by Fleur Smith
Because of how quick and efficient they were, there was very little left for me to do. In fact, because of the exuberance and military-like planning of the two fae helping, all Clay and I had to do on the day of the wedding was show up.
Despite not being as busy as I’d thought I would be, the weeks passed quickly. Sooner than I expected, it was my wedding day. The start to the morning was slightly less than ideal after some tricks Ethan had played on Clay during his bachelor party—one in particular he’d roped me into, but it was soon forgotten as I was whisked away by Rose and Isa, the two pink fairies who’d arranged everything.
They set my hair into long, loose curls and put the smallest amount of natural-looking make-up on me. Once I was made-up, they helped me slip into an understated but stunning empire gown. The capped sleeves sat across my shoulders, the ultra-soft lace covered my chest. At the bottom of my bust-line, the dress fell in layers of chiffon that covered the small swell of my belly. The dress was whiter than white, almost seeming to shimmer and glow in the soft light of the court.
When I glanced in the mirror, I was awestruck. It was me, but more. The slight shimmer of the dress echoed across my skin, and my hair was the embodiment of flames.
They stood back and smiled at their handiwork. With the elegant dress, make-up, and hair, I was the temptress I’d been accused of being by Clay’s father. I felt wild, uninhibited, and so damned ready to be at Clay’s side, not just for the wedding, but for life.
Aiden met me at the entrance to the court. He’d agreed to walk me down the aisle to Clay. “Lynnie, you look positively divine. He is an extraordinarily lucky man.”
I shook my head. “I’m the lucky one.”
“Shall we?” He offered me his arm.
We walked out into the forecourt of the court. With my feet bare, and my senses heightened by the enchantments running through my body, I was energized. Alive in a way I’d never been before.
Because we were on the cusp of the ethereal plane and the human world, I caught the movement of the people in Central Park in my peripheral vision. They couldn’t see us though, so they meant nothing. I focused on the view in front of me instead, remaining fixed on the ethereal plane. Fixed on Clay, standing in front of an archway of magnolias and mistletoe at the end of the short grassy path that trailed between the small gathering of fae.
My smile stretched wide as I caught him staring at me, his jaw slack as his gaze followed the lines of my dress. He mouthed one word to me, “Wow.”
When Aiden and I reached the end of the aisle, he kissed my cheek and placed my hands in Clay’s. Fiona had explained the basics of the fae binding ceremony, so both Clay and I took our positions without further instructions.
Standing face-to-face and hand-in-hand, we grinned at each other.
“Hi,” I whispered. We’d spent the night together the night before, and we’d woken together that morning, and yet all that felt like a lifetime ago already.
“Hi.” He gripped my hands tighter. His face lit up. All I could focus on was the excitement buzzing over his features. It was clear he was as ready to be one as I was.
“Today, we are gathered to join two hearts as one. To bind two lives together for today and into the future,” Fiona said, starting the ceremony. The instant she spoke, a hush fell over everyone there. She glanced at me and then Clay in turn. “It starts with the ring. The symbol of eternity, unbreakable and unbroken. Gold is a precious metal, as you are precious to one another and to this court. The inscription within, as requested by Clay, is a section of the prophecy laid down by the queen Tatania.”
Aiden held out two rings, identical in color and design, except Clay’s was thicker than the one that would rest on my finger. The token was odd for fae custom, not needing things such a jewelry when they had their magic showing their link, but it was something Clay and I had insisted on because we wanted our marriage to be formal—or at least as formal as possible when neither of us really existed legally. When we’d said we wanted rings, Fiona had insisted on including them in the ceremony, so they’d be linked to the rest of the magic.
Fiona selected my ring first and passed it to Clay.
“Do you willingly enter this union?” she asked me as she guided Clay’s hand to mine.
A flutter ran through my stomach and my heart leaped as I nodded, and Clay slid the ring over my finger. “I do.”
She repeated the process with Clay, guiding my hand to his to slide the ring over his finger as he said, “I do.”
“Evelyn and Clay, as a ribbon has two ends, you are two parts. Today as you make your promises, you become one. One heart. One body. One soul.”
As we’d been instructed during the preparation for the event, we held each other’s left hands, palm to palm. Clay’s was underneath, face up, to signify his deference to me, as was the tradition in the matriarchal society of the court. My hand rested over his and in the quiet stillness that had taken over the park, it was almost magical. Like I could feel his heartbeat through his palm, could feel his need through the brush of his fingertips over my wrist, could feel the weight of our upcoming promises in the twin gold bands.
Fiona drew in a breath and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, her aura swirled around her fingertips. “Evelyn, will you forever share in Clay’s pain and always seek to alleviate it?”
“I will.”
She repeated the question to Clay. As she spoke, she drew the magic in her aura around our hands, looping from Clay’s wrist to mine in a sweeping figure eight, drawing our auras—which already danced as one—together, forming it into a thread that she wrapped around our wrists. Once Clay had agreed, she said, “So it is bound.”
“Evelyn, will you share in Clay’s happiness and choose to look for the brightness and the positive in life with him?”
