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A collective hush swept over the crowd as we watched Iris, Bruce, and Maggie go down with the cake and table in one big, sugary pile. Luckily, it fell to the side of Maggie, and she just giggled, happily licking her fingers. Iris and Bruce, covered in cake, pushed themselves up to a sitting position. I held my breath, waiting for Iris to throw a fit, but she just picked up a handful of the cake, turned to Bruce, and plastered it on his face.
Bruce stared at her for a moment, then laughed. “Woman, you are going down!” He grabbed her, pushing her down onto the cake. And then, he leaned over her and they were kissing, passionately, oblivious to the fact that everybody was watching them. A few flashes from the guests told me pictures would be forthcoming.
Maggie laughed and ate another handful of cake before Menolly jumped on the stage to retrieve her. She glanced down at the couple and shook her head, then turned to the guests.
“Dinner, along with more desserts, is set up in the tent to your left. Buffet style, so please, form an orderly line. Tables are in the other two tents.” And then, taking Maggie with her, she headed for the house to clean up our baby.
As Shade and I headed toward the food, I glanced back at Iris. She and Bruce were sitting up, holding hands. They looked happy. Truly happy.
Hours later, late in the night but still not yet dawn, Bruce and Iris were clean and in their traveling clothes. His family was waiting outside for them. They were traveling together to Ireland for their honeymoon and would be back in two weeks.
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I stood there with Menolly and Camille. Forcing a smile to my face, I leaned forward and kissed the happy couple on the forehead.
“Take care of yourself and come home soon. We’ll miss you.”
Iris nodded. “I know, I’ll miss you, too. But I’ve waited a long time for this and I want to see the land of Bruce’s birth.”
Menolly pressed her hand to her lips, her eyes glistening with red tears. “You have to be back by the equinox—that’s when Nerissa and I are holding our promise ceremony.”
“I will be. Don’t you worry—I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Iris turned to Camille. “And you…will you be okay?”
Camille nodded. “We will be fine…all of us. Hanna knows what to do, and we are safe here. But please, take care. Bruce, guard her and watch over her. Iris is our sister. Let nothing happen to her.”
He straightened his shoulders. “I will, my lady. Trust me—Iris is my joy and my life. And she carries my child. I will guard them both with my life. But now, we must go. My family waits outside.”
As they headed toward the door, Camille started to follow, then stopped. We had gone as far as we could. The next two weeks were Iris’s to live, without us there, in joy with her new family. Even though I knew she’d be coming back, I began to cry, softly. Life was changing. I only prayed that the future wouldn’t tear us apart. Because while I now knew I could weather change…I couldn’t weather being alone.
Chapter 10
A mist was rising off the street, as I looked around, confused for a moment. Then I realized it was night, and raining, and the raindrops pounded against the city pavement with a staccato drumbeat, hard and fast. The puddles glimmered beneath the streetlights, rippling with each new drop that shattered the surface.
As I looked around, getting my bearings, I realized that this wasn’t exactly a dream—I was out on the astral, in spirit, and I knew who had summoned me.
“Greta? Are you here?” I called out the name of my trainer—the leader of the Death Maidens.
After a moment, the petite redhead slipped from out of the shadows and glided over to me, in a robe the color of twilight. Her forehead bore the same tattoo as my own crescent, burning brightly with a flame in the center, and her arms were tattooed like mine, only more intricate and vibrant. Mine would someday be just as vivid.
“Good, you begin to recognize my energy signature. But let us travel. I have a job for you tonight, and it will not be easy.” She turned to me, eyeing me up and down. “You need to wear a robe for this. Living or not, when you formally take part in ceremonies, you’ll have to wear the uniform.”
“I don’t have one.” I had no clue how to change clothes on the astral, but she held out her hand and a long garment appeared, draped over her forearm. She handed it to me.
“I’ll teach you how to change your clothes on the astral. It’s a simple matter of focusing your thoughts. You’re naked in your bed right now, aren’t you?” She smiled. “But here you are dressed in jeans and T-shirt.”
I glanced down. She had a good point. Somehow, I had managed to dress myself when pulled out by her call, so I should be able to change clothes. I accepted the robe and held it up. I could just put it on, but I wanted to learn her trick.
“What do I do if I want to mentally shift the clothing?”
“Focus on your body and ‘see’ it in a different outfit. Close your eyes and feel the image shifting.” She smiled. “It helps to think of it not as magic—especially since you don’t work magic—but as a mental shift. A perceptual transformation. Think of it like when you shift into animal form.”
I closed my eyes and lowered my head, feeling the heavy robe in my hands. Picturing myself standing there, I mentally shifted the robe out of my hands to cover my jeans and tee. Nothing happened. I tried again, this time imagining the robe hovering around me and sliding onto my body. Again—nothing. Finally, irritated, I silently ordered the robe to get the hell on my back. And this time, the material shifted, vanished, and I suddenly felt the weight of it hanging from my shoulders.
Opening my eyes, I looked down. I was wearing the robe. Greta handed me a tasseled belt and I stared at the fringe for a moment, but controlled my urge to play with it. Somehow, I didn’t think she’d be as lenient as my sisters were about the G-string.
I wrapped it around my waist and cinched it tight. “Okay, I think I have that down. What’s on the agenda tonight?”
For the past few months, I’d been training under the new moon with Greta, but we’d just passed the new moon a week or so back, and I had the feeling this was a special situation. I’d learned a lot in the training sessions we’d had so far, but something shifted in my stomach and I could sense a big lesson on the horizon.
“Tonight will not be easy for you. Come…you are going to be asked to put into action all that you’ve learned.” She looked at me, her face impassive. Greta was petite, far shorter than I, and yet she carried herself with a power and grace that I could only imagine possessing.
