Demon's Doorway (10 page)

Cindy dabbed at her eye. "Has he cried yet?" she asked everyone. "I have a bet going on who will cry first."

The church laughed. Alex felt the butterflies, or possibly other tiny winged creatures, in his stomach.

"This is really happening, isn't it?"

Alicia grabbed his shoulder. "If you pass out, you know this wedding is going on YouTube, right?"

She sniffled quietly, and Alex stole a glance to see tears running down his sister's face. "The best man's not supposed to cry."

"The best man's not supposed to have breasts, either." She kissed him on the cheek. "Love ya, bro."

"Love you, too."

He shook his soon to be father-in-law's hand. Alex's hand disappeared inside his own. He pulled Alex in for a quick bear hug.

"I was always hoping it'd be you."

"I'll take care of her."

"I know. You always have."

He stepped back, and Alicia stepped forward to embrace Cindy. Alex was certain there wasn't a dry female eye in the church at that moment. He could feel his own tears trying to fight their way out, but he held them in. If he could fight the forces of darkness, he could fight tears.

Alicia took her place on the other side of the aisle, switching from best man to maid of honor. Cindy stood by his side, then faced him.

She reached for his hand. He smiled, knowing she was in for quite the shock.

Cindy laced her fingers in Alex's, and jumped when she heard a voice.

"Go, Cindy! That's my girl!"

No one else reacted to the outburst, which surprised her. She looked behind her, and covered her mouth with her palm in shock.

Alex and Cindy both glanced around at the suddenly full church. Ghosts no one else could see lined up along the outside walls. Laura Summers, his most recent client, waved from the back, along with a few other of his old clients. Detective William Sloane, a ghost responsible for possibly saving the world, sat behind Victoria, and gave them both a thumbs-up.

Cindy's grandmother waved with both hands near the side. She chuckled when Cindy's gaze fell on her. It was she who called Cindy's name.

"You know I wouldn't miss this," she shouted.

Cindy cried openly, staring at a beloved relative only Alex and she could see. Everyone noticed her looking into space, and whispered amongst themselves.

"Careful, now," Alex whispered. "People will think you're crazy."

She looked him in the eye, and smiled a smile only for him. "I already am. I'm marrying you."

They kissed for a moment before a few giggles emerged. Alex's cheeks turned red as he pulled away.

"They're already messing it up," Cindy's mother called. "They're getting the order all wrong."

Another round of laughter broke out, then Alex and Cindy faced each other as the ceremony started.

The priest could have had Alex recite the Declaration of Independence, and he wouldn't have known. Alex simply repeated what he was told, the words a blur. He couldn't take his eyes off Cindy, and she couldn't stop smiling at him. They held hands, surrounded by family and friends, living and dead.

When it came time for Alex to say
I do
, a cell phone rang.

All eyes in the church turned to Victoria, who was mortified. If her blood flowed like everyone else's her cheeks would have been on fire. She offered a sheepish smile. Kevin had his head low, trying not to chuckle.

"I'm so sorry," she said meekly.

"Good one, Victoria," Alex called.

She put the phone on vibrate and tried to disappear in the pew.

It was Cindy's turn. She made it through without incident. She said
I do
, and the priest said something about kissing. Alex and Cindy kissed one more time, both their heads swimming.

They were married.

Everyone applauded and cheered. Alex embraced his wife, and tried to keep his hands from shaking. He'd fought vampires, mingled with ghosts, flew through the sky. He was part of a world other people could only wonder about.

None of that compared to being a part of Cindy's world.

"We're married," she said in his ear. "You're my husband."

"Actually, no. You're my wife. Now, get in the kitchen."

"Oooh. You're gonna pay for that one."

They laughed, and Alicia nearly tackled the both of them, wrapping her arms around them. Cindy and Alicia were basically sisters their entire lives. The title was simply official now.

The next ten minutes was a wave of people approaching, shaking hands, hugging, kissing, crying. Even ghosts stepped up when they could and gave their congratulations. Alex stood in the corner, quietly reminiscing with William Sloane, as he watched Cindy and Alicia mingle with everyone. Victoria leaned against the wall, on her cell phone, having an animated discussion. Alex wondered if she was yelling at whoever called during the wedding.

Kevin sat alone on one of the pews. He looked about as comfortable as Alex thought he would be if the situation was reversed, and he was at a stranger's wedding. Kevin smiled awkwardly as Cindy's outgoing family approached him and chatted.

"Where's my husband?" Cindy called, searching a moment before she saw him. "Alex, get over here and say hi to my cousin. We haven't seen her in ten years."

Alex said a quiet goodbye to William Sloane before pushing away from the wall. He was halfway to Cindy when Victoria cut him off.

"Alex," she said. "We have to go."

"Reception time?"

"No. Well, yes. You get going. Kevin and I will be a little late." She scanned for Kevin and motioned for him. Kevin was just as surprised as Alex.

"Victoria, you
have
to be there. It's
your
house."

"You have a key, and the staff knows you're coming. Don't worry, it'll be okay."

Alex watched her carefully. He didn't pick up on clues as well as she did, but knew when someone was agitated.

"Is everything cool?"

Kevin joined the duo. "Congratulations, Alex."

"Thanks, man."

Kevin looked back and forth between the two of them. "What's up?"

