“Well,” Elizabeth said. “I think we should call it a night. We can get Dean to go over all this in the morning, but it seems to me— the nature of prophecy is… ambiguous.”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows expectantly, and Lyla laughed out loud. Mari and Elizabeth joined her. They had all been complaining about that very fact all night.
“Now, on another topic.” Elizabeth glanced from Lyla to Mari, a glint in her eye. “What do you think would happen if we served that “Get Happy Cake” at the wedding?” She waggled her eyebrows at Mari. “With some “Melt Your Heart Sauce.” Her voice took on a sing-song quality. “I think Mari might find Lucas very attentive.” She turned to Lyla and opened her eyes wide. “What do you think?”
Lyla threw a cracker at her. “Are you making fun of my Granny?”
“Never!” Elizabeth fell back on the window seat, laughing. “She’s my new hero. But what about you, Lyla?” Elizabeth gave her a sly look. “Do you need a piece of that cake?” She pursed her lips and shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Aaron is looking soooo much more relaxed these days—”
Lyla laughed and launched another cracker at her. They had made up a platter of cheese and crackers, along with chips and salsa, when they went down for the second pitcher of margaritas, and the scattered remains graced the center of the table.
There was a knock on the door. “Ladies, what’s going on in there?” Cray’s voice came through the door. “It’s getting late, Elizabeth. I think we better get you home.”
“You don’t think he heard, do you?” Mari’s voice was scandalized.
Elizabeth shook her head, trying to hide her smile. “Nope.” She shook her head again for emphasis, but it was clear she didn’t believe it.
There was a short pause, and then they all burst out laughing.
Lyla felt a happy glow as she looked at the other two women. Having their help and support made all the difference in the world. And, yeah, maybe they should be taking all this more seriously, but they had gone through all the journals—something Lyla would never have accomplished on her own—and Mari had come up with the key to figuring out where to look. Plus they’d had a damn good time doing it.
Tomorrow would have to be soon enough to try to figure out what it all meant. But the other two women’s insistence that she couldn’t possibly be dangerous to the pack—no matter what the prophecy said—touched her in a way she couldn’t define. She only hoped they were right.
Chapter 21
Elizabeth stood on the pedestal admiring the flow of her creamy silk wedding dress. Framed in the elegant three-way mirror of the bridal shop, it was lovely. Nancy, the seamstress, had just left to get her veil. It was her final fitting, and boy had these ladies done a beautiful job. She sighed happily and did a slow swirl. She’d picked a dress off the rack; there hadn’t been time to have one made. Not with the way Cray talked. He seemed to think she’d be pregnant any day now. And he was doing his very best to make that happen. But these ladies had outdone themselves.
The dress was actually a discontinued style, so she’d gotten it for a song. Nice, since she needed to keep costs down. She still didn’t want to use her credit cards. She couldn't take the chance they'd be traced. A lot of places around here took checks, and she’d been tempted, it seemed like that would be much harder to track, but she decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Well, with her father picking up all the major expenses, she didn’t really need to.
And hadn’t that been a fun conversation. But the dress and the flowers she could handle out of the small salary Lucas insisted on paying her for her work with the antiques business. In spite of the fact that he paid for her housing, and most of the food for the pack.
But that was Lucas for you. “A good Alpha provides for his pack.” Elizabeth made a face. It was one thing she couldn’t budge him on.
Feeling like a fairy princess, she turned in a slow pirouette, trying to ignore the nagging feeling she’d forgotten something. She rolled her eyes. She probably had. She and Cray had decided on a casual outdoor wedding, but there were still a lot of details.
In the mirror, Elizabeth saw the thick grey curtains separating the fitting and alterations area from the showroom flutter, and Mari peeked through. She took two steps into the room and stopped.
“Oh, Elizabeth. That dress is gorgeous on you.”
Elizabeth smiled, feeling a warm burst of affection.
“Thank you, Mari. They did a wonderful job, didn’t they?”
“It’s beautiful.”
She smoothed her hands down the silky fabric. Mari beamed back at her. She couldn’t believe what a dear friend Mari had become in the short time they’d known each other. Having Mari to share everything with had made throwing together a wedding in just over two months fun rather than the impossible chore it could have been. But something was niggling at her, just under the surface.
“Mari, what am I forgetting? I feel like I’m missing something. I confirmed everything with the caterer. Did you call the rental place?”
“All confirmed. Don’t worry. They are dropping off the tables, tablecloths, and all the place settings and stuff on Friday. The guys can set that up no problem.”
“Right. And I called the florist. The flowers will be delivered Saturday morning.”
“Everything’s set. It’s going to be beautiful, Elizabeth. Even the weather seems to be cooperating.”
“What about the music? Do you really think we can trust Aaron to come up with a playlist? I think I better check that. Who knows what Aaron might think is appropriate for a wedding.”
Mari laughed. “Okay, true, you might want to double check on that. But this is the man who always shows up with the appropriate wine no matter what we’re having for dinner, so—”
“Wine! Did we order wine? We need champagne too. And beer.”
“Relax. We’re not having that many people. We can send Aaron to the liquor store tomorrow.”
