Nightmares and Daydreams (The Blood Falls Book 4)

The climb to the top of Blood Falls wasn’t hard, but it was tradition. Rhysa, like all the other females, wore a flowing red shift dress, her hair down with flowers woven into a few small braids, and a basket in her hand. Her other hand held mine. The wind was brisk and refreshing in the afternoon sun.

At the front of our party was Aunt Bethany in her flowing red gown and Sun in his black kimono. Every time the breeze shifted her skirts billowed. Behind them walked Aunt Belynda in a much simpler but similar red gown, and Mai, wearing a black kimono as well. The rest of the families and a few friends made up the wedding procession, the order dictated by hierarchy. The only ones who didn’t make the wedding climb were those who weren’t physically able to do so.

“If your family color is blue, why do we wear red?” Rhysa asked as Gigi flitted behind us like a butterfly.

It was a little funny how we all tended to move like our animal halves. Bo had long, graceful strides punctuated by sudden bursts of speed. Leena moved at a steady, even pace. But Gigi flitted. Always flitting.

“Red is life,” Gigi said simply. “It’s blood and richness. It’s what binds us and gives us life. We wear blue in our hair, though.”

The flowers woven into their hair were all blue and white, just like the blue flowers pinned to my shirt. In honor of Sun and his House, we opted to wear black pants with our red shirts today. There was also some blue thread woven into the hems of all our wedding attire.

I gave Rhysa’s hand a squeeze. “Weddings are about more than the Houses. They are about being samhain.”

We reached the top of Blood Falls at the exact right time. The sun would move into position in one hour, making the falls appear the reddest of the day. Sun’s grandparents sat on a bench under a blooming white cherry blossom tree that grew on the House of Sato property line, outside of the wedding wards that were put in place to keep the wedding party safe while the ritual was performed.

A few other trees defied nature and took root in the rocky terrain, but mostly the view of the bright blue sky was unobstructed. There were no clouds today. Just crisp spring air and the promise of summer.

Sun’s father stood in the center of the stone circle with a gong, which he rang when the last of the wedding procession reached the top. “Gather!”

“I have a job to do.” I kissed Rhysa. “I’ll see you below.”

She kissed me back, eyes glinting with excitement. “See you below.” Her first wedding was going to be hard to top. Everyone waited so long for Sun to be released from his duties as the Doctor that it amplified the desire of everyone involved to make it bigger, better, and more special than any wedding performed before. Guests from nearly every House waited back at the house, ready to celebrate all night (and probably for a few days after.)

I drew Dreadnought from the sheath at my back and knelt before Asa, placing the sword on the ground at his feet. “The blood between our Houses is strong. There is no quarrel between us.”

“The blood between our Houses is strong!” he called out. “There is no quarrel between us. We are family. We are one!” He rang the gong again. “Sun, of the House of Sato, of my blood, why do you call us here today?”

I remained on the ground, head bent. I could just barely make out Sun moving towards us from the corner of my eye.

“I wish to pledge my soul and Fate.” He withdrew his sword and held it out in his palms.

“To whom do you wish to pledge your soul and Fate?”

“To Bethany of the House of Wren.”

“To pledge your soul and Fate is binding for eternity. The bond cannot be broken, and the rest of your existence will be entwined. Do you wish to proceed?”

The air already began to charge with energy from the Plane. I felt the tingle as it rushed past me to Sun.

“I do.”

“Then stand in judgment.” The gong rang out again. “Draygus, of the House of Wren, the blood between our Houses is strong. Today we are as one.”

I held out my right hand. Asa used a small knife to place a cut in each of our palms, drawing a small amount of blood. He clasped my hand and pulled me up, our blood mixing. “Today we are as one,” I repeated, completing the Ritual of Houses.

Asa beamed as he spoke. “Sun of the House of Sato wishes to pledge his soul and Fate to Bethany of the House of Wren. He stands in judgment.”

With a nod I picked up Dreadnought and took up my part of the ritual. Sun stood still as a statue with his sword out in front. I circled him once then came to a stop directly in front of him, placing Dreadnought in the air above his head. “Brothers and sisters, is this male’s soul and Fate given freely?”

In birth order my siblings moved around Sun and came to stand around him in a circle, each holding their swords above his head. “It is freely given,” they each said once the tip of their sword touched mine.

“He is ready for judgment.”

Belynda came forward with a washcloth. “Love and eternity can have no barriers. There is no defense. Only acceptance. Do you set aside your sword willingly?”

“Yes.” Sun’s voice broke on the word.

She took it and sheathed it at her belt, then washed his face and hands. “Your soul is open and ready.”

