A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) (40 page)

“YOU CAN’T KILL HIM! YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS!” I scream as I grab the peace keeper by his shirt. I see his eyes shift to a door. I quickly let him go and run to the door. I open it and see a man sitting in a chair prepared to push a button. I run to him and tackle him causing him to fall to the ground.

“What is the meaning of this?” He says, his voice filled with shock.

“TURN IT OFF! I WILL EXPLAIN!” I scream.

He stands up, and I hold my breath as he makes his way over to the switchboard. The timer goes off and his hand slowly moves towards the “go” button. I close my eyes and know I’ve lost. How can I go on knowing Luke was real?

“Now explain.” The man says.

Opening my eyes and crying, I ask, “You didn’t kill him?” He shakes his head no, and I feel like I can breathe again. I jump up and hug the man with a conscience.

I run to the room where Luke is awaiting death. I quickly sling the door open and use my abilities to remove the restraints holding him down, as well as the needles and tubes. I let out a nervous breath as the tubes and needles leave his body. Thankfully, I somehow managed to do that without causing him to bleed to death. He sits up and looks angry.

“How hard can it be to kill someone? And now you are letting me go?” He turns his head to look at me and sighs. “You again?
You
are just a dream! I am so sick of these damn dreams!”

I smile and walk slowly towards him. Once I am in front of him I pick up his hand and lace my fingers in his. Tears fall down my cheeks. I can’t believe this is happening. My fingers are intertwined with the man I was convinced was only a dream, and it feels perfect. “Luke, this is
not
a dream. It’s really me.”

Luke looks down at our hands and then back at me. A tear slides down his cheek, and he says, “Your eyes are green.” I laugh and cry harder. “Holly?” I nod my head confirming it is me. He gets off the table and looks down at me. He runs his hands over my face and through my hair. He traces my lips with his thumb, and I close my eyes.

“Your eyes are green.” He says again.

I laugh and say, “And you are really dirty!”

He smiles, and a few more tears find their way down his cheeks. “It
really
is you.” He leans down and pulls me close to him. His lips find mine and at first it is a slow, simple kiss, but it quickly turns into a kiss full of passion and anger. We are both letting out so many emotions into this kiss; it’s overwhelming. He ends the kiss, and we both stare breathlessly into each other’s eyes.

“You were dead… I saw your grave.” He says and then notices the mark on my left wrist and the silver band on my finger. “What is this?”

“And you didn’t exist. Or I thought you didn’t.” I look down at my wrist and ring and say, “It’s a long story.” He laughs and lays his forehead against mine.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is we found each other.”

My life that I have grown to love here in Gaia begins to surface in my mind, but when I look at Luke it is as if I’m a cork being held down in water, and Gaia just removed its hand from me. The one who holds my heart is holding me in his arms. I am letting go of Gaia and going full-force towards what has and always will be the right reality for me. I close my eyes and feel as if the room is spinning. When I open my eyes I realize I am in mine and Luke’s bed in Terre. I turn over and see Luke sleeping beside me. I shake him gently to wake him.

He opens his eyes and jumps up. “WHAT THE HELL!?” He yells as he looks around the room and then back at me.

My heart is beating fast as I say, “Luke, calm down. Do you remember?” He rubs the back of his neck as he stares at me.

“I thought… I thought they killed me and I... I didn’t think…” He stops talking and wraps me in his arms. “We’re alive?”

“Yes!”

“Your eyes were green!” When he says that, I run to the bathroom to look in the mirror. I am
me
again. I look down at my wrist and notice the mark is gone and where my Fae ring once was, Luke’s ring now sits in its rightful place. Right now my family in Gaia and Cohen are mourning for my death. I feel a mountain of guilt but then look up to see my true reality.
Luke
. I will
never
forget Gaia, and everyone there will always hold a special place in my heart. But my life is meant to be spent in Terre, with Luke. I smile inwardly and run into Luke’s arms.

Luke smiles. “Are you okay?”

I smile back. “Better than ever.”

LUKE

FOR THE PAST
month I have not let Holly out of my sight. She went to visit Mallory one day and convinced me to stay back at the castle. I paced the entire castle waiting for her to return. I am not sure that I will ever completely get over what it felt like to believe she was dead.

Holly told me about Cohen and her family in Gaia. I have to admit I do not like this Cohen, but I am glad that she was happy while we were apart. She told me she felt horrible that she was happy, and I was so depressed. More like
insane
. There are times I still have dreams of her being dead, and I know she is worn out from my dreams. She always stays awake until I fall back asleep, resulting in a lot of sleepless nights.

I asked Jett if he remembers anything, and he doesn’t. When Holly and I woke up in our room it was only the morning after the war with my parents. Jett thinks we both have lost our minds.

“Luke, what are you in such deep thought about?” Holly asks as she walks out of the bathroom.

