Gale Force

I squeezed my eyes shut, felt the tears burn down my cheeks, and whispered, ''Oh God help me,

I do. I do.''

There was an eerie second of utter silence, not even the wind moving. Conflicts stopped, pi

on the instant, and I felt something inside me shifting, aligning like a puzzle box.

And a wave of pure golden power flowed into me, through me, and out.

I opened my eyes and saw David watching my face with a look I could think of only as awed

relief. The gray faded from his face, back to a silvery scar. Gone.

And I felt the echoing power between us build, and build, and build, waves on the beach,

pounding and ceaseless, cascading out into the other Dji

refining it into surgical weapons.

I'd just made the New Dji

into the aetheric.

I'd also just gotten married, even if the minister hadn't quite gotten around to saying the words

before he'd fled to the hills, along with most of the others.

The Dji

not just the two of us, but all of the Palms-hell, it went so far out that it might have been

covering all of Florida. Whatever the Sentinels were doing, they quit doing it, fast, rightly

recognizing that they had just been dealt a very serious blow. It would take them time to figure

out exactly what had happened.

''Did you know?'' I felt giddy, halfway to heaven. Endorphins kicking in. ''Did you plan that?''

David grabbed me and kissed me, long and hard, with a good deal less restraint than most

bridegrooms would have shown under similar circumstances. His hands roamed, stroking down

the silk, crushing it to my hips, his fingertips brushing over the skin left exposed by the open V

of the corset at my back.

''Absolutely,'' he said, deadpan, when he pulled back.

''You had no idea.''

''I knew.''

''You liar. You guessed!''

He laughed and buried his face against my neck, picked me up, and whirled me around in the

deserted gazebo. A storm wind lashed surf against the rocks, and a wild cascade of lightning

slashed out of the sky and grounded spectacularly out at sea. It was the joy of the Dji

real.

David sobered, but the light stayed in him, burning fiercely. He kissed me again, this time more

gently, with a promise of things to come, and I felt the curling smile on his lips. ''I need to go,''

he said. ''Things to do.''

''Same here,'' I said. ''They'll be looking for an explanation of what just happened.''

He stepped back, and his gaze raked me from head to toe, ravenous and warm. ''Don't change,''

he said. ''I'll be back. I want to take that off you.''

I shivered, nodded, and watched my lover-no, I supposed I was going to have to get used to the

idea of husband-mist away on the hot, humid breeze.

I couldn't see any other Dji

efficient as they herded guests to cover. I had a whole contingent of them stationed near me, all

facing outward. I reached up and tapped the nearest one on the shoulder. ''Hey!''

''Ma'am?'' He angled in my direction a huge ear that looked as though it had been badly

mangled in some kind of sculpting accident, but didn't turn to face me. ''You ready to go?''

''Guess so. Looks like the wedding's over!''

He snorted. ''Right. Let's get you to the safe zone!''

''Sure,'' I said. I felt giddy. Almost invincible, actually, but even if bullets might bounce off me,

I was pretty sure they wouldn't do the dress any good. Priorities. ''Hey, didn't you notice all the

cool stuff going on? Supernatural stuff all over the place?''

''Lady,'' he said wearily, ''I've guarded the Rolling Stones. Trust me, you guys are amateurs.''

When the phalanx of guards closed in around me, it was like being in a moving tank of body

armor; I clutched the train of my dress well out of reach of their boots, and hustled along down

the path, up the steps, and into the narrow hallways I'd come through before. No staff were

smiling at me this time; they were probably busy toting up the damage charges. I hoped David's

black AmEx was up to the job.

My security detail arrowed me straight past Lewis and a group of Wardens all huddled together;

I tried to bail out to talk to them, but clearly that wasn't in the plans. No matter how loud I

yelled, we continued moving straight for the elevators. The guards broke up there, facing

outward in an arc while the guy in charge-Mr. Squishy Ear-took my elbow in one massive,

scarred hand and escorted me firmly across the threshold and into one of the lifts. He punched in

a key card, and away we went, just the two of us.

''Where's Cherise? My maid of honor?'' I asked.

''Cute little thing? 'Bout this high?'' He marked off a height just above the waistband of his

ripstop pants. ''Blond?''

''That's the one.''

''Yeah, she's already upstairs. We got her out ASAP. She wasn't any too happy about it. Said

she wanted to see you kick some ass.'' He sent me a sideways look that doubted my ass-kicking

abilities. Sucker.

I smiled sweetly. ''Not in these shoes. They're rentals.''

The elevator lurched and came to a stop, and when my bodyguard came to alert, I held out a

hand and launched myself up into the aetheric, searching for trouble. A Sentinel was in the

woodwork, trying to short-circuit the brakes and snap the cable. Nice. I didn't even have to act;

the Wardens and the Dji

combatant. I smiled serenely at the guard, who looked tense and prone to frowns, and leaned

against the polished wood of the elevator wall. ''So,'' I said, as the lift trembled and started up

again. ''Rolling Stones, eh? Crazy?''

''Hard to believe, I know''-he shrugged-''but I gotta say, lady, in the crazy sweepstakes, you

and your wedding are coming up fast.''

''I wouldn't bet against us.''

The doors dinged at the penthouse level, and I strolled majestically out into the foyer. More

bodyguards, equally grim and serious looking. I wasn't asked for ID; apparently, the dress was a

big tip-off.

I went into the suite, walked straight to the bar, and poured myself a stiff, two-fingered shot of

tequila. No lime, no salt, none of the party trappings. This was about serious alcohol, delivered in

its purest form at maximum impact. It was like getting slapped with an agave cactus; I gasped

and bent over the bar, tingling all over.

''Wow,'' Cherise said, watching me. ''It's like Brides Gone Wild. Impressive.''

I held out my arms, she ran into them, and we hugged. ''Glad you're okay,'' she whispered. ''I

was so scared. . . .''

''I wasn't,'' Kevin said. He was stretched out on my nice beige jacquard sofa, ruining a perfectly

good tuxedo and getting his nicely polished shoes all over the fabric. Unlike Lewis and David,

he wasn't improved by formal wear. He looked like a hoodlum who'd mugged a groomsman. ''I

was betting you'd be barbecued.''

''Asshole,'' Cherise said. It sounded like she meant it for a change, and Kevin's perpetual slouch

straightened a little. ''Her wedding just got blown all to hell. You could at least not be a total

wad about it. For once.''

He sat up completely, brushed the hair out of his eyes, and looked a little less smug. ''Sorry,'' he

said, and almost meant it. ''I mean, I knew it was going to come out the way you wanted it to.

You wanted to draw the Sentinels out; you did it. Most of them got obliterated, right?''