Everyone stared transfixed as Dean led Ashley down the aisle – my butler standing in as her father since this was a monster’s only wedding. Gunnar’s face cracked into a dogged grin, practically salivating as the setting sun glinted off her skin. Her red hair fanned down her back in wavy ringlets that, although it appeared natural, I was sure had taken the equivalent of a decade to prepare. Her face shone with joy, and as I studied the petite redhead, a ray of sunlight struck her eyes.

And I saw a monster within.

Because Ashley had gone to the Land of the Fae with me, and she had brought back a roommate. Not a different being or anything, but a new… awareness – Wulfra. She was the Wolf Queen to Gunnar’s Wolf King – Wulfric.

This slip of a girl had also killed Hercules in hand to hand combat.

But she looked so cute in that wedding gown that I wanted to just gobble her up!

Sensing Gunnar beside me, I wisely kept this thought to myself. Talon had ceased cleaning himself and sat staring – like the Cheshire Cat – as she approached. The wedding party consisted of Alucard and me with Gunnar, Tory and the Huntress with Ashley, and Othello officiating.

Othello had computer hacked her way into getting a license to legally bind this wedding, rather than waiting the required short period of time for the paperwork to arrive. Knowing Othello, her illegal documentation was probably more ironclad than any legal license. Because she was one of the best hackers in the world. If she had heard me qualify that with one of she would have stolen my identity, robbed me of every penny that had ever even considered depositing itself into an account with my name, and likely would have buried me with billions of dollars’ worth of debts that would take trillions of dollars in legal fees to disprove.

Because hackers could get vengeful when their skills were doubted. Rule of thumb, never piss off a passive aggressive person. Ever.

I could tell that Othello was loving every minute of this perfect union. One, because she was a romantic at heart. Two, because she was prominently displayed as the power behind the holy matrimony when she usually had to work from the shadows.

Ashley’s gown trailed behind her as she climbed the steps to stand beside Gunnar. Dean gave her an awkward hug before passing her hand to Gunnar, who took it with a dip of his head in respect to Dean. The butler had been a constant figure in our lives since childhood, and was a de facto father to all my friends, but especially to Gunnar and me.

A whisper of a smile crossed his reserved face – but he hid it from others as he turned away and took a seat in the front row.

Othello cleared her throat delicately. “We are gathered here today…” I lost myself in her words, discreetly glancing about for dangers, because that prickling sensation hadn’t faded. Either I was paranoid or something was wrong. But I saw nothing alarming, and knew the Horsemen ‘Ushers’ would make short shrift of anyone daring to interfere with my best friend’s wedding.

I found myself staring at Callie again.

Remembering our recent travels all over the world. A few weeks of bliss. No real dangers, no threats, just a couple of kids having fun together. Not even romance, really. More just… feeling each other out.

I wouldn’t have turned down a little feeling each other up, but even I can’t get everything I want all the time. I saw her face bloom into an amused smile as she noticed my attention, and my grin turned roguish – full of smug pride. Spikes of fire abruptly pierced my shins and then tugged down like a fistful of scalpels.

I almost shrieked in alarm – a heartbeat away from calling up my magic whips to incinerate anything near me that could have even remotely been described as bad guy. I glanced down to see my murderous kitty, Talon, casually retracting his claws from my flesh, blinking up at me with fake innocence. To top it off, he extended his neck to rub his chin across my shins, purring happily.

I let out a breath, trying to mask my sudden glare. At a sound, I looked up to see Tory, Ashley’s Maid of Honor, screaming at me with only her eyes. I suddenly felt every single eye pointed in my direction. I saw the flash of white gold in Tory’s open palm and my eyes widened. The ring! It was inside the satchel at Talon’s throat. Pretty much my only job as Best Man. I knelt down and detached the satchel, withdrawing the lone ring inside.

I heard a few chortles, but decided not to acknowledge them as I palmed the ring. At least they hadn’t actually been waiting on me. I used my foot to gently nudge Talon the hell away.

Okay, not so gently. I tried to hurl him from the stage with minimal motion.

And the cat – not so gently – decided to use some freaky Fae strength to not move a millimeter, which meant my shove only caused me to wobble. Face heating in embarrassment, I glared down at the cat. As if nothing had happened, he arched his tail, wove between my legs a few times, rubbing along both of my shins and covering my pants in cat hair. Only then did he sit beside me, regally studying the crowd before us. He meowed, and the crowd swooned.

I looked up to see the Huntress glaring – as if it was my fault that the crowd’s attention was split between me and Gunnar, or that Talon was stealing the show. Alucard coughed into a fist, trying to hide his amusement as I turned back to the bride and groom.

“The rings,” Othello said.

Before Gunnar could even turn all the way, I had stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder and pressing the ring into his palm as he extended it my way. I was smiling until I noticed the look of tension in his single icy blue eye.

“Something is wrong,” he whispered. “Be alert…” Then he was smiling and turning back to Ashley as if nothing had happened. His bride-to-be wasn’t fooled, because her smile flickered for a moment before she replaced it with more forced enthusiasm than was normal for her.

A cold sweat ran down my back and I felt Talon tense at my feet, having heard the warning. With a flick of his tail, he sauntered off the steps as if bored. The crowd chuckled absently at that before refocusing on the two werewolves.

I saw Talon’s eyes flash from a dark hallway a moment later. Then they were gone.

Alucard noticed and immediately tensed.

I didn’t even hear Othello as my eyes scanned the room, searching for threats. I could sense Alucard using his vampire senses to pick up on any dangers, but with so many monsters in the room why hadn’t anyone else noticed anything? What had Gunnar seen? Was he simply being paranoid? Surely, we were safe. The Horsemen wouldn’t let any threats come in, and with so many allies around us it wasn’t like we were in danger of being overrun.

Unless it was an army.

But we’d dealt with armies before, too.

A lone assassin had virtually no chance of success either.

I wasn’t arrogant enough to believe we were untouchable. A suicide bomber could still do major damage. Maybe a killer had slipped in, fully aware he wouldn’t survive his attack.

I knew one thing. Given the chance, I would make an attacker’s head my wedding present.