Page 58 of Night Wedding
I drove back out onto the street and circled, all the muscles in my limbs tight. Why was it impossible to find a place to park when time was so pressing? I was ready to abandon my car in the middle of the road.
“There’s one,” Gianna pointed out one we’d passed.
I screeched to a stop. “Eek, I suck at parallel parking.” It would be a tight squeeze between two SUVs, even with my small car. Worse, it required spatial awareness that wasn’t my strong suit, especially under stress.
“I’ll help you.” She climbed out of the car and directed me. “Reverse. Okay, turn in. No, turn the wheel the other way.”
“Oh hell,” I muttered.Focus. You know the difference between your left and right.This was difficult enough on a normal day. Throwing in the added pressure of trying to save my guy from being lured away by his ex, it was surprising I didn’t plow right into the SUV behind me.
An ice age later, I’d parked in the spot, at a slant that would piss off some self-proclaimed parking guru, but I didn’t care. I threw open the car door and slammed it. Gianna and I sprinted down the sidewalk back to the building.
“Here we go again,” Gianna said with an encouraging tone. “Supernatural Charlie’s Angels on a mission.”
“Hopefully one in which we’ll succeed,” I muttered through my quickened breath.
When we reached the back of the building, Sebastian found us. His expression turned crestfallen, and he shook his head. “I can’t get inside. They won’t let me get to him.”
I searched around the exterior of the brick building with covered windows that didn’t allow any visibility in. It seemed as imposing as a fort. “Where’s Zoe?”
“She’s talking to the vamp running things. He appears to be running stall tactics to keep anything from interfering with this event.”
“We saw Lucas flying above.”
“Yes, he’s not having any luck finding a way in either.”
Both he and Gianna eyed me with sympathy as if waiting for my reaction. The more it appeared I was losing Diego, parts of me crumbled inside. But I wasn’t going to give up on him yet. I gritted my teeth and straightened, visualizing my backbone hardening with steel. I’d fight for him. Whatever I had to do, wherever I had to go, I’d fight to save Diego.
I had a deep breath and exhaled. “Maybe I can.”
“What?” Gianna asked. “How?”
“It’s a gathering for vampires to feed on willing humans, right? I don’t see why they’d turn away a witch who’s offering her blood.”
“No, Nova, you can’t,” Gianna protested.
“You’d be walking into a den of hungry vampires,” Sebastian added.
It was the best way to reach him. Diego craved my blood. He’d done so from the first moment we met. I had to pretend to be one of the tasty meals.
“I have to,” I said. “It’s the only way I can get close to him.”
Gianna straightened. “Then I’m coming in with you.”
“No way,” Sebastian declared. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Sebastian, not now,” Gianna said with a dismissive wave. “We don’t have time to deal with your protective streak.”
“When it comes to lecherous vampires soliciting my mate’s body and blood, we sure as hell need to deal with it.”
“No, Gianna, you can’t go with me.” I didn’t have time to have them argue and couldn’t put Gianna in danger. “I need to go in alone.”
I pulledopen a heavy black door. A massive guard with a lumberjack beard and shoulders the size of my head gazed at me from the head down and arched his brows. I glanced down at my outfit. Was my pale-yellow sundress covered with daisies not dressed enough for this party?
Fake it. Act like you belong here.
He stood behind a podium with paper on top. Beside him was a red rope hanging from two gold posts barring entry down a long dark hallway.
I straightened and strode over. “I’m here for the event.”
