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. Greg and I want to get married.Parker blinked. Is that legal in Maryland? Dude.I m pretty sure necrophilia is illegal in allfifty-two states.If he could have blushed, he would have. I meantmale-male marriage.Pillock. I m dead.Legal has nothing to do with it. We want to share our love, and no perv jokes,okay? Brian looked nervous. I guess we want yourpermission.You re the closest thing to family Greghas.It would mean a lot to both of us to know youapproved.Parker choked, touched that they d ask him. Youdon t need my permission, but you have my blessing.He shook his finger at Greg s amorphous form.Was itMaggie s Grove that had lent him that extra bit ofstrength, or was it the ghost s bond to his lover?  I ddamn well better be your best man. Wouldn t want anyone else.Parker hugged Brian. Congratulations, Greg. Hegave Brian his best sad face. My condolences.Nowyou ll be stuck with him forever.Almost like ahemorrhoid. Don t make me tell the Great Cactus Story of  69.Brian was about to burst into laughter at anymoment. Do I want to know? Yes. No. Parker glared at where he assumed Gregwas. I will so dump your ashes in the Atlantic andmake you late for your own wedding. He turned backto Brian. Seriously.Where do you want to hold theceremony, and who do you want to officiate?Brian s shy look was bloody endearing. Wehaven t worked out all of the details yet.He asked melast night. Oh.That explains all the moaning and thumping.Brian was horrified. You heard that?Parker hadn t heard a thing.He d been too busymaking love to Amara.A monkey could have beenbanging on his head with a coconut and he wouldn thave cared. Oh yes.It sounded like you had quite thetime.Brian, wide-eyed, turned and began walking away. Tell me about the cactus thing. Don t you dare, Greg! Parker started to scrambleafter the pair but was brought up short by a hand onhis arm.A very strong hand. Can I help you?Noah Wulfenbach s teeth were clenched. I m hereto apologize.Parker shook free of the werewolf s grasp. Wheredid you go the other night? One moment you wereracing along behind us, the next you were gone. Mostof the pack had returned, but enough hadn t thatParker was pissed.Noah grumbled, low and full of discontent. One ofours was taken.Parker relaxed, some of his anger drifting away. Bloody hell.Is he all right? He s missing.One of my strongest too. Noahleaned back against a convenient pillar and shovedhis hands into his tuxedo s pockets. We can t find adamn trace of him. Shit. Parker rubbed his chin. You think this hasanything to do with Iva going missing? The dryadswere still looking but hadn t found a trace of her yet.Noah twitched. Possibly.No one asked my opinionbefore.How long has she been gone, and why haven tthey said anything? Is it your beta who s missing? Parker shot back. No.One of my enforcers.Parker s eyes widened, and he whistled softly. Damn.An enforcer would be tough to take down. Which is why I think it was more than one personwho did it. Hell. He looked around, but he could no longersee Greer or Ash. Greer and Ash need to knowabout this. I know your loyalty is to the dryads, but  Noahsighed,   we could use your, and Amara s, help.He didn t even have to think about it. Of course.Noah straightened slowly, removing his hands fromthe pockets of his tux. That s it? You ll help me? Nomaking me grovel? No asking for favors? You ll grovel all right, but onstage, and to my wife.Other than that? We agreed that once you did, allwould be forgiven.And if two of our people aremissing, who else could get taken? Amara? Brian?Even Greg? Parker shook his head. I think we needto talk to Mina, Dragos and Selena, get their take onthis as well.Noah nodded.He clapped Parker s shoulder, and ifhe hadn t been a vampire, he would have been drivento his knees at the force of it. You re good people,Parker Hollis. Wonderful. Parker tried not to wheeze, but he waspretty sure his elbow was somewhere down by hisknee.Actually it would be difficult not to wheeze,considering his lung was folded in half.Hestraightened as best he could once Noah lifted hishand. Where is Amara? It s about time for yourapology, I believe.Noah winced, but he followed Parker toward thestage. Amara, sweet? Hmm? Noah is here and needs to talk to you. He doesn t have to do this, Parker.Parker had made a pact, and by damn the alphawould stick to it. Yes, he does.It s a man thing.Youwouldn t understand. Uh-huh.Where should I meet you? By the stage, sweet. On my way. Everything ready? Dragos, looking both suaveand surly, appeared at his elbow.He grunted hello atNoah, who grunted back. Yes.And we need to have a powwow when this isover.It seems one of Noah s enforcers has gonemissing.It s possible the same person may have IvaYamauchi. Yew? That seemed to snap Dragos out of his self-imposed pity party. You think they ve beenkidnapped?Noah glanced up at the stage as the music came toan end. There s my cue.We ll finish this discussionlater. Come on, big guy.A few simple words and this willall be over. Parker followed Noah onstage but stoodback, letting him be the center of attention.Noah stepped up to the edge and took a deepbreath.The crowd turned quiet, waiting for Noah tospeak.They all knew what was coming.Some wereanticipating it with glee, others with dread [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]