True Dead

by Faith Hunter

  The bride’s side was filled with family and cops and local witches. All the city’s witch clans had been invited. The cops, both men and women, all wore full dress blues, their plus-ones in off-the-rack gowns and shoes, but just as fancy. I nodded at Sloan Rosen, Jodi’s second-in-command, and took in his plus-one, a very pretty, very curvy woman who clearly had the former undercover cop wrapped around her finger.

  The groom’s side was filled with vamps and blood-servants. All the vamps were perfect, of course, and the vamp scents were completely pacific tonight: no blood, no sex scents, the air redolent of herbal and floral scents, and a little red-peppery with excitement. Oddly enough, even the vamps were jittery with anticipation, most of them actually breathing. Weddings were rare in the vamp world and usually made for clan or monetary purposes, seldom for love. A human wedding, a love match, in HQ was a first, and vamps who lived so long seldom got to experience new things.

  Derek stood at the back of the room wearing a tux, a weapon, and a headset, talking with the security detail. He nodded at me, looking way hotter than I expected. I gave him my most regal nod back, and that made him grin as if he’d caught me playing dress-up. I sorta felt as if he had. Alex was in comms. Eli was making rounds through HQ and the grounds, keeping us all safe.

  Across the room, three arcenciels in human form were dressed in silky, fluttery gowns that matched their dragon colors, the fabric moving in an unseen wind. I hadn’t known the three were invited, but Storm, Pearl, and Opal sat together whispering and were quite well behaved for young rainbow dragons. So far.

  And then Wrassler—Homer—entered, which meant the ceremony was about to begin. The big guy was stunning in his black tux and tails. His groomsmen and women gathered at the front in a line behind him, including Bruiser, who put everyone to shame in his formal wear. Two security groomswomen wearing black ball gowns with white collars, like the tuxes, took their places. Gee darted in and took a place at the back of the room. Not a groomsman, but I wasn’t surprised he was here. He had the red striped lizard on his shoulder, its tail around his neck, and the arcenciels turned and stared at the misericord, as if they felt him enter.

  Rick LaFleur took a seat, alone, on the bride’s side, his face aged and his hair stark white. I reined in a jolt of shock. My old boyfriend, and Jodi’s one-time partner in the woo-woo department, had been through some hard times. He had aged; were-creatures weren’t supposed to.

  As if he felt my gaze, he turned his head and found my eyes in the soft light. Holding my eyes, his lips quirked up on one side, and he inclined his head as if in recognition of all that had happened between us, and in our worlds, since we met. He had changed and grown, yet Rick—the player of yesteryear—had no plus-one, which seemed sad. I wanted Rick to be happy.

  Deon appeared at the back of the room, a checklist in hand, giving quiet orders through a headset. He was wearing black too, though his jacket had no tails and was covered in sequins. He gave me a stern look, the expression on his face reminding me of the housemothers in the children’s home where I grew up. I might be the Dark Queen, but that look still sent a shock of fear through me. He stabbed a finger at me and then pointed to my chair. I sighed and followed orders, Quint fading behind a column near my place. The moment I sat, Jodi’s mother was escorted down the aisle and took her seat at the front. The murmuring voices went silent.

  The quartet’s music grew louder. Bridesmaids wearing jewel-toned gowns began to pace down the aisle in that odd step-pause-step gait. Some were witches, some were human, some were cops. Two were men, wearing cop dress blues. The parts of Jodi’s life that she had tried so hard to keep separate and secret had merged over the last couple of years; all her friends were here to support her, regardless of job or paranormal classification.

  When Jodi stepped through the doors, everyone stood. The wedding march began, the quartet amplified through speakers. I started tearing up. My petite friend looked freaking gorgeous. Her dress was a heavenly cloud of pure white silk with tiny pink rosebuds made of rose quartz sewn into the heavily embroidered cloth. She had one of those long train things in pale pink and a veil made of net; both were sewn with pearls. She found Wrassler’s eyes and smiled, and he teared up too. The scents in the room were suddenly almost overpowering as Beast peeked in.

  Jodi started down the aisle. She walked alone, no father or father figure to give her away, which I figured she intended. Jodi wasn’t a woman who would have cared for being handed over like property.

