Zoey

“Nora!”

“Zoey!”

My cousin flings her arms around me and I hug her back tightly.

“How long has it been?”

“Too long!”

“How was your flight?”

I stretch my arms over my head and yawn. “It was long, I’m not going to lie! But by the looks of this place, it’s been worth every minute! Wow!”

A beautiful, fairy-tale like castle is perched on top of a hill. I could see it from miles away on the shuttle, but up close it’s even more mesmerizing.

“Thank you again for my ticket,” I say. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford this trip.”

“Don’t mention it,” she says. “Anything for family. Come, let me show you around!”

She grabs my arms and leads me into the castle. The doors are so high, two Zorans could stand on each others shoulders and they still wouldn’t be able to touch the ceiling. That’s saying something!

“This place is amazing,” I say. “How old is this castle?!”

“Several hundred years,” she says. “Kings and Queens have lived here. And now I’m getting married here!”

Nora squeezes my arm, and I smile at her.

“How come you have all the luck in the world?” I say. “First you hook up with a hot, dangerous alien, and now you are getting married in a castle?! What’s going on? What kind of lottery did you win?”

Nora shrugs. “Maybe it’s karma?” she laughs. “Remember, when I first met Torin he was still considered the galaxy’s most dangerous man. Humanities enemy number one! Falling in love with a man like that hardly counts as winning the lottery.”

“Ah, he was cleared on all charges in the end,” I say. “That doesn’t count.”

“There are plenty of single Zorans around, you know. In case you want to sample the alien wares, as it were.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, like any of them will be interested in me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, look at you. And me.”

My cousin is looking absolutely radiant, her summer dress bringing out the color of her eyes.

“What?!” Nora says. “You’ve always been prettier than me. You know ever since we were kids I’ve been jealous of your beautiful hair, right?”

I fidget with a lock of said hair. “Well, I’ve always been jealous of your figure.”

“Then we can be jealous together,” Nora smirks as she grabs my arms. “Look, speak of the devil! There’s Torin and a few of our groomsmen!”

My eyes follow her gaze, and then the whole world simply… stops.

Three dangerously good looking men are standing together, chatting. One of them is turquoise, and I recognize him from the invite: Torin, Nora’s husband-to-be.

The second one is green, and dressed in jet-black armor. I recognize him from the vids. That’s Egon, the leader of the Resistance.

Yet, it’s the third one that catches my attention. The purple warrior. When I look at him, everything else just… disappears. He’s so tall, so broad, he’s simply breathtaking.

Our eyes meet and I feel an electric current pass through my entire body. It’s like his gaze pierces my very soul.

“Are you listening?” my cousin says.

“S-sure,” I stammer. A bold-faced lie. Since that Zoran looked at me, the whole castle could have collapsed and I wouldn’t have noticed a damn thing.

She gently but firmly grabs my arm and pulls me away. I follow her up the stairs, too afraid to look back for my heart is still racing. Nora shows me the rest of the castle, but honestly, I barely hear a word she’s saying. I keep thinking about the purple man I saw.

Is he one of the groomsmen?

I’m not sure if I want him to be or not. I want to see him again, and at the same time, that thought scares the hell out of me. We only exchanged a simple glance, but at the same time, it felt like so much more. It felt like a minute, no, an hour. It felt like he claimed me with his steely gaze alone.

The fantastic view of the valley down below is what finally snaps me out of my wanton daydreams.

“What do you think?” Nora asks. “This is the bridal suite!”

We’re at the very top of the castle now, up one the spires and the view from up here is breathtaking.

“This is amazing!” I say. “Simply amazing!”

Nora nods. “It even has a hot tub and a sauna over there — not every part of this castle is centuries old. We won’t be using this room until the night of the wedding though, so if you want to use the sauna, just ask me for the key.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Yeah, why not? It’s just sitting here. Would be a shame not to use it.”

I file that little nugget of information away. It might come in handy this weekend…