“You know, being your maid of honor with only one functioning arm is a little more of a challenge than you’d think.” Tally flapped her sling like a chicken wing, sending glitter flying into the space around them. She’d used her magick to embroider sequins all over it and doused it liber-ally with glitter in her usual Tally style.
Tally had come through the singular horror of being possessed by a lamia with nothing more than a broken arm.
Middy had been able to heal the rest. All but the memories, and Tally wanted those, she said, so she’d remember to be thankful for what she had every day. She wondered if the arm had been left unhealed by the Powers That Be as a daily physical reminder of all that had happened. Middy knew Tally had a tough road ahead of her to prove herself worthy of her second chance.
Tally sniffed. “Oh, shit. I said I wasn’t going to do this.
Now, my mascara is running.” She sniffed again. “You’re so beautiful, Midnight. I don’t know how you’re going to keep your wings a secret or that glow, but you’re beautiful.”
“It’s my wedding and I’ll wear my wings if I want to. No one will believe they’re real anyway.”
Middy turned to the side and her wings looked as if they’d been doused in glitter like everything else that Tally got anywhere near.
Merlin had smiled on her and Dred both that day. She’d been made a Crown Princess of Heaven, which he’d told her had always been her destiny. Dred’s, not so much. Merlin was sure he’d end up on the other side, but was happy to have him on the team, or so he said. Middy got credit for his re-demption, hence the direct promotion to Crown Princess instead of Grand Duchess. There was a hierarchy, after all.
“I can’t believe my mother isn’t going to meet my husband until the reception,” Middy added.
“I’m sure he’ll charm the piss and vinegar right out of her.” Tally hugged her. “Thank you for still being my friend. For still loving me.”
“We’re more than friends. You’re my sister and I’ll always love you,” Middy said as she hugged her back.
“You know how people are going to look at me. I’m a pariah.”
“Not everyone,” Middy said. “Falcon has been staring at you anxiously all day.”
“He just thinks I’m easy,” Tally snorted.
“Make him work for it and he’ll follow you like a puppy.
All my brothers are like that.”
“So, would it be wrong of me to use Falcon for a one-night stand?” Tally asked hopefully.
“First, you have my blessing. Second, just don’t tell me about it.” Middy grinned.
The orchestra began to play and Middy heard her cue.
She stepped carefully from the bride’s tent and moved to the red carpet where Hawk waited to give her away. Middy took his arm and as they walked, he spoke.
“Raven tried to talk him out of it.”
“What?” Middy growled through clenched teeth and a smile.
“Yeah, told him to run and be free while he still could. Like he was reintroducing a rakehell back into the wild. They are an endangered species, or so Raven seems to think.”
“It’ll be even more endangered when I kick him in the balls. Is he trying to turn this wedding into his wake?”
“How did you get into Heaven again? You’re a mean little crotch puppet.”
“Tough love, baby.” Middy grinned.
When she caught sight of Dred, her grin turned to a shy smile and even though she swore that she had nothing to cry about, her eyes filled with unshed tears.
He was a Heavenly sight, her warlock. He watched her progression intently and with open joy on his face. Dred wasn’t wearing his wings, but he was wearing a suit of armor; shining armor. It was pure silver and fit him like a second skin. The heavy metal seemed molded to his very flesh and he moved inside it with ease.
He accepted her hand from Hawk’s and bowed his head to the other warlock before getting down on one knee in front of Middy. She was aware of no one else but her handsome Crown Prince of Heaven.
Not the cleric, not Tally, not her brothers—no one but the man who was bent before her just as she’d asked on a night that now seemed an eternity ago. They didn’t need the mortal words to bind them, but the ritual meant something to Middy. He stood when the cleric began speaking.
When she looked up into his eyes as they repeated their vows, she knew that Dred’s shining armor wouldn’t rust.
He was everything a fairy-tale prince should be, and her Happily Ever After was real.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The Credits
The credits are rolling and the lights have come up in the theater. Middy and Dred have their Happily Ever After with the capital letters and . . .
What happens to the rest of them? Where did the wedding take place? Important questions to be sure. Another peek wouldn’t hurt.
Middy and Dred were married on the vast property of the Shadowins Estate. Middy’s mother planned most of the wedding and Aradia paid the bill; both seemed quite pleased with the arrangement. Dred, did indeed, charm the piss and vinegar right out of his witch-in-law. She was so entranced with him that she was angry at Middy for calling him “Dred the Dastard” for all those years with no return scolding for “Miss Cherry-Would-If-She-Could.”
Further, Aradia Shadowins decided since her only son had married, she was entitled to do as she wished. She’d put in her time as a highborn society lady and decided to install the gargoyle hottie from the Harpy Tea, Valerian, as a per-manent fixture in her household. This decision was met with a great collective gasp by society, but it solidified her standing as an eccentric. Aradia and Valerian spend their time antiquing, reading eighteenth-century French poetry, and shagging like bunnies.
Raven is still concerned with the vanishing species known as the rakehell and has made it his life’s work to see that as many as possible are saved and reintroduced into the wild.
Dred’s black book has been the catalyst for many a success-ful release, but Raven blames Middy whenever she brings up the subject. She was the one who relayed Hawk’s smartass comment from the wedding and it inspired him.
Dred’s uncle, Roderick Snow, after being rescued from his own dungeon, has been seen keeping company with one Ginger Butterbean. Most recently they were spotted together at an Italian cooking class.
Merlin was kind enough to gift Dred and Midnight with a tract house on the same block of Heaven/Hell as the rest of their merry band. Middy has been convincing Grace of the joys of World of Warlock on the spelltop and they both have high-level paladins. Sera Ann wanders freely between residences and Middy made her a red cloak that she never takes off.
