The Gift She Gives Ch. 21

"Fine." She'd said. There was nothing else to be said. It was the life of Boris and Hannah, or her own happiness. God only knew what he would do with her unborn child, but Vesper would never forgive herself if she made Anya and her wolves watch the death of their children.

"Vesper." Mr. Hughes hissed as she walked towards the devil.

"You'll come to me willingly?" The devil raised an eyebrow as he lifted his foot just a little from Boris' neck.

"If you let the children go." Vesper nodded, ignoring the way Mr. Hughes let out a pained breath from beside Sergei, she wasn't letting him move, and he was desperately trying to.

She watched as Lucifer removed his foot entirely from Boris, and the wolf hopped up onto all four paws, but instead of moving away from the devil, he turned and began growling at him, apparently the child had been in the process of attacking the beast for grabbing up his little sister. Vesper frowned as the devil pushed the young wolf back with his booted foot.

"Boris, nyet." Sergei ordered and the young wolf paused and looked over at his father and alpha.

"Boris, go to your mother. I'll get your sister." Vesper said softly and watched as the young wolf looked up at the devil and growled menacingly before finally following the orders that they'd given him and moved over to his mother, who immediately embraced him and covered his neck with kisses and her tears.

"Now let the little one go, Lucifer, and I'll go with you." Vesper said very gently, not wanting to excite the devil as she took another step towards him.

"I'll let her go once we're on the edge of the property." The devil responded, making the wolves growl again.

"Luce, don't do this." Mr. Hughes' voice hinted at his fear and desperation, and Vesper looked over at him with a frown on her face, she had to do this, he had to understand.

'Get him to the edge of the property, Vesper, don't hesitate, don't fight. Once you're there, I want you to push him the way you did us earlier, the way you can do to Mr. Hughes, push him off the property and make sure you don't go with him.' She heard Natasha's voice in her head, but she kept her eyes on the devil, she didn't want him to think she had any other ideas right now. He had to believe that she was going with him.

"As soon as we get to the edge, you'll give her to Anya." Vesper nodded, waiting for his return nod before taking a few more steps towards him so that she was at his side.

"Vesper, please." Mr. Hughes' voice was choked, he was fighting the hold she had kept on his body this entire time. She hoped that she could keep him where he was long enough to get to the edge. He could not interfere, she couldn't see him hurt.

'He'll stay here, if that is what you want him to do.' Natasha sounded in her head again.

'Yes. Tell him to stay here.'

"Shall we?" The devil waved to the path behind him and Vesper nodded and began to walk beside him and away from the others that they were near. Anya had given Boris over to Sergei, and she was walking behind them by about ten feet, keeping a distance that she knew the devil would require as they made their way towards the spa.

"I apologize for interrupting your wedding plans, but it doesn't seem like things were going quite how you had imagined them, to be honest." The devil's comment made her cringe inside, and Vesper looked over at him with a frown.

"You are the one ruining my wedding. No one else is. I don't know why you must hold this grudge over Mr. Hughes, it's not his fault that God forgave him. You should take that up with God." Vesper said, shrugging her shoulders, as if he wasn't practically ripping her heart out trying to take her away from her angel.

He picked up the pup and held her in front of his face, "Do you know who fathered this one?"

"No, but it doesn't matter. She's a baby and you're disgusting for threatening her life to get your way." Vesper glared at him as he smiled over at her.

"Grigory would be pretty upset with himself for putting his daughter in harm's way like this." The devil clicked his tongue a little as he winked at Vesper and she felt nauseous. He was right, Grigory would completely blame himself for this. Did he know? Had he torn himself from the pack enough that he couldn't see or hear what was happening? Was that why he had not returned?

"You should just let her go now. I'm already leaving with you." Vesper suggested, not liking the way he laughed, as if knowing that she would fight him instantly if he let the pup go.

"I have little trust that you will do what I want if I do that, Miss Lynch." He confirmed what she was thinking and Vesper frowned, what if he didn't let Hannah go until he was off the property?

