Nine
Lives Excerpt
by
Shari Richardson
Chapter
1
"Oh my God," Mairin
exclaimed. "I look like a frosted cupcake."
I poked my head around the doorway of
my sister's bedroom and burst out laughing. My normally tom-boyish
sister looked like someone had airbrushed a Vogue model over her. I
could still see Mairin under the makeup, hair and the far-too-flouncy
sparkling white gown, but I had to squint.
"Don't laugh at me, brat,"
she said. "How did you let me let Mom talk me into this?"
I held up my hands. "Hey, don't
blame me for this one, sis. This is all you. You let Mom go to the
bridal shop with you and Mathias' credit card. You knew she was going
to pick something like this."
Truthfully, the gown was gorgeous. It
had an empire waist and a very short train, but it also had so much
lace and so many sparkles, I was surprised my sister wasn't currently
shredding the gown in an effort to get it off.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit. I cannot
do this," she said. "Nope. I won't. I should have insisted
on the stupid town hall and the stupid civil union, but no, I let Mom
and Mathias bully me into this." She waved at herself.
"Mairin," my mother said,
slipping past me into my sister's room. "You look so beautiful.
I knew that dress would be gorgeous on you once the alterations were
finished."
I smiled at my sister over our mother's
shoulder and bolted for my room. The glare which followed my retreat
nearly burned. Mairin would complain, but I knew she'd never have
taken anything away from our mother. Especially not something as
important as a big wedding with all the trimmings.
Of course, her willingness to be on
display for the town in a gown that was anything but her own choice
was really my sister in a nutshell. No matter what it did to her, if
it meant one of us was happier, Mairin would do it. Take my
bridesmaid dress. The wedding planner Mathias hired to help Mairin
keep her sanity had freaked out when Mairin showed her the dress, but
my sister had insisted that the pale colors the wedding planner
wanted would look awful on me. So instead of joining the frosted
cupcake brigade, I was wearing the deep, forest green, knee-length
dress my sister had chosen for me. She could have picked some
hideous, flowing monstrosity so I wouldn't overshadow her, but had
instead picked the dress she knew I'd like.
I was pulling that dress over my head
when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Tawnya called
from downstairs. I knew she'd been ready for us to leave for the
wedding for at least half an hour, but after the tenuous truce she
and Mairin had finally formed following their estrangement last
winter, Tawnya was keeping her opinions to herself. I, on the other
hand, wasn't. If they weren't ready by the time I got my shoes on,
I'd shove Mairin down the stairs.
"Hey Tawnya. The other camp is
getting anxious and sent me to see what was keeping the bride."
Xavier's voice drifted up the stairs to me and I smiled. In spite of
some pretty big disagreements they'd had in the past, Mathias had
asked Xavier to be his best man. Xavier, always looking for ways to
improve the political climate of the supernatural community, and
because both Mairin and I had begged him, had accepted. It hadn't
been until the tuxedo fitting that he'd truly begun to regret saying
yes. The complaints over the fittings had been epic and amusing as
hell.
I slipped on my sandals and ran back to
Mairin's room. "The natives are getting restless. We have to
go."
"I heard him," Mairin said.
"Mom, go get in the car with Tawnya. Kerry can help me down the
stairs in this monstrosity...um, dress."
Mom kissed us both before heading down
to meet up with Tawnya. I could see her eyes were already beginning
to shine with tears and knew that before the end of the ceremony, our
mother would be a blubbering mess.
"She's going to cry all day, isn't
she?" Mairin said.
"Probably. You're her baby and
you're getting married."
"Yeah, wait until it's your turn,
brat." Mairin clasped a thin gold chain around her neck and
sighed. "That's it. No more delays."
"Don't you want to marry Mathias?"
I asked.
"Sure I do," she said. "But
for all intents and purposes, I'm nineteen. Girls don't get married
this young unless they have to. You know most of the town is going to
be watching me to see if I'm pregnant."
"That's why you and Mathias are
going on a long honeymoon. So you don't have to worry about being
watched." I held Mairin's arm as we carefully navigated the
stairs. "Besides, admit it. You're dying to see all the snooty
jerks jockeying for position to catch your bouquet."
Mairin laughed. "I'll aim for you,
if you want me to."
Xavier looked up at me from the foot of
the stairs. I knew he'd heard Mairin and my heart thundered in my
chest. He'd already asked me to marry him more than once and I'd told
him no. Not no forever, but no for right then. Looking at him in his
tuxedo, the tiny, shy smile I loved best lifting just the corners of
his mouth, I realized while I still might not want to get married
tomorrow, I was ready to say yes to him.
"I'll take my chances," I
said. "But I'll make sure I'm right up front."
The wedding planning crew had lined the
driveway leading to Mathias' house with lights and continued with
them along the path leading to the stretch of beach behind the house.
