by AE Jones
“No. I mean, yes. I was already inside. I’m here with Julian, planning our wedding.”
Ah-hah—the bride. “I’m Alex.”
“Fiona.”
“Nice to meet you.” Alex reached out to shake her hand but hesitated. Tears streaked Fiona’s cheeks. “Are you okay?”
Fiona gave her a small smile and wiped her eyes. “Sorry, I’m a bit stressed out.”
Alex was an expert on stress. “I can understand that. A wedding is one of the happiest and most stressful times in a person’s life.”
“Yeah. I just needed a little time to myself. All the arrangements are driving me crazy.”
Alex nodded. The voice inside her head told her to “step away from the bride,” but her heart wouldn’t let her turn away. “Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes it helps to have an impartial listener.”
Fiona sniffled, and her breath hitched. “I want to invite my family, but Julian said it’s too expensive to bring them all here.”
“And what did you say to him?”
“That he was being unreasonable. Then I came out here.”
Alex bit her lip to keep the chuckle that threatened to erupt inside. “I grew up in this business, so do you mind if I give you a little advice?”
“Actually, I’d appreciate some advice right now.”
“Compromise. It sounds like a pat answer, but it’ll prepare you for marriage. How about this—can you suggest not spending so much on one part of the wedding so you can afford to invite your relatives? Or maybe pick your closest family members and accept that your second cousins will need to stay home.”
Fiona paused. “You’re right. Most of my cousins are barbarians anyway. Thanks, I feel better.”
Alex opened the door. “You ready to go back inside?”
“Yes.”
They entered the building together. Fiona returned to the conference room, and Alex headed to Peggy’s office in search of her phone. On the way, she gave herself an imaginary pat on the back. She had handled that quite diplomatically, with no wrist-tapping involved.
Once in Peggy’s office, she scanned the piles on her desk and found her cell phone on top of the corner stack.
On her way to the door, the small monitor on the desk caught her eye. The screen allowed Peggy to keep an eye on the conference room. Since she couldn’t be in every meeting, she would sometimes oversee her assistants while they ran the consulting sessions.
Alex hesitated for a second. Should she?
Her curiosity got the better of her. She sat down in Peggy’s chair and flipped on the monitor. Fiona sat next to a man, probably in his thirties, with brown hair and light blue eyes. He must be Julian. Interestingly, he wasn’t dressed like a Goth; instead, he wore a high-powered black business suit. Peggy sat across from them, as did Devin, as confident as he had been earlier. What was he doing there?
“Let’s go over the rest of the arrangements,” Peggy said.
Julian nodded. “I know we are not giving you much time, but we would like the wedding to take place in a couple weeks. It will need to be a nighttime wedding, of course. And we should probably avoid the full moon, since several of our guests are werewolves.”
Peggy nodded while she made notes on the form in front of her.
Whaaaaaat? Werewolves? Grandmother’s mantra was that the client was always right, but this was a bit much. Peggy must think the company was in very bad shape to humor that guy. Unless he hadn’t really said it… God, was she having auditory hallucinations now? She picked up her phone and with shaking fingers typed the words auditory hallucination in the web search field.
“How many guests?” Peggy continued without a hitch.
“Approximately three hundred,” Julian answered. “Several of them will be high profile.”
Auditory hallucination occurs when one perceives sounds, like voices, without actual auditory stimulus.
Devin added, “And as we discussed, my team and I will provide security.”
Alex looked up from her phone. Security?
Julian tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Excellent. After the recent incident with Sydney’s wedding, I suspect that would be best.”
Fiona straightened her shoulders. “I know we covered this earlier, but I really would like to have my family with me on my wedding day.”
Julian sighed. “Your family has been dead for centuries. Do you have any idea how much a reincarnation costs? Even a temporary one?”
Alex’s phone slipped from her fingers and landed with a thud on the desk. Holy hell! These people were certifiable, and Peggy was nodding at them like a bobble-head doll. Or was Alex the one who was certifiable?
Fiona argued, “This is the most important day of my life. I want my family there. But you’re right, it is expensive. What if we compromise? What if we limit it to Mum, Pop, Seamus, and Sean?”
Julian reached for Fiona’s hand. “I think that’s reasonable. What made you change your mind?”
“Alex helped me.”
Devin and Peggy exchanged alarmed glances.
“Explain what happened,” Devin demanded.
Fiona’s forehead wrinkled, her eyes darting between Devin and Peggy. “Alex was outside, and I was upset, so she talked to me for a couple of minutes.”
“This isn’t good,” Peggy interrupted. “Did you tell her you’re a vampire?”
“No, but she works here, right?”
“Let’s see if I can find her.” Julian closed his eyes for a moment. “Yep…she’s still here. I believe she’s in the room next door. Her heartbeat just sped up.”
Peggy stared directly into the camera.
Alex backed away from the monitor and pressed a hand to her hammering heart. Julian opened his eyes. They were glowing red.
Oh, my God! Alex flipped off the monitor and grabbed her phone and keys. She scrambled around the desk and yanked open the door.
