Page 13 of Bad Luck Vampire

“Lucian will handle it,” Marguerite said with satisfaction.

“Lucian?” Sophie queried with curiosity. “Is he one of the friends of the bride that you mentioned, or—”

“Not a friend exactly, no. More a . . . Lucian Argeneau is the boss of Valerian and Tybo’s boss,” she finished finally.

“Oh,” Sophie murmured as she watched Lucian “handle” the uncles. She had no idea what he said, but whatever it was seemed effective. Within minutes, the uncles were moving off to claim seats on the other side of the aisle, but not before every one of them turned to look her over.

Not welcoming the sudden scrutiny, Sophie scowled slightly and then simply turned her head away and gave them her back as she asked Marguerite, “So, Lucian is Valerian and Tybo’s boss’s boss.”

“Yes. And that lovely lady is his wife, Leigh,” Marguerite told her.

Sophie eyed the woman in question briefly, but then shifted her gaze to the men again to see that while the uncles had moved off to find seats, Lucian, Colle, and Alasdair were still in the aisle talking.

“And the handsome young man and pretty girl beside Leigh are her children, Gemma and Luka,” Marguerite continued. “They are fraternal twins.”

Sophie’s gaze moved back to Leigh and the young teenagers next to her. The boy had Leigh’s dark hair, while the girl had her father’s fair hair, and their features were a mixture of both parents; both had Lucian’s silver-blue eyes, but otherwise Gemma looked more like a younger version of her mother, while Luka had his mother’s lips but his father’s nose. Both were as ridiculously attractive as the rest of this crowd. Well, except for the people in the first row in front of them, Sophie thought, glancing toward the guests now occupying the seats in the last row before the dais. Some of those guests were young, some were even attractive, but none were as attractive as the rest of this congregation, and there were even older people filling those seats. No twins, though. But then how many could there be in a group? Three had to be above the odds.

Turning to Marguerite, she said, “Twins seem to be a thing in this crowd. Gemma and Luka, Colle and Alasdair, and I’m pretty sure two of the uncles were twins too. At least they look like identical twins.”

“Inan and Odart,” Marguerite said with a nod. “Yes, they are twins.”

“Inan and Odart?” Sophie echoed.

Marguerite glanced at her with surprise and then seemed to realize the names weren’t exactly standard. In fact, Sophie had never even heard them before.

“Yes. Well, I’m not surprised you have never heard them before. They are old-fashioned Scottish names. Very old and rarely used now,” Marguerite said.

Sophie didn’t doubt that for a minute but then frowned as Marguerite’s words played through her head. I’m not surprised you have never heard them before? She hadn’t said that out loud, had she? She’d just thought it. Hadn’t she? No, she must have muttered what she was thinking. It wasn’t like Marguerite could read her mind.

“Here come the boys. Oh, and Tybo and Valerian just entered the tent. The ceremony must be about to begin.”

Shaking away the ridiculous idea that Marguerite could read her thoughts, Sophie looked to the end of the row to see that the men were now easing past Leigh and the twins to regain their seats. She then turned to look toward the back of the tent to see Tybo leading Valerian up the aisle toward the dais. When he spotted her and grinned, she smiled back and then raised her eyebrows quizzically when Tybo’s grin morphed into a frown as it shifted to Alasdair just as he reached and reclaimed the seat beside her. Then her view of Tybo was blocked by Alasdair’s chest. By the time she leaned to the side to be able to see Tybo again, he was walking past their row and had turned his head to face forward.

Wondering what that was about, Sophie shifted to sit properly in her chair to watch Tybo and Valerian mount the dais. The two men had barely taken up position on the dais, side by side, facing the people here to witness the wedding, when a murmur had her glancing back toward the entrance of the tent to see a minister starting up the aisle, his white robes fluttering out around him as he hurried to join Valerian and Tybo.

Once the minister was in position on the dais, music started. Sophie, along with everyone else, immediately turned to look toward the back of the tent. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected to see, but it wasn’t the adorable little cherub in a pretty pink dress with a crown of pink- and mulberry-colored flowers on her head and the huge white dog she was holding on to by the fur with one hand as she teetered up the aisle. A soft ah went through the crowd, and as if it were a cue, both the dog and child stopped and the little girl released her hold on the animal to reach into the basket she was carrying and pull out and toss a handful of petals on the floor. She then grasped the big dog again by the hair and took a couple more steps before stopping to repeat the exercise. Sophie had to bite her lip to hold back the laugh that tried to escape her. It was such an adorable scene, and the dog was wonderful, moving when the little girl did, stopping at once when she stopped.

“That is Natalie’s little girl, Mia,” Marguerite whispered. “And her dog, Sinbad. He’s so good with Mia.”

Sophie nodded silently, never taking her eyes off the pair as they made their way up the aisle. The sweet little cherub was just a couple feet from the dais when she reached into her basket again, only to frown, peer into it, and then tip it up. The basket was empty. For one moment she looked distressed, but then Valerian gave a soft whistle to get her attention. Spying him on the dais, she beamed a smile, squealed, and dashed forward with Sinbad hard on her heels.

Sophie held her breath as the little girl negotiated the stairs, and everyone gasped when she lost her footing on the top step and began to teeter backward, but Sinbad was there. The dog caught her by the collar of her dress and lifted her off her feet even as Valerian rushed forward to scoop up the little girl.

“Good boy,” Valerian said, patting the dog before straightening with Mia now clutched safely to his chest. Mia immediately showed both men her empty basket, which from her chatter, appeared to be quite disappointing to her.

“I think I’m in love,” Sophie whispered with amusement as she watched the little girl chatter away, hands and basket waving around. She didn’t think she’d spoken loud enough for anyone to hear, but the words had Alasdair swiveling around to look at her wide-eyed.

Flushing with embarrassment, Sophie shrugged and said almost apologetically, “She’s just so darned cute.”

Alasdair relaxed a little and nodded. “She is.”

Sophie peered up at him with curiosity. That was the first time he’d spoken to her, and she was fascinated by the husky, almost rusty sound of his voice. As if he didn’t use it much.

A murmur that started at the back of the tent and moved forward like a wave had her looking around again then to watch a pretty strawberry blonde start up the aisle. She was wearing a lovely mulberry-colored gown with the front reaching just below the knees and then swooping down in the back where it reached the floor. It had a fitted bodice and a pleated sash around the waist and looked beautiful on the woman.

“That’s Jan,” Marguerite murmured helpfully. “Natalie’s dear friend and assistant chef here at the golf club. She’s the maid of honor to Tybo’s best man.”

Sophie nodded and watched the woman make her way up the aisle, admiring the dress and the way the chiffon skirt flowed out as she moved.

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