“Did he, now? That was very cruel of him, but then, cruel is more or less his middle name, isn’t it? Let’s see…I believe that is everything.” He typed in a few more things and gave me a polite smile. “Judy at the front desk will have your statement of sanction. You can pick it up on your way out.”

I have a horrible feeling I gawked at him at that point. “Pick it up? You mean…that’s it? I’m no longer proscribed?” I glanced at Rene, who looked just as surprised as I felt. Could it be that easy? I shook my head at myself. Nothing, not since that first day I stepped into the Orly Airport with the aquamanile in my hands, nothing had been easy.

“Yes. Oh, no, I tell a lie,” he said, frowning at the laptop.

I knew it! I braced myself, waiting for the bad news. What was it they wanted…to give up Jim? Drake? Living?

“I hit shift instead of enter. Silly me.” He punched a button, then smiled again. “Now you’re set!”

“But…you don’t want something from me?”

“Er…what would I want from you?” he asked, puzzlement wrinkling his brow.

“I don’t know! My soul, or for me to hack off a limb with a butter knife, or…or…I don’t know! I just figured this sanction was going to cost me something.”

“It sounds to me like it has already cost you much pain.”

I continued to gawk at him until he gave a little sigh, got up and took me by the hands, gently pulling me to my feet, and with a hand on my back, escorted me down the short hallway to the reception area. “My dear, this is the Court of Divine Blood. I won’t say that there are not times when petitioners are asked payment for services rendered, but we do not, on the whole, operate as you are used to with those folks in Abaddon. We like to think of ourselves as the good guys. We like to take care of our people.”

A bloom of hope unfurled within me. Could it be this easy after all? “But I’m not a member of the Court.”

“No, alas, demon lords are not allowed membership. But we do like to keep tabs on those people we feel are fighting the good fight, and you definitely qualify for that.”

I did, until I lost the ability to fight. I pushed away that nagging thought and focused on the miracle that had just been handed me. “Then…I’m done? The proscription is over?”

He nodded.

“I don’t feel any different. Shouldn’t I feel different? Shouldn’t there have been—oh, I don’t know—some sign like a bolt from above cleansing my soul?”

“That sounds singularly uncomfortable,” he answered. “I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for understated sanction rather than a splashy Broadway extravaganza of absolution.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I simply thanked him.

“You’re quite welcome. I’m delighted I could help you, and trust you’ll find the process wasn’t quite as onerous as you believed it would be.”

It was over! I wasn’t proscribed anymore! No more tears of blood, no more horrible contacts to hide my eyes…no more being banned from the Guardians’ Guild.

My heart felt like it was made out of lead. “Is there a ladies’ room here?”

Terrin blinked in surprise. “Er…yes, just there. Second door on the left.”

“Thanks.” I bolted for the bathroom, intent on ridding myself of the contacts before my tears washed them away.

“Does she always feel the need to run to the restroom to celebrate good news?” I heard Terrin ask Rene.

“Eh. She is a woman, you know?”

I hurried to the mirror in the bathroom, carefully removing one contact. I half braced myself for the sight of a pale gray eye to peer back at me, but the eyeball that watched me so warily was one of a familiar hazel color.

The proscription had really and truly been lifted…but too late. I wasn’t a Guardian anymore.

I grabbed a box of tissues and ran for a stall to cry.

27

“Out of all the billions of people who inhabit this planet, Drake and Aisling have found each other and committed to share their lives together as husband and wife. They have begun their life journey together and have brought us here to celebrate this beautiful moment in that journey.”

I smiled at Drake. He squeezed the fingers of the hand he was holding.

“A good marriage is an entity that is made up of love, understanding, intimacy, and a generosity of spirit that allows you to put aside petty differences and care for each other no matter what the circumstances. Drake and Aisling have vowed to do just that, and have asked us here today to witness those vows.”

The voice of the odd little round man Paula had found willing to fit us into his schedule echoed loudly in the small, out-of-the-way chapel. It had taken her two weeks to arrange this wedding, and me almost as long to convince her to stay in England to attend it. Our numbers were a lot fewer than the first one—my cousins had long since returned home, as had David, whose job at an Oregon university demanded his attendance. Most of the green dragons who had gathered in England had also returned to their homes. But a few had shown up, as well as my friends.

So why, then, was a vague sense of alarm starting to prick my awareness?

“Drake and Aisling, before you I have placed three candles, one each to symbolize your separate selves, and one to symbolize your unity. Please light your separate candles and use them together to light the marriage candle, pledging as you do so to keep your union as bright as the flames of your candles.”

I wasn’t much for the rather dramatic flair the officiating man had, but obediently lit a candle, then used it to light a larger one with a golden heart embossed on it.

Next to me, Paula sniffled happily. “This is so beautiful!” she whispered.

I nodded, and used the opportunity to peek over my shoulder at the audience, wondering if I could pinpoint my sense of unease. Pál was in the front with his arm around Nora (they made such a cute couple). Rene sat next to them with a pretty, petite red-headed woman of indeterminate age whom he had introduced as his wife, Brigitte. István and Suzanne sat on the other front pew, alongside Gabriel and his bodyguards. Gabriel caught me peeking and grinned, his dimples flashing. I winked back, grateful he’d come despite knowing that Kostya would be here.

I was even more grateful that Kostya was on his best behavior. Relations between Drake and him had been strained for ten days, but finally, just before the wedding, the two of them cleared the air with a rip-roaring fight that left Drake with a broken nose, and Kostya with a limp that persisted for forty-eight hours. True, it didn’t end in a political reconciliation, but at least the two brothers were talking to each other again. I had confidence that with time, Drake would be able to make his brother see reason.