  She reached the front of the ballroom, and Wrassler took her hand. Both of their faces were glowing with happiness. They wavered in my tears.

  I had never been to a wedding. It was so cool, so amazing. I hoped the house I had bought them on the edge of the Garden District was a sufficient wedding gift. It was tiny, but it was adorable and fully refurbished. No way could Wrassler and his cop bride live at HQ. And no way could Wrassler, soon to be admin head of all NOLA security, be far from the protection detail that would keep them safe.

  I hoped they didn’t mind me masterminding their lives. Wrassler was used to such things, but I figured Jodi would make a stink about it even with a free house to lure her in.

  The wedding march ended. Everyone sat. Gowns rustled, bodies shifted on the chairs. The scent of vamp excitement rose even higher. Behind me, the arcenciels began to glow.

  “Dearly beloved,” Father Juan said, beginning the ceremony, which went on a long time and involved a lot of kneeling, which had to hurt Wrassler’s stump above his prosthetic leg. When they spoke their vows, Homer’s voice shook. Jodi’s was clear and ringing. Jodi’s mom cried. The bridesmaids cried. The vamps cried. The three arcenciels cried. Gee and his stupid little red flying lizard cried. The visiting witches cried. I cried. Fortunately Quint had applied waterproof mascara to my lashes, so it didn’t matter. Much.

  The ceremony was beautiful. The vows were passionate.

  After, Jodi and Wrassler kissed and were announced as spouses.

  Everyone applauded and cheered and threw rose petals instead of rice or birdseed as the happy couple raced down the aisle, the maids and groomsmen behind them.

  It was perfect.

  I met Bruiser’s eyes at the back of the room, and my breath caught at the expression in his eyes. He mouthed, I love you.

  I said it back to him.

  And then he was swept away, and the room was quickly rearranged by the caterer and set up for dining and dancing. Deon and his staff began bringing in food. Everyone found their table to eat their weight in shrimp and lamb pops and boudin and sausages and entire tubs of steamed crawfish and corn on the cob and platters of cheese and fruit and veggies and dozens of loaves of bread. Later we all ate pieces of the cake that stood four feet tall. I loved every moment of it and ate enough that I had to loosen the waist of my armored leathers.

  The vamps didn’t drink down anyone, the witches didn’t turn anyone into a toad, and the arcenciels didn’t make a scene. The alcohol disappeared by the buttload. And the first dance was fabulous, tiny Jodi in big Wrassler’s arms.

  When the waltz was over, the quartet was replaced by a DJ who had every song ever recorded on his music system. And I got to dance.

  Yeah. It was perfect.

  At dawn, Bruiser and I stripped and fell into bed in Leo’s old room, too tired to make the drive home, so exhausted I was asleep instantly. The crown fell off during the night, but not before I had a bruised noggin. Stupid crown.

  At dusk, when we woke, I was still in half-form, which was a pain, but at least I wasn’t needing ten thousand calories for breakfast. We put on regular clothes, (jeans and T-shirts, thanks to Quint) piled our gear and equipment into an SUV, and finally made our way back to the freebie house. We held hands the entire way back, and there was something precious in the touch. Far more intense and important than making love. A quiet something that spoke of a future. A promise.

  When we
pulled up to the freebie house, a rental car was parked there. A familiar form was sitting in the driver’s seat, watching us. Ayatas FireWind was here.

  Bruiser called Eli on his cell. “I assume you know about the car parked out front. Does Jane have company?” Bruiser chuckled and tilted his eyes my way. “Eli wanted to make certain that neither of you would try to kill the other, so he made Ayatas sit in his car until you arrived.”

  I nodded and Bruiser disconnected.

  Bruiser started to open the door to walk me to the house, but I held up a hand. “I’ll go greet Aya and invite him in. Maybe this time he won’t shoot me.”

  “And you won’t coldcock him. I approve of this plan.” Bruiser kissed me on the tip of my nose. “I’ll go back to HQ for a bit.”

