Page 1 of The Grip of Death
1
It couldn’t have been a moreperfect day. Sunbeams streamed through the grand canopy of flowers overhead, a wedding tent fit for the very gods themselves. Golden light bathed the black-and-white hair of my betrothed, crowning him with a halo.
A well-deserved one, too, because I was, in fact, marrying an actual angel. Xander’s tuxedo was the perfect complement to his hair, but the boy looked good in anything he wore. Didn’t matter if it was a ratty old Grayhaven alumni T-shirt or a tank top stolen from one of my drawers.
I beamed as our friends clapped, my smile a mirror of Xander’s as we waved at the gathered crowd. Everyone we loved was here, dressed in their very best. I shielded my eyes from the sun as I followed Xander to the table where we were meant to cut the cake. All of its impossible tiers and layers, a unique creation from the wonderful bakers at Mother Dough.
Xander picked up the cake slice. I wrapped my hand over his, a small yet significant gesture of how we would do everything going forward: hand in hand, together as one. And I was going to love every single second of it. He lowered his arm to the table, guiding my hand toward the cake, and —
Where was the cake? The table was empty. I could have sworn it was there just a minute ago. Or had I hallucinated it? Was it actually a flower tower that I’d glimpsed out of the corner of my eye? I knew it was a mistake to get the giant conical floral arrangement. We should have asked for spheres!
My heart pounded, the cake slice falling from our hands and clattering onto the empty table. Our first five minutes of married life already ruined, all because I couldn’t be bothered to check on the cake. Or the flowers. Sweat dripped down the back of my neck, down the lump in my throat, a blazing hot trickle.
“The cake!” I screamed, sitting up with a start, the bedsheets tangled around my legs.
I panted as I stared at nothing in our bedroom, my hair an equally messy tangle against my forehead. I was absolutely drenched — only in sweat, fortunately. Maybe I hadn’t reached the panicked bedwetting stage of pre-wedding jitters just yet. Oh, boy. Something to look forward to.
Xander’s side of the bed was empty, but I could already hear footsteps pounding up the staircase. The door burst open, and there stood my beautiful future husband, the hard lines of his chest huffing and puffing under a revealing tank top. Hot day in the Black Market, then, as evidenced by my similarly sweaty state.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, brow furrowed with concern and maybe a little incredulity as he approached the bed. “Were you having another nightmare about the wedding?”
I scratched the back of my arm and threw him my best pout. “This one was real scary, okay?”
The mattress dipped as Xander sat on the bed. He brushed my hair out of my eyes and tutted to himself. “What was it this time? Did the flowers catch on fire? Did the cake explode?”
“It wasn’t even there. We forgot the cake, Xander. No cake at the wedding!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’ll never happen. We’re working with professionals here, Jack. The most professional professionals we could possibly find. I’m sure the Mother Dough bakers cater to hundreds of weddings every year. Maybe even thousands. Everything is going to be fine.”
I grimaced. “You say that now, but what if we forget other stuff? What if the candles burn too hot and go haywire? What if the flowers come to life and choke everyone to death?”
“Jack. Jack? Listen. It’s very sweet that you’re so worried about the wedding, but relax. We’ve got everything under control. And not to belittle your concerns, but a lot of them are a little, you know — implausible.”
My eyes went wide. “What do you mean, implausible? We live in a world full of magic, Xander. You went to a school for magical boys. You of all people should know that — ”
His finger pressed gently against my lips. “I do know, Jack. Because all the people supplying our wedding are our magical friends. And our magical friends have our backs. I mean, every single vendor is someone we already know in the Black Market.”
“Go on,” I said, eyeing him suspiciously, mostly making him repeat himself for my own peace of mind.
“The wedding is happening at the Garland. That’s only a few blocks away from literally everywhere else in the dimension. Even in the very worst case, someone would just have to run down the street to fetch anything that’s missing.”
Excellent points all around. In most cases, we were actually friends with the guild masters themselves. Good enough friends, in fact, that we got ourselves a fabulous price on the venue from the guild of flowers: free. Master Lobelia had insisted, offering one of the grandest pavilions as her own wedding gift. We were flabbergasted, and very, very grateful, of course.
Xander cupped my chin and pressed a kiss against my cheek. “Now, get dressed, and no more sweaty outbursts aboutcake. Keep it down. Some of our friends are downstairs right now. They could hear. They’ll think there’s already trouble in paradise. I mean, I’m having second thoughts myself.”
“Hah. I don’t believe you.” I shoved my entire hand against his face. Xander sputtered and laughed as he fell onto his side of the bed. “You wanna marry me. You always wanted to marry me. You wanna marry me so bad, it’s embarrassing.”
He protested, but couldn’t get a word out as I peppered his face with kisses. He swatted at me playfully, laughed harder each time my beard tickled his face. I finally stopped when he shoved me off, his eyebrow cocked as he stared at my waist.
“This early, Jack? It’s very flattering that you’re springing boners over me, but we don’t have time for this right now. We’ve got a long day ahead. Time for a cold shower. Now.”
I whined and complained as he pushed me toward the bathroom, never even noticing that I’d gotten rock hard. At least the cold shower helped with the worst of it. I was mature enough to put it away for later, store that pent-up energy for when Xander and I had a little more time to fool around. He was going to get it, and he was going to get it rough.
But for now, the long day ahead. I’d expected Xander to rattle off our agenda while I toweled my hair. Instead, he gripped me by the shoulders and stared hard into my eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but I’m going to tackle all the wedding stuff on my own today.”
My muscles tensed up again. “But cake. And flowers. And what about the music?”
