New World Order (War of the Fae: Book 4) (51 page)

He took a moment to stare and me and then leaned over, saying, “You are the prettiest human or fae girl I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

I felt myself coloring under the compliment but said nothing back.
 
I didn’t want to declare my undying love to him, because I didn’t feel that emotion for him.
 
Not yet anyway.
 
But after Chase was done saying the ceremonial words, I was going to have to learn to love this guy, one way or another.
 
We were going to be bound for life.
 
And when you’re fae, that’s a ridiculously long time.

“Gentle fae ... thank you for attending this solemn but also happy occasion, wrought by coming tragedy but ultimately forged with love and the approval of the Great Spirit and the Elements of our universe.
 
Let us all hold hands and connect our souls together.”

Every fae in the meadow began taking the hands of another fae nearby.
 
Within seconds, everyone was touching – an unbroken chain of Light and Dark Fae.
 
Even Maléna, who had expressed her extreme dislike for the idea of me entering her world, held the hands of fae on either side of her.
 
I avoided her eyes and stared at Ben’s instead.
 
He smiled at me, making me feel slightly more courageous.

“The elemental, Jayne, of Earth and Water – and the elemental, Ben, of Fire and Wind – come together before you today, as you bear witness to their bond.
 
This bond shall last until their final days here in this realm and beyond if they so choose.
 
May no fae, nor human, nor any creature of Light or Darkness, take this bond from them.”

He said in a more quiet voice.
 
“Please place your hands in mine.”

I put my left hand in Chase’s right; Ben put his right hand in Chase’s left.

“Repeat after me, both of you.”

“I ...
state your name.
”

Ben and I looked at each other and both of us fought the giggles that started to come out, only partially successful at it.

We both said really loudly,
 
“I
state your name!”

Chase rolled his eyes.
 
“Stop messing around.
 
This is serious.
 
Do it over ... I
state
your
names ...”

We both purposely sobered up, still battling silly grins.
 
I said, “I, Jayne Sparks Blackthorn ... ,” and Ben said, “I, Benjamin Dark Hawthorne ... ”

I cocked my head, surprised that our names had such similarities and that he shared a name with a dragon I’d heard about, but there was no time to think too much about it because Chase continued.

“Vow, that on this day ... ”

We both repeated it, our voices combining as one, “
Vow, that on this day ... ”

“We will be bound to one another ... ”

“We will be bound to one another ... ”

Chase took our hands and joined them, forcing us to weave our fingers together, his own hand dropping away as he said the last line, “And that no man, no fae, no beast, or creature, shall come between us or sever that bond, upon penalty of death to be suffered by us both.”

My eyes bugged out a little at that one, and Ben’s mouth thinned a bit, but we both took deep breaths and finished it.

“And that no man, no fae, no beast, or creature shall come between us or sever that bond, upon penalty of death to be suffered by us both.

As soon as the last syllable was out of our mouths, I felt the elements leap into Ben and me, all four of them together – Earth, Wind, Fire and Water – engulfing us and surrounding us, separating us from everyone else.
 

“Ben!” I yelled, “I’m afraid!”
 
I wasn’t controlling my elements at all.
 
They had gone wild on me.

He pulled me to him, gently holding me against his chest; I could see him clearly now, all the colors of the rainbow swirling around us madly and wildly, their lights flickering reflections on his face.
 

“Don’t be afraid.
 
I think it’s part of the ceremony.
 
I’m here with you – I’ll protect you.”

I looked up at him, smiling.
 
“Maybe I’m going to have to protect you.”

He smiled back.
 
“Maybe.
 
But I doubt it.”

I went to push him away, but he held onto my hands.
 
“Wait,” he said, his head cocked to the side.
 
“Can you hear that?”

I listened for what he was talking about and suddenly I did.
 
It was a song.
 
A symphony really.
 
It was beautiful.
 
Mesmerizing.
 
Enthralling.
 
“What is that?” I asked, stunned.

“It sounds like ... sirens?”
 

I knew what Naida’s song sounded like, and this wasn’t it.
 
“No, this isn’t Naida’s song.”

“We have a siren too.
 
His name is Neen.
 
Maybe it’s both of them, because it’s kind of his song and kind of not ... ”

I listened harder.
 
Now that I concentrated, I could pick out strands of hers, intertwined with those of another.
 
“I think they’re singing together.
 
It’s ... nice.”

“I guess we have a song now.”

I rolled my eyes.
 
