A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) (38 page)

LUKE

I AM BEGINNING
to doubt Gaia is a world of peace. Being thrown into a dark, cold room is not what I consider kind or peaceful. Not that I deserve better, but I am the one giving up my life to keep peace between Gaia and Terre.

“King? You are the King of Terre?” I hear a deep voice say.

I have my eyes closed and don’t open them when I answer. “
Was.
I was the King.”

“And your name sir?”

I open my eyes to see a Fae peace keeper standing on the other side of the metal bars. I sigh and say, “Luke Denton.” He turns to another peace keeper and starts whispering. I roll my eyes and close them again. My head is leaned against the wall, and I’m sitting in a wooden chair. I jiggle the pointless hand-cuffs, cock one eye open, and say, “Excuse me.”

“Yes?” One of the peace keepers responds.

I look down at the cuffs. “Could you please remove these?”

“I’m sorry; no, I can’t. Even though you were stripped of magic, we still consider you a threat.” I don’t reply. I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes again.

“It has been announced that your execution will be one week from today.” The peace keeper with the deep voice says.

“Can’t wait.” I cock one eye open to see their reaction to my response, but they only have the same stone-cold expressions as before. I start laughing which causes them to look at me like I’m insane.

They are about to leave, but I stop them with a question. “What is the Fae’s name that the Versipellis almost killed?”

“The Fae is a she, and her name is not of your concern.” He is right. Not of my concern. I lay back on the cold, hard floor wishing I didn’t have to wait a whole week to die.

“Luke.” I hear Holly’s voice say. I ignore it. “Luke.” I hear her perfect voice say again. “Luke, please talk to me! Why are you not talking to me?” I continue to ignore her. “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE ME THAT DAY?” I hear her voice scream, and then I see her. She is in a white dress, looking absolutely beautiful, and is walking towards me. She is coming out of a lake, dripping wet. I walk towards her, but the closer I get the further away she is. “HOLLY!” I scream. She doesn’t reply. She smiles and then blood starts pouring from her mouth as she falls to the ground. I try to run to her, but her body keeps moving further and further away from me. All of a sudden, she sits straight up, blood dripping from her lips, and screams, “WHY? WHY LUKE! I’M DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU COULD HAVE SAVED ME!”

I jump up and am pouring with sweat.
It was a dream.
That wasn’t as bad as they usually are. I do my best to wipe the sweat from my face with bound hands. I look to the other side of the cell I’m in and notice breakfast has been delivered.
Six days left until I can finally lay in peace.
I make my way over to the food and eat. I hear footsteps coming down the hallway and turn my head to see who it is.

“So you’re the one sacrificing your life to keep us from war?” A tall male Fae says with his arms crossed over his chest.

“That would be me.” I say while sliding my empty plate underneath the bars. I stand up and lean against a wall. “And who are you? You are not dressed like the peace keepers.”

“I’m no peace keeper. I am the girl’s brother that your kind almost killed. My name is Harim.”

“And why would you want to come talk to me?”

“I just had to meet the Versipellis who would give up his own life to keep our worlds from war.”

“I’m nothing special. I’m doing this for me.”

Harim raises one of his eyebrows. “Why are you doing this for yourself?”

“I want to die. I lost everything. I have no reason to live. I gave up my position as king; I lost my wife and so many others I cared about. I have nothing that would motivate me to keep breathing.”

“You gave up the throne? You were once king of Terre?” Harim asks now with both eyebrows raised.

“Yes. They didn’t need a king who went insane to rule Terre.” I start laughing at the thought of how insane I truly have become.

“What is your name?” Harim asks nervously.

“Luke.” Harim looks like he is about to pass out when I say my name. He uncrosses his arms from his chest and finds the wall for support. “Did I say something wrong?” I ask.

Harim takes a deep breath and lets it out. He looks at me like I’m some sort of freak. “No, everything is fine. I really just came to say sorry about your fate and thank you for keeping our worlds from war.” Harim turns and quickly walks away.

HOLLY

I LOOK AT
the clock and realize it is almost lunch time. I have been in bed
way
too long. For the past few nights, Cohen and I have stayed up late while he has told me everything he knew about my life before the accident. I didn’t realize there were schools here, but there are, and I graduated at the top of my class. Cohen graduated a year before me. I asked if I had any other friends beside him, and he told me no. He told me that I wasn’t very social, because I didn’t like the “cliques” in school. Sounds
totally
like me. From what he told me, I have had a pretty great life so far. I just wish I remembered.

