Nightfall

by Douglas, Penelope

  Micah chuckled. “Oh, good.”

  Maybe not tonight, but someone was coming.

  “You guys gassed up?” Michael called out, and I looked over to see him talking to David and Lev.

  The other guys nodded. “Yeah.”

  Michael looked around to all of us. “Cell phones charged everyone?”

  We all replied in the affirmative.

  “The kids?” he asked next.

  “The nannies will meet us there,” Damon answered.

  Michael stood there, everything ready and all the ducks in a row, his shoulders tense.

  “You ready?” I asked him.

  He broke out in a smile and inhaled a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. “Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  We all jogged down the stairs, everyone laughing and chattering, our heavy footfalls reminding me of all the times we ran as a group—together and tight.

  Diving out into the night air, “Let the Sparks Fly” started playing from someone’s phone, and déjà vu hit me, thinking about the last time I heard that song. Rika was sixteen, in the car with us, and it was the last good night for a long time.

  Rocks kicked up under our feet, bottles in everyone’s hands as Kai tipped back his beer and we left the house behind.

  “No cars?” I asked, noticing everyone just kept walking.

  Michael shook his head. “I don’t need to be carted to the altar,” he announced. “I want to arrive in style with my friends. This is how it started, and this is how it continues.”

  Kai grabbed his shoulder as we stepped out onto the road. “Always.”

  David and Lev pulled out in two SUVs, going on ahead in case we needed transportation later, but the seven of us strolled down the black highway, the glow from the estates that we passed lighting our way.

  Fires burned, the scent of wood and spice filled the air, and the Halloween decorations of every home lit up, the flickering flames inside the jack-o’-lanterns making me smile.

  A howl pierced the air, and I looked over, seeing Michael holding his hands to his mouth, his roar carrying down the street and up into the trees.

  “I’m marrying little Rika Fane, motherfuckers!” Michael yelled, and we all followed, belting our battle cry into the night.

  “Whoo!” we all joined in.

  Michael slapped my back. “Let’s go get my girl.”

  Beers and bottles in hand, we strolled down the highway, spotting our neighbors loading into their cars and getting on their way, a Mercedes swerving past us as we took up most of the road.

  “You’re gonna be late!” Bryce laughed, hanging out the passenger side window.

  Michael held out his arms. “Like they can start without me!”

  Bryce waved as they kept going, and I bobbed my head to the music, seeing the bottle of bourbon change hands from Micah to Rory, both of them whispering between themselves and laughing.

  “You know they might start without you if she wisens up,” I told him. “Remember when we kidnapped her mom, stole all her money, and burned down her house? That was good times.”

  “What the fuck?” Rory spat out. “You’re not serious.”

  But Michael scoffed, defending himself. “Damon suffocated her with chloroform, threw her over his shoulder like a sack of flour, and took her to sea!”

  “We were bonding,” D retorted. “You’re just jealous.”

  “I’m just glad your ‘bonding’ didn’t go under the clothes before you knew she was your sister,” I fired back. “Can you imagine?”

  Damon hooked my neck, yanking me down, and I laughed as we play-fought for a moment.

  “I’m starting to feel like we need to grab this girl and Emory and run,” Micah mumbled to Rory.

  I pushed Damon off and straightened, fixing my suit.

  “We love the hell out of her,” I assured my guys. “We’d die for her and each other. Erika Fane is a lucky woman.”

  “Yes, she is,” Kai agreed. Then he looked at Michael. “You okay?”

  We all glanced at Michael, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and his breathing heavy.

  “My heart’s jackhammering,” he panted, letting out a nervous chuckle, “like that day we walked into her math class and I saw her for the first time in months.”

  Kai grinned, squeezing his shoulder. “That’s a good feeling.”

  Fuck, yeah, it is. It’s an even better feeling when you know she feels the same way.

  God, I missed Emmy already. She was all over me night before last, and it was like a new world opened up, and I could see decades of that ahead of us.

  I knew she was the one for me.

