Then the skald’s voice rose in song, and I turned to watch Eve enter the hold.
The obsidian-haired beauty was wearing her hair down in a wave of night with small cherry blossoms pinned to the strands like red stars. Her dress might have been considered a tight fitting “pencil” dress with a short skirt, but woven over the white satin garment was a thin webbing of white silk that was embroidered with a swirl of red cherry blossoms that wrapped around her perfect figure like a vine. The white silk trained behind her for a few feet, and I could see she wore red high-heeled shoes that matched the color of the dress’ accents. Eve always liked to wear chokers, but this one was a thick band of platinum with a square cut ruby larger than my thumb in the middle. Matching bands with rubies were also on her wrists, and rubies dangled from her ears. The color scheme of white, black, and red matched her skin, hair, and eyes, and I felt my mouth begin to water as my heart threatened to break free of my chest.
Eve’s eyes met mine as she walked down the aisle, and her mouth was curled into the largest smile I had ever seen her wear. When she reached me, she passed her bouquet of red cherry blossoms to Dragon without even looking at them, and my friend bowed deeply as he took them.
We said nothing to each other. We didn’t need to anymore. She knew my mind, and I knew how complete her love for me was. The words we spoke today would be just so everyone could hear our vows of love, but they weren’t needed.
They are needed, my love. You do not know my exact thoughts, and I want our lovers, friends, and family to understand how I feel for you. Thank you for this opportunity, and… Ahhh. I’ll speak the rest when it is my turn.
I nodded at Eve, and then we both turned to the skald.
“Freyja,” he repeated for the last time. “She is the v?lva, the sorceress that controls the magic of minds and hearts. She is the veleda for Odin, and she speaks of what will happen in the future. She maintains the fields outside of Valhalla, and she gifts all of our people with the kindness of love, and the fury of war when it is needed. She blesses the weddings of our king because each of his wives holds aspects of her, but perhaps none is as close to the goddess as Eve is. So we know that all of our gods are smiling at this ceremony. Adam, will you say your vows?”
“Yeah,” I said as I cleared my throat, and squeezed Eve’s hands. “I had a life before you, Eve, but it was one of slavery. I had no hope and no dreams. I had nothing besides a longing for a quick ending that I feared too much to cause myself. Then, with a flick of your fingers, you removed my bonds and gave me a second chance at life. I was finally able to make a choice, and I chose to protect you for the rest of my life. I chose to protect others because it was your dream, and I chose to be a better man because of the grateful example you gave me. I began with you, and I will end with you by my side.”
Eve’s eyes blinked dozens of times as I spoke, and large tears rolled down her rounded cheeks. She knew the words before I was going to say them. Hell, she probably knew every dark corner of my mind, and she still loved me.
“Our stories are similar, my love.” Her first few words were soft, but when the front row of the audience leaned in closer, she raised her volume so everyone could hear her. “Before you, I had nothing. I was alone in the cold darkness, but even before that I was hated for being different from the others. I prayed for release, not so I could have vengeance on those who wronged me, but so I could help others that could do nothing to change their fate. My prayers were unanswered for years, and I watched the scientists around me grow old, have children, and then grandchildren.”
Eve took a long breath, closed her eyes, and then opened them to stare deep into my soul. “Then I felt you enter the building where they had imprisoned me. Your soul spoke to me like no others ever had. I was able to form my words, and I felt you answer my call. My heart leapt for joy when you came closer, but I worried that this was just another trick that would end with no changes to my life. You came though. You came and rescued me from my prison. You rescued me from torture. You rescued me from hell. My name is Eve now. It never mattered what my first name was. If you are Adam, then I am the woman who came from your rib, for I would not exist without you. I love you more than I will ever be able to express in words, so I let my soul speak when we make love, and I let my dreams bless you a thousand times in ways you will never know. With our love, nothing will stand in our way, and we will save all the species of our galaxy from the Draugr or any other threat that seeks to imprison, enslave, or destroy. Our love will lead us, and it will not allow us to be defeated.”
I saw my wives nod out of the corner of my eye, and Eve pulled up her dress a bit so that she could kneel before me, then she held out her hand, and I placed my knife in her fingers.
“Who will witness?” Eve asked softly as she turned to the crowd.
“I will witness,” everyone said, and the vampire nodded.
“I am Eve,” she said simply, and then she smiled slightly when the audience tried to figure out if she was going to say more.
“She is Eve,” my wives all said in unison, and then the others repeated the sentence.
“I am Eve,” my love continued. “I seek justice amongst the stars.”
“She is Eve. She seeks justice amongst the stars.”
The room began to fill with the power of the submission magic again, but it felt more intense than with Paula, Kasta, and Zea.
“I am Eve,” Eve said calmly. “I submit my body, mind, and soul to Adam Vaish. I will serve him as consort, advisor, eyes, arms, legs, and heart. We will be bonded both in life, and when we arrive in Valhalla.”
Eve made a quick cut with my knife, and dark red blood poured from her hand to drip on the silk lace part of her dress. She didn’t even wince as she passed the blade to her injured hand and then made a matching cut on her right palm. Then she looked up to me with love in her eyes and passed me my knife.
The scent of her blood filled my senses, and I felt the beast in my stomach stir with some confusion. It was a simple creature, and I could tell that it was confused by the love of our woman and her obvious injury, so I made my cuts quickly, sheathed my weapon, and then reached for the beautiful vampire’s hands.
“I accept your submission, Ev--,” I started to say as our hands touched, but then the room started to spin, and my vision dim.
“They are bound!” I heard the skald call out. I also heard clapping and cheering, but it felt like I was falling into the ground.
I tried to shout out, but nothing came out of my mouth but a whispered hiss.
Then I felt Eve’s body press against me, and I saw that her eyes were wide with horror.
“Adam…” she started to say, but laugher filled my ears, and I felt my head smack into Persephone’s metal floor.
“Shhhheeee brrooouught you to meeeee.” I heard the familiar voice of the female SAVO bitch from my dreams, and I tried to turn and see her.
Then I realized the voice was coming inside of my mind, just like Eve’s did, and my vision faded to nothing.
Chapter 3
“What?” I gasped as I sucked in air and tried to sit up. For a few seconds I couldn’t remember where I was, but then I remembered the wedding to Paula, Kasta, Zea, and Eve. I recalled touching Eve to seal the bond with our blood. I remembered falling down and hearing a voice in my head.
I blinked open my tired eyes and knew instantly that I wasn’t on Persephone anymore.
I was in one of the SAVO styled throne rooms. I recognized the black metal-stone of the walls and pillars and the long tubes that ran across the ceiling. There were red lights pulsing somewhere up on the ceiling, but I couldn’t really make out their exact location when I turned my head upward. It almost seemed like the whole ceiling was just pulsing with the violent color.