Betrothed (6 page)

After sliding the bangle onto my wrist, I put Ruby’s details back into the box with my parents’ letter and closed the lid.

We sat in silence for a long time before Jack finally broke it. ‘We should probably get going. It’s getting late.’

‘Call me, won’t you, Marla, if I can be of any use,’ Ruby said as she rose to see us to the door. ‘It’s been so nice to meet you. Give my love to your parents when you finally meet with them.’

‘I will, and thank you,’ I said, clutching the box to me. The idea of meeting my birth parents was wonderful, but I didn’t know how it would be possible. I had no greater clue how I might find them than I did before I came. I pushed the thought away. It was too depressing and I just couldn’t think about it today, there didn’t seem enough room in my head.

‘That was enlightening,’ Jack said as I climbed into the car beside him.

‘Not really,’ Hilary said, from the back seat. ‘There are so many questions.’

‘I’m very confused,’ I admitted. ‘But at least I know my parents didn’t
want
to give me away. I’ve always wondered about that—and thought the worst.’ Fresh tears welled in my eyes, threatening to spill, but I sucked them up. According to Tobias and Finelle, there was danger ahead and the clock was ticking.

‘You missed dinner, love,’ Dad said when I arrived home. For once Mum made no comment about my lateness, just stayed quiet as Dad took my dinner from the fridge and put it on the stove before joining me at the table and asking about my day.

I told my parents everything while my food was heating. When I came to the part about my birth parents leaving a jewellery box for me, I took it from my bag and placed it in the middle of the table.

Mum, who’d been making her way through a pile of ironing and doing a bad job of pretending not to be too interested, set the iron down and looked up. ‘A jewellery box?’ she asked as Dad got up to get my dinner.

‘Uh-huh.’

Dad returned with my meal and placed it before me before reclaiming his seat and pulling the box to him. He examined it from every angle, brushed his fingers over the stones embedded in the lid and spent a long moment looking at the painted image in the middle. ‘It’s beautiful,’ he said finally. ‘You’d think these stones were gems if they weren’t so big . . . I wonder what kind of wood it’s made from.’

Mum left her ironing to come look. ‘It’s lovely,’ she said, touching one of the stones. ‘Is there anything inside?’

I took the key from my pocket, unlocked the box and handed the letter to my mother. Dad leaned in close and together my parents read the letter in silence.

‘This is very strange,’ Mum said quietly when she was finished.

‘I know. And do you remember the other night I asked if the name Marla meant anything to you?’ My parents nodded. ‘Well, that’s my name—my original name. I dreamt it and I found out today it’s true.’ I shook my head at the impossibility of it, barely believing myself.

I took the bangle off and handed it to my mother, pointing out the engraving. She looked at it for a long time then passed it to my father. ‘We’ve been celebrating your birthday on the wrong day,’ she whispered. Until now, my birthday had always been on the fifteenth of February.

She sounded so distressed, so unlike my mother. I hurried to reassure her. ‘It doesn’t matter, Mum. I was abandoned. How could anyone know my birth date for sure? Look at the locket, there’s photos inside.’

My father opened the locket and my parents peered inside.

‘You were so brand new,’ my mother said, touching the image. ‘I wouldn’t even know it was you . . . and your parents are so beautiful and young.’ My mother’s face grew pale. ‘They would be young even now.’

‘What difference does that make?’ I said. She and Dad had both been in their forties by the time they adopted me and being an older mother had always bothered Mum.

‘There must have been a good reason they gave you up,’ Dad said. ‘Judging by that letter, you obviously meant the world to them.’ I knew it to be true and felt warm at the thought of it. ‘You look like her. This could almost be a photo of you.’

I nodded in agreement. ‘Just take away my eczema.’

‘I can see the father too,’ Mum said quietly.

‘Do you have an address for them?’ Dad asked.

‘I have no idea how to find them.’ I shook my head slowly,
feeling the utter hopelessness of it. Knowing I couldn’t reach them made me want them all the more.