Things are so easy with Cohen. I thought things may be a little awkward now, but it’s not. I definitely can’t complain when he randomly kisses me, interrupting what I’m about to say, or when he wraps me in his arms while we are having a simple conversation. I haven’t told him I love him yet. I know my heart has already decided, but I’m having trouble making my mind agree.
Honestly
, I’m still stuck on Luke from my dream. I still have this small hint of guilt every time I feel close to telling Cohen my feelings are growing stronger for him.

Stella still acts like I’m a stranger. Harim tells me it’s normal, and that is how she has always treated me. Mom and Helen are ecstatic with me and Cohen officially dating and are always waiting up for me after my late nights with him to have girl talk. Everything has been great the past few days except for Harim. He has been avoiding me, and it’s annoying. I tried to ask him what his problem is, but he walks away every time I try to talk to him. He is really beginning to piss me off.

After I get ready for the day, I rush downstairs to grab a bite to eat so I can meet Cohen. When I make it to the kitchen I see Harim finishing up a bowl of something gross. I scrunch up my nose as I walk by him.

“That looks disgusting!” I say, but he doesn’t reply. He gets up without making eye contact and dumps the slop in the trash and places the bowl in the sink. He walks past me, but before he can get too far, I grab the sleeve of his shirt.

“Damn you, Harim! Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” He looks at me for a brief moment and then snatches himself away from me and heads upstairs.
Ugh…
I start slamming things around the kitchen as I fix something to eat.

After I eat some butter toast and head out the door, I see Cohen waiting for me where the trail starts. He is leaned against a tree with his hands in his pockets, and a mischievous smile plays on his lips. I pick up my pace from walking to running. Once I reach him he grabs my hand and pulls me to him.

Putting his lips to my ear, he whispers, “Did you sleep well?” I shiver at the chills his voice sends down my spine and nod my head. He smiles against my ear and says, “I have a surprise for you.”

I pull my head far enough away from him to look in his eyes. “A surprise?” He smiles and nods his head. He grabs my hand, and we start walking down the trail.

“You might not like the surprise, though.” He says while laughing.

“And why would I not like it? You know, if you are going to surprise someone, the recipient should
like
whatever it is.” I say while looking up at him. He laughs and shrugs his shoulders.

Once we reach paradise, he points to a blanket on the sand with a deck of cards and poker chips. I look at him with raised eyebrows, and he smiles. We walk over to the blanket and sit down. Cohen starts shuffling the cards and a pair of sunglasses, suddenly appear on his face. Tib taught me a few things the other day, so I quickly follow suit and make my own pair of sunglasses. Things are about to get serious up in here!

“So, my surprise is kicking your ass in a game of poker?”

He smiles as he starts dealing the cards. “No. The surprise is showing you how bad ass of a poker play I am. It is very important that you see how awesome your boyfriend is.” I roll my eyes and laugh.

“Are you ready, Tuff?” He asks while putting on his best poker face.

I laugh, roll my eyes, and say, “I am, but I’m not too sure my over-confident boyfriend is.” He laughs and goes first.

It’s been at least forty-five minutes, and I’m obviously winning. Cohen is rubbing the back of his neck while looking at the cards in his hand. He moves his sunglasses to the top of his head and looks at me. I move my sun glasses on the top of my head and return his stare. He acts like he is about to put in some chips and then stops. He takes a deep breath, lets it out, and places his cards down.

“I fold. Looks like my girlfriend can whoop my ass after all.” I start laughing and scoot the pile of chips towards me.

“Guess I don’t get to see how awesome you are.”

He smiles. “You do realize what just happened here, right?

I laugh. “I kicked your ass at poker, duh.”

“You
remembered
how to play. We used to play this all the time. Maybe there is a chance you will remember everything after all.”

“Maybe. I sure hope so.” I don’t remember ever playing poker, yet I still remembered how to play. Sweet!

His lips curl into a wicked smile, and I suspect, no I
know
, he is up to something. He stands up as if he is going to stretch then quickly scoops me into his arms running full force to the ocean. Before I can think to hold my breath, my body is submerged into the cold water.

I stand up and start looking around for him but can’t find him. I spot him down by my ankles but am too late to be able to react fast enough. He grabs me by my ankles causing me to fall into the water as a huge wave conveniently comes crashing in.
Nice.
When I finally get to my feet I see him laughing hysterically. I do my best to run, but my feet are not doing what I want them too.
Thank you, water and waves, for making it impossible to run.
Once I
finally
reach him, I try to knock him down in the water. I am unsuccessful, because me trying to submerge him in the water, is like a flea trying to push a truck.