Jegguthiz chuckled. “It is my pleasure, umm…”
“You call me Gram, boy,” she told him, much to his delight. “Everyone I like calls me Gram. And I like you!”
“As you wish, Gram,” he said with a smile so large it made me smile. “Follow me.”
Gram and Mr. Jackson floated with Jegguthiz out of the great room hand in hand. Plans were moving ahead, and everyone was feeling good.
“Back to planning the wedding details?” I asked everyone left in the room.
A resounding yes was my answer. I grinned and dove back into the nitty-gritty of making good on my promise to Gramps that I was going to throw them a wedding that was second to none.
Together, we were treasuring the wonderful moments as if they were precious gifts. One never knew when life might turn on a dime.
I knew a bad turn was coming. We all did. But we also knew how to make the most of a good thing when it was right in front of us.
And that’s what we did.
CHAPTER TWELVE
It wasall hunky dory until it wasn’t.
Gideon and Charlie, Zander and Catriona burst through the front door with the fifteen perimeter Demon on their heels. The explosions outside in our front yard rocked the house’s foundation. With a wave of his hands, Charlie quickly reinforced it. Within seconds, every single Immortal in the house was armed to the teeth.
“At least fifty,” Gideon ground out as his eyes blazed red. “All zombies.”
“They’re armed this time,” Zander growled.
“Big time,” Catriona added.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Candy Vargo hissed, waving her hands and producing a huge stockpile of guns, swords, daggers, grenades, throwing stars, and every other kind of weapon imaginable. Even though we were already armed, everyone dove for the pile.
Weapons hadn’t worked the first time around. They probably wouldn’t work this time either, but old habits were hard to break. To face the enemy unarmed was a bad plan. We didn’t have the luxury of making bad plans today.
Kogzin immediately ushered Jennifer, Alana Catherine, Shitty Ritchie, June and my dogs to the middle of the great room. He and the other guard Demons surrounded them on all sides. Jegguthiz raced back with Gram and Gramps. He escorted them into the middle of the room with the others. Once all of them were together, I waved my hands and placed a protection ward around them. It wasn’t foolproof, but it was better than nothing.
“Do we think Tom Hanks is out there?” I asked, shoving the grenades that Candy Vargo had conjured up into my pockets.
“Tom Hanks?” Kogzin asked, confused.
“The Higher Power,” I told him as I put a dagger into my boot and a sword in my belt.”
“Tom Hanks is the Higher Power?” he asked.
The Demons were bewildered. Their chattering grew loud and agitated. It wasn’t a good sign.
“FUCK NO,” Candy Vargo bellowed as she chowed down on the ten toothpicks she’d shoved into her mouth. “The Higher Fucker Power looks like whoever we choose It to look like.”
“And you chose Tom Hanks?” Jegguthiz asked, clearly thinking we were insane.
He wasn’t wrong, but there had been a method to our madness.
I tried to explain quickly. The explosions were getting louder and closer together. “We picked Tom Hanks because no one wants to kill Tom Hanks. He’s the nicest guy in showbusiness.”
“Correct,” Candy Vargo grunted as she grabbed a semi-automatic machine gun. “When we weren’t allowed to kill the fucker, we picked someone who’d be dang hard to decapitate.”
“Wait,” I yelled, realizing she was right. “Should we pick another celebrity? Someone who would be easier to off now that we can off It?”
“Can’t, friend,” Tim said, cool as a cucumber as he chose a katana to add to his arsenal. “Won’t work. We’ve been calling It Tom Hanks for too long now. I’m not sure anyone can erase it from their brain. We don’t need the Higher Power looking like multiple people. If we choose another person, half of us will instinctually still see Tom Hanks, and the other half will see…”