‘If you’re meant to know them, you will know them,’ Dad said simply. But there was nothing simple about the expression on his face—or Mum’s. My parents felt threatened.

I said, ‘Whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway.’

But it did matter. It mattered a lot.

I went to bed early. I knew Leif would be in my dreams tonight and I couldn’t wait to see him. Take me to heaven, I thought, smiling to myself and calling his name in my mind as I closed my eyes, and in a few short minutes I was standing in the forest. He was sprawled by the river in a patch of sunlight, hands tucked behind his head and one foot resting on his bent knee. He was wearing his usual outfit, hip-hugging jeans and nothing else, and was as mouth-watering as ever. His lips curved into a wide smile as he watched me appear.

‘Marla, you look delightful,’ he said, one eyebrow shooting up. I barely noticed he was speaking that other language; it felt as familiar to me as my own. He stayed where he was for a moment, looking up at me with appreciative eyes. I’d come to realise that whatever I wore to bed was what I would be wearing when I arrived in my alternate world. So tonight I’d worn my cutest nightie, a slip of silky blue. There was so much I wanted to say, but of course I was too mesmerised to speak. ‘You’re glad to see me,’ he said, standing finally.

I nodded—there was no denying it.

‘I feel it here.’ He took my hand and placed it over his heart. ‘You’re making my pulse quicken.’ If I was making his pulse quicken he was making mine fly, and at the sensation of his hand
pressing mine to his heavenly pecs it flew faster still. He seemed to know because his smile widened as he said, ‘Come, Marla, before your heart bursts through your chest.’ He kept my hand and led me to a fallen tree, sat on the trunk and brought me down beside him. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked after a moment.

I hardly knew—my thoughts were too scattered. ‘Do you ever wear a shirt?’ I answered and instantly wished I could take the words back. He laughed, deep and melodic. If he didn’t know what was on my mind before, he sure did now.

‘Occasionally, it’s just more convenient not to.’ I had no idea why that should be so, but I wasn’t about to ask another embarrassing question. ‘You must feel bewildered, Marla—ask me anything, and I will answer if I can.’

I shook my head slowly. ‘I don’t know where to start.’

‘You know who you are now?’

‘I know I was born Marla, but I can’t say I know who I am, and I know the names of my parents, but I don’t know who they are either—or how to find them.’ I felt suddenly overwhelmed. ‘I don’t even know if they’re alive . . . ’

When he realised I couldn’t go on Leif said, ‘I have been searching for information, but so far have discovered nothing. You are a mystery. But please know I will continue to seek answers. We cannot lose what is meant to be.’ His eyes, dark and intense, kept mine.

‘I’m lost already; I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

He sighed. ‘You can feel the connection between us, can you not?’

‘Oh, I can,’ I replied. I wanted nothing more than to touch him again, make that connection physical. It was an effort not to. ‘But why?’

‘Our kind believes that when a male child is born, a part of his soul is released to seek his perfect mate. When that piece of
him finds and connects with her, she is conceived and they are as one. Even their hearts beat together. You and I share that soul connection, Marla—you are my betrothed. I am yours; you are mine.’

That whole thing with the racing pulse suddenly made sense. In my excitement I had literally caused his heart rate to increase! I didn’t even have time to feel embarrassed at the thought because he was watching me with love, desire and adoration in his eyes. He was running his hand down my arm, bringing shivers to my skin and causing me to make his pulse speed up all over again. I had to touch him—could resist no longer. I reached for him and pressed my fingers to his face, felt his heat come into me. He covered my hand with his and bent to kiss my forehead, allowing his lips to linger for a moment before brushing my mouth with his. Sighing, I leaned close to catch the kiss as I felt him pull away.

‘When are you eighteen, Marla?’

‘I only just turned seventeen five weeks ago. Well, I thought it was five weeks ago, it’s actually closer to four.’

‘Still, we don’t have much time.’

There was that whole thing with my age again.