“Right. Okay.”
That was true. Along with her parents, her uncle Charlie, his daughters and their husbands, she had two of her closest friends from college coming. With their husbands, that brought the grand total of the guest list to lucky thirteen. Of course, then there were the guys…
Elizabeth took a deep breath and smoothed her hands over her skirt again. She couldn’t quite imagine what her parents were going to say when they met Cray. They were arriving Friday afternoon for the rehearsal dinner, although there really wasn’t much to rehearse. She could hardly believe that was only three days away. She felt a nervous little flutter in her belly. Which was ridiculous. She was almost forty.
Yet somehow her parents could always make her revert to that uncertain creature craving their approval that she’d been before she left for college. And true to form, explaining to them that yes, she really was marrying a man they had never even heard of—in less than two months—hadn’t gone over all that well. But she’d learned long ago, seeking their approval was a completely useless endeavor.
Her parents never understood her choices. Not her decision to study abroad in Italy. “Darling, they come here to study, not the other way around.” Not her decision to stay in Italy afterwards and go into the furniture business. “Furniture? What are you going to be, some kind of sales girl? This is what you get for studying all that arts stuff. If you had just gone into law—”
That one had made her shudder. And boy did her mother hit her with the I-told-you-so’s after the breakup with Stefano. There had been a lot of free milk and cow references. Yeah, that she couldn’t have done without.
About the only thing they had agreed with was her move back to New York— and look how that turned out. But at least they were trying. They’d asked her to send a picture of her and Cray, a couples shot, and that seemed like a good sign. And her father had agreed to pay for the wedding. So that was something. Well, they knew by now they couldn’t stop her once she’d made up her mind.
Nancy came back with the veil, and she
tried it on. Elizabeth wasn’t going to get one, but Mari talked her into it, and she had to admit, it did look lovely.
“Well, I guess that’s everything. I’ll go get changed and we can get out of here. Mari, would you ask Cray to run across the street and get me an iced coffee? I could really use one. Do you want anything?”
Nancy left to pack up the veil and Mari headed up to the front of the shop. Elizabeth heard Cray’s deep voice muttering, but then the front door opened and closed and she could feel Cray moving away from her. She smiled. That was still kind of freaky. But in a good way. There was something comforting about always knowing where he was. Being able to feel it.
And Cray insisted on coming with her every time she left pack territory. Truth to tell, she wasn’t unhappy about that. She still couldn’t bring herself to talk about what had sent her running through the snowy woods the night Cray had found her. But Cray hadn’t forgotten. He knew she'd been running from something.
Sometimes she was tempted to think Greg must have given up on her by now. It was just so anticlimactic after months of nothing. Don’t count on it, girl. That man is a maniac.
Elizabeth shook her head, forcing the uncomfortable memories from her mind. Today was a happy day. A day to enjoy. She took a deep breath and smiled at her reflection, taking one last look at her dress. It was very flattering. Just off the shoulder, with a scooped neck and a fitted bodice. It had a moderately full skirt, but nothing crazy. The creamy silk was sprinkled with tiny seed pearls, and the long, elegant lines of the dress helped a lot. She tried to imagine the look on Cray’s face when he first saw her, and her smile widened. He’d never seen her in anything like this. Come to think of it, he’d never even seen her in a dress.
She stepped carefully off the pedestal and went into the changing room. A few moments later, she emerged carrying the garment bag in one hand and the box carrying her wedding shoes in the other. It took Elizabeth a minute to wrestle her way out between the curtains to the front of the shop.
“Here, let me help you with that.” Gage sprang to attention and relieved her of the garment bag. “Are we ready?”
Elizabeth suppressed a smile and nodded. Sometimes it felt like she was some kind of royalty, or maybe an important politician. She rolled her eyes. “All set.”
Like the pack would ever let two of their women out in the world without at least two bodyguards. Not that she was complaining. Under the circumstances.
Gage opened the door and held it for Mari, who was carrying the box with the veil. Elizabeth was just about to follow them when Nancy called her back.
“Don’t forget, we have an arrangement with Jamie’s Cleaners. You get a ten percent discount on the cleaning of your dress if you mention the shop.”
“Thank you. I’ll remember. And thanks so much for all your help. You made this dress look like a million bucks.”
“No, Elizabeth,” Nancy said, smiling warmly. “You did that. Best of luck with everything. I wish all brides were as easy to work with as you.”
Elizabeth smiled, feeling almost giddy with happiness. This was really happening. On Saturday, she was marrying Cray.
“Thanks again, Nancy. I’ll definitely recommend your services to any future brides I meet.” She winked and walked out the door. She knew Nancy would be thinking of Mari, but Elizabeth was thinking more along the lines of Lyla. She had a feeling Lyla and Aaron were going to beat Mari by a mile. She’d barely gone five steps from the shop before a van zoomed up out of nowhere and screeched to a halt.
What the heck? Some kind of emergency fitting?
The back doors flew open and three men jumped out.
Run!
