Heart Stings

HEART STINGS
CHAPTER ONE
LORELEI PARKER

“We’re getting married—again!”

Mallory Parker, my grandmother, made that pronouncement in a loud, proud voice and followed it up with a wide, beaming smile. Me? I held back a groan and downed some water from my crystal goblet to hide the grimace twisting my face.

Stuart Mosley, Mallory’s husband, must have noticed my lack of enthusiasm, because he leaned forward and looked at me. “Don’t worry, Lorelei. We’re not actually getting married again. We’ve already been through that whole shebang once, which was plenty for me.”

Mallory’s blue eyes narrowed, and every single part of her body bristled, including the wrinkles that lined her face. She sat up to her full height and somehow managed to peer down her nose at Mosley, despite the fact that they were both dwarves and only around five feet tall. “I wasn’t aware that one of the happiest days of my life was a shebang.”

Mosley reached over and squeezed her hand, his hazel eyes gleaming in his tan, wrinkled face. “You know what I mean. All the fuss around planning the wedding. Picking out suits and dresses and flowers and ten different desserts for the reception. Now, that was most definitely a shebang. And for the record, it was one of the happiest days of my life too. And every day since then has only made me happier.”

A pleased, pink blush swept across Mallory’s pale cheeks. She curled her hand into his, and the massive diamond ring on her finger sparkled like a star. The two elderly dwarves stared into each other’s eyes, completely focused on the love they saw reflected in each other’s soft, adoring gaze.

They were a striking, distinguished couple. With her teased, cloudlike coif of snow-white hair, powder-blue cocktail dress, and perfect posture, Mallory looked as regal as a queen. Mosley’s wavy silver hair was expertly cut and styled, and his navy suit was impeccable, although his hooked, slightly crooked nose made him look more like a retired boxer than the president of First Trust bank and one of the most powerful businessmen in Ashland.

I cleared my throat, interrupting their lovey-dovey staring contest. “So, if you’re not going through the whole shebang again, then what are you doing?”

Mallory pulled her gaze away from Mosley and focused on me again. “We’re simply hosting a second reception, because…” Her voice trailed off. “Well, you know what happened at our first wedding reception.”

Everyone in Ashland knew what had happened at Mallory and Mosley’s reception, which had been the grand finale to their Valentine’s Day wedding last month. For the most part, things had gone off without a hitch. The actual wedding ceremony had been a beautiful affair, held in a ballroom at the Five Oaks Country Club and attended by friends and family from both near and far. The following reception had featured scrumptious food, lovely decorations, and upbeat music, and everyone had been talking, laughing, dancing, and having a terrific time.

Until Emery Slater had crashed the party.

The female giant had stormed into the ballroom and taken everyone hostage. Emery and her fellow giants had threatened to start shooting people unless Gin Blanco, the assassin known as the Spider, had agreed to leave with them. And in true Gin-being-Gin fashion, she had sacrificed herself and gone with the giants to protect the innocent guests, who had included her own friends and family.

“I told you that asking Gin to be a bridesmaid was risky,” I said. “Especially since she was hot on the trail of Mason Mitchell at the time.”

Mason Mitchell was a Stone elemental and the longtime leader of the Circle, a secret society that had been behind much of the crime and corruption in Ashland for decades. Mason was also Gin’s uncle and the man who was ultimately responsible for the deaths of her parents years ago.

“We had to ask Gin to be in our wedding,” Mosley replied. “We all love her, and none of us would be sitting here right now if it wasn’t for her.”

True. Gin had saved my life when Renaldo Pike, my abusive father, had tried to kill me when I was a teenager, and she’d protected both me and Mallory from Raymond Pike, my half brother, when he’d come to Ashland to try to murder me several months ago. More recently, Gin had saved Mosley from Alanna Eaton, a cannibalistic vampire who’d wanted to kill the dwarf in order to regain control of the Eaton Estate, her childhood home.

“Besides, it’s not Gin’s fault that Mason Mitchell told Emery Slater and all those other giants to crash our reception,” Mallory chimed in. “And Gin got the best of Mason in the end, just like she always does.”

