Finale

left it all behind, the sun warmed my back, lighting the way before us.
    I knew of no better omen.

E PIL OG UE

    T HREE YEARS LATER
T HE H ODDER V ALLEY , L ANCASHIRE , E NGLAND
    O KAY, YOU WIN,” I BREATHED, PUSHING OUT OF my chair and staring at Vee with admiration as she entered the
church’s vestry, carrying the hem of her floor-length pewter silk gown. Light from the stained-glass window seemed to set the fabric aflame with glittering, metallic color. “I know I
told you to stick with traditional white, but I was wrong. Vee, you are stunning.”
    She twirled, showing off combat boots I hadn’t seen since high school. “Something old,” Vee said.
    I bit my lip. “I think I’m going to cry.”
    “You’re gonna catch my bouquet, right? And then give it back to me when no one is watching so I can have it professionally dried and framed—and then you can mock me for the
rest of my life for being such a sap?”
    “I’m Nephilim. I’ll have those flowers in my hands before the brains of your other friends have registered that you’ve tossed them.”
    Vee gave a happy sigh. “Babe, I’m so glad you came.”
    “It would’ve taken a lot more than three thousand miles to keep me from my best friend’s wedding.” I smiled suggestively. “Where are you honeymooning?”
    “Gavin won’t tell. It’s his big secret. He’s got the whole thing planned out. I told him I only had one request: a hotel with doughnuts on the room-service menu.
We’re gone ten days. When we get back, we’ll both start looking for jobs.”
    “Do you ever think of moving back?”
    “To Coldwater? Heck, no. England suits me fine. These Brits love my accent. The first time Gavin asked me out it was just to hear me talk. Lucky for him, it’s one of the things I do
best.” All teasing left her eyes. “Too many memories back home. Can’t drive down the street without thinking I see Scott in the crowd. Do you think there’s an afterlife? Do
you think he’s happy?”
    My throat grew slippery, too raw to speak. Not one day had passed since Scott’s death that I hadn’t taken a small, quiet moment to send up gratitude for his sacrifice.
    “He should be here. I wish like hell he was,” Vee said, bowing her head and chipping at her freshly painted nails.
    “Me too.” I squeezed her hands.
    “Your mom told me Marcie died a couple months ago.”
    “She lived longer than anyone expected.”
    “A rotten apple to the end?”
    “My mom went to her funeral. Five people total, including Marcie’s mom.”
    Vee shrugged, unsympathetic. “Karma, alive and well.”
    The arched oak door across the room opened, and my mom poked her head in. She had flown out a week ago to play wedding coplanner alongside Vee’s mom, and I think she was secretly reveling
in the role. She’d finally accepted that Patch and I—a pairing she’d gradually warmed to over the years—had sworn our vows under heaven, sealed in blood, and were never
doing the big, white wedding thing, and this was her chance. The irony of it all. Who would have guessed Vee would go a more traditional path than me?
    My mom beamed at us. “Dry those eyes, my darling girls, it’s almost time.”
    I fussed over Vee’s bun, teasing loose a few more strands to frame her face, and pinned fragrant stephanotis flowers at the crown. After I finished, Vee flung her arms around me, rocking
me back and forth in an animated hug, when we both heard a seam rip.
    “Dang it ALL,” Vee said, twisting around to examine the ripped seam on her dress. “I ordered a size smaller, planning to lose ten pounds for the wedding. I wouldn’t call
myself fat, but I could stand to lose a little Nephilim bulk. Trouble was, there was never a shortage of Twinkies in my cupboard.”
    I couldn’t help it; I burst into a fit of giggles.
    “I see how it is. I’m gonna have to walk in front of all those people with my undies waving in the air, and you don’t even care,” Vee said, but she, too, was grinning.
She took a Band-Aid from her purse and slapped it over the torn fabric.
    We laughed so hard we turned red in the face, gasping for air.
    The door opened a second time. “Places! Hurry!” my mom said, ushering me out. Organ music drifted in from the chapel. I shuffled to the back of the line of bridesmaids, who all wore
identical yellow taffeta mermaid dresses, and accepted my bouquet of white lilies from Vee’s brother, Mike. Vee took her place beside me and sucked in a long