Page 11 of Blood and Magic
“Exceptional,” Galahad said. He wore a matching suit to Liam’s but had opted to do his makeup just as glamorous as the bridesmaids. I absolutely adored how he never adhered to any rules about fashion or gender norms.
“Is everyone ready?” the wedding planner asked, switching her clipboard to the other hip as she gave us a once-over. The orchestra started playing “The Wedding March,” and the rows of guests turned to face us.
Ava walked out first, pacing herself like the planner told her to at rehearsal. When she hit the fifth row, I started walking. I didn’t mind being on display in front of all these people. I presented my ideas in front of entire boardrooms full of rich parasites, most of them in this audience. But my hands shook and my feet wobbled on my heels. My knees turned to jelly, and for one horrifying moment, I thought my heart would stop again.
No. Not here. Not now.
I focused on Orion at the head of the aisle, his dark eyebrows furrowing as he no doubt wondered whether I would topple over. Kodiak stood directly in front of me, having been ordained by the state of Montana to perform marriages. To Orion’s right were his groomsmen; only three were at the rehearsal yesterday. The fourth, the one standing second from the end, the one I would walk with, was Van.
He still stood six feet three with sandy blond hair and dark mahogany eyes, but he no longer seemed as full of life as he once had. Now, his posture was stiff, and he emanated a “don’t fuck with me” vibe that most of the other Bastards carried, but not to this degree.
Our eyes connected.
My blood pulsed.
All the air whooshed out of my body.
Time seemed to slow down. In that one infinite moment, my consciousness shifted to an entirely new plane of existence, one without rules and land wars and family history. He’d filled out in the years since I’d last seen him, the old vestiges of his youth having given way to a man’s strong, muscular lines. And wow, he looked terrific.
“Mae,” came the hushed voice behind me. Guin had caught up to me and grabbed my shoulder to get my attention. “You have to keep walking.”
Blinking back to reality, I realized I’d stopped in the middle of the aisle to stare at a Bastard, an objectively beautiful one, but my family’s former-still-sort-of enemy all the same.
I cleared my throat, straightened my shoulders, and kept going, falling in line next to my twin.
Are you okay? Ava’s expression asked.
Fine, I replied.
Sol walked down the aisle to her new husband, resplendent in her flowing white gown and perfectly groomed hair. Orion even got a little choked up, despite how happy he clearly was. They stared at each other, love and devotion in their gazes, but when I looked past them, Van stood on the other side, staring back at me.
No, not staring…glaring.
His eyebrows drooped into a scowl, his lips thin, his aura pulsing with menace and aggression. If this were anywhere else, I’d return the grimace and boldly demand to know what his problem was. But this was my sister’s wedding, and I wouldn’t ruin it by starting a fight before the champagne had been poured. That would be terrible form, indeed.
I quickly glanced away and spent the rest of the time avoiding him. This did not stop the pinpricks of awareness on my skin or the sheer certainty that he hadn’t stopped looking at me.
What is going on?
Why did I have such a strong reaction to him? And why did being around him make my heart feel like it would pound out of my chest and flop around on the ground like a fish?
It’s the shock of seeing him after all this time.
That’s all.
Especially given how many times I’d fantasized about him and how deeply ingrained my crush had grown.
My attention caught on the tree line, where a fox sat with its hind legs tucked between its front. Its bushy copper-and-white tail happily thwapped against the ground, as if it could understand what was happening and approved. Amber eyes gleamed in the sunlight, shimmering with an awareness that seemed preternatural, almost intelligent.
I furrowed my brows and narrowed my gaze, wondering what it was doing so close to humans. Didn’t it have a shred of self-preservation? Hell, most of the people in the audience would shoot it and stuff it as soon as let it be a spectator to the wedding event of the year.
It shifted its focus to me, blinking slowly, seeming to tell me things would be alright. I, of course, had never telepathically communicated with wildlife before, and some part of me wondered if I wasn’t losing my mind. But this little fox’s calming effect couldn’t be ignored…almost as if I knew it, as if we’d met before, as if my soul recognized the same in it.
“I do,” Sol said, drawing my attention back to the present.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Kodiak said. “You may kiss each other.”
When I looked back, the fox had disappeared into the woods, and the strange moment had passed.
