"Her cell phone is off," Gregori answered. "I tried calling Angus since he was in charge of bringing Shanna and my mom here, but he's not answering. Something's seriously wrong."
The ex-harem began frantically whispering to each other. The news spread across the pews 'til all the guests were quietly discussing the matter. Darcy wondered if the Malcontents were behind this.
They were a group of vampires who hated Roman with a passion. Since they believed in a vampire's sacred right to feed off humans, they had rejected Roman's synthetic blood and periodically did nasty things like bomb Romatech Industries.
Gregori sighed. "No one is answering their damned phones. The priest isn't here. I don't know what to make of it."
"I know what has come to pass!" Princess Joanna raised her hands in triumph. Her jeweled rings sparkled in the candlelight. "The wedding has been cancelled. The master has come to his senses and rejected that hideous mortal."
Maria Consuela's cone-shaped headdress bobbed as she nodded enthusiastically. "He has realized how inferior she is. Santa Maria, my prayers have been answered." She lifted her rosary and kissed the jeweled cross.
"Wait a minute." Gregori scowled at them. "I like Shanna."
"Me, too." Darcy came to the bride's defense.
"Ha!" Princess Joanna sneered at them both. "I would expect you to side with her. You modern types always stick together. You whine about being sensitive to other people's needs, yet you do not give a thought to our suffering. That mortal wench stole our master and our home!"
"I do declare—" Cora Lee flipped open her lacy yellow fan. "I was never so humiliated in all my life."
Lady Pamela Smythe-Worthing removed a handkerchief from her silk reticule and dabbed at her eyes. "It was simply too horrid to bear. If I wasn't blessed with such a miraculous constitution, I would have withered away in utter despair."
Just go ahead and wither, Darcy thought with a groan. She was so tired of these women's endless complaints. It never occurred to them to actually do anything about their fate other than constantly bemoan it.
Maria Consuela clicked through her rosary beads. "The horror was so unexpected. It reminded me of the night I was dragged off to the torture chambers of the Spanish Inquisition."
"Sweet Mary and Joseph." Maggie crossed herself.
Vanda snorted. "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition."
Darcy pulled the wedding invitation from her purse. "This is the right time and place." She showed Gregori the invitation.
He shook his head. "The ceremony should have started ten minutes ago."
"Hallelujah!" Cora Lee jumped to her feet, her hoop skirt billowing to the sides to fill half the pew.
Her blond ringlets, gathered in clusters over each ear, bounced in rhythm with her skirt. "The wedding is off! That means we can move back into the master's house."
"Oh, I do hope so." Lady Pamela pressed her handkerchief to her bosom, which was mostly exposed in her Regency-style ball gown of pink watered silk.
"Wait a minute," Gregori warned them. "Hold your horses."
Maria Consuela huffed. "Who would bring a horse into a church? How barbaric."
Gregori rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this."
"Reasonable?" Lady Pamela stuffed her handkerchief back into her reticule. "The only reasonable course of action for Roman is to dismiss that foolish mortal and send her packing."
Cora Lee snapped her fan shut. "Then we can have our old rooms back."
"Exactly." Princess Joanna stood. "I propose we move back tonight."
"Wait!" Gregori removed his cell phone from an inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket. "I'll try calling again. We have to find out what's going on first. So, cool it, ladies. Don't get your panties in a bunch."
With a snort, Princess Joanna sat back down. "As if I would wear such a ridiculous undergarment."
"Good grief." Gregori stepped back with a shudder. "I don't even want to think about that." He punched in a number on his phone. "You gotta get them out of my house," he whispered to Darcy.
"I can't take it anymore."
"I'm trying. But you can see how stubborn they are." With a gasp, Darcy spotted Connor entering the church. She instantly stiffened. Her lungs squeezed in her chest, making it difficult to breathe.
Good God, she hated the way she always reacted when he appeared. It had been four years and she still couldn't put that dreadful night behind her. She opened her mouth to warn Gregori, but the words wouldn't come.
Connor spoke quietly to the guests. Some responded by rushing out the front door. Others used their cell phones to teleport away. So was it true that the wedding was cancelled? Had Shanna had second thoughts about marrying a vampire? Darcy often wondered how such a relationship could possibly work. It just wasn't fair to drag someone into the vampire world. She knew that all too well.
"Hey, Connor!" Gregori motioned for the Scotsman to join them. "What's up?"
Darcy automatically stepped back as Connor approached. Her heart thundered in her chest so hard, it echoed in her ears.
The Scotsman strode toward them, dressed in formal Highland wear, which included a lacy white jabot shirt, black jacket, and a black muskrat sporran. He bowed slightly to the ex-harem. "My ladies." His gaze lingered on Darcy.
She turned away, unable to meet his sharp blue eyes that always watched her with a tinge of regret.
"We have an emergency situation," Connor announced. "Ian and I brought a limousine to help evacuate the ladies. We must leave immediately."
"What about the wedding?" Gregori asked.
"I'll explain later." Connor gestured toward the front entrance. "Yer lives could be in danger. Please move calmly and quietly toward the exit."
"Eek!" Cora Lee lifted her hoop skirts and skedaddled for the front door. The other ladies rushed after her. Darcy hovered toward the back of the group so she could overhear the men talking. She was uncomfortable being that close to Connor, but her curiosity was stronger. Of course, it was her wretched curiosity that had caused her nightmare to begin in the first place.
"Where are we going?" Gregori asked.
"Romatech," Connor replied. "For the reception."
"And my mother?" Gregori asked. "Is she all right?"
"Radinka is fine. She's with Roman and Shanna. Angus and Jean-Luc are there, so they have plenty of protection."
Protection from what, Darcy wondered. It must be the Malcontents.
Gregori had rented a limousine for the night since there was no way he could cart around ten women in his Lexus. Even so, it had been a tight fit with all the ball gowns. The ex-harem was happy to divide into two groups—half going in Gregori's hired limo and the other half traveling in the limo Connor had brought.
Gregori climbed into Connor's limo. "I want to know what's going on." He sat as close to the driver's seat as possible.
Darcy wanted to know, too, so she scooted down the long side seat to sit next to Gregori.
Connor was in the front driver's seat next to Ian. He twisted to the side, so he could see everyone through the open window. There were six occupants in the back—Gregori, Darcy, Maria Consuela, Princess Joanna, Lady Pamela, and Cora Lee.
"So did the master come to his senses and cancel the wedding?" Princess Joanna asked.
"Nay, milady," Connor answered. "The ceremony is happening as we speak. At a private chapel in White Plains."
"I guess that's why they're not answering their phones." Gregori unbuttoned his tuxedo jacket.
"Oh, fiddlesticks." Cora Lee had taken up the entire back seat with her hoop skirt. "Now we can't move back into the master's house."