  Descending the hill, we headed into the village, Misha passing Damon the rest of his half-empty beer, and Damon happily swallowing the rest.

  I loved watching their interactions the past couple of days. Misha was the only child now after Annie passed. Neither one of them had a brother, and if Misha’s dad married Damon’s estranged mother, they would be technically related.

  They got in each other’s faces a lot over the years, but a bond was forming. I guess the older you get, the more you realize how much you need others. It would be nice for Damon to have a brother.

  People crowded the streets ahead, “Light Up the Sky” blasting from Sticks and no cars getting through as restaurants and the tavern swarmed with patrons. Vendors sold the best catered food on the streets, Graymor Cristane picking up the whole tab for everyone tonight.

  People looked our way, seeing us coming, and we tossed our drinks into the trash bin, heading into the fray.

  “Will!” Simon came up, grabbed my hand in a shake and my neck in a hug.

  “Hey,” I greeted, hugging him back.

  “Congratulations,” someone said to Michael.

  “Thank you.”

  Food trucks lined the curbs, dealing dinner and drinks, bottles of champagne popped in every direction, and music played, the entire village lit up by just the gas lamps lining the sidewalks.

  This was going to be an unconventional ceremony, I’d heard. They didn’t want a lot of pomp. Just a good time and their town around them.

  Making our way through the people, old friends and new residents, I spotted the current basketball team in their school jackets all piled on the roof and hood of a Hummer, the one in the front tipping his chin at me when I made eye contact. The captain, I assumed.

  Kind of cute of them. Being here for this like we were every year for McClanahan. Someone was teaching the kids right.

  The entire park was cleared, not a soul on the grass except the chairs placed for our immediate family as we made our way up to the gazebo. Misha veered off to join Ryen sitting in the second row, and Micah and Rory took the two seats reserved for them. Damon and Kai looked for their women, but I only spotted Ivarsen with Christiane, Matthew Grayson sitting next to her, and Madden in Katsu Mori’s arms as he sat next to his wife.

  Michael’s parents sat in the first row, his mother smiling ear to ear and blowing him a kiss as his father looked on, a coy smile on his face as if he was just biding his time.

  Fucking hell.

  But Michael knew what I was thinking and pulled me forward again. “Later,” he said. “Not tonight.”

  “I know.”

  He and his dad had never gotten along. I didn’t doubt Michael’s loyalty and commitment to see this through to its end.

  But that didn’t mean I wasn’t itching for it.

  I did a quick scan of the crowd again. Where the hell was Emmy? I hadn’t seen Winter or Banks, either, so hopefully that didn’t mean anything.

  We climbed the steps to the gazebo, and I looked around at the open roof, noticing crystals hanging from the leaves of the trees overhead.

  The black, wrought iron circle stretched about fifteen feet in diameter as vines wound around the railings and beams, up to the roof that connected to a point. But where panels should’ve gone to keep out the sun and rain, it was open instead, the panels missing, so you could
see up into the trees.

  An officiant stood in the middle, a middle-aged judge with short brown hair and wine-colored lipstick.

  I leaned over to Damon. “Who built this gazebo?”

  But he just shrugged, not looking at me.

  He didn’t know? He’d been here the whole time. How could this go up without him knowing where it came from?

  Michael moved to the center, in front of the judge as he fastened his tie, and we joined him, flanking his side and waiting for Rika and her entourage.

  I couldn’t wait to see Emmy. Rika always thought of everything, so I knew she’d handled a dress, but I kind of hoped they’d had fun, too. I wanted her to like my friends. They were family, and they were important to me.

  “So, you gonna be a Crist?” Kai teased Michael. “Or a Fane?”

  “Shut up,” Michael snipped.

  Kai and Damon snorted, laughing to themselves. What was that about?

  But before I could catch up on the joke, the music died away, the crowd’s chatter quieting a little, and we all looked around, the hair on my arms rising.

  It was time.

  “Michael,” Kai whispered.

