He cleared his throat. “Would you consider becoming vampire?”

  She grinned. “I will consider it when the time comes. Who knows if you will even want me when I have a few more wrinkles and Gaia is growing up?”

  Miklos’s hands clenched on her waist. “I believe I will want you forever. I am in love with you, Seesee. You, not the gorgon, not your hair, not the guard. You.”

  Tears started to seep from her eyes. “I am very glad to hear you say that, because I don’t know what I would do if you didn’t.” She leaned up to kiss him as they swayed to the music.

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  Gwynhar looked to her grandchildren all around her and smiled at her own mother and grandmother. They were all together at the same table and sharing a moment. Only Terranor still had her spouse, the others had never engaged in the binding ceremony.

  Gwynhar had never thought it would be necessary to bind herself to her full-blood elf husband. He was designed to outlive her, but the moment that their first child had been born, she knew that he would not see Xander born.

  A hunting accident had proven her right.

  She smiled as she watched Abby looking up at Xander as they twirled around the dance floor.

  There was love there. Love and acceptance of flaws.

  From the moment that she had first seen a female Nexus in the modern age, she had planned for this moment and now it was here. Abby had seemed like a wild card when she had first appeared in the visions and now Gwynhar knew why. Only a woman who followed what she thought was right, regardless of social convention, could make the changes that were sorely needed to bring magic into the modern age.

  Abby grinned as Xander dipped and twirled her 47

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  around the dance floor. Months of practice were paying off. “Did you enjoy the wedding?” she asked him as they spun past Raven and Eyleno.

  “It had its moments, but having you in my arms, my mind and my heart is all that I have ever needed from our coming together.”

  He dipped and righted her, then moved them a safe distance from two jitterbugging vampires.

  Max and Gregori were engaged in some swing moves that left the watchers marvelling at how well she could move in a corset.

  “You don’t mind that your family isn’t here for this?” Xander carefully avoided the whirling dancers.

  “No. Mom is just happy that I have found someone she can ogle at will.” It was true, her mom just wanted to come over and relax in the garden occasionally.

  He sighed. “Promise that you will continue to defend my honour.”

  She patted his backside. “As if it was my own.”

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  Chapter Eight

  uring the speeches was the perfect time to D strike. Everyone was so emotionally caught up in the drama that they would never notice a narrow box going missing.

  Ravinch moved between the tables, collecting dishes and putting them into his container. When he reached for the box with the bonding rose, he did so casually. The mermaid murmured a quiet thanks as he withdrew her small plate as well.

  He stayed calm as he moved through the crowd and stopped to pick up more plates on the way.

  When he moved toward the kitchen, everything seemed calm. He slipped behind a shrub and discarded the dishes, retrieving the box and slipping it into his coat.

  It had taken weeks to get him onto the serving team, but the pureblood coalition had done what was necessary to get him here. The blood on the rose could give them control over the Nexus and her new husband. This was an opportunity that 49

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  could not be missed.

  There were a few wandering guests, but he passed them with no one raising an alarm. A couple who was making out near the door to the hotel didn’t even stop when he passed within inches. The woman appeared to be of the mer persuasion. Her blue hair crackled and rippled with energy.

  As soon as his hand touched the door to the hotel, a bolt of energy struck him in the spine, paralyzing him.

  “Oh dear. You don’t think that the Oak Point Guard wasn’t expecting something like this, do you?” The woman whispered the words into his ear, her blue hair falling over his shoulder. He blinked frantically and tried to speak.

  The man she had been with spoke, his deep tones almost subsonic. “Don’t even think about it.

  We gave you every chance to return the rose, now you will be held until tomorrow when the guilds will deal with your attempts to sabotage the Nexus.”

  He couldn’t say a word as the male with the solid black eyes lifted him off his feet. Shark shifter, he had never seen one this far from the ocean before. The man was a pureblood and should have been on their side.

  He was hauled unceremoniously into the hotel and the woman licked her palm before pressing it 50

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  to the wall. Four men glared at him as he started to enter the room.

  “Not so fast. The rose.” The woman slipped her hand into his coat and removed the box, pausing to verify it before nodding. She jerked her head. “In you go. Join the others who were doing it for the cause.”

  He was shoved into the room and before he could whirl to cast a spell, it was closed with no trace that a wall had ever been there.

  “Where are we?”

  One of the others growled. “Pocket dimension.

  She designed it just for this.”

  Ravinch blinked, “Who was she?”

  “Water magus. I got nailed with a spit ball.”

  Haily walked arm in arm with Loki back to the party. “Do you think that there will be other attempts?”

  “Probably, but that is why we are here. Both powerful enough to earn an invitation and yet not involved in the festivities.” He smiled and his shark teeth were exposed. “I am enjoying myself.”

