Sharing Delilah Book 3
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Alex Fox
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Tatiana, an immortal Fae cursed with a deadly power, is on the brink of marrying her beloved Nicodemus in a magical ceremony. However, secrets and dark forces threaten to unravel their union. As Tatiana navigates a world filled with witches, vampires, and ancient curses, she must confront her past and make sacrifices to protect those she loves. Will she find a way to break free from her curse, or will the shadows of her past consume her?
Forbidden Ceremony
TATIANA
The Fae had outdone themselvesāflowers and beautiful, breathtaking nature had overrun the castle.
It made me wish I hadnāt put on slippers so I could sink my feet into the soft moss that had replaced the red carpet over the stones. I didnāt want to get anyone sick, though.
My dress was like nothing I had ever worn; the train seemed to flow over the ground like water, not dragging me back at all. If anything, I felt bare.
I didnāt think I would be excited, but as I walked, my heart pounded. Heading down the stairs to reach the foyer attached to the gardens, I paused.
A shadow in the mirror.
When I became immortal, I took the life of an immortal without realizing it. War and famine roamed the earth hand in hand, ships sunk, and pirates raided... The god known for war, who most humans were and are still aware of, is Ares.
But it was the god with a cold heart I fearedāthe god who couldnāt reach me, try as he might.
I was about to marry my fated one in a court of Faeāa wish come true. This was still a shadow on us so long as this curse remained.
I was a curse on us... Even now, I knew some of our guests might end up sick. Looking down at my hands, I stopped on the stairs. Bare hands.
He couldnāt live alone, but I couldnāt live with all the people his station demanded of him. Was he making other people sick being in contact with me?
Tatiana?
Sorryājust worried.
How can I help?
I pondered that for a moment, a smile playing on my lips before I sent him the images of our lovemaking. My toes curling. The moment hisā
Tatiana! he growled into my mind, full of promise.
He was my beloved, and the witches had a written contract. Even if I wanted to (which I didnāt), I had to fulfill the contract and marry him. Everything would be fine. Right?
As I walked through the open glass doors into the garden, I felt my stomach drop. It was the most magical scene I had ever seenāand it took me right back to my childhood.
A vampire waiting at the altar, the high witch standing to watch the proceedings, and elder oaken Fae standing and waiting with a bowl of water.
Fireflies lit the gardens that had become a fairytale grove.
Flowers bloomed everywhere, and guests were in the trees that had somehow grown so large that there were even logs on the ground covered in moss.
Water trickled faintly in the distance, but I couldnāt be sure that the Fae had left the fountain alone and not done something else with it.
Fae of all kinds attended, some standing or sitting. There was a row of six witches, all crossing their arms and looking angry.
Then there was one figure in all black sitting where I couldnāt see her face, her hair long sweeping down to pool at her bare feet.
She wasnāt someone I recognized, and her eyes were pure white.
This couldnāt be good.
She wasnāt Fae, though, and all the powerful seers had died out long ago. Hadnāt they? Clearly, this person had proved me wrong, but the fact she was here was troubling.
This woman sat separately from the witches, and my husband-to-be seemed to be staring at her with some confusion.
Music unlike any human music began to play. It was lively and full of joy and life; I could feel the grass under my feet encouraging me to go. Go to him.
A small laugh passed from my lips; their magic was intoxicating. I could see that the other witches were uncomfortable; they had little experience with Fae magic.
Likely if they had, though, it was bad. Their magic wasnāt meant for us, but that didnāt mean we couldnāt wield it or respect it. Or enjoy it on our first wedding day.
I had been alone so long, and as my eyes met his, I felt a sense of calm as I stepped up to the altar, my bare hands slipping into his.
āWelcome, Tatianaālast princess of the witches,ā the old Fae croaked.
āJustā¦Tatiana, please,ā I half-whispered and mumbled. The title of princess? I didnāt want it today. I didnāt want to be known as the Poison Princess marrying a vampire.
I wanted to remember this day as when I married my fated one.
The old Fae nodded before lifting her hands.
āToday we bind these two as one; once the exchange of blood has solidified this pact, she will become one with the nightāand one with the ley line. Together they shall lay theāā
Ley line? Youāre bonded to a ley line? I asked him, panicked, my face staying passive but my hands trembled in his.
Not only would the High Priestess Iona be infuriated Iād be gifted with such power, but I physically couldnāt bond with another.
The power inside me was from a ley line I had stolen. If I merged with itā
Had that been the Faeās intention? Who knows what that might bringā¦
But how could they have known? Only those in power in the coven knew the truth, that had been part of the exchange in order to house her. That and their fear of her powers butā
Yes, itās part of my familyās heritage, Nicodemus said, confused, as if this was a well-known fact. So thatās what made his family so powerfulā¦
āPersephone and Hades, Osiris and Nyx, Aita and Mania, you shall bring peace and balance where there was only pain and longing. Let your challenges become your strength in this union.ā
Nicodemus placed our joined hands in the bowl, the magic soaking and infusing into us and entering our bodies until the bowl was bone dry. This wasnāt good. This was very, very bad.
We canāt complete the ceremony or our bonding yet. Not as beloveds and not for this either.
What? Nicodemus sounded hurt and confused, though he kept a smiling face and pulled my hands from the bowl with his to turn and face the crowd.
Everyone was cheering, but then his eyes wandered once more. The pale blind woman watched silently as everyone else clapped or danced or threw something.
Who is she? I probed curiously.
I donāt know, but she smells like Ravenā¦ Weāll handle that later. Why are you suddenly not wanting to do this? I thought that was the point of becoming my beloved andā
He was rambling. I had hurt him. I could feel it through our bond. It wasnāt my intention. Gods, I wanted to cry and beg, tell him everything, but there was so much and too many guests.
I canāt becauseā¦ I depleted a ley line, its power is inside me, I whispered through the bond.
He flinched, physically flinched, and dropped my hands. I hadnāt ever outright told him what I had done for the spell, even though I had tried to tell him how terrible it was.
The gravity of what I had done hit him.
There were very few laws in nature, old laws that back then were in place to protect everyone.
One of those was to draw from a ley line, but never until it died, and never try to take the power for yourself. Scary stories about being ripped apart or worseā¦
I broke that law.
Youāre rightāwe canāt, he thought to me in a whisperābefore all his mental guards came up, like steel, smooth cold walls to keep me out, as if he hadnāt been there in the first place.
I was alone again.
