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Kate chuckled as she slid out of the room, filling most of the hallway with her dress. “Yeah, we let him get away with too much though. Grandma Lewis would’ve let Cress have it for enslaving me, even though he saved my life. She would have kept Shayne in check now that he’s enslaved you, too.”

“Well, now we have Mor for that.” Lily reached over to adjust Kate’s skirt and hair as they reached the entrance to the sanctuary. Greyson jogged over in a dashing suit.

“You ready?” he asked Kate with an enormous smile.

“Cress wouldn’t let me leave even if I wasn’t,” Kate joked. “You two are going to have my back when I tell him I only want four kids maximum, right?”

“Sure,” Greyson said with a shrug. “I can’t wait to be an uncle.” He stuck out his arm, and Kate took it. “Oh… and before we go in, I should probably warn you…”

Kate found Greyson wincing when she glanced over. “What?” Her smile fizzled away. “What happened?”

“Well, Cress is just…” Greyson shook his head. “Never mind. Go on ahead, Lily. They’re playing the song.”

Lily flashed Kate one last smile before heading through the entrance and making her way down the long aisle scattered with burgundy rose petals. It was the first chance Kate got to peek into the sanctuary. She saw hundreds of people she knew filling the pews and the fae baristas standing in a row at the front. Shayne bit his lips over a closed-mouth smile when he saw Lily. Then he mouthed the word, “Hot” at her.

Lily blushed and shook her head as she headed to the opposite side of the stage. She stood alone over there as Kate’s sole bridesmaid, so it was pretty obvious who Shayne was ogling at when he leaned forward to see past Mor.

The Sisterhood of Assassins took up the front rows of the church, fashioning full-on knit dresses—all but Mycra who wore a bright green summer dress that matched her eyes. Behind them was Violet with her interns—Remi and Jase—and behind them were a few acquaintances Kate knew from high school and college. Luc sat at the end of a pew, holding tight to Dog-Shayne’s leash. Some of Grandma Lewis’s old friends had even made the trip, and a few of the neighbours of Fae Café had come, too. Greyson waved at Lincoln and Tegan in the back row.

The song increased in volume, and it was exactly the second Greyson tugged her through the entrance on his arm, the same second she felt the stares of all those hundreds of people upon her, that she noticed Cress.

Cress was bawling too hard to keep his eyes open. It was so dramatic, Kate almost stopped walking.

“Keep moving,” Greyson said through his teeth behind a plastered smile.

Cress sniffed, took in a deep breath and composed himself for about a second. Then he opened his eyes, saw Kate, and released a loud wail before starting to cry all over again. This time, Greyson pressed a fist over his mouth and snorted a quiet laugh.

From the pews, Kate heard Luc mumble, “What a loser.”

“Sorry,” Greyson whispered to Kate. “I can’t stop laughing. It’s like he’s doing this to himself.”

“Has he been like this all day?” Kate asked quietly.

Greyson scratched the back of his head. “You don’t wanna know.”

Kate watched her strong, handsome fae Prince make a complete fool of himself in front of everyone, and a slow grin spread across her face. If she was being honest, Kate would have preferred to ditch the wedding, grab Cress, and run away with him for a while. If nothing else, his antics would keep her amused for the rest of her life.

Greyson let her go when they reached the front of the sanctuary, and Kate almost didn’t have time to pass her bouquet to Lily before Cress leapt forward and clutched Kate’s hands tightly in his.

“This is the best day of my faeborn life!” he announced. “You’re everything I ever wanted, Katherine.” He loudly sniffed—for a long time, too. Mor was fighting to stay straight-faced behind him. The pastor opened his mouth to begin the ceremony, but Cress cut him off and went on, “Katherine Lewis, you’re so simple.”

Kate’s face changed. “What?”

“Everything about you is simple! Andsoplain,” Cress loudly declared. “You don’t have it in you to form cunning, manipulative, tricky thoughts. Even your thoughts are simple.” He put a finger against his pursed lips and shook his head.

Kate released a strange laugh and pushed her hair behind her ear as she murmured, “Uh… I don’t think you realize what it means to call someonesimplein this realm, Cress—”

“You’re just so ordinary and simple!” He practically shouted it. “It’s perfect for me. I’m like a glowing star. There can’t be two glowing stars in a relationship—it would never work!”

Shayne leaned back and whispered to Dranian, “I should have brought popcorn.”

Somewhere past that handsome face of his, Kate was sure Cress actually thought he was flattering her. And with the way he held both of her hands, facing her before the church… Kate’s eyes widened.

“Are these your vows?” she asked in horror. She glanced over at the pastor who didn’t seem to know what to do at this point.

“Absolutely not!” Cress stated. “My vows are exceptional. Just wait until you hear them.” He dropped one of her hands to reach into his suit pocket, and he drew out a paper. He took one look at it, then burst out crying again. He shoved the paper behind him and mumbled something along the lines of, “I can’t. I can’t do it, Mor. You must read it for me as the Best of the Men.”

Mor sighed and took the paper, and everyone in the sanctuary relaxed a little. Dranian didn’t have much of an expression, but Shayne was grinning ear-to-ear.