Page 78 of Sweeter than Honey

I pace restlessly throughout the room, cursing myself. I should have listened to Mel when I first went into her office. I should never have allowed things to become this way with Lily. I scared her off. And my behaviour was completely inappropriate. No…beyondinappropriate…

I flick the lights back off, and stand in the dark, looking out over the moonlit lake…Silverlake…

I thought she was my Lily…

But I was wrong.

I was so, so wrong.

Chapter 27: Weddings and witchcraft

Renata

A bouquet of white roses flies through the air, and a dozen scrambling bridesmaids clamour to catch it. The wedding planner, with a massive clipboard and a tear in his eye, clutches my arm.

“Aren’t weddings soromantic?” he sniffs.

I shrug off his touch, but he’s too caught up in the moment to care.

“Remember,” I say to him firmly, pointing to the agenda on his clipboard. “They have to be out of here by eleven sharp, and under no circumstances shouldanyonefrom this wedding party go out into the east wing. Do you understand?”

“Mm-hm,” he says, clasping his hands together as he watches the bride shove cake into the groom’s mouth. “No west wing. Got it.”

“Eastwing,” I reply through gritted teeth. Then I catch something out of the corner of my eye.

It’s a paper crane, flying through the air at the opposite end of the wedding reception. But not from the force of being thrown. It’s flapping its own feeble paper wings. It leaves a trail of shimmering orange light in its wake.

“Shit,” I whisper. I hurry toward it, careful to move quickly, but not so fast as to draw any attention. Luckily, the dancing has started and everyone is distracted. I navigate around flirting groomsmen and gossiping aunts, and I narrowly avoid colliding with a server carrying a tray of champagne. The enchanted paper crane is circling around the buffet, looking for a place to land.

With lightning-fast reflexes, I reach out and crush the crane into a paper ball in my fist, little swirls of light dissipating in the air. But then I spot another one, resting atop a tray of jello. And then another, flying toward the dance floor.

“My god,” I mutter angrily. I’m about to go chase after the other cranes, when Hallie appears, a worried expression on her face.

“Renata?” she calls.

“What is it?” I ask. “I’m trying to catch all these enchanted cranes.Whatis Amrita doing over there? I told her we can’t have any shenanigans!”

“I don’t think Professor Vyas is capable ofnotcausing shenanigans,” Hallie says. “It’s sort of what she’s known for. But the paper cranes were from Professor Watson’s seminar on enchantment charms. It was a really good one, actually! Mine is over there.” She points at a particularly intricate paper crane that’s perched on the shoulder of the mother of the bride. Luckily, she doesn’t seem to have noticed it.

I growl irritably. “What do you want, Hallie?”

“Do you know where Celine and Professor Cross are?” she asks. “I haven’t seen either of them all night. Professor Cross was supposed to help with the opening ceremony for the conference, but he wasn’t there.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” I reply, trying to keep an eye on the multiplying cranes. “They’ve been keeping an eye on Xavian and the other vampires, they probably just couldn’t get back in time.”

“Ok,” Hallie says, but she bites her lip nervously, one of her pointed fangs peeking out.

“Listen, could you help me with these cranes?” I ask her. “And make sure that nobody from this wedding goes wandering off. I told Amrita and Lavinia to keep everyone out of the hallway, so there’s a buffer, but if anyone from here gets lost and goes into the wrong hall…”

“I’ve got you,” Hallie says, with an encouraging smile. “And sorry about the cranes.”

“Thanks,” I pat her on the shoulder, and go to check on the witch conference.

As soon as I open the door, I’m almost knocked over by a red-haired witch in jeans and a T-shirt, who’s flying down the hallway. A small white animal hangs precariously off the end of her broomstick.

“Look out!” she cries, looping effortlessly through the air.

“Whatare you doing!” I shout at her. “You’re supposed to stay in the east wing! This hall isstrictlyoff-limits!”