Page 196 of Making Choices

My boon will become the bane of my existence.

His curse will morph into a windfall of ambiguous quality.

The firestorm of bullshit we’ve created, the ashes of which are likely to bury the woman we love alive, will turn back on itself, and eagerly consume us with its flames. Our lies will be engulfed in the resulting inferno. The truth will rise from the embers. Futures will be decided in the cinder-blasted aftermath.

Purgative yet perilous.

Resurrection.

A fresh start?

Only time will tell.

Little Cherub will either exonerate our betrayal or consign us to the depths of hell for our sins. And, since I haven’t yet discovered the right formula to calculate the likelihood of her forgiveness, I’m not sure which outcome is more likely.

With my luck, it’ll be the latter.

“Cherub’s here.”

The soft pitch with which Mumma speaks startles me out of my head.

I gape at her with wide eyes.

“Here?”

“She’s in the smaller chapel.”

“For real?”

Mumma nods fast. “Gabriel suggested we commandeer it as our bridal suite to cut down the chances of the Maddisons interceptin’ her before your union is made official in the eyes of the Trinity. We thought it’d give her time to calm down—only it turned out that she wasn’t all that interested in being fussed over by us.” The jitters that were prevalent when she approached me return. Her eyes, so much like Hunter’s and mine, cloud with worry and the crystalline irises are eaten up as her pupils dilate. “I’m afraid for her—scared that she won’t survive the ritual with her sanity intact.”

“She will.” I grip the bracelet in my pocket so hard that my knuckles scream. “I’ll make sure of it.” My feet are in motion before my mouth has finished. “Tell Gabriel to delay proceedings for half an hour.”

“Slash! No. You can’t.”

Shaking her off when she tries to stop me, I hold up my hand. “The weddin’ will start late—or it won’t start at all.”

“Carter McKinnley Hudson! Get yer arse back here!”

Without responding to Mumma’s use of my full name, I stalk through the crowd toward the chapel that’s attached to the main church building. It’s usually used for smaller services, AA meetings and the like, and it hadn’t crossed my mind that it would house Cherub’s wedding preparations.

The truth is that I haven’t given this ceremony much thought at all.

Because as far as I’m concerned, we’re already wedded. Today’s proceedings are a mere formality to placate the Trinity’s need for displays of opulence and to help draw the clan out of hiding. The ceremony at the compound was it for me—the beginning of our union took place in front of the people we’re trying to protect from Brutus and the Maddisons. It was a spiritual joining, as legal as could be with the licence Cub hastily procured certifying it. I thought that ensuring she was married to me before she discovered the full extent of the Trinity’s deal would inoculate me from the risk of losing her. I’d hoped that prematurely binding her to me before the official ceremony would lessen the fear she’d feel heading into today’s ritual.

I wanted to make her mine before anything—anyone—could sabotage it.

Now, I understand that I made a mistake.

I’ve made things worse.

“You can’t go in there,” Nadia tells me as I burst into the smaller room. “She’s gettin’ ready.”

“Hmmm, sure she is.” Glaring, I allow my dubiousness to show on my face as I scan the huddled women for the one I’m looking for and come up empty. The closed door behind Cherub’s best friend catches my eye and I stomp past her. “Or you’re full’a shit and Cherub’s locked you all out so she can breakdown without an audience.”

“Slash!” Nadia’s protest is hard to hear as I ram my shoulder into the wooden door.

Once. Twice. The third time the door frame splinters and the barrier between me and my wife gets caught on the piece of furniture she’s dragged across the doorway. I give it a shove and the heavy bureau screeches along the floor until there’s a space wide enough for me to push my way through. After offering the wide-eyed bridesmaids a smirk, I slam the door shut, then pull the dresser back across it.

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