Page 9 of Born to Be Legends (Soulbound Universe)
“I don’t know how you did this in a week,” Patrick said as he peered discreetly out the window, looking at where all the guests were seated on white chairs in the grass between the mansion and the European-style cultivated garden.
“Money,” Sage said from where she knelt in front of Lillian, adjusting the fall of her daughter’s flower girl gown. “Lots of it. And I never take no for an answer.”
“An endearing quality of yours,” Jono said serenely.
Patrick laughed. “I still say we could have done this at the courthouse to spare you the headache of secretly planning our wedding for the last few years and then it never happening.”
Sage shot him a frosty look as she stood, the dusty blue color of her couture maid-of-honor gown a perfect counterpart to the sage-green wedding suit Patrick was in and the dove-gray one Jono wore.
The color scheme was apparently a play on their eye color because Sage was a romantic at heart, and neither he nor Jono was going to make her redo the color scheme on the fly.
They wanted to be alive to enjoy their honeymoon.
“Mom, my tiara!” Lillian said, reaching up to grip the glittering Swarovski crystal tiara that had been ordered special for her. “It’s tilting!”
“Well, don’t grab it,” Sage tsked lightly.
“I’ll fix it,” Wade said, stepping forward to help adjust the tiara with deft fingers.
Lillian’s long dark hair was pulled back in a half ponytail, the natural wave given a more structured curl from the same hairstylist who had done Sage’s hair.
Sage wasn’t wearing a tiara though. Her long black hair had been done up in a fancy loose braided bun with wispy pieces falling away from it.
“Make sure my tiara stays put,” Lillian said, pouting a little.
“I promise it’ll stay in place when we walk down the aisle.” Wade finished getting the tiara to sit just right before pulling something out of his inner suit pocket. “As pretty as you look, you’re still missing these.”
“Wade,” Sage sighed with the air of someone who knew there was no winning this battle.
“Ah, ah,” Wade said as he carefully slid a pair of kids-size reflective aviator sunglasses onto Lillian’s nose. “We’re throwing flowers in style.”
Lillian grinned. “Yeah, Mom. In style.”
Patrick swallowed his laughter and hid his smile behind his hand as he looked down at Lillian. She was like a little princess with her dusty-blue flower girl dress, shiny white shoes with bows on them, her tiara, and completely out-of-place sunglasses.
“Style is something the two of you need all the help you can get,” Wade added as he put on his own pair of sunglasses. His suit was a slightly darker gray than Jono’s, with a sage-green tie, the colors pairing well with Patrick’s.
Sage was going to stand with Jono, and Wade was going to stand with Patrick once they walked down the aisle.
But the first ones to the altar would be Wade and Lillian, both of whom had insisted they be allowed to wear sunglasses like they were special agents as they both threw rose petals ahead of Patrick’s and Jono’s entrance.
Patrick thought it was going to be hilarious. He couldn’t wait to see the video .
“How do I look?” Lillian asked, striking a model pose that looked like nothing one would see on a catwalk.
“Like a princess,” Jono said with all the seriousness of someone who hadn’t seen her make a mess as a kid or a cub.
The wedding planner who had been in Sage’s employ for who knew how long sidled up to their little group, phone in hand and with the hunted look of someone who was on a tightly regimented schedule. “All the guests are seated. We can cue the music up when you’re ready.”
“They’re ready,” Sage said as Jono passed her back the bouquet of blue and white flowers with sprigs of green fern. His boutonniere held a white rose, baby’s breath blossoms, and sprigs of eucalyptus, a match for the one pinned to Patrick’s lapel. “By about six years.”
Patrick didn’t bother hiding his laughter at that point. “We’re here now.”
Not like they’d be anywhere else.
Sage had chosen Oheka Castle in Long Island as the place for their nuptials.
The French-chateau-inspired Gold Coast mansion was a luxury hotel she’d entirely booked out for one week every summer for the last few years, but this would be the last time she’d have to do that.
Away from the bustle of New York City, it made it easy for privacy wards to be laid down around the estate.
Nadine had gladly done so yesterday when all their close friends and some family had arrived for the rehearsal dinner.
It hadn’t been everyone on the wedding guest list, but it’d been a good number of people.
