I wasn’t about to object, and shuffled up the steps to the porch and down the hall before shutting myself in our bedroom. The bed looked so fucking comfortable I could cry. I kicked off my boots and shrugged out of my pants. Walking over to my side of the bed, I was about to crash into it when the small ring box on the nightstand caught my eye.
The ring.
The proposal.
I’d forgotten all about it, and seeing the box brought a smile to my lips.
Brock wanted to marry me.
Sitting down on the bed, I couldn’t wait any longer. I peeled open the box, and right away emotion tightened in my throat. The ring was made of a thin band of white gold, with a giant amethyst set in the middle of it. A row of small diamonds encircled the stone.
Purple. My magic, my eyes. Brock had gotten me a ring that matched me! It was so incredibly thoughtful and unique and totally my style. The amethyst was super shiny and huge, at least four carats. I didn’t want to know how much he’d spent on it. I simply loved it and I had to try it on. Pulling it from the box, I slipped it onto my ring finger and grinned. It was a perfect fit. Collapsing onto the bed, I stared up at my hand in awe.
Mrs. Evie Adams. Mrs. Evie Black-Adams. Hmm.
I was grinning like a fool, but sleep was pulling at the edges of my mind. I didn’t want to take the ring off, so I didn’t. I fell asleep with that huge fucker on my finger.
I was totally marrying Brock Adams. I just hadn’t told him yet.
10Bite me
“Evie…”Brock’s smooth, deep voice dove into my consciousness, stirring me from a deep sleep. “Evie,” he repeated, shaking me gently.
“Hmm…?” I mumbled.
Remembering all the shit that had gone down recently, my eyes popped open wide at the fact that Molly, who was like a little sister to me, was possessed by a fucking fog demon. Sure, maybe it was only a little part of the fog demon, but it was still more than enough. Images of her snarling and growling at us flashed through my mind, and I pushed myself up to a sitting position, rubbing at my face.
“How long was I asleep?” I asked Brock, before realizing he wasn’t looking at me anymore. Well, not exactly. He was staring at my hand with full-on intensity.
A quick glance told me that I’d fallen asleep with the ring on my finger.Shit. This wasn’t how I wanted him to find out I was accepting his proposal. I’d wanted to declare it romantically—and not in the middle of this shitstorm with Molly.
When I looked back up, he was waiting for me, his amber eyes alight. “Does this mean what I think it means?” he asked.
I hesitated. “I don’t want to do this when things are so messed up with Molly. First, tell me, do you have news?”
He nodded, his gaze once more flickering toward my engagement ring, a slight smirk pulling at his lips. “The council’s vote was unanimous. I have their permission to turn Molly. They took a while to come to an agreement though.” He grimaced, but with the dark stubble on his face, it only made him look dangerous and sexy. “You slept for more than three hours.”
“How’s Molly?” I insisted.
Brock scowled deeply, and even before he answered I knew I wouldn’t like what he had to say.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it. She’s not doing well. She’s grown even more hostile than she was before, and now she’s also refusing water and food. She looks like she’s strung out.”
I scooted toward the edge of the bed, slipped back into my pants, and bent over to pull on my boots. “We need to turn her right away, then. We can’t wait.”
“Can’t it wait long enough for you to give me an answer? Are you going to marry me, Evie?”
Still seated on the bed, with my second boot half on, I turned to look at him. The stress of the demon fog and all the other terrifying shit that had emerged from the gate to the underworld was evident in the tension that rode his shoulders, the way his eyes crinkled in the corners with exhaustion. Brock was responsible for an entire pack, and he seemed to worry about me and the baby constantly. He didn’t need to also worry about this.
I finished pulling on my boot and scooted closer to him on the bed, reaching for him, my ring glimmering across our joined hands. Staring into his eyes, I recognized all the hope he held for a beautiful future together, the love he had for me. Without a doubt, this was the man I wanted to share the rest of my life with.
Smiling, I leaned forward. “Yes, Brock Adams, I will marry you”—he broke into a grin that erased all the evidence of strain from his face—“but, I’m going to put the ring, which I totally love by the way, back in its box.”
His forehead scrunched into lines of confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“You proposed to me while we were in the middle of dodging the Akuma and figuring out how to prevent what amounts to a demon apocalypse on earth. And you only did it when my dad freaked out about us living in sin. There’s no fucking way I’m going to officially accept your proposal when my apprentice is fighting off demonic possession. We need good juju around this marriage.”
I shook my long hair, the pitch black strands sliding across my bare upper arms. “No, we’re going to do this right, once all this shit is over and the gate is sealed, taking with it all our nightmarish problems. Then you can wine and dine me, get down on one knee and look at me adoringly while you do your thing.”