  She chuckled and pressed herself against his side. “Sweet talker. You take me to all the nicest places.”

  “From a Nexus wedding to the depths of the 51

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  ocean, where ever I go, I want you with me.”

  She snorted. “You are so getting lucky tonight if you keep that up.”

  He laughed. “Keeping it up is important to the process of getting lucky.”

  After they handed the rose back to the dragon for placement as bait in another portion of the party, they returned to their post. Making out for hours at a time would have taken its toll on a lesser couple, but Haily and Loki were up to the challenge.

  Hellebore smiled and swung her rippling red hair over one shoulder. “Now for the moment we have all been waiting for, the throwing of the garter and the tossing of the bouquet.”

  A chair was brought for Abby and she sat carefully on the edge so that Xander could get at the garter. “Make sure all that you remove is the garter. This customized underwear is coming home with me.”

  She laughed at the light in his eyes as his voice proved his attention was firmly on her. “You mean with me. I doubt you can get out of it without help.” His hands slid under her gown and up her calves.

  “What if I ask you nicely?”

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  “You would have to ask me very nicely indeed.”

  He stroked the backs of her knees as he passed them.

  “I will work on the appropriate appeal.”

  His fingers hooked the garter on her thigh and started to drag it down over the silk of her stockings. He drew it off with a flourish and stood to face the men who were milling with a churning intensity. He turned his back to them and fired the garter back into the crowd.

  Fistfights broke out as men tackled each other for the magic that had been worn by the Nexus herself.

  Abby winced as a particularly spiked goblin jumped into the fray.

  Seesee brought her the bouquet assembled from flowers in the Nexus’s garden that very morning for just this moment. The ladies hissed in sympathy at the fight until finally a troll pumped his fist into the air and cried out his triumph. Some of the lady trolls started to bat their eyes at him and flirt.

  Hellebore took charge again. “Gentlemen, can you make way? The ladies need their turn and then the bride and groom will be off for their honeymoon.”

  The women crushed into a milling throng, their eyes on the bouquet as if it was a lodestone. Where it went, their focus went.

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  Abby turned her back to the women, mentally told her creatures to leave it alone and threw it over her shoulder. She whirled to watch before it had reached the peak of its arc. Magic crackled and twisted as women tried to snare it with spells, but the flowers resisted magic.

  As the beribboned bouquet fell to into the centre of the crowd, an upward surge of the outward women made the men’s fistfight look civilised.

  “Oh wow. That is just…does she have spikes?”

  Seesee was next to her and nodding. “And that spider goblin is using her silk to try and…oops, didn’t quite hit it. Getting that troll unstuck will be a problem.”

  “We should have just had a fistfight like at a werewolf wedding. It would have been simpler and there would have been healers standing by.”

  Abby had the sudden craving for popcorn as a dress was torn and a hand was stomped.

  Xander wrapped his arm around her waist and nodded to Seesee. “We are leaving here, Mrs.

  Desmith, before your bloodlust gets any more intense.”

  “Fine, Mr. Desmith. Whisk me away.” She leaned into his arms and turned her face up for his kiss.

  As they finished their smooch, Seesee smacked the rose box into her hand. “Take this with you. I will watch the acorn until you get back.”

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  Abby didn’t even have time to respond. Xander opened a portal and they were gone.

  With the bride and groom gone, the party got into full swing. A young magus was eventually declared the owner and healers wandered around, fixing the residue of the bouquet melee.

  The photographer had gotten some amazing pictures, including the triumphant woman standing on her defeated foes with the flowers raised over her head.

  Gaia was sleeping in a puppy pile with her cousins and some of the other children. Troll matrons had been assigned to watch over them and they were taking their responsibility seriously, not letting anyone but recognized parents near them.

  Seesee rubbed her neck and sought out Miklos.

  He was over with Gregori and Max, probably discussing vampire guild business.

  Laura and Verne were leaning against each other, their budding offspring protected by Verne’s hand.

  With nothing else to do, Seesee wandered over to the buffet. Terric the Black came up next to her.

  He raised his glass to her. “It was quite the event, this Nexus wedding.”

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  “It was. Where is your phoenix?” They were both members of the creatures guild, so she was familiar with his dating history.

  “She is at her families’ table. We have been engaging in a slow courtship.” He looked a little awkward. “Things are more complicated in the modern age.”

  “You mean her desire to be more than a pet at your beck and call?”

  His lips twisted. “Yes. That.”

  She laughed and helped herself to some punch.

  She sipped cautiously before confirming that it was suitable for humanoid digestion.

  “Why are you talking to me?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “We are fellow creatures, are we not?”

  “We are.”

