Chapter One - Leigh
Four and Half Months Later
I’m in hell.
I’ve been socializing for hours. Wilder and I were asked to greet groups of guests, dividing and conquering the thousands of people who came to celebrate us and our love.
I’ve shaken so many hands that my grip has gone numb.
Not to mention, my nose itches from all the perfumes I’ve inhaled.
The bright pink of the ballroom where we’re hosting our welcome party is the icing on the cake, and it tests my gag reflex. I hate pink.
Pink flowers. Pink antique couches. Pink ribbons hanging from the overhead chandeliers.
“Don’t you love it?” Gianna asks, her topaz eyes sparkling.
As my maid of honor, she’s responsible for this colorful mess, and I regret giving her free rein over this weekend’s color scheme.
If I hadn’t been so busy with my grandmother’s post-hospital care and researching how to close the portal, I would have picked a softer palette—something neutral with pops of color, like green to match Wilder’s eyes.
But Gi has transformed this space into a scene straight out of one of her beloved fairy tales, complete with dozens of white rabbits darting between everyone’s feet and hopping all over the chairs the guests have left empty. I feel like I’m trapped in a zoo.
I force myself to smile at her. It’s my own fault for not giving my final input on the planning.
Ravi and I have been frantically researching how to close the portal to Mictlan since we opened it nearly five months ago.
We kept hitting dead ends until a few weeks ago, when I found—in some of my father’s research—that the spell to close the gateway is in Aradia’s journals, which are locked away here in Traum Castle.
Ironically, we are back to where we started.
There was too much going on at home to justify another trip to Glaucus so close to the wedding.
The Council and Wilder would have been suspicious; I would have had to admit how reckless I’d been in trying to bring the dead back to life.
So instead, I changed our wedding location to Glaucus at the last minute.
I told Wilder that I wasn’t thrilled about the wedding photos we’d get if we stayed at the venue in Borealis.
With a mountain backdrop, our wedding photos would be showstoppingly gorgeous, so the ceremony must happen in Glaucus.
It’s not a lie—the mountains are picturesque—but being here also allows me to get back to the lake without raising concern.
Over the past few months, a few daemons have slipped through the portal, breaching the shadow boundary I set around the lake.
Luckily, they were all lesser daemons, and the Glaucus Blades killed them all before they caused any damage.
Since they haven’t been dangerous, I haven’t told anyone where they came from.
Still, the threat remains, and it’s growing.
If I manage to close the portal tonight, everyone will remain blissfully unaware of the situation.
The Blades will submit their reports about strange daemon activity, never realizing their queen caused it all.
I need to close the portal before something worse gets through, and I have to do it tonight.
I want tomorrow to be about Wilder and our future together.
No distractions. I’ve dreamed of this day since I proposed to him on that rooftop.
I want nothing more than to commit to each other in a room full of our family and friends, kiss like no one’s watching, and then walk out of the abbey doors without a care in the world.
I want to be a bride whose biggest worry is whether her dress is wrinkled after the long train journey from the capital, not whether creatures from a death realm might crash the reception.
Tonight feels like I’m racing against time to prevent a disaster of my own making, but tomorrow will be the happiest day of my life.
According to my father’s research, Mictlan’s biggest threat is the Dullahan—armored rangers who serve Kosac, the Death God who rules there. Dullahan haven’t been seen yet, but I feel the risk of the ticking clock. For months, I’ve felt like I’m playing a game of daemon roulette. It ends now.
“Leigh?” Gi prompts.
“It’s so pretty,” I manage through gritted teeth.
Gianna beams, and I exhale. Poor Gi poured her heart into planning this entire weekend.
I know she’s determined for this wedding to outshine the two she never had.
Gianna has been engaged twice—once to my brother before he passed away, and once to a jerk we went to school with—but she’s never walked down the aisle herself.
Her happiness matters more than my initial discomfort.
“I’m so relieved you love it. It was nearly impossible to pull off within your tight time frame, but luckily, I had help,” Gianna exclaims. She grabs a flute of sparkling wine from a server dressed in a white tailcoat, then hands it to me.
I’ve already had more than enough to drink.
Drinks were constantly offered to me and Wilder before our guests tore us apart, stealing our attention from each other.
