A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) (16 page)

“What are you thinking?” He asks me with seductive eyes.

“I have something important to tell you.”

He cocks and eyebrow. “What?”

“I think I’m falling in love with you.”

A cocky grin tugs at the corners of his mouth. “Duh…” We both turn to look behind us when we hear footsteps.

“We don’t have time for lovey-dovey shit, guys!” Brody says sounding annoyed, as usual. I get that there’s some real shit going on right now but he could at least be in a little bit of a better mood. I mean, damn, can someone get this guy a beer? He’s so much nicer when he’s intoxicated. “On the way over here we discussed options. I think the only way is to battle this out. The question is, do we go to them or do we let them come to us? Also, our numbers are low compared to theirs. I know our families will be willing to fight, but the whole castle staff is on Lana’s side.”

“I would rather go to them. If they are coming to us, then they will be ready to fight. First thing I have to do is get my parents out of there,” Luke says.

“I was thinking maybe you should go to Lana. Act all depressed and act like you are going to willingly marry her and sacrifice yourself after the marriage. That way she will get what she wants, or thinks she is anyway. Then you can let us know when they are all sleeping and we can attack,” Jett says while eating a bag of chips that magically appeared.

“That is a good idea, but I’m not leaving Holly alone again. Plus the people of Terre will not trust me and my family anymore. They think highly of Lana and her family.”

“We will make sure that they are exposed,” Mason says.

Luke is in deep thought and everyone stays quiet, not wanting to interrupt him. Finally, after what feels like forever, he says, “Jett, do you think you could do the invisible spell on
only
Holly? Lana will probably find out we broke the spell and will be after her.”

Looking at me and then back at Luke, Jett says, “I don’t know how long it will last, but I will try to make it last as long as possible. With it just being her, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Okay, so after she is invisible, then what? Luke, we don’t have a lot of time. We need a plan.” Brody says while crossing his arms over his chest.

“I am going to tell Lana she wins. I am going to make her think I’ll marry her and then tell her I will back out of the marriage so I will die and she can have my power. Instead of killing her and her family, I will marry Holly instead of her at the wedding ceremony. That’s when I want her to be seen and you take the spell off her. We can only hope the Peace Prophecy is true. So be ready. I will notify my parents and you guys notify everyone you can trust. The wedding will be a huge public event, and I want all who are on my side to be there ready to fight.”

All three guys nod in agreement, and then Jett makes me invisible. I keep having to move out of the way because they keep almost running into me. Mason, Brody and Jett disappear to go get started on alerting every one of the plan. Luke and I head to the castle. I hope this all goes well. Oh, who the hell am I kidding? This is going to be a disaster!

“SO…IS IT
weird having an invisible girlfriend?” I ask, putting my hand in Luke’s.

“You mean fiancée, right? And I thought you didn’t like the term girlfriend.” He gives my hand a squeeze.

Oops, that’s going to take some getting used to. “Um, yeah, that’s what I meant.”

Raising his eyebrows, he asks, “Are you having second thoughts?” I know he would be searching my eyes for doubt if he could see me. I’m not having second thoughts. I just didn’t think I would get married like this. Without my parents, without finishing college, and only knowing him for a short time. Everyone back on earth is going to think I got knocked up.
Great.
“Well?” He says, interrupting my thoughts.

“No…It’s not that…It’s just all so rushed. You know what I mean?” I ask, hoping I don’t sound as unsure as I feel right now.

“Rushed or not, it doesn’t matter. I love you, and you are falling in love with me. That is all that matters. Don’t you agree?” He asks, looking a little upset by my response.

“Love
is
what matters. It’s just that I’m worried about my parents and how they are going to react. I mean, they probably won’t be jumping for joy when I say,
Hey Mom and Dad, I know I went missing and all, but I married a prince from a magical world, and now there is peace between Earth and Terre
. They probably will think I‘ve lost my mind.”

Luke stops walking and looks at where I am standing. He takes a deep frustrated breath. “Holly, it’s going to shock everyone. But all that matters to me right now is you and me
.
”

“You’re right, but still…No one asked me if I was ok with this plan!” Oops, did that just come out of my mouth? Yes,
yes
it did.

Luke doesn’t say anything; he just starts to walk faster. I’m trying to keep up with him, but it’s hard, as fast as he is walking! I probably shouldn’t have said that, but oh well. No one asked me if I was okay with this plan, and that wasn’t right. Do they just assume that I’m ready to get married now? I did say yes to his proposal, but people can be engaged for a long time. I want to make sure that I know that I KNOW he is who I want to be with. I guess I saw the proposal as more of a promise ring kind of deal. I’m falling in love with him… I think?! It has to be love. It is the only explanation for why I fell for him so quickly. As my inner thoughts have a full out war in my brain, it dawns on me that I’m going to be Queen one day. I feel like I can’t walk, and I stop. I guess Luke realizes I stopped because he stops too. This is all just
way
too much for my simple mind to comprehend.

“Holly?”

“I’m here,” I say, my voice sounding shaky. I’m really happy I’m invisible right now, so he can’t see how freaked out I look and the tears filling me eyes.

