Nightfall (Devil's Night #4) - Penelope Douglas Page 0,224

out my hand, helping her up the stairs.

“I was thinking you could kiss me this time,” I heard Banks tell Kai.

And then Damon took Winter’s hand. “You look so beautiful, it fucking hurts,” he said.

But I couldn’t swallow, my mouth was so dry.

Her dress, her body, every curve… What did the back look like? Holy shit…

“Are you up for this?” she asked in a quiet voice, looking hopeful.

I felt the ring on her finger, my eyes trailing over her breasts. Emory Scott. What the…?

She took hold of my chin and forced my eyes back up, trying desperately to hold back her laugh. “Are you up for this?” she asked again.

I nodded. “Yeah, for like, ever now.”

She took off her ring and handed it to me so I could marry her with it, and then she took my arm, all of us coming back to the middle.

Damon wrapped his arms around Winter, holding her to his body and not taking his eyes off her, while Banks held on to Kai, standing at his side.

They were the only ones actually married, but their first wedding was pretty tense. I was happy we were all here. It was perfect.

“Welcome,” the officiant said as the music died down.

“Michael and Erika—”

But then…lights illuminated above us, and we all tipped our heads back as the crowd gasped and the judge fell silent.

The crystals above that I saw earlier were chandeliers. A dozen of them, hanging in the trees, coming to life and lighting up the leaves, their branches, and looking like a whole other world up there.

Emmy sucked in a breath, and I looked over at her, seeing her chin tremble and a tear hanging at the corner of her eye.

“Oh, my God,” she murmured.

She seemed to love chandeliers, didn’t she?

Reaching up, I wiped the tear, the lights glowing across her beautiful skin.

“Michael and Erika,” the officiant started again. “Damon and Winter. Kai and Nikova. William and Emory.”

We all looked at her, air filling my lungs and feeling Em’s eyes on me.

“Are you happy?” the judge asked.

And I blew out my breath, breaking into a low chuckle, all of us laughing within a moment.

The judge nodded, needing no further answer. “I’ve been proud to watch you grow here, and I’m excited to see everything that comes next.”

I clasped Emmy’s hand.

“Rings, please?”

I held Emmy’s, Michael held Rika’s, and Damon and Kai took their women’s back from them temporarily.

But then, all the girls opened their palms to reveal the bands they had for us.

I looked down at it to see silver rings emblazoned with a crest I didn’t recognize. A skull hovering above a bed of grass where a snake laid. Antlers stretched out of the bone against a black background.

I looked around, kind of confused. Banks had the same ring for Kai, and I couldn’t see Michael’s or Damon’s, but I assumed they were the same, too. I guess I’d missed something.

I liked it, though.

“What’s wrong?” I heard Michael whisper.

“N…Nothing,” Rika said. “I thought I saw something.”

“Michael and Erika?” the officiant continued. “Do you promise that no matter what you do, you do it as one?”

They smiled at each other. “We do.”

“Damon and Winter?” the judge asked next. “Do you promise to give your very best to each other?”

“We do,” they said, their voices strong and sure.

“Kai and Nikova?”

My heart hammered inside me, and my pores cooled with sweat.

“Do you promise that the other will never be alone?” the judge asked.

“We do,” they answered, and I could hear the smile in their voices.

“And William and Emory?”

I looked down, holding Em’s eyes.

I was going to lose it, I was so nervous.

“Do you promise to believe in each other and stand together?”

I gulped.

Hell, yes.

“We do,” we replied.

The officiant paused for a moment, then continued, “Do you promise to put the family first?”

“We do,” we all answered.

“Do you promise to never break these promises?”

I grinned down at her. “We do.”

We all slipped the rings on the other’s hand, the band wrapping around me and my heart at the same fucking time.

“Michael and Erika, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

“Whoo!” I heard someone yelp, and we all laughed as Michael and Rika kissed.

“Damon and Winter?” the judge said. “I pronounce you husband and wife.”

He took her face and kissed her, still going even after the judge moved on.

“Kai and Nikova, I pronounce you husband and wife.”

“Come here,” Kai said, crashing his mouth down on his wife’s. She giggled.

Banks giggled. I shook my head.

The pulse in my neck pounded, readying myself