I went with Mairin through the front door after sending Xavier around
the back to keep Mathias out of the house now that we were there. For
a vampire, he was impressively superstitious. I'd always thought
being one of the monsters the superstitions protected us from might
make him immune to them, but apparently not. He hadn't even stayed at
the house with Mairin last night because he believed it was bad luck
to spend the night before their wedding together. Personally, I
thought that his leaving had more to do with trying to maintain his
sense of decorum than with bad luck. Mairin had told me that despite
her less fragile state of being, Mathias had refused to engage in
physical intimacy with her until after the wedding. If the level of
aggression and annoyance displayed by them both was any indication,
their sexual frustration had reached a boiling point. Mathias had
stayed away so he wouldn't be tempted to break his own rules. It was
actually kind of funny that Mairin was certain the town assumed she
was pregnant when I knew she was still a virgin. I giggled and Mairin
looked at me.
"What's funny, sis?" she
asked.
"Just that you're worried those
people out there think you're knocked up and I know there's about a
million reasons why that isn't even remotely possible."
I ducked when Mairin threw the pillow
from the sofa at me.
"Ha ha," she said. "Keep
rubbing it in, sis and I'll tell mom that when you stay at Elise's
house, you sleep in the same bed with Xavier."
"You wouldn't."
Mairin grinned. "Watch me,"
she said.
Gino stepped into the room and bowed
low. "It is time, little queen," he said.
I carefully kissed Mairin's cheek. "I
love you," I said. "Be happy, sis."
"Love you, too, Kerr," she
said, taking Gino's arm. He led her to where Mom and Tawnya waited in
the kitchen. Xavier stepped up to take my arm.
"You look gorgeous," he said.
"You're looking pretty handsome,
yourself." I smiled as he preened.
"You think? I hate the monkey
suit, but it doesn't look that bad."
"Mom, if you cry now, you'll ruin
your makeup for the photos." Mairin's tone was irritated.
"I can't help it. My baby's
getting married."
"And living not five miles from
your house. Get a grip, Mom."
Laughing at my family's antics, Xavier
laid his hand over mine and led me out onto the deck. The music
started and I gasped. There was a silk runner that joined the deck to
the area on the beach where the wedding was taking place. Chairs were
set up in groups around a central point where Mathias stood, his back
to the ocean and his eyes closed against the sinking sun. Only those
of us who really knew him knew Mathias wasn't steeling himself to get
married, but rather he was enjoying the sun. He must have heard the
whisper of the sand under the silk runner because he opened his eyes
and smiled at both me and Xavier as we walked toward him. Xavier and
I split at the altar and we both turned to watch my sister make her
way across the sand. The gown that had looked like too much in her
bedroom was perfect as the setting sun caught the sequins and
crystals embedded in the fabric, making it appear as though Mairin
were glowing as she walked. Mom and Tawnya each held one of Mairin's
elbows lightly, escorting her to meet her groom.
At the altar, Mom and Tawnya stopped
with Mairin and waited for the minister to speak the first words of
the ceremony.
"Who gives this woman in
marriage?" he asked.
Tawnya's strong voice rang over the
roar of the waves and the gasps of the guests. "Her mother and I
do."
I saw Mairin sigh with relief before
kissing first Tawyna's and then Mom's cheeks. I knew she'd worried
that Tawnya would make some attempt to stop this wedding, but since
they'd mended their relationship, Tawnya's acceptance of vampires as
a whole had improved significantly. Mairin stepped away from Mom and
Tawnya--away from our family--and took the hand Mathias offered her.
The look which passed between them was so deeply reflective of their
love that I heard many of the audience members gasp yet again. I
hoped the photographer had gotten that shot. I knew I wanted it for
myself.
The rest of the ceremony progressed as
any other wedding I'd ever attended until the minister reached the
part in the vows where normally he would have said "until death
do us part." I knew Mathias and Mairin had convinced the
clergyman to change it to "for all time," but the sound of
my sister's voice saying the words was something I hadn't expected
would hurt quite as much as it did.
I saw Xavier mouth, "I love you,"
and realized I must have done something to show my pain. I was so
afraid of losing my sister to this new world she'd found herself
thrown into and had now married into. She kept promising me she
wouldn't disappear, but I knew that someday I'd die and she wouldn't.
We'd lose each other one way or another and I wasn't ready for that.
She might be mostly invulnerable, but our family's penchant for
attracting the biggest and baddest supernatural monsters meant she
wasn't invincible. I could still lose her, as I nearly had so many
times in the past few years, and I wasn't ready for that.
"I am pleased to present to you
all, the newly wedded Mr. and Mrs. Mathias Auer." The applause
snapped me out of my thoughts. Mairin flashed me a wink before
leading the procession to the reception tent.
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