“Just stuff. Are you okay? You have been in the bathroom all morning.”

“I think whatever we ate over at Jett’s last night is making me sick. Are you feeling okay?” She asks with her hand firmly pressed against her head.

“I feel fine, and I haven’t heard anything about anyone else getting sick from it. Would you like for me to call the doctor?” She looks very ill, and I’m worried about her.

“Sure. I think I am going to just lie down until the doctor gets here. You have meetings to attend, right?” She asks while slipping into bed.

I cover her with the blankets and sit down beside her. “Yes, just a few. Are you sure you will be okay without me?”

Laughing and rolling her beautiful eyes, she says, “Luke, I will be just fine. Nothing is going to happen to me.”

I nod my head and smile. I know she will be fine but after you have lost your wife and then get her back, it is hard to not overreact to simple things. I kiss her on the cheek and walk to the door. “If you need
anything
I will cancel all my meetings and stay with you.”

“Thank you, but I am sure I will be just fine. Call Jett and Mason and see if they got sick too. I really think it was something we all ate last night.”

“I will, after I call the doctor. Get some rest. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

After my call to the doctor, I call Jett. I ask him if he or Mason got sick from the food we ate at the cook-out last night, but they all feel fine. I am worried about Holly and decide to cancel the meetings for today. There wasn’t anything important on the agenda today anyway.

I start to make my way upstairs to Holly to tell her I’ve canceled the meetings and notice the doctor leaving our room. I quicken my pace and ask the doctor what is wrong. He doesn’t say a word and walks past me. I am about to chase after him and demand an answer but run to our room instead.

I sling the door open, and Holly is sitting on our bed staring at the wall. “Holly, what is wrong?” She looks at me and smiles.

HOLLY

HOW DO I
tell Luke I am pregnant? I am not sure if I’m happy or scared. I guess I’m a little of both. Luke gets worried since I’m not speaking and rushes to my side. I look down at my stomach that holds a little bit of me and a little bit of him. I look into his worried eyes and smile.

“Luke. I’m pregnant.” His mouth drops open, and he looks down at my stomach. He is at a loss for words. “We are going to be parents.” The words feel foreign coming from my lips. I have to replay the words in my head to convince myself this is real.

Once he gets a hold of his thoughts he grabs my hand, making me stand to my feet. He smiles. “Damn good parents.”

“How can you say that? We are so young!”

He laughs. “I’m a thousand years old, remember?”

“But that is still considered young in Terre! What are my parents going to say?” He is laughing at me while I freak out, and it makes me want to slap him.

“Holly, you are going to be a great mother.”

“You really think we are ready for this?”

“No.” I punch him in the arm.

“WHAT?!” That is not the comforting answer I was hoping for.

“We could never be fully prepared to be parents. But, I know we will do just fine. Speaking of parents… We really should go talk to
yours
.” He is right. I haven’t seen them since I appeared in their kitchen the morning after me and Luke got married.

I sigh. “When?”

“Now. I am sure they are worried sick about you.”

“My dad may try to kill you.” He
really
might.

Luke laughs and points to himself. “Powerful Versipellis, remember? I don’t think your dad will be doing any killing.”

“Point taken… But I wouldn’t put it past him to try.” I laugh, and Luke rolls his eyes. “Ready?” I ask. We grab hands and teleport to Earth.

We are standing on the front porch at my house on Earth. Any confidence I had to tell my parents has suddenly left me. I feel ill, and I’m not sure if it is my nerves or the effects of the pregnancy. I look to Luke for words of encouragement, but he only smiles and points to the door. I knock and wait for someone to come to the door.

“Coming!” I hear my little brother, Max, say. When he opens the door, he freezes stiff in his spot. “MOM!” He yells and then lunges himself at me and wraps his tiny arms around me. I return the hug and kiss him on the top of his head.

My mom comes rushing to the door followed by my dog, Mickey. Max kneels down next to Mickey and starts petting him. My mom freezes stiff like Max and yells for my dad. When my dad makes it to the door it is as if I’m staring at a pair of mannequins. It has become evident that if I don’t speak first no one will.

“Mom, dad, Max, this is Luke, my husband.” I wonder if they are going to invite us in or stand frozen and stare at us the whole time we are here.

Finally,
my mom removes herself from her trance and speaks. “Holly?”

“Yes?”

“Where have you been?” She asks while looking back and forth at me and Luke.

“Can we go in and talk? It’s a long story.” My mom and dad turn around and walk into the house. Luke, Max, and I follow them in.

“Max, go to your room.” My dad says in a stern voice. Oh crap… He is pissed. When I was in my teen years he would always send Max to his room before scolding me. Max starts to complain but when my dad gives him “the look” he runs to his room.
Smart kid
. We all sit down on the furniture in the living room, and the tension is thick.