The tears fell down my cheeks and dripped off my jaw and trembling chin. “Why? Because you’re my own personal messiah?”
“Don’t call me that. I’ve told you before, that’s not what I am. And to ask me why is just ... stupid.”
I looked at him like he was nuts. “What? Are guardian angels even allowed to tell their wards that they ask stupid questions? Don’t they have a handbook up there that tells you that you have to be nice?”
He was clearly frustrated with me. “Listen, we are out of time. I love you because you are perfect, exactly as you are, faults and all. I believe you are going to be a wonderful Mother to these fae. It is what you were born to do. Now, we must get going and proceed with the bonding ceremony. And then I will leave to return to my realm. I expect you to remember every word I said and keep them with you forever. I will see you again – hopefully later, rather than sooner.”
“Why?” I asked in a tremulous voice.
“Because. The next time I see you will be when you are in the Overworld.”
“Meaning, I’ll be dead.”
“Yes.”
I nodded my head, finally getting it. He was leaving and he wasn’t coming back. Becky had known and Tim had suspected it. I had too, but had denied it for as long as I could. Part of me wanted to cling to him desperately and beg him to stay – but I knew it wouldn’t make any difference. This was one of those things that I knew I couldn’t change no matter how hard I tried. I stared at the sky for a second, trying to get my emotions under control and biting back the cuss words that wanted to fly out of my mouth and ring out across the meadow. It was so. Damn. Hard.
I looked out through the green haze towards the place I knew where Ben was standing – waiting for me to do the right thing by our people. Maybe one day, I’d be okay with not being able to change this moment. Maybe someday I’d be happy it was ending up this way. I could only hope.
I took the bubble down, once more exposing us to the eyes and ears of the fae standing in the meadow. Chase and I slowly made our way down the path and back to stand in front of Ben. He was the first to speak.
“Jayne, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you for a minute alone, too.” He looked at Chase. “I won’t take long.”
Chase nodded his acquiescence.
Ben gestured for me to precede him, back to the spot where Chase and I had just had our little meeting. Before I even had a chance to bring up my bubble of protection, I found myself surrounded by a dome of fire. It was beautiful, completely blocking out the view I had of everyone and of every sound I had just been hearing. There were no more birds chirping, no more murmuring crowds of fae ... the only thing I could see and hear was Ben and me. The reds, oranges, and golds of the heatless flames were gorgeous. I sighed in amazement without even thinking about it.
“Nice, huh?” he asked, smiling tentatively.
“Yeah. Better than mine.”
“I can teach you how to do it. If you want.”
I shrugged. It might be nice to have another elemental who knew his shit to show me the ropes. Maybe.
“Jayne, I just wanted to ... I don’t know. Talk to you. Before you made any decisions.”
“Go on,” I said, willing to hear him out, at least for now. “I’ve got a couple minutes to spare.”
“I know you’re shocked by all this. Believe me, so am I. And I completely understand why you don’t want to be with me. I don’t blame you at all. I’d do the same thing in your shoes.”
“You would?” I found that hard to believe. In my experience, beautiful guys were too full of themselves to realize what assholes they were.
“Yes. I’ve hurt you. Physically, emotionally ... and I made you think I was stealing your best friend from you.”
“You let Leck melt my brain. You told him to. I have to be honest ... I’m having a hard time getting past that one.”
Ben dropped his head in shame. “I know. And you should. I wish there was something I could say to make it better – but there’s just no excuse for it. I was blinded by my passion to accomplish what I thought was right ... at any cost. I was weak. It was stupid and cruel and unforgiveable.” He lifted his head and looked at me, desperation in his eyes, “If it makes you feel any better, I plan to work the rest of my days in this realm to make it up to you – to show you how sorry I am.”
“How are you going to manage that?” I was intrigued by the idea of total enslavement, I had to admit.
“I’m not sure yet,” he said, smiling a little. “I thought I’d start with foot rubs and work my way around from there.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Romeo,” I said, taking a step back.
“That’s not what I meant,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender. “I mean it. I have only honorable intentions. This ... bonding or whatever it is ... you define it for us. Not me. I will follow your lead, I promise.”
“Meaning ... ?”
“Meaning, if you just want to be friends for life, I can live with that. If you want more, well, I’d be good with that too. More than good with that.” He hurried to add, “But, like I said, it’s up to you.”
“So I decide where we go with this? And I get foot rubs on request too?” I did loooove me some foot rubs, that was no lie. I wondered if Tony had tipped him off. I had never figured out how to con Tony into giving me one. The idea of my smelly feet grossed him out too much.
Ben smiled, a dimple showing up in his cheek that I’d never noticed before. “Yes. That’s it in a nutshell.”
“And in the meantime, we fight off these demons and orcs ... and then what?”
Ben shrugged, losing his smile. “I don’t know. What do you think happens next?”
I looked at him, searching his face for signs that he was tricking me, but I didn’t see anything. “I don’t know. Do we go back to living in different compounds? Hating each other? Trying to destroy each other?”
“I hope not,” he whispered, concentrating everything he had on my face. I could feel it. The intensity of his gaze nearly burned me, but without any pain.
