Page 14

Ember walked down the aisle a little, and turned, looking up at the fabric and the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling. “It’s amazing. And magical.”

For the first time she realized there was a woman crouched on the floor taking her picture. A photographer. Good, because she wanted to remember this forever.

Zeke stood behind her, watching her face for every emotion. She could see the anxiety in his expression, and she reached out to him. “You did good, big man.”

He grinned at her, the skin of his face pulling taut. He looked different from when she’d first met him, because he’d had two surgeries in that time. The scar across his forehead had always been the worst, and they were trying to smooth it out. They’d also released the one that pulled up on the edge of his lips, but she kind of liked that one. He was done for a while, though, he’d promised her. If she was content with the way he looked, that was all that mattered.

Ember allowed herself to be tugged away, down the hallway by the women. She caught his eye as she slipped into a room, and mouthed ‘I love you’.

“I love you too,” he told her.

Ember was swept into a beautiful room, designated the princess room. There was a huge makeup counter, with a couple of chairs. A woman was unloading a makeup case there, and smiled at her as she came in. Cat was sitting on the pink velvet chaise lounge, and on the far side of the room there was an overflowing rack of wedding dresses next to a curtained off changing area. A woman Ember didn’t recognize was there, smiling sedately. She wore a dark suit, and was flawlessly made up, her blond hair slicked back from her face.

“You must be Ember. My name is Storm and I will be helping you find a dress.” She shook Ember’s hand, then held onto it as she stood back, looking her up and down. “Size six, yes?”

Ember nodded, impressed. Willow tugged on her coat and Ember let her take it, and the scarf.

“We have a couple of favorites we picked out,” Shannon told her, moving toward the rack, “but you can, of course, pick your own.”

“Show me what you picked,” Ember said, feeling a little overwhelmed.

For the next twenty minutes she tried on dresses, but nothing suited her quite right. Ember was getting a little worried. There was now a second woman at the makeup counter, but she was doing hair. Lora was getting her makeup done. Ember had a feeling that they were on a timeline, though. She’d tried on every dress Shannon and Willow had suggested, but they weren’t quite what she had in mind.

“Just a minute,” Storm said, slipping out of the dressing area. She returned a minute later. “This is my choice for you,” she said, and pulled in a pale, ice blue dress with jeweled lace down the front.

Ember’s heart began to pound, because she’d seen this dress, or a version of it, in a magazine. “Oh, that’s beautiful,” she said, reaching out to finger the intricately jeweled bodice. It was a total princess dress, and completely impractical. She dropped her robe and stepped into the fabric as Storm held the back open for her. As soon as she pulled the sleeveless dress up over her boobs and felt Storm cinching the bodice, she knew this was the one. The skirt was long and full, and glistened like freshly fallen snow. It hugged her body like it had been sewn for her, and it made her feel beautiful.

Once again, tears started in her eyes.

“Uh oh,” Willow said when she stepped out of the curtained area. “I think we have a winner.”

Ember nodded, turning to Storm. “Thank you so much. I know you don’t normally come to the venues like this, and I can’t even imagine how much this dress costs.”

Storm grinned, tossing her dark blond ponytail over her shoulder. “These are all within your fiancé’s budget.”

Oh, good. They made decent money from the bar and Zeke’s Lost and Found work, but they weren’t rich by any means. Oh…wait… she thought of how busy he’d been recently, working more LNF cases. He’d been paying for their wedding. Ember’s throat tightened as she realized how much he had planned and readied for this day.

All to make her dream come true.

“There’s another piece to this dress,” Storm said, moving to a hanger. She pulled off a white-furred shrug to go over her shoulders. Immediately, Ember felt warmer. “Oh, I love it!”

And she didn’t feel as exposed. For a girl who normally wore jeans and t-shirts, the dress bared a lot of skin.

“I think you look stunning,” Shannon said softly, her hand resting on her belly. She sat on the chaise lounge like a queen, her hair and makeup already done. It had been done before Ember had even gotten there, and Willow’s, too. They must have been the first, and very sure that she would say yes.

“Thank you,” Ember said, shaking her head. “I’m still kind of in shock.”

“Well, you’d better get used to it,” Willow said bracingly, “because you’re about to walk down the aisle.

7

Haven watched people flow into the building. Two men were standing at the door checking people in, not including Duncan, the head honcho of Lost and Found. There were two ushers guiding people to their seats. One was Flynn’s adopted son, Matteo. The boy was only about fourteen, not very big, but Haven could tell he took his job seriously as he guided guests to chairs, then returned to the doors to lead another couple in.

There were a lot of former and possibly even current military here tonight. It was obvious by the way the men carried themselves. There were a few women he thought could be military, as well. And there were more than a few disabled veterans, carrying crutches or canes, or sporting prosthetics. Duncan greeted everyone and it seemed like the man knew ninety percent of the people rolling in. Haven let him be the gauge on who to watch.

It had been quiet outside. Last night he and Aiden had taken shifts sleeping. Haven hadn’t found anything on his reconnoiter, but it didn’t mean there was nothing there. If the person or persons was enhanced like he was, there was a very high probability that he wouldn’t find anything. Working at the Dog Pound, he had the advantage of knowing literally everyone in the building. He’d probably trained with them. And everyone at the Dog Pound had their own signature, be it a strong mental aura or a physical presence that could be felt.

He’d never been in contact with this ghost.