Devin stood in the doorway blocking her escape.
Lorinda’s Wedding Tip: Always keep a bottle of smelling salts on standby.
Chapter 4
Tread carefully. Devin grabbed Alex’s arm to steady her when she stumbled backward.
“You okay?”
Her caramel eyes widened and she jerked her arm away. “Yes. If you’ll excuse me, I’m…late for a date.”
“Really?” He checked her over. She was wearing sweatpants, a T-shirt that said “Sometimes a cigar IS just a cigar” and flip-flops. He couldn’t help grinning at her ridiculous attempt to lie.
She hitched her chin up. “Yes, he’s not caught up with appearance. I can be myself with him. Would you please move?” She tapped her right foot irritably, as if to emphasize her point.
Devin continued to block the door, amused by her bravado. “It’s nice that you feel comfortable dressing like that when you’re with him.” Although he certainly didn’t mind the way the sweatpants hugged her hips. His eyes were drawn to her foot as she continued to tap it like a woodpecker on steroids. Her toenails were painted red, and she was wearing a toe ring. Since when did toe rings become so damn sexy?
She cleared her throat and he jerked his eyes back up to her face. She scowled at him, and he continued, “If you’re going on a date, why are you here?”
“I left my phone on Peggy’s desk earlier today, so I stopped to pick it up.”
“That’s it?”
“What else would there be?” Alex tucked her hair behind her ear.
That was the million-dollar question. He narrowed his eyes. “Did you know Peggy was meeting a client here tonight?”
“No,” Alex replied, and rushed on, “but there’s nothing weird about it. Grandmother always says, ‘what the client wants, the client gets.’”
Devin glanced at the dark monitor. “Were you watching the meeting, Alex?”
“No, like I said, I was looking for my phone.” She held it up as if to prove a point.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing.”
He c
rossed his arms and widened his stance, making it impossible for her to squeeze past him. She wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “Let’s try that again.”
She crossed her own arms and mimicked his stance. He resisted smiling again, since it would just make her mad. She was ridiculously adorable. The top of her head barely reached his chin and he outweighed her by at least eighty pounds, but his intimidation tactics didn’t appear to be working. Finally, after a few more tension-filled seconds, she looked away.
“All right. I was watching. But I don’t need to explain anything to you. My…grandmother owns this business. I can be here if I want, when I want.”
Time for some damage control. “Of course you can. And I’m sure that, as a member of this business, you understand the importance of confidentiality for the more affluent clients. It’s in Bennett Bridal’s best interest to work with their clients to fulfill their every need.”
“Normally, I would agree. However, you and Peggy seem to be taking this a bit too far. Werewolf friends? Reincarnating dead relatives? Why would you support their delusions?”
Was she joking? “Do you understand what’s happening here?”
“Yeah, either you all are crazy…or, if you’re about to tell me I didn’t hear Peggy announce that our clients are vampires, I’m having a psychotic break.”
The right corner of his mouth curved up slightly before he could stop himself. “So what’s your gut tell you?”
She held up her index finger. “It could be schizophrenia. But that normally appears at a younger age. Late teens, early twenties, and I’m twenty-nine, so I don’t think that’s it.” She held up her second finger. “I have been under some stress lately, but I haven’t presented any abnormal delusions until now.” She touched her phone and searched the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling my psychiatrist’s service. I can’t wait any longer for her to return my call.”
Psychiatrist? Devin shook his head. “I don’t think you’re having delusions.”
Alex laughed sharply. “What else could it be? I doubt that you’re all having a shared delusion. The odds against that are astronomical.”
“What if I told you there’s a third choice?”
“And what would that be?”
He watched her carefully. “That Fiona and Julian are vampires.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “Mental illness is not something to make fun of.”
“I’m not kidding.”
She studied his face. “I can get you an appointment with my therapist, too. Maybe we can get a group discount.”
He held up his hands, palms out in surrender. God, this case was going south in a damn hurry. He couldn’t afford another screw-up while the Tribunal was watching. “Hear me out before you make that call.”
She stood silent, and he took that as a sign to continue. “Supernatural beings exist. The clients in the other room are vampires. They do have werewolf friends who’ll be attending their wedding. I know it doesn’t seem rational, and right now you think I’m crazy, but it’s the truth.”
“Devin, what you’re saying isn’t possible. I think you’re suffering from transference. This means that you’re latching on to my psychosis as if it were your own.”
How did she know about all this psychological mumbo-jumbo? He shook his head. “No. Okay, let’s go with a different tack. What happened with Sydney on the beach?”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Something strange happened.”
She shook her head frantically. “Nothing happened with Sydney.”
“I don’t believe you. When she was in the water did you see something?”
“No!”
“Alex, did Sydney turn into a seal?”
She flinched and backed up several steps. He’d hit pay dirt.
Before she could reply, Julian strolled into the room and smiled at her, fangs peeking out of his mouth. Then the showoff’s eyes started glowing again.
Alex gasped. “Do you see that?”
Devin nodded. “His eyes are glowing.”
“I…ah…I.” Alex closed her mouth.
