“Yeah. She’s a friend of my mom’s.” I saw my mom and my half sister, Ella, sitting in the second row, looking back to see us. Jeb and Dylan were in the next row, and a bunch of our friends from CSM. Dylan had really surprised me, down in Dr. G-H’s lair. I was gonna keep an eye on him.
“There’s the music,” said Angel.
“Okay, you’re up,” I said. The two of us really hadn’t hashed things out. I knew we’d have to, if the flock was going to survive. But not today.
Angel slipped through the tent door. Everyone oohed and aahed at how pretty she was. She walked slowly down the red carpet, strewing white rose petals everywhere. Deceptively innocent, I thought. But at the same time it was comforting to see her looking so much like my old Angel. Even though we hadn’t fully made amends for all that had happened between us, I decided to suck it up and enjoy the rush of everything that was happening today.
“Your turn,” I told Nudge. She gave me one last smile, then headed down the red carpet slowly, walking in time to the music. I peered out and saw Gazzy step forward, right in front of the justice of the peace. He took Angel’s arm and they walked a few paces, then separated and stood on either side of the decorated podium.
I waited until Nudge was halfway down the aisle, then I left the tent, hoping I didn’t throw up from tension. Everyone’s heads turned toward me, and I heard excited whispers ripple through the small crowd. I tried to smile, but I was so nervous I could manage only a sickly grin. Ahead of me, Iggy stepped out unerringly and took Nudge’s arm. They walked a few paces, then separated, like Angel and Gazzy.
Then I could see Fang. His dark eyes seemed to burn as they locked on me. I tried to swallow and couldn’t. I was holding my bouquet so tightly I was about to snap all the stems. Everyone else faded away, and I had eyes only for Fang. His black hair had been cut, somewhat. He wore a midnight-blue suit and an actual tie that he’d probably already figured out fifteen ways to kill someone with.
It seemed to take forever, but I finally made it up to Fang without tripping on my impractical fancy shoes. He held out his arm and I took it, staring into his eyes. We walked up to the justice of the peace … and separated, each standing on our own side.
Then everyone really craned their heads around to see Akila stepping lightly from the tent. A wreath of flowers like mine rested between her pointed ears, with lisianthus picking up the blue of her intelligent eyes.
She walked majestically down the aisle, just as my mom had practiced with her.
As she stopped in front of the justice of the peace, Total stepped over to join her. He was wearing a russet-colored bow tie, and his black fur shone. Even his black wings, which he held out proudly, looked perfectly groomed.
Total grinned at me, and I smiled back at him. It didn’t matter that he was shorter than Akila, that she outweighed him by sixty pounds. It didn’t matter that he was a mutant, and she was 100 percent glorious purebred. The way they looked at each other would have brought a tear to my eye, if I were susceptible to that kind of thing.
Total knew how difficult their future would be. He could fly on his own — he was as capable as we were of jumping up and going somewhere at a moment’s notice. Akila was stuck with more traditional means of travel. Total could talk to us, express his wants and needs (lord, could he), whereas he had to interpret Akila for us.
But they had decided to stick together, despite the odds. Total had fastened on to Akila as being the perfect match for him the moment he had first seen her. He hadn’t given up. And now they were declaring their vows in front of everyone they cared about.
My mind wandered as the justice of the peace began the ceremony. I heard Total say, “I do,” in a voice quavering with emotion. Next to him, Akila nodded that she did too.
I couldn’t help looking over at Fang, unbearably handsome, the afternoon sun turning his skin to a warm gold. He was already looking at me, and I shivered at the expression on his face. In his eyes I saw the promise of our future together. A future full of danger, excitement, persecution, thrilling victories, and lessons learned — some easy, some hard.
And every bit of it would be okay. Because we would be together.
THE OTHER EPILOGUE
AS IT TURNED OUT, that assumption was wrong.
After the reception, which was pretty much the funnest party I’d ever been to, especially since I didn’t have to put it together or clean up afterward, we headed back to our current safe house. Fang had gone back about an
hour before but had insisted I stay and eat cake and party down with my funky self.
So I did, in my fancy dress and fancy shoes and fancy hair, and I couldn’t help marveling at the fact that it wasn’t all that long ago that we were sleeping in subway tunnels in New York, and it probably wouldn’t be all that long before some similar change in our circumstances took place.
But tonight was fabulous, and I was surrounded by my favorite people, and I kept thinking of funny things to tell Fang, like how Total looked with white frosting all over his face.
So Nudge and I flew back, followed by Angel, Gazzy, and Iggy. I was thankful that I could usually wear jeans or sweats. Flying in a dress is not a picnic. Talk about vulnerable.
We landed lightly on our back deck. Inside, a few lights were on. I kicked off my fashionable, uncomfortable shoes and went to find Fang. I’d brought him a piece of cake, and though it was a teensy bit squooshed, I was sure it’d taste okay.
I headed down the hall and tapped on the closed door of the boys’ room. No answer. Had he already fallen asleep?
I opened the door a bit and peered in. It was dark. “Fang?”
I flicked on the light. The room was empty; his bed was still made. The bathroom was next door, and it too was dark and empty.
“Fang?” I called louder. “We’re home!”
I headed out to ask the others if they’d seen him, and that was when I saw the note.