Until I Die

I wasn’t sure I wanted to take you.”
My expression must have said it all, because he rushed to explain. “That’s not what I meant. I meant I wasn’t sure I wanted you to see a revenant wedding. You and I are already dealing with so much right now, I thought it might bring up too many … issues.”
“So why did you change your mind?” I asked, not quite mollified.
“Because I decided that avoidance wasn’t the answer. I promised I wouldn’t keep anything from you that you should know. And you’re already letting me break that promise … temporarily.
“A wedding might be information overkill, but”—he looked down and fiddled with his tie—“at least you’ll know more about the world you’re getting involved in. I owe you that.”
I stood there stunned for a moment, before reaching up to kiss his cheek. “I think I can handle it, Vincent. Thanks for …” I didn’t know what to say. “Just thanks.”
“How long will it take you to get ready?” he asked, brushing my hair back from my eyes with his fingers. “You already look perfect.”
I blushed, not wanting to admit that with a houseful of revenants living right down the street from us, seemingly popping up whenever I turned the corner, I never left the house now without making sure I looked okay. “Honestly, ten minutes. Just let me find a dress and shoes and I’ll be right back.”
“Fine,” he said, looking at his watch. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
    An hour later we walked into the lower chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, an eight-hundred-year-old royal church that stands a few blocks from Notre-Dame Cathedral on the island in the Seine called the Île de la Cité.
“The wedding is here ?” I gasped as Vincent took my hand and led me up a minuscule winding stone staircase into the nave. And as soon as we entered the room, I began to feel that same heady sensation of sensory overload—a dizzy feeling—that I had experienced the handful of times I had visited the chapel as a tourist. Because the space was just that unexpectedly overwhelming.
The ceiling was higher than the length of the room, its decoration so distant it was barely visible. But it wasn’t the palatial height that took my breath away—it was the composition of the walls. Fifteen stained-glass windows, each fifty feet high, were set into the entire vertical surface of the chapel. The room was basically all glass held together by skeletal stone columns. The light that filtered through was a blue so deep it appeared purple, and the thick glass looked like precious stone. The overall effect made me feel I was a tiny gold figure inside a Fabergé egg, with my entire world encrusted in jewels.
I took a deep breath to stabilize my tap-dancing heart and wrapped my arm through Vincent’s. “How in the world were they able to reserve this for a wedding?” I whispered, as we moved toward the group of people assembled at the altar.
“Connections,” he whispered back, giving me a sly grin. I shook my head in wonder.
As there were no chairs, the group of thirty or forty revenants—several of whom I recognized from New Year’s—was standing. We headed toward Jules and Ambrose, who took a break from talking to Jean-Baptiste and Violette to make appreciative comments about my appearance.
“Wow, Katie-Lou. You sure do clean up well. I barely recognize you out of jeans and Converses,” Ambrose said, giving me a hug. Jules just shrugged and said, “Not bad,” in a flippant voice before lifting his eyebrows and stroking his chin comically.
“Where’s Gaspard?” I asked.
“Dormant,” Vincent said. “And Arthur awoke during the night, so he’s still in bed.”
I nodded and looked toward the priest, who had begun addressing the crowd. “Dear ones,” he began, “we have gathered together today to celebrate the union of our brother Georges with our sister Chantal.”
I raised an eyebrow at Vincent. “Is he … ?” He nodded—the priest was one of them.
Vincent pulled me in front of him so that I could see better, resting his hands on the waist of my plum-colored knee-length dress.
The bride was stunning, wearing a traditional full-blown wedding gown with the works: veil, long train, and yards of creamy satin. She was twentieth century all the way, whereas the groom looked like he was from a much older time. He was dressed like one of the three musketeers, with ruffled collar, velvet waistcoat, and trousers that ended under the knee, just above where his long boots