Genesis (37 page)

Candles rested on every horizontal
surface, their warm glow casting shadows onto the cracked wall
tiles. Over in the corner leaned an archway of flowering
vines.

Aunt Grace, Uncle John, Jenny and Sarah
sat on folded chairs near the archway. Another woman was with them,
her bright blond hair giving her away.

No. He did not bring my mom here.
Didn’t he know she was in Ainessa’s pocket now?

“
What’s going on?” I
whispered even though I had my suspicions.

Heath lowered to one knee. “I know it
isn’t perfect, and neither am I, but I will love you fiercely until
I no longer exist. Rayla, would you do me the honor of becoming my
wife?”

I was about to give him a resounding
yes, but that last bit threw me. “Wait, what?”

He laughed. “Will you marry
me?”

“
Don’t you mean bond with
you?”

His smile warmed his brown eyes.
“That’ll come later, but only if you want to.”

“
Well okay, then, yes!”
Heath grinned at me and in that moment we were the only two people
in existence. Brown eyes blazed into mine, making me want to forget
about every person in this room. I glanced around again at all the
smiling faces of the people I loved most. “But who will conduct the
ceremony?”

Uncle John stood up. “I would be
honored to, honey.”

He looked so much better today. Most of
his wounds were dressed and the visible ones didn’t seem too bad.
I’d thought he hated me when we took him from the compound. Now his
eyes were bright with love. I let out a relieved sigh and nodded.
“Okay, but since when have you become a pastor?”

Uncle John gave me a rare smile. “There
are many things you don’t know about me, Rayla.”

Heath hugged me from the back then led
me forward. Marriage was such a human thing to do. I’d nearly put
it out of my mind, but now that I was here with this man that had
captured my heart, I couldn’t have been more grateful for the
chance to have my family here. The only person missing besides
Travis was Cassie. Travis would have been bored off his backside,
but Cassie would be angry if I did this without her.

She’d have to get over it because I was
done waiting. Besides, she’d done the same thing to her mom. I
hoped she had found her. I hoped Mrs. Lambert was okay.

Commotion rattled in the hallway.
Cassie’s voice shot into the room, startling me. “You had better
not start without me, Heath!”

I glanced at Mom, who smiled brightly.
Was Ainessa somewhere behind her bright gaze? I shoved that thought
out of my mind. Something else had to be going on. One thing gave
me hope. Ainessa’s powers wouldn’t work here, either. A thought
suddenly struck me. Was my mom a double agent? It would explain a
few things about our limited conversations.

I’d figure out all of that later
because right now I had other things to attend. My wedding being
the most important. I wrapped my arms around Heath’s waist and
buried my face into this chest. “Thank you.”

He patted my shoulder, so I looked up
at him. “Cassie should have brought—”

She pushed past him. “Man, that was
close.” She gave me a scrutinizing once over. “How would I ever
forgive myself if you were married in that?” I didn’t miss the
garment bag in her hands.

I glanced down at my ratty ensemble and
shrugged. “I’d have managed.”

She yanked me into a hug. “I’ve been so
worried about you.”

I nodded, resisting the tears that
threatened to spill over. “I’m just glad you made it. Where’s
Finn?”

A shadow fell over her. “Taking care of
unpleasantries.”

“
Care to explain
that?”

She gave me her
later
smile and pushed me
out the door. Hushed voices filtered into the hallway.

“
Take that off,” she
ordered.

I pulled my shirt over my head then
stepped out of my sweats. “What’s going on, Cassie?”

“
The word is Tabitha is
looking for you herself.”

“
So?”

“
She’s the only one who has
the capability to find you besides the guard. Finn’s trying to take
care of them, but no one can stop Tabitha.” She held the frilly
white dress for me while I stepped in.

“
Does she know what we’re
doing?”

“
Jett contacted Finn with
the news. He said you would only have minutes by the time I got
here.”

“
What?” Jett knew what I was
going to do, and he wasn’t trying to stop me? He really was my
friend. I turned and raced into the room with Cassie on my heels
trying to zip up the dress.

I stood in front of the archway. “Okay.
I’m ready.”

Heath chuckled. “That eager to be my
wife, eh?”

“
We don’t have time for
this. Get over here.” I motioned for John to come too. I looked up
at his ruddy face and said, “We’d like the short
version.”

Heath stared at me, and I shared what
Cassie had told me with him. He should have been paying better
attention. His face went white. “We must leave.”

“
Not until I am your
wife.”

His eyelids fell closed and he nodded.
We faced Uncle John who, after his initial shock, got right to the
point. “These two people come before these witnesses to be joined
as husband and wife. If any person has reason to keep Rayla and
Heath from being joined, speak now…”

Crickets.

Thank heaven.

“
Well then, I have the great
privilege of pronouncing Rayla Tate joined to Lord Heath as husband
and wife.”

I chuckled. Heath sounded like his last
name, but I sure as heck wasn’t ever going to call him Lord, at
least not and mean it.

Uncle John said, “You may
kiss.”

A hush fell over the room, and I could
feel every eye upon me. Heath took my hands and pulled me against
him. “Thank you.”

I didn’t have time to answer him
because he crushed his lips to mine; however, I did have time to be
embarrassed when he tried to deepen the kiss. I pulled back and
smiled at my mom as she came toward us.

She patted Heath’s hand. “Thanks for
looking out for her.”

He gave her a sharp nod. “I would like
to say I am sorry she did not pick Jett, but that would be a
lie.”

Mom smiled bigger. “Sometimes the best
way to get the outcome one desires is to do nothing at
all.”