Sun trembled a little as he and Belynda exchanged silent words. His emotions spilled out over all of us and even I felt my heart beat faster.

“I am ready,” he said softly.

I lifted Dreadnought straight in the air, then sheathed the weapon at my back. My siblings did the same. The gong rang. I turned to my Aunt Bethany and held out my hand. “Bethany, of the House of Wren, why do you call us here today?”

Tears spilled down her face as she spoke. “I wish to pledge my soul and Fate.”

My eyes twinged and damn it all, they began to water, too. “To whom do you wish to pledge your soul and Fate?”

“To Sun of the House of Sato.”

The energy swirling on the mountaintop surged. The Plane and Destiny itself were with us, the threads of Fate weaving these two souls together. “To pledge your soul and Fate is binding for eternity. The bond cannot be broken, and the rest of your existence will be entwined. Do you wish to proceed?” The hair on my arm stood up. The magic of the moment washed over me as the powerful forces of our world converged.

“I do.”

“Then stand in judgment.”

The gong rang out and Mai stepped forward, circling Bethany once before placing a red veil over her head and shoulders.

“Is this female’s soul and Fate given freely?” Asa asked.

“It is given freely,” Mai replied. Tears ran down her nose and cheeks. “Love and eternity can have no barriers. There is no hiding. Only acceptance. Do you set aside your veil willingly?”

The removing of the veil was meant to symbolize clear vision and total vulnerability for your marriage partner and your marriage partner alone.

“Yes,” Bethany whispered.

Mai removed the veil then washed Bethany’s face and hands. “Your soul is open and ready.”

Bethany nodded several times before she was able to get the words out. “I am ready.”

A day so long in the making. No two people deserved more for the sacrifices they made over the years and the genuine love they held onto all this time.

This wasn’t just words they were exchanging. The ritual began with the pledge last week, binding themselves together metaphysically. Today they exposed their souls. At this moment Sun and Bethany were as vulnerable as the day they were born. It was why weddings were restricted to the fewest number of guests possible.

Mai and Belynda led Bethany and Sun to each other and placed their hands together. The foursome made a square that we surrounded in a circle as everyone came to stand around them. The shapes were symbolic, but they were also for protection.

On the other side of the square I caught Rhysa’s eye. She was crying too. Beautiful and happy. Would we perform this ritual one day and bind our souls together for eternity? I already felt like we were so entwined that a ceremony like this was redundant, but it was also so beautiful, so intimate and special, that I hoped one day it would be the two of us standing in the center with all our family surrounding us.

Maybe I thought that a little louder than I meant to because Rhysa looked up and found me, our gazes locking as the ritual was completed, the energy whirling around Bethany and Sun.

“Face the unknown. Together,” Asa said, ringing the gong one last time.

Bethany and Sun kissed. Everyone began cheering. It was impossible not to. There was too much excitement, too much love, to hold it in.

The energy from the Plane transformed from a sizzle to the excitement surging between all of us. I felt a sense of deep, pure joy and saw it reflected back at me on every single face. If only we could stay this way.

“It’s time,” Asa called out above the laughter.

Time for the final part of the wedding ritual. The ceremony was timed so that the Falls would be at their peak spectacular form afterward. Sun and Bethany led the way to the falls and off to the far side where there was a ledge for jumping. The entire wedding party trailed behind them, excited to watch the newlyweds make the leap.

I stepped aside to find Rhysa. She had a skip in her step as she walked beside Gigi, talking with her hands.

“There you are.”

She beamed up at me. Her smile made my body sizzle just like it always did. “Now what? That was so cool. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. I felt it, you know?”

I pulled her into my side. “It was indeed beautiful.”

“Now they jump!” Gigi crowed as she scooted past us to get a better view.

Rhysa froze. “What does that mean?”

“It means Sun and Bethany are about to cliff-dive down the falls and into the pool below.”

“What the fuck for? They’re in their wedding clothes! They’ll ruin everything!” She wrestled out of my arms and rushed to the edge just as Sun and Bethany shared a kiss and turned towards the water.

“It’s tradition. And it’s very important.” I tried to take her hand, but they went to her face as they jumped.

“Oh my god. Oh my god!”

Sun and Bethany plunged into the water. It was beautiful watching them soar and then disappear together. They resurfaced wrapped in each other’s arms. What was so shocking about that? I thought it was amazing.

The wedding party lined up and began jumping in after them, which seemed to freak Rhysa out even more. Gigi tried to calm Rhysa down but she wrestled away and turned to me. “No. Nope. Not gonna happen.”

