hoping Rachmort would perform an extra ceremony or two.
“I wonder what happened to Neal,” I said. His garage band was supposed to play this gig.
Dimitri shook his head. “Neal’s always late. I think the party will survive without him.”
The Pabst Blue Ribbon was certainly flowing. Hillary held out her cup while Cliff manned the tap. “I haven’t done this since college,” she giggled.
The Rodgersons and the VanWillens stood out on the grass by the slip-n-slide, oohing and aahing over the creative entertainment, while Frieda and a bunch of other biker witches got mostly soaked. The rest of the society mavens wondered at a “completely devious and intoxicating” new snack that Ant Eater had dubbed, “pelures de porc.”
Meanwhile, I accepted a plastic cup from Grandma and watched her plop down with us. I was truly lucky to have these people in my life. This is all I’d wanted, a place where we could all come together.
I took a sip of beer. “You look beat,” I told her.
She swore. “Being possessed does that to a person.”
“Do you even know when it started?” Dimitri asked, twining his fingers in mine.
She shook her head. “It had to be right after we got here. I was losing hours, stumbling around. I knew Zatar had done something to me, but he made it impossible to say anything. Then Ant Eater confronted me, and he got her, too. It spread like a disease.”
Dimitri squeezed my hand. “The dress was my first clue.”
Grandma winced. “It was designed to weaken her.” She turned to me. “ Zatar wanted to take your power, your soul at the wedding. He needed all of us eventually, but your demon slayer energy was key. He didn’t want you fighting back.” She took a swig of her drink. “The poison would have blended into the material better. But you tried it on right away.”
Ha. Well, “I was angry.”
She harrumphed. “Pissed is more like it.” She frowned. “The curses were supposed to weaken you, too. Or else they would have killed mister hot stuff over here,” she said, glancing at Dimitri.
“It was worth the risk,” he said, as if we weren’t talking about his life.
Did I know how to pick them or what?
Creely walked over, the bottom of her shirt full of pork rinds. “Have the corn dogs come out yet?”
Grandma shrugged. “Ask Melody. She’s manning the kitchen.”
Creely cursed. “She’s probably in there eating them.”
Grandma grinned. “Creely here was one of the last to fall.”
“No kidding?” The engineering witch stood a little taller. “I didn’t feel it.”
Grandma rolled her eyes. “You’re too damned logical. Your mind has no cracks.” Creely smiled at that. Then frowned when Grandma added, “Zatar got you when you sat down and got all misty eyed in the fourth row.”
Aww…Creely cared.
She made a break for the corn dogs.
“Sorry about your emerald,” Grandma said.
I ran a finger over the stone. It had healed itself, but there was a soft line running through it where the gash had been. “It gives it personality.” And it had survived. We all had.
My mom dragged a half-burned wedding chair over to our little group and sat down. “Are we safe now?” she asked, doing a butt dance in her seat, “because I have a surprise for you.”
The back door opened and Melody the weapons witch came out, holding an artfully stacked tray of Twinkies. They were shaped into an “L” and a “D.”
“It was the only thing they had,” mom said, quickly, “but if you get closer, you can see I made little doves out of wrapping paper.”
“Martha Stewart, eat your heart out,” I said, leaning over to hug her.
“This is a nice party,” she said, sitting back, content.
“Now it is.” We’d freed the ghost. We’d lifted the darkness.
“All you have left is the honeymoon,” my mom teased.
That was one secret I didn’t see when I’d entered Dimitri’s head. I turned to him. “Where are we going?”
“Hyperborea,” he answered triumphantly.
“Hypo-what?” Grandma asked. “What about Vegas or something?”
Too many demons. “I thought Hyperborea was mythical,” I said.
Dimitri grinned. “I told you it would be some place fun. It’s the griffin version of Monaco,” he said proudly, “only less crowded.”
“And I think the food’s better,” Pirate said, curling around my feet.
“You’ve never been there,” I told him. He was my dog. I’d have known.
“No, but I licked the brochures,” he said happily. “Did you know they talk to dogs there? And they let dragons stay in your hotel room!”
I turned to Dimitri. “We are not taking the dragon on our honeymoon.”
“He’s family,” Dimitri said, drawing me out of my chair. “Besides, they have special activities for the pets. They can run the obstacle courses, and we’ll sneak back to the room. It’ll be perfect. You’ll see.”
I looked deep into his eyes and saw the love I’d sought my whole life. I was humbled and touched by his pure acceptance of me as a person, and at that moment I knew. “It will be perfect because I’ll be there with you.”
About the Author
Angie Fox is the
Angie earned a Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. She worked in television news and then in advertising before beginning her career as an author. Visit Angie at www.angiefox.com
More books by Angie Fox
The Accidental Demon Slayer series
The Accidental Demon Slayer
The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers
A Tale of Two Demon Slayers
The Last of the Demon Slayers
My Big Fat Demon Slayer Wedding
The Monster MASH trilogy
Immortally Yours
Immortally Embraced
Immortally Ever After
Short Stories
Gentlemen Prefer Voodoo
Love Bites
Murder on Mysteria Lane (from The Real Werewives of Vampire County anthology)