“I will.”
Clay and I only broke eye contact to glimpse at the movement of her fingers and her magic as she continued.
“Evelyn, will you share in Clay’s dreams so that your spirits may grow in this union?”
“I will.”
With each new statement she had us agree to, she formed another bond between us. First using her magic, then our combined auras, and then with a gossamer silk ribbon, tying each one as she said we were bound.
“Evelyn, will you take the heat of anger and use it to temper the strength of this union?”
Each time I said, “I will,” it was with pure confidence and the knot of excitement in my stomach grew. Fiona added a different colored ribbon with each question, layering and twisting them into loose knots around our joined hands.
“Evelyn, will you honor Clay and always treat him as an equal in this union?”
“I will.”
Clay’s fingers pressed harder against my wrist, and he swallowed heavily. He looked like he was itching to release my hands and claim my lips.
“There is no stronger power in our world than that of entwining auras. There is little that can tear the link asunder. Evelyn and Clay, as your hands are bound together now, so too are your lives and spirits joined in a union of love and trust. The promises made today, the ties bound by the magic of our court, will strengthen that union to ensure none shall split it apart.”
She rested her hand on our joined hands, which was the signal for us to lift our free hands onto our bound hands. With Fiona’s hand on ours, the three auras glowed brighter and brighter. She whispered something under her breath, in a language I didn’t understand. As she did, my hands grew hotter in Clay’s and the ring on my finger glinted with blue and red.
“Your hands have been joined and your union blessed. May you always hold each other. May you retain the fortitude to hold firm during the times of difficulty and when the days seem darkest. May you retain a tender gentleness as you hold one another in love and happiness throughout the years. May your hands be healer, protector, shelter, and guidance for each other today and always.”
There were a few nods and a couple of whis
pers among the fae and it seemed like the ceremony was over, but there was one moment we’d missed.
Clay glanced between the Fiona and the fae who had started to whisper, and then back at me. A frown crossed his brow momentarily before he said, “Can I kiss her now?”
Fiona laughed. “Of course. It is not our tradition to dictate when you may first kiss your bride.”
She hadn’t even got halfway through her sentence before Clay’s free hand was against my face, guiding me closer for a kiss. When our lips met, a spark burned between us, and I issued a soft moan as it raced through my body, lighting all of my senses on fire.
“I should warn you, the magic used to bind an entwined couple is rather potent.” It was Aiden talking to us as we broke apart. Clay’s eyes were focused on my lips even as Aiden continued, “We have not had such a couple at our court in my time, but the books say the surge of magic from the entwined auras may last a number of weeks.”
I nodded to show I’d understood as Aiden rested his hands around Clay’s and mine. He had a thin ribbon in the hand on top of ours.
“If you could please draw your hands out of the bindings carefully,” he said.
Even though I was reluctant to change anything, or move at all because I didn’t want to break the spell that the day held, I withdrew my hand as Clay moved his. As we slid our hands out of the tangle of ribbons, Aiden gathered them together and bound the knot in shape with the thinner ribbon.
Isa, one of the fae involved in the planning, appeared at his side and gave a small nod.
“Your binding will be preserved and delivered to your room in a keepsake box.”
“Thank you,” I said. “For today. For everything.”
He smiled at me. “On that first day I discovered you half-dead and ready to give up, who could have guessed we would end up here.”
“Not me.” I laughed. It was then I realized Clay’s hand had found mine again even though the ribbons no longer bound us. I met his gaze. “Definitely not me, but I couldn’t be happier.”
“Nor could I be happier for you,” Aiden said.
As soon as Aiden stepped away, Clay whispered in my ear, “I can’t wait to see what that little booster from the binding ceremony feels like when we’re together later tonight.”
If only we didn’t have the feast the court was putting on to celebrate our wedding. The sooner that was over, the better. Then, I could take my husband to bed . . . over and over again.
A LITTLE over a week after our wedding, Clay found a house and put in an offer—I didn’t ask where the money had come from because I was sure I wouldn’t want to know.
As soon as the sale closed, we started the preparations to move from Central Park to Greig, New York. The house was still a small rustic shack, but it was almost three times the size of the little love nest we’d shared in Sweden and had enough spare rooms for guests to sleep over, even after converting one of the bedrooms to a nursery.
Two weeks before we were due to move in, a couple of weeks after our wedding, we took a short trip to Charlotte, where I told Dad our story. Before we left the cemetery, a quiet breeze circled around us. It left me instantly at ease. I believed it was Dad giving our union his blessing.
Almost as soon as we were settled into our new house, Clay started taking on more missions with Ethan, something that excited them both and would give him something to fill his time until the baby was born. Although I was a little apprehensive about him being away for long stretches of time, I knew he would never be in safer hands than with Ethan. And I was also certain he wouldn’t leave me alone.
It didn’t seem possible for life to get any better.
CHAPTER NINE
“HELLO?”
CLAY’S VOICE floated to me from the front door.