  I looked to Kai, all of us following his gaze out toward the street and the start of the pathway leading up to the gazebo.

  She stood there, and my throat swelled with a lump, and for some fucking reason, I was about to burst wide open.

  Shit.

  Rika looked up at Michael, dressed in her red gown, bold and on fire as she gazed up at him and he drifted to the edge of the stairs, looking down at her twenty-five yards away.

  She’d turned into a beautiful woman. The skin of her bare shoulders glowed in the lamp light, her long blonde hair cascading down her back in loose curls, and her red gown, layers of silk spilling over her waist and down her legs, making her look like the force she was. Gold embroidery decorated her bodice and fat, long gold earrings nearly reached her shoulders.

  The crowd stood around her but left the path ahead clear.

  A haunting piano tune with violins began playing, and without taking her eyes off Michael, she started walking to him.

  I shot my eyes around, looking for Emmy, but the other three were still nowhere to be seen.

  Michael stood frozen, his chest rising and falling hard as he watched her, looking almost in pain.

  Her jaw flexed the closer she got, and I saw tears glisten in her eyes, because it was all too much.

  Once upon a time, she was a kid who blew our minds and ran with us all night.

  She hadn’t changed.

  She ascended the stairs, needing no one to lead her or give her away, and took Michael’s hand, smiling up at him.

  “Hey,” she said.

  And he dove in, his chest caving as he pressed his forehead to hers and hovered over her mouth.

  But Kai pulled him back. “Soon, man.”

  Rika and Michael both laughed, Michael watching her lick her lips and struggling to take his eyes off her.

  Clasping her hand, he walked with her to the judge, more than ready.

  But I stepped up, stopping them. “Where are the girls?” I whispered.

  Rika turned to me, smiling like she had a secret.

  Then, her eyes flashed beyond the gazebo, and we followed her gaze, seeing the others all standing at the ends of the other three pathways leading up to the gazebo.

  What…?

  I walked to the other side, Kai and Damon taking the other pathways, and I saw Emmy standing there in a silver gown, her dark hair spilling around, her eyes locked on mine.

  Winter stood off to my left in a dress of white feathers, and Banks to my right, dressed in black.

  What were they doing?

  Was this…?

  And then…I stopped breathing, realization hitting me.

  Shit.

  “Is this okay?” I heard Rika murmur.

  “Come here,” Michael whispered, and I heard kissing. “I love you.”

  I remembered Rika planning to marry Michael at St. Killian’s. At the cliffs under a midnight sky, she’d said.

  Excitement coursed under my skin. I guess she had a better idea.

  They all started walking, and Damon started off to meet Winter, but Rika stopped him. “She wants to do it herself, Damon.”

  He paused, all of them making their way down their paths toward us, Damon’s body tense, but his eyes on her every step.

  This was what Rika was planning. Why she took the girls.

  I glanced over, seeing Alex seated with Kai’s parents, dressed in midnight blue.

  My heart pounded, smiling as Emmy climbed the stairs.

  Was this for real? We were actually doing this?

  Barely aware of anyone else as the world spun around, I held out my hand, helping her up the stairs.

  “I was thinking you could kiss me this time,” I heard Banks tell Kai.

  And then Damon took Winter’s hand. “You look so beautiful, it fucking hurts,” he said.

  But I couldn’t swallow, my mouth was so dry.

  Her dress, her body, every curve… What did the back look like? Holy shit…

  “Are you up for this?” she asked in a quiet voice, looking hopeful.

  I felt the ring on her finger, my eyes trailing over her breasts. Emory Scott. What the…?

  She took hold of my chin and forced my eyes back up, trying desperately to hold back her laugh. “Are you up for this?” she asked again.

  I nodded. “Yeah, for like, ever now.”

  She took off her ring and handed it to me so I could marry her with it, and then she took my arm, all of us coming back to the middle.

  Damon wrapped his arms around Winter, holding her to his body and not taking his eyes off her, while Banks held on to Kai, standing at his side.

