“You really are breathtaking,” Joie reiterated. “I’ve always thought you were beautiful, but the way you look tonight, Gabrielle . . . Gary is a lucky man.”
Gabrielle smiled. Her heart leapt. She was the lucky one. She and Gary would exchange their vows and go away, far from the mountains where every single night Gary was asked by the prince or Gregori or someone to perform some monumental task that no one else could possibly do but him. Some terrible thing that put his life in jeopardy. She couldn’t bear that, not ever again. Being proud of your partner was just fine until they died in your arms, then pride wasn’t all that great anymore.
Gabrielle smoothed her hands down the line of her filmy gown and took a deep breath, pushing her fears away. Nothing was going to mar this special night. Nothing at all. Tonight was hers. Once more she glanced out the window up at the night sky where the stars glittered like a ceiling of diamonds. The rest of the tension coiled in her stomach slid away.
There wasn’t a single cloud. Not one. Just a beautiful blanket of stars, and she knew why. Gary. That was the reason. Carpathians created storms easily. They could also bring beautiful, perfect weather when they needed it. Gary had brought her this night. She didn’t feel the subtle pull of power, but she knew it was there.
“He’s waiting for me.”
“He can wait. You need something borrowed,” Joie said. She pulled a necklace from around her neck. A small pendant hung from a thin chain. “I keep this with me most of the time.” Her fingers wrapped around the pendant. “Well, all of the time. I found Traian in that cave and when we were escaping, I found this embedded in the ice. I think it belonged to one of the mages. Maybe even Dad. I’ve never showed it to him because I love it and feel very drawn to it and I really don’t want to lose it. It feels as if it should be mine.”
Gabrielle understood that her sister was giving her something that was important to her. She took the pendant and chain on her open palm, studying it from every angle. It was made of rock. It looked like quartz to her, but it was shaped into four circular corners with lines in the middle of each circle. It was highly polished, but still appeared crude. Gabrielle closed her fingers around it and felt warmth instantly. More, she felt her sister’s presence—as if she held a small bit of her in her hand.
“I can’t take this,” she whispered, her heart fluttering as love for her sister overwhelmed her. “This is meant for you. I feel you in it.” She could feel the way Joie loved her. Fiercely. Protectively. Unconditionally. She had that. Tears filled her eyes. Joie gave her that.
Joie reached out and gently put her hand over Gabrielle’s. “Just for this night. For your night. I want to be there with you in some way. I can’t go to the field of fertility with you, but I can give you something that matters to me so I can travel with you and know how happy you are. And you deserve to be happy, Gabby.”
“Thank you, Joie, I’ll wear it, then.” Gabrielle carefully slipped the chain over her intricate hairdo and let the pendant rest between her breasts.
“Something blue,” Joie said, and grinning, fashioned a lacy garter to slip under the wedding gown and onto Gabrielle’s thigh. “Gary will be happy to discover that.”
Gabrielle blushed. “Lovely. He will.”
“Something old,” Joie said, sobering a little. “Jubal gave me this for you. He said it was Dad’s, an ancient bracelet from an ancestor we’ve never heard of.”
“Dad gave this to Jubal? It’s for a woman,” Gabrielle said, her eyes on the delicate links, all fashioned by a brilliant ancient jeweler. The bracelet was made from a material she was unsure of, but the links were locked together and couldn’t come apart. She couldn’t see the clasp.
She wanted it instantly. It was beautiful. Primal. It held power. She felt it in the delicate links. “Why would Dad give this to Jubal?”
“He said Jubal would know who it belonged to and when to give it to her. Jubal says it belongs to you and now is the time,” Joie said.
Gabrielle bit her lip and took the links from Joie’s palm. Instantly the bracelet felt alive. Warm, like Joie’s pendant, but there was a surge of power, almost like an electrical current. The links moved, snakelike in her palm. She should have been afraid, but she wasn’t. Her heart beat faster, but only in anticipation.
This was hers. Just as the pendant was Joie’s and her brother had a bracelet that was really a weapon, this delicate piece from ancient times was meant to be part of her.
She closed her fingers around it, accepting it. Accepting that it held power and would somehow become a part of her. She felt the ancient links move again, slipping out the side of her fist to curl around her wrist. For one moment the links blazed hot, changing color from that strange metallic to a glowing red. Her wrist felt hot, but not burning, just the sensation of heat—a lot of it. Then the bracelet was there. Closed. No clasp. No way to take it off. It was as if the links surrounding her wrist were a part of her.
Joie caught her hand. “It’s beautiful, but, Gabby, it’s some kind of weapon like Jubal’s is. I think my pendant is for protection, but I think this is a weapon.”
“I don’t know what this is or who it was made for,” Gabrielle said softly, stroking the links with the pads of her fingers. “But I know it belongs to me. It’s supposed to be mine. I love this, Joie. It feels right on my wrist, almost as if it’s part of my skin.” She lifted the bracelet to admire it in the moonlight.