Spooks & Specters: A San DeLain Short Story Collection

Chapter Two

HUDSON NODDED. “And that’s all that matters. So, wedding bands. Here’s what I was thinking—rubies. I’ve read that diamonds are the preferred gemstone for wedding bands, and—”

“And that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, right?”

Kit asked Hudson, grinning.

“Well, that’s what all the commercials say.”

He had no idea why his mate was grinning at him like that. It was what the commercials said. Humans invested God awful amounts into marketing, so surely they knew what they were talking about.

“I like diamonds, don’t get me wrong. I mean, who doesn’t?”

Kit took a sip of his coffee. “But if we’re talking about the stones that are going to be in our wedding bands, diamonds are not the first thing that comes to mind,”

Kit admitted.

They weren’t? That was interesting.

“Oh?”

Connie asked. “So, what does?”

Apparently, Connie was thinking along the same lines as Hudson—plus, he was interested in why Kit thought that stone wasn’t right for them.

Kit stared at Hudson. “I’ll get to that in a moment. Connie?”

Kit glanced at Connie. “Do you have a preference as far as stones go?”

“Honestly? Not really. Hudson’s dragon is the one who’s attracted to stuff like that.”

Hudson’s dragon rumbled in agreement in his head.

“But I do like gold. Pretty much all dragons do because of the monetary value, but artwork is my thing,”

Connie said.

“When you talk about gold, you mean what the band will be made out of, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, yellow gold or white gold, then? Maybe rose? Or hey, what about platinum?”

Kit asked.

Connie shrugged. “I like yellow gold. It just seems like it’s… warmer. It kind of reminds me of the different colors you can see in fire.”

“That makes sense. I like yellow gold too.”

Kit turned to Hudson. “Hudson?”

“The color of the band doesn’t matter to me, but if Connie is partial to yellow gold, then let’s do that,”

Hudson said. That was fair, after all.

“Now back to the stones,”

Kit said. “You know, the first time I saw your hoard, I remember thinking that you’d emptied out all of the jewelry stores within a hundred miles of us.”

Hudson chuckled. “I remember.”

“But I kept noticing one color over and over. And that was red. You like the color red, don’t you?”

Kit asked.

“It just so happens that I am partial to it, yes.”

“Because you’re a red dragon.”

“That’s probably part of it. Plus, that’s the gemstone my dragon is attracted to. I did think of several other stones, but I discounted them for a variety of reasons. I kept coming back to rubies. I also thought about pearls, but they’re very delicate.”

Kit nodded. “The real ones are, yes. If you don’t mind me asking, why pearls?”

“Because you seem to be obsessed with them lately.”

“Well, duh, and we have you to thank for that,”

Kit pointed out. “You are the one who gave me the pearl body chain.”

Connie chuckled. “Speaking of, when are you going to wear that for us?”

“It’s a surprise. But speaking of pearls, I am incorporating them into our wedding, so I hope that’s okay,” Kit said.

“Whatever you want to do is fine by us,”

Hudson said. He honestly didn’t care.

The wedding was something he wanted to give Kit since Kit used to be human—a way to honor Kit’s human heritage. But the soul bond between the three of them? Unlike a human marriage, that could not be broken short of death. And he wasn’t sure it could be even then.

It didn’t matter where they got married, what they wore, or who attended. If Kit was happy with whatever he arranged, then he and Connie would be too.

“You do realize how dangerous that is,”

Kit joked.

“It would be dangerous if he didn’t mean it,”

Connie said. “But he does. Whatever you want is fine by us. We can certainly afford it.”

Kit cringed. “I know, I know. But I’m also still trying to wrap my head around how fabulously wealthy the both of you are.”

“He’s actually richer than me,”

Connie pointed out.

“I don’t know, Connie, I’ve seen the artwork in your hoard. Anyway,”

Kit said, waving his hand as if he was closing that subject. “Red roses are going to figure greatly at our wedding. I like roses, but I chose red because of you guys.”

“Because we’re red dragons?”

Hudson asked.

“Of course.”

Hudson was touched. This might be a human wedding, but Kit was trying to tailor it to the three of them.

“Thank you. It just so happens I like red roses,”

Hudson said.

“Same,”

Connie agreed. “And I guess it’s fitting that we do rubies for our wedding bands.”

“Rubies and red roses,”

Kit mused. “I like it.”

“Excellent. So, next question. What type of wedding band do you want?”

Hudson asked. “Do you want something with a big stone that sits on top of your finger or—”

“No, no, no. A big, honking ring that could put my eye out is fabulous and all, but I’m a working man. I’ll knock that sucker off its setting in no time. I want something that’s channel set.”

Hudson raised an eyebrow. “And what is that?”

Kit got his cell out. “Hold on just a sec, and I’ll show you.”

Hudson waited patiently as Kit scrolled. He knew what a channel setting was, but there was also a hundred different ways of achieving that look. And sure enough, when Kit handed his phone over to Hudson, that was not what he had in mind.

“Is it me, or does that look like the stones are in an X and O design?”

“Really?”

Connie asked, holding his hand out. “I want to see.”

Hudson handed Kit’s cell to Connie.

“Oh, wow, it does look like that. Doesn’t XOXO mean kisses or something?”

