A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) (20 page)

“And why is that?” WARNING: Emotion overload. This girl is about to explode!

“We are the most powerful here. We are from a very powerful bloodline. That was one of the main reasons my parents wanted me to marry Lana. She, too, is from a strong family, and they wanted us to have powerful kids.”

“That does not explain why you are not good?”

“Holly, how do you think we have all this?” He says as he looks around, his eyes briefly resting upon various objects around the room.

“Ummm… money?”

“Not
our
money.” If he frowns anymore, his mouth is going to fall off his face.

“If not yours, then whose?”

“Everyone else’s in Terre. They work for us. Their lives are considered a privilege here. They earn life by working and giving their money to the kingdom. We give them enough to eat, send their kids to school, and provide other basic necessities, but everything else is ours. They get no extra.” He is speaking in a gentle tone, and every word he says seems to hurt him as it leaves his lips.

“Slaves then?” He nods his head yes.

With a dispirited expression he says, “They are not free. Everything they do is for us. They live by our rules.”

I stutter a bit before I can find the words to respond. “Okay, I’m really confused! If this is true, then how do you even have friends? How come there were so many willing to fight for you and me?” I swallow hard and try to fight back the flood of tears trying to break free.

“They don’t have a choice, Holly. Brody, Jett, and Mason chose to be my friend, but their families still abide by our rules. If the Versipellis don’t abide by our rules, the Poyen are sent out to get them. They either go to prison, lose their magic, or they are killed. They helped fight for us out of fear.”

“Okay. So, let me get this straight. Lana and her parents are bad, but so are you and your family?” He nods his head yes and looks back down at his feet. “Okay, so then what is the peace prophecy?” I ask, trying to make sense of all that he has just told me.

He looks me straight in the eyes and says, “There isn’t one.” Somebody get a trash can. This girl is about to throw up from the words that just punched me in my stomach! Did he just say there isn’t one? Maybe I heard him wrong. I
must
have heard him wrong.

“There isn’t one?” I am almost yelling and my hands are shaking.

“What I’m about to say is the complete truth. Holly, I love you, and I want you to know everything.” Isn’t what he has already said bad enough? I’m the bad guy now too, right? I’m the princess of evil. When all along I thought I was doing something good by marrying him. I totally want to rewind my life right now. I get up and start pacing around the room. It is hard to sit still when I want to run away so badly and forget about Terre… and Luke.

Luke starts talking in the gentlest tone he can, and all I want to do is cover my ears and run. I get up and start nervously pacing the room as he talks. “When I went to Earth, I really did run away because I didn’t want to marry Lana. I didn’t like the idea of arranged marriages. I honestly didn’t care if I ever fell in love, but I wanted to be the one to choose who I would rule my world with. My family has power issues, but Lana and her family are far worse. In Terre, it is forbidden for royalty to marry a mortal. It could open a pathway from Terre to Earth. Since we have magic and mortals don’t, we could rule Earth. More power, more money. My parents see you as an advantage now. Since their plan didn’t work for me to marry Lana, you are their new plan. The peace prophecy isn’t really a
peace prophecy.
It is just another way for my parents to gain more power. My mom is treating you the way she is because she doesn’t
want
to like you. The news about the peace prophecy is new to me too. I just found out about it this morning before you came to breakfast. My parents just led me to believe it could be possible.”

I decide not to push the topic of the peace prophecy after Luke’s statement. “Why doesn’t your mom want to like me?” I stop pacing around the room to look at him.

“How do I say this?” Luke looks deep in thought and walks over to me. “Holly, my parents want you dead. They see you as a threat—now that you have magic. My mother sees you as a disgrace to our kind and a road block to their plans to take over the place you once called home. Her exact words to me were, ‘
Son, she knows nothing of our world. This marriage has to end. It will not be beneficial for us. Since you changed our plans by ending your engagement with Lana and marrying this mortal, you will need to fix this problem. By fix it, I mean get her to end the marriage. I will not be losing a son because of your decisions. The gateway is open to Earth now, and we do not need this girl getting in the way. She has people she cares for on Earth and they will try to stop us.’
Holly, please know I DO NOT feel this way. I am going to make this work.”

I can’t speak. I want to. I have thousands of words wanting to spill out of my mouth, but I can’t seem to make a sound. I start crying and slap Luke across the face.

Rubbing his cheek where my hand just slapped him, he says, “I deserved that.”

“I just want to forget all of this and go back to my normal life.” The words come out of my mouth in barely a whisper while tears roll down my cheeks.

Luke wraps me in his arms and I’m too weak to free myself from the unwanted affection. “Holly, I’m so sorry! I should have never texted you that night.”

“No, you shouldn’t have!” I yell and free myself from his arms. “If you knew it would be like this…HOW DARE YOU!!”

“Holly, I honestly don’t know what I was thinking. I have loved you for so long. It was like I couldn’t stand being away from you anymore; even though I knew I would be no good for you. I already explained to you that I have had visions of you before ever meeting you. What I didn’t explain was when they started. I saw the day you were born, I saw you grow up, I have watched you your whole life. I never understood the reason for the visions until the day I fell in love with you when you were 16. Don’t you get it? We are meant to be together.” He starts to say more, but I stop him. I’m a little freaked out by what he just said, and I find all of this very unfair.

