Page 55 of A Spark in the Ash

But here, now, we’ve got each other, and we’re stronger together.

“Don’t think either of us is going to have to worry about money for a while,” Jaxon says as he leans down to breathe into my ear. When I look up, confused, he nods toward a table just inside the main doors. It’s covered in wrapped gifts. There is a basket for cards, and it’s overflowing.

These people might not be close to Jaxon personally, but perhaps they know what Mama Vivian will think of them if they skimp out on their wedding gifts to her son.

“Great,” I joke. “Think of all those thank you cards we’re going to have to write.”

Jaxon just laughs and pulls me in closer, pressing a kiss to my temple.

A photographer steps in front of us and snaps a picture.

She’s been taking pictures all night long.

Surprisingly, I really want to see the pictures later. I want a beautifully cheesy one to hang above my mantel, and I absolutely don’t have a mantel. But I kind of want one.

“I’ll have all the gifts brought to your room tonight,” Vivian says as she walks over, taking a break from the crowd she has accumulated. “Since you seem intent not to tell me where the two of you will be living.”

“You’re making this more of a thing than it needs to be, mother,” Jaxon says.

Every time she walks within a five-foot vicinity of him, his skin goes raging hot.

“I’m just going to miss you,” she says, drawing innocence on her face. “You’re my son. And I just want to make sure I get the opportunity to get to know you, Serena.” She arranges her face into a pleasant smile. “I was thinking. What if we took a girl’s weekend next month? That would give us the chance to really talk and get to know one another.”

The possible outcomes of this go flipping through my brain in an instant. I must be careful with every move I make around this woman.

It would really help if Jaxon knew what he was going to do about his mother, considering she’s possessed and has embraced the dusk.

“I would love to, Vivian,” I answer. Because if it comes down to it, this might grant me an opportunity to get her alone and take care of the problem myself if I have to. “Let’s plan on it.”

She smiles coldly and turns to greet more guests.

I turn to Jaxon. “Any idea how you’re going to proceed yet?”

He shakes his head. “Not yet. It’s not that simple considering the reach she has. And, you know, the fact that she has six living children.”

I let out a breath.

That’s what I thought.

So, for now, I need to somehow enjoy the moment.

“Come on,” I say as I take both of Jaxon’s hands. “How about we have our first dance?”

That makes him smile. Because this certainlyisn’tour first dance.

But I love to dance. Jaxon knows this. And it’s how this all began.

I pull him to the empty open space in front of the band. The crowd isn’t paying us much attention, but thankfully the orchestra is.

They shift seamlessly, and I smile as I wrap my arms behind Jaxon’s neck. He stares at me with those green eyes as he places his hands low on my back. Finally, right now, he is a normal temperature.

It comes easily. We are no longer darkling and ultralight. We’re just Serena and Jaxon. Just two people who are in love who are celebrating that love tonight.

I lean forward and rest my forehead against Jaxon’s.

The crowd has caught on. I can hear the others gathering around and talking quietly. My hearing is exceptional, so I catch little conversations talking about how they’ve never seen Jaxon so happy, how I’m obviously good for him.

I hope so. I hope I’m good for him. He’s good for me.

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