"Mr. Hughes will eventually find you." She told him as they continued walking.

"Even humans know where to find me, Vesper, and the lot of them are imbeciles." He chuckled at her, "It's not about where I am, but whether or not you're willing to make the trip to get to me."

His statement made her shiver as she realized just where he was talking about. Did he mean to drag her down to hell with him? She certainly wasn't about to allow that to happen. 'Just do what I said, if you can knock everyone down like that, you can knock him off of the property.' Natasha's words came to her and Vesper sensed that her friend was close by, probably readying herself to do whatever it was she planned to do once the devil was off of Vorhees land.

The edge seemed to be coming up fast, and the devil was increasing his gate. Vesper was afraid he'd step outside of the border with Hannah still in his hands, so she slowed down and frowned at him.

"Just a few more yards to go, take a hold of me, and let the baby go." Vesper stopped walking, which forced him to turn around and look at her with irritation.

"You care quite a bit for a creature of the darkness. You'll fit right in where I'm taking you." Lucifer chuckled in satisfaction, dropping Hannah carelessly, causing the pup to whimper as her mother shrieked and ran to her to pick her up.

Vesper could hear howls of anger behind them and knew Mr. Hughes would be having a hard time talking all of the werewolves into staying where they were. Vesper walked slowly towards Lucifer, who was now about two feet from the border of the property, something she could feel herself reaching, and knew Natasha was making it easy to do so. The devil grabbed her by the neck and forced her close to him.

"It will be such a pleasure to make you scream his name, and know that there is nothing he can do to take you from me." His words were dark, ominous, and exactly what Vesper needed to feel that anger, that heat, rise up in her body again and she opened her palms towards his feet and glared at him.

"Enough!" She shouted the same word that she'd shouted before, figuring it had worked that time, it should work this time. As she felt the pulse of whatever it was leave her body and hit the ground around them, Vesper watched him look at her in shock as he was forced back and off the property, his hand losing its grip on her as he was knocked onto his ass on the hard forest ground, his head hitting a tree behind him as she watched, happy that it had worked. But what now?

Vesper took several steps back from the place she'd come to stand and turned to see Anya running with Hannah in her arms back towards the wooded area that they'd come from. She could practically feel the heavy footfalls that were rushing their way, but what caught her attention the most was the half elf/half wizard female stepping out from behind some trees, a strange chanting sound coming from her mouth and her arms raised before her, a fuzzy blue glowing ball forming slowly before them as she walked closer and closer to the border of the property.

Two dark forms suddenly appeared from off the property and Vesper watched as two vampires landed somewhat apart from Natasha and her. A man and a woman, and a baby that resembled them. Alexandru and Domino. They nodded at her and then turned their attention to what the elf was doing. Her words were getting louder and there was a strange shift in the air along the entire edge of the property as far as Vesper could see. Four more dark forms flew through the sky and onto the property to land beside the two vampires, three like them, and the other was an older woman who had been carried in by the darker vampire female. Natasha ignored them, she must have communicated with them in some way.

More chants, more discoloration to the edges of the property, and the trees seemed to be shaking. Now Lucifer was on his feet, screaming, but she couldn't hear him over the rumbling that was beginning to occur. Vesper saw Faeron approach, his hands out and he was chanting something similar to his sister, but as he waved his hands, no blue hue came from them. That must be a wizard thing. Vesper gasped as the trees began to thicken and the branches and leaves began to weave together in intricate patterns. Through it, she could see the devil trying to pull at them, to get back onto the property, but whenever he would yank a branch down, three more would replace them, until the demon was practically invisible on the other side of the border.

Looking around her as the wall of flora steadily thickened, Vesper realized that Thorontur had arrived somehow, and he was assisting his siblings in the formation of the spell that Natasha was casting, and there were two female elves with him doing the same. She knew Natasha had sisters, but wasn't aware that they were coming to the wedding.

