Genesis (7 page)

For the first time I realized just how
much it would suck to be fae. Even if Taylor found someone to love
later on, he would be permanently damaged from the loss of
Lily.

“
You have done much good
with your life,” Taylor said softly. “Just as I knew you
would.”

She nodded, smiling. “I’m sorry it
hasn’t been more. I had hoped to find a way to stop the Order for
good, but I will not be here to witness their end.”

“
How long?” Taylor asked,
his face turning the color of soot right in front of us.

“
Hours now, my love.” She
reached out, cupping his cheek. “I want you to find love again.
Promise me.”

He raised his hand, gently molding it
to hers. “I will try.”

She smiled, the result bringing youth
to her face. “I better head back. I have things to tidy up in my
office. Thank you for giving me one last look at you.” She let out
a small laugh. “I think it might just last through
eternity.”

When she turned to walk away, I hissed,
“Aren’t you going to kiss her goodbye?”

His lips went all stern. “I have
already allowed too much contact. I will be punished.”

I gave him a sly smile, “Then what are
you waiting for? You’ve already screwed up, right? Might as well
make it worth it. Besides, you can always blame me. You are trying
to win me.”

To my surprise, he didn’t need any
other encouragement. She was nearly to the edge of the clearing
when he caught up to her. He didn’t say a word. He simply pulled
her into his arms. I turned around to give them what privacy I
could.

Time crawled while I studied the
bushes. Pretty soon though, Taylor was at my side. “We had best
head back.”

He was doing it again. Concealing his
hurt under a façade of calm.

I took his hand, hoping he had given
Lily the best kiss of her life, but knowing it would be a haunting
moment for him for eternity.

“
Please stop,” he said in a
voice so fragile porcelain could crush it.

I’d forgotten about him being in my
mind. “Sorry. Are you okay?”

He nodded, and without warning me, we
were floating on the matter stream back to Uldran. This time when
we emerged, I noticed a heavy pull to the air. The oppression of
being buried by water closed in on me immediately. How could these
people stand to live here?

Taylor let go of my hand and started
for his house. I wanted to give him some room, but I also wanted to
be there for him. I didn’t know what to do, so I just stayed close,
hoping at some point he would talk to me.

We made it to the foyer before he said
a word. “I think I will lie down for a while, Rayla. Please make
yourself at home. A meal awaits you on the terrace.” He patted my
hand. “Thank you for coming with me.”

When he walked away, I grabbed his
forearm. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

He stared at the floor. “I am not in
the mood, but I will let you know if I change my mind.”

I don’t know why I did it, but I pulled
him into a hug. At first he was stiff. I thought for sure he would
push away from me, but he let me hold him. His body trembled like a
newborn colt while his controlled tears broke my heart. After I
pulled him tighter, he buried his head into my shoulder. His
wracking sobs shook us both, but I managed to keep my emotions
locked inside. He needed me to be strong for him.

“
It’s okay,” I crooned,
running a hand across his hair. “It will be okay.”

I held him for what felt like forever,
yet no time at all passed before he pulled away from me, clearing
his throat as if he was embarrassed. “I need to be alone.” Without
another word he started down the hall again. This time I let him
go.

Boys had never made any sense to me and
that seemed to translate into fae men as well. I headed to the
terrace. The bright day should have uplifted me. So why was I
picking at my food even though I was famished?

Deciding I couldn’t eat, I wandered for
a while, taking in how vast this place was. Unlike my original
thoughts on Uldran, there were no glass domes in sight. In fact, if
I didn’t know where I was, I would have thought I was in the
Midwest, somewhere in the country.

After a while another property came
into view between two towering maples. The expansive estate dwarfed
Taylor’s modest home. Seemed weird to me that the current lord of
air wouldn’t have better digs. The modern design belonged on the
pages of a trendy magazine, all sleek lines with white everywhere,
as if no other color existed. It stood out like a gigantic
marshmallow plunked into the middle of a cup of hot chocolate. It
was also exactly what I had pictured Taylor living in originally.
How wrong I had been about him. He did have feelings; he just never
showed them.

Something in the air shifted, bringing
me out of my musings. Every tiny hair on my arms and neck stood
straight up. I glanced around me, trying to shrug off the feeling.
A hiss sounded behind me. Did they really have to bring snakes
under the ocean? If I was deciding what creatures to house in a
realm, it certainly wouldn’t be freaking snakes.

Another hiss. I whirled around,
checking the grass, but I couldn’t see anything. I hadn’t even
thought about wandering this place without Taylor. The sound came
again, this time closer. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but my
hackles were definitely up.

“
One thing I should have
mentioned before is for you to stay close.”

I clutched my chest, whirling around.
“Man, you scared me! Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to sneak
up on people?”

Taylor laughed. “She may have mentioned
it, but you deserved it.”

“
Oh, really?”

Anxiety lingered in the set of his
mouth for a moment before it transmuted into frustration. “I am
meant to protect you? Have you forgotten how many people are
searching for you now?”

I guess I sort of did. Lucky for me my
stalker had been Taylor. I smiled sheepishly. “I wish! Hey, are
there snakes down here?”

The muscles in his jaw hardened. “Not
that I am aware of. Why?”

“
I just thought I heard
hissing, is all.”

His tongue shot out to slide along his
lower lip before his chest rose with a sharp breath. “Couldn’t have
been.” His eyes darted behind me, and something about how he was
acting made me know he was hiding something from me. There was no
use in confronting him because he could read my mind.

