A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) (15 page)

“Can I help you?” I ask the group of the guards.

They all start laughing. “You knew this was coming,” one of them replies.

I quickly realize they are in on the whole conspiracy too. Are they serious? I am the most powerful in this world. Can they possibly be this stupid? I raise my hands and pull enough magic to throw them down on the ground. I turn around to look at Brody, Jett and Mason and nod my head. We all pull magic quickly to create a protection barrier around us, and Jett makes us invisible.

“My magic won’t hold for long. Since we barely used it on Earth, I am not able to hold it as long as I used to.” Jett’s voice is strained while trying to keep the spell in place.

“The protection barrier will hold, but only for a few hours. It won’t take long for the guards to use their magic and destroy it.” Brody says through a clenched jaw.

Mason is ready to kick ass. He doesn’t care what holds and what doesn’t. He just wants to see blood. I put my hands on my head while trying to figure out what to do. I know I am going back to Earth and trying to get Holly to remember, but I have to have a plan first. She wasn’t exactly crazy about me texting her out of the blue. How am I going to explain this to her? I have to find a way to break the spell while protecting her. Lana probably has intentions of having her killed.
Especially
once she figures out that I am going to go after her.

I notice that the guards are attempting to get up and look at the guys. “We have to get out of here. I’m sure they have put some sort of lock on transferring between worlds. Mason, you are the best at figuring out how to break magical codes. Can you try to transport us out of here?” Mason nods as he begins to try different things.

“I think I know how, but I haven’t ever used this type of magic. It could go wrong. Oh well, here goes nothing,” Mason says and then closes his eyes. I feel rain on my face so I know we are somewhere else. Not our intended destination. I open my eyes and realize it isn’t rain; it is a damn sprinkler in someone’s front yard.

“Where are we?” I ask while standing up to get out of the water. I use my magic to dry my clothes.

“I’m not sure,” Mason says.

“I will try this time.” After I do the spell, I open my eyes and smile when I realize I am standing in snow. I smile even bigger when I see Holly’s dorm.

HOLLY

I WAKE UP
not feeling good. I must’ve picked up something from the restaurant last night when I went on that horrible date. I can’t believe Blayne set us up. No more blind dates for me! As a matter of fact dating is probably over for me. Guys suck.

“Are you going to class?” Blayne asks while putting her hair in a ponytail.

I throw the covers over my head and groan. “I don’t feel good. Oh and thanks for setting me up with the biggest jerk in the world! That is the last time I let you set me up with someone.
Ever
.”

Blayne laughs. “Damn! Was it that bad?! I’m sorry! He seemed nice! Anyway, I’m going to class. Hope you feel better. Be sure to disinfect the room. I sure don’t want it! I have a party to go to later.”

I decide I should come out from hibernating under my covers and sit on the end of my bed. I stretch as I look out the window. It looks like everyone is headed to class. Except for those four hot guys standing down there. Don’t they know it’s cold? They are all in tight fitting shirts showing off their toned bodies, now
that
I appreciate…But,
seriously
, it’s cold and they need jackets. I smile and close the blinds when one of them looks up at me. Poor guy, he looks like he lost his best friend. I grab some clothes and a towel to go take a shower. When I round the corner, I run into a rather tall and very good looking guy. Why is he staring at me like this? I wonder if he realizes he’s scaring the shit out of me.

“Holly?” He says with a stunned look on his face. I look around the hall to see if anyone else is there, but the hall is empty. I look back up at this guy who obviously knows my name.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?” I ask as I hold my things close to my chest and lean against the wall.

“I know this sounds crazy, but you
do
know me.”

“Are you okay?” I ask. He looks like he is going to be sick.

“No, I am not okay. It is confirmed then. You have no remembrance of me,” he says while running his hands through his hair.

I scrunch my eyebrows together and take another good look at him. “No, I’m sorry I don’t. How do you know me?” I ask. He looks like he wants to say something, but never finds the words. He shakes his head and walks away. Maybe he’s mistaken me for the wrong Holly. I hope he finds who he is looking for.

After my shower, I go back to my room and throw my dirty clothes in the laundry basket. I get dressed and ready for the day. I can probably still make it to my second class, if I hurry.

As I am walking out of my dorm, I see the guy who stopped me before my shower with those other guys that were outside my window. They are all staring at me, and I don’t like it.

“Holly, can I talk to you?”

“What is your name? I forgot to ask you earlier,” I reply, holding my books close to my chest.

“Luke.”

“I think you have the wrong person. My name
is
Holly, but I don’t think I’m the Holly you’re looking for. I need to get to class, sorry.” I start to walk off, but I’m stopped by him grabbing my arm and twirling me around to face him. He is seriously about to get punched in the face for touching me!

I pull my arm away, which causes me to drop my stuff. “Look, I don’t know who you are! Leave me alone,” I say sternly as I start picking up my things.

One of the guys he is with yells at him. “Luke, stop! She doesn’t remember.” I look at him confusedly, shake my head and start to walk off.

