And then they left me alone.
I’d dealt with hundreds of nervous brides. I’d even been married before, but that didn’t count, since the wedding was at the county courthouse. For the first time, I was the nervous bride.
Sara had told me not to worry. “Just sit tight. You’ll know when to come out. Don’t worry.”
I fidgeted. I plucked at my skirt. I checked the time, but it didn’t mean anything, since I didn’t know when the ceremony was supposed to start. I fiddled with my necklace. I readjusted my hat.
The closet door creaked open, and relief spread through my body. Maurice stepped out dressed in a perfectly fitted tuxedo with a purple orchid pinned to his lapel.
His grin lit up the entire room. “Gosh you look beautiful, Zoey.” He took my hand and spun me around slowly. “Riley is one lucky reaper.” He tucked my hand under his arm and led me to the kitchen, where he handed me my bouquet.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I said. “I was such a bundle of nerves. This is all crazy.”
He sat me in a kitchen chair and tucked an errant curl back under my hat. His smile faded and grew serious. “I know your mom’s gone, but she would have been so proud.” He squeezed my hand. “And your dad’s gone, too, so you don’t have any real family left. I was wondering if...” He stopped, his expression hopeful. “I was wondering if you would mind letting me walk you down the aisle.”
My eyes blurred with tears. “Maurice, you’re my brother. I wouldn’t dream of letting anyone else do it.”
The view coming down the aisle was different as a bride. As a wedding planner, I’d seen it through more critical eyes. Now there was nothing but emotion driving the bus.
Ahead of us, Milo raced down the aisle with a ring box around his collar, tongue lolling, stopping here and there for pats and scratches from people he recognized.
I held Maurice’s arm for dear life and tried not to stumble. Andrew and Daniel wore suits and boutonnieres that led me to believe they’d been my ushers. Their eyes sparkled with happiness as I walked by. The mix of faces was strange and a little disorienting. With the change to who could see the Hidden, human and Hidden stood side-by-side watching me. Moira sat next to Tashi, knowing only that the person next to her held a pair of adorable twins, oblivious to the fact that Tashi was a yeti. Ex-city councilwoman Alma Dickson sat next to Silas, which I found a little hilarious. Madame Emilia sat next to Nick and Mari with baby Fern. Art and Bernice sat together, and Art winked at me. He must have been in on the whole thing, keeping me on the phone all morning and pretending to be calling from his office in Kansas.
Riley stood waiting for me at the end of my long walk, his face beaming with love. They’d trimmed his hair, but not so much that it didn’t keep that slight curl over the collar of his tux. The moment I stepped into the gazebo beside him, my nerves disappeared. My heart was filled with so much love, I wanted to share it with everyone.
I barely registered what was being said around me. Maurice left my side and went to stand next to Darius as a groomsman. Sara took my bouquet. Riley and I exchanged rings from the box around Milo’s neck.
They were probably beautiful vows, but I was barely listening. My entire being was focused on Riley’s face. His eyes. His hands. His perfect heart.
He leaned in close and whispered the words he’d said when he proposed on top of the Golden Gate Bridge as the sun came up. “Till the end of time.”
And when we kissed our first as husband and wife, every bad thing that had ever happened was washed away, and I felt our souls snap into place as if they were two pieces of a single whole.
Also, my toes curled inside my fancy, polka-dot shoes.
It was a magical night.
* * *
The first new Aegises, of course, were Andrew and Daniel. As much as they’d done to help over the last year or two, they were practically Aegises already. The new rules hadn’t changed the necessity for humans to start out with a supernatural gift of some sort before they became Aegises.
Andrew was an aura reader. I already knew that. What I hadn’t realized was that Daniel was a soothcrafter. He was able to calm people in times of stress—which was why he did so well working with the elderly. The moment I named them as Aegises, Hidden with problems immediately started gravitating to the two men. I stopped getting all the business.
That suited me fine. Being the only game in town—in the world—had been difficult to keep up. And once Andrew and Daniel were official, whatever magic the world held for assigning Aegises uncorked, and reports of new Aegises popped up across the country and, soon, around the world. The magic knew whom to choose. The ones I met were all good people with big hearts.
But my boys, with all their money troubles, wanted a fresh start.
“The cabin is just sitting there, empty, Zo,” Andrew said. “And no one’s stepped forward from the Northeast region yet.”
I buried my face in Milo’s fur. “New Hampshire is a long way from here. And it’s so secluded. Mom lived there for nearly twenty years and barely saw anyone except Hidden.”
Daniel scooped up Howard and came to sit next to me. “Your mom was forced to stay there. We have a vehicle. I’m going to take classes and finish my nursing degree.”
Andrew joined us on the sofa at the back of the closed herbal shop. “You can come see us anytime. And we’ll come see you.” He put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. “You of all people should realize how small the world is.”
I did understand. I knew they’d be much better off living in Mom’s cabin in New Hampshire, focusing on taking care of the Hidden in the area.
I didn’t have to like it, though.
One of the weirdest, most surprising things that happened in all the upheaval had nothing to do with magic, the Hidden or being an Aegis. It came from my ex-husband, Brad.
