Was her subconscious trying to protect her?Did she also have some spark of psychic powers hidden somewhere inside?
Impossible to say.Both of Delia’s parents had already said flat out that no one else on either side of the family had any kind of psychic gifts, so they had no idea where her ghost-whispering talent had come from.
Which didn’t mean a whole hell of a lot.Most people worked very hard to hide anything about themselves that invited too many questions.
Especially back in the day, when claiming you were telepathic or whatever wouldn’t be dismissed as an odd little quirk but was instead something that could get you into a whole lot of trouble, up to and including getting burned at the stake.
She tried to tell herself this was a good development.If her cousin was already having nightmares and making her fiancé worry that she was getting cold feet, then maybe it wouldn’t be too hard to convince her that there might be plenty of alternatives to getting married at the Angel’s Dream chapel.
“Olivia,” she said, trying to sound gently persuasive but not pushy, “maybe you should think about having the ceremony somewhere else.”
Her cousin’s voice sharpened.“Somewhere else?”
Here goes nothing.“Well, I’ve been doing some research on Vegas wedding venues — a client of mine was asking for some input, since she’s also planning her wedding — and I’ve come across some absolutely beautiful places that might be even more perfect for you and Alec.”
This was all an utter lie, but Delia spent so much time out and about in Las Vegas that she knew the chapels pretty well, even if she hadn’t done any specific research on them in particular.
For the first time, Olivia sounded almost hopeful.“Really?”
“Really,” Delia assured her.“In fact, if you want, I can scout out a few alternatives for you.”
“Oh, that would be fabulous,” Olivia replied at once, relief clear in her voice.“I’ve been wanting to do that, but Alec keeps saying we already paid in advance and they don’t offer refunds.But if there’s something better….”
Delia hadn’t known that about the ceremony being nonrefundable, but she supposed it made sense.The last thing quickie wedding chapels wanted was people backing out at the last minute because they knew they wouldn’t lose any money on the deal if they found something better.
Besides, this wouldn’t be like pulling out of a country club wedding or something.At most, they would have sunk a couple of grand into the ceremony, and that was only if they’d bought the most expensive package.
She guessed most people would consider that an acceptable sacrifice if it meant avoiding getting sucked into a hellmouth.
“Oh, I’m sure there’s something better out there,” Delia said.“Just let me do some looking around, and then I’ll get back to you.”
“That would be awesome,” her cousin responded, already sounding much more cheerful.“I really wanted to get married in Las Vegas so we could honeymoon in Alec’s new house there, but I thought we were stuck with Angel’s Dream.”
“You’re not stuck,” Delia assured her.“It’s going to be fine.”
After delivering those reassurances and promising again that she’d call Olivia as soon as she had a list of four or five viable alternatives, she reached out to Caleb.
“My cousin is already having nightmares about the chapel,” she told him as soon as he answered her call.“And she wants me to scout some alternatives for her.The hardest part is going to be convincing her fiancé, but Olivia sounds ready to find something else.”
“That’s great news,” Caleb replied, although something about his tone sounded almost distracted.“But there’s been another development.Go to Channel 8’s website.”
That didn’t sound very good.With her free hand, Delia opened her laptop and searched for the local ABC affiliate’s website.Right at the top was an article about a series of “unexplained incidents” at wedding venues across the city — electrical fires, plumbing disasters, mysterious break-ins.
“It’s escalating,” she said.
“Fast,” Caleb agreed.“We may have gotten Olivia on board, but — ”
His words were cut off by a sharp ping, and Delia pulled the phone away from her ear so she could look down at the screen.
A text from Pru.
Emergency team meeting.Found something big.My place @ 6.
“I just got a text from Pru,” she said.
“So did I.So much for getting together at my house.”
Yes, it would have been nice to have a quiet evening together.However, it didn’t look as if “quiet” was going to be on the calendar for at least the next few days.