“But, I have to protect her. I
love
her,” this Luke says as he drops to his knees. That makes me drop my stuff
again
, and I turn around to face him.

“What. Did. You. Say?” I say every word slowly and clearly. Now I’m pissed. How can this guy say that? I’ve never met him!? He starts to reach out to me and say more, but I don’t want to hear it. This is all wrong. I gather my things and quickly walk away.

My life just got really,
really
strange. He
loves
me? I must have missed something because I don’t have a clue who he is. I need an explanation. Forget class. I walk to where I saw them last, but he’s gone. I’m about to walk in the opposite direction when I hear him call my name. I turn around to face the guy who claims to love me. I quickly ask, “Why did you say you love me?”

He walks up to me and grabs my hand in his, while intensely staring into my eyes. “Holly, have you ever loved someone so much it hurts? I can’t find the words to express what I feel for you. I only wish you could remember.”

I stand here frozen. I look at him, trying to remember something…
anything
…but I don’t. I have no idea who this guy is. I’m breaking his heart, and I don’t even know him. This is crazy.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any clue who you are. I—” I’m cut off by his lips eagerly moving against mine. I want to move and stop him, but I can’t. Something feels familiar about this kiss…in strange way. When he stops kissing me, I pull away from his grip and wrap my arms around myself as if warding off a chill. I start to say something, but he beats me to it.

“Useless,” he says and then disappears. I rub my eyes, close them and open them again, thinking maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but they aren’t. That was really,
really
strange. Maybe that food last night made me sicker than I thought.

I walk back to my dorm. I put all of my stuff down and lay down on my bed.
What the hell just happened?
I need some rest. I start to fall asleep when I feel someone sit on my bed. When I open them, I see Luke sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at me.

I jump up in pure shock, “How did you get in here!? You have serious issues!”

Putting his hands on my shoulders, he says, “I have to make you remember. I am a Prince from Terre. We were running from the Poyen. Lana, who I was arranged to marry, put a spell on you to make you forget me. She also made your world go back in time so things are now the way they were before you met me.” He looks at me, hoping I will remember what he’s talking about, but instead I burst out laughing.

“Prince? Terre? Poyen? Okay, you
really
need to get out of my room!” I say while walking to the door to shoo him away, but he’s not moving. He must not get the hint that he is making me
extremely
uncomfortable. Just as I am about to say something else, another person suddenly appears in my room.
What the hell!?!

“Who is he?!” I yell, pointing at the person who just appeared.

Without acknowledging the question I just asked, Luke says, “Mason, did you figure out how to fix this?”

“Yes. But it could be dangerous.”

“What could happen?” Luke asks. Sure, act like I’m not in the room!
My room that is!

“It could turn her into one of us. It is dangerous because a mortal has never been turned into one of us. I don’t know how her body will react.”

“Mason, I can’t live without her. We have to try.”

I hold up my hand, waving it to remind them I’m still in the room. “Hello?! Don’t I have a say in this? I’m not saying I believe any of this shit, but you definitely got my attention by just appearing in my room without the use of a door or window!”

With both sets of eyes on me, they say in unison, “No.”
Wrong answer.

I glare at them both. “Look. I don’t know what is going on here, but I kind of like my normal life so could you please leave now!?” I’m about to say something else when he waves his hands around and says some words I don’t understand—causing me to pass out. While everything is black, I have visions of my life from the time I was a child. I see me and Luke in a car. Then I see us kissing under a tree. Then I see Lana standing over me. When I open my eyes I’m lying on the ground in Terre. Holy shit! I remember everything!

“Holly!” Luke yells as he sees me start to get up.

“Luke, I remember!” I say while attempting to stand up. I feel really strange so I sit back down. “My head hurts.”

“Do you feel any different? The spell Mason used to break Lana’s spell may have turned you into one of us,” Luke says while putting both hands on my face and looking me over.

“Just a headache. How would I know?” I ask looking at myself to see if I turned a different color or something.

“Try some magic. Think about something you want to eat
really
hard and imagine it in your hands,” Mason says like it’ll be simple.

I do as he says and try to imagine a bacon cheeseburger with ranch on the side. Nothing happens. I open my eyes. I look at Mason and Luke while shrugging my shoulders.

“I can’t sense any new magic,” Luke says while looking at Mason.

“So, since we have determined that I have not turned into one of you, can we figure out what to do next? “ I ask, remembering there are a lot of people here who want me dead.

“I will go get Jett and Brody,” Mason says and then disappears.

Luke grabs me into his arms and kisses me. “Damn, that scared the hell out of me! Do you remember agreeing to marry me!?”

“No, I don’t seem to remember that,” I say while laughing, because I clearly remember, but I love teasing him. He laughs and slips a ring on my finger. It is absolutely beautiful! It has a silver band with the prettiest diamonds in it and a glowing green stone. I love how he makes me feel like I’m the only girl in the world. He lays me back on to the soft grass and starts kissing me. He slowly pulls away and looks in my eyes. He moves my hair out of my face while letting his fingers linger on my cheek.