All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris Page B

leopard-print dress cut as low in the front as you could get and still term the garment a dress. I didn’t know if the leopard motif was an ironic statement on her part or a simple expression of her fashion sense. I suspected the latter.
    The happy couple was standing in the middle of an empty space, accompanied by Calvin Norris, leader of the Hotshot community. The crowd kept respectfully back, forming an uneven circle.
    Calvin, who happened to be Crystal’s uncle, was holding Crystal’s arm. He smiled at me. Calvin had trimmed his beard and dug out a suit for the occasion, but he and Jason were the only men wearing ties. Quinn noticed that and thought relieved thoughts.
    Jason spotted me right after Calvin did, and he beckoned to me. I stepped forward, suddenly realizing that I was going to have a part in the ceremony. I hugged my brother, smelling his musky cologne…but no alcohol. I relaxed a fraction. I had suspected Jason had fortified himself with a drink or two, but he was quite sober.
    I let go of Jason and glanced behind me to see what had become of my companions, so I knew the moment when the werepanthers realized Quinn was there. There was a sudden hush among the two-natured, and I heard his name ripple through them like a little wind.
    Calvin whispered, “You brought Quinn ?” as if I’d arrived with Santa Claus or some other mythical creature.
    “Is that okay?” I said, since I’d had no clue it would create such a stir.
    “Oh, yes,” he said. “He’s your man now?” Calvin’s face held such a mixture of startled reevaluation and speculation that I immediately began wondering what I didn’t know about my new lover.
    “Um, well, sorta,” I said with sudden caution.
    “We’re honored to have him here,” Calvin assured me.
    “Quinn,” Crystal breathed. Her pupils were dilating, and I felt her brain focus on my date with a sort of groupie longing. I wanted to kick her. Here to marry my brother, remember?
    Jason looked as puzzled as I was. Since he’d been a panther only a few months, there was a lot about the hidden world of the two-natured he hadn’t picked up on yet.
    Me, too.
    Crystal made an effort to quell herself and get back into the moment. She was naturally enjoying being the center of attention, but she spared a moment to reassess her prospective sister-in-law. Her respect for me (pretty much nonexistent, heretofore) had just shot off the charts.
    “What’s the procedure?” I asked briskly, trying to get us all back on track.
    Calvin reverted to his practical self. “Since we have human guests, we’ve adapted the ceremony,” he explained in a very low voice. “Here’s how it goes…you vouch for Jason as his closest living relative, because he ain’t got no one older than you to do it. I’m Crystal’s oldest living relative, so I vouch for her. We offer to take the penalty if either of them does wrong.”
    Ah-oh. I didn’t like the sound of that. I darted a quick look at my brother, who (naturally) didn’t seem to think twice about the commitment I was making. I shouldn’t have expected anything else.
    “Then the minister comes forward and the service proceeds just like any other wedding,” Calvin said. “If there weren’t outsiders here, it would be different.”
    I was curious about that, but this wasn’t the time to ask lots of questions. However, there were a few that had to be answered. “What penalty am I promising to pay? What constitutes ‘doing wrong’?”
    Jason huffed a sigh, exasperated that I wanted to find out what I was promising. Calvin’s calm yellow eyes met mine, and they were full of understanding.
    “Here’s what you’re vowing,” Calvin said in a voice that was quiet but intense. We huddled around him. “Jason, you listen hard. We went over this, but I don’t think you were giving me your full attention.” Jason was listening now, but I could feel his impatience.
    “Being married here”—and Calvin waved a hand to indicate the