For him.
For her.
But then, all of her people wished for more time on this earth. Her mother, even her sister.
You could go Daimon too.
Maybe, but then the man she loved would be honor bound to kill her.
No, she couldn't do that to either one of them. Like all the Apollites here, she would meet her death with the dignity Wulf had written of.
And he would be left behind to weep for her...
Cassandra winced at that. How she wished she dared run so that he would never see her die. Never know when she passed away. It was so cruel to him.
But it was too late for that. There was no way to escape him while she needed his protection. All she could do was try to keep him from loving her as much as she loved him.
For the next three days, Cassandra had the distinct feeling that something was up. Whenever she drew near Wulf and Kat when they were together, they would immediately become quiet and act nervous.
Chris had taken up with a group of young female Apollites that Phoebe had introduced him to when she'd taken him shopping to buy electronics that would keep him from being bored. The Apollite girls thought his dark coloring was "exotic" and they adored the fact that he was so into computers and technology.
"I have died and gone to Valhalla!" Chris had exclaimed the night he met them. "These women appreciate a man with a brain and they don't care that I don't tan. None of their people do either. It's great!"
"They're Apollites, Chris," Wulf had warned him.
"Yeah, so? You got an Apollite babe. I want one too. Or two or three or four of them. This is so cool."
Wulf had shaken his head and left Chris to them with one last warning. "If they make a move on your neck, run."
By day five, Cassandra was really starting to worry. Wulf had been nervous since the moment she woke up. What's more, he and Kat had been gone for hours the night before and neither one of them would tell her what they'd been up to.
He reminded her of a skittish colt.
"Is there something I need to know?" Cassandra asked after she cornered him in the living room.
"I'm going to go find Phoebe or something," Kat said, shooting for the door.
She made a hasty exit.
"There's just something, I..." Wulf paused.
Cassandra waited.
"Well?" she prompted.
"Wait here." He left her to go to Chris's room.
A few minutes later, he came back with an old Viking sword. She remembered having seen it in a special glass case in his cellar. The two of them must have gone back to his place last night to retrieve it. But why they would take such a chance, she couldn't imagine.
Holding the sword in his hands between them, Wulf took a deep breath. "This isn't something I've thought about doing in more than twelve hundred years and I'm trying to remember everything, so give me a second."
She didn't like the sound of that. She drew her brows into a deep vee. "What are you going to do? Cut my head off?"
He gave her a peeved stare. "No, not hardly."
She watched as he took two gold bands out of his pocket and placed them on the blade. Then he presented them to her.
"Cassandra Elaine Peters, I would like to marry you."