An End of Night (A Shade of Vampire #16)(53)

I knocked on the front door and my mother opened it after thirty seconds.

“Rose,” she said, giving me a huge smile, “you do realize that it’s your birthday tomorrow?”

Of course, Mom would remember my birthday even if the sky was falling.

“Yeah, I just realized this morning.”

She took my hand and pulled me inside. “How do you want to celebrate?”

“Not another trip to Hawaii, I hope,” my father said dryly, looking up from a pile of papers as he sat at the breakfast table.

“Not quite,” I said. Mention of that particular escapade made me wince. “Caleb and I want to get married.”

That knocked both of them speechless.

“Oh,” my mother said, her mouth hanging open.

My father dropped the piece of toast he was eating.

“What?” I said, amused by their reaction. “You already know Caleb and I are engaged.”

“Oh, I think it’s a good idea,” my mother said quickly. “It’s just… We weren’t expecting it to happen so soon.”

My father didn’t say anything as I took a seat at the table next to him. He just stared at me. Although he didn’t betray a lot of emotion in his expression, I could sense that he was crestfallen.

“Come on, Dad. You knew it was going to happen sometime.” I reached out and squeezed his arm. “And I promise, I will always be your little girl… even when I’m eighty years old.”

He rolled his eyes and I was relieved when he finally gave me a grin.

“And don’t ever forget it,” he said.

My mother looked up at the clock on the wall. “We’ve lost the morning already. That leaves us only the rest of the day to prepare for the wedding… That said, this island seems to have developed a tradition of last-minute weddings. We’ll pull it off.”

“Where are you going to hold it?” my father asked.

I paused. I hadn’t really given the location much thought until now. “How about in the forest? You know that clearing near Grandpa’s apartment—that would be large enough to fit a gazebo and as for the chairs and banquet table, we could position them among the trees. I think it would be beautiful.”

“I love that idea,” my mother replied. “And your dress, have you thought about it? I wish that you could have worn my wedding dress. It was so gorgeous.”

“What happened to it?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Honestly, this island has been through so much turmoil, it got lost at some point—perhaps when the Elders took over and many of the penthouses got destroyed.”

“Well, we’ll just have to design a new one,” I said.

I fetched a notepad and pen. My mother and I spent the next half hour sketching out ideas before we finally came up with the final design.

She beamed at me. “Let’s take this to Corrine… and then we need to start spreading the word to make sure more people than just your father and I show up.”

Chapter 38: Caleb

“Theon?” I called up, stopping in my tracks and looking him over.

He bowed his head slightly, his amber-gold eyes fixed on me.

“What brings you here?” I asked, moving closer.

“I’d like to speak with you,” he said, his voice calm.

I climbed up the steps to the porch and stopped a few feet away from him. “I’m listening.”

“That one’s special,” he said.

There was a pause as I wondered what exactly his angle was. “Yes,” I said. “Rose is special.”

“There aren’t many like her.”

“There certainly aren’t,” I replied, holding his gaze steadily. You’re preaching to the choir, dragon.

“I trust you will treat her right.”

I frowned at him. “I’m not sure I understand the purpose of your visit.”

Closing the small distance between us, he motioned to touch my shoulder but stopped, his hand hovering midair. “May I?”

I looked from his hand to his face. Then shrugged.

He closed his hand over my shoulder. As we were practically the same height, his eyes were level with mine as they stared straight at me.

Of all the crazy experiences I’d had in my long life, this turned into one of the most bizarre. His pupils dilated and the amber of his irises became more brilliant. Although I had no intention of breaking eye contact, I had a strange feeling that I couldn’t have averted my gaze even if I had wanted to. The intensity of his stare felt like he was digging a hole right through my pupils and carving out a tunnel through to my soul.

But whatever he was trying to see in me, I wasn’t afraid. He could challenge me about my worthiness of Rose’s love, but I knew what I felt for her. I had nothing to hide. He could rip right through to my soul and he would see that I held nothing but devotion for that woman.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but it felt like at least five minutes before his eyes dimmed to their former color and he let go of my shoulder. He stepped away from me, though he still held my gaze.

Silence fell between us as I looked back at him, unflinching.

“Well?” I said. “Did you see all that you wanted to see?”

“I saw more than enough,” he said quietly. “But, admittedly, it was not what I’d hoped to see… Vampire, you have a strong heart. Stronger than I’d thought. If there is anyone deserving of that woman other than a dragon, it is you.”