Tonight felt wrong as Tani approached the veil, there was music in the air.
Not the hush that usually greeted her when she crossed into the Veil to her lovers bed.
This felt ceremonial.
Tani slowed, her breath catching as she took in her surroundings.
Rows of candles. White flowers. Silk ribbons swaying gently as if stirred by a breath she couldn't feel.
She was attending a wedding, her wedding.
Her heart stuttered as she found herself walking down the aisle.She didn't remember choosing a dress, nor agreeing to this. And yet her feet carried her forward as if the choice had already been made.
She lifted her gaze.
Luca Rhezan stood waiting for her at the far end of the aisle.
Her lover.
Dark-haired. Composed. Devastatingly controlled. He wore his power the way other men wore clothes, effortlessly, without apology. When their eyes met, warmth bloomed painfully in her chest, sharp enough to steal her breath.
"Hi Love," she breathed nervously at loss for what to say.
Luca's gaze softened the moment he saw her hesitate.
"You sound nervous," he murmured. "Having second thoughts?"
She shook her head, forcing a smile laced with doubts and insecurities.
Luca leaned closer, oblivious to all her ramblings within. He then lowered his voice as if the world might overhear them, totally unaware of a gaze in their direction amongst others, sharp with malicious intent, patient and cold.
"You're too quiet," he murmured. "Don't think too much."
She smiled, shaky. "I was just wondering if this is all real, It feels so surreal."
His brow creased. "Does it not feel real to you, my love?"
"It does," she lied. "Because if it is… I don't want to wake up."
Something unreadable flickered in his eyes. "Then don't," he said. "Stay. With me."
Instead of voicing her doubts, she only said, " Tempting."
Just then a glass was pressed into their hands. It was Champagne, pale gold and it seemed innocent.
"To the bride and groom!" someone toasted from the high table.
The crowd echoed it. Glasses clinked.
Luca raised his own glass, his gaze never leaving hers.
"I can't wait to call you my wife." He whispered into her ears.
She smiled, drank and what followed after wasted no time.
The fire tore down her throat rapidly, stealing her breath, as the glass slipped from her fingers and shattered at her feet.
Luca's smile vanished instantly. "Tani?" He called with worry, he still tried to masquerade as she clawed at her chest.
"Something's wrong," he said, hands on her shoulders now. "Talk to me." He commanded.
Poison screamed through her mind, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came forth.
"Stay with me," Luca said, still trying to suppress the apprehension he was feeling.
Tani already felt herself slipping, pulled backward by something vast and dark.
In that instant, the light drained from the room and color from his face, knowing the inevitability of what was about to happen.
He quickly leaned closer and whispered into her ears. "I'll find you, I swear it. No matter how many lifetimes it takes."
Then the darkness enveloped her completely.
She woke up gasping in the dark, lungs burning, hands tangled in her thin sheets, with the aftertaste of the poisoned champagne lingering on her tongue.
The familiar narrow walls of her room looming above her coupled with the smell of yeast and exhaustion welcomed her, grounding and cruel. A constant reminder of the weight of a life that demanded everything from her but never gave back.
Her alarm clock glowed red beside the bed, and it was five a.m, exactly as her instincts predicted.
She sat up slowly, her heart pounding out of rhythm, throat still aching as if the poison had followed her through.
She swallowed hard disregarding the taste of the tainted champagne which still lingered on her mouth, a painful reminder of her nightmare.
She was alive, but the certainty brought no comfort either.
He was never meant to be hers.
She had learned that lesson every morning when he left before sunrise, always at five a.m, without fail.
Still, she waited for him every night, no matter how tired she was, no matter how much the exhaustion clung to her bones.
Some love, she had learned, was not about possession but survival.
He belonged to her only by presence, not by promise or claim, she could only hope.
She had made peace with that fact, so she wondered, what was actually happening with the whole wedding ceremony?
Was there truly no other woman who had a better claim to him?
Perhaps the same one he was always rushing off to meet?
Could she be the one who had poisoned her to teach her a lesson in overstepping?
Suddenly the rain began to drizzle interrupting her thoughts, and as it tapped against the window, steady and real. She instinctively stared and saw words fogged the glass from the outside, written in quick, slanted strokes.
Almost time.
Her breath caught and instinctively, she blinked for a second and the words were gone in an instant and in its place was her perplexed and tired reflection staring bleakly at her.
She nearly second guessed her gut but deep down, she was sure. There was no denying what she'd seen.
Somewhere, behind the Veil, a promise had been made, and a plan had been set in motion.
And somewhere in the waking world, the man who'd watched her die was no longer content for their dalliance to remain a dream.
While she prepared for her day, the city stirred quietly below her, totally oblivious to the chaos within her room and the empty repetition of the circle of her days, which was about to begin.
For the first time, Tani Zahani found herself thinking that waking up to her reality, might actually be worse than dying in her dreams, totally unaware that fate had already begun closing the distance between them.