Yes, she had. A couple of weeks ago, Gin had turned the tables and crashed a fancy gala that Mason had thrown to celebrate the Mitchell Mile, a massive construction project that would have completely destroyed the old-timey charm of downtown Ashland. I’d fought alongside Gin that night, along with several of our mutual friends, as we’d all battled Emery and her giant goons. Eventually, Gin had faced Mason herself, and she’d finally found a way to kill him, despite his extremely powerful Stone magic.

The Spider always bested her enemies, but just thinking about how close we’d all come to dying that night still made me shiver. In an instant, the restaurant vanished, and I was staring up at the Mitchell family mansion, watching Mason use his incredible magic to rip one balcony after another off the house and toss the massive chunks of stone through the air like they were as light as marbles…

“More water?” A polite voice interrupted my dark memories.

I forced myself to smile at the waiter hovering beside my elbow. “Yes, please. Thank you.”

The waiter poured some more water for me and topped off Mallory’s and Mosley’s ginger ales. He also took our food orders, then retreated.

The three of us were dining at Underwood’s, the fanciest and most expensive restaurant in the city. Everything about the restaurant was subtle and subdued and whispered of money, from the crisp white linens to the gleaming flatware to the sparkling crystal water goblets. It was just after seven o’clock, so the dinner rush was in full swing. Every table was full, and folks were also crowded along the wooden bar that ran the length of the dining room.

I’d made a reservation and slipped the maître d’ enough cash to get us seated next to the floor-to-ceiling windows that offered an impressive view of downtown Ashland. The Aneirin River glimmered like liquid silver as it curled past the various buildings, while the full moon and twinkling stars gilded the streets in a clean, pearly sheen. In the distance, the bright lights of the Delta Queen riverboat casino gently bobbed up and down on the water, like a cluster of fireflies continuously dancing through the air.

I admired the beautiful vista a moment longer, then turned my attention back to Mallory and Mosley. “So, you’re basically planning a do-over for your wedding reception since the first one got ruined.”

Mallory nodded. “That’s right, pumpkin. And don’t worry. We’ve already got everything booked. All you have to do is show up.”

I shot a disbelieving look at Mosley, who held up his hands in mock surrender.

“Don’t look at me. This was all your grandmother’s idea,” he replied.

I sighed, knowing that I had no choice but to give in. Despite the fact she was more than three hundred years old, and my great-grandmother many times over, Mallory Parker was still a force to be reckoned with. “What do you have in mind?”

She grinned. “Just a small, little party at the Rhododendron Inn. Nothing too big or fancy.”

I snorted. Big and fancy perfectly described the Rhododendron Inn, a luxury resort that catered to Ashland’s wealthiest citizens, along with tourists who could afford to pay the resort’s sky-high prices. Given its location atop a nearby mountain, the inn was especially popular during the fall leaf-peeping season, as well as the winter months when its ski slopes were open. Even though it was nearing the end of March, the weather had turned cold again, and we’d had a significant snow a couple of days ago, with more expected later this week, which meant that skiers, snowboarders, and sledders were still flocking to the resort.

“Tell me what you have planned,” I said.

Mallory grinned again, then launched into detailed descriptions of everything from the flowers to the food to the decor.

“When did you have time to put this together?” I asked. “You’ve been on your honeymoon for the last few weeks.”

Mallory waved her hand, making her diamond ring sparkle again. “Oh, I asked Roslyn to help me with a few things, since she did such a great job stepping in with the wedding at the last minute. Don’t worry, pumpkin. Everything’s done, so you won’t have to lift a finger.”

Roslyn Phillips was the vampire owner of the Northern Aggression nightclub and another one of our friends. She’d finished planning Mallory and Mosley’s wedding after the original coordinator had gotten sick.

“We’re not calling it a reception, though,” Mosley said. “More like a welcome-home party to celebrate the start of our new lives together.”

He smiled at Mallory, who beamed at him again. The two of them were so obviously, completely, truly in love that my own chest tightened with equal parts happiness and sadness. I was thrilled that Mallory had found someone who cared as much about her as she did about him, but I was also a little jealous that I didn’t have someone similar in my own life. Hence the odd, uncomfortable mixture of pleasure and pain zinging through my body. Heart stings, my mother used to call such disparate feelings.