"Why are you so nervous?"
That was a really good question Dee was asking. I couldn't answer to why I felt like I'd down an entire bulk pack of Five-Hour Energy. I shouldn't be anxious, but I was. My hands shook a little, and if it had been me instead of Dee curling my hair and twisting it up, I would look like a mess.
"I know it's dumb," I said, twisting my fingers together. "We're already married."
A bobby pin seemed to magically appear in Dee's hand. "Honestly, I get it. The other marriage wasn't real."
To me and to Daemon, the marriage license we had obtained in Vegas under false names had been real. Some could argue all they wanted that it wasn't, but names on a piece of paper didn't mean you loved someone anymore or any less.
And there was no way humanly or inhumanly possible that Daemon and I could love each other any more than we did without combusting the entire galaxy.
But all those we cared about wanted the wedding. I'd wanted the wedding—the whole shebang, and since I wanted it, so did Daemon. That was love.
Though, there was a good chance I might hurl.
The door open, and I started to look over, but Dee waved the curling iron like a weapon. "Don't even think of moving your head right now," she ordered.
Pressing my lips together, I sat perfectly still as a giggle echoed from somewhere behind us.
"She looks like she's about to beat you with that thing."
My eyes widened at the sound of Lesa's voice, and if what she had just said weren't possible, I would've jumped up and started clamping like a happy seal. "Lesa! You're here!"
"I told you I was coming! I wouldn't miss this for the world." Her voice grew closer, and Dee paused long enough to give her a welcoming hug. Then I was next, offered a one-arm squeeze before Lesa plopped down on the couch in front of me and Dee resumed torturing me with the curling iron and bobby pins. Lesa's excited gaze roamed over my face. "Your make up is absolutely perfect."
"That was all me," Dee quipped.
I rolled my eyes while Lesa grinned. She pushed the tight curls back from her face. "I'm so glad you're here," I said, meaning it. My heart was all warm and fuzzy. "I was worried, with the weather, you wouldn't be able to get a flight in."
"It was looking sketchy there for awhile. The snow is still coming down, but the roads are mostly clear." She smoothed her hands over the burgundy skirt of her dress. "This is a super nice house, as in something I'd see on HGTV's home of the insanely rich. Do I even want to know how you ended up having your wedding here?"
I grinned and then giggled, caught up in the nervous excitement and bubbling joy. The house was amazing. It was several stories high, reminding me of one of the palace type homes found in regency era romance novels, complete with a massive ballroom and a never-ending veranda.
"It belongs to one of our kind," Dee answered Lesa as she twisted a curl up and shoved a bobby pin in, nearly stabbing me in the scalp. "They were more than happy to let us use it."
Our kind.
Two strange and powerful words that were now common place in this new world that was steadily being rebuilt. Two words we still barely utter to anyone outside our close circle. Two words that could bring curiosity or downright murderous hostility from the humans, but I wasn't going to spend today, my wedding day, thinking about those things.
