Raven kept his focus on the road before them. But that didn’t keep him from hearing all of the love fun happening behind his back.
Every laugh and every whispered word and every kiss stabbed him in the chest like a wooden javelin.
Missy, what should I have done differently? Would it have been right to not tell you about Elsie Vansing and how much she reminded me of her ancestors? It does not seem right to me. It seems dishonest.
Perhaps I should have.
I should have.
I do not know.
I just do not know.
Missy, please wake up. Please. Send your thoughts to me. Speak to me. Let me hear your voice again. Missy. Believe me when I say I love you. I want just you. Missy, it is you I love. Not May Rose Farlington. You. Just you.
Father Landover gave Raven an assessing look. “Are you okay?”
Do not let them see your hurt.
Do not let them know.
Keep your head up.
Keep your voice level and steady.
“Raven.” Father Landover laid his hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Is there a reason why you are asking me this question, sir?” Much to Raven’s relief, his voice didn’t wobble at all. It sounded perfectly normal.
“I’m not a vampire. I have no magical abilities. I’m not an extraordinary by any stretch of the imagination. I am just a human.”
Raven tossed a glance at him.
“But I happen to be a very observant human. I can see you’re upset about something. Do you want to talk about it?”
He can see it? How? What am I doing wrong?
“Must we discuss it now, sir?”
“No. Not if you don’t want to. I’m not going to push you into it.”
“I appreciate that, sir.” He did a full dramatic pause. “You may ask me again when we are at the restaurant, sir. I will give you my answer then.”
Father Landover nodded. “That sounds fair.”
***
Sarah bounced in her seat.
Ambrose had said that she looked beautiful in her dress.
Beautiful.
She couldn’t remember if anyone had ever called her beautiful before. Not that it really mattered. It only mattered when Ambrose said it.
And he had said it.
She stopped bouncing.
He had looked beautiful too, all dressed up in that wonderful suit. She was a little disappointed that the suit was black and not a prettier color like orange or green or bright blue.
But he had looked so beautiful in it. That black suit coat had looked super pretty with his black hair. She couldn’t even explain how or why. It just did.
She just wished that he hadn’t cut his hair. She had loved its messiness and now it wasn’t messy anymore. Such a disappointment! She hoped that it would grow back again.
Sarah checked out the vampire sitting next to her.
Robin.
Someone had chopped his hair too. She was okay with that. His hair had been too messy. Now, it was good and clean. So much better.
The fancy suit looked nice on him too. She wondered how and why. Maybe the suit was magical and it made everyone who wore it look pretty. Would it make her look pretty?
Sarah gave the suit a scrutinizing look.
Maybe it wouldn’t look all that good on her. Robin was a lot taller than her. Taller and bigger. The suit would need a lot of trimming to fit her smaller size. Unless it really was magical. Then, it wouldn’t need to be cut at all.
That would be a very strange magic.
ambroseandelsie 