For some reason she tapped the inside of her wrist with her fingers and counted slowly to ten. She gazed intently at Julian, whose eyes still glowed. Color drained from her face and she staggered.
Devin barely managed to catch her before she hit the floor. He carried her to the couch and waited with her in his arms while Julian pulled stacks of papers out of the way.
Her scent engulfed him—something fruity, apricots maybe. Placing her down gently, he pushed a silky strand of hair from her pale face. He checked her pulse, which thankfully was strong.
He glared at his friend. “Did you have to come in here acting like Bela Lugosi?”
Julian raised his eyebrows. “Lugosi? Good Lord, I’ve been alive for centuries, and even I know that reference is prehistoric. At least compare me to Lestat or that young guy in those teen vamp movies.”
“Julian,” Devin growled.
“Hey, you were crashing and burning in here. I wanted to speed things along.”
Devin gestured to the unconscious woman on the couch. “Well, you did the opposite of speed things up.”
Peggy charged into the room and made a beeline for Alex. “What did you do to her?”
Devin held his hands up. “I didn’t do anything to her. Vamp-inator here marched in and scared her half to death. She passed out.”
Fiona stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. “Julian,” she scolded.
“I didn’t mean to scare her. Devin caught her before she hit the floor.”
“Now what do we do?” Peggy asked.
“We order her not to tell anyone,” Devin said.
Peggy countered, “You aren’t her boss, Devin. You can’t order her to do anything.”
He sighed and glanced toward Alex. How the hell had he lost control of the situation already?
“If she won’t follow orders, we’ll have to find another way to deal with the situation.”
Lorinda’s Wedding Tip: Many brides have a dream wedding in mind. Your job is to bring her back to reality without pulling the rug out from under her.
Chapter 5
Where were her florescent stars? Alex blinked and stared at the ceiling. She’d gone to the office for her phone…and…and…ohmigod! She jolted upright and skimmed her fingers over her neck frantically, encountering nothing but smooth skin.
“He didn’t bite you.”
She jumped at the voice. A light flicked on, and she squinted against the sudden brightness, shielding her eyes until they could adjust. Devin watched her from across the room. He covered his grin with his hand and cleared his throat. The jerk was laughing at her! Her heartbeat pounded a staccato beat, but it was no longer due to fear.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.” But his eyes still held a spark of humor. “How are you feeling?”
“What did you do to me?”
“Nothing. You fainted.”
“I don’t faint,” Alex sputtered.
“Until today.”
“The guy with the glowing red eyes did something to me.”
“The only thing Julian managed to do was scare you into passing out.”
Alex started to protest, but he held up his hand to stop her, amusement dancing in his eyes again.
“So let me get this straight. You’re going to deny fainting, since it goes against your feminist ideology, but you had no problem announcing to me earlier that you’re having hallucinations? Actually, I think the term you used was delusions.”
She glared at him for a couple of beats before changing the subject. “Where’s everyone else?”
“Peggy’s showing Fiona and Julian out. She should be right back.”
As if in answer to a summons, Peggy walked into the room. “How are you feeling, Alex?”
“Fine. Will you please tell me what’s really going on?”
&nbs
p; Devin butted in, “I tried to explain earlier, but you insisted I needed a shrink.”
Peggy shrugged. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”
Alex blew out the breath she’d been holding. She wasn’t sure which was worse—believing she suffered from delusions, or realizing that vampires were real.
Devin took a step toward her.
She flinched. “What?”
“That’s the same face you made right before you passed out. I don’t want you to take a header off the couch.”
She rolled her eyes. Like a pesky mosquito, he needed to be squashed. She ignored his buzzing and spoke to Peggy, “How do vampires find out about our business?”
“Our website. Supernaturals shop the same way humans do.”
Right. “And how do they know we’re vampire-friendly? Do we have some icon or symbol on our site to clue them in?”
Peggy shifted her feet. “Actually, yes.”
“I was kidding. What is it?”
“It’s the little shield in the bottom corner of the page with the purple rose on it.”
“But that’s been on the site for years,” Alex exclaimed. “How long has this been going on?”
Peggy sat down next to her. “We’ve been catering to supernaturals for quite some time.”
“Why?”
“It’s a niche market, and a very affluent one at that. Think about it. If you’ve been alive for centuries, you can amass a great deal of wealth.”
“So Fiona and Julian are old?”
Peggy nodded. “Quite.”
Oh, my God. Alex laughed harshly. Fiona had said her cousins were barbarians. Hell, they were probably the real deal. Her vision swirled.
“She’s going to pass out again.” Devin grabbed her and pushed her head between her knees. Her hands flopped down and rested on the floor. She gripped the plush carpet between her fingers as an anchor.
“Alex, honey, are you okay?” Peggy rubbed her back in soothing circles.
Alex took a couple of slow, deep breaths until the room stopped spinning. “I’m fine now.” Which was a blatant lie. She might not ever be fine again. Vampires existed. She sat up, ran her fingers through her hair and pushed it behind her ears. “Does Grandmother know?”