Chapter 66: Chapter Sixty-Six

"Bast, wake up you lazy bum!" Valerie exclaimed, jumping on me before she began shaking me, trying to wake me up. I responded with a groan, trying to wave her away, but to no great help as she just ignored me and continued shaking me.

"Valerie, don't be so rough." Damien hissed as he reentered the room, and came to the bed. He growled softly at her, giving her a soft push, which resulted in her falling backwards on the bed towards my feet.

"Jeez Damien, she's not a little baby!" Valerie responded with a pout, trying to act as if he'd actually hurt her.

"Give it up." I mumbled as I sat up, taking the cup of tea Damien handed me with a smile. Before I could take a sip, Valerie took it out of my hands and took a drink. When she realized it wasn't coffee, she stuck her tongue out and handed it back to me.

"Tea? Since when do you drink tea?"

"Tea is better for you." Damien responded, before I could say anything.

Valerie rolled her eyes and watched as Damien left the room. She waited until she thought he was far enough away before turning back towards me, and punching me in the shoulder.

"Ow! Why did you punch me?" I yelped, jumping forward. I was glad I was no longer holding my tea, as it would have spilled all over my lap when I jumped.

"You've been engaged since before you came to my house. And you didn't think to tell me?" She hissed, just above a whisper, her brown eyes nearly black in her anger.

"I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want you to tell me I'm too young, or it's too fast. I just wanted to enjoy my time with you, because I didn't know when I would be seeing you again."

"Oh... Well in that case, I forgive you." She said with a nod as she seemed to finally notice the size of my room, looking around in shock. "Your room is bigger than my entire house."

"Stop exaggerating." I said with a roll of my eyes before standing up, and crossing to the wardrobe. I picked out a pair of jeans, and a black lace tank top, not having the energy to pick out something more elaborate.

"Are you done gawking?" I asked her, waiting by the bedroom door for her to join me.

"Yeah, I guess." She mumbled, crossing the room to join me while I walked into the dining room. Damien and Sam were already waiting at the table for us, with food already made and waiting at the table. When Valerie saw that Sam and Damien had a plate as well, she furrowed her eyebrows in a question.

"Bast doesn't like when we sit here, but don't eat." Sam answered as the two men stood, pulling out our chairs.

"Oh, kitten. An early wedding gift came in today." Damien offered up after we started eating.

"What was it?" I asked after I'd finished my bite of eggs.

"I was waiting for you to open it." He responded, furrowing his brows as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

I rolled my eyes as a response and turned my attention back to Valerie as we ate. We talked about what's happened since the last time we saw each other, as well as her catching me up on things I'd missed at school. Once we were done eating, Damien brought the wedding gift into the dinning room, and set it in front of me. It was a medium-sized white box, with a gold bow tied meticulously around it. The gift looked to pretty to open, but I set it in front of Damien for him to open.

"Babe, it's for both of us. You open it." I said when he tried to give it back to me.

"Very well then." He said with a sigh as he stood to open the box. When he opened it, his eyes flashed blood-red, and before I could see what was inside, he moved to the other side of the room where he showed it to Sam. Sam had the same reaction that Damien did when he saw what was inside, then promptly took it, and left the house.

"What was it?" I asked, unsure of what exactly had just happened.

"It was no-"

"Are you really about to lie to me, Damien?" I snapped, cutting him off before he could even begin his lie. I narrowed my eyes at him, glaring. Just the night before he swore to tell me everything, but he was already lying to me the very next morning!

"You're right, I apologize." He said with a soft bow, before turning around toward the direction Sam had just left in. "SAM!" He yelled over his shoulder, I guess trying to get to Sam before he could destroy whatever the present was. Sam returned only a second later, slowly walking towards Damien, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Bast, are you sure?" Damien asked me, taking the box back from Sam, and holding it up too high for me to see inside it.

"Yes, I'm sure." I said, waiting for him to lower the box. I knew when I saw Damien and Sam's reactions that it would be something I wouldn't relish seeing, but I still didn't anticipate what I saw.

