44. Dear Reader, I Married Him

Itook a long, hot shower and instead of the panic I expected, uncontrolled giddiness kept bubbling up. I buffed and washed and moisturized, all the while being surprised anew each time I remembered that Abigail was gone. She'd been a specter haunting me my entire life. Gone. That death threat had been taken off the table and in its place was a marriage to a man I loved more than was rationally advisable.

As I tied on a robe, I heard a knock at the door. Old habits were hard to break, so I checked in my mind to see who was on the other side of the door. Audrey. Perfect.

"Good evening, miss," she said as I swung the door open. "The Master asked me to help you get ready, if that's all right."

I waved her in. "If you don't mind doing it, I'd welcome the help. Thank you." I led her to the vanity and sat on the bench, grateful someone who knew what she was doing was going to be in charge of me. I didn't think a ponytail was the best look for a wedding.

"Not at all, miss. I'm happy to do it. In fact"—she paused, looking embarrassed—"if it's not too much trouble—afterwards—could I see the pictures of the wedding? If you wouldn't mind, that is." She rested a hand over her heart. "I do so love weddings and I haven't been to one in more years than I care to count."

"You'll come to mine." I picked up my phone to text Russell, to let him know Audrey was to attend.

Audrey looked stricken. "Oh no, miss. The Master didn't invite us. I could never."

"I'm inviting you." I caught her eye in the mirror. "Truly. I'd love for you to be there—wherever there is." I laughed and turned on the bench so I wouldn't need to talk through a reflection. "I have no idea how any of this works. Clive said he'd arrange it all and that I just needed to show up. There's going to be some sort of blood ceremony, though. Knowing I had a friendly face in my corner would really help. Would you come, please?"

"Oh, miss. Are you sure no one would mind my being there?" She positively glowed.

"Not at all, and I insist."

While Audrey worked on my hair, I texted Owen to tell him about the wedding. Apparently, he and George had already been contacted. Clive really was taking care of everything. He even had a vamp bring me food. It was true love.

I contacted Coco, asking her to please take back the dragon necklace. She arrived shortly and was escorted up by Godfrey. She appeared quite uncomfortable, but I wasn't sure if it was because she was in a house filled with vampires or because her grandmother had spelled the necklace so it wouldn't come off.

Coco whispered, "Could we do this alone?"

Godfrey held out his arm for Audrey and they departed.

"Sorry," Coco said. "It's just that Grandmother used a spell that requires dragon blood to unlock. I didn't want to prick my finger with two vampires in the room."

"Understandable."

In no time at all, the necklace was slipping from my neck and Coco was off to return it to Benvair.

Hours later, hair, makeup, and nails perfect, I stepped into the dress—which involved ridiculous gymnastics, as the enclosures were cleverly hidden so as to not interrupt the line of the lace. I had a moment of worry it was too small and then Audrey adjusted the dress and it fit like a glove. The man never missed a trick.

Audrey pulled out a blue velvet jewelry box. "The Master says these are the jewels you should wear." When she opened the box, we both sucked in air. "Oh, miss. I've never seen anything so beautiful."

The platinum pendant was an Art Deco design. It was a domed circle of filigreed, diamond-encrusted swirls that ever-so-subtly reminded me of flowers. At the center was a large stone of intense violet blue. The earrings were tear-shaped drops that mirrored the design of the pendant. They were stunning.

When she pulled out a second box, I almost stopped her. It was all too much, but then she was sliding a matching cuff bracelet over my hand. I stared at my wrist, unable to take it all in. "Are these sapphires and diamonds?" Good Lord, this set had to cost a fortune.

"Blue and white diamonds, miss."

I stared at the stones in wonder. "I didn't even know there were blue diamonds." Shaking my head, I turned to Audrey, straightening the perfect dress, touching the pendant. "Okay?"

Eyes downcast, she did a quick curtsy. "Perfect, mistress."

My phone buzzed with a text from Godfrey: Your carriage awaits.

Audrey flitted around me on the stairs, adjusting the skirt, fluffing the lace to float over the silk beneath it. The first floor was empty, so I didn't need to walk through any disapproving vamps on my way out. As I was crossing the entry, I remembered a promise. Holding the fae ring to my lips, I whispered, "I'm getting married."

Godfrey waited by the open back door of the Mercedes. After more fussing than I would have thought possible, Audrey had pulled the lace overskirt up, so I wasn't sitting on it. Granted, I'd soon be leaning back on it, but she seemed to believe that was preferable to sitting. As I had no opinion on the matter, I deferred to her.

"Where are we going? I thought the ceremony would be in the nocturne."

Godfrey drove down the hills of Pacific Heights toward the Marina. "Patience."

When he drove around the Palace of Fine Arts and then turned into the parking lot, that giddiness I'd been feeling earlier bubbled up again. He'd remembered.

Getting out of the car proved every bit as precarious as getting in. This time, though, I had Godfrey to pull. Audrey took a moment to adjust the dress and check my hair, and then we were walking up the colonnade toward the center rotunda.

Heart racing, I was blinking back tears and trying to take it all in. The rotunda jutted out into the pond, its dome rising over a hundred feet into the air. Tiny white lights encircled the thick columns holding up the dome. White orchids and soft, romantic peonies in every shade of pink stood on pedestals along the edges of the curve. What had me blinking back tears wasn't the impromptu beauty of this spot. It was all the people who had shown up in the middle of the night with little to no warning, dressed to the nines.