The noise finally stopped and the ground ceased its shaking. By then, Mr. Hughes had stepped into the area, as had the werewolves and Samir. Other wedding guests could be seen standing near the back patio of the spa and Vesper knew everyone was focused on the wall that Natasha had just grown around the entire property. She knew that no one had ever seen anything like it. She didn't think that this was something that the elf in her could have done without the wizard helping. Even Faeron was looking at his little sister with a bit of shock in his eyes.

"There's an enchantment to this. No darkness or light can pass through unless a rift is made. And only Faeron and I know the way to make passage." Natasha said aloud so that everyone near them could hear her.

"I wasn't aware that elvish magic was that strong." Mr. Hughes said worriedly, he should know, he was the oldest of them all, wasn't he?

"It isn't." Thorontur frowned and stepped closer to his sister, "Your father's people have taught you a great more than you have let on."

"Wizard fathers want their daughters to reach their full potential." Natasha frowned back at him and moved closer to Vesper.

"Are you all right?" She asked her friend as she took her hand.

"I am now. Thank you so much, Natasha!" Vesper hugged her close, tears in her eyes as she thought about what could have happened to her, and to Hannah.

Looking over at Sergei she frowned, "Hannah?"

Sergei gave her a soft smile and nodded as he stepped forward. "Hannah is fine. Anya took her with her to your house to get the rest of our brood and take them to our rooms in the spa. She's shaken up, as is her mother, but everyone is fine."

"Does, does Grig-?" She started, speaking more softly when she glanced at Mr. Hughes and saw him frown.

Sergei shook his head slightly, "He's cut us off for now, but it's better this way. He would be hurt needlessly now that all is well."

"I'm so sorry, Sergei."

"Don't be."

"Okay, Sergei, you need to go and deal with your puppy army. I've been waiting forever to finally meet Vesper, and it's my turn." A female voice sounded behind Vesper and she turned to see a short, blond, and gorgeous woman with dark, reddish eyes and knew she was looking at Domino. The vampire hadn't gotten to come up for her fitting and her measurements had been sent instead.

"Domino?" Vesper asked, a shy smile on her face. This was Mr. Hughes' best friend. What if she didn't approve of her?

"Yes, and this is Faith, my daughter." Domino showed her the little one in her arms and Vesper grinned even wider, the child was adorable, dark haired like her father and her little wings flapped randomly as she tried to crawl out of her mother's grasp.

"It is so nice to meet you. I'm sorry you've come right when this was all happening." Vesper waved her hand at the new border.

The huge male vampire stepped forward with a chuckle, pulling his daughter out of her mother's arms and placing the girl on his shoulders, "It seems to me that we managed to arrive just in time, and we had a little guidance along the way." Alexandru nodded over at Natasha.

"This is my husband, Alex." Domino took hold of Vesper's hands, "I just have a million things that I want to ask you, but we need to feed Faith before she starts screaming in desperation, and there are more people for you to meet."

"I'd like that." Vesper nodded at her, she'd welcome a conversation with the vampire female. She had a lot of questions herself.

"This is my friend, Jo," She indicated the black vampire that was looking at her with a happy amusement in her dark red eyes, eyes that moved from her to Mr. Hughes and back again, "And this is Marci, her girlfriend, she's human."

Vesper nodded at both the young attractive vampire and her much older, gray-haired girlfriend. They must have been together for a long period of time. She wondered why Marci had never wanted to be changed to a vampire. 'Would you have chosen this life?'

Vesper looked over where Natasha was standing quietly among her siblings and shook her head a little at her. 
"These are our friends, Cooper and Fionna." Domino waved to the last two, who smiled at her warmly and nodded their heads.

"Everyone is really curious about you, Vesper. We've all known Mr. Hughes...for a long time. Seeing him happy is something many of us have always hoped for." Jo said finally, her voice soft, welcoming, but there was a little something behind what she said, and Vesper wondered just how well the woman had known Mr. Hughes. No matter, he was hers now, and tomorrow it would be forever.

