Penny & Her Heru Ch 2

Rent-A-Witch: Whynot Coven

Chapter 1 is a bit of a tease so here is Chapter 2.

2 - A Perfect Wedding

A Week Later

I shook the lingering effects of mirror travel off as I waited for my parents in the lobby of the Gate House in Whynot. It had been an intense week of calls with Bea. Following the drama of meeting her gargoyle mate, moving in together, and getting married today was like something out of gothic romance, except with text messaging.

As soon as they arrived Mom sent Dad off to meet the new in-laws, then dragged me off to Pink House. For the next four hours, I tried to stay out of her line of sight as she conspired with a local beautician named Bianca to transform Bea into a super smooth, buffed, and perfectly presented bride. The only thing I let her do to me was twist my hair into an elegant updo that I pinned in place with an enchanted hair clip to keep it perfect all day.

I didn't step in until Bea gave me a face in the mirror that said if one more hair was plucked from her body, she’d lose her mind.

"Alright, she’s perfect. Bianca, you’ve outdone yourself. No bride in history has ever been so beautiful. Mom, you should go make sure Dad hasn't spilt anything on his suit. You know how he gets when there are nibbles about."

She squinted at me trying to decide if I was trying to get rid of her when Bianca casually announced she saw a tall stranger in a blue suit eating chicken wings on the porch when she came in. I mentally added another twenty to her tip when Mom disappeared without another word.

Bianca grinned when our eyes caught. "I took a chance the only guy in the vicinity that I didn't know was your dad."

Bea slouched as much as her dress would let her. "Pretty sure you and I are gonna be good friends. I'd promise to be your best customer, but I only get a haircut when it gets ratty, and I buy my shampoo at the grocery store.”

Bianca shrugged as she started packing the array of brushes, makeup, and hair pins into her bag. "I would love to show you around Whynot and all the 'burbs when you come up for air. The last gargoyle who found his mate was a couple of years back; they didn't show their faces in town for a good month."

Bea snorted. "I might have to make an appointment just for a reason to leave the house then."

After a last check of her lipstick, Bea led the way to the courtyard where the ceremony would be held without a hint of nerves. How she was so calm I have no idea. If our positions were reversed, I'd be shaking with nerves. Then again, she didn’t have anything to be nervous about. She was marrying a guy she was crazy about (including his horns and wings). They already decided she was going to live with him and keep her job at Rent-A-Witch. He’d keep doing whatever he did for work. No one had to give up anything. Neither was expected to change who they were to fit into the other's life. I doubt she’d asked what holidays he celebrates, nor did he have a clue about the number of road trips they would be taking.

Yet they were both happily tying their souls together for eternity.

I peeked through the wall of greenery that surrounded the courtyard at the waiting crowd. Most of the gargoyles wore a kilt with some kind of weapon strapped to their waist. A few were mated to human women, one had a dryad tucked under his arm, and one had his tail wrapped around the leg of a half-orc/human. Every one of them looked borderline obsessed with the person next to them.

*

I watched as Bea and her mate accepted small gift boxes from everyone in the clan from a quiet edge of the courtyard. The couples I noticed earlier moved through the small crowd as one. It seemed like the only single people in the crowd were a couple of witches, a centaur, and an orc.

Lost in memories of playing bride with Bea as kids I jumped when someone cleared their throat beside me.

“Hello.”

The centaur I noticed earlier stood behind me holding two glasses of champagne. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. People normally hear me coming.”

I took the glass he offered and returned his shrug. “Sorry, I was in my own little world.”

“No need to apologize.” He waved his glass towards the mingling gargoyles. “I’m a friend of Venn’s and took it upon myself to check on his beautiful new sister-in-law.”

We made polite conversation as we sipped champagne. He was nice enough but kept stepping closer to me every time I tried to put a little distance between us.

I choked on a sip of champagne when I noticed a monster flying directly at the celebration in the courtyard. When I was asked in the past how I’d handle being attacked by an Other I would’ve responded with some baloney about staying calm and using the single defense spell I’d mastered in school. In reality I screamed ‘incoming’ like a banshee.

Time stopped when the monster landed between the centaur and me. All I could see was a broad sword strapped between a pair of leather wings that spread so far that they blocked the entire courtyard from my view.

