Genesis (39 page)

“
Sorry,” I said with as much
conviction as I could muster.

He twirled away from me, addressing the
court. “As I was saying, we are pleased with your progress. We have
so much planned for your reign—”

I choked. “My what?”

“
Surely you understand that
you will be ruling all of our nations. Since you have abilities
with all elements it only stands to reason you should share those
talents with all of us.”

“
Oh. Yeah. Sure.” That was
grownup.

He smirked at me. “You do bring to mind
a problem we have been discussing. You are impetuous. We cannot
allow you to bond with someone who will encourage that
behavior.”

Seriously? “I’m an adult.”

Laughter ricocheted around me. I glared
at the audience snuggly tucked away in their frilly stadium
seating.

Valen touched my arm. “No insult was
intended. The human ideals of adulthood are not in question here.
What we are concerned with has to do with the realms and how we
interact with humans. You see why this decision is
imperative?”

“
I do understand, and I want
to help; but part of being human makes me question your motives.” I
steeled my stare. “I will not see my world harmed to advance
yours.”

Valen nodded. “Such wisdom from such a
young soul.”

That caught me off guard. I had
expected him to argue. “I know I need guidance, but I don’t want
you all making my decisions for me. As the Nexus it is my
right—”

Tabitha cut me off. “What have you
decided, Valen?” I’d clearly overstepped my bounds by saying I have
rights. She glared fully at me now.

He managed a small smile, turning
toward the dais. “Make no mistake, Tabitha. You do not rule
here.”

A hiss escaped her throat, but she
covered it up with a slight nod. “I’ve never implied that I do,
your majesty.”

Tabitha cowering didn’t give me any
hope. I locked my eyes tight, not willing to let myself check the
stage for sneers and glowers that I knew were there.

Valen sighed. “It is to be known that
our decision did not come easily. The dark court has valid points,
yet we have always trusted in the wisdom of our mage. Tabitha, you
may rest easy. We have agreed to your terms, but…” His expression
shifted, hardening into the mask of a warrior. “If you are wrong,
we will take other measures.”

I couldn’t help myself. “What does that
mean?”

Valen snapped his neck around and
stared at me. “If you do not give yourself to this bonding fully,
another will be chosen.”

I gulped. People in the hallway
probably heard it. My mind wandered to Zach.

Valen spoke again. “I see Tabitha has
already informed you of her plan. You are free to
leave.”

With that the council members rose and
exited the room, leaving me and Tabitha in their wake. I caught a
glimpse of Mom, but she didn’t smile at me. Her blank stare chilled
me more than I wanted to admit.

Once she was gone, I heaved a sigh of
relief. “That was close.”

Tabitha’s shoulders hunched, still the
color was coming back into her face. “You have no idea. I wish you
would have done as I asked.”

I glanced at her, sheepish. “Me too.”
As bad as this was going to be dealing with life as Zach’s
bondmate, it would be unbearable to be bound to Luke. I didn’t know
what Ainessa was up to, but she wasn’t the sort of person to just
give up or to see the errors she had made and decide to root for
the other team.

To my surprise, they didn’t immediately
whisk me off to my bonding ceremony. Instead, Tabitha informed me
we were to attend Robin’s bonding first.

“
You’re kidding, right?”
Tabitha’s irritated sigh should have quieted me, but I pressed on.
“Robin was pretty clear about her feelings before I
left.”

“
We did as you asked,”
Tabitha put in. “The Elementals were taken to their respective
realms and courted. We gave them a month to decide.”

I groaned. “That’s not very
long.”

“
They were grateful for the
opportunity, and unlike you, once there they swiftly came to a
decision.”

“
That’s not
fair.”

She shook her head. “If you are going
to cause problems, we will go elsewhere.”

“
I’ll behave. I just want to
see for myself that she’s happy about this.”

Tabitha actually chuckled. “If she
isn’t, will you send your lover to rescue her.”

“
My what?”

“
Lover. It is a current
euphemism for the person you love, is it not?”

“
Um, I think the meaning has
altered a bit.”

She chuckled when I let my mind wander
to the man I should be trying my hardest to forget. “Do not give up
hope, Rayla. Hope can lead you through the darkest of
days.”

“
Comforting.”

“
Who knows, you may come to
love Ammon.”

I cringed. “I don’t know if I want to.
Tabitha, this just sucks. I mean, why couldn’t your visions have
been reversed?”

She laid her hand on my arm. “I wish I
knew, child. I wish I knew.”

Instead of going to the terrace I had
jumped from to escape this exact woman, who sat next to me now
chatting as if we were old friends, we stayed on the first floor. I
laughed. “Don’t tell me. They’re worried I’ll ditch this place
again?” I was only half joking.

Tabitha raised her brows. “Didn’t you
know? You are bound to the realms.”

I uncrossed my legs and tried to sit up
straighter. “Wait. What?”

“
The royal guard, Rayla, do
you not pay attention to anything?”

My stomach turned into a rock while my
skin tingled like it would crawl away at any second. “You can’t be
serious.”

She patted my leg. “Not to worry. We
will deal with that when the time comes.” As if she was giving a
rehearsed speech, she rushed on. “Once the council is comfortable
with your loyalties, they will relax the punishment.”

I cocked my head. “I get punished while
Ainessa gets a pat on the back? Yeesh, who are these
people?”

She shushed me. “Keep your mind focused
on the event at hand.”

Sure thing—it was much better than
dwelling on the event to come. How much did Zach know? Did he think
I picked him? Would he be angry, or, worse, disappointed with
me?

A warm hand rested on my exposed
shoulder. “Rayla, please.”

