Vamps And The City by Kerrelyn Sparks

pews ’til all the guests were quietly discussing the matter. Darcy wondered if the Malcontents were behind this. They were a group of vampires who hated Roman with a passion. Since they believed in a vampire’s sacred right to feed off humans, they had rejected Roman’s synthetic blood and periodically did nasty things like bomb Romatech Industries.
    Gregori sighed. “No one is answering their damned phones. The priest isn’t here. I don’t know what to make of it.”
    “I know what has come to pass!” Princess Joanna raised her hands in triumph. Her jeweled rings sparkled in the candlelight. “The wedding has been cancelled. The master has come to his senses and rejected that hideous mortal.”
    Maria Consuela’s cone-shaped headdress bobbed as she nodded enthusiastically. “He has realized how inferior she is. Santa Maria, my prayers have been answered.” She lifted her rosary and kissed the jeweled cross.
    “Wait a minute.” Gregori scowled at them. “I like Shanna.”
    “Me, too.” Darcy came to the bride’s defense.
    “Ha!” Princess Joanna sneered at them both. “I would expect you to side with her. You modern types always stick together. You whine about being sensitive to other people’s needs, yet you do not give a thought to our suffering. That mortal wench stole our master and our home!”
    “I do declare—” Cora Lee flipped open her lacy yellow fan. “I was never so humiliated in all my life.”
    Lady Pamela Smythe-Worthing removed a handkerchief from her silk reticule and dabbed at her eyes. “It was simply too horrid to bear. If I wasn’t blessed with such a miraculous constitution, I would have withered away in utter despair.”
    Just go ahead and wither, Darcy thought with a groan. She was so tired of these women’s endless complaints. It never occurred to them to actually do anything about their fate other than constantly bemoan it.
    Maria Consuela clicked through her rosary beads. “The horror was so unexpected. It reminded me of the night I was dragged off to the torture chambers of the Spanish Inquisition.”
    “Sweet Mary and Joseph.” Maggie crossed herself.
    Vanda snorted. “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.”
    Darcy pulled the wedding invitation from her purse. “This is the right time and place.” She showed Gregori the invitation.
    He shook his head. “The ceremony should have started ten minutes ago.”
    “Hallelujah!” Cora Lee jumped to her feet, her hoop skirt billowing to the sides to fill half the pew. Her blond ringlets, gathered in clusters over each ear, bounced in rhythm with her skirt. “The wedding is off! That means we can move back into the master’s house.”
    “Oh, I do hope so.” Lady Pamela pressed her handkerchief to her bosom, which was mostly exposed in her Regency-style ball gown of pink watered silk.
    “Wait a minute,” Gregori warned them. “Hold your horses.”
    Maria Consuela huffed. “Who would bring a horse into a church? How barbaric.”
    Gregori rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for this.”
    “Reasonable?” Lady Pamela stuffed her handkerchief back into her reticule. “The only reasonable course of action for Roman is to dismiss that foolish mortal and send her packing.”
    Cora Lee snapped her fan shut. “Then we can have our old rooms back.”
    “Exactly.” Princess Joanna stood. “I propose we move back tonight.”
    “Wait!” Gregori removed his cell phone from an inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket. “I’ll try calling again. We have to find out what’s going on first. So, cool it, ladies. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
    With a snort, Princess Joanna sat back down. “As if I would wear such a ridiculous undergarment.”
    “Good grief.” Gregori stepped back with a shudder. “I don’t even want to think about that.” He punched in a number on his phone. “You gotta get them out of my house,” he whispered to Darcy. “I can’t take it