Lazarus POV
I ride in the car with Willow's father. I am not sure what I will tell her. I have to say to her the complete truth about everything. She will be the queen now. Sooner than we had planned. This death, marriage, and the crown are a lot for her to take on. I pulled her out of her home. I tried so hard to make this transition easy for her. Why did Lester have to do this? Poor Willow. She has lived such a hard life.
When I arrived to pick her up, she was distraught. I can only imagine the thoughts that went through her head. That mother of hers is devious. It looks like she would have been happy to get away from that. Her father, I could tell there was a lot of love there between the two of them.
The death of her father is going to be hard for her. I will be there for her. I know my mother will. She already loves her. My mother knows what it is like to live as Willow did. She will be a great comfort to her. She can help her more than I can. All I can do is be there and offer her support. I want to love her. I want her to let me show her how wonderful life can be.
We pull into the house. A feeling of udder dread comes over me. I have not felt this sick in my stomach since I was a human. Now I feel as if there is a pit welling up inside me. I must tell my future bride her father was murdered all because we are betrothed. She will hate the council for this and me.
Willow and mother run out to meet the caravan of cars. She looks at each vehicle, looking for a sign that her father is with us.
"Where is he? Which car is he in? I want him to see me," she questions me. She runs to each car peering in the windows. She is frantic.
She comes to the car I am standing in front of, hiding his body from her line of sight. "Lazarus, where is her?" she asks.
I move so she can see his lifeless body lying in the car. I motion for my mother to come. Willow begins to scream. She opens the door of the car and climbs in. She lays his head in her lap. She holds her dead father. "Why?" she screams.
She looks at me, tears streaming down her beautiful face. "Why Lazarus? Why would someone kill someone so sweet and pure as my father? He never hurt a soul," she says.
I let her scream and cry. She needs to get it all out. I stay outside of the car, giving her the space, she needs to grieve. Mother comes to my side.
"She needs to cry. Let her have this moment. Do not rush it," she says.
"I know, mom. They were very close," I say.
My mother goes to the other side of the car. She opens the door. "Willow, I am here for you. We both are. Hell, this entire family is. You sit here with him for as long as you want. When you are ready, we will move him," Prissy says.
Willow nods her head. She continues to soak her tears into her father. She holds onto him tightly. I do not know if she will ever let him go. If it were my mother, I would not want to let go. I would want to sit there and hold on until I was forced away. I can tell the relationship between them was tight.
"Willow, what do you need me to do?" I ask.
I do not know why I am asking, but I am.
She sobs loudly. She is trying to speak, but the sobs overtake everything she is trying to say. My mother reaches in, trying to calm her.
"Willow honey, try to calm down if you can and tell us what you need us to do," my mother says so softly to her. She rubs her arm as she speaks the kindest words ever spoken. My mother has always been able to calm people, animals, vampires, or anyone. She speaks, and people listen; it is that simple. I honestly believe that is how she married my father. He had a reputation for being somewhat of a tyrant before her. He always said she tamed his wild heart. Odd that I only realize now that is precisely what she did. She spoke kindly to a vampire, and he fell in love.
"I need to make arrangements to bury my father. I need to tell my siblings he is dead. I need for whoever did this to pay," she screams. Her entire body curls as she lets the words out.
My sweet mother continues to rub her arm. "Willow, why don't we take you and your father inside. I will help you do everything you need to be done. Lazarus will handle who did this. We should get you and your father out of this car," my mother says.
"Yes, you are right. I need to get my father out of this car. Where will we put him?" she asks. She is so distraught she can only think of how and where we will put him for now. She has no concern or worries about the dangers she is in; she is just concerned about her father.
"We will have some of the men bring him in. We will lay him in the spare room until arrangements can be made for him. I will help you notify your family, okay," my mother says,
She nods her head. She continues to sob. "Okay. Thank you, Prissy. Thank you so much.," she says.
My mother helps her out of the car. She holds her tightly to her allowing her to cry into her shoulder. "Lazarus will take care of your father," she says even softer than before. Mother nods at me as she walks Willow into the house. I watch them into they are both entirely in the house before we begin to move her father. I do not want to upset her any further.
As she enters the door, Willow stops. She looks back at me. I am waiting for her to scream at me, maybe tell me this is my fault or that she hates or even that the marriage is off. She doesn't. "Thank you for bringing him back to me, Lazarus. I love you for doing that. Thank you," she says.
"I will never fail you, Willow," I say to her.
Although I feel like I did fail her but not bringing him back alive. Now it is up to my family and me to help her through what is to come. The next few days will be challenging for her. We will help her survive it.
I motion for my men to come to help me with Willow's father. "Carry him easy. It could upset Willow if she feels like we are not handling him properly," I say.
They gather Willow's father carefully. One man could carry him, but I insist that several carry him. I do not want any mishaps moving into the house. I follow them as they move him into the house and into the spare room to lay him out for Willow to spend time with him.
Tonight, was to be a night we celebrate our upcoming wedding; instead, we will spend this night, our first night together, mourning the loss of her father. She has me and Prissy to help her through this night. I will notify her family for her. I will take that pain for her. I hope for once her mother can show kindness toward her. I know that probably will not happen. Willow will have to not only deal with this but have to deal with her awful mother.
The men lay Willow's father on the bed in the spare room. I cover him up to his chin. I try to make him look presentable for her. I will call the funeral home and have someone come to clean him up and dress him for her. Now that I have him safely in the bed, I need to check on my future wife.