“You have to. You came up and this is the only way down,” Gigi sighed.

“I can walk back.” Rhysa wriggled away just as I caught her other hand.

“No walking. It’s part of the ritual. You wouldn’t want to ruin their wedding day, would you?”

She gaped at me. “Are you fucking serious?”

Gigi rolled her eyes. “I told you about this. What did you think I meant when I said we all jump into Blood Falls?”

A part of me felt bad that Rhysa was scared, but part of me also had a duty to perform. It really would ruin the wedding if she didn’t jump. “You’ll be fine. It’s actually really fun.”

“The water is freezing!” She tried squirming. Shifting was impossible with the wedding wards in place. There was nowhere to go but down.

“I said I’d see you below and you agreed.”

She went limp. “I know. It’s just a lot scarier looking up here! Is it really important?”

“It’s more than important!” Gigi shouted. “You literally cannot get down any other way. The wards, remember?”

“Gigi, let’s go!” Leena clapped her hands in a hurry-up gesture. Then she took Atsila’s big hand and the two of them jumped.

“You can jump with me or Dray, but you’re jumping.” Gigi glared at Rhysa.

“Fine.” She slumped into me. “Go. Shoo.”

Gigi shot me one last worried glance, then took a leap into the air. Which left me alone with Rhysa. Everyone else had jumped.

“Are you really scared?”

She whimpered. “It’s a really freaking long way down!”

“You shift across the continent without batting an eye but jumping a hundred feet down into some cold water has you upset?” She faced ghosts, dragons, and banshees. How was this the one thing that made her stop in her tracks?

Had to be a human thing. Had to be.

She shrugged. “Shifting doesn’t feel the same as falling.”

I cupped her chin and forced her to look me in the eyes. “I’ll be with you the whole way. You know I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

She relaxed. A little. “It is sexy when you get all protective.”

“Oh, I’m feeling very protective right now.” I wrapped her up in a hug. “It’s just a little jump and a swim, and then I’ll reward you however you like.”

She liked that. I felt her excited thoughts as much as I saw them flash through my mind. “Fine. Let’s get this over with before I overthink it any more than I already have.”

I held her hand as we stepped out onto the ledge. The falls roared so loud I couldn’t hear myself. So I spoke into her mind. “Jump, relax, and try to go in straight. It’s thrilling, I promise. Like an orgasm, but different.”

“This is nothing like an orgasm.”

“Oh but it is. Trust me.”

All of a sudden she jumped and I went right after her, my blood pumping as I fell, the air whipping past my ears and water spraying me from the falls. A split second before I hit the water I felt Rhysa’s shock and then the accompanying dopamine response. When we surfaced she whooped and grabbed my hand.

“Okay that was kind of fun!”

“One day you’ll learn to believe me.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and planted a big, fat, wet kiss on my lips. “I believe you. I also believe you made me a promise.”

“I did indeed.” I kissed her back. Ahead of us the wedding party made it to shore, climbed out, said a few words to the bride and groom, then blinked away to change in their rooms. “We just have to congratulate the happy couple first.”

“Is there a reason for jumping, other than the wards? It seems really excessive. Plus now everyone has to change.”

We slowly swam through the freezing water. “Actually there is.” My toes went a little numb and so did my fingers, but mostly it was exhilarating. “You feel really good right now, right? Heart pumping, adrenaline spiking, all that good stuff?”

“Yeah.”

“Well all that energy is being fed into their bond. We’re supercharging their new union with good metaphysical energy.” Every House had a different ritual for accomplishing the same thing. Personally, I preferred jumping off a cliff to ritual combat or trial by fire. I had heard of some really wild wedding rituals, but never participated in anything but ritual combat and cliff jumping.

Grateful for the light wedding clothing, I helped Rhysa out of the water.

“Do we say anything special?” she whispered as we approached the newlyweds.

“Nope. This part is unscripted.” And I was grateful the wedding ritual was fairly simple. The last thing I wanted to do was say the wrong thing. Now that the pressure was off though I wasn’t sure what to say.

Luckily this is where Rhysa shined. “Congratulations! The wedding was beautiful and I’m so, so happy for the both of you!” she gushed.

Since we were all soaking wet I didn’t hesitate to hug Sun or kiss Aunt Bethany’s cheek. “Saved the best for last.”

“We felt that,” Sun said with a grin. “I knew you two were powerful, but that jolt was something else.”

Rhysa blushed even though she was freezing. “I may have been slightly terrified.”

“Well, on that note, I must get my bride warmed up.” Sun shot Rhysa a wink before they shifted away, leaving us shivering and alone.

But not for long.