“Spare me.”

He pulled me close again and cleared his throat, suddenly nervous, which had the effect of making me suddenly nervous too.

“What?” I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I think we have to ... uh ... seal the deal in here.”

“Seal the ...
what?”

“You know ... kiss the bride?”

“Oh.”
 
My face turned crimson, I know it did.
 
I could totally feel the burning.
 
It was even spreading down my neck to my chest.
 
“Shit.”
 
How embarrassing.
 
I was about to kiss the guy I’d despised ten minutes ago, in front of a thousand fae and the guy I’d been crushing on for months.

He frowned.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I know it’s not something you really want to do right now.
 
I’ll make it quick if you want.”

I nodded my head dumbly, unable for once in my life to think of a comeback.
 

He leaned his head down slowly, using his finger under my chin to urge my face up so it was tipped back to receive his kiss.
 

I didn’t fight him – I just closed my eyes in anticipation, wondering what it was going to feel like.
 
In the space of half a second, my anxiety, blood pressure and hormone levels reached crisis level nine point nine.

And then his lips touched mine, softly and tentatively at first.
 
He made as if to pull away then, but my hand reached up and touched his chest, signaling to him that I wasn’t quite done.
 
He leaned his head down farther, pressing his lips more firmly to mine and moving them to taste me more fully.
 
My hand reached up of its own accord and found the back of his neck, pulling him to me to encourage deeper penetration.
 
I’d never had a kiss like this before.
 
Nothing even close.
 
The tip of his tongue came out and touched the tip of mine, causing me to hitch my breath for a second, before I arched up, deepening our kiss on my own.
 

That was all the signal he needed to dive headfirst into the passion with me.
 
Our tongues and lips tangled around each other in what felt like a perfectly choreographed dance of hidden desires and future promises.
 
I didn’t care if a million fae were watching me right now.
 
All I wanted was to buy more of this hot sexy stuff Ben was selling.

I became aware of his hands, rubbing my back, and the length of his body pressing against mine.
 
Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard a whisper of something – something that was intruding on my utter collapse into this world of Ben’s heat and desire that had just erupted out of nowhere.
 

Ben put his hands to the sides of my face and pulled us apart, resting his forehead on mine.
 
“Something’s happening,” he said breathlessly.

“I know,” I said, trying to catch my breath too.
 
“What is that?”

We heard Chase’s voice through our elements.
 
“That is Spirit.
 
Your union has been blessed.
 
Please, come out and join your family.”

Ben stood up straight, his eyes never leaving mine.
 
He reached down, first to brush a strand of hair from my forehead and then to take my hand.
 
“Are you ready?” he asked, searching my face tenderly for signs of my thoughts.

“Yeah.
 
I’m ready if you’re ready.”

He smiled brilliantly at me.
 
“Let’s go kick some ass.”

“Fuck yeah,” I said, smiling back.

The force of our elements dropped away and left us standing there in front of our entire community of fae family members.
 

Ben lifted our tightly clasped hands above our heads in triumph and looked down at me, smiling.
 
I looked up and met his gaze, smiling too.

The cheers from the crowd surrounding us lifted my heart until it was soaring above the meadow, above the tree whose roots encased my mother’s body, and above the Green Forest where everyone I cared about lived and was going to fight with me and my bonded elemental for our very survival.

I watched as Chase’s mighty wings unfolded and began to beat, sending nearby fae scattering.
 
Ben and I backed up, as Chase slowly lifted himself up into the air, easily and gracefully skirting past the branches of my mother’s tree so that he could take flight.
 
The last thing I saw before my guardian angel took himself above the meadow and into the sun-filled sky were the tears that fell to his cheeks, just before he turned and flew off in a beating of wings that sent gentle currents of air down to cool the heat from my face.
 

“Those were happy tears, right Ben?” I asked in a voice choked with emotion.
 
I knew he had seen them too.

“Yes, they were,” he replied, his own voice gruff, pulling me to him with his arm around my waist.
 
“We’re going to be okay, Jayne.
 
You’ll see.
 
I’ll make sure of it,” he said.

“I know you will,” I said, smiling at the group of changelings that was rushing over to envelope me in a super big group hug – a crazy pixieman blazing the trail in front, dragging a beautiful she-pixie over in his left hand, and a tiny, baby pixie in his right.

Elle Casey is an American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, and Hercules the wonder poodle.
 
In her spare time she writes young adult novels.
 

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