  I grabbed my gear and clothes and handed it all to Quint, who had followed us back in the security detail, and stood by waiting. When the limo’s rear lights were far down the road, I met Aya at his vehicle. He showed no surprise when I walked up, so I knew he had been completely aware of his surroundings. My brother by blood had been in law enforcement and military for over 150 years, so situational awareness was part of his soul.

  He rolled down his window and spoke in English. “My sister.”

  “My brother.”

  “You have a shadow.” He tilted his head to Quint.

  “Yeah. For good reason. HQ was attacked.”

  “I read the reports. Your team of international lawyers is excellent.”

  That told me he had been keeping up with the attacks both here and in Asheville. “Granny’s involved with the attackers up to her neck. If I’m right, and our Grandmother is u’tlun’ta, then she’s a danger to the Tsalagi in general and to us in particular. I have information that suggests she’s not only u’tlun’ta but is also aligned with vampires, a Firestarter-witch-Onorio named Aurelia Flamma Scintilla, and Ka N’vsita who is Onorio and who was born a skinwalker.” I took a breath. That might have been a lot to hit him with suddenly, so I paused to let it sink in to his cop brain, his Tsalagi brain, and his hind brain. More gently I added, “I’m afraid that Grandmother is your grandmother no more. She’s a danger to the world.”

  “Succinct,” he said.

  “I got more. And if Grandmother gains three specific magical items that have arcenciel blood and scales woven into their magic, then not only are she and her allies a danger to this world but all the others past and present.”

  “The Rule of Three applies to powerful objects too,” he said.

  We were on the same page. Good. Remembering the Cherokee part of my protocol, I said, “You are welcome to my home. There’s food on the table, beer in the fridge, and probably football on the TV. Just so you know, Alex reserved a hotel room for you.” As I spoke, Aya stepped from his rental car, and I added, “Really? You’re driving a Fit? How do you even get your legs into it?”

  “It has not been a pleasant experience.” He smiled a real smile, showing his beautiful teeth. “And thank you for the room.”

  A brilliant light flashed in the night. We ducked. My body went tense as Beast shoved adrenaline into my bloodstream. Quint dropped my gear and pulled weapons, slapping a nine-mil into my palm. Through the windows, I saw Eli giving fast hand signals to the armed guards as he raced through the house. Quint duckwalked, looking at the street both ways. She had a headset and was talking to someone.

  “That seems to have come from your rear courtyard,” Aya said, too calmly, his head near mine below the vehicle’s windows. “The Firestarter?” he asked.

  “Don’t think so.” But I wasn’t certain. I shoved off and raced away, calling over my shoulder, “Come.”

  Pulling on Beast’s strength, I sped across the front of the house to the far side and leaped. Grabbed the tall gate just to the side of its central decorative fleur-de-lis, avoiding the decorative points on the top; pulled, pushed, lifted my body up and over in a combo track-runner / high-jump move. Landed on the narrow drive and sprinted to the back. Tall gates were built to keep out humans, not skinwalkers and fangheads, and Aya and Kojo, who appeared out of the darkness, followed by the same means. Thema raced in, popping with vamp speed through the new opening in the brick fence. Eli and heavily armed guards appeared from inside. Quint dumped my gear on the sofa in the main room, turned off all the lights inside, and joined us. From Katie’s house, Koun and Tex materialized, Tex with his two guard dogs, both geared up as if the dogs were about to fight bears. Everyone was snarling.

  Our guests were not who I expected, not Soul, the big wahoo of the arcenciels. Instead it was the three arcenciels from the wedding: Storm, Opal, and Pearl. In human guise, they were sitting on the shattered rubble left from the boulders I used to change mass.

  Overhead, lightning flashed cloud to cloud. Even in the cool of fall, heat lightning was common here, but I had a feeling this particular light show was more, like maybe a gathering of arcenciels. Which meant we were either deeply honored or in deep doo-doo. I swallowed down my adrenaline and controlled my shaking.

  Storm was sitting on the topmost stone, posed to show off her legs, which were only marginally swathed by the usual charcoal, lavender, and purple dress. Her hair was long, various shades of purples, all twisted into multicolored waves and thin braids and swoops. The other two rainbow dragons were sitting lower down on the broken pile in some kind of position of power. Opal was trailing her fingers through the fountain water, while Pearl was running her fingers over the stones where I used to hide magical objects and some of the more esoteric bones I had used for shapeshifting. I’d had occasional visits from Storm and from Soul, but this three-arcenciel visit was new.