‘How old are you?’ I asked, guessing him to be in his early twenties.

‘I have just turned nineteen. When I could not find you after I turned eighteen, I feared the worst . . . ’

‘Eighteen is important?’

‘Eighteen is when we reach our immortality.’

‘You’re immortal!’ Now I knew, despite how real this felt, that I was definitely dreaming.

‘There is so much you don’t know,’ he murmured. ‘When we—’ he began.

I held my hand up. ‘Wait—When you say “we”, do you mean me too?’

‘Of course . . . Marla, we are one.’

‘Then what are we and what is this place? Is it heaven?’

‘We are Fae.’

I knew that word. ‘Fairies!’

‘Humans use that word to describe us,’ he agreed. ‘But it’s not one we often use ourselves.’

‘I am a fairy!’

‘You are a faery,’ he corrected, emphasising the long vowel sound. ‘But most often we refer to ourselves as faeran or simply fae.’

‘I am fae,’ I repeated, frozen with shock for a moment before I remembered again that I was only dreaming. ‘Go on, Leif,’ I said, coming back to the disappointing truth.

‘This place—my home and yours—is called Faera. It is not heaven, but . . . when you are with me I think it might be even better.’ He smiled, soft and sexy, his dark eyes sparkling into mine.

Oh my heart!
It was racing again. I clasped a hand to my chest and forgot to breathe for a moment. He was watching me and I knew and didn’t care that he was seeing undisguised adoration. Since I’d been with him I’d been fighting that bizarre urge to clutch his hand and cover it with kisses and I could feel myself about to give in. I felt weird about it, I mean, who does that? But after his tender words I no longer cared. Besides, this was just a dream—my dream. I reached for him, smiling, but before I could even make my intentions known, he gave me his hand. He knew what I wanted! How strange. I inclined my head, closed my eyes and pressed my lips to his palm. Sunshine flared beneath my lips and the heat and power of it poured into me. And with it came the most wonderful, shivery euphoria. I kissed and kissed some more, loath to release him. But when finally I managed, he returned my multitude of kisses with one of his own, lifting my
hand to his lips and pressing a single kiss to the back of it. I was buzzing, elated, filled to the brim with bliss, but he just continued with the conversation like nothing had changed.

‘I don’t know why you were left in the human world, Marla, but I
will
discover the reason. I know that it must be difficult for you. Conditions are harsh on Earth, harsh enough for a human, let alone mortal Fae.’

I forced my attention back to the conversation. Leif wasn’t making a big deal of what just happened, so I wouldn’t either. ‘I think if we could find my parents, we could find the answers.’

‘But finding your parents will be the challenge,’ Leif said. ‘Tell me, did you discover anything of them?’

I told Leif of the strange trip to Lena’s office, the pink envelope containing Ruby’s address and the subsequent visit to the old lady. ‘My birth parents told Ruby they would be back for me before I turned eighteen,’ I finished.

‘I pray it is so, but I will not depend upon it.’

‘Why does it matter?’

‘There is a change that takes place when we reach immortality. But if we are outside of Faera at that time, it cannot occur. Marla, if you are not here with me for your eighteenth birthday, you will lose your immortality and be forced to live out your days in the human world. We will be lost to each other.’ He tightened his grip on my hand. ‘I will not allow that to happen. I will discover your secret.’

We were silent for a while and then a question popped into my head. I smiled up at him. ‘Um . . . Leif, why is it more convenient for you not to wear a shirt?’

He grinned as he touched the tip of my nose with one finger. ‘I am going to leave you to think on that.’ He kissed my nose where his finger had been and then quickly added, ‘You said you learned the names of your parents?’

‘I did.’

‘What are they?’

‘Tobias and Finelle.’

I just had time to see a flash of recognition come into his eyes before he said, ‘It’s time for you to wake up now.’

Sure enough, I woke to the sound of my alarm clock, disappointed but still buzzing from the strange and wonderful sensation of kissing his hand.