by Jaymin Eve
“Trying to even up the playing field,” Colton said. His very icy blue eyes were lit up as he watched all the fighting going on. “Damn, I should have signed up for this.”
Lucy and I rolled our eyes at each other. Men. Are. Stupid. That is all.
The fighting continued, and then as if fate had dictated it – although I was sure it was somehow maneuvered by the judging panel – the last two left were Delane and Brace.
The field was cleared of square mist zones, leaving a wide open tournament area. I was pretty sure every single Angelica stood around us now, staying in their flocks so splashes of blue, green, purple and black contrasted with the cloud world. The white-wings blended in, although their feathered appendages were shimmery, reflecting off the rays of the sun-cloud thing that filtered light into their pale blue sky. The way Nephilius managed to use clouds or variations of them to form a world was pretty amazing.
In deference to Delane’s skills, which were superior to the other Angelica, Brace now held weapons: two long swords with thick blades, like those of the knights from the medieval times. But they had to be much lighter, otherwise two would be damn heavy to fight with. Even for a Walker.
Delane held her axes loosely gripped on either side of her.
It looked like Brace and Delane were chatting with each other. I could make out their lips moving, although from this distance there was no way to know what was said. Delane smiled then. Brace returned the grin, and then the fight was on.
Brace was the first to move, which might have taken Delane by surprise, since I’d noticed during her battles that generally she was the aggressor, but Brace had her on the defensive.
I clenched my hands tightly, sweat beading on my palms despite the freezing air of Nephilius. Delane was the first one to draw blood, her axe slicing in between the shoulder and arm pieces of Brace’s armor.
His expression remained unchanged and I knew that such a small wound would barely register with him.
The clanging of weapons was loud across the zone and I knew we weren’t the only ones mesmerized by the graceful movements of these two. It was almost like a dance, the back and forward, the graceful arc of the weapons. Glints of steal. Sparks of metal on metal.
Brace dropped his swords and brought forward two smaller blades that must have been tucked into his clothes. He was getting in close and personal now. The following series of movements resulted in numerous cuts littering Delane’s arms and torso.
Brace had a few injuries too, but his Walker healing fixed that up quickly. Delane healed fast also, but nowhere even close to the speed of Brace’s healing.
The intensity increased as they fought for supremacy. I was pretty sure that Brace was going easy on the Angelica, although she was a worthy opponent.
And as I had that thought the fight dynamics changed.
Brace started pushing her back toward the edge of the field. She seemed to be struggling to match his blows now. The faster they came the slower she was to react. I felt some of the tension leave my body, and I sagged forward a little.
“Yeah, it’s pretty much over now,” Colton said. “I’ve seen Brace fight a million times. He’s winding up for the kill.”
I hoped he didn’t mean that literally. I needed my half-Walker in one piece.
And sure enough, three movements later Brace had both of his knives crossed on either side of Delane’s throat. I saw the resignation on her face; she knew she’d been bested. Someone needed to tell her, though, that Brace was one of the finest fighters in the known star system. With hundreds of years of experience over her. I had no time for a depressed half-Walker on my hands.
The judges moved into the tournament area and spoke with Brace and Delane, and then all of them crossed over to stand just in front of us and the five groups of gathered flocks.
“We have our champion.” Steva spoke out to the crowds. “Which only proves to us that the Angelica flocks need to train harder.”
Okay, they were not real happy about an outsider beating them.
“Until next tournament.” All of the judges spoke the same words. And then they turned away and left, each heading toward their respective flock.
Delane and Brace moved toward our group. Many of the Angelica inclined their heads to us as they too left.
“Not much of a ceremony,” I said as they stopped before us.
Delane met my gaze. “We don’t fight for the trophies or accolades. We fight for the honor and knowledge that we’re the best. No ceremonies required.”
Fair enough.
Brace moved closer to me, and I couldn’t stop myself from jumping into his arms. He moved his knives at the last second, and caught me with ease.