With so much going on, I’d let Brad’s calls go to voicemail far more times than would be considered polite. But it was Brad. He was persistent, if nothing else. Eventually, he caught me at a good moment, and I answered.
“Don’t hang up!” The desperation and relief in his voice gave me a twinge of guilt.
“I’m so sorry, Brad. It’s been crazy.”
“I get that. It’s cool. I won’t take much of your time, I promise.”
I sighed and took a seat on my front steps. “Okay. What have you got?”
“Two things. No, three. I heard you got married.”
“Yes.” I mentally crossed my fingers that this wouldn’t turn into a big scene.
He cleared his throat. “First, then, congratulations.” He sounded sincere.
“Thanks, Brad.” I smiled, though he couldn’t see it.
“Second, I wanted to tell you before, but you kept hanging up. I got married, too. Four months ago. She’s really sweet. You’d like her.” The words rushed out, tumbling over each other, as if my approval meant a lot to him.
I didn’t know how to react at first. I was stunned. After a moment, I pulled myself together. “Well...congratulations. That’s wonderful.” It really was. It meant he’d finally let me go.
“Okay, so, the third thing is why I’ve been calling. Larissa—that’s my wife—has some money to invest. And she really believes in me. In what I can do, you know? Long story short, we want to buy Happily Ever After Weddings and Events. Take over the office with all the stuff in it, your vendor lists and contacts, the website...everything.”
This was the most unexpected thing he could have said. It even beat out the fact that he got married. “Wow. Okay. I’ll have to discuss it with Sara, of course.”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll give you a call back in a few days.”
“That would be great.”
“And Brad...I really am happy for you.”
“You too, Zoey.
You too.”
We sold them everything, down to the scraps of ribbon and bowls of beads in the back room of the office. We even got them started with some weddings and threw in our services as limited consultants for the period of one year.
But it was still pretty weird.
It helped to have a little more cash on hand. Sara and I had both been living on our savings lately, and mine was getting pretty thin. The house was paid off, and my bills weren’t huge, but being an Aegis didn’t pay in anything more than gifts from grateful Hidden—sweet, but you couldn’t pay the water bill with hellhound teeth or harpy feathers. Selling the business bought me time to take a break and figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
Now that I didn’t need a bodyguard, Riley went back to being a reaper, which also didn’t pay much, and an EMT, which paid a bit better. But first, we made plans to visit his sister. Years ago, the Board had saved her life in exchange for his indefinite services as a reaper—with the caveat that he could never see her again.
Screw that. I was in charge now. Giving Riley his sister back would be the perfect wedding gift.
Rene went back to the Ozarks with Toby and Janey, but this time, they rode public transportation in broad daylight in first class instead of walking all the way or hiding in the luggage compartment. Molly and Walter took the kids to the zoo and the Exploratorium in San Francisco a few times, but their lives didn’t change much with the new status of the Hidden.
Mostly, everyone went back to their old lives, regardless of how things had changed.
The exception was Maurice and Sara. With the wedding planning business no longer an issue, Sara was free to begin a new endeavor. And now that he didn’t have to hide, Maurice was able to join her.
For a savvy businesswoman and a fabulous cook, there was only one real choice. They bought Moira’s bakery in Sausalito. Now Maurice could feed everyone, and Sara could make sure he didn’t give away more than he sold. It was a perfect solution.
Kam left to wander, looking for other djinn and chasing souls in need of capture. She tried to get Darius to go with her, but he refused. I knew she’d be back. Until she found a way to get to the djinn world, I was her home base. We were sisters.
She took the old pickup she and Darius had shared in their travels together as a soul-chaser team. Darius stood beside me in the driveway, his arm raised in a wave as she drove away.
I turned to go back in the house, and Darius stopped me. “Wait,” he said. “It’s time. I’ve made my decision.”
I looked into his eyes, and the sadness I saw there nearly broke me. Enough time had passed that I’d hoped he’d changed his mind. I’d hoped he’d found a reason to stay.
I wanted to argue, but I’d promised him I would honor his wishes when it came time. I swallowed hard to ease the tightness in my throat. I owed it to him—and to my mother—to stay strong through this. “All right. If you’re sure.”
“I do not want to live in this world without Clara. I tried.” He breathed a heavy sigh. “I cannot.”
I took his hands in mine and blinked back tears. Of all the things I’d had to do as an Aegis and an empath, this was by far the most difficult. He was my friend. My dear, dear friend.
“Relax and focus on my eyes.” The grief I saw in his face strengthened my resolve to do as he asked, no matter what it cost me.
I’d only done this once before, and it had been in my mind—but what had occurred in my head had, by all reports, also happened in the clearing in the real world. I could do it again. For Darius.
I concentrated. Darius blurred around the edges, and the rest of him softened, as if looked at through a thick lens. The edges broke away in golden sparks, taking more of him away each second.
The tiny tropical bird from before fluttered to my shoulder, sang a few notes, then flitted around his head. Darius’s sadness melted away, replaced by a peace and contentment I’d never seen in him. He continued to dissipate like golden embers floating into the sky, until that was all there was of him, cavorting in the breeze with the little bird.
