Page 69 of Her Demon Mate

It is whitewashed with a thatch roof, and a small garden of aracin blossoms are blooming out front.

“This is ours,” I tell her excitedly. Elia looks at me, her eyes wide.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I sent my mother the money, and she arranged everything.”

“Wow.”

And we walk forward, hand-in-hand, to explore our new home.

* * *

Our wedding takesplace at night, on the beach.

I am not sure where my mother found a soz’garoth demon to perform the wedding rites, but she managed somehow.

My mother also managed to find a few of our family members to attend the small ceremony, and Vylco arrives at the last minute, looking incredibly dapper with a gorgon woman on his arm.

Elia comes walking out of the cottage, our cottage, with aracin blossoms threaded through her long hair.

Demonic wedding ceremonies are quite complicated usually, but my mother cannot be outside for long, so Vylco threatens the soz’garoth demon before he starts.

First Elia and I are instructed to hold hands by the soz’garoth demon. Then Vylco walks over to us with a Mesoa bead bracelet and wraps it around our joined hands.

Mesoa beads are made from volcanic rock from the volcanoes that surround Ikoth. Some demonic myths claim that we were born from the volcanoes, after the gods and goddesses breathed life into the volcanoes.

Now Mesoa beads are part of most demonic rituals.

Then Vylco steps back, and the soz’garoth invokes the gods and goddesses, without saying their real names, and asks them to voice their objections to the union.

I know that several of my family members are probably disapproving of my union to Elia, so we all wait with bated breath for the goddess of chaos to send a bolt of lightning our way.

But it never comes.

Then we are instructed to recite our vows, while a fire is lit in a circle around us.

“Together we remain bound,” Elia recites each line perfectly. I am quite sure that my mother kept her up all night practicing.

“Bound by rock and love and bound by the blessings of the gods. Together we remain bound, melded by fire. Together we remain bound, throughout the night and into the day. For now and for all eternity.”

Vylco cheers then, although we are all supposed to remain silent to give the gods and goddesses some time to bless the union.

My mother snorts at this display of enthusiasm before she bursts into a raspy chuckle.

“I’m just glad you finally did this. I thought I’d never see this moment,” my mother grumbles when I go up to her, with Elia bound to me, to kiss her.

The circle of fire burns merrily as we head over to the small tables that have been set up with food and water.

Elia and I take a plate to my mother, who is talking animatedly with Vylco’s date.

“I never thought this would happen for me,” Elia says, and I know it is the truth and not an exaggeration.

She never thought that she would be happy.

“But it has happened. And my mother likes you so your life will be pretty easy. Everyone in Bilgonith knows her, and they’re all afraid of her.”

Elia laughs, nearly choking on her wine, and she keeps laughing until tears fall from her eyes.