I stared at the girl at the front of
the room. Robin looked pleased enough, but I wanted to be sure.
“May I talk to her?”

Tabitha licked her lips, her pales eyes
focused forward. “I don’t think that is wise.”

My lips hardened. “I need to talk to
her.”

“
The ceremony is about to
begin.”

I grunted. This just wasn’t going to
do. “They’ll have to wait. I made a promise to this woman, and I
intend on keeping it.”

Tabitha shrugged and that was all it
took for me to be halfway across the room, determined to reach my
target before anyone could stop me.

Robin had her back to me, chatting with
a girl I didn’t know. I recognized her face from the island, but we
had never been introduced.

I tapped Robin on the shoulder and
waited. She turned, confusion settling in her eyes before
recognition set in. “Rayla! I had no idea you were here. How
wonderful.”

I smiled, hoping she couldn’t see how
nervous I was. “I’m pleased to be here. I wanted to talk to you…to
make sure things went like they were supposed to—”

She beamed at me. “Oh, heavens, yes. I
had no idea the fae were such wonderful people. Did you know they
secretly take care of our world? I’ve been shocked by how much they
do for the human realm.”

Human realm? “But you’re happy,
right?”

She clasped my shoulders. “I can’t
thank you enough for helping us. Most of the girls have acclimated.
Many have already bonded. If I had known what a joy it is to be
here, I would never have said the things I did.” She kissed my
cheek. “May God bless you.”

I gave her a smile even though I wanted
to scream. It had already started, the overpowering urge of
compulsion. I had no right to judge, yet this didn’t seem right.
For all her flowery words, Robin had been against coming here. Now
she acted as though she never wanted to leave. I was sure she
didn’t, but what about her old life? What about her family? I tried
to hold back the question that refused to stay buried. What about
mine?

Robin pushed my shoulder. “You’d better
take your seat; otherwise, Strayak might be a bit confused.” She
nodded at my gown when I gave her a blank stare.

A blush rushed into my face. “Yes.
Sorry.” I gave her a hug, fighting the chuckle that lingered in my
throat.

I wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic to
tie myself to a man whose name ended with yak. Even so, she looked
the part. “I’m so happy for you.” There was no point in talking to
her anymore. Worst part was, I hadn’t even been able to ask her
about Lacey. No one had mentioned her and I was starting to worry.
I needed to find Roger, too. I had to find out where Natalie and
Sam had been taken. I hadn’t been able to talk to him since I faced
the council the first time. Heck, I didn’t even know where he was.
As much as I wanted to figure things out, today wasn’t the day to
do it. But soon, I told myself, I would find my friends.

Once I was seated, Tabitha clasped my
hand. “Thank you for trusting me.”

I gave her a conspiratorial glance.
“The day isn’t over yet.”

She shook her head. “You and your
jokes. If I didn’t know your intent, I might have been offended by
that remark.”

I glanced at her and smiled. “I guess
there are certain advantages to mind reading.”

Robin and Strayak were bonded without
any further interruptions, from me, or otherwise. I didn’t linger
after the ceremony. Somehow, I didn’t want to see Robin any more
mechanicalized than what I’d had to endure. Stepford wives, anyone?
This was not right, and I was going to do something about it.
Unfortunately, the only way I could accomplish such a thing was to
wait until my situation was resolved.

The long walk to the terrace didn’t
help matters much. I leaned over to whisper in Tabitha’s ear. “Why
aren’t other ceremonies being held up here?”

She shrugged. “Only nobility may use
this terrace.”

“
Why?”

“
You ask entirely too many
questions.” Her skin touched mine at the elbow and memories flooded
into me. At least a millennia’s worth of bonding ceremonies flashed
through my mind like a strobe light…until the very first
solidified.

I tried to shut my eyes, but the vision
remained. Faine stood, where my feet now rested, waiting for her
bondmate to come. I could feel her terror as if it were my own. In
fact, it overlaid my trepidation like a transparency.

“
Stop this,” I pleaded. No
one answered. “Tabitha! I said stop!” I glanced around. Many of the
people were the same, but I was no longer in my time. The gowns
were different. The men were dressed in puffed sleeved suits and
tights. I chuckled. Couldn’t get much past anyone in those. I might
as well have been in a medieval castle in the dark ages. Wait. What
was going on?

The girl in front of me spoke. Her
voice should have been timid coming from such a delicate creature,
but it held strong. “I will agree to these terms on one
condition.”

Valen stepped into view. “And what
might that be, Elemental.”

“
My name is Emma, you
dolt.”

“
Dolt?” he echoed. “Pray
tell, young Emma, what is your condition?”

“
That God may witness this
bonding, and every bonding held from this moment forth. That he may
reject said bonding if he is so inclined.”

Valen’s expression turned from curious
to furious in a heartbeat. “We shall allow no such thing. The laws
of free will still bind you in this realm, as well as your
own.”

Faine gave a slight shrug. “He may
reject my condition, but not you.”

Valen laughed and Faine’s
already pallid complexion turned colorless. “You are so sure your
creator is a man. Has
he
visited you?”

The crowd erupted in laughter. Faine
glanced around as if searching for help then she did something that
made my heart burst with pride. She straightened her shoulders,
leveling her gaze and said, “Those are my terms, Lord
Valen.”

Lord? Valen had been a mere lord back
then? I hadn’t been told, but I was sure he had passed that
distinction long ago.

The wind kicked up Faine’s skirts and
tousled her raven hair. The fae needed to learn some new
hairstyles. My doo was pretty much the same as Faine’s, only
lighter.

Her green eyes shown with a
determination I couldn’t help but admire. This was one strong chick
to face down a man like Valen and win.