Holly noticed the couple and shot a glance back at me, her face a question. I had no answers, but a bad feeling slid along my spine. I clenched my fists around my bouquet. My dagger was in my purse, which was in the bridesmaid tent. My instincts urged me to move, to stop standing like an attending statue, but I really, really didn’t want to be the one to ruin Tamara’s wedding just because a creepy pair of fae were moving to a better seat. Unless their plan is more sinister. Trying to maintain my already feeble smile, I watched the couple’s slow progress.
Mrs. Greene finally noticed the shifting and backward stares around her and tore her gaze from her daughter. I could see only the edge of the dirty glare she shot at them, but I was glad I wasn’t the one on the receiving end. She stood without a word, the picture of poise as she silently but purposefully moved to the aisle and intercepted the fae. I could catch only the hiss of her voice, not her words, but while her gestures were contained to a tight box in front of her body, they were sharp, betraying not so hidden anger.
The fae ignored her. The hobgoblin pulled something from inside his jacket pocket. I still had my shields cracked, so I had to squint to figure out that the crumbling object was some manner of reed pipe. He lifted it to his thick lips like it was some sort of instrument. I seriously doubted music would be what emerged.
“Get down,” I yelled, grabbing Holly’s arm and dragging her to the ground with me as I took my own advice.
A moment later a small dart flew silently through the spot I’d been standing seconds before.
Someone in the crowd screamed and wooden chairs creaked and toppled, as people rushed out of their seats. Tamara moved as though she would run to Holly and me, but Ethan grabbed her arm and rushed up into the relative safety of the gazebo. I was thankful for that. Goodness knew there was no cover where Holly and I crouched in the grass.
“We’ve got to move,” I said, but other than the gazebo, there was no cover anywhere near us.
Holly seemed to realize the same thing, because without a word, she turned and crawled toward the wooden structure. I followed, the grass damp through the thin material covering my knees. With Holly in the lead, I needed only to pay marginal attention to where I was going, leaving most of my attention free to watch the two fae.
The hobgoblin reloaded his blowgun, his large fingers fumbling with the small dart. The woman was otherwise engaged, primarily with Mrs. Greene. Now that her daughter’s wedding was well and truly interrupted, she’d lost any pretense of civility toward the two fae and was now cursing, loudly. Not bad words mind you, but a true curse. The kind that made the Aetheric swirl around her, giving her curse power.
I was still a foot away from the gazebo when the hobgoblin lifted the blowgun to his lips. I cringed, an instinct that did nothing to help me get to cover sooner. Thankfully, while I may not have thought it necessary to wear my dagger under my bridesmaid dress, many of Tamara’s guests were on the police force, and they’d had no such compunction against carrying their service weapons.
The hobgoblin’s small red eyes flickered to the crowd of off-duty cops as a half dozen officers drew on him. It wasn’t much of a distraction, but it was enough for me to dive behind the gazebo.
“You okay?” Holly asked, leaning down to help me to my feet.
I nodded, turning to peer back around the edge of the gazebo while staying as covered by the structure and glowing flowers as possible. I’d missed only a moment, but in that time the scene had changed. The two fae were running from the wedding now. I could see them clearly, but then I was still peering across planes of existence. Judging by the fact the cops had lowered their weapons and were looking around in all directions, I guessed the fae had glamoured themselves invisible.
Once the two fae vanished through the arch and across the park, I stepped out from behind the gazebo. Chairs had been knocked over on both sides of the aisle, and nearly half the wedding guests had fled. Holly and I both had grass stains on our knees, and Tamara’s bouquet looked the worse for wear where it lay forgotten at the steps of the gazebo. Mrs. Greene fluttered around, trying to put things back in order, but even if most of the guests returned, I seriously doubted this wedding would continue.
I surveyed the chaos and guilt clawed at me like daggers sinking into my guts. Was this my fault? Had the bogeymen been targeting me? It seemed likely. They had appeared to be able to see me. And whatever the man had shot from his blowgun had been aimed at the bridal party, of which I was a part. But I wasn’t the only bridesmaid. Still, who else here had recently taken a trip to Faerie, questioned shades who’d died from drugs distributed by fae, or left her card at the Bloom after asking questions? I wasn’t sure which action had gotten me noticed, but it certainly seemed I’d gotten someone’s attention.
Chapter 16