But it was too late. Terror shot through her as they swarmed her, grabbing her right off her feet and throwing her into the van. She landed practically cheek first on a patch of dirty carpeting with a painful jolt. She tried to push herself backwards, out of the van, but they were too fast. The three men jumped in and slammed the doors shut. The van sped off with an audible squeal. Elizabeth spun, ready to attack, but they were on her in less than a second. There was a blur of activity filled with hands grabbing her, pinching painfully into her flesh as they pinned her down while she twisted and squirmed. She kicked like a wild woman and connected several times before one of them sat on her legs. Another succeeded in pinning her shoulders. She tried to bite him, but she couldn’t reach.
She watched in horror as the third man pulled out a roll of duct tape. They flipped her onto her stomach and began taping her hands together. This is bad. This is very, very bad. She had a terrible feeling she knew exactly what this was about— and no amount of not thinking about it was going to change things.
Chapter 22
Cray’s head shot up.
Elizabeth.
Cold, visceral terror flooded through the bond. He dropped the ice coffees he’d finally succeeded in purchasing. People jumped back, crying out as they splattered across the floor. Cray couldn’t care less. He shoved his way out of the crowded coffee shop at a run. He could see a white van speeding away as he reached the street. And he could feel Elizabeth speeding away with it.
“Gage!”
Gage’s black Tahoe screeched to a stop next to him and Cray jumped in. Gage peeled out after the van, which had already disappeared down a side street. Gage swung a right turn and Cray just caught a glimpse of white turning right, heading back the way they came.
“Right! Right! For fuck’s sake, don’t lose them, Gage!”
Cray slammed his fist down on the dash. It wasn’t like they were in Malone, where there were about three different roads to choose from. No, the bridal shop was in Plattsburgh, which had a lot more streets to get lost in. Gage screeched around the corner, but the van was nowhere in sight.
He could feel the distance between him and Elizabeth growing, feel her anger, and terror, and shit—pain—arrowing through the bond. But he could also feel her direction. She was moving west and slightly north. Probably heading back up to the main drag.
“Make a right, he’s heading for Route 3, probably planning to get on the throughway.” Cray glanced down at Gage’s GPS display. “The Northway. Whatever they call it here.”
They hit the intersection with Route 3, but Gage had to stop for a light.
“Go through,” Cray snarled, but they couldn’t. Traffic whizzed past in both directions. “Maiden’s blood! How did this happen, Gage? You were supposed to be with her!” Fear and anger surged along the bond, making it difficult to think.
“I was. She was right behind us. I was putting her dress in the back when I heard the commotion. I turned to look, and they were throwing Elizabeth in the van. Somehow she was half a block down the street. I don’t know how that happened.”
Cray saw Gage glance at Mari in the rearview, but he didn’t actually ask her.
Mari cleared her throat. “I heard Nancy call her back into the shop for a minute, but I didn’t think anything of it. It was only—not even a minute. What’s going on? Who took Elizabeth?”
Cray ground his teeth. That was the question. He should have made her tell him. But fear invaded her scent every time he brought it up, and he just couldn’t make himself do it. The light turned and Gage peeled out, turning left, back toward the shop. He could feel Elizabeth still heading west.
“Go! Go!” He banged his fist on the dash again. “We have to catch them.” He scanned the traffic ahead but couldn’t spot the van. Then he felt her location shift, and suddenly she was heading south. Fast.
“Left! Left! They must be on the interstate!”
“I can’t get on here. The entrance is a few blocks down. Don’t worry, as soon as we get on the Northway, we can catch up. We won’t be stuck in single-lane traffic.”
Gage didn’t say what the hell they would do when they did catch up, and Cray didn’t ask. They couldn’t exactly run the van off the road. Not with Elizabeth inside. But they could follow. Be there the moment the van stopped. And take them apart. At least the pai
n coming through the bond had eased. But not the fear and anxiety.
“Can’t you go any faster?”
He knew Gage couldn’t, not without driving on the sidewalk—which, crowded with pedestrians as it was—was not an option. But he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Finally, they reached the entrance to the interstate. Gage slammed the wheel left and floored it, shooting through oncoming traffic with a squeal of tires and a lot of blaring horns. But they made it. They were on the feeder road, speeding down the on-ramp. Cray craned his head trying to see, but the ramp curved and it was impossible to get a clear line of sight. He could feel her though, heading south, and it seemed like she was slowing down.
Gage punched the gas and they shot around the curve. Still nothing. No, wait. Was that a speck of white behind that black pickup? It was! The traffic shifted and Cray let out his breath. It was only a white sedan. But they were getting closer. Traffic must be slowing down up ahead because he could feel them gaining on her. They hit the interstate, and Cray stared down the empty two-lane highway. Something wasn’t right. Maybe the van was having engine trouble? But somehow—it seemed like Elizabeth was coming straight at them—from the west?
Cray stared in horror at the overpass they were approaching, the sudden realization dawning as they zoomed underneath and he felt Elizabeth cross directly overhead.
“Get off! Get off! She’s not on the interstate!”
“What the fuck, Cray? I can’t get off here!”
And they couldn’t. Not until they got to an exit. Cray felt heart-crushing fear and confusion shoot down the bond. She’d felt him too, she must have, and probably thought he was this close to rescuing her.
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