As soon as they were finished, Cassandra no longer felt festive, nor did she want to continue shopping. She needed to see Wulf.
She found him in the bedroom of their apartment, flipping channels on the TV. He turned it off the instant he saw her. "Is something wrong?"
She hesitated at the foot of the bed. He sat back against the pillows, his feet bare and one leg bent. The concern in his eyes meant the world to her, but it wasn't enough.
"Will you hunt my baby, Wulf?"
He scowled. "What?"
"If our son grows up and decides he doesn't want to die. Will you kill him for it?"
Wulf held his breath as he debated. "I don't know, Cassandra. I really don't. My honor commands it. But I don't know if I can."
"Swear to me you won't hurt him," she said, moving to stand beside him. She grabbed his shirt and held tight as fear and agony washed through her. "Promise me that when he's grown, if he turns Daimon you'll let him go."
"I can't."
"Then why are we here?" she shrieked at him. "What good is having you as his father if you're going to kill him anyway?"
"Cassandra, please. Be reasonable."
"You be reasonable!" she shouted. "I'm going to die, Wulf. Die! Painfully. And I'm almost out of time." She let go of him and paced back and forth, trying to breathe. "Don't you see. I won't remember anything after I'm dead. I'll be gone. Gone from all of this. From all of you." She looked around the room frantically. "I won't see these colors. Your face. Nothing. I'm going to die. Die!"
Wulf pulled her into his arms as she sobbed against his chest. "It's okay, Cassandra, I have you."
"Stop saying it's okay, Wulf. It's not okay. Nothing we can do will stop this. What am I going to do? I'm only twenty-six. I don't understand. Why do I have to do this? Why can't I see my baby grow up?"
"There has to be something to help you," he insisted. "Maybe Kat can talk to Artemis. There's always a loophole."
"Like you have?" she demanded hysterically. "You can't escape being a Dark-Hunter any more than I can escape being an Apollite. Why are we even getting married? What's the point?"
His gaze burned into hers. "Because I'm not going to let it end like this," he growled fiercely. "I have lost everything I cared about in my life. I'm not going to lose you or my child to this. Do you hear me?"
She heard him, but it changed nothing. "What's the solution?"
He pulled her roughly against his chest. "I don't know. But there has to be something."
"And if there's not?"
"Then I'll tear down the halls of Olympus or Hades or whatever I have to to find you. I'm not going to let you go, Cassandra. Not without a fight."
Cassandra held him close, but in her heart, she knew it was futile. Their days were finite, and with every passing hour, she was drawing irrevocably closer to the end.
By the time Friday came, Cassandra was more than ready for the wedding to be behind her. Her sister and Kat had kept her busy and frantic the whole week. Wulf had stayed blissfully out of their way.
If they ever asked him his opinion on anything, his answer was always, "I know better than to get in between three women arguing. If you'll remember, the whole Trojan War was started over that."
Chris wasn't so wise and had finally learned to stay out of the apartment as much as possible. Or to run the minute he saw the three of them approaching him.
Now Cassandra stood in the bedroom, dressed in her wedding gown and waiting. Her long, strawberry-blond hair was left down around her shoulders as was the custom of Wulf's people. She wore a silver crown intertwined with fresh flowers-another Nordic custom. Chris had told her that the crown had been passed down from Wulf's sister-in-law through all the generations of his family.
It meant a lot to her to be wearing it now. To feel connected to Wulf's past.
Wulf would also be wearing his family sword for the event, and when their baby married, he too would carry the sword strapped to his side.
The door opened slowly to reveal Urian on the other side. His long blond hair hung around his shoulders and he was dressed in an elegant black silk tuxedo. "Are you ready?"
They had decided after much debate to let him be her sponsor. Apollites didn't have the same customs as humans. Since there was a good chance the bride's parents were already dead, they chose a sponsor who would escort the bride down the aisle and deliver the customary words to unite the couple.