“Me too,” I said, my face heating up and my heart racing. Everything was so messed up for me right now – but even so, I could see this person was standing in front of me, blindingly beautiful, looking at me like he was totally okay with being bound to me forever. This powerful fae elemental who three people I cared about deeply – Tony, Becky, and Chase – had told me I should trust. Four, including Tim. The fae elemental my guardian angel had called Father.
“So we’re good then?” asked Ben. “We’re going to do this?” He held out his hand.
I looked down at it and then back up to his face, smiling at the hope I saw there. “Yeah. Let’s do this.” I lifted my hand and gently placed it in his.
Chapter 37
The dome of fire dropped away as we emerged from the path holding hands. Smiles broke out on the faces nearest us and then spread like wildfire through the crowd.
No one said anything too loudly as we approached Chase, but I could hear whispers carried by the wind. They didn’t sound unhappy. On the contrary, they sounded quite hopeful.
We came to a stop in front of Chase who held out his hands in front of him, palms up. His voice rose up, an ethereal quality to it making it spread across the entire meadow so every fae could hear him. I had a feeling that all the fae living in and around this forest were here for this event. I looked down at my feet, at the soil that I knew contained the body of my mother, and was glad that she could be here with me today – on the day of my wedding to Ben, the Dark Fae elemental, and up until this day, my sworn enemy.
I looked up at Ben’s face and was blown away by its beauty. I had always noticed it, but somehow it hadn’t seemed so breathtaking before, when I’d held him in distain. That anger and distrust was fading away as I stood in the presence of my guardian angel, the one who loved me unconditionally – the one who was sent to help us fae bring our two worlds, one Light and one Dark, back together again so we c
ould quell the uprising of the creatures from the Underworld. Ben’s face was my very ideal of perfection. His skin was dark, either from the sun or his heritage, I didn’t yet know. His eyes were a brilliant green and reminded me of the power and energy that made up the Earth element I commanded. He turned towards me, and his full, sensual-looking lips turned up in a smile.
He took a moment to stare and me and then leaned over, saying, “You are the prettiest human or fae girl I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
I felt myself coloring under the compliment but said nothing back. I didn’t want to declare my undying love to him, because I didn’t feel that emotion for him. Not yet anyway. But after Chase was done saying the ceremonial words, I was going to have to learn to love this guy, one way or another. We were going to be bound for life. And when you’re fae, that’s a ridiculously long time.
“Gentle fae ... thank you for attending this solemn but also happy occasion, wrought by coming tragedy but ultimately forged with love and the approval of the Great Spirit and the Elements of our universe. Let us all hold hands and connect our souls together.”
Every fae in the meadow began taking the hands of another fae nearby. Within seconds, everyone was touching – an unbroken chain of Light and Dark Fae. Even Maléna, who had expressed her extreme dislike for the idea of me entering her world, held the hands of fae on either side of her. I avoided her eyes and stared at Ben’s instead. He smiled at me, making me feel slightly more courageous.
“The elemental, Jayne, of Earth and Water – and the elemental, Ben, of Fire and Wind – come together before you today, as you bear witness to their bond. This bond shall last until their final days here in this realm and beyond if they so choose. May no fae, nor human, nor any creature of Light or Darkness, take this bond from them.”
He said in a more quiet voice. “Please place your hands in mine.”
I put my left hand in Chase’s right; Ben put his right hand in Chase’s left.
“Repeat after me, both of you.”
“I ... state your name.”
Ben and I looked at each other and both of us fought the giggles that started to come out, only partially successful at it.
We both said really loudly, “I state your name!”
Chase rolled his eyes. “Stop messing around. This is serious. Do it over ... I state your names ...”
We both purposely sobered up, still battling silly grins. I said, “I, Jayne Sparks Blackthorn ... ,” and Ben said, “I, Benjamin Dark Hawthorne ... ”
I cocked my head, surprised that our names had such similarities and that he shared a name with a dragon I’d heard about, but there was no time to think too much about it because Chase continued.
“Vow, that on this day ... ”
We both repeated it, our voices combining as one, “Vow, that on this day ... ”
“We will be bound to one another ... ”
“We will be bound to one another ... ”
Chase took our hands and joined them, forcing us to weave our fingers together, his own hand dropping away as he said the last line, “And that no man, no fae, no beast, or creature, shall come between us or sever that bond, upon penalty of death to be suffered by us both.”
My eyes bugged out a little at that one, and Ben’s mouth thinned a bit, but we both took deep breaths and finished it.
“And that no man, no fae, no beast, or creature shall come between us or sever that bond, upon penalty of death to be suffered by us both.
As soon as the last syllable was out of our mouths, I felt the elements leap into Ben and me, all four of them together – Earth, Wind, Fire and Water – engulfing us and surrounding us, separating us from everyone else.
“Ben!” I yelled, “I’m afraid!” I wasn’t controlling my elements at all. They had gone wild on me.
He pulled me to him, gently holding me against his chest; I could see him clearly now, all the colors of the rainbow swirling around us madly and wildly, their lights flickering reflections on his face.