Patrick’s grandmother had been invited to the dinner, Eloise Patterson someone he’d slowly grown closer to over the last few years.
Sometimes he still felt like an outsider in the family he’d been born to and then stolen from at the behest of the gods.
Their full-throated acceptance of him and rejection of Persephone as their coven’s goddess had gone a long way to making him feel wanted.
They would never be his pack, but they’d become family, and it was nice having aunts, uncles, cousins, and a grandparent.
Patrick looked at the core of his pack in the grand foyer there in the hotel, marveling that he’d lived to see this, to see them happy.
Wade danced around in a small circle with Lillian in his arms while Sage looked on with a fond smile.
Jono stood beside him, a line of heat and presence that had been his anchor through so much, the soulbond tying them together a quiet thing that had shaped this future for them in ways he couldn’t regret.
Jono leaned over, intertwining their fingers, his voice a soft rumble in Patrick’s ear. “You look happy.”
Patrick glanced at him, the smile never leaving his face. “I am.”
He knew Jono would get nothing but truth from his scent with that answer. The kiss was expected—wanted, even—and Patrick turned into it, ignoring the faint flash of a camera from the wedding photographer that seeped through his closed eyelids.
Jono pulled back, smiling, wolf-bright blue eyes full of the same love Patrick saw every morning when they woke up together. “Then let’s get married.”
“It’s about time,” Wade said loudly, clearly eavesdropping.
“Yeah!” Lillian piped up, making everyone laugh.
It didn’t take long for the wedding organizer to cue the DJ outside.
Music that had been soft background noise changed tune and pitch, the notes rising in the air.
Patrick could only imagine everyone seated outside turning in their seats to watch the doors open.
Lillian skipped out with a nod from Sage, her hand already digging into her basket for rose petals.
Wade followed at a slightly more sedate pace, swinging his own basket a little as he walked.
Laughter rose above the music, so whatever the pair were doing with their rose petals, it sounded amusing. Jono laughed softly beside him, fingers still intertwined, neither of them letting go.
The wedding organizer signaled to Sage, who swept forward on her own with her chin held high, dress fluttering around her as she walked with all the grace of a supermodel outside. Then, attendants closed the doors, and Patrick and Jono were urged to stand in front of them.
Jono lifted Patrick’s hand to his mouth, lips brushing over his knuckles, making Patrick shiver just a little. Jono smiled at him, soft and fond. “Ready? ”
“Always,” Patrick said, never letting go.
When the doors finally opened, the rich notes of the song they’d chosen for their walk down the aisle filled the air, and they stepped outside together, hand in hand.
No clouds in the summer blue sky impeded the afternoon sunlight.
The grass was bright green beneath their feet as they walked together toward the flower arch above the altar up ahead.
Family and friends stood from their seats on either side of the aisle, heads craning around to look at them.
They’d asked for everyone to leave the photographs and videos to the professionals they’d hired. No cell phones meant no one was jostling for the perfect angle as they walked over the flower petals Wade and Lillian had strewn down the aisle.
The estate’s garden stretched behind the altar, with its many ponds and fountains and trimmed plants an elegant backdrop.
Standing at the altar, wearing a pressed Mage Corps uniform gleaming with ranking pins and medals, stood Gerard Breckenridge, former captain of the Hellraisers, currently living his life as Cú Chulainn beyond the veil.
He smiled broadly at them, silver eyes meeting Patrick’s with pride.
“Well, it only took years to get you both here. Glad to see the tradition of dragging Patrick along to have a good time is still alive and well,” Gerard said, eliciting laughter from the wedding guests as Patrick and Jono finally stepped up to the altar.
“Oh, screw you,” Patrick said, mindful of Lillian and her very sharp ears and willingness to repeat anything someone said.
He couldn’t stop smiling though, happy that Gerard had been able to come on such short notice and had been willing to act as their officiant.
“It’s my wedding day. You’re supposed to be nice to me. ”
“I’m helping you get married, doesn’t that count?
Speaking of the reason we’re all here.” Gerard clapped his hands together, the sound catching everyone’s attention as he used magic to allow his voice to be heard easily by everyone.
“We’re gathered here today, from near and far, friends and family and pack alike, to see two of the most deserving people I have the honor of knowing be wed. ”