city of dragons 07 - fire and flood

by Val St. Crowe

  With the dress taken care of, all we needed was guests and food. And since we weren’t really inviting that many people, it was a small enough amount of food that we could get Ophelia to prepare it at the Flamingo. And, of course, Ophelia was a cherished guest. We had to compromise a bit on the cake, settling for a set of the yummy cinnamon buns that Ophelia always had at the cafe.

  The wedding was set for twilight on the beach.

  As the time approached, I started to get more and more nervous. I was in my dress, which I wouldn’t let Lachlan see until I walked down to him, and I paced in the upper level of my apartment.

  Wyatt was with me, and I’d combed his hair to make sure it looked nice, but hadn’t bothered with any special clothes for him. He had no idea that anything exciting was even going on. He was sitting on the floor with a shape sorter. The task was too involved for him to even acknowledge me.

  Finally, Felicity came in the back door.

  “Is it time?” I said.

  “Yeah,” she said. “You ready?”

  “I… I don’t know.” I let out a big breath. “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I always said I was never going to get married again.”

  “You and Lachlan have to get married,” said Felicity. “You have a baby together. And you have that blood bond. And you make really powerful magic together. You’re made for each other.”

  “Right.” I took another deep breath. “Right.”

  “You okay?”

  I nodded.

  She came over and gave me a big hug.

  I hugged her back.

  “You look beautiful,” she said.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Okay,” she said. “Well, I’ll tell them to go start the music.”

  The music was being piped out of a speaker. It was just something recorded, nothing fancy. But it was music that Lachlan and I liked, and I was happy to hear the strains of the song filter upstairs.

  I went and knelt down next to Wyatt. “Hey, little man, come on. Let’s go see Daddy.”

  Wyatt brightened, grinning up at me. “Da!” he said.

  “That’s right,” I said. “Daddy.” I pointed at my chest. “Who am I?”

  “Da!” he said.

  I sighed. Well, whatever. I picked him up and settled him on my hip. His little eyes shone. “Mama,” he said, and then he giggled.

  My eyes filled with tears. That had been so clear. “Oh, Wyatt,” I whispered.

  “Mama!” he said again, screaming with laughter.

  I kissed his nose. I kissed both of his cheeks. I kissed his forehead. I buried my nose against him and breathed in the sweet smell of him. I was so glad that he was okay. I was so glad that I’d been given the gift of getting to live and see him grow older. Most of all, I was glad that there was nothing hanging over his head. He wasn’t going to have to fight the Green King. He wasn’t going to have to be the blood dragon. The future was his.

  Carrying my son, I went to the door and stepped outside. I climbed down the steps.

  Everyone was waiting for me at the bottom, standing and looking up at me. They stood facing each other, creating a makeshift aisle for me to walk down. There were strings of white lights above them, twinkling in the darkness.

  At the end of the aisle, Lachlan was standing there, wearing a white linen shirt and beige trousers. He was grinning at me, the sea wind tousling his blond hair. He was perfection. The most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Connor was behind him. He was smiling too.

  The minute Wyatt saw his father, he started to struggle to be let out of my arms. “Da!” he yelled. “Da-da!”

  Chuckling, I set him down.

  Wyatt ran through the sand to Lachlan, who reached down and picked him up.

  I went more slowly, looking at the faces of all the people we loved. Felicity and Scott were there with little Asia. Christy was there. She’d brought a date, a pretty woman with dark hair. They held hands. Clarke and Naelen were there, although they weren’t touching each other. I really hoped those two got everything figured out between them. Ophelia was there. Vivica and Jackson were there. And they were all smiling.

  I wanted to stop and hug them all.

  But I continued up the aisle. And when I reached Lachlan and Wyatt, I stopped.

  I grinned at both of them. “Hey,” I whispered.

  “Hey, beautiful,” said Lachlan. He was grinning too.

  Connor cleared his throat. “Um, excuse me, but I’m the one who’s supposed to be talking here?”

  We turned to him. “Right,” I said. “Sorry.”

  “Thank you,” said Connor, sighing. “Okay, okay. So, dearly beloved or whatever, we are gathered here to marry Penny and Lachlan. Finally.”

  I snickered. Everyone else laughed too.

  “It’s no secret that I think these two are awesome,” said Connor. “They’re my family. Which is awkward sometimes, because I can’t help but check Lachlan out. Man is fine, what do you want?”

  Lachlan cringed.

  Everyone laughed again.

  “Anyway,” said Connor, “it’s pretty clear that they belong together, don’t you guys think?”

  Applause.

  “So, you guys in?” Connor looked at me, and then he looked at Lachlan. “You guys vow to love and cherish and honor each other and all that?”

  We nodded.

  “Guys,” Connor gave a dramatic sigh. “Say, ‘I do.’ Penny?”

  “I do,” I said.

  “Lachlan?”

  “I do,” he said.

  “Good,” said Connor. “I now pronounce you man and wife. Kiss the bride already.”

  Still holding Wyatt, Lachlan stepped closer to me.

  I threw my arms around both of them.

  I thought of Lachlan drunk and broken in his old apartment, kissing me for the first time and taking me by surprise. How I’d tried to push him away. How I hadn’t been able to do it. I thought of the two of us kissing in the ocean behind the hotel, still reeling from Alastair’s attack. I thought of kisses in the morning, when both of us had just woken up next to each other. I thought of goodbye kisses, pecks on the lips before he left for work.

  But this kiss was the best kiss of all. We were joined together forever. And we were surrounded by love. I’d never been more happy in my entire life.

  * * *

  Thanks for reading this series!

  I currently do not have any plans for more books about Penny and Lachlan, but I have learned never to say never. I do have one more forthcoming book in the Slayer Chronicles series and ideas for some spin-offs involving various characters. If you haven’t yet subscribed to my email list, do it now so that you’ll be in the know with whatever comes next, including my new stuff.

  Anyway, thanks again, so much!

  I love reviews! (Just saying.)

  If you haven’t read Clarke Gannon’s series, The Slayer Chronicles, start with Smoke.

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