Inside the box was a little coffin made for a small child, the exterior a shiny gloss black, and quite beautifully exquisite with: 'Bastet & Lucifer' engraved on the top.

The inside of the coffin was lined with a blood-red satin, with two hearts laid inside it. One of the hearts was still red and bloody, the other dark and black; Symbolizing a human heart, and a vampire heart. The moment my eyes landed on the two hearts, I felt my stomach jump into my throat, resulting in me turning and throwing up all the breakfast I'd just eaten.

Damien handed the box back to Sam before putting his arms around me, then carrying me into the bathroom. He rubbed my back as I purged everything in my stomach, keeping my hair back out of my face as he mumbled softly to me in a language I didn't understand.

"Are you okay, kitten?" He asked me once he thought I was done, kissing my left temple softly, his electric blue eyes soft and filled with worry.

I nodded and stood to brush my teeth, then brushed my hair, still unsure of what to say about our "wedding gift."

"I will find out who sent it, and I will take care of it. Rest assured, my love." Damien said, pulling me back into his arms once I'd finished brushing my teeth.

"I know you will. It's just... should we not get married? Is it going to cause a lot of issues?" I finally asked, after thinking it through for a few minutes, unable to come to any other conclusion.

"Our marriage will not be deterred by the efforts of a third party, Bastet. That I will not allow." Damien said with a soft growl, his eyes now alive with anger.

"Okay, calm down." I said, patting his shoulder softly, before taking his hand to walk back downstairs.

Valerie and Sam were in the kitchen arguing loudly as Sam refused to show Valerie what was in the box, while Valerie, being the obstinate person she was, refused to take no for an answer.

"Val, believe you me, you will wish you didn't see what is in this box." Sam said softly, trying to get her to calm down, while holding the box outside her reach.

"Sam, I want to see it! Why can Bast see it and I can't?" Valerie responded, trying to jump to grasp it.

"Bast can see it, because it's her right to do so." Sam responded with a loud, exasperated sigh.

"Sam, get rid of it." Damien suddenly cut in, stepping between the two of them, blocking Valerie from trying to get in Sam's way as he left with the box, once again.

"Bast, what was it?" Valerie asked, turning to face me.

I shook my head, putting my hand to my stomach as my nausea was beginning to return, just thinking about it. "Nothing good. Don't make me think about it, please."

This seemed to resonate with Valerie as her eyes softened, and she nodded softly. "Okay, lets get to planning the wedding. Do you want to do the guest list first?"

"Sure." I said with a slight smile as the three of us walked into the library, where Damien already had multiple blinders set out, each with their own purposes. One was for potential guests, another with invitation card proofs as well as save the date card ideas, and another with mock seating arrangements. Off to the side there were a few with catering menus, some bridal and bridesmaids dress stores, and a list of venues, in case we wanted to do it indoors, rather than outdoors.

"Oh boy." Valerie said when she saw everything, widening her eyes as she sighed and sat down. "Let's get to work." She said, picking up the guest binder, and began flipping through it.

"I'll leave you girls be." Damien said as he turned and started to leave the room.

"Oh no, get your ass back in here. This is your wedding too." I shouted at him, trying to stop him before he could leave the room. He turned around with a slight smile, his dimples showing clearly as he came back and sat next to me.

For the next few hours, we went through our guest lists and decided on only about thirty people coming from my friends list, while Damien decided on about forty of his friends, all of which were vampires.

"Are your friends going to be okay with my friends? I don't want a wedding massacre." I said as he handed me his list, causing Valerie to bust out laughing hysterically.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be laughing, because it isn't funny. But its still funny to me. The two of you are doing something absolutely insane, yet you're worried about seating arrangements?" Valerie struggled out through her tears, making her laugh even harder.

"Stop laughing Val!" I exclaimed, but it was too late as I'd began laughing as well.

Damien sat there, watching the two of us like we'd gone insane, waiting patiently for us to calm down to explain to him why exactly we were laughing. But seeing Damien's confusion, coupled with Sam finally coming back into the room, holding some takeout containers, only fueled our laughter.