Magic Rising Read Free Page B

Better still, he was hers and that seemed to be just fine by him too.
    Annalise had big news for me.
    “It’s beautiful,” I breathed as I held her left hand in mine to admire the sparkling ring on her ring finger. “I’m so happy for you.”
    Annalise linked her arm through Beau’s, her smile radiant, and he kissed the top of her head gently. Beau was a big man — a former Marine, (although I wasn’t sure how he managed that, since he was also a werewolf like her) but he had innate grace. It seemed like he was all too aware how easily he could crush a body if he weren’t careful. Though they had been high school sweethearts, their reunion was recent and full-bore. I liked him a lot.
    “The wedding will be in two months,” she told me. “Why wait? And I want you to be bridesmaid.”
    My heart swelled with pride. “Really?”
    “Absolutely. You’re my best friend. I won’t hear anything but ‘yes’ for an answer.”
    “Then, yes!” I dropped her hand. “Did I mention how happy I am for you? For you both?”
    “I think you did.” Annalise giggled.
    “Ever been to a werewolf wedding?” asked Beau. He didn’t bother dropping his voice. Glancing around, I judged most of the guests tonight were wolves, and those that weren’t certainly knew about them. It was surprising in a town like Wilding that everyone didn’t know. Their signatures were evident everywhere, from the high school wolf mascot to the symbols of moons all over the place. Aside from their population, there were Kitty and I, the only witches, and Evan, the only daemon in town. As far as we knew, he was the only one of his kind most of us had ever met. Demons and daemons, who were products of liaisons between humans and demons, were not the friendliest species, from what I understood, and preferred to keep to their own. I never quite figured out why all the other supernatural beings were so wary of his kind, but he was nevertheless quite welcome here in Wilding.
    Right now, I was watching Evan from across the room, who was deep in discussion with a wolf I vaguely recognised. Behind him was Gage, and his girlfriend Michelle Dunphy, a red-headed wolf who proved an ally when the Brotherhood assaulted us. That fateful day was months ago. She raised a hand and waved to me, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. She didn’t seem genuinely pleased to see me. I waved back regardless, just to be polite, and was glad to see the cast gone from her wrist. We were little more than acquaintances. She visited Gage at his place a few times since they started dating; and I saw her coming out of his house very early in the morning, only a couple of days ago. Gage looked up at Michelle’s wave and nodded at me. I mouthed “Hi,” but he quickly turned away, and smiled at something Michelle said. It cut me a little. He once told me some things that couldn’t be taken back; and although I didn’t reciprocate, I still had a lot of affection for him. If losing his friendship helped him move on, then I couldn’t stop him, even if I didn’t like it.
    I listened to what Annalise was saying, something about the ceremony being under a full moon.
    “It sounds wonderful,” I said.
    “And the partying goes on all night,” she added.
    “You’re not going to rip off your dress and go furry, are you?”
    “Hah! No.” She knocked me on the arm. “We do that tomorrow night. It doesn’t really have to be full moon, but it’s supposed to be auspicious, and you know how we love the moon.”
    Beau plucked my glass from my hand. “If you’re going to talk weddings, I’ll get you ladies another drink.”
    “Orange juice for me, sweetie.” Annalise called as he retreated to the kitchen. She turned to me and huffed. “He just wants to escape to check the scores,” she told me. “I’ll be surprised if he even remembers to bring us fresh drinks.” She hooked her arm through mine and we stepped outside. The air was cool and the patio empty. I could see someone