  They were the only ones actually married, but their first wedding was pretty tense. I was happy we were all here. It was perfect.

  “Welcome,” the officiant said as the music died down.

  “Michael and Erika—”

  But then…lights illuminated above us, and we all tipped our heads back as the crowd gasped and the judge fell silent.

  The crystals above that I saw earlier were chandeliers. A dozen of them, hanging in the trees, coming to life and lighting up the leaves, their branches, and looking like a whole other world up there.

  Emmy sucked in a breath, and I looked over at her, seeing her chin tremble and a tear hanging at the corner of her eye.

  “Oh, my God,” she murmured.

  She seemed to love chandeliers, didn’t she?

  Reaching up, I wiped the tear, the lights glowing across her beautiful skin.

  “Michael and Erika,” the officiant started again. “Damon and Winter. Kai and Nikova. William and Emory.”

  We all looked at her, air filling my lungs and feeling Em’s eyes on me.

  “Are you happy?” the judge asked.

  And I blew out my breath, breaking into a low chuckle, all of us laughing within a moment.

  The judge nodded, needing no further answer. “I’ve been proud to watch you grow here, and I’m excited to see everything that comes next.”

  I clasped Emmy’s hand.

  “Rings, please?”

  I held Emmy’s, Michael held Rika’s, and Damon and Kai took their women’s back from them temporarily.

  But then, all the girls opened their palms to reveal the bands they had for us.

  I looked down at it to see silver rings emblazoned with a crest I didn’t recognize. A skull hovering above a bed of grass where a snake laid. Antlers stretched out of the bone against a black background.

  I looked around, kind of confused. Banks had the same ring for Kai, and I couldn’t see Michael’s or Damon’s, but I assumed they were the same, too. I guess I’d missed something.

  I liked it, though.

  “What’s wrong?” I heard Michael whisper.

  “N…Nothing,” Rika said. “I thought I saw something.”

 
“Michael and Erika?” the officiant continued. “Do you promise that no matter what you do, you do it as one?”

  They smiled at each other. “We do.”

  “Damon and Winter?” the judge asked next. “Do you promise to give your very best to each other?”

  “We do,” they said, their voices strong and sure.

  “Kai and Nikova?”

  My heart hammered inside me, and my pores cooled with sweat.

  “Do you promise that the other will never be alone?” the judge asked.

  “We do,” they answered, and I could hear the smile in their voices.

  “And William and Emory?”

  I looked down, holding Em’s eyes.

  I was going to lose it, I was so nervous.

  “Do you promise to believe in each other and stand together?”

  I gulped.

  Hell, yes.

  “We do,” we replied.

  The officiant paused for a moment, then continued, “Do you promise to put the family first?”

  “We do,” we all answered.

  “Do you promise to never break these promises?”

  I grinned down at her. “We do.”

  We all slipped the rings on the other’s hand, the band wrapping around me and my heart at the same fucking time.

  “Michael and Erika, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

  “Whoo!” I heard someone yelp, and we all laughed as Michael and Rika kissed.

  “Damon and Winter?” the judge said. “I pronounce you husband and wife.”

  He took her face and kissed her, still going even after the judge moved on.

  “Kai and Nikova, I pronounce you husband and wife.”

  “Come here,” Kai said, crashing his mouth down on his wife’s. She giggled.

  Banks giggled. I shook my head.

  The pulse in my neck pounded, readying myself and feeling like I was about to have a heart attack.

  I looked into Em’s eyes, whispering, “I love you, baby.”

  “Good,” she told me. “Because I wasn’t actually on the shot like I said I was in the greenhouse.”

  Huh? My eyes went wide, and I froze for a moment.

  But then I snorted, diving down and kissing her before I was told.

  Fuck yeah.

  “William and Emory,” the judge said, clearing her throat to try to give us a hint to stop kissing.

  But before she could pronounce us husband and wife, thunder pierced the air in the distance, and I jerked, opening my eyes.