Page 6 of Blood and Magic (RBMC: Helena, MT #2)

Maeve

“Y ou’re sure…like doubley-triplely sure, you want to marry him?” Ava asked Sol, who stood at the full-length mirror, fussing with the corset on her gown. “Time’s a ticking, and there’s a getaway car out back.”

Sol laughed and glanced at my twin with shimmering eyes, the ones that were suddenly so different than how I’d remembered them growing up. “Of course.”

“But he’s…” She trailed off, unsure of how to word it delicately.

“Evil?” I cut in, my hands on my hips. “Rotten? Our family’s worst enemy in human form?”

“Evil and rotten?” Guin announced as she walked into the bridal suite. “You’re not talking about little ole me, are you?”

“They’re trying to talk me out of marrying Orion… again.” Sol shook her head, her ginger hair swaying with the movement.

“The ship’s already sailed on that, I’m afraid.

” Guin sighed in dramatic exasperation. “Okay. Let’s get this show on the road.

We’re already fashionably fifteen minutes late, and if we wait any longer, we’ll rile up the president.

As much as that normally thrills me, I’d prefer not to converse with him today of all days. ”

Sol rolled her eyes and grinned, but I looked at Ava, who wore the same expression of disbelief as I did. We still hadn’t discovered their secret, but they would likely let it slip sooner or later. Sol, especially, had never been very good about hiding things.

We followed them through the corridor and down the grand staircase of the Vanderbilt mansion.

When we stood at the French doors at the back of the house, Sol hid behind the curtains so the groom didn’t see her before he was meant to.

We took our spaces, Ava and me at the head of the line with Guin just before Sol.

She didn’t have a maid of honor because she said she couldn’t choose between us.

Our youngest brother, Galahad, and our eldest brother, Liam, stood ready to walk our sister down the aisle.

“You look wonderful,” Liam said, grinning as he took one of Sol’s elbows. “A vision.”

“Exceptional,” Galahad said. He wore a matching suit to Liam’s but had opted to do his makeup just as glamorous as the bridesmaids. I absolutely adored how he never adhered to any rules about fashion or gender norms.

“Is everyone ready?” the wedding planner asked, switching her clipboard to the other hip as she gave us a once-over. The orchestra started playing “The Wedding March,” and the rows of guests turned to face us.

Ava walked out first, pacing herself like the planner told her to at rehearsal.

When she hit the fifth row, I started walking.

I didn’t mind being on display in front of all these people.

I presented my ideas in front of entire boardrooms full of rich parasites, most of them in this audience.

But my hands shook and my feet wobbled on my heels.

My knees turned to jelly, and for one horrifying moment, I thought my heart would stop again.

No. Not here. Not now.

I focused on Orion at the head of the aisle, his dark eyebrows furrowing as he no doubt wondered whether I would topple over.

Kodiak stood directly in front of me, having been ordained by the state of Montana to perform marriages.

To Orion’s right were his groomsmen; only three were at the rehearsal yesterday.

The fourth, the one standing second from the end, the one I would walk with, was Van.

He still stood six feet three with sandy blond hair and dark mahogany eyes, but he no longer seemed as full of life as he once had. Now, his posture was stiff, and he emanated a “don’t fuck with me” vibe that most of the other Bastards carried, but not to this degree.

Our eyes connected.

My blood pulsed.

All the air whooshed out of my body.

Time seemed to slow down. In that one infinite moment, my consciousness shifted to an entirely new plane of existence, one without rules and land wars and family history.

He’d filled out in the years since I’d last seen him, the old vestiges of his youth having given way to a man’s strong, muscular lines. And wow, he looked terrific.

“Mae,” came the hushed voice behind me. Guin had caught up to me and grabbed my shoulder to get my attention. “You have to keep walking.”

Blinking back to reality, I realized I’d stopped in the middle of the aisle to stare at a Bastard, an objectively beautiful one, but my family’s former-still-sort-of enemy all the same.

I cleared my throat, straightened my shoulders, and kept going, falling in line next to my twin.

Are you okay? Ava’s expression asked.

Fine, I replied.

Sol walked down the aisle to her new husband, resplendent in her flowing white gown and perfectly groomed hair.

Orion even got a little choked up, despite how happy he clearly was.