  “I am making a bid for head of the mythological creatures council.”

  She grinned and nodded. “I will back you, as will my sisters. Vokal has had his run and aside from his bullheadedness, he hasn’t brought much to the table.”

  He grinned. “I was not talking about me. I am going to put a bid in for you to be head of the creatures council.”

  “What?”

  “You are intelligent, exceedingly magical and you know more than anyone that magic in the 56

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  world is a fleeting thing. I think in the few years that you have before you turn over your status, you could really make a difference.” He bowed and smiled, showing sharp, pointed teeth. “The modern world needs people who understand it to help us blend in as best we can.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

  “When I woke, do you know how long it took for me to figure out modern banking? How to get a mortgage? Dealing with contractors? In times past, I could swing down and pick up what I needed, but now there are cameras everywhere and when we do show up on film, the areas are swamped with curiosity seekers.” He shrugged. “I am not allowed to kill them anymore…so what do I do?

  These are questions the newly wakened need to know and with more magic stirring in the world than ever before, we need someone who can take us forward.”

  “But, Gaia, Miklos…”

  “Miklos understands. I have spoken to him already. He is also ready to help you transition back into a magical creature if you wish to when the time comes.” Terric patted her on the shoulder.

  “Think about it, but I will submit your name regardless.”

  After he dropped that bomb, he just walked away.

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  Seesee walked to Miklos and he put his arm around her. When Max and Gregori returned to the dance floor, he whispered, “Whatever you decide, I am there for you. Human, creature, vampire or what have you. I love you Seesee Montrose and I always will.”

  With tears pricking her eyes, she smiled and shook out her dark rainbow skirts. “Let’s dance and leave decisions until they have to be made.”

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  Chapter Nine

  here are we?” The furnishings and the

  “W bright light streaming in from every angle amazed Abby.

  “A special place where no one will be able to interrupt. The guards will take care of your creatures and we can have a few days to ourselves.” Xander was working at the ties of her gown and as it loosened and slid to the floor, she smiled at his expression.

  “I have the feeling that I know this place.” She sauntered up to him and ran her hands over his sash, loosening the tie until it unravelled.

  His eyes closed when she slid her hands under his tunic and across the muscles of his abdomen.

  She stripped off the tunic and left him in his trousers and boots, backing away to the bed.

  “It seems that I do need some help with this underwear. Would you please be so kind as to render assistance, my dearest husband?”

  To say that he lunged forward was a slight 59

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  exaggeration, but only slight. When he released her from her corset and the wisp of silk she was wearing, they tumbled to the bed joining their bodies as their senses had been joined. His clothes disappeared in a shiver of magic and then it was playtime.

  The novelty of feeling each caress she made from both the giving and receiving side was enthralling. They spent hours touching, stroking and sliding along each other’s bodies. Abby and Xander froze the moment that their bodies reached climax and their souls blended completely.

  Laughter woke them at what seemed to be days after they arrived. A table was set for two on one side of the large room and Abby was sure that it hadn’t been there before. “Xander, who is our host?”

  “Hailey the archive. We are in a section of the archive dimension seldom seen.” Xander stretched and eyed the food that was appearing on the table with a steady pace until everything was just so.

  Abby started to laugh as she sat up and groaned instead. “I don’t know if that was you or the corset, but I am really stiff.”

  He helped her to her feet and they crossed to the table.

  Abby squealed happily. “Bacon!” She lunged and popped a piece into her mouth before the 60

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  texture got to her. “Turkey bacon. The gnomes got to her.”

  Xander laughed and the novelty of being on a nude and laughing man distracted her for a moment. “Laugh while you can.” She ran her fingers across a few interesting points of sensation on her own body and watched his mouth tighten with sensual tension.

  “Ha.” She leaned forward and snagged some more turkey bacon. “Better than nothing.”

  She leaned back and dragged some of her favourite treat along his lower lip. “Want some?”

  “That is a loaded question. Eat and let’s go back to bed. I think I owe you a backrub.”

  She thought about it. “I don’t think so.”

  He nodded sagely, “I am sure of it. Eat up.”

  Not one to disobey when it came to keeping herself stable, she dove into the selection of food and nagged Xander into eating his share.

  By the time they were back under the magically replaced sheets, Abby had to agree, Xander did owe her a backrub, often and frequently.

  The next time she woke, they were not alone in the bedroom. “Hello, Abby. Don’t get up.”

  Hailey in all of her long-boned glory was sitting on the chair next to the bed.

  “Hailey, how nice to see you again.” Abby was genuinely happy to see the woman again. Well, 61

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  she thought it was a woman, with Hailey, one never knew. Her name had been chosen for modern convenience and was not the one she had been born with.

 

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