Free One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost Page A

and one of the bridesmaids, so pleasantness was required. While I’d been helping Denise get ready, she’d been scouting out the guests for any single males. The woman was perpetually in heat.
    “That last groomsman finally showed up,” she remarked.
    I sighed in relief. Now we wouldn’t have to delay the wedding.
    “He’s yummy,” she continued. She thought anyone able-bodied with a dick was yummy, but I kept that to myself. “I only saw him from behind for a second, but what an ass.”
    “Um, Felicity, could you get the flowers?” I suggested, rolling my eyes at Denise.
    Denise grinned. “Good news, Felicity. He’s the one you’re paired with tonight. I’ve never met him, but Randy said he’s single.”
    Denise had segregated the bridal party to a long rectangular table with every seat boy-girl-boy-girl. I thought it was a bit odd to have the bridal party segregated like that, but this was her show, not mine.
    “Yummy,” Felicity purred again.
    I pitied the man. She’d probably feel him up under the table before the toasts even began.
    Randy’s brother Philip poked his head in. “Are you ready, Denise?”
    She turned to me with barely contained excitement.
    “Let’s go get me married!”
    I smiled at Philip. “We’ll meet you in front.”
     
    Denise eschewed the traditional wedding march for a lovely instrumental ballad. Instead of the ushers escorting each bridesmaid down the aisle, Randy and the groomsmen were waiting in front. The bridesmaids would walk down one at a time in pecking order. As the maid of honor, I was last before Denise. I fluffedthe train of her dress one final time before taking my place in the entranceway.
    As I stepped into the room where the forty-five family and friends were gathered, I felt a wave of pure inhuman power. Motherfucker, one of the guests was a vampire. They’d better be planning on only eating cake, or I would have to get real frisky with the silverware. That would be a neat trick, slaughtering a guest at the reception without anyone noticing. My eyes swept the crowd from right to left, seeking out the source.
    My mother sat next to Noah, whom Denise had invited before I could tell her that I was trying to break things off between us. Noah smiled at me as I walked down the narrow aisle. I smiled back and took inventory in a military manner. Bride’s side of the room, clear. Groom’s side of the room, clear. For some reason, it didn’t occur to me to look at the front where the wedding party stood. Even when I did, it took a second for recognition to register in my suddenly paralyzed mind.
    His hair was different. Honey-brown instead of the platinum blond from my memory. It was also longer than before, curling over his ears instead of hugging his head like a sleek helmet. Pale skin glittered against the ebony fabric of his tuxedo, such a creamy breathtaking contrast. Eyes so deep brown they were nearly black bored into mine with none of the shock I felt.
    Objects in motion stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. I proved Newton’s Law of Inertia, because even though my breath caught and my heart skipped a beat, I somehow managed to keep walking down the aisle.
    Bones’s gaze devoured mine. Inside me a completely unfamiliar sensation exploded, taking my lagging mind a second to diagnose it. Joy . Pure, unadulterated joy flooded me. I was actually about to spring forward and hurtle myself in his arms, when I stopped myself.
    What was Bones doing here? And why didn’t he look surprised to see me?
    That froze me from any craziness, like flinging myself at him as I’d been tempted to do. If Bones wasn’t surprised to see me, then he knew I’d be here. But how did he know that? And the most important questions— How did he find me? What did he want?
    Now wasn’t the time to find out. This was Denise’s wedding. I wouldn’t ruin it by causing a scene. Thank God and all his saints , I thought,