They stared at each other, love and devotion in their gazes, but when I looked past them, Van stood on the other side, staring back at me.

No, not staring… glaring.

His eyebrows drooped into a scowl, his lips thin, his aura pulsing with menace and aggression.

If this were anywhere else, I’d return the grimace and boldly demand to know what his problem was.

But this was my sister’s wedding, and I wouldn’t ruin it by starting a fight before the champagne had been poured. That would be terrible form, indeed.

I quickly glanced away and spent the rest of the time avoiding him. This did not stop the pinpricks of awareness on my skin or the sheer certainty that he hadn’t stopped looking at me.

What is going on?

Why did I have such a strong reaction to him? And why did being around him make my heart feel like it would pound out of my chest and flop around on the ground like a fish?

It’s the shock of seeing him after all this time.

That’s all.

Especially given how many times I’d fantasized about him and how deeply ingrained my crush had grown.

My attention caught on the tree line, where a fox sat with its hind legs tucked between its front.

Its bushy copper-and-white tail happily thwapped against the ground, as if it could understand what was happening and approved.

Amber eyes gleamed in the sunlight, shimmering with an awareness that seemed preternatural, almost intelligent.

I furrowed my brows and narrowed my gaze, wondering what it was doing so close to humans. Didn’t it have a shred of self-preservation? Hell, most of the people in the audience would shoot it and stuff it as soon as let it be a spectator to the wedding event of the year.

It shifted its focus to me, blinking slowly, seeming to tell me things would be alright.

I, of course, had never telepathically communicated with wildlife before, and some part of me wondered if I wasn’t losing my mind.

But this little fox’s calming effect couldn’t be ignored…

almost as if I knew it, as if we’d met before, as if my soul recognized the same in it.

“I do,” Sol said, drawing my attention back to the present.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Kodiak said. “You may kiss each other.”

When I looked back, the fox had disappeared into the woods, and the strange moment had passed.

Sol and Orion held hands and cheered as the crowd erupted into applause.

They led the procession down the aisle toward the house for pictures.

Guin had been paired up with a tall guy named Moose with long brown hair.

She wrapped her arm around his elbow and walked ahead.

As I walked toward Van, I steeled myself, staring up at him with a parched throat and muscles trembling with nerves.

He held out an arm to me, I slipped my hand through his elbow, and together we strolled toward the house while Sol’s guests cheered. But under my palm, Van’s muscles were tensed like a coiled snake, like any second he might burst out of my hold and reprimand me for daring to touch him.

This was not the same guy who’d worked for our father years ago. That guy had an easy laugh and smile for everyone. He teased and joked around. He’d been more alive than anyone else I’d ever met. This guy seemed like he’d lived through every war known to humankind.

Once inside, the wedding planner tried to corral us toward the staircase for pictures, but Sol and Orion wanted a moment to themselves.

“Which means it’s time for shots,” shouted one of Orion’s groomsmen, Lycan.

Like the other Bastards, he was tall and muscular and had striking blue eyes that pierced anything they landed on.

He had short blond hair several shades lighter than Van’s, and despite my preference for lighter-toned men, he didn’t hold nearly the same fascination.

“Don’t get too rowdy, Lycan,” Kodiak said, straightening his jacket as he followed us inside.

“Don’t be a party pooper,” Guin said, nodding toward the parlor. “A quick nip to take the edge off never hurt anyone.”

“She’s got a point, Prez,” Lycan said before turning his attention to Van and me. “You two in?”

“Sure,” I managed to squeak before clearing my throat and glancing at my escort. “Van?”

He pursed his lips and let out a heavy sigh. “Sure.”

Lycan lined up the glasses while Guin smiled and poured whiskey into each, ensuring we all had one before raising hers high in the air.

“Cheers to the happy couple,” she said, “and the people who support them along the way.”

“Cheers!” we shouted in unison before slinging back the liquor. It burned on the way down, but not nearly as badly as Van’s chilly attitude.

Of course, what did I honestly expect? It wasn’t like we were friends when he worked here.

Hell, he probably didn’t even remember me, and the sentiment plucked at some self-deprecating guitar string in my heart.

Of course, he didn’t remember me. I was a little girl, barely out of pigtails.

He’d been a man. Why would he have taken any notice of his girlfriend’s slash friend with benefits’ little sister?