I twisted around and was about to get up when he entered the living room and saw me on the sofa. His mouth lifted into a smile, and he raced to stand in front of me, before dropping to his knees and placing his hands on either side of my ever-expanding rounded stomach. He touched two light kisses against my belly.
“How’s my little girl doing in there?”
“She’s doing fine,” I said. When he made no move to lift his face and greet me as well, I added, “And so is your big girl up here if you’re interested.”
My voice was perhaps a touch too snippy as I indicated my face with my hands. I hadn’t minded giving up the attention at first, but it was getting to be too much when I couldn’t even rely on my husband to acknowledge my presence as an actual person rather than just a walking, talking incubator after he’d arrived home from a week-long trip.
It wasn't just him either. Almost everyone I’d come into contact with lately seemed more interested in my baby bulge than in me, and I was sick and tired of the general lack of interest in my well-being.
“Sorry,” he said, lifting up to touch a soft kiss against my lips. He ran his hands through my hair, allowing the red, gold, and copper strands to fall loosely from his fingertips and settle back around my face. “I was just so worried about you both the whole time I was gone. You’re not as fast as you used to be, and without your abilities you’ve got no way of protecting yourself, or our little girl.”
“Well, you were the one who said no more assignments and then left anyway,” I countered, quirking my eyebrow at him and used the silence to dare him to argue.
“I know, Evie, I know, but Eth really needed some help.”
I sighed. Of course he would play the brother card. It wasn’t like I didn’t know how important his assignments were, but I couldn’t help feeling a little put out and lonely when I had to endure so much time away from him. “I’m not complaining. I know you’re off saving the world whenever you’re gone. I’m just saying that if you choose to go, you shouldn’t worry so much.” I tousled his mahogany locks, which he’d cropped short when he’d gone back to work. They were just starting to grow out a little again, which served as a reminder that it had been almost two weeks since I’d last seen him. “You’ll go gray if you don’t cut it out.”
“Oh, low blow! Using the vanity card against me, that’s just no fair,” he said with a laugh. He captured my hand and pressed it against the stubble on his jaw.
“Besides, you of all people should know that between the fae guards that your mom keeps sending over through that damn fairy ring in the forest out front and the Rain operatives you have coming by every few days, I’ve been very well covered in the protection area.”
“You knew about those?” he asked. His discomfort forced the palm of his hand to leave its place against the back of mine to scrub at his nape.
“I’ve been seeing a regular stream of strangers wandering around through the trees out back since you’ve been gone. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to be certain that you two were safe.”
“And I appreciate that.” I forced as much sweetness into my voice as I could muster to show him I was genuine, but my voice was rougher when I continued. “But you need to let me know next time. Every time I saw a new face, I stressed about whether their intentions were good or evil.”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” he said. He held up a finger when I started to argue again and pressed it against my lips. “And I see now that I worried you more by not telling you. It won’t happen again.” He sat on the sofa beside me, curling one arm around my shoulders and resting the other over my stomach before pulling me against his side.
“Aside from those interruptions, how have you been?” he asked.
“I missed you so much. I’ve been lonely.” I couldn’t voice it with any more volume than a quiet murmur of sorrow.
“I missed you too.” He trailed his fingers over my cheekbones lifting my chin before he pressed his lips to mine softly.
“I’m just glad you don’t have to go away again for a while now. It’s going to be nice having my husband home with me for a while.”
He pulled his hand away and my
suspicions were immediately raised.
“Um, actually . . . about that . . .” He was reluctant to say the actual words, but his tone and mannerisms made me guess at his meaning well enough.
“No!” I said firmly, pushing myself upright and away from him. “You said that this was the last time you’d go away until after she was born.” I pointed down at my stomach. “I have less than eleven weeks left of this pregnancy, and that’s only assuming that your daughter doesn’t decide on an early appearance. And who knows the likelihood of that? None of us knows anything about the logistics of the whole human-fae-phoenix hybrid thing, so no one can tell me what to expect. I mean just look at my stomach, it’s huge.”
The bigger concern was that despite the changes that had been filtering through the ranks for the Rain, the world wasn’t entirely safe for any of us. There were some people who still believed that all others posed a danger for humans and would stop at nothing to reinstate that policy throughout the Rain. That put our little family at risk. Those people would view our baby as a threat and were quite possibly horrified at the thought that she might be taught the ways of the Rain. Because of the danger those factions posed, even with the extra security details around our house, Clay’s missions were supposed to have stopped when I reached the six-month mark of my pregnancy. The latest one was pushing it, and I had been assured that there wouldn’t be any more.
“I know there isn’t very long left.” His tone was apologetic, but I didn’t care how sorry he was that he had to leave—I just wanted him not to go. To put his foot down and choose me. “But Eth really wants me with him on this one. He thinks my ability to see the ethereal plane will come in handy.”
I pouted. “That’s what he says every time.”
He chuckled softly and swept his hand though my hair to force me to meet his gaze. “I know. Honestly, I think he’s a little jealous that it passed him by. But in this case, I think he’s right.”
“Why can’t he take Louise instead?” I whined. “Or Aiden?”