"I think it would be best if everyone went to the spa for a bit and got settled in. My chefs have been hard at work preparing meals to wet everyone's...appetites...and I know that Vesper is looking forward to her dinner with the ladies in our home." Mr. Hughes spoke up, louder than he normally did so as to be heard by everyone milling about outside.

Vesper nodded as people slowly started walking, Mr. Hughes had wanted to hold with tradition and not see her for long the night before their wedding. He even intended to sleep in his old bed at the spa for this last night. She'd begrudgingly agreed. As she walked beside Natasha in the direction of the spa, Vesper felt the large, heated form of her fiancé come up to walk beside her and she looked up at him with a tired smile as his hand wrapped tightly around hers.

"I can't lose you, Vesper." He said gutturally and Vesper bit her lower lip and nodded, her eyes on the ground before her as she walked through the grass of the back lawn.

"I can't lose you, either, Arc. But he, he's never going to stop, is he?" She knew her words shook, that her fear showed through, but she couldn't help it.

"No, he's never going to stop. But we aren't either." He moved his hand to wrap it around her shoulders and pull her close as they stepped up onto the back patio. Domino and her friends walked inside first, followed by Alexandru and his daughter who was giggling happily. Vesper watched as Natasha went inside before stopping and turning to the angel at her side. She waited until the rest of the nonhumans disappeared inside before putting her hands on each side of his jaw and tilting her head up to look at him.

"I love you, Archimendes." She whispered to him, and watched as he smiled warmly, his face moving down so that he could capture her lips softly within his for several moments.

"I love you, too, Vesper." He replied a few moments later after he had finished his perusal of her mouth.

"Are you really going to make me wait until tomorrow to have you in my bed again?" The very last thing that Vesper wanted right now was to be alone all night. With the devil having just tried to kidnap her and take her with him to hell, and the fight with Grigory and knowing that the werewolf had pulled away from his pack because of his feelings for her, Vesper did not welcome a night in what would feel like a very cold, and lonely, bed.

"Vesper." He groaned, and she could tell that he sensed her need, but struggled not to bend.

"Arc, I'm going to love you just as much in the morning if I wake up in your arms on our wedding day."

He looked down at her for several long moments and frowned before sighing. "Vesper, you're being difficult."

"You are so insanely old fashioned. And not even old old fashioned, new old fashioned. I'm sure there were plenty of times when neanderthals just found a woman they wanted to be with and grabbed them and that was the end of it. Really, Arc." Vesper ran a hand over the stubble on his jaw, the warmth of him keeping her heated on the patio.

"Now you're requiring me to be like a caveman." He chuckled and shook his head before bending and kissing her soundly.

"I'll happily get you a club and let you pull my hair if it helps." She widened her eyes up at him as he chuckled slightly. The sound made moisture pool low in her body.

"You will have to settle for Elarinya. I must stay at the spa tonight and see to all of our male guests." He held firm on his resolve and Vesper frowned, scrunching her nose a little as she thought of something.

"You are having a bachelor party. You, a man who has had thousands of hears to BE a bachelor, are being thrown a bachelor party." She shook her head as heat turned his neck red and he grimaced and looked away from her a moment.

"I can promise you that there are no women involved."

"I guess there's that." Vesper shook her head, laughing at him now.

"You're having all the women over tonight."

"To eat dinner and watch movies. I don't even want to think of what Mr. Bricker, a SEX demon, or Alexandru would consider proper activities for a bachelor party." Her mind ran wild with the thoughts of what those two men would plan.

"It will be quite tame, I promise, Vesper. And tomorrow evening, you and I will get married." He smiled and wrapped an arm around her and turned them towards the back door that had been left open for them.

"We are definitely getting married tomorrow evening." Vesper nodded up at him as they walked through the door and into the dining room, the wedding was most definitely happening.