Fortunately, Rachel's minister wasn't as long-winded as the Hewitt family's minister had been. Still, Lucern practically ran Kate out of the church the moment it was done. Or tried to. Their escape was stalled by the bottleneck that formed at the exit as each and every single guest paused to wish Etienne and Rachel well. The couple had exited the church first, as per the custom, and were now standing atop the church steps, speaking to everyone as they left.
Of course, Kate would insist on congratulating them and wishing them well, too, which Lucern thought was ridiculous. She didn't even know them! But the woman ignored his attempts to urge her down the stairs, and stopped to wish the couple happiness.
Rachel and Etienne weren't surprised Kate was at the wedding, of course. The family grapevine was as healthy as ever. And much to Lucern's irritation, Rachel was one of those social people who liked everyone and liked to talk. Etienne was hampered with the same affliction, so they couldn't just say thank-you and let Kate go. No. They had to actually speak to Kate and ask if she was having a good time in Toronto.
Lucern felt himself tensing as he waited for her answer. He was vaguely surprised when she laughed and said, "Oh, yes."
Etienne seemed equally surprised. He asked, "You mean, my brother is actually entertaining you?" As if Lucern were some sort of heathen, incapable of being a good host.
"Yes." Kate nodded cheerfully. "He and your mother, too. Marguerite took me shopping and to the spa today. And last night, Lucern and I played Blood Lust Two until all hours of the morning."
"Oh!" Rachel exclaimed. "Isn't that a wonderful game? Etienne is so talented. Although I thought he'd drive me crazy with it when he was designing the end sequence. It gave him trouble."
"Etienne?" Kate glanced from Rachel to Etienne uncertainly.
"Yes. It's his game," Rachel explained. Then she glanced at her brother-in-law with surprise. "Didn't you tell her it was Etienne's game?"
"Yes, I'm sure I mentioned—"
"No, you didn't!" Kate exclaimed with a light slap at his arm. "Oh, my God! Why didn't you tell me?"
Lucern scowled. His editor didn't notice; she'd already turned back to his brother.
"I can't believe it! I love Blood Lust, both One and Two. They are amazing!"
She rambled on, gushing over Etienne in a way Lucern found annoying, then suddenly stopped with a small gasp, before saying, "Oh! I just realized, the primary characters in Luc's last book were named Rachel and Etienne. And Etienne was a game creator, too. Oh, wow." She gave a laugh and grinned at Rachel. "The next thing you'll tell me is that you're a coroner like the woman in the book."
Lucern, Etienne and Rachel all exchanged glances and shifted uncomfortably.
Kate's eyes widened at their silence. "You aren't, are you?"
"I like to base stories as much in reality as I can," Lucern said to break the silence.
"But you write vampire books." Kate sounded bewildered.
"Well, within reason," he amended, then took her arm firmly. "Come. We're holding up the line."
Lucern hurried Kate to his car, saw her inside, got in himself and immediately turned the radio on. He cranked the volume up high to prevent conversation and drove to the reception hall where the wedding dinner was to be held. In his rush to get there, where he hoped Kate would be distracted and forget the odd coincidence of the characters in his books matching his real-life family, Lucern somewhat exceeded the speed limit. As a result, they were one of the first to arrive.
Much to his relief, Kate didn't mention the matter again. She and Lucern were seated at a table, and his mother and his sister Lissianna with her husband Greg soon joined them. Bastien was seated at the head table with the rest of the wedding party, so it was just the five of them at the six-person table closest to the long head table.
Lucern spent the first several minutes simply fingering the glass of wine that was promptly set before him, his gaze darting nervously to Kate as she talked with Marguerite and Lissianna. The three women were making him terribly nervous. They had their heads together, and there seemed to be an awful lot of giggling and laughing mixed in with their quiet talking. He was dying to know what they were saying, but couldn't have heard had he tried, with all the talk and disruption as people arrived and greeted one another.
"Lissianna!"
Lucern stiffened at his editor's exclamation; then Kate turned on him. "Your sister's name is Lissianna! That's the name of the female vampire in your second book."
"Er… yes." He shot a glance at his mother and sister. Were they deliberately trying to complicate his life?
"Etienne and Rachel in the last book, Lissianna and Greg in the second. And Marguerite!" She turned on Lucern's mother. "Your husband was named Claude, wasn't he?"
"It's pronounced with an 'o' sound dear, like load, not 'ah' like clod," Marguerite corrected gently. Then she nodded. "But, yes, my husband and my children's father was Claude."
"Oh." Kate was silent for a moment, but was obviously thinking, looking for other similarities. "And your family name is Argeneau, too. No, wait," she corrected herself. "In the novels it's Argentus, from the Latin 'argent' for silver, because the patriarch had silvery blue eyes. Like you!" She turned suddenly to peer into Lucern's eyes.