His armor was hard against my body, but I didn’t care. He looked so hot all dressed up like a warrior.
“We need to see the lalunas like yesterday,” he muttered, his tone lowering to a growling register.
I laughed. “Yes, as soon as Lucy and Colt’s mating ceremony is over.”
Pulling away from the warmth, I met the steady gaze of the Nephilius half-Walker. She never indicated whether she found these romantic relationships uncomfortable to watch. She just took everything in her stride.
“Are you ready to leave, Delane? Do you need to grab anything?”
She shook her head. “The Gaa council is aware of my absence, and I have bid farewell to Jesile, my training partner. Other than this I’ll need clothes provided. We manifest our outfits using the mists and energy.”
“No problem,” I reassured her. “And you can come back and visit Nephilius if you need.”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll stay with you until we finish this battle. I have no need to return here unless victorious.”
Right. I’d forgotten we had warrior-Walker on our hands.
“Well, let’s head back. I have a wolf to wed.” Lucy clasped her hands together.
Colton gave her a look hot enough to melt the paint off a car. Of course, in New York most of the rusted-out cars no longer had paint but the analogy still worked.
We moved away from the dispersing crowds. Angelica were taking to the sky in masses of huge winged flocks. It was quite spectacular. I forced my gaze from the air to follow Delane. She showed us an out-of-the-way spot to open a doorway. Brace shed his armor before stepping inside.
“Can you contact the girls for me? I want them all there,” Lucy said just before we followed them into the doorway.
I couldn’t reply inside the vacuum, but I gave her a nod.
I’d just tether to them really briefly. I hoped that way I wouldn’t get them into a dangerous situation.
When we stepped out of the other side onto the grassed area, I scanned the front of the house, hoping we wouldn’t see any of the ceremony setup yet. I wanted it to be a surprise for Lucy. Thankfully everything looked the same.
“I’ll let the girls know now, Luce. Can you take Delane inside and get Lallielle to find her a room?”
“No problem, Abbs. And I’ll see your butt inside soon. I need some help finding a dress. For you and me,” she warned.
I screwed up my nose. Truthfully I was both excited and dreading this ceremony. Tucking her pixie wings away, Lucy gave me a kiss on the cheek before leading the serious-faced warrior away. Colton, as always, stayed close to his girl.
“You can go check on Abernath … if you want to.” I smiled at Brace.
“I don’t want.” He grinned lazily. “Mom and Caty are keeping me updated.”
I smiled, but my insides turned over in flip-flopping motions. “Did you tell them about how I broke our melding bond?” His mom already had her evil eyes on me. She was going to hate me after hearing that.
“The decisions we make are no one else’s business. I’ve told them you’re my true mate, which they’re very happy about … especially Caty.”
“But it was a decision I made on my own.” I lowered my eyes, that burning ball of emotion rising from my chest again. I fought it down before it reached my eyes and they sta
rted leaking again.
One finger lifted my chin, and thankfully my eyes were dry. “There is no you or I. Only we. Your decisions are my decisions.”
That right there was the reason I should have trusted Brace in the first place.
I cleared my throat, wanting to lighten the mood. “So you’re saying that if you stuff up, that’s also mine?”
“Doesn’t happen.” He grinned. “I’m confident in absolutely everything I do.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “Gee, must be hard being perfect.”
He shrugged. “Nah, it’s easy as.”
Arrogance, thy name is Brace.
“Okay, King Brace, I’m going to let the girls know about the ceremony now.”
He nuzzled into my neck. “No need to call me king, princeps will do.”
“How about asshat?” I shot back.
He captured my lips as I opened my mouth with my next insult. My mind went completely blank then. He sure knew how to distract me … wait, what was my name again?
The kiss went on for eternity, and yet ended way too soon.
“Damn I’ve missed that.” The words tumbled from my lips in a reckless manner.
“I want all of my memories back, Red.” Brace kissed me again, just one gentle moment. “All I have are these disjointed dreams. I want everything.”
