The Heart's Ashes
Page 103

“I wish I could hear your thoughts right now,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I want to ask you a question—about history.”
“History?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, shoot.” I’m good for it, thanks Dad-slash-History professor.
“Do you know why they say diamonds are forever?”
“No.” Crap. I wish I did. “Why do they say that?”
“Well, it’s because—just like me, and soon, you—” He smiled and we circled the edge of the frozen lake again, our bodies together like ballroom dancers, the wind kissing my cheeks and making my nose run. “They’re immortal. They never age or wither away. They’re a constant thing—shining, sparkling, beautiful—kind of like our love.”
“Our love is like diamonds?” One brow rose.
“Yeah.” He grinned sheepishly and looked down at his hand; I looked too, my lips softly parting when the sunlight caught the sparkle in a very round, very clear diamond, set atop a silver band between his long, thin fingertips. He dropped to his knee as we skated the straight stretch again, and smiled up at me. “Ara, my love. Will you marry me?”
Oh my God. A hot pulse of lava rose up from the ground under us, burning my insides and searing everything I ever hoped for, ever dreamed of, into existence. We moved so fast over the ice, the world racing by in a still moment while my heart pounded in my chest.
The snowy day came rushing back, freezing cold after my moment in the extreme heat of mystification. I looked behind David as we neared the end of the straight stretch—the banks rushing up quickly behind him. He just shook his head, smiling.
He’s not going to turn—we’re going to…
A soft thud sounded under us. David hit the banks, catching me in his arms with a jolt; disturbed snow splattered over my cheeks and lashes in dots of cool, melting with the heat of my skin. And the vampire just laughed, his fangs showing as he lifted my hand, sliding the ring over my knuckle until it rested safely at the base of my finger. “I knew you’d say that.”
“You did?” is all that came out in a pitiful breath.
He pulled my beanie over my ears then pressed my cold nose. “Yes.”
The night rose a little higher then, dragging the moon with it, and the cold became wet, seeping through my clothes around the cuffs of my jeans and my sleeves, even my toes felt soggy and frozen on the tips. I swallowed and blinked back tears, unable to say a word for fear the weight of this ring, so new on my finger, so foreign yet so long-awaited, would disappear—that I’d awake and this would all be a dream.
“I’m going out on a limb here, guessing that was a yes, right?” his tone was playful, but touched with a hint of uncertainty.
I shook my head. “We’re going to be immortal, David. This isn’t like a human marriage. I—” I blinked a few extra times. “It needs more consideration.” I felt his weight shift, his soul drawing away inside, and smiled quickly, realising how that might’ve sounded. “I meant, I can only marry you if we promise forever.”
The breath he obviously held came out through smiling lips; he wrapped his arms tightly around me. “What about until death do us part?”
“Not even in death.”
“Then, forever.” David nodded. “Nothing do us part.”
With a wide, fixed stare, I searched David’s smile. “I love you, vampire boy.” I almost laughed the words out.
“Et mon amour pour toi est éternel.”
I Frowned. “You know, it’s more romantic if I actually know what you’re saying.”
He laughed softly, wiping his hand across a droplet of melted snow on his upper lip. “It means… And my love for you is eternal.”
Considering his phrase, I tilted my head to the darkening sky and spotted the first star. “You know…I kinda like that phrase—especially since you mean it literally.”
He studied my face carefully, confusion masking his smile as he propped himself up on his elbow. “First star of the evening. Not making any wishes today, huh?”
“Don’t need to. You just granted the last one.”
David closed his eyes for a second—his smile warming the icy winter surrounds. “Really?”
“It’s all I ever wanted.”
“I wish I’d asked you earlier.”
“Why didn’t you?”
His smile slipped away to a soft expression; he reached up and stroked my cheek. “We should go inside. You’ll catch a cold.”
“I don’t care. I have you to take care of me—even when I’m sick.”
“That you do.” He rolled me into the snow and landed between my legs; the squishy, half-melted sludge seeped through my sweater and chilled my spine, like spilling an ice-soda on your clothes at the cinema. “And I love taking care of you. But, I can do that without making you sick first.” He leaped up and took my cold, stiff hand. “Let’s go home.”
“Okay.” My teeth chattered. “I’m free-z-zing.”
David laughed. “You are remarkably adorable when you’re being human, Ara-Rose.”
“And you’re sexy when you’re being the vampire.”
“Oh, really?” David grinned, walking me across the road. “Well, perhaps I’ll have to call on him tonight, then.”
“If you do, you better expect me to be all over you,” I said mischievously. “You’re my fiancé—I have rights to you now.”
“Is that so?” He smiled and opened the front door for me.
“Yes.”
“Well, in that case, I shall be requesting you escort me to bed immediately.”
“Tease.” I huffed, folding my arms.
He laughed, closing the door behind us. “You know me too well.”
My foot tapped to the soft, bluesy beat of John Mayer, lilting gently from my iPhone by the bed, while Emily traced circles over my diamond for the sixth time—I counted.
“Didn’t you tell me once that you hate diamonds?” she said, releasing my hand.
“Yup. But, David kind of set that straight with this whole eternal, shining love speech.” I smiled reflectively. “He’s good at that.”
“No, he’s not.” She laughed, snuggling down on David’s pillow. “He practiced that speech about a hundred times, you know.”