Dred still dresses up in his wedding armor for Middy, but sometimes, just sometimes, she likes it when it’s black and he carries her off to be pillaged like a captive of an invad-ing knight. Or Viking, even though they didn’t wear armor, but that’s okay with Middy. She likes the imagery just the same.
Dred likes his job, but he works from home a lot. Merlin thinks that Caspian is setting a bad example. Now that he and Dred are both doing it, Nimue has started to expect him to be home more, too.
Middy still allows him to pose for Weekly Warlock. She doesn’t even mind the interactive program. She knows that she’s the only one who has the real Dred, and all of the proceeds go to the Gargoyle Masque.
They’ll be shooting for the Weekly Warlock calendar soon and Dred thinks he’s convinced the Trifecta to take the spring months.
And they lived Happily Ever After.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
When I first read about the Loudun possessions of 1634, it captured my imagination. Possessed nuns and priests frosted with sex appeal and politically ambitious sprinkles?
I knew that I was going to have to use the incident in a story. That’s when Dred and Midnight began speaking to me. There was plenty of research material for me to sift through, but even with the help of one of the most brilliant search mavens in the world (thanks, Jess), we we
re unable to find information as to the state of the Ursuline convent today. To tell the story that these characters kept yelling in my ear, I’ve had to take liberties with structure and perhaps the very existence of the convent in the here and now.
The creature I used as the villain, the lamia, is a popular figure that appears in many mythologies. The lamia have been connected with Greek mythology as well as Christianity. Lamia are associated with succubi and specifically, Lilith. In all of the myths, they are devourers of innocent flesh, particularly children. Again, I’ve taken the information and used it for my own nefarious ends.
I hope you enjoyed Midnight and Dred as much as I did and come back for another helping of over-the-top fun with Falcon and Tally in How to Seduce an Angel in 10 Days.
Thanks for reading!
Table of Contents
acknowledgments
CHAPTER ONE, The Centerfold
CHAPTER TWO, The Appointment
CHAPTER THREE, Lunching and Midnight
CHAPTER FOUR, Cranberry Crush
CHAPTER FIVE, The Gargoyle Masque
CHAPTER SIX, Down and Dirty
CHAPTER SEVEN, The Worst That Could Happen
CHAPTER EIGHT, Dark Alley Assignation
CHAPTER NINE, An Invitation to the Castle
CHAPTER TEN, The Broom Sleigh
CHAPTER ELEVEN, Midnight
CHAPTER TWELVE, Chancellor Snow, in the Library, with the Candlestick
CHAPTER THIRTEEN, Bookgasm
CHAPTER FOURTEEN, Cock Talk
CHAPTER FIFTEEN, Harpy Breakfast Tea
CHAPTER SIXTEEN, A Dark and Somehow Divine Comedy
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN, Stuck in Old Loudun Again
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN, Coming In Out of the Rain
CHAPTER NINETEEN, Things to Do in Loudun When You're Dead
CHAPTER TWENTY, The Hero at Rest
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE, The Lady and the Tiger
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO, Cauldron Burn, Boil, and Bake
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE, Dressing for Donatien
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR, Drudgery in Donatien
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE, Things to Do in Loudun When You're Still Dead
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX, A Dark, Marbled Affair
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN, Brawl at the Banshee’s Bawl
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT, Doppelganger Dippity Do
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE, Cock Talk: The Sequel
CHAPTER THIRTY, Surprise, Surprise
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE, Snatch N’ Grab
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO, A Lamia, a Witch, and Her Warlock
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE, A Crown Prince of Hell Gets His Wings
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR, A Wedding and a Wake
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE, The Credits
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Table of Contents
acknowledgments
CHAPTER ONE, The Centerfold
CHAPTER TWO, The Appointment
CHAPTER THREE, Lunching and Midnight
CHAPTER FOUR, Cranberry Crush
CHAPTER FIVE, The Gargoyle Masque
CHAPTER SIX, Down and Dirty
CHAPTER SEVEN, The Worst That Could Happen
CHAPTER EIGHT, Dark Alley Assignation
CHAPTER NINE, An Invitation to the Castle
CHAPTER TEN, The Broom Sleigh
CHAPTER ELEVEN, Midnight
CHAPTER TWELVE, Chancellor Snow, in the Library, with the Candlestick
CHAPTER THIRTEEN, Bookgasm
CHAPTER FOURTEEN, Cock Talk
CHAPTER FIFTEEN, Harpy Breakfast Tea
CHAPTER SIXTEEN, A Dark and Somehow Divine Comedy
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN, Stuck in Old Loudun Again
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN, Coming In Out of the Rain
CHAPTER NINETEEN, Things to Do in Loudun When You're Dead
CHAPTER TWENTY, The Hero at Rest
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE, The Lady and the Tiger
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO, Cauldron Burn, Boil, and Bake
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE, Dressing for Donatien
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR, Drudgery in Donatien
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE, Things to Do in Loudun When You're Still Dead
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX, A Dark, Marbled Affair
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN, Brawl at the Banshee’s Bawl
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT, Doppelganger Dippity Do
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE, Cock Talk: The Sequel
CHAPTER THIRTY, Surprise, Surprise
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE, Snatch N’ Grab
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO, A Lamia, a Witch, and Her Warlock
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE, A Crown Prince of Hell Gets His Wings
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR, A Wedding and a Wake
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE, The Credits
AUTHOR’S NOTE
How to Marry a Warlock in 10 Days Page 25