"We have to go, just a quick thing we need to do. Alex, would you mind taking Kevin's suitcase back to the house with you?"

"Sure, no problem. Do you need some help with whatever it is you're doing?"

"No, we got it covered. Kevin, grab your coat on the way out."

"Uh, gotcha."

Victoria gave Alex a quick squeeze, holding his head close. "She's wonderful, Alex."

"I know."

Kevin could barely keep up with Victoria as they left the church. Cindy approached Alex from behind and put a hand on his shoulder, watching their friend leave in a hurry.

"Is Victoria okay?"

"She says so. She just says she'll be late to the reception."

"Speaking of that, we'd better go soon."

Alex nodded, ready to get moving with the next part of the day.

*****

Kevin's body slammed into the passenger's door as Victoria sped away from the church parking lot. Two other cars screeched to a stop, nearly missing the front end of her Porsche. She made another tight turn, and Kevin shifted violently the other way, crashing into her shoulder. The vials in his coat made clangy sounds as they tapped against each other.

"Jesus, Victoria!"

"You might want to buckle your seatbelt."

"I'd love to, if you drove steady for a second. Would you drive like a human being?"

"I'm not human."

"Well, drive like someone who would die if they flew through a windshield, then."

"Do me a favor." She shifted in her seat. "Undo my heels and put them in the back."

He studied her face. Her expression was stone, unmoving. She was serious.

"That's gonna look really weird to people that don't know us."

"Do it. I can't drive fast in these things."

He leaned across the seat, his face stopping just above her bare thighs. The slightly perverse thoughts came, despite his best efforts to stop them. How did vampires have sex? He knew she had a boyfriend. Were there fangs involved? Biting and sucking?

Victoria maneuvered around a slow driver as she pulled onto the highway. Kevin's head flew back into her lap.

"Kevin…You're being very slow down there."

"Hey, I'm sorry, but you're still driving like a maniac. One shoe's off, but you're pumping the gas with the other."

She switched feet for a moment, and Kevin sat up holding both heels.

"Good. Now, hold on."

She accelerated once again, and Kevin found himself actually afraid. He buckled up quickly and gripped the edge of the seat.

"Uh, Victoria? What's going on?"

"The call. That was Bradley on the phone."

He didn't need to be reminded who Bradley was. He'd only spoken to him one time before, but would never forget the conversation, or the man.

"The vampire who tried to have me killed."

"Yes."

Kevin closed his eyes and leaned back into the head-rest. "Victoria, it was a
memory
potion. That's all. I don't believe this. Why do you guys get all fired up over something so stupid—?"

"This isn't about you. We're heading to the airport. He told me someone very dangerous is arriving on Flight 201."

"Who?"

"He didn't tell me. But believe me, if Bradley's calling me, it's not someone who writes bad checks."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"Whatever we have to."

Kevin didn't like the sound of that. He stared at Victoria's profile. Still beautiful, but the mask of the thirty-year-old was gone. The familiar wisdom and strength were there, along with a slight tension in her movements. She was anxious.

He shook his head at the ridiculousness of their situation. She was still in her figure-hugging dress, with no shoes. He had his dress shirt on.

"We have to do this
now
?"

"Bradley seemed…
excited
on the phone. I'll admit, Kevin, it made me nervous."

"Oh, man. If
you're
nervous, what the hell am I doing here?"

"Because you have power." She put a hand on his shoulder. "And I trust you."

He wanted to believe her, but thought back to the look on her face when she saw him selling a potion. He still didn't understand the rules Bradley put in place for his safety. Low profile. What exactly did that mean? Selling cheap potions to underachieving college students was bad, helping Victoria with someone dangerous was good?

"What all do you have in that coat?" she asked.

"Just a little mix of things."

"Keep them close."

Victoria pulled into the airport parking garage, narrowly missing another car. She found the first spot and quickly got out, not bothering to put on her shoes. She walked toward the stairwell,
fast
. Kevin almost had to jog lightly to keep up. It looked almost unnatural, watching her move.

"Okay, Flight 201," he said, trying to focus on the task, instead of all the questions and rising fear. "We need to get to the gate, right? We won't be able to get by security without a boarding pass."

"I'll leave that to you. Don't be afraid to use magic."

"I don't get it. Why is it okay
now
? Two days ago, at the mall—"

"Not now, Kevin."

They crossed the busy drop-off and pick-up lanes, passing families going on vacation, men and women hugging after long trips. The airport was crowded, and Kevin had to wonder how everything would end. He had plenty of subterfuge-based potions, and could easily make up things on the fly. But it would be much more helpful if he knew what they were getting in to.

Victoria held out her arm to stop him. They both stared at the security station leading to the terminals. Men and women were emptying their items into trays, removing their shoes, walking through a detector.

"I remember when you could walk up to an airport gate, no problem at all."

"You probably remember the first airplane."

"I do, actually." She waved around them. "This is all yours."

Kevin nodded, steeling himself. If Victoria was truly taking the shackles off, there wouldn't be any problems.

He grabbed her hand. "Follow me."

They walked into a nearby men's room. Victoria wasn't bothered in the least, but the lone man leaving gave them a second look before eying Victoria.

Kevin grabbed a vial from his coat. "Drink this."

She held up the brownish liquid to the light for a better look. "Vampires can't handle much outside blood. Even water gives us a fit if we drink fast."