Owen and George, Coco and Benvair, Grim, Liam, even Ule for goodness' sake. Stheno and her sisters keeping their distance from Meg. Lydia and Lilah…everywhere I looked I saw friends from The Slaughtered Lamb.

Standing silently to the side were Rémy and Cadmael, joined by vamps I'd never met. Dave broke away from Maggie and walked to us.

"I've got her," he said to Godfrey, who took that as his cue to leave.

A violin began playing. I located the source and found Grim with the instrument tucked under his chin.

"What did I say?" Dave's gruff voice was in my ear. "No crying and no hugs."

Right. Blinking back the tears, I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders. Audrey handed me a bouquet of orchids and peonies and then slipped back into the crowd.

"Ready?"

I pulled at his arm, whispering, "My head is filling with white noise and little black spots. Don't let me pass out."

"No crying, no hugs, no fainting." He studied me a moment and then patted my hand. "Do you love him?"

"More than I ever thought possible." I was feeling light-headed and may have been hyperventilating.

"It's a gift, you know. Not everyone finds their one perfect love. Are you really going to let fear stand in the way?" His shark-black eyes took in the crowd, some of whom had seen us and were starting to move out of the center.

"No," I said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to get married." Gripping the flowers, I prayed I didn't trip.

"Good choice." As we moved into the rotunda, the fountains in the pond beyond sprang to life, illuminating the dark water.

The rest of the crowd separated, giving me a clear view of Owen and Russell standing side by side, framed by columns, water sparkling behind them while Clive waited for me. Gloriana was standing to his side, though I don't believe he knew. The vamps all seemed oblivious to her presence. The fae guests, however, kept shooting her sidelong glances. I bowed my head as I passed her, and she smiled beneficently.

I gripped Dave's hand hard when we stopped. Shocking no one more than me, he leaned down and kissed my forehead before moving back to Maggie's side.

Clive took my hand and we turned to face Russell and Owen. I felt, rather than heard, movement behind us. When I turned, I saw the whole nocturne had arrived. Clive's vamps filled in spaces, showing their respect for their Master.

Clive nodded to his people and turned back. I felt his heart lighten beside me and it made me want to hug every one of those damn vamps who'd shown up for my guy.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to join Clive Fitzwilliam and Samantha Quinn in matrimony," Owen began.

"And to tie them to one another for all eternity," Russell added.

That probably should have scared the shit out of me, but something rattling around inside me fell into place instead.

"Now, some of us may have questioned the advisability of our Sam marrying the big, scary vampire—no offense intended." Owen swallowed and then continued. "But it was clear to anyone with a brain that he was devoted to her. And just as clear, though she tried to hide it, that she felt the same." Owen paused and looked at Russell.

"I knew it before they did," he said.

Owen grinned. "In the presence of friends, who are the family we chose, Clive and Sam will recite their vows."

Clive had sent me what I needed to say for the blood ceremony. Nervous as I was, I'd memorized the words as Audrey did my hair. The vows I'd planned for the wedding, however, flew right out of my head.

"Sam," Clive turned and spoke to me, "I promise to stand beside you through life, to be your sword when you need one and your shield when you don't. I promise to listen to what you say and even more closely to what you don't. I promise to be a hand to hold in the dark. And I promise," he said, squeezing said hand, "to love you every day of our very long lives."

He took a ring from his pocket and placed it on my finger. It matched the jewelry, a filigree dome set with a large blue diamond in the center. Shit! I totally forgot I was supposed to have a ring ready for him. And just like that, one appeared between my hand and the bouquet I held. I glanced at Gloriana, who raised her eyebrows at me.

Clive let go of my hand, removed the cuff link on his right wrist, turned up his sleeve and held his wrist out to Russell. "I vow on my blood to cleave only unto you until my dust is scattered in the wind."

In answer, I held the ring tightly in my hand and passed my bouquet to Stheno, who was standing nearby. I pulled up my left sleeve a few inches and offered my wrist to Russell. "I vow on my blood to cleave only unto you until I've breathed my last, and probably after that too."

Clive's lips twitched as Russell cut both our wrists and then placed Clive's over mine, tying them together with a red braided cord. "With the giving and receiving of blood and the vows you have made, you are joined forevermore in this life."

I slipped the ring onto Clive's finger and echoed his words. "And I promise to love you every day of my life. I promise to be your claws when you need them and your bartender when you don't. I'll be the one you confide in, the one who always takes your side, and the one who snuggles with you in the library window seat. I promise to make your enemies my own and to do everything in my power to always pull you out of danger. Understanding, though, that I'm often the one pushing you into it."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," he interrupted.

"I promise to remind you to thank people," I continued. Russell smiled at that one. "To be the last person you see before daybreak and the first one you see at nightfall. Whenever possible, because that can be difficult if I'm working."

At Clive's bland look and the scattered chuckles around us, I decided I probably needed to wrap this up. "Wolves mate for life. However long this insanely beautiful life ends up being, you'll have my heart every day of it."

"And by the power vested in me by the Universal Church of the Interwebs, I now pronounce you husband and wife." At the sound of applause, Owen added, "You may now kiss the bride."

When Clive kissed me, the last piece, loose and rattling around in my chest, dropped into place. My mate and I were pledged to one another forever more. It was electric and perfect and over far too soon.

Music began again and Clive spun me in his arms as tiny lights twinkled above. Couples joined us in dance, and all was right—for the moment—in the world.

"How does a honeymoon in England sound?" he asked, his lips skating over my cheek.

"Perfect." We're going after Leticia's mother, aren't we?

"My beautiful, brilliant wife."