ky turned, taking her delicate shoulders in his hands. “You want to risk your life again, just to prove our love to these people?”

“These people are my friends and family. The ritual is not complete until you make the third jump.”

“That is ridiculous.” Ky took her chin between his finger and thumb of his right hand, tipping her head back so she could see the sincerity in his blue eyes. “I cannot bear to have you injured again.”

“I just didn’t jump high enough last time. This time I will put more effort behind the jump.”

When he saw her eyes brim with tears, Ky’s heart seemed to drop to his toes. He’d obviously underestimated how important it was to her for them to complete the ritual. Nothing made a man feel impotent like watching the woman he loved cry. It tore at him to know he caused the waterworks.

“Don’t you see, Ky? If we complete the Bonding Ritual, it won’t matter that you are a vampire. If you jump the fire with me in the eyes of all here, we are forever truly bonded and no one, not even Matt, will try to come between us.”

“He’s probably too scared to do it,” muttered Matt.

Ky spared her meddlesome brother a glance. It would be worth jumping the fire alone to shut that demon up.

“If we must do this thing, this time I will jump for both of us.” Ky bent at the knees. Placing one arm behind her legs and the other behind her back, he scooped her off her feet.

Karina gathered the blanket where it hung down near Lyn’s feet and placed the excess in his hand to hold. “Here, you wouldn’t want that swinging into the flame.”

Truer words were never spoken.

“You ready?”

The warm smile she graced him with wrapped around his heart. “Yes.”

Kyron’s muscles bunched as he prepared to leap. He held nothing back, letting his preternatural strength propel them over the flames. This time he made sure they went high enough to keep them both safe from the fiery blaze.

After repeating the ritual one more time, he lowered Lyn to the ground. She readjusted the blanket, and wrapped it around her body like a bath towel, tucking one corner of the material in while her friends and family rushed to surround them, giving Ky congratulatory pats on his back and Lyn tight hugs. The many blessings they received from the throng assured Ky their union would be supported. Although, why it took him jumping over the fire three times to make that happen, he’d never understand.