The bird landed on my shoulder again and watched with me as what had once been Darius drifted away, undone, returning to the ether of story so that other Hidden could someday evolve from his magic.
The little bird nuzzled my cheek, then flew away. I smiled through my tears. Somehow, I knew something of Darius had remained with the little bird, that the two would be together forever. A love that strong couldn’t simply dissipate.
“That was a fine thing you did, Aegis.” A small, almost squeaky voice came from behind me.
I turned to find a large group of gnomes standing in front my house, their tall, pointy, red hats all held in their tiny hands.
“He’s done a lot for me. It was the only thing I could do for him.” My voice came out gruff and tear-choked. I cleared my throat and wiped the moisture from my face with the back of my hand. “You’ve been under my house for over a year. It’s nice to see you come out finally.”
Their leader—maybe their father—ducked his head in embarrassment. “My apologies. When we’re working, we cannot speak or it cancels out the magic. Gnome ink is a delicate procedure and requires a year of silence to create the sigils.”
One side of my face pulled up in a half smile. “I’m a little familiar with gnome ink. Somebody stuck me with an invisible bad luck sigil on my hand. Powerful stuff.”
He raised his fluffy eyebrows. “Interesting. Why would...never mind. I’m sure it was temporary ink, yes?”
“Yes.”
He nodded in satisfaction. “Well, this—” he made a sweeping gesture toward the house, “—is not temporary. I admired the magic bubble thingy in the back and the fairy ring in the front, but none of that can do what gnome ink can do.”
“No?”
“No.” He clapped his hands, and the entire house flashed.
Brightly lit symbols were on all the surfaces of my freshly painted purple and green house. Every bit of ground from as far under the house as I could see out into the woods glowed brightly. It lasted only a few seconds, then the symbols faded and disappeared.
The gnomes applauded, so I did too. Their spokesman clutched his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels. “Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Without a doubt. But what does it do?”
He spread his arms. “All of this is now a place of safety. No one can be harmed by cruelty. The land, the house and all who enter, both Hidden and human, will find sanctuary here, long after all of us—and you—are gone. It’s a powerful spell, but you’ve given much to the Hidden. You deserve to sleep safely, you and your family, for generations to come.”
I sank to my knees to get closer to their level. “This is a very generous gift.” It was so much more than I could ever repay. I should have dropped a lot more peas on the porch for them to grab. I placed my hand over my heart. “I’m deeply honored you would go to so much trouble for me. Thank you. Will you stay? Now that you can speak with us, we can make you more comfortable.”
They all shook their heads. “No, Aegis. We’ve been away from our families for a year. It’s time for us to be going.”
And they, like everyone else, were gone.
As the months rolled by, Riley and I got comfortable with our new life together. Hidden came and went, but not too often. There were plenty of Aegises to go around now. Life was good. Calm.
I woke early one Saturday morning as the room lightened with the dawn. My sleeping husband snored softly beside me, and I watched the light play against the roughly trimmed beard on his cheeks. The discomfort got to be too much, though, so I pulled myself out of bed and waddled to the bathroom to pee.
I had to pee a lot lately.
When I was done, I headed back to the warmth of my husband and my bed, then stopped. Someone was in the house.
&
nbsp; I wasn’t alarmed, exactly. People came and went a lot. It wasn’t like I was going to wake up Riley for help or grab a toilet brush as a weapon. But someone was definitely in the house.
I crept down the hall, one hand held protectively over my protruding belly, and peered around the corner into the kitchen.
The hands clutching my newspaper were as familiar my own. I flashed back to a time, not so long ago, when those hands had struck terror in my heart. I wasn’t afraid.
I cleared my throat. “You’d better not have done the crossword, buddy.” I prepared my best stink-eye for when he lowered the paper and looked at me.
“Zoey! You’re up early. Muffins aren’t quite done.” Maurice bustled around the kitchen. The scent of strawberries and oranges drifted from the oven. “I’ll make you some tea. No coffee until the little one comes. Andrew’s orders.”
“Why aren’t you at the shop?”
“Sara kicked me out.”
“What?” My stomach flopped. It might have been the bad news, or I might have been hungry. I was always hungry lately.
“Kidding. Don’t look so shocked. She opened for me. Wanted me to make sure you were doing okay. We haven’t seen you in over a week.” He danced around the kitchen, still silly, but now a little older, a little more sure of himself. Maurice, I realized, had become a grownup.
Sort of.
“Zoey, Zoey, my friend Zoey!” His voice hadn’t improved any. “Got knocked up and has to go-ey! Zooooey!” He stopped singing and looked serious. “All the time. Seriously. I’ve been here for a couple of hours and you got up to pee twice.”
I smiled as he set the table and pulled the muffins out of the oven with his bare hands. “Smells good.”
He gave me a pointed look. “Well, what are you still standing there for? Sit, sit, sit.”
* * * * *
About the Author
Rachel’s head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She is terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and tends to recite the Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her castle move-in date.
Phoenix in My Fortune (A Monster Haven Story Book 6) Page 22