A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) (14 page)

I roll my eyes. “You’re the dumbass who wants to wait.”

“And you are the dumbass who won’t tell me you love me.”

“So, where is your little wifey?” I ask with a smirk on my face.

“Shut up!” He says while splashing some of the water from my bath in my face.

“I’m just joking….Seriously, what is the plan? Oh and you chose Natalie to be my fake name?”

He laughs. “I’ve always liked that name. Anyway, that’s not important. My dad is spending a lot of time with Lana’s dad to try to figure things out. Hopefully, I can convince them we are right.”

“And if you don’t?”

“We run away. I am
not
marrying Lana.”

“And go where, Luke? I don’t want people chasing me for the rest of my life. Don’t get me wrong, you are worth it, but this has to end sometime.”

“We could get married and create peace.” I can tell by the look in his eyes he is being serious.

“Is that you asking me to marry you?” I know my eyebrows have become one with my hairline from pure shock.

He takes my soapy hand from the bathtub and his eyes become intense. “Only if you accept.”

“I…” I don’t know what to say.
Am I ready for marriage?
The answer is easy. No. No I’m not. I don’t even love him. But we could create peace. I’ve been so useless this whole time and now I could actually do something. “Luke maybe we should get everything figured out with Lana and her parents before we talk about getting married. Plus, you haven’t met my parents. I—”

“We don’t have to get married now! We can be engaged, and then once it is all figured out, we can proceed with the wedding. When
you
are ready.” Oh my god, he is being serious.

My heart skips a couple beats, and I’m at a loss for words. My mind tells me I’m not ready for this, but my heart screams yes. Our marriage would create peace. It’s okay that I don’t love him because I feel so strongly for him. I’m sure it won’t take long and I will love him. Maybe. My heart speaks before my head can. This is the right thing to do. “Okay.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. It’s the right thing to do, Luke. We’ll create peace.”

“I want you to love me, Holly.”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

I nod even though I know I can’t promise that.

“I should go. Lana will be wondering where I am.” Before he leaves, he says, “There are clothes for you in the closet. My mother had the maids go shopping.” I smile and nod my head.

Before getting out of the tub, I look at my left ring finger. I imagine a ring being there that symbolizes the status of being Luke’s forever.
What did I just agree to? Holly you are so stupid!
After attempting to convince myself that I made the right decision, I get out of the bathtub. I brush my teeth and wrap myself in a bath robe. I put my hair up in a towel and walk over to the large closet. There is nothing but dresses in here! I am so not a dress person.
Great….

I pick out the plainest dress I can find, which is black, strapless and goes to my knees. It is really fitted and shiny. I find a curling iron and curl spirals in my hair. I quickly put on some makeup and then open another drawer which has all kinds of jewelry in it. I put on the prettiest diamond earrings that dangle just below my earlobes and a silver necklace with a bright purple stone that hangs from it. I then go to find a pair of shoes—sadly, all heels.
This really sucks
. I put on a pair of black heels. I’m going to fall a million times. Or more.

I walk out the door to go find Luke, but he is already standing in the hall waiting for me. His mouth drops to the floor. I either look hideous or he likes what he sees. He starts to kiss me, but I quickly push him away.

“Now cousin, don’t you know that it’s not okay to be intimate with your family?” I say teasing him and laughing. “Besides we are out in the open you idiot!” I say as I punch him in the arm.

He rubs his arm and laughs. “You have a way of making me forget things.”

I roll my eyes. “So, what do you want to do?”

He looks at me with a mischievous expression. Oh, I know what he is thinking…dirty minded prince. “Not that, Luke….
Seriously
, what do you want to do?”

“Lana is in the library reading, and she really wanted to talk to you more once you were done getting ready.”

I slump my shoulders. “Seriously?” To my disappointment, we walk down stairs and go to the library. He opens two big wooden doors, and as soon as Lana sees us, she closes her book and stands up to greet us.

“Luke, I would like to speak to Natalie alone. You know, Girl talk,” she says with a weird smile on her face.

Luke gives me an,
I’m sorry,
look. “Sure. I’ll be out back, playing football with the guys if you need me.” He looks at me for a brief moment and then leaves.
This is ominous. Did he really just leave me alone with her? Defenseless?
I mean, I get why he did. We can’t give her a reason to question who I am. I want to start biting my nonexistent nails, but that would probably be a dead giveaway that I’m not a cousin of the royal family.

“Sit down,” She says, sounding rather bitchy. I sit down and keep trying to wipe away the non-existent wrinkles from my dress. I wish she would stop looking at me like she’s going to eat me for dinner.

“Natalie…..Hmmm…Why can I not sense your magic? I have asked myself that question over and over since I met you this morning.” She begins walking circles around me.

“I’m not sure. I can sense yours,” I say, hoping I don’t sound scared as hell.

She stops and kneels down in front of me, looking in my eyes as if searching for something. Searching for lies. “You look
nothing
like anyone from his family.”

“I was adopted.” Do they have adoption in Terre? Obviously not by the look on her face. I really needed a course on Terre 101 before having a conversation with someone here.

