Page 76 of After 5

“It certainly seems real.” He patted my knee. “No worries. I’m sure the Scot’s going to bail.”

I didn’t see how. I hoped he had a backup plan. I hoped, somehow, he’d convinced Mahlia to whisk him away, free him so she could be with her lover, but without her key she was helpless.

The priest said a prayer, and from that moment on his words sounded like “Whamp, whamp” as my head thumped. However, his voice rang clear when he announced, “If any of you has a reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

I started to rise, and Ace clamped a hand on my leg. “No can do hon. We’re here to see this through. If you so much as lift a finger, the WTF will confiscate our keys. Temporary grounding I can handle, but I’ll keep me key.”

I slumped back into my seat, and the wedding proceeded. It was down to the vows. If Caiyan said I do, it was over.

The priest spoke harshly to Caiyan. “Caiyan James McGregor, whilst thou have this woman to thy wedded wife, to live together according to God’s law in the holy estate of matrimony? Whilst thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?”

“I weel.”

I died inside.

“Repeat after me,” the priest fed Caiyan the lines and he said every word.

“I, Caiyan James McGregor, take you, Mahlia Jezabella Mafuso, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part.”

I snickered at the middle name, but my fingers white knuckled the seat of the chair. When he finished, a tear trickled down my cheek. He said his vows. He’d committed to her. She would say hers, and he would slide his grandmother’s ring on her finger, and they would be married.

The priest turned to Mahlia. Before she could open her mouth, a loud crack followed by a cloud of smoke filled the air.

When the smoke cleared, Caiyan was gone, and so was the priest. Mahlia stood hands on hips, mouth scrunched up in twist.

“What the hell?” she screeched.

“Find them!” Gian-Carlo ordered.

“Where’s the groom?” the lady next to me asked.

“I guess he decided she wasn’t the right woman for him.” I smiled down at the petite woman.

A flurry of excitement ensued. Ace and I made a beeline for the door.

As I fled the house, I saw Mortas leave through a side door.

“What should we do?” I asked Ace.

“Tuck our tails and go back to base, I’m afraid.”

“Jake told me he was sending an undercover agent, maybe we won’t have to give him the good news.”

Ace gave me a doubtful shake of his head. “The travel lab surely picked us up. Let’s go take our lumps, doll.”

“They’re not married, right?” I was over the moon.

Ace grabbed my shoulders and leveled his eyes with mine. “Did you ’ear him?” He gave me a firm shake. “He said his vows.”

The reality hit me hard. Someone else disrupted the wedding. “Let’s get the ’ell out of ’ere before the Mafusos make us.”

“Yes, let’s go,” I agreed. I had a groom to find, and when I did, I was going to kill him. Smoke and mirrors be damned.

Chapter 15

We arrived at headquarters. Jake’s mouth dropped open when he entered the landing area.

“I have no words.” His chest heaved as he expelled a long sigh. “Should I ask why you look like Sonny & Cher?”

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