I cup Lianna’s cheek. “You okay, beautiful?” Although I like portals, some people get dizzy. Plus, any excuse to touch Lianna is a good one.
“No, I’m good.”
Lianna steps around, taking in the view. It’s nighttime here too, with a sea of stars wheeling over our heads. Far below, the ocean rolls over a beach of black sand. Nearby, the red mouth of the volcano lights up the night sky. I set my hands on my hips, thinking the same thought as when I first found this place.
It’s perfect.
“So this is what you’ve been up to?” asks Lianna. “Hanging out by volcanoes?”
Walker winks. “Something like that.”
I slip my arm about her waist. “Ready for your surprise, beautiful?”
Lianna bobs a little on the balls of her feet. “Sure.”
Walker snaps his fingers and a crystal palace appears above our heads. Starlight glistens through the milky-white stone. It’s three stories high with lots of spires and towers. Walker said women like stuff like that. Lianna stares at it for a long minute, her mouth falling open.
“You don’t like it?” I ask.
Lianna tries to talk, but she starts crying instead. Fuck, I did something wrong. This was supposed to be perfect.
I exchange a defeated look with Walker. We’ve been working on this for months.
“Sorry, beautiful.”
She speaks through sobs. “No, Maxon. These… Are… Happy… Tears.”
“So, you’re crying because you’re so happy?”
More sobs. “Yes.”
I smile my face off. “That’s good news, beautiful.”
That’s as far as I get before Lianna’s mouth is on mine and we’re a tangle of limbs on the warm green grass. When I come up for air, I wave Walker off and he has the good sense to portal away.
Lianna finally comes up for air, too. “It’s so lovely. Is it for me?”
“It’s for us, actually. This is what Walker’s been working on. This place is the perfect mix of earth, sky, fire, and water. It’s our joint castle.”
I don’t want to scare her off, but I made sure there was lots of room for kids, too. Pops was right about the Monarkki for Fire and Earth. Lianna and I really need to do our bit there, eventually. Of course, there’s lots of time for that.
Lianna gives me another teary smile, and this time, I know exactly what it means. She’s happy. Time to go for the close.
Before I lose my nerve, I fall onto one knee and pull out the royal betrothal jewels. They’ve been burning a hole in my tunic all night. I meet Lianna’s semi-stunned gaze.
“What do you say, marry me?”
Lianna tilts her head, confused, and I realize I may have jumped the gun. Lianna’s lived her life in a cabin. Plus, I have no idea what elemental traditions are for this. Who knows if I made the right move?
“Is that what elementals do?” I ask quickly. “They get married?”
Shit, I should know this stuff.
The confusion drops away from her face. “Yes.”
I raise my brows. “So, which question were you answering?”
Her smile turns so bright, it’s dazzling. “Both of them.”
Lianna’s body literally beams with joy. Gray light shimmers across my skin too.
She said yes.
“All right.” I set the necklace, earrings, and rings on her. “I didn’t think it could happen, but you look even more beautiful now.”
She slips her hands in mine. “So, is the palace ready for inspection?”
“It’s built out in some parts.”
“Is there a bedroom yet?” Her skin starts to glow a different shade of blue, and I’m definitely liking where she’s going with this.
I act all cool. No need for her to know how much I want to tear everything off her right now. “The bedroom’s just a floorboard and some tarps.”
“Never too early to test it out, though.”
“Yeah.”
Acting in unison, Lianna and I change into our mist and smoke forms. Together we rise up to the palace gate. Happiness radiates through my soul. This has been a crazy long journey, one that started with torture in Hell and it ended with a castle in the sky. It wasn’t an easy road, but it brought me to Lianna.
And given the choice, I’d do it all again.
She’s worth it.
The story continues with Portia. Out on October 27, 2015
For more information and updates about the series, go to: http://inkmonster.net/books/angelbound-series
Out now from Ink Monster, Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin
For more information and updates about the series, go to: http://inkmonster.net/books/alpha-girl-series
Out now from Ink Monster, Cipher by Aileen Erin
For more information and updates about the series, go to: http://inkmonster.net/books/shadow-ravens
Acknowledgements
“It costs a lot of money to keep this man in poverty.”
That’s one of my favorite quotes about Mahatma Ghandi as spoken Sarojini Naidu, president of the Indian National Congress. First of all, I like it because it’s funny, and you don’t normally think of Ghandi and humor in the same sentence. Second, the quote is awesome because it’s true. For anyone who achieves a goal, there is always someone (or more often, a whole mini-nation of people) who pay part of the price behind that success. One cool thing about books is that we have a traditional place to we say thank you to those people. Welcome to that spot.
I’ll start with Sharyn Paris, the goddess to whom this book is dedicated. She’s one of those lovelies who steps into your life and heals wounds, injects energy and radiates hope. Oh, and she does it all without any fanfare. Her keen observations, all given in a hypnotic southern drawl, change everything in a heartbeat. A classic example: “that dawg plays y’all like a two dollar gee-tar.” And indeed, Ruby the golden retriever was insisting on 2AM outings to fight evil squirrels which, in retrospect, was a tad more self-serving than truly driving any actual familial benefit. We sleep through the night now. However, my all-time favorite example of her wisdom is the text she sent me when I was at the end of my rope and ready to give up on writing. It simply said, “I believe.” Sharyn is die hard Red Sox fan. I suppose that says it all, really.
There are additional gods and goddesses that I need to praise here as well. My husband and son show positively celestial levels of patience with a wife and mother who seems unnaturally attached to her MacBook Pro. Case in point: as I write this, I have been working for fifteen hours solid on a Sunday. You guys are awesome.
Then, we have the lovely ladies of Ink Monster. There’s Aileen Latcham, who deftly saves the best of my ideas while nudging me gently away from the more crack-pot schemes. She edits like a pro and brainstorms like a queen. Thank you, Aileen! And then there’s Lola. Ah, Lola Dodge, you were such a rock through writing Maxon. How you can ride elephants, learn Mandarin and edit huge chunks of copy in a matter of days will always be a mystery to me. Don’t know how you do it, just so glad that you can!
And last but far from least, I wish to thank the extended team of awesomeness that keeps the show going. There’s the phenomenal group at Inscribe Digital, led by the lovely and talented Kelly Peterson and Guillian Helm. You are mind-blowing! Plus, I can’t forget my proofreader extraordinaire, Susan Edwards. I hope to have fewer errors this time around and you to thank for it. And finally, I wish to extend my deepest gratitude to all my readers. Now, I know I’m supposed to define ‘readers’ as everyone who reads my book, even if they hate it. But can you blame a girl for liking those of you who give good reviews just a little bit better? Nah, you can’t. And truth be told, if you like my books, then I love you to pieces. Hey, you get my stuff. You are my tribe. You rock death and I and can’t wait to bring you Portia in October. The End.
Christina Bauer graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. An avowed girl geek, Christina loves c
reating immersive fantasy worlds with action, adventure, romance, and kick-ass female protagonists. As part of her work in Ink Monster, Christina has co-developed the ‘Heroine’s Journey,’ a blueprint for telling female myths inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and golden retriever Ruby.
For more information and updates about Christina and her books, go to: http://inkmonster.net/cbauer
Or check her out on Twitter, Facebook or Goodreads.
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