Of Fish or Fowl

BY: Edward

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, and I'm not interested in owning anyone. I'm not making any money off of this.

Rating: PG (Unfortunately there was no bloodshed)

There were two men standing out in the trees. I noticed the odd movement of the shadows almost immediately. I let my eyes skim over the assembly as I began making my way around the edge of the clearing, staying just inside the soft glow of the candle light. One of the men was a few inches over six feet. The other was a couple inches shorter than me. I recognized him as Astoroth, more fondly refered to as Astro turf. Kash wasn't fond of him and neither was I. He was on the guest list though. He was the groom's second in comand, and had been invited out of courtesy, not a good enough reason in my book.

The guest list for this function was a bit too long in my opinion. Dangerously so. Demons were seated on the right, Angels on the left, and the rest of the monsters, well they were right down the center. It was the perfect setting for a massacre. If either side moved wrong it could all explode. The soft pressure at the small of my back brought a small smile to my lips. This was certainly my idea of a party. Kash knew that, that's why she put me in charge of security. It did put a bit of a damper on the evening for me though. Instigating a melee in this crowd would be so much more interesting then stopping one. She'd been...funny about it though, when she asked she brought me a mug, like the ones Anita seemed to accumulate. It was white with simple black lettering that said "A man who doesn't mince words...people yes...words no." I don't usually go for bribes, but this time I made an exception.

Looking out over the crowd of tense faces I wasn't all that disappointed...sooner or later someone was gonna break...I hoped it was sooner. Anita looked less than interested. She was armed, to the teeth, so were most of the guests. It's never wise to put people who hate each other in a tense situtation and then arm them. We all knew that, and there'd been a few...DISCUSSIONS on the subject. It would have been impossible to disarm everyone here, besides that, more then half the audience didn't need weapons to do serious damage to their enemies. Finally we'd settled on the idea of just being BETTER armed then they were and putting up as many wards and spells as were humanly possible. Actually a few of the spells weren't human at all. Most of the wards had been set up by the local witches. Lori and Esther had worked for weeks to get everything into place. Anita had done her own circle of power and linked it to the magic of the lupanar itself. We'd taken all the precautions we could and now we just had to hope it was enough.

We had the advantage...and we intended to keep it. I'd been rather surprised at all the suggestions that had been made. Generally the public doesn't think in terms of stringent defense, but then this wasn't really the 'public'. These people knew that monsters were real...most of them WERE monsters. Kash should have had better sense than to marry him. The subject...concerned me. There was no way it could work. One day she'd have to destroy him...or he'd destroy her. Too many women I know are like that.

Anita's eyes kept floating back to Jean-Claude. She'd taken the fourth mark. It seemed to be the season for binding yourself to the enemy. The desire to shake my head in disgust was strong but I managed to restrain myself.

My eyes wandered away from the wedding party to where the Aviartras sat. There were six of them seated a few rows back. They didn't stand out, but the way they blended in made them stand out. People don't look that at home in any situtation. There are always tell-tale signs of discomfort, whether its from the strangeness of a situtation, its unfamiliarity, or just human nature. They appeared completly at ease. I could admire that. The two females were attractive, not stunningly so, but pretty in a subdued way. It was an illusion. You could see the slight waver of light around the edges if you looked closely. That hadn't been the case earlier...the magic in this place was strong, holding an illusion together had to be difficult.

One of the men let his eyes lock with mine. His name was Dare, he'd been arguing with the taller light headed man named Saul. He wasn't pleased with this turn of events. He had protected Kash's dignity at the party last night, it gave him points in my book. All four of the male Avi's had been present for the entertainment. None of them had thought to offer a weapon though. It seemed obvious to me. It had bothered me that they had just stood there watching so quietly. Perhaps they expected Kash to be able to take care of herself. I could buy that.

Dare was still watching me carefully. I gave a slight inclination of my head and looked back at the bride and groom. Fangs had done his job and given the bride away, now Kash and Luce stood, hands clasped together...eyes fixed on each other. Touching.

I hadn't been listening to the words of the ceremony, and I didn't intend to start now, but Asher's sudden movement forward did catch my attention. He reached down to a small patch secured at the waist and pulled out a slender silver chain. Odd, I thought that a ring was the standard token at a wedding. Kash didn't seem to mind...her eyes flashed from the chain and then back up at Luce. Moisture glistened in her eyes but no tears fell...yet. Luce smiled as he took the necklace and unclasped it...two circles of silver metal were hanging on it, he let them slid free into his palm. Kash smiled at him. It obviously had some significance. He took her hand in his and slid the smaller band onto her finger. She looked down at it like it was some small miracle, then took the larger band and placed it on his finger.

They both turned back to Malcolm. Strange thing...vampire minister marrying Lucifer and a holy warrior. Strange indeed. Given the choice I wondered which I'd choose. Serve in heaven or reign in hell. Hard call, I don't take orders well.

to be continued...


INDEXor To Be Continued