“The X represents a kiss, while the O represents a hug,”

Kit said. “Supposedly the X is a stylized way of showing two mouths kissing, and the O looks like two pairs of arms connecting for a hug. XOXO is a symbol of love.”

“That’s perfect,”

Connie breathed as he handed Kit’s phone back to him. “I never in a hundred years would’ve thought of that. I love the idea.”

“It’s very fitting,”

Hudson said.

“But is the design too feminine looking for you guys?”

Kit asked, biting his lip. “Maybe we should just get the normal everyday channel set rings.”

“Absolutely not. As Connie said, it’s perfect. It fits us, Kit. The ring you showed us has diamonds, though. Do you want that too?”

Hudson asked.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind. We need a stone to represent the Os part of it.”

“I agree,”

Connie said, then looked at Hudson.

“Yes, I will supply the gemstones. Of course,”

Hudson said.

“I’ll supply the gold,”

Connie volunteered. “That way the ring is made out of something from both mine and Hudson’s hoard.”

“And I picked the design we’re going to use—something from all three of us.”

Smiling happily, Kit looked back at his cell phone. “It really is perfect, isn’t it?”

“It really is,”

Hudson said. “Tell us what you have in mind for the roses.”

Kit cackled. “Red roses everywhere—the centerpieces for the tables, on the wedding cake, the several arches I want, the tables. Any and all columns wrapped in red roses. I want them everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Of course, that means it’s going to cost a fortune.”

“Not a problem,”

Hudson said.

“I hope you feel the same when you see the bill.”

Hudson didn’t bother mentioning how if Kit couldn’t get the wedding date he wanted, Hudson would threaten to buy the damn hotel they were doing this at. He was pretty sure he could afford the roses.

“Also, usually a wedding party has bridesmaids and groomsmen. And a maid of honor and a best man who stand with whoever is getting married. I don’t know if you guys want to do that but be thinking about it. The thing is, I honestly don’t have anybody to stand with me who is in the know, outside of Austin.”

“I read about that too,”

Connie said.

“We can worry about that later, though. It doesn’t have to be done. It could just be the three of us up there. And I’m perfectly fine with that,”

Kit said. “Now, clothing.”

Kit rubbed his hands together. “I’m wearing white, of course. Already have in mind what I want.”

“Are we not getting a hint?”

Hudson asked.

Connie snickered.

“Oh, my love, you are not,”

Kit exclaimed. “I guess nobody’s told you, but you’re not supposed to see the bride before the wedding. I’m the bride, by the way.”

Hudson raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, good luck with that.”

Connie outright laughed. “What do you want us to wear, though?”

“I know you guys usually wear black leather when the paranormal leaders meet, but I was hoping we could do something a little dressier.”

“What are you thinking?”

Connie asked.

“Well, how do you feel about tuxedos done in white and red?”

Kit grabbed his phone again. “Let me show you what I’m thinking, and you guys tell me if you’re agreeable. I want you to like whatever you’re wearing. Here are some examples.”

Kit handed over his phone when he found what he was looking for.

“I like the red shirt, vest, and pants with the white duster,”

Hudson said. “And I really like the white top hat. It almost has a Victorian feel to the suit.”

“Victorian Goth maybe,”

Connie added.

“That’s Raven, sweetheart, not me. But I do like this.”

Hudson tapped Kit’s cell phone. “It’s very… elegant.”

“Of course you do,”

Connie said, laughing as he took the phone from Hudson and scrolled to the next picture. “Oh, I like the white suit with the red scroll work on the pants and arms of the suit.”

“Those are just ideas,”

Kit said. “I mean, seriously, feel free to do some looking around. I just wanted to give you an idea of what I was thinking. I know you guys like red, and we’d be keeping to the color theme too.”

“We have a color theme?”

Hudson asked.

“Well, I guess? I mean, there’s going to be a lot of crystals in the décor, and red is definitely my main color, thanks to the roses. Our wedding bands match too—red and white. I don’t know if I’m going to carry a bridal bouquet, but if I do, it’ll probably be red and white roses. So, yeah, red and white are our colors.”

“I like it. You can’t go wrong with red,”

Connie said.

“I agree.”

Hudson handed Kit his cell phone back. “I like the examples of clothing you picked for us. We’ll figure out a time to actually go look at things in person,”

Hudson said. “How does that sound?”

“Excellent. And for something this big and elaborate, I’m going to need the best paranormal wedding planner there is in San DeLain,” Kit said.

Connie dragged his cell phone out of his pocket and made a note. “Let me do some asking around, and I’ll get a name for you. But we definitely need a wedding planner. All the research I have done stresses that.”

“And we need recommendations for…. Oh man, everything. Just everything. Flowers, food, the cake… wow. I’m already stressing out,” Kit said.

Hudson reached across the table and grabbed Kit’s hand. “This wedding planner? Is that not what they do? Plan the wedding?”

“You make it sound so easy.”

Kit giggled.

With his other hand, Hudson pointed at Connie. “He is not only my Right Hand, he is also my assistant.”

“In other words, organizing things is what I do. I’d love to help plan our wedding,”

Connie said.

“And I will happily help also. I’m not sure how good I’ll be at organizing things, but I am excellent at growling at people,”

Hudson said, flashing his fangs. “Most excellent.”