Suzanne Wright - The Bite That Binds

With each step I took toward him, the knot in my stomach went tighter and tighter. Not with dread, but with excitement. It was the same excitement that I could sense in him. Finally reaching him, I placed my hand in the one he offered me, accepting Antonio’s peck on the cheek. The powerful Keja went to sit between Luther and Evan on the front row. My very-soon-to-be-brother-in-law gave me a wink, while Luther gave me a respectful nod.

Turning my attention back to Jared again, I smiled one of those idiotic Barbie-like smiles. I seriously couldn’t stop smiling, and the more I tried to drop it, the wider it got.

You look absolutely stunning , Jared told me.

Ah, bless him. I knew he wasn’t great with compliments. You look absolutely edible.

His grin widened. Ready, we then turned to face the Prelate. Hearing a series of laughs behind us, I swerved around, curious. Fletcher, shaking with laughter, pointed at Jared. It was only then that I realised a piece of paper had been stuck to his back that said ‘Help Me’. No prizes for guessing who was responsible for that − particularly since all ten of them were looking everywhere but at me, even as they laughed.

Snatching it from his blazer, I gestured for Evan to grab it. He quickly came forward and took it, fighting to shrink his smile. It didn’t work. Fighting my own smile, I turned back to the Prelate.

I’ll get the assholes back for that . Jared sounded close to laughing himself.

Just then, the Prelate − who didn’t look impressed − began to speak. Not that I understood a word. What I’d learned from Luther in advance was that the entire thing would be spoken in Latin. Basically, the Prelate said a ritual speech before the vows. Apparently, the general gist was that our death as a human was not the end for us, as vampires, but the beginning of something new; that to find someone to spend our immortal lives with was a special thing that should not be overlooked or taken for granted, but welcomed and valued above all else. It was sort of sweet, actually.

And the great thing about Binding ceremonies – well, great for people like me who didn’t like cheesy stuff − was that you didn’t have to recite a string of vows. After the Prelate asked in Latin if you agreed to love, protect, treasure, comfort, support, laugh with, and forsake all others, in good times and in bad, you simply answered, “ita vero”, which was Latin’s roundabout way of saying ‘yes’.

So Jared and I remained quiet as the Prelate spoke. Despite not understanding him, I was quite enjoying listening to the flow of Latin. When he gestured for Jared and me to join hands, we did as Luther had previously instructed; we joined our palms together and then spread our fingers so that we could thread them through each other’s. Rather than close our fingers, we kept them pointing upwards, so that we had created a ‘V’.

Finally, he then began addressing Jared, who responded, “ita vero”.

Well thank bloody God for that. I wasn’t too proud to say that I’d still had my worries that he might back out.

As if he’d sensed that, he said, Never .

When it came time for me to respond to the Prelate, I said, “ita vero”. I could have been mistaken, but it looked like Jared breathed a sigh of relief.

Only the fact that the Prelate was holding our wrists in place stopped me from wrapping my arms around Jared when his mouth met mine, giving me a drugging kiss followed by a sharp bite to my bottom lip. He took only one sip of blood before pulling back, giving me a chance to return the bite and take a sip of his own blood.

If the Prelate hadn’t still been holding our hands in place, I most likely would have backed away, on guard, when a breeze suddenly began to build around us.

It’s okay, it’s supposed to happen .

It would have been nice if Luther had mentioned this part. Trusting Jared, I remained still and quashed my anxiety. As if that cleared the mental pathway, the psychic connection suddenly snapped into place. I’d expected it to be similar to the link I’d had with my Sire; for Jared to be a small presence in the back of my mind. But it wasn’t like that at all. It was almost like I now had an extra sense, and that sense was totally focused on Jared − on his mood, his welfare, his whereabouts, his emotions, hell, even his vitals.

Pulling me from my musings, heat suddenly spread along my third finger. I had to resist the urge to snatch my hand back at the sensation of someone scraping at the base of my finger with a sharp nail. Then, where a wedding ring might have been, was a black, intricate, beautiful, and almost Celtic-like knot around my finger. The exact same one circled Jared’s ring finger. Touching mine, I realised that although it was much like a tattoo, it was also bumpy. Like brail.

Knots are different for each couple, Jared told me. Yours won’t match anyone’s but mine, and vice versa.

Now I understood why Luther hadn’t told me. He’d known I’d find this kind of nice, and he’d wanted me to have the surprise. Happily accepting Jared’s kiss, I said, I love it .

Good, because it will never come off, never fade, never alter in any way.

As the Prelate then made some sort of gesture, the guests rose from their seats and clapped. Oh. It was over.

“And now for the feast,” announced Antonio.

(Jared)

The Binding feast was taking place in the grand garden of Antonio’s mansion. The numerous tables circled the space that had been designated to be the ‘dance floor’. Seated with Sam and I on what was the main table were Antonio, Evan, Luther, Sebastian, Wes, and Lena. Although the garden had been decorated beautifully with torches, candles, butterfly lights, and a huge banner, I was too distracted by Sam to truly appreciate any of it.

She was absolutely enchanting, and that was nothing to do with her new Keja allure. It was because she was the most amazing creature ever. I’d felt connected to her before, but now I was linked to her on a whole other level. This new sense I had was totally attuned to her and only her. I couldn’t just feel her emotions, I could feel her − her heartbeat, her general mood, her thirst level, her energy level, and − best of all − I’d always know exactly where she was. No one could steal and hide her from me again. Not ever.

When Antonio slowly rose from his chair, champagne flute in hand, all the chattering stopped. “Firstly, I would like to thank you all for coming and celebrating this glorious night with us. I am sure you will all agree with me that the ceremony was beautiful. I felt honoured to be there. These two people are incredibly special in many ways. Both are independent, strong-willed, inspiring characters who I, just like many others here at The Hollow, have grown extremely fond of. And so, I was more than happy to bless their joining. I would ask you all to raise your glasses.”

As they all did, Antonio looked at us. “To Jared and Sam…May you enrich each other’s lives and find happiness everlasting.” After everyone had sipped some of the champagne flavoured NST from their glasses, he added, “I hope you all enjoy the upcoming feast, but before it begins, I wish to hand you over to Evan.”

Oh, great. When my brother stood wearing one of his smirks, I quietly groaned. So did Sam.

“As it is tradition that a friend of the couple gives a little speech, I thought I’d say a few words.” Turning to us, he flashed us a huge grin. “Sam, I have to say you look beautiful. And Jared…well, you look all right, I guess.” Punk.

Evan included all the guests as he continued. “As most of you know, Sam and Jared didn’t get off to a great start. But a lot of duels and whippings later, here they are…still fighting. But I suppose that means that this big step will suit them, because I’ve always thought that Binding was a bit like a war − both sides think they’re right, and neither wants to back down…the only difference is that you’re sleeping with the enemy.”