Read Online My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding by Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jim Butcher, P. N. Elrod, Rachel Caine, Esther M. Friesner, Susan Krinard, Lori Handeland, L. A. Banks - Free Book Online
Authors: Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jim Butcher, P. N. Elrod, Rachel Caine, Esther M. Friesner, Susan Krinard, Lori Handeland, L. A. Banks
Tags: Anthology
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wouldn't she be?" Billy said. Someone started shrieking in the background. "Crap, this battery's dying. Problem solved, come on up. I brought your tux."
"Billy, wait."
He hung up.
I called him back, and got nothing but voice mail.
"Aha!" Bob said. "Someone used that wolf spell the naked chick taught to Billy and the Werewolves, back over there by the bedroom," he reported. "And there were faeries here."
I frowned. "Faeries. You sure?"
"One hundred percent, boss. They tried to cover their tracks, but the threshold must have taken the zing out of their illusion."
I nodded and exhaled. "Dammit." Then I strode into the bathroom and hunkered down, pawing through the rubble.
"What are you doing?" Murphy asked.
"Looking for Georgia," I said. I found a plastic brush full of long strands the color of Georgia's hair and took several of them in hand.
I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my tracking spell, refining it over the years. I stepped out into the hall and drew a circle on the floor around me with a piece of chalk. Then I took Georgia's hairs and pressed them against my forehead, summoning up my focus and will. I shaped the magic I wanted to create, focused on the hairs, and released my will with a murmur of, "Interessari, interressarium."
Magic surged out of me, into the hairs and back. I broke the circle with my foot, and the spell flowed into action, creating a faint sense of pressure against the back of my head. I turned, and the sensation flowed over my skull in response, over my ear, then my cheekbone, and finally coming to rest directly between my eyes.
"She's this way," I said. "Uhoh."
"Uhoh?"
"I'm facing south," I said.
"Which is a problem?"
"Billy says she's at the wedding. Twenty miles north of here."
Murphy's eyes widened in comprehension. "A faerie has taken her place."
"Yeah."
"Why? Are they trying to place a spy?"
"No," I said quietly. "This is malicious. Probably because Billy and company backed me up during the battle when the last Summer Knight was murdered."
"That was years ago."
"Faeries are patient," I said. "And they don't forget. Billy's in danger."
"I'd say Georgia was the one in danger," Murphy said.
"I mean that Billy's in danger, too," I said.
"How so?"
"This isn't happening on their wedding day by chance. The faeries want to use it against them."
Murphy frowned. "What?"
"A wedding isn't just a ceremony," I said. "There's power in it. A pledging of one to another, a blending of energies. There's magic all through it."
"If you say so," she said, her tone wry. "What happens to him if he marries a faerie?"
"Conservatives get real upset," I said absently. "But I'm not sure, magically speaking. Bob?"
"Oh," Bob said. "Um. Well, if we assume this is one of the Winter Sidhe, then he's going to be lucky to survive the honeymoon. If he does, well. She'll be able to influence him, longterm. He'll be bound to her, the way the Winter Knights are bound to the Winter Queens. She'll be able to impose her will over his. Change the way he thinks and feels about things."
I ground my teeth. "And if she changes him enough, it will drive him insane."
"Usually, yup," Bob said. His voice brightened. "But don't worry, boss. Odds are he'll be dead before sunrise tomorrow. He might even die happy."
"That isn't going to happen," I said. I checked my watch. "The wedding is in three hours. Georgia might need help now." I looked back at Murphy. "You carrying?"
"Two on me. More in the car."
"Now there's a girl who knows how to party!" Bob said.
I popped the skull back into my backpack harder than I strictly had to, and zipped it shut. "Feel like saving the day?"
Her eyes sparkled, but she kept her tone bored. "On the weekend? Sounds too much like work."
We started from the apartment together. "I'll pay you in donuts."
"Dresden, you pig. That copdonut thing is a vicious stereotype."
"Donuts with little pink sprinkles," I said.
"Professional profiling is just as bad as racial profiling."
I
"Billy, wait."
He hung up.
I called him back, and got nothing but voice mail.
"Aha!" Bob said. "Someone used that wolf spell the naked chick taught to Billy and the Werewolves, back over there by the bedroom," he reported. "And there were faeries here."
I frowned. "Faeries. You sure?"
"One hundred percent, boss. They tried to cover their tracks, but the threshold must have taken the zing out of their illusion."
I nodded and exhaled. "Dammit." Then I strode into the bathroom and hunkered down, pawing through the rubble.
"What are you doing?" Murphy asked.
"Looking for Georgia," I said. I found a plastic brush full of long strands the color of Georgia's hair and took several of them in hand.
I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my tracking spell, refining it over the years. I stepped out into the hall and drew a circle on the floor around me with a piece of chalk. Then I took Georgia's hairs and pressed them against my forehead, summoning up my focus and will. I shaped the magic I wanted to create, focused on the hairs, and released my will with a murmur of, "Interessari, interressarium."
Magic surged out of me, into the hairs and back. I broke the circle with my foot, and the spell flowed into action, creating a faint sense of pressure against the back of my head. I turned, and the sensation flowed over my skull in response, over my ear, then my cheekbone, and finally coming to rest directly between my eyes.
"She's this way," I said. "Uhoh."
"Uhoh?"
"I'm facing south," I said.
"Which is a problem?"
"Billy says she's at the wedding. Twenty miles north of here."
Murphy's eyes widened in comprehension. "A faerie has taken her place."
"Yeah."
"Why? Are they trying to place a spy?"
"No," I said quietly. "This is malicious. Probably because Billy and company backed me up during the battle when the last Summer Knight was murdered."
"That was years ago."
"Faeries are patient," I said. "And they don't forget. Billy's in danger."
"I'd say Georgia was the one in danger," Murphy said.
"I mean that Billy's in danger, too," I said.
"How so?"
"This isn't happening on their wedding day by chance. The faeries want to use it against them."
Murphy frowned. "What?"
"A wedding isn't just a ceremony," I said. "There's power in it. A pledging of one to another, a blending of energies. There's magic all through it."
"If you say so," she said, her tone wry. "What happens to him if he marries a faerie?"
"Conservatives get real upset," I said absently. "But I'm not sure, magically speaking. Bob?"
"Oh," Bob said. "Um. Well, if we assume this is one of the Winter Sidhe, then he's going to be lucky to survive the honeymoon. If he does, well. She'll be able to influence him, longterm. He'll be bound to her, the way the Winter Knights are bound to the Winter Queens. She'll be able to impose her will over his. Change the way he thinks and feels about things."
I ground my teeth. "And if she changes him enough, it will drive him insane."
"Usually, yup," Bob said. His voice brightened. "But don't worry, boss. Odds are he'll be dead before sunrise tomorrow. He might even die happy."
"That isn't going to happen," I said. I checked my watch. "The wedding is in three hours. Georgia might need help now." I looked back at Murphy. "You carrying?"
"Two on me. More in the car."
"Now there's a girl who knows how to party!" Bob said.
I popped the skull back into my backpack harder than I strictly had to, and zipped it shut. "Feel like saving the day?"
Her eyes sparkled, but she kept her tone bored. "On the weekend? Sounds too much like work."
We started from the apartment together. "I'll pay you in donuts."
"Dresden, you pig. That copdonut thing is a vicious stereotype."
"Donuts with little pink sprinkles," I said.
"Professional profiling is just as bad as racial profiling."
I
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