I scan the crowd of spring colors, and exhale longingly.
It’s been a while since I last saw him. Originally, I envisioned a small, intimate wedding focused on Wilder and me, but Gianna brushed me off.
You only get married once, she’d insisted, and when you do, you do it big. Not wanting to argue, I agreed.
A happy Gi is a happy Leigh.
“Help?” I ask, noticing Wilder across the room talking with Ry and Isolde. My heart swells. Goodness, he looks so handsome in his suit. “Help from whom?”
Gi rubs her button nose, looking guilty as shit. I narrow my eyes. “I know you don’t like her,” Gi says carefully, her tan complexion turning waxen, “but you have to understand, you were so busy with your grandmother’s recovery, and I needed an extra set of hands …”
“Who?”
Gi doesn’t look at me when she says, “Felicity.”
My stomach hardens. “Felicity Graves?”
“Yes.”
I sneer. My cousin Felicity and I aren’t close.
She only visits me and the family when she wants something, so the fact that she helped Gianna plan my wedding tells me I’m about to be asked for the biggest favor yet.
I tighten my grip on my drink. As the daughter of my grandmother’s late brother from a second marriage, Felicity is technically next in line for my throne until I have children.
Over the past few years, she’s become bolder, asking for a higher allowance and more royal responsibilities, and I don’t like it.
I make a mental note to deal with Felicity after the wedding.
I pretend to yawn. It’s time to meet Ravi, help him find the spell, and close the portal. Wilder’s busy with friends; maybe he won’t notice I’ve slipped away if I do it now. “I should go get some sleep. Thank you so much, Gi. Everything tonight was beautiful and special.”
Gi frowns. “It’s not even ten o’clock.”
“Doesn’t the bride need her beauty rest?” I ask.
Gi’s jaw sets. “Are you really going to bed, or trying to fuck around with your fiancé?”
I choke on my spit. Gi pats my back, waving off a few concerned guests.
“I already told Wilder I’d see him in the morning,” I wheeze.
“I’m sure he accepted that with the subtlety of a jackhammer.”
When I told him I wanted to sleep alone tonight, Wilder complained that I always break the rules so I shouldn’t have trouble breaking this one.
He’s right, of course. I want more than anything to sneak into his room and fuck his brains out one last time before we make it official.
The thought of him wanting to tear off my clothes as much as I want to tear off his is maddening.
But I stayed firm despite how much it kills me, because the excuse that traditionally, royal engaged couples spend the night apart before the wedding is the lie that will allow me to handle the portal without him knowing.
He’ll be happier inside the castle with the rest of our family and friends, blissful and excited as all grooms should be the night before their wedding.
“Wilder is fine with it,” I lie.
“If you say so,” Gi says, and I roll my eyes. “But, before you leave, you need to come with me to talk to Felicity. I told her we’d find her before the party ends.”
“I’m okay, thanks.” I sound bratty, but I don’t have time to get caught up in Felicity’s drama.
Eleven years older than me, Felicity spent our childhood criticizing everything about me.
She incessantly commented on my uncouth princess behavior, my wild hair, and my mismatched clothes.
The worst came after my father and Fynn died.
While I was still reeling from the loss, Felicity gave an interview discussing the “tragic nature” of their passing.
She told the entire kingdom how nervous she was about Corona’s future with me next in line for the throne.
I’m sure she hasn’t changed.
Tonight at the rehearsal dinner, I avoided making eye contact with her across the table and kept my distance when we moved to the ballroom for the party. I’d hoped to avoid her altogether, but that was wishful thinking.
Gi narrows her eyes. “All you need to do is thank her. Is that too much to ask? If she hadn’t helped me with the names of caterers and hotels for your guests, I never would have been able to pull this wedding off in time.”
“Felicity lives here, Gi. It’s not as if she went out of her way to give you those names.”
Gi leans in close. Her spicy perfume holds me hostage as she says, “Leigh, if you don’t accompany me right now to thank your cousin, I will put laxatives in your morning coffee.” My oldest friend flashes me a cold smile. “Taking photos will be awkward as hell when you can’t get off the toilet.”
Sensing she’s serious, I scowl. “Remind me why we are friends?”
“Ah, I see Felicity.” Gi waves. I follow her line of sight.