Tell me when you’re ready.
I’m not as fragile as you think,
I thought
at him before I faced the odd house. “Whose is it?”

“
Mine,” he said as if I
should have known.

Oookay. “Mind explaining why we are
living in your guest house then?”

He glanced at his manor, but didn’t
linger. “I have not lived there for many years now.”

It took me longer than it should have
to realize I was making his pain over losing Lily worse. Pulling my
foot out of my mouth, I said, “I didn’t mean to make you think
about her again.”

“
It was an honest mistake,
Rayla. Do not worry about it.” He looked at the house again. “In
fact, would you like to see it?”

Oh, was this really a good idea? He was
already sullen.

I wanted check it out, though. Maybe
seeing it again would help him get over her.

Planting a firm smile on my face, I
stepped up beside him. “Lead the way.”

Taylor didn’t say much as we approached
the property. Everything seemed to be in its place. The grounds
were manicured to perfection, and the exterior glimmered as if
freshly washed. When he opened the oversized front door, I let out
a little gasp.

The foyer gave way to an enormous room
that looked more like an art gallery than anything resembling a
living area. Primitive sculptures rested on pedestals while others
were housed in glass cases. Several paintings hung on the walls. I
didn’t recognize the artist, but what wonderful compositions. I
moved closer, admiring the fluid brush strokes using monochromatic
color schemes.

“
Where did you get all of
these?” Had he robbed the Louvre before it became a
museum?

He laughed, the sound rather pleasant.
It shouldn’t have surprised me. Just like Jett, Taylor’s major
weapon against me was his voice. Sultry and smooth, it nearly
melted me just to listen to him say the most mundane things. “I
paid for every one of these pieces, Rayla.”

I nodded, not really listening. I
didn’t want to disrupt the reverent atmosphere any more than I
already had. A perfectly good bench sat about four feet from one of
the paintings. I took the opportunity to plant myself on the
closest edge. Taylor slid in beside me, gazing up, his expression
soft.

“
Who’s the artist?” I asked
when I had finally had my feel of looking at the landscape. A tiny
cottage could be seen off in the distance with sheep dotting the
hills surrounding it. If I stepped a few feet closer, I was sure I
would be transported to that hillside. The artist had used so many
hues of green, the painting had the understated elements of a black
and white photograph.

“
Lily,” he said softly.
“This is my favorite. It was the last one she gave me before I
returned her to the mortal realm.”

“
I thought you said you paid
for everything in here.”

“
Are you suggesting I
haven’t?”

So much for trying to lighten the mood.
I shook my head. I had no idea Sister Mary Margaret painted. She
probably didn’t, yet Lily had. It was weird, but I thought of her
as two different people.

Taylor looked sharply at me. “It is
refreshing to know I am not the only one to think that about
her.”

I continued to study the painting, but
now that I had him talking, I wanted him to continue. “Will you
tell me more about her?”

The smile that crept along his lips
actually lit his honey eyes. Astonishing.

“
She was a handful from the
start, demanding I take her back to her mother. She actually yelled
at me for three days straight, only stopping when fatigue wore her
out. The minute she awoke, she was back at it.”

“
Isn’t that unusual? I mean,
I thought the bond was supposed to make Elementals
mindless.”

“
There is much you don’t
understand about the bond, Rayla. I realize why it would appear
that way; still, you are correct about one thing. Lily and I didn’t
have an immediate connection. It took longer than it should have
for her to be comfortable with me.”

“
She did seem to be rather
angry at you for a very long time.”

He chuckled. “I knew she was keeping
the diary. We aren’t supposed to allow our bondmate to document
their time in the realms. Not since we learned the Order uses them
to glean information about us. I should have taken it from her
before I returned her, but I was hopeful it would be a comfort for
her. Unfortunately, the Order confiscated it almost immediately. I
was not able to retrieve it for her and she seemed to be adjusting
to convent life quickly. I thought she would be better off thinking
of our time together as a dream.”

That was a very specific comment. “Did
she tell you that?”

He chuckled. “She talked in her sleep.
I should have stayed away from her, but I couldn’t.”

“
You’re a stalker,” I
teased.

“
She was my life for so
long. I found it hard to let her go.”

“
Was she your first
bondmate?”

“
I had many before her, but
those were different.”

I gave him a cursory once over. “How
so?”

He frowned thoughtfully. “She broke me.
I had been able to keep a safe distance in other relationships.
They were more like a business agreement than a marriage. But with
her, I couldn’t keep myself aloof for long. She was life, Rayla.” A
tear streaked down his cheek. He stood. “Would you like to see the
rest?”

I nodded. What a revelation this had
been. I was beginning to understand the mind of a fae lord;
however, I wanted to know for sure. “Do most lords treat bonding as
a business arrangement?”

He stopped and faced me. “Many do. I am
unsure if it is most.”

“
Why? I thought the more you
give to the relationship, the more power you get.”

“
Technically, that is true.
Let me explain it this way. If you knew you could learn to
completely control your powers, that you could send that certain
princess we all despise to the utmost end of the universe with a
flick of the wrist, that you could erase all the harm caused by the
Order, that you could create the reality you wanted…” My ears
perked up. “What would you give to gain that?”

Man, just about anything at this point.
“Are you being serious?”

“
As a matter of fact, I am.
All you have to do is give everything you are when you
bond.”

Oh. Could I do that?