Enchant the Night - Amanda Ashley Page 0,58
skirt flared around her ankles, then lifted the gossamer veil from the box and set it in place.
“You’re going to make a beautiful bride.”
Feeling a blush warm her cheeks, Callie turned to face Quill. “You think so?”
“The proof is right in front of me.” The gown fit as if it had been made for her. Rays from the setting sun came through a narrow, tinted window, bathing her in a halo of rosy light. She looked, he thought, like a fairy princess. “You’re beautiful, Callie.”
“Thank you.” Her heart skipped a beat as he took her hands in his and drew her closer. His gaze moved over her. “Callie, would you marry me?”
She blinked up at him, stunned by his proposal. “You want to marry me?”
“More than anything.”
“But we hardly know each other.”
“You know me,” he said quietly. “It doesn’t have to be today or next week or even this year. But will you think about it?”
She nodded.
“Can I help you with anything up here?”
“You could carry those boxes downstairs for me.”
“All right. Where do you want them?”
“In the garage, for now.”
He stacked the cartons one on top of the other, moved to the opening left by the trap door, and floated to the floor below.
Callie stared after him. He wanted to marry her. Any marriage was bound to change her lifestyle, but being married to a vampire would come with a whole different set of adjustments, the main one being that any child she had would be a boy and a future vampire. Was she strong enough to handle that? She had always wanted a daughter, but if she married Quill, that would never happen. Of course, it might never happen no matter who she married, but at least there would have been a fifty-fifty chance.
Sighing, she stepped out of the gown and removed the veil and replaced them in the wooden trunk.
She had a lot to think about.
* * *
After stacking the cartons in the garage, Quill went in search of prey. He hadn’t been thinking of marriage when he went up to the attic looking for Callie. It had never once entered his mind. But after seeing her in that dress, he had known there would never be another woman for him. Having met her, his biggest fear was that she would leave him to spend the rest of his life without her.
And being an honorable man, the only decent way to keep her with him was as his wife.
* * *
Callie was online, updating her Facebook page, when Quill returned home.
Glancing around, he asked, “Where’s the cat?”
“Sleeping in my grandmother’s room, although I don’t know how Ebony got in there since the door was closed.”
“Maybe she’s a witch, too.”
“Very funny.”
Standing behind her, he perused her page. He didn’t spend a lot of time on the Internet, but her business had a lot of friends.
Leaving her Facebook page, she opened her email. There were three from brides seeking her services.
“Do you miss working?” he asked.
“Sometimes.”
He frowned as he read her replies, noting she had declined to accept any of them.
“Callie, don’t let me stop you from pursuing your career.”
“You aren’t. It’s really more of a hobby, anyway. And I don’t want to make any commitments until this trouble with the Knights is over.”
She was shutting down the computer when a shadow passed by the window.
Quill saw it, too. “Stay here,” he said, and hurried out of the room.
A moment later, the lights went out.
Rising, Callie drew back the curtain and peered out the window. She heard a crash, followed by a sharp cry of pain.
Hand pressed to her heart, she ran into the living room, but paused at the door when she heard footsteps on the porch. A few muttered words and a wave of her hand brought the lights back on.
She breathed a sigh of relief when Quill called, “It’s me,” before entering the house.
“Who was it?” she asked, afraid she already knew the answer.
He nodded. “It was another one.”
“Is he . . . ?”
“Yeah. I dumped the body behind the old fire station where his buddies will be sure to find it.”
Callie shuddered. Another dead body. “Is this insanity ever going to end?”
He grunted softly. “Not as long as I live. Or they do.”
“You’re not hurting anyone. Why can’t they just leave you alone?”
“Destroying my kind is their sole purpose in life.”
Suddenly cold, Callie scrubbed her hands up and down her arms. If she married Quill, she would always be a little on edge, always wondering