She shakes her head and stands up, crossing her arms over her chest. “You must think I am stupid! Don’t worry you won’t remember a thing,
Holly
.”

I’m about to run for it when she grabs me by my arm and does some sort of magic to keep me from going anywhere. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” I scream.

“Nothing you will remember. You won’t remember anything, not even Luke. He is mine, not yours. Did he think he or you could trick me? How stupid can you two be? I
will
marry him. His stupid parents have no clue how to run this world. But, they won’t be here much longer. Now what is that spell….Oh yes, I remember.”

“From the depths of the sea, make the one who stands before me not remember a soul of this world she used to know. Send her back to her time, where her life will rewind.”

Before I have the chance to run or scream, the walls and everything in the room starts shattering to pieces. Everything starts spinning around the room like a tornado. Suddenly, everything goes black.

LUKE

I FEEL LIKE
something is off; then I see Holly in a vision.
How could I have been so damn stupid? I should have stayed closer! I didn’t want Lana to suspect anything because of me not letting her talk to Holly alone.
In my vision, I see Holly pass out, and then she is gone.

“SOMETHING IS WRONG!” I yell to the guys. I quickly transport myself to the library where Lana is reading a book, as if nothing happened.

“WHERE IS SHE?” I yell, as I use my magic to throw the book in Lana’s hands against the wall. I grab her with force by her shoulders and shake her.

Acting as if none of this bothers her, she says, “I took care of that problem.
Holly is
back in her world where she belongs. Don’t even think about going after her; she doesn’t even remember you. I am keeping a close watch on her, and the moment you try find her, I
will
kill her. I swear, Luke!”

“Lana, you will never call me your husband. I know you and your parents’ plan. I know
everything
! And know this, you WILL lose,” I say this as plainly and as seriously as I can. I walk out of the library, slamming the doors hard with my magic.

It is not long, and everyone in the castle has come to see what all the commotion is about. I am so pissed that when I slammed the doors shut with my magic, I must have caused every door in the castle to shut as well.

“Luke! What is the meaning of all this?” My father asks, looking rather pissed himself. I am just about to leave to go tell Brody and the guys what happened, so we can hurry and try to fix this, but Lana decides to grace us with her unwanted presence. I
really
want to kill her right now but can’t. If I kill the one who cast the spell, the spell becomes unbreakable. I’ll break the spell
then
kill her. I glare at her while she walks in the room, smiling and trying to act graceful. I am contemplating her slow and painful death, which is becoming harder and harder to resist.

Laughing her rather annoying laugh, she says, “Luke, darling, did you really think I would let her stick around? I am being very kind,
especially
after finding out that you lied to me. Now, let’s mind our parents’ wishes and proceed with the wedding. We both know it’s what is best for our world. Let’s not let some silly mortal get in between what is right.” As she says this, she walks over to me and slips her arm into mine. I push her away from me, hard enough to knock her to the floor. Everyone runs over to her to help her up, but I use my magic to knock all of them down as well.

“She put a spell on Holly, which made her forget everything and sent her back to Earth! If she had it her way, she would have killed her! I can’t sit here and let this happen. I refuse to marry her! It will only bring destruction to our world, won’t it?” I say, looking at Lana’s parents. “You and the Poyen must know
exactly
what I am talking about!”

Lana starts yawning and patting her mouth as she stands up. “I’m rather bored with this conversation. I need rest before our ceremony. Luke, dear, stop all this nonsense. I got rid of her for your and her own good. It’s not like she remembers anything, so she won’t even be hurt that her little prince won’t come rescue her. She is
fine
, and no one in her world remembers anything either. Everything is back to normal for her and her world. Consider what I’ve done a favor. I’m going to my room.” She walks off and starts going upstairs.

Her parents did not budge when I made the comment to them about me knowing their plan. They laughed and acted as if they knew nothing of the sort. This is ridiculous. I’ve got to go find Holly. Fast. Every spell can be broken. I’m going to fix this. I
have
to.

“Luke, we have not found anything conspiring between the two parties. We still feel it is best to go on with the wedding, which will take place this evening. Now, compose yourself, and we will see you in a couple of hours—
ready
to marry Lana,” My mother says this as she smiles sweetly at Lana’s parents,
trying
to be apologetic for my behavior. I turn around and quickly walk off.

I find the guys out back. They are sitting in the grass staring at me, waiting for me to explain what the hell just happened. My adrenaline rush is obviously starting to leave me because it has just sunk in that Holly has no remembrance of me. I fall to my knees and feel like my heart has been ripped from my chest. Everything. All the years of visions, all the years of protecting her from the Fee, lead to this. This can’t be happening.

“I am going back to Earth. I’ve got to make her remember,” I whisper to myself, but loud enough for them to hear me.

“What happened!?” Brody asks.

“Lana happened. She figured out who Holly
really
is and sent her back to earth—making her forget all of us! My parents don’t believe anything that I say!” As I say this, I see about ten of our guards coming towards me. If they know what is good for them, they better not be coming after
me
. Apparently, the guys have the same thought because they stand up with magic flaring up and ready for a fight. I walk in front of Brody, Mason and Jett.