I was about to ask her what she meant,
but Heath beat me too it. “Your implication is not lost on me, your
majesty; however, I have to wonder at your words.”

She patted his cheek. “Keep wondering,
lord of fire.”

She gave me a sweeping glance and took
my hand. “Seeing you like this is hard for a mother to bear. I’ve
missed so much time with you, but I hope you will come visit once
you are settled.”

“
Promise,” I
said.

After giving me a brief hug, she
drifted away from me and out the door. Congratulations came from
all around me, but I couldn’t help wondering why my mom had risked
coming here given how controlling Theran was. Was she a spy for
Ainessa, or could it be she was acting?

Cassie threw her arms around me. “I
can’t believe we pulled it off. I thought for sure Tabitha would
barge in here with twenty royal guards to take you to
Lombarda.”

Maybe she knew there was no point in
fighting. I’d made my decision, and she would have to live with
it.

“
Think again,” said Tabitha
from the doorway.

Heath pushed me protectively behind his
back, but I got away before he could clamp his hand around my
wrist.

I walked up to Tabitha and stared. “Why
are you here?”

“
This cannot be,
Rayla.”

I shook my head. “I’ve made my
decision. Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to get me to do since
the first moment I saw you?”

Her expression remained calm, but I
couldn’t help but notice the tension in her hands. “Do you want to
be the cause of the end of your world? If you continue with this
course, that will be the outcome.”

I shook my head. “I don’t believe you.”
How could she do this to me? I’d finally admitted my feelings for
Heath were real and now she wanted to take him away from me? Not
very long ago she was angry at me for not bonding with this
man.

“
I am sorry, young one.
Things have changed since then. If there was any other way, I would
encourage your union with Heath. Since you were taken out of
Faeresia, my visions for you have been different than those of the
past, changing from one minute to the next; but since I learned you
had been captured by the borderland creatures, only one picture
lingers in my mind. Her hand snaked out and grabbed mine in that
unyielding grip. “See what your decision will create.”

In one second my mind filled with
horrible visions of destruction and grief. Human families lined up
in streets begging for food while fae stepped past without
acknowledging the people crying out around them. Abandoned cities.
Death pits where landfills used to be. Empty oceans. Where had all
the fish gone? Our world was dying. I could feel it pulling on my
bones.

The vision shifted. Heath stood before
the council. His face was contorted with rage, yet no one else in
the room betrayed emotion. Valen approached him from the dais
steps. “For crimes committed against your people, we banish you to
the dark realms. For treason you will lose your soul—”

I yanked away from her. “That cannot
be!”

She swallowed hard. “I have never asked
for this sight, Rayla, but now more than ever, I wish I were
sharing a happier vision.”

Heath stepped up to me. “Don’t listen
to her. The council controls her every move.”

She leveled her eyes to his and he
cringed. “Think you the only pretender amongst the fae? I could
share stories that would blind you, boy.”

“
You promised me,” he
whispered.

“
I wish there was a way,
Lord Heath.” She touched his face. “Sometimes love is not
enough.”

I shoved my hands at my hips, tears
streaming down my cheeks. “It damned well should be!”

She inched closer to us. “The Guard is
coming. I have no control of them anymore. She motioned at my
family. “I suggest you get them out of here.”

I shouted at her. “How can we possibly
have enough time to evacuate now?”

“
If you agree to my terms, I
will send them somewhere safe.”

“
What about everyone else?”
I hissed.

“
I will take care of
everything here. This will appear as an abandoned fortress, nothing
more. I promise.”

A sob escaped my lips. What other way
was there? Heath and I couldn’t possibly fight against an entire
race.

Heath stiffened in front of me, his
fists balling at his sides. The tears in his eyes made my gut
clench with rage. “You can’t listen to her. We will figure this
out. Don’t you see she is manipulating you?”

I shook my head. How was I
supposed to see anything beyond the agony in my soul at the thought
of losing him, of letting the world crumble around us? “If there is
even the slightest possibility of those things happening, I can’t
do it. I love you, but I love my family too. Don’t
you
see? I will not trade
my happiness for a dying world. I will not allow that to happen to
you!”

He stared at me, unblinking, and his
mouth hardened. A part of me died in that moment. I leaned against
him and brushed my lips against his. “I love you. Don’t you ever
forget that.”

I turned to Tabitha. “Do
it.”

She took my hands. “I can give you a
few minutes alone, but that is all.”

I nodded. “He’s my husband, and I want
you to promise me I can have him when I am returned to the mortal
realm.”

Tabitha hissed in a breath. “I am not
able to grant your request. Only your creator can do such a
thing.”

“
But you will make sure the
council doesn’t harm him, and that he will be allowed to
leave?”

Heath just stared at me, disbelief
written all over him. “You cannot bond with someone else and love
me. It will not work.”

Tabitha gave him a disapproving look.
“That is no longer your concern, lord of fire. Take what I am
giving you. We are almost out of time.”

My family disappeared, and I was left
with Heath in the candlelit room.

He stepped forward and pulled me into
his arms. “If I had access to any amount of power right now, I
would take you with me.”

I cupped his cheek. “I know. I would
too, but you have to understand.”

He shook his head. “Her visions change.
You’ve seen that yourself. This is supposed to be your choice,
Rayla.”

“
Shut up,” I said. “Kiss me
before it’s too—”

He crushed our lips together, molding
my body to his, giving me his soul in the process. Our bodies
shook, and our hands devoured. I took everything from him I could
get in that insanely short moment.