“Look, I am not mad. You are right. I should have made sure you were okay with it. You said yes to my proposal. You shouldn’t have said yes if you weren’t ready to get married.”

“I’m going to be Queen one day. I don’t think I’m prepared for that, Luke!”

Smiling he says, “Yes and a very good one. And I will be King. I have lived here my whole life, and I’m still not prepared for it. We will take everything one day at a time. Together.”

“But, I’m a mortal
.
What if your people don’t like me?” I’m on the verge of a breakdown.

“Holly, our marriage will
hopefully
create peace. My people and
your
people won’t care. There will be people who disagree, but I don’t care. You will be their Queen. A damn good one! And they will love you.”

I start to nod my head, but realize he can’t see me. “Okay, I sure hope so. And I
do
want to marry you. I just didn’t think it would be forced like this. This is just too much for me to process.” I’m about to whine some more, but he cuts me off.

“Shut up and come here.” I walk up to him and put my arms around him. He wraps his arms tightly around me. I bet we look really silly right now. I laugh out loud.

“What is so funny?” He asks with a confused expression.

“If someone saw you hugging thin air, they would think you’ve lost your mind.” He starts laughing too.

We continue to walk, and I can see the castle coming into view. He made me promise not to leave his side once we get there. I asked him what about when he goes to the bathroom, and he said not even then. He also made me go barefoot so my steps are quieter. As we walk to the gate, I try to be as quiet as I can.

The guards open the gate and don’t ask any questions. They look relieved to see Luke back. I think I just saw one of them smile. I keep almost running into the back of him because he keeps going in directions I don’t expect him to. That would be bad if I made him fall flat on his ass by running into him. I almost start laughing out loud at the thought, but quickly cover my mouth.

We walk in to the castle and Luke yells, “LANA!”

More than just Lana walks in to meet him in the big entrance room. I make sure to stand right beside him. He keeps brushing up against me with his hand every once in a while to make sure I’m still here.

“Well, hello Luke. Did you find that your little mortal has no remembrance of you?” Lana asks in an icy cold tone.

“Lana, I will never forgive you for what you did to her, but I can’t live without her. I know of your plan. I will marry you and then willingly back out of the marriage. I will sacrifice myself so you can have what you want. All I ask is that you free my parents.”

“Oh, Luke…I will not free them. They must die also. Do you really think I am just going to sit around and wait for them to die so I can have the throne? What a silly, silly prince you are. Now seeing that I’m not as coldhearted as you make me out to be, I will let them attend the wedding so they can see their little boy get married.”

Luke looks like he’s about to kill her. Why doesn’t he? I have wondered that a lot lately. Why doesn’t he just kill her and her parents? I have a lot of questions for him when this is all over.

“When do you want to get married? The sooner the better. I wish I could die now, knowing I have to marry you,” he says in a growl.

“How do I know you will be true to your word?” Lana asks while walking around him. I keep on having to move so she doesn’t run into me. I should trip her.

“Because Lana, you have taken from me all that I care about. I have nothing else to live for.”

“Is your little friend trying to find out how to break the spell? Or has he already done so? How do I know you are not lying to me?” She is right in his face, trying to search his eyes for lies.

“He tried, but your spell is too complicated to break. I love Holly, and I will let her continue in her normal life—happy. There is no point in bringing her back into danger.” If I had an invisible gun, I would kill her.

“We will marry first thing in the morning. Don’t be late.” Lana walks out of the room and all who witnessed what happened follow her.

We walk down a really long hallway and into a room. He closes the door after leaving it open long enough so that I could walk in and then leans against the wall. This must be his bedroom.

“Holly?” He whispers.

“I’m here.” I walk over to him and gently kiss him. He kisses me again, his mouth moving eagerly against mine. His hand finds the bottom of my shirt and he starts to take it off, but I stop him.

“What are you doing?!”
Wait. Why am I saying this?
I want more than just a kiss. He doesn’t answer. He starts kissing me again and quickly slips my shirt off. He starts kissing me on my neck and makes his way down my collar bone. I slip off his shirt, and throw it into the floor. I run my hands slowly over his bare chest. He picks me up and sets me on a desk in the corner of his room. He runs his hands down my bare back and my whole body heats up with anticipation. He kisses me as he starts to un-button my jeans, but quickly stops and curses under his breath.

“Why are you stopping!?”

“Damn it! I am sorry. This isn’t right. You are invisible. I want to be able to see you.” He runs his hands through his hair and takes a deep breath.

“But I can see you,” I say while getting off the desk.

He laughs and shakes his head. “It’s not just that. I just want things to be perfect. I am going to get in the shower.”

“Fine, but I was totally okay with where that was going.”

He smiles. “I’ll be out in a minute.” I huff from disappointment and put back on my shirt.

After he gets out of the shower, we lay down on his bed. He turns on the TV and the news announces the new marriage date for Luke and Lana. He looks like he is going to throw up as the announcers go on and on about it. He runs his hands through his hair and turns off the TV.

He kisses me on the top of my head. “I’ll be glad when this is all over, and I can call you my wife.”

“Me too.” I’m not sure if I believe the words that came out of my mouth. I lay my head on his shoulder and sigh.