  “Storm, Opal, Pearl,” I said, handing my weapon to Tex. “The Dark Queen welcomes you.”

  Storm said, “You have been named the Warrior who Brings Peace, yet you approach us with weapons.”

  I lifted a hand, and all the weapons dropped. Everyone, almost in unison, stepped back. As if they had choreographed it. Coolio.

  Storm said, “I have been assigned by She Who Seeks Peace, who is also She Who Claims the Rift, as emissary to your court.”

  I knew that, so repeating it meant it was important. “My court is honored.”

  Storm scowled like the thunderheads she was named for and said, “Indeed you are. She Who Seeks Peace is revered. We have been sent to learn human ways. The human ways of mating and human ceremony. She Who Seeks Peace arranged for us to attend the ceremony of mating. We wish to attend this thing called the honeymoon.”

  “No.” When Storm looked perplexed, I said, “Such an invitation is not mine to offer, and the honeymoon is private to the two participants.”

  “You are the Dark Queen. All bow to you.”

  I couldn’t let them see me as weak. I’d fought one of them before and wasn’t likely to survive another such fight, not now. But I wasn’t quite sure how to keep them away from Wrassler and Jodi.

  Eli stepped forward and bowed to me. “My Queen. Perhaps I might be able to explain.”

  I wanted to toss him a queenly wave, but I wasn’t sure how to do it without looking stupid. “Please.”

  To the arcenciels, he said, “I am the queen’s highest servant, called her number one.”

  I couldn’t stop my smile at the Star Trek reference, but I lowered my head until I could get my grin under control.

  “Such matters as marriage ceremonies are deeply personal and private,” Eli said. “Only the closest of cohorts are allowed to attend the ceremony. Even the queen herself would not have attended unless personally invited. You were honored to receive the invitation. But the honeymoon is not by invitation to anyone.”

  All three arcenciels looked at me. I nodded, agreeing with Eli.

  “We have watched the Council House Chambers,” Storm said. “We do not understand why the maimed one is the choice of the powerful human witch-born woman called Jodi. The hone
ymoon will show us this.”

  Eli stepped closer, saying, “Physical perfection is of less value than strength of spirit and valor and honor. Do you understand such concepts?”

  “They are human concepts. We find them peculiar. But we are here to learn. We have been ordered to learn,” Storm said. She frowned at us and demanded, “You will make attending the honeymoon happen.”

  Pearl, whose skin held a nacre-like sheen, said, “Sister. We have not tried the negotiation of the words.”

  Storm said, “You are better at the negotiation than am I. I will kill them if need be. You may use the words.”

  Pearl stood, her clothing glowing faintly in the dim light, and said to Eli, “We have seen the weakness of the Council Chambers’ defenses. The pitiful thing that throws fire has breached the defenses four times.”

  I felt Eli tense. We knew of one time. Not four. How had we missed so many incursions?

  “One such time she threw fire,” Pearl said. “There was much damage. We are capable of warding the walls and trapping the fire that she throws. This is child’s play to us. And so we protected the walls during the ceremony of marriage between the strong woman and the maimed man with strength of spirit and valor and honor.”

  Crap. The Firestarter had tried to attack during the wedding and no one noticed.

  Opal said, “We understood that dresses called ball were required. She Who Guards the Rift provided templates. We did not appear strange or different from humans. We stood and sat together and protected with our magic. We observed only. This information is part of the negotiation of words.”

  Pearl said, “We did not change shape or form. We did not attack any guests even if they deserved it. We require to be allowed to attend the honeymoon.”

  Storm said, “I agree with all that my sisters have spoken.”

  I said, “You observed proper etiquette at the wedding. This will be reported to She Who Guards the Rift. However, if you disrupt the honeymoon for any reason except attack from our enemies, you will be banished from my court. And I’ll call Soul and tell her you were incapable of learning and therefore unworthy.”