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There was a heavy silence, as Eve and Michael looked at each other. He came to stand next to her, and their fingers slowly intertwined.
Michael looked at Father Joe and said, "Would you do it anyway?"
Father Joe cocked his head to one side, watching the two of them, and clasped his hands in front of him. A slow smile warmed his serious expression, and he said, "In the eyes of God, do you come before the altar to be married?"
"Yes, Father," he said.
Father Joe turned his focus to Eve. "And you?"
"Yes, Father. More than anything."
"I see you have witnesses," he said. Claire and Shane moved to stand near them, and Claire realized that she was short of breath now, and trembling. She could see that Eve was shaking, too. Michael squeezed her hand a little and smiled at her, and she smiled back. "Do you have the ring?"
Eve looked at Michael with panic, and he seemed blank, too, until Shane said, "Can you use her engagement ring? I mean, just for the ceremony?"
"I can," Father Joe agreed. "Generally people prefer double-ring ceremonies these days, but a single one will work just as well. Now, I ask again: are you sure of what you're about to do? Marriage is not a state to be entered into lightly."
"We're sure," Michael said. "Please. Go ahead."
The chapel door boomed shut at the other end.
Claire turned, blinking back tears that were threatening to form, and saw that a whole lot of people had appeared in the back of the church. Some were throwing back hoods and taking off hats, but not the one in front, dressed in cool white, with her pale hair worn up, like a crown. She hadn't bothered with sun protection.
Amelie walked down the church's aisle toward them, and behind her followed Oliver, Myrnin, and a half dozen other vampires. More than they could fight. More than anyone could fight.
Father Joe froze, watching them. Michael and Eve turned to look, too, and then Michael said, "Go ahead, Father. We're ready."
"No one will be married here today," Amelie's cool voice said, ringing out with authority. "You serve here at my sufferance, Father. I do not wish to disrespect the church, or your autonomy, but I have made my pronouncement, and these two have no permission. Now, please go. I have things to discuss with these four."
He hesitated, looking at the two standing in front of him, and then bowed his head. "I'm sorry. She won't hurt you, not here. The church is neutral ground. You're safe inside."
"Wait - " Eve reached out for him, but he stepped back, went up the steps, and knelt down to pray at the altar. Eve shut her eyes and swayed, and only Michael's arm around her kept her on her feet.
They all turned to face the vampires.
Amelie continued toward them, but made a silent gesture that caused almost all those following her to stop and take seats in the pews. Only Oliver and Myrnin stayed with her the rest of the way.
Four to three, but not exactly even odds. Michael could hold his own, maybe, but Claire knew the rest of them had the chance of a rabbit caught in a wolves' den.
Amelie let a cold moment pass before she said, "You're simply intent on defying my wishes, apparently."
"We want to get married. That's not anyone else's business," Michael said. He sounded angry, dangerously so. "Why are you doing this to us?"
"I'm trying to keep the peace," she said. "And the peace will not be kept this way. You have many years to take this step; a few more will not matter if your love is as strong as you claim. However, a few more years may make all the difference in achieving a lasting peace in Morganville."
"You've had about a hundred years to try to make that happen, and it hasn't," Eve said. "What makes you think another couple of years will change anything?"
Amelie studied her with a remote, cold intensity that made Claire shudder. "I have only been physically struck by two others before. Neither of them still live, and both were vampires. I suggest you allow me some time to consider how I feel about you."
"Amelie," Claire said, drawing the vampire's attention; she immediately wished she hadn't. There was something tight and furious inside there, completely unlike the Amelie she normally saw. "I know Eve's sorry about that. But you shamed her, right in front of half the town. In front of people she knows and has to face every day. All she wanted was to be with the one she loved. You know how that feels."
Something flickered in Amelie's gray eyes. Surprise, and hurt, and almost immediately anger. She didn't like being reminded of the love she'd lost, or that the four humans standing in front of her had once seen her at her most vulnerable as she mourned.
"Sam wouldn't want this," Claire said. It was the last, and only, card she could play. "Sam would want you to let them be together." Sam Glass had been Michael's grandfather, a vampire Claire had known only a little, but he'd been the kindest, most caring one of them all.
And now he was gone, and Amelie - Amelie still hurt inside.
The problem was, pain could sometimes make people turn cold and savage.
Like now, Claire realized, as the icy silence deepened. When Amelie spoke again, it was in a fatally quiet voice. "Do not invoke Samuel to me," she said. "We waited."
"You waited until your chance was gone to be happy," Claire said, even though every instinct screamed at her to shut up. "Do you want the same thing for Eve and Michael? Really?"
Amelie said nothing this time, just stared at her. It was possible - remotely - that she was thinking it over.
Oliver cleared his throat and said, "We don't have time for your drama, children. We have things to attend to. Urgently." That last was directly at Amelie, Claire realized, not toward them at all, and Amelie stirred and glanced at him, then nodded. "Myrnin's going to escort the four of you home. He'll take the portal from there."
"No!" Claire blurted, but Amelie was already turning and walking away, and so was Oliver. Her opinion didn't matter, clearly. She looked mutely at Shane, who shook his head and shrugged.
"I'll be on my best behavior," Myrnin said. He looked cautious and hurt, which made her angrier; what right did he have to feel wounded in all this? He'd totally betrayed her trust. She was not going to feel guilty about taking that to heart. "Shall we?"
Amelie's entourage filed in behind her, and the doors boomed shut again behind them. At the altar, Father Joe crossed himself and walked down again to join them.
"Way to stand up, Father," Michael said.
"I can't be in the business of martyrdom," the priest said. "Not now, and not here. I have a duty to my parishioners, and I'm not denying you the sacrament of marriage; I'm merely postponing it. Come back in a week, bring your witnesses and rings, and I will do exactly as you wish. But not today. You need to go home with your escort." He inclined his head to Myrnin, who bowed back. All of a sudden, Father Joe's stiff posture relaxed, and he held out his hand to Michael, who reluctantly took it. "I'm sorry about this. I know how hard the two of you have worked to overcome the barriers between you. I won't be another; I promise that. Give me one week, and I will give you what you want."
"I'm holding you to it," Michael said. "We'll be back."
"I will see you then. Go in peace. I'll be praying for you all."
He walked up the steps and through a door near the altar.
They all looked at one another, and then Myrnin said cheerfully, "Shall I drive?"
"No," they said as one, and walked out toward the hearse.
After letting Myrnin in the house, it turned out to be almost impossible to get rid of him.
Partly it was because of what happened when they did let him in, or tried to. Michael and Eve went in first, then Shane, and Claire last, with Myrnin right behind her - and without any conscious direction from her at all, the front door tried to slam right on his face.
Claire hadn't even touched it.
"My," Myrnin said, slamming his hand against it and, despite vampire strength, being driven back a few inches before he got his balance and pushed it open. "This is interesting." He stepped over the threshold, and the door banged shut behind him with unnecessary force. Glass rattled in the overhead fixture, and the windows of the parlor. The temperature of the house dropped fast into refrigerator territory, and Claire saw her breath fog the cold air of the hallway. Eve yelped from where she was in the living room, and said, "Damn, the AC is broken! It's like a morgue in here!"