I nodded. I wanted him to have them back too. Memories were precious and it was wrong for the lalunas to have stolen them from him. I’d never wanted that.
“Okay, give me a minute.” I threw out my tethers to the girls, concentrating on not connecting to Delane. Time to see how good my control was. The golden cord seemed a little more strained than usual. I guess it was spread across three different worlds.
Abbs. What’s up? Fury sounded happy. She was often the first to respond.
Is everything okay? Ria asked.
I just wanted to let you all know that Lucy is going to have her mating ceremony to Colt tonight. She wants you all to be there. Can you make it back?
Talina gave a little squeal. Of course, I’ll head back right now. Ladre and I found no trace of any energy zones on the Sacred Isle. He’s off now searching the underwater areas. I’ll come back to help him afterwards.
When she paused, Ria jumped in. I’ll also leave now. Klea is handling her role as temporary leader better than any could have expected. She’s doing amazing. And we’ve had no trouble from the fringe or any Walkers since I left.
I waited for Fury. She was usually the most difficult, so there was surely some reason she couldn’t come back. Plus she had a strange relationship with Lucy.
Dune and I have zeroed in on an area that the nomads are holed up in. I feel some strange energy there, and the tribes mention seeing some really odd comings and goings, Fury started. But I don’t want to miss Luce’s big moment, so I’ll be back within the hour.
Well, that was a surprise, although we all knew Fury’s fire hid a pretty big heart.
Can’t wait to see you all. Come find us when you get back in, I said.
A chorus of ‘byes’ echoed around when I disconnected the tethers. My energy was fast now at severing the ties, almost as if it had memory and knew how to do these things without thought from me. Which was a hell of a lot better than what I’d had to do in the past.
“Are they coming to the wedding?” Brace asked as we started moving toward the house.
I nodded. “Yep, they haven’t had any dramas on their worlds yet, so we should see them soon.”
“I let Lucas know about the ceremony, but he said if Ria was coming he probably shouldn’t.” Brace furrowed his brow. “Not that I don’t love the fact he’s stopped propositioning you, but what’s the deal with Ria?”
“Lucy says they’re mates, and they both mentioned dreams of each other from when they were young. But if any mating would be complicated, it’s that one.”
“You said that you had dreams of me before we met. Did I also dream of you?” Brace was always trying to piece together our past.
“Yes.” I let my feelings fill that one word.
He smiled. “I like that. We should never have been away from each other. It should have been my role to protect you until you were old enough for our bond.”
I screwed up my nose. “That’s a little creepy, don’t you think?”
He laughed, bopping me gently on my still-wrinkled nose. “You’re precious. Imagine if something had happened to you on Earth, and I had lost my one true mate.” He shook his head hard. “That would not be acceptable.”
The command in his tone had me on the edge of saluting him and shouting ‘sir, yes, sir’. I managed to refrain.
We stepped in the front door and Lallielle practically dived on me. “Okay, so I have everything set up down the side of the house.” She spoke quickly, her words tumbling over each other. “Arch, carpet, flowers, chairs, music, white birds, rings.” Her pause was brief. “Have I forgotten anything?”
I smiled, reaching forward to hug her hard. “Thank you. It’ll be perfect.” Pulling back, I released my mother. “Who will speak at the ceremony?”
“Brace is Colton’s princeps, and Lucy will join that Walker clan by default.” Lallielle smiled at Brace. “So he’ll perform those duties.”
“Not to mention this best-man business.” Brace grinned, revealing his flawless teeth. “Going to be a busy afternoon.”
“You need to head upstairs.” Lallielle started ushering me away. “Colton is with Josian and Samuel in the media room,” she shouted back to Brace. “I’ve split the men from women as per Earth’s tradition.”
I laughed. No point telling her that rule was only for the bride and groom. I met Brace’s gaze and threw him my best tortured look. He laughed as Lallielle practically dragged me up the stairs. Dresses, hair and make-up. This was Lucy’s heaven. And me … well, I could endure it for her.
