“Leave that girl alone,” Hades huffed as he joined them, kissing his wife’s cheek and escorting her to the doors. “You look beautiful, Micah.” He looked over her head at Dio. “The boys have just gone in. Seph and I will be next. You follow with the change in music.”
Dio nodded and adjusted his chlamys. “Tell her, not me. I’m too sober for this amount of responsibility right now.”
The doors opened and he shielded her from view as Seph and Hades walked in.
“It’s not too late to turn around and break into the wine vats.” He grinned, his immense size made less intimidating by his open expression. “We can be blacking out in under an hour.”
The music changed, a processional piece announcing her entrance. “I may take you up on that after the ceremony and before Seph makes a speech,” she whispered, gripping his arm when the doors opened.
Her eyes went straight for the back of the hall where Ryan stood, his brothers at his side. He visibly swallowed as Alex placed a hand on his shoulder and muttered something into his ear, Bo nodding and giving his older brother a light smack on the back.
*
#
Ryan lounged back in his chair at the head table, grinning as Micah and Apollo argued over a sketch the god was holding, his dark eyes flashing in anger until she pointed at something and his brows furrowed, all annoyance draining as he nodded slowly.
Damn, she was stunning.
He’d been unable to tear his eyes off her since her entrance into the banquet hall, her spiraled red hair flaming against the white of her dress. As she’d neared him, her eyes popping against the onyx liner and smoky shadow he hadn’t realized he missed since their arrival in the underworld, he’d focused on the image, burning it into his memory for eternity.
“Yeah, you should keep that under wraps for a few days,” Bo suddenly hissed, jabbing his elbow into Alex’s ribs. “She’s going to kill you.”
Glancing over, his eyes widened. “You’re a dead man walking.”
Alex shoved the marriage certificate into the lining of his chlamys. “Well, after everything that went down here with you two, we decided waiting was stupid. So we wrangled Tom and her friend Max and went to the courthouse and…yeah.” He looked over to where Seph stood in her glory, entertaining her guests with the trials of putting on such an elaborate affair single-handedly. “I’m dead.”
The brothers grunted in agreement and watched the party, tracking their wives through the crowd until Micah extricated herself from the Fates, kissing Atropos on the cheek and hiding her rolling eyes until she was out of Lachesis’s range.
She held her hand out to him, making a show of pulling him to his feet. “Come on, dear husband of mine. We’re dancing before Hades drags me around for more introductions.”
With his hand in her viselike grip, he followed her to the floor and pulled her into his arms. “Have I even told you how stunning you look?” he asked as she lay her head on his chest.
“No, but I figured it out when Zeus had to electrocute you to get your attention off my dress before the vows.”
Wincing at the reminder, he tightened his hold on her. “I hate to say it, but Seph was right. I should have practiced the vows more.”
She smiled up at him and cupped his chin, running her thumb along his jaw. “You did great,” she reassured him. “Except maybe the last part.”
It had taken him three tries to speak the last line without stammering, Zeus eventually coaching him through it two words at a time while Alex snickered behind him, the sound of Bo smacking his twin punctuating the moment.
“I’ve been running through it in my head since the banquet started,” he stated, taking a small step back. “Micah Wheaton, will you do me the honor of taking my name, my heart, and my life in eternal matrimony?”
With feigned swooning, she draped her hand over her forehead. “I do.” Straightening, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “And now Zeus says…”
“I now pronounce you Orion and Micah Echidna,” he murmured as he kissed her, smiling against her lips. “Ready to get out of here, wife?”
Grasping his hand, she swung her skirt and turned toward the door. “Follow me.”
The End