I suppress my groan as I slip my arm through Gianna’s. The sooner I thank Felicity, the sooner I can leave. “Let’s get this over with,” I grumble.
My forced smile falters. Felicity isn’t alone. Admirers surround her—all men—each of whom she probably promised she would choose to have at her side when she becomes queen.
“Ow,” I whine when Gi elbows me in the ribs.
“Stop scowling, will you? I’ve heard from reliable sources that she gives great gifts.”
“Ugh. I can afford all the nice things I want. I’m the queen.”
Gi pouts, and my resolve crumbles like streusel. “Humor me. Felicity said she’s super excited to see you. I think she’s matured since you two last saw one another. Maybe she will surprise you?”
I’ll believe she’s changed the day dogs can talk. “Maybe.”
I inhale a deep breath, feeling the seams of my white dress tighten. I can do this.
Felicity stops talking with her friends. My cousin, a Green Witch who looks more like my grandmother than I do with her long dark hair, sapphire blue eyes, and a reserved heart-shaped face, grins maniacally. I need to get out of here.
“By the stars, Leigh, don’t you look fancy,” Felicity greets, kissing me twice on each cheek.
Her lip gloss is sticky, like syrup. She wears a pastel pink baroque-style dress, which is her signature color.
I’m guessing she was involved in decorating the venue.
White silk gloves cover Felicity’s hands and elbows, and her yellow diamonds are modest, yet we both know they are extremely expensive.
“Well, it is my wedding,” I reply with a hand on my silky hip.
Gianna frowns. “Be nice,” she mouths.
“I’m so happy you found your person,” Felicity gushes.
Her male companions nod as if on cue. “For a while there, my mother and I didn’t think you’d ever settle down.
At least, not with anyone other than that Bennett fellow.
” She pretends to look for Bennett among my guests, though I know she’s aware he isn’t here, considering she helped Gianna with the wedding preparations, which likely included the invite list. “Shame he couldn’t make it, but no one wants to watch the love of their life marry another man. ”
I choke back ugly laughter. Felicity hasn’t changed a bit. “I am hardly the love of Bennett’s life.” Last I heard, he’d met someone.
A huge smirk forms on Felicity’s face as she speaks.
“I only meant that the way you two behaved when you were kids made it obvious he was obsessed with you. My mother and I still talk about how you two had sex in a closet at Fynn’s engagement party.
” She laughs humorlessly, and her men laugh along with her.
My breath stalls, while Gianna flinches. I can’t believe Felicity brought up Gi and Fynn’s engagement party in front of her. Father and Fynn died that night.
“I mean, talk about a scandal,” Felicity continues. “But you were always one for breaking the rules. It’s funny how you enforce them now.”
My fingers twitch with the urge to put this bitch in her place, but I’m not about to create a scene at my party.
Gi has already moved away and is locking eyes with her girlfriend across the room.
“You know what, Felicity? Thank you so much for coming. Your help with planning this event has been invaluable. Excuse us.”
I steer Gi out of that rattlesnake’s nest.
She exhales. “That girl is toxic as fuck.”
A laugh bursts out before I can stop it. “A leopard can’t change its spots.”
“I don’t get it; she was so nice on the phone.”
I offer Gi a water from the nearby buffet table. She gulps it down.
“Probably so she could get an invite to the wedding and torment guests about how she helped plan it,” I reply. “Let’s just pray she doesn’t start singing.”
Gi snorts. “Please, don’t ever die. I couldn’t stomach her as queen.”
My stomach tightens. “Don’t worry, that won’t happen anytime soon.”
The glow of Gi’s skin returns to normal. “I can’t believe you are getting married tomorrow.”
I beam at my oldest friend. “Neither can I.”
“Wilder is a lucky guy,” Gi says, tears welling in her eyes.
“I thought you didn’t approve?” I tease.
Since their trip to Aurora together two years ago, Wilder and Gi have grown very close.
How could they not be, especially after he rescued her at gunpoint?
I glance over my shoulder and catch Wilder watching me as if he has X-ray vision. I blow him a kiss. “I’d better go.”
Gi hugs me tight. “I love you.”
“Love you.”
I aim toward the exit with Wilder’s heated gaze still on me.