The aisle seemed to stretch on forever as Mike walked with me slowly toward the altar and the eight men in front of it.
The priest stood behind them, his hand gripping the bible in his arms like it was going to protect him from everything 'evil' in his sanctuary. Unfortunately for him, no matter how much he clutched at it like a shield, it wasn't enough.
I didn't even have to slip into the world of webs to be able to see just how tainted his once pink thread was. Shaking my head, lamenting over the fact that just because someone has the face and wings of an angel, doesn't mean that their heart is in the right place.
But the time of Judgement had arrived, so at least he could be happy about that… right?
Turning my attention, I studied Viktor. He stood in front of the priest, my other seven mates standing at his side and acting as groomsmen in this joke of a wedding.
The Van Helsing's face was completely blank, neither happy nor upset, as he watched me intently as I made my way toward him. In fact, if you didn't know him as well as I did, then you might have thought that he wasn't happy being married to me.
Scoffing at that idea, I rolled my eyes. It wouldn't kill anyone for him to smile at me. But I would make him pay for that later…
"You are smiling kind of creepily," chuckled Mike as he looked at me from the corner of his eyes. "I'm glad that it's not directed at me."
Humming, I nodded my head.
To the right of the church sat row after row of Knights. Both men and women, as well as children, sat in the pews, their faces turning toward me as I continued to walk toward my destiny. Some looked happy, others were expressionless, and only a few glared at me with sheer hatred.
Meh, they would fall in line like everyone else, or they would perish.
On the other side of the aisle, the one that was supposed to be reserved for my family, sat people I didn't know. Their faces seemed to blend together in an endless wave, but it wasn't their faces that I was looking at…
It was the threads above their heads.
Vampires sat beside werewolves; monsters sat beside demons; demi-gods sat beside skinwalkers; and, like extra sprinkles on top of a fuck up sundae, humans dotted the pews without rhyme or reason.
The line in the sand was drawn, and everyone was prepared for war.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, I was finally beside Viktor as Mike put my hand in my mates'. "Keep her safe," growled Mike, sounding suspiciously like my father had all those centuries ago. "And if you can't, then I will give her to someone who can."
Viktor nodded his head and slightly bowed to the once human, a sign of the respect he held for my beta. "I will protect her until the end of time," my mate promised him.
With a satisfied grunt, Mike turned around and went to sit in his seat… right in front of someone from House Vampyre.
Putting a bright smile on my face, I handed my bouquet to Stephanie so I could take Viktor's hands in both of mine. Both of us turned to the priest at the same time, and the corner of Viktor's lip finally twitched at the bead of sweat dripping down the Father's forehead.
"Dearly Beloved," started the priest, opening his bible and staring blindly down at it. It was probably a good thing that he had done so many weddings that he had it memorized. Otherwise, he might have ruined everyone's plan. "We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Viktor Singer and Nathalia Sokol."
The priest continued to drone on and on about the meaning of love and how we were now joined under the eyes of God and all the other stuff that I had no patience for. Before Viktor and I could say our vows, the moment had come when the priest closed his book and asked if anyone had any objections.
Someone on my side stood up and pointed at me like I was the root of all evil. "He cannot marry her!" screamed the vampire, her voice echoing throughout the church. "She is a monster."
I couldn't help but laugh at her statement. It was rich, having a vampire call me out for being a monster, but then again, what could she really do? Say that I was a bitch?
"I'm a monster?" I asked slowly, dropping Viktor's hand so that I could turn around and look at my accuser. "And how am I a monster?"
"You killed my brother!" cried out the woman, the fake tears streaming down her face as she gripped her arms around herself. Fun fact: if a vampire really was crying, it would only happen before their death, and they would cry tears of blood.
If it ain't red, they ain't dead.
There were murmurings around the church as everyone on my side looked shocked, like this was the worst thing they had ever heard.
"Die!" screamed the priest behind me. Before anyone could move, he plunged the sharpened end of a wooden cross straight into my heart from behind.
Not even Viktor had seen that coming, which I was probably going to remind him of for the rest of his life. "Does this count as 'til death do us part?" I asked the priest as my threads dove into my body, pushing out the cross and stitching up my heart before it could stop beating. "Because if it does, I am pretty sure that this counts as the world's shortest marriage."
The priest turned pale as he stared at my back as it stitched itself back together. Hell, I could even feel my threads stitching my dress together, the black threads a stark contrast to the white fabric. "You better hope I can get the blood out of his," I sighed, finally turning to the priest. "I really liked this dress."