“Don’t be afraid. I think it’s part of the ceremony. I’m here with you – I’ll protect you.”
I looked up at him, smiling. “Maybe I’m going to have to protect you.”
He smiled back. “Maybe. But I doubt it.”
I went to push him away, but he held onto my hands. “Wait,” he said, his head cocked to the side. “Can you hear that?”
I listened for what he was talking about and suddenly I did. It was a song. A symphony really. It was beautiful. Mesmerizing. Enthralling. “What is that?” I asked, stunned.
“It sounds like ... sirens?”
I knew what Naida’s song sounded like, and this wasn’t it. “No, this isn’t Naida’s song.”
“We have a siren too. His name is Neen. Maybe it’s both of them, because it’s kind of his song and kind of not ... ”
I listened harder. Now that I concentrated, I could pick out strands of hers, intertwined with those of another. “I think they’re singing together. It’s ... nice.”
“I guess we have a song now.”
I rolled my eyes. “Spare me.”
He pulled me close again and cleared his throat, suddenly nervous, which had the effect of making me suddenly nervous too.
“What?” I asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Well, I think we have to ... uh ... seal the deal in here.”
“Seal the ... what?”
“You know ... kiss the bride?”
“Oh.” My face turned crimson, I know it did. I could totally feel the burning. It was even spreading down my neck to my chest. “Shit.” How embarrassing. I was about to kiss the guy I’d despised ten minutes ago, in front of a thousand fae and the guy I’d been crushing on for months.
He frowned. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not something you really want to do right now. I’ll make it quick if you want.”
I nodded my head dumbly, unable for once in my life to think of a comeback.
He leaned his head down slowly, using his finger under my chin to urge my face up so it was tipped back to receive his kiss.
I didn’t fight him – I just closed my eyes in anticipation, wondering what it was going to feel like. In the space of half a second, my anxiety, blood pressure and hormone levels reached crisis level nine point nine.
And then his lips touched mine, softly and tentatively at first. He made as if to pull away then, but my hand reached up and touched his chest, signaling to him that I wasn’t quite done. He leaned his head down farther, pressing his lips more firmly to mine and moving them to taste me more fully. My hand reached up of its own accord and found the back of his neck, pulling him to me to encourage deeper penetration. I’d never had a kiss like this before. Nothing even close. The tip of his tongue came out and touched the tip of mine, causing me to hitch my breath for a second, before I arched up, deepening our kiss on my own.
That was all the signal he needed to dive headfirst into the passion with me. Our tongues and lips tangled around each other in what felt like a perfectly choreographed dance of hidden desires and future promises. I didn’t care if a million fae were watching me right now. All I wanted was to buy more of this hot sexy stuff Ben was selling.
I became aware of his hands, rubbing my back, and the length of his body pressing against mine. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard a whisper of something – something that was intruding on my utter collapse into this world of Ben’s heat and desire that had just erupted out of nowhere.
Ben put his hands to the sides of my face and pulled us apart, resting his forehead on mine. “Something’s happening,” he said breathlessly.
“I know,” I said, trying to catch my breath too. “What is that?”
We heard Chase’s voice through our elements. “That is Spirit. Your union has been blessed. Please, come out and join your family.”
Ben stood up straight, his eyes never leaving mine. He reached down, first to brush a strand of hair from my forehead and then to take my hand. “Are you read
y?” he asked, searching my face tenderly for signs of my thoughts.
“Yeah. I’m ready if you’re ready.”
He smiled brilliantly at me. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
“Fuck yeah,” I said, smiling back.
The force of our elements dropped away and left us standing there in front of our entire community of fae family members.
Chapter 38
Ben lifted our tightly clasped hands above our heads in triumph and looked down at me, smiling. I looked up and met his gaze, smiling too.
The cheers from the crowd surrounding us lifted my heart until it was soaring above the meadow, above the tree whose roots encased my mother’s body, and above the Green Forest where everyone I cared about lived and was going to fight with me and my bonded elemental for our very survival.
I watched as Chase’s mighty wings unfolded and began to beat, sending nearby fae scattering. Ben and I backed up, as Chase slowly lifted himself up into the air, easily and gracefully skirting past the branches of my mother’s tree so that he could take flight. The last thing I saw before my guardian angel took himself above the meadow and into the sun-filled sky were the tears that fell to his cheeks, just before he turned and flew off in a beating of wings that sent gentle currents of air down to cool the heat from my face.
“Those were happy tears, right Ben?” I asked in a voice choked with emotion. I knew he had seen them too.
“Yes, they were,” he replied, his own voice gruff, pulling me to him with his arm around my waist. “We’re going to be okay, Jayne. You’ll see. I’ll make sure of it,” he said.
“I know you will,” I said, smiling at the group of changelings that was rushing over to envelope me in a super big group hug – a crazy pixieman blazing the trail in front, dragging a beautiful she-pixie over in his left hand, and a tiny, baby pixie in his right.
About the Author
Elle Casey is an American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, and Hercules the wonder poodle. In her spare time she writes young adult novels.