Where's My Happily Ever After?

“Edwin, please, let me have him first. He tried to kill my best friend,” I muttered in his ear, throwing myself into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his jaw.

“I still get the kill, right?” he purred, biting my neck. I’m sure it was all for the pastor’s benefit.

“Of course you do,” I whispered, crushing my body against him. I could put on a show for that damned Todd, too. “You can rip his throat out, sweetie.”

“You can stop that right now,” Todd snarled, glaring at us. I laughed.

“Oh, so I have your permission?” I sneered, laughing. I released Edwin, but he kept his hands firmly on my hips as if to say, “She’s mine and she knows it.” And, boy, did I know it.

“Jade, this didn’t concern you until I found out that you associate yourself with these leeches. Then again, I didn’t know that you were a leech, too, until today when your bloodsucking companion dropped the fake aura around you. When did this all happen?”

I laughed even more, tossing Edwin’s hands away from me and stepping closer to him. All of the other officials in the room tensed, but Todd managed to hold his ground.

“It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? You were supposed to marry Jasper and I, but somewhere along the road you fucked it all up. You told him about how your wife was expecting and you were so happy. You couldn’t wait to see your baby girl. You got Jasper into the baby thing, which split us up and caused me to meet Edwin. You drove me straight into the arms of the leech who was eventually the cause of me losing my humanity.

“Then you made the mistake of attacking my best friend. Quinn did nothing to wrong you, as she loved this church! She certainly looked forward to being in your chapel than being at home. Perhaps if I hadn’t met Edwin, I would have eventually gotten with Jasper. Then Quinn might not have bit Jasper. Of course, this whole mess could have been avoided! But...” I paused to breathe deeply, a sinister grin on my face. “You caused your own death.”

“Are you quite done, my love?” Edwin asked me with a raspy voice, eagerly kissing my neck. “All of this talk of death is getting me frisky.” He glanced over at Todd with crazy eyes and I saw a look of disgust cross his face.

“I think I’ve made my point. Knock yourself out, babe.” I kissed him roughly before walking back to Monique and Avery.

Monique was watching Edwin carefully, and I couldn’t help but notice that she was holding Avery so tightly in her arms. I didn’t want her to see her father when he smelled blood. I’d seen it when he went hunting and I happened to be tagging along, and it still gave me nightmares.

“Baby, please don’t look,” I begged softly, kissing her forehead and Avery’s. I was a bit nervous to turn my back on all of the vampire hunters, but I relaxed when I glanced back and saw Jasper standing in front of me, guarding me. I smiled softly, kissing his cheek.

“Mommy, what’s Daddy going to do?” she whispered, her voice giving out halfway through her question.

“He’s protecting us, sweetie. That man tried to kill Quinn. He might go after us.”

“But Todd is nice. He wouldn’t do that,” she squeaked, tears brimming on her eyelids.

“Jade, I think I can break the barrier, alright?” Jasper whispered to me. “You take Monique and Avery out of here. I’ll help Quinn, Nathan, and...Edwin. It’s been awhile since I’ve had anything to eat.”

“Jasper... Please be safe,” I murmured, hugging him tightly.

“I will. I have a reason to live again.” I almost cried at the sincere look in his eyes. “But you could repay me.”

I glanced over at Edwin, but he was busy taunting Todd and the others with two shining daggers. I turned away the second he ran the blade over his finger, smirking as the blood dripped down. He was plenty busy.

I threw my arms around his neck and crushed my lips to his. He mumbled something, but I didn’t care to hear it. I had forgotten how amazing he was. He was the one to pull away, breathing roughly. His hands lingered on my hips, as if he was debating whether or not he really wanted to let me go. I swallowed the protests when he reluctantly let go of me.

“I’ll come back for you, I swear,” he mumbled, licking his lips.

Even as I jumped through the wall made out of window pane, and even as the glass shattered around me, all I could think about was Jasper. Monique stumbled to keep up with me, but she didn’t say a word as I revved up the engine of the car. They could surely hotwire a car to get home.

I didn’t feel guilty at all for having kissed Jasper, but it should have killed me...