“You said you saw me when I was born? So you’re like old? Oh. My. Gosh. This is just like all of the cheesy paranormal books I’ve read. Why does the guy always have to be freakishly old?” I yell this with tears streaming down my face.

His voice remaining calm, he says, “On Earth I am the same age as you. Time moves differently in Terre. I am over 1000 years in Terre. I am still considered very young here. Holly, please don’t cry.”

I start yelling. “Don’t cry? Have you lost your mind? Did you really think I would handle this well? I just found out that I am your family’s ticket to more power and that’s it.” I start pacing around the room again and crying. “And why did you not ever reveal yourself to me before? Why did you wait until now?”

“I never intended on revealing myself to you. I let my feelings for you make my decisions that night, not my logic. I am
so
sorry.” Luke is now on the verge of crying.

I don’t want to hear his apology, and his tears mean nothing to me. I take a few deep breaths and say, “So all this talk with your dad at breakfast…were you talking in code? Because I distinctly remember hearing him mention the Peace Prophecy. Was the Poyen really against you guys?” I’m so pissed; I can’t see straight. I don’t even know who I’m talking to right now. Luke is not who I thought he was. I am an idiot for falling for this load of crap.

“Yes. He actually meant we had to see if the gateway was really opened or not. And, yes, the Poyen were really plotting with Lana and her family.”

Luke is shadowing me as I pace the span of the room. “But you could transfer yourself to earth and back here. Isn’t that a gateway? If they wanted to take over Earth, why haven’t they already done it?” I am on the verge of hyperventilating.

“No. It’s different. It is literally an open gateway that we can enter to go to Earth. It is the only way to gain full access to Earth.” I don’t hear anything else he says. Instead, a panic attack takes over, and I’m completely immersed in trying to breathe.

“Holly, I truly love you. I don’t want this; I don’t want this kind of power. I want freedom. I don’t want to take over your world. I want to fix this.”

I run my hands through my hair and wipe the tears off my cheeks. “So are you, like, against your parents now?”

“Something like that, yes. I want to try to convince them to free our people and leave Earth alone. If nothing changes their minds, and they proceed with evil, I will personally kill them.” Is that supposed to make me feel better? I hope not, because it doesn’t. I cross my arms over my chest as he continues talking. “Holly, listen to me. I am so in love with you. All that matters to me is
you.
I know we can create a world of freedom and peace. I know you haven’t known me long, but
please
don‘t give up on me…on us.”

“How do I know you are not lying to me now? You love me? Don’t people who love each other tell the truth from the very beginning? Isn’t honesty a key component in love and lasting relationships?”

“Holly, I don’t know how I can ever convince you to believe me after all the lies you have been told. But I am telling you the truth now.” If he thinks a few tears in his eyes are going to make me run into his arms and say everything is okay, he is wrong.

“I don’t know what to say or think right now. I gave up everything for you, Luke.”

“I know you did. Let’s get away. We need to come up with a plan. I wanted to talk to you about all of this after me and the guys came up with a plan, but you needed to know the truth now.” Luke is on his knees in front of me, his eyes pleading for forgiveness or at the least understanding and time, but I don’t care.

“Look…I honestly don’t want any part of this. If I would have known any of this, I would have said no from the very beginning.”

“I will let you make any choice you want, but please chose me. Choose us.”

My mind is wandering, searching for possible solutions to this unsolvable puzzle that has been placed before me. “How do we get a divorce here? Is that even possible?”

“One of us dies if we break the bond of marriage. That is what my mom meant when she said she would not lose a son, to convince you to back out of the marriage.” I have come to the conclusion that Terre is a very,
very
crappy world.

“Does that count if I’m on Earth?”

“No.” He says that with a look on his face that tells me he didn’t want me to know that bit of information.

“I need time to think. Away from
you
.” He tries to say something but stops. I think he has realized there is nothing he can say or do to stop me right now. I’m leaving.

“So you’ve made your decision. You’re leaving?” Luke says while turning to look out the window.

“What else am I supposed to do? Do you really expect me to stay just because I
think
I love you?” I feel the toll my throat is taking from all the yelling I have been doing. I’m sure my face is a lovely shade of flushed.

He turns away from the window to look at me. “Yes.”

I ignore the hurt in his eyes. “Well to me that’s not enough! Trust is a big thing when it comes to a relationship. Without trust there is nothing.”

“Holly, I have told you the complete truth! I am sorry for not telling you everything before.” The tone of his voice has become more desperate.

“Well, maybe, you should have thought about that if you wanted me to stick around.” I concentrate on leaving this place forever. But before I can concentrate enough to leave, I feel Luke’s lips on mine, and his arms are wrapped tightly around me.

In a whisper, with his forehead pressed against mine, he says, “Just please don’t ever forget how much I love you. I am going to do everything I can to stop my parents. I promise. I will always make sure you are safe. Just know, you leaving is the worst thing that could possibly ever happen to me.” He is crying now and not loosening his hold on me.

I nod and start to cry. I have to figure things out, and I can’t be here while I do it. I also can’t be on Earth with my parents. I need to be alone. I start concentrating on being alone, who knows where this will take me… but I, honestly, don’t care right now.