The blood rushing through my ears paired with the panic of being cut off from the rest of the group prevented me from understanding what he was saying, but the deep gravelly voice stroked something inside me that I’d never experienced before. I wasn’t sure why hearing his voice stopped the fear his appearance caused, and the middle of a full-on panic wasn’t the time to try.

His tail wrapped around my ankle like a vine when I took a step away from him. I threw the only thing I had at him, the champagne flute bounced off his butt and shattered on the ground. There was no sign he even noticed.

“Don’t be absurd Heru, I would never!”

I had no idea what the centaur whose name I still didn't know would never do but I knew in my gut that it had something to do with me.

The gargoyle shifted his body to keep me behind his flared wings when I tried to move around him. I decided to take the tiger by the tail out of pure frustration. Normally it would be rude or obscene to grab an Other’s tail in public but I was out of options. I didn’t give myself time to think about it. I smacked at the spade-shaped tip on my calf until it released me. I then channeled my panic and anger into tugging on his tail while hissing 'Stop it'.

The gargoyle spun so fast that I lost my balance. One second, I was tugging his tail and in the next, I was tripping over my gown. It took a second for my brain to catch up when I went from arms windmilling for balance as I fell to being crushed against a bare chest with my face tucked into his neck.

I gave myself one second to enjoy the feel of him before I tried to get free. Every inch of my body tingled with a mix of electricity and power I’d never experienced before; the sensation nearly overwhelmed me when our eyes met. A part of my soul clicked into place that had always been missing. I didn’t know his name, or anything about him other than the fact he was a fated mate (that I had no idea existed) and he had horrible manners.

The sound of hooves on the stone floor of the courtyard echoed through my brain bringing me back to reality. We were at Bea’s reception, he just made a scene, attacked a guest, and I had no idea if he was even supposed to be at the wedding. I pushed against his chest trying to put space between us. I needed a clear head to figure out how to salvage this. To prevent Bea’s wedding from being a total loss.

“No! Not like this.” When he didn’t let me go, I pounded my fists against his chest. “Let me go!”

He tried to keep his massive hands around me repeating that he was my hero, and I was his soul spark. I didn’t care. I needed to get him out of there before Venn took offense and tried to kill him. It would put a damper on the holidays if my sister’s mate and mine were enemies.

Bea’s voice carried through the silent courtyard. “Are you kidding me right now?”

As one, every eye in the courtyard ping-ponged between us. My heart sank when I noticed my parents furiously whispering to each other nearby. It was official I’d ruined my sister’s wedding. The only thing everyone would be talking about tomorrow was how Bea's sister was claimed right after the ceremony instead of how beautiful Bea was or how well-suited, she and Venn were.

I smacked the clawed hand wrapped around my waist while Bea kept looking between us waiting for an answer. He flared his wings around us creating a sort of shield.

My breath caught in my throat when a slow smile spread across her face. Bea’s witchy skill was reading auras. The way she was studying me and the gargoyle holding me told me she could see something that I couldn’t - and she liked it.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” He relaxed his hold on my waist when Bea closed the distance between us.

Relief flooded me when she threaded her arm through mine. She wasn’t mad. I flicked my eyes to Venn to see if he was upset with this gargoyle being at his party, if anything he looked happy – which meant chances were good mine wasn't a rogue or enemy.

“Umm, this is Hero. He says I’m his Soul Spark. I’m guessing it’s like a Fated Mate?”

Hero’s tail flicked behind him at the same time his hand clenched on my hip. Something in my center wanted me to lean my back against him, but I ignored it.

Venn did that man-grasping forearm thing and overpronounced his name. “Congratulations He-RU.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course, a gargoyle wouldn’t be named anything as mundane as Bob.

Thankfully the crowd decided the show was over and started drifting down the garden paths lit by fairy lights to the reception. Venn took that as his cue to scoop up Bea and fly off without saying goodbye to anyone. Poof just like that. One minute we were all standing around having the most awkward moment of my life and then boom my sister was airborne.

I gave Heru the side eye. Now that the fear and panic of his arrival was wearing off an old fear resurfaced – flying. I’d hated heights and the thought of flying since I was a kid and Tommy Barnes invited me to sit on his roof to look at a bird nest. The top of the six-foot metal slide at school did not prepare me for climbing out the dormer window of his grandmother’s attic more than three stories high. Grandma Barnes had to call the fire department to get me down. By the time my mother showed up, I was a sobbing terrified mess. There was no way I would be flying around the skies over Whynot with a stranger no matter how he made me feel.

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