Chapter Thirteen
I spent an hour with the wedding planner, who gasped at each of my requests and shook her head. I knew that it was outlandish, but there were a few touches of my own that I wanted to add to my wedding. I wasn’t sure why we needed a wedding planner; Madisyn was like a wedding planner on steroids and a case of Red Bull. Once I’d finished, I met Ryder in the main hall and explained why I had to go meet up with Lucian. I stopped his grumpy response with a hand as I tilted my head and glared at him.
“You’re leaving to search for your sister. Our children are back where they are safe, and I have to speak with Alden. I won’t be the one to topple that freaky house of cards Lucian’s building, and you have to look for Ciara. If you can’t find her by wedding time, Adam will be my man of honor.”
“You can’t call for me if you need help,” he growled.
“I said I’d take Ristan and Adam with me,” I argued. “I’m taking an entire babysitting detail because I can’t take an entire armed guard detail with me, and you know it. It draws more attention than anything else. Ristan will call for you if anything goes wrong. I will meet you back here tonight, and then you can spank me for misbehaving.”
“See if Lucian’s learned anything else about the portals—and Syn, I don’t need you to be bad to spank that ass,” he smiled wolfishly.
“Watch it or I might tie you up and spank your ass,” I warned.
“You can try; it might be interesting to watch,” he laughed as he kissed me. “Be good, Witch, and don’t be brave or try to save anyone when I’m not with you.”
“Fine, no being Superwoman, got it,” I joked as I kissed him again and glamoured on leather pants with a white camisole that said, ‘Witches do it better,’ across the chest. “I promise to not save any stray animals either; lesson learned with that one.”
“Wait, did you just admit to learning something?” he laughed as I glowered at him.
“Watch it,” I warned as I pulled away. “I’m off to find my bodyguards, O’ Ancient One,” I laughed.
“That age gives me the ability to know things, like how to make you scream my name all night long, so don’t knock it, little girl.”
“Ooh, he’s got skills,” I winked as I sifted, getting the last word in since he couldn’t speak in my mind. I entered the library and peered over Ristan’s shoulder as he thumbed through a paperback of Parenting for Dummies. I laughed, and silver and black eyes turned on me. “That’s not going to help. You know what to do—plus I heard that book has some pretty impractical advice in it.”
“I was only curious, and some of the tips in here seem pretty good. Not that there is very much that a human with a doctorate can give tips about that will apply too much to a child that will have a mix of parentage that mine will. Demon and Fae children have their own quirks that are different from human, then we have to factor in Olivia’s unique parentage, and no, I am not about to hunt down Elijah for a little chit-chat about the tendencies of angelic children,” he said as he shook his head.
“Look at me, Demon,” I demanded softly as I clasped his face between my hands once he’d turned. “You got this, and you know you do. You held my babies; you helped me with my babies. You are going to do just fine.”
“I can’t believe she can walk and talk,” he huffed as his forehead wrinkled slightly, as if he was more upset that he missed out on her baby time. “Kahleena wasn’t supposed to grow; I wanted her to stay little for, well, forever,” he chuckled.
“Agreed,” I mumbled. “My kids are pretty badass, but it terrifies me that they can do so much magic already. What scares me, though, is, if they can already do as much as they can, what happens when they’re older?”
“They’ll have us,” he answered, and I frowned.
“Actually, I need your help on a few things. Secret things,” I teased with a mischievous smile. “I need the wedding news to hit every corner of this world and mine. I want it screamed from the rooftops.”
“Flower, if you scream it from the rooftops, everyone will know when it is happening.”
“Pretty much everyone already knows,” I grumbled. “There is a certain person I need to hear it. I need him here; I can’t wait for him any longer.”
“And by him you mean…?” He hesitated, eyes narrowing as he watched me.
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to hear the answer to,” I mumbled as I turned and watched Adam enter the room.
“Is there a reason Dristan just told me that I’ll look great in a dress?” he asked, green eyes probing mine.
“I need you to be my maid of honor,” I whispered so low that I knew he hadn’t heard me. I had to do a test run, because it sounded ridiculous sliding off my tongue.
“Excuse me?” he stammered, stopping dead in his tracks as he stared at me.
“I don’t have anyone to be my maid of honor, or bridesmaids, for that matter,” I replied meaningfully. “Larissa was supposed to be my maid of honor, but she can’t be. Ciara is missing, and if I ask Darynda, a whole bunch of handmaidens will get pissy—plus if I ask them, Madisyn will get upset because of this whole shitty Caste hierarchy. Outside of those two, I don’t know the women here well enough for them to be my maid of honor, so it has to be you, Adam. You’re my best friend. There will be no dresses for you, though,” I laughed nervously.
“Synthia,” he grumbled as he watched me. “Fine, but I’m not holding anyone’s hand as I walk down the aisle, and I will be addressed as the man of honor. I’ll punch the first asshole that tries to call me the maid of honor.”
“Deal,” I laughed.
“You haven’t heard the rest,” he warned.
“No?” That couldn’t be good.
“No; Keir wants me to marry the Light Heir when we find her, so I’ll need a best man. You’re it.” He winked as he made his way to the table and looked at the book Ristan was reading. “Damn, do you even know which breed it will be?”
“No idea, and no idea what we will call it,” I admitted.
“It won’t be called a Dangel,” Ristan grumbled.
“That just sounds wrong.” I smiled, watching as he shrugged. “I wonder if it will have wings and a tail, and prove us all wrong by being perfectly flawed, just like his daddy.”
“Pray to the Gods she doesn’t,” he grated. “Demon bits and pieces have a tendency to kill easily.”
“She?” I smirked.
“Kahleena needs help; she’s outnumbered,” he replied as he stood up. “Shall we? We’re wasting daylight.” My eyes skimmed the other books he was reading. Dragon Rites by Fire, Dragon’s Territory Maps, and The Art of Kama Sutra During Pregnancy.
“Kama Sutra During Pregnancy, hmm?” I grinned and he smirked as he pushed the books into a neat pile on the thick wood table.
“Women are hornier when pregnant, and I never stop looking for ways to enhance the sexual experience of my partner.”
“Wow, look at you, honing those skills,” I giggled as he held his hand out. “Let us go invade a sex club, because there’s nothing like a little reading material before going to a pay-to-play sex club, am I right?” I snorted as he laughed.
“I have all the sex I need now, thanks.”
Ristan opened a portal for us, which opened only a few steps from the doors of the club. We made our way past the portal and it closed with a weird chuff of air behind Ristan. I smiled at the bouncer as his eyes read the words printed across my breasts.
“Do they really?” he pondered as he raised his eyes to mine.
“Of course, they do everything better,” I smirked as he nodded towards the club.
“It’s a fuck-fest in there. Might want to put this on,” he said, extending his arm to hand me a necklace.
I smirked as I remembered the fit I’d thrown when Ryder had tried to put a collar on me. “Bane, are you trying to collar me, boy?” I laughed.
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Witch,” he answered softly. “Lucian is inside; he had a feeling you would be stopping by. He already sent a car for Alden. He should arrive shortly.”
“He’s intuitive, isn’t he?” I asked, smirking as I followed Ristan through the door as I examined the necklace with my powers. Once I determined that there was nothing magical about it, I went ahead and fastened it around my neck. Lucian ran a sex club, one where mostly otherworld type creatures and some humans came to find release from the everyday boring charade they lived.
“Lucian tries to anticipate and know what might be needed before it is needed,” he smirked, nodding his head towards the door. “Enter, but I must warn you, it’s anything goes tonight.”
“Just the way we like it,” I replied wickedly as I wiggled my brows at him.