Page 36 of A Dead End Wedding

But Carlos put him down on the ground, a blade at his throat, in less than ninety seconds.

“I yield,” the Fae growled, after he’d tried to shove Carlos’s sword away, only to find it digging deeper.

Carlos immediately offered his hand to help the Fae to his feet. Then he stepped away and bowed to his opponent and then to the queen.

“Tomorrow, we will see,” Viviette gritted out from between clenched jaws. “My Champion has played chess against kings and queens, emperors and grandmasters. You will have no chance.”

In the blink of an eye, they all disappeared.

I shrugged. “Uncle Mike plays against the guy who delivers his horse feed. I’m not too worried.”

Susan rushed to Carlos to make sure he was all right, and then the two of them made their way back to us. All around us, Dead Enders were cheering and calling out, “He may be a vampire, but he’sourvampire!” and “Way to go, Carlos!”

And, from a woman who smiled at Carlos and touched her throat, “Need a snack?”

“My fans demand my presence,” Carlos said, grinning.

“That was very, very good,” Jack said sincerely. “Nice job, pretending to be weakening.”

Carlos’s smile faded. “I wasn’t pretending. It was touch and go for a minute there. But I wasn’t about to be the one who let Dead End down.”

“Did the extra supplies help?” Susan asked, pressing a cloth against her brother’s side.

He laughed. “Yes, Marvin drove the blood bank donations bus to the house and dropped off several pints. He thought it was pretty funny to be delivering instead of collecting.”

“Good job pinning her down, Tess,” Lorraine said, joining us.

I realized I was surprised she hadn’t been with us before. Lorraine was usually front and center in any dangerous situation that affected Dead End.

She must have caught my puzzled look, because she grinned. “Mike and Ruby and their rifles are up in her office. Who do you think was up on the second floor of the bank watching this side of the square?”

Nowit made sense.

“Tomorrow, chess.”

“After church,” Lorraine said firmly. “We have wedding stuff to discuss with Pastor Nash.”

“Couldn’t we?—”

“No.”

“But what if?—”

“No.”

I sighed and gave in. Wedding preparations wouldn’t be held up by such minor problems as battle challenges, charter renewals, or anything else.

“Wait till you see your flower girl dresses,” I said with an evil smile

Lorraine’s smile faded, bit by bit.

“See you tomorrow!”

“That was evil,” Jack said, laughing, as we drove home.

“I know.”

“Do you have the dresses yet?”

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