I hoped, anyways.
Chapter 17
Lallielle had the ladies’ area set up in one of the spare rooms on the children’s floor. It was a pretty sparse room generally, but now it had mirrors and comfy chairs scattered around. Not to mention two women that I didn’t know. Lucy grabbed me as soon as I walked through the door.
“Oh, my god, I love you, Abbs.” She hugged me so tight. “Lalli told me that you made this all possible. You guys are the best family ever.”
Bits of pixie dust and tears flew around as her emotions overflowed.
“Hey, I didn’t do anything but put the idea into our chief organizer’s head.” I jerked my head toward Lallielle. “Mom’s the miracle worker.”
“Oh, yeah, you’re doubly the best, Lalli.” Lucy flew over and kissed her cheek.
“So,” I plastered a smile on my face; she deserved my enthusiasm, “show me this dress.”
There was a rack of clothes sitting against the far wall. I could see half of the dresses were white, and the other half colored.
“I need you to help me choose.” Lucy fluttered off again.
“How long until this ceremony?” I lifted my brows.
Lucy was going to be hours.
“It will be just on dusk.” Lallielle smiled. “So you girls have three hours.”
I’d need thirty minutes. Lucy on the other hand … three hours was going to be cutting it close.
“The other half-Walkers are heading back now too,” I told Lallielle. “If you run into them, send them up to find dresses.”
“Oh, gosh, I better go.” Lallielle ducked away. “I have heaps to organize, see you soon,” she called as the door shut behind her.
Lucy had reached the rack and was starting to paw through it. Her hands moved rapidly, although occasionally she paused for longer and then really fast past the dresses which were a definite ‘no’. I’d go to her in a moment. First I’d meet these two females. Lallielle must have been in a massive hurry to forget to introduce them.
“Hi, I’m Abby,” I said to the woman who was standing near the largest mirror.
She was ar
ound my height, with long chestnut-colored hair. It had the slightest wave and hung to mid back. Her dark gray eyes were shining as she gave me a nod.
“I’m Glenda, and that is Cherine, my daughter.” She pointed toward the girl, who had similar hair and eyes to hers. She looked about fourteen years old. “We’re here to help you with hair and make-up.”
“Thank you.” I returned her smile. “I better go and assist the crazy bride-to-be.”
Lucy was muttering to herself. “No … no … no … god, no … maybe.” She was about halfway through the rack now. “Pick out a dress, Abigail, and I’ll tell you if it’s acceptable,” Bridezilla ordered me.
I coughed to hide my laughter as I moved to the opposite end of the rack.
“And no black,” she demanded as my hand hovered over a slinky black dress.
With a sigh, I pushed the black to the side, along with a bright pink, a color not many redheads could pull off. Nothing was catching my eye. I shoved past a short baby blue with a tulle skirt, a yellow which reminded me of puke, something brown that looked like a fluffy bear. I sighed, already bored. I was never going to find anything.
I continued shoving through and then suddenly I paused. The dress in my hands was made of lace and silk in an emerald green. It was very close to the color of my eyes. It was a simple design. The thin straps had a delicate lace beading over the top, a sweetheart neckline which cupped under the breasts and then fell in a silky straight line. But what made it extra spectacular was the longer train of lace that sent shimmers of light across the fabric. It was perfect.
“Oh, my god, Abbs, that’s the dress. It’s beautiful. Perfect.” Lucy reiterated my thoughts. “Now help me.”
I draped my dress over one of the chairs, and when I turned back Lucy was holding two fluffy bundles in front of her. The first was pretty, with a short-waist strapless bodice and a full tulle skirt. But I was thinking that style might make Lucy look kind of … short. I turned to the second, and had to let out a sigh.
“That one.” I pointed.
It was delicate, strapless like the other but fitted all the way until the bottom, where it flared like a mermaid tail. The back was cut low; her wings would have plenty of room. It was white, but the lace and jewel overlay had a slight shimmer of green, which would match Lucy’s new pixie coloring.