Page 29 of A Dead End Wedding

Thirty minutes till midnight

“I’ve fought Fae before, and I’ve always survived,” Jack said for the hundredth time, as we walked toward the square.

“But never unscathed,” I pointed out, for the hundred and first time.

“Hey, it’s Carlos!”

Jack’s sad attempt to distract me only worked because I was worried about Carlos, too. Winning a sword fight with a Fae seemed about as likely as winning a swimming race with a dolphin. Even worse, because at least the dolphin wouldn’t cut you into pieces.

My vampire neighbor stood with his sister slightly in front of where the Fae horses would appear in only a few minutes.

“You know, a week from now we’ll be just coming home from our rehearsal dinner,” I said as we reached the Susan and Carlos, the Gonzalez siblings.

“Ah, sweet Tess. It’s not too late to ditch the kitten and marry me,” Carlos said with a wickedly seductive flash of a smile. “I’ll already be up there with him, waiting for you.”

Jack had asked Carlos to be a groomsman at our wedding.

“Not too late to change that plan, my friend,” Jack said dryly.

It wasn’t vampire powers that made Carlos so dazzling. He’d always been hot, like his sister. He had golden skin, flashing dark eyes, and silky black hair, and he used it all shamelessly. He’d been a few years ahead of me in school, but we’d become friends recently. A few months before, he’d bought a house on my street, so now we were neighbors, too.

And he had a major sweet tooth and loved my pecan pie.

“I’m glad you’re back. But I don’t want you to do the sword challenge any more than I want Jack to do this,” I told him.

“I’m more than happy to cross swords with one of their warriors,” Carlos said, looking dismissive. “But if we want to see how it ends, maybe you should hug me.”

I froze, shocked. “What? No! I don’t want to see your death!”

“What if it could help, though? What if you see me die from a sword thrust through my left side? I’d know to watch my left side,” he said, trying to be persuasive.

“Absolutely not!”

Jack stepped between us. “Hey, vampire. Back off.”

Susan put a hand on her brother’s arm. “Not a good idea. It’s hard on Tess to see those deaths. You know that, right?”

“Plus, I’ve touched Susan and seen nothing,” I told him. “It seems to be a family thing.”

“If you think I’m immune, why not?” Carlos shrugged. “But I don’t want to cause you any pain.”

“Well, we’re done talking about it tonight,” Susan said. “They’re here.”

I had little patience for the queen’s ritual and ceremony tonight, but I forced myself to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want any outburst of mine to affect what happened to Jack.

This time, things went a bit differently. The queen wore a gown so dark brown it was nearly black, and her mood matched. I guess losing two challenges in a row didn’t make her thrilled, but I couldn’t muster up any sympathy. She’d brought all this on herself, after all.

How hard would it have been to just say, “Hey, you’re up for renewal, sign here”?

No, the Fae always had to make everythingcomplicated.

“Speaking of complicated, the swamp troll just showed up,” I muttered to Susan.

“How do you always get yourself into these situations?” She shook her head. “I mean, neighborliness is one thing. Inviting the smelliest creature ever to enter Dead End to live with you is another.”

“He’s not that smelly anymore. He took a bath.”

“In thepool,” Jack said indignantly. “Now I’m going to have to drain it, clean it out, and start over.”

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