Guardian (11 page)

Chapter Thirteen

The ceremony was
witnessed by only two people: Peter and Catya.

We were on the edge of a river that tumbled through the mountains, the water our serenade. There was nothing fancy about what we wore, there couldn’t be if we were going to keep this a secret. And that was where we’d both agreed. No one could know we were binding ourselves to each other on this level. If my enemies found out how much he truly meant to me, they would do everything in their power to take him out.

So a secret ceremony it was. Not that I really minded. I’d given up the illusion of walking down an aisle with a bouquet in my hands years ago. This was a bonus I’d never seen coming.

Peter stood at the edge of the river, Catya beside him looking extremely solemn, her eyes tracking our every move as we approached. She was dressed in solid white fur, trimmed with ermine. Seeing as she would be the likely successor to run the pack, it was fitting, even if she was only six years old. Peter was dressed as he always was, a mishmash of furs and cloth, his gray hair long and loose.

He wasted no time with advice or words of love, or even how to treat one another in what would hopefully be a long life together.

“This day you come to pledge yourselves, not only in this life to one another, but in the next world as well. To do this, you must give up a piece of your soul to one another, trusting that it will be kept in safety. This is a heavy binding, one not to be lightly undertaken, as there is no going back.”

Liam nodded first, his fingers twined around mine. “I’ve waited my whole life to finally realize she was the one I needed. I trust her with my soul.”

Tears pricked at my eyes and I swiped them away. Peter looked at me. “And you? What have you to say to this charge?”

“There is no one I trust more with my life and my heart than Liam. He is my world and he already has a part of my soul.” The words came out husky, but they came out, which seemed questionable for a moment, with all the emotions rushing through me.

“Then let us begin,” Peter said, a faint smile on his lips. He lifted his hands and the world around us shimmered, flickering in and out. I sucked in a breath. We were inside the veil, though I didn’t know where, or how deep. How did this happen? Was this some sort of natural doorway? The obvious answer was yes, but I pushed that aside for the moment. Another time, I would ask.

“It is the power held within this level of the veil to bind lives and hearts for all eternity, to the days when you live and breathe, to those where you will be beyond the grasp of the living.” Peter’s voice shifted. “Body and blood you have shared, this is the last tie drawn between you.”

We both nodded and I couldn’t help but tighten my hand on Liam’s.

He gave me a wink that promised more sharing of at least one of those two things.

“Then it is only your souls that need to be bound. Rylee, did you memorize the words I gave you?”

I let out a slow breath and nodded. “Yes.”

“Then now is the time; if you mean to do this, you must speak them.” Peter held his palm out to me, waving toward Liam. I pivoted on my heels to face Liam and the words flowed over my lips like the water rushing through the river.

“From this day, I give you all I am, and may the elements listen to my words and bind me to their truth. Through fire, wind, water, and earth, I offer you a shard of my soul to be held within your heart, to be made a part of you. That when our lives end—” Damn, so much for holding it together. I hiccupped and struggled to say that part. The words were too close to home; we had come too often to that precipice of losing each other, only to be saved by one or the other at the last moment. Liam’s hands tightened on mine, but he said nothing. It wasn’t his turn yet. The tears streamed down my cheeks and dripped off my chin, and I could do nothing to stop them. To be honest, I didn’t want to stop them. They were a testament to how much this meant, that I would cry in front of anyone but Liam.

I took a deep shuddering breath, calmed my wildly beating heart, and went on. “That when our lives end, we will find each other on the other side, bound still by the pieces of our souls. That no matter the depth of the darkness that may try to separate us, we will, in the end, always be together. Heart of my heart, soul of my soul, love of my life.”

There, that was it. I took another slow breath and finally looked up, truly looked into Liam’s eyes.

I wasn’t the only one with tears tracking my cheeks. He smiled, though, and I knew the tears were for the same reason as mine. Too much emotion and it had to come out somewhere. He repeated those same vows to me, his voice catching here and there, but there was no hesitation in him.

There was a twinge in my heart, a new pulse that hadn’t been there before, but it settled before I could even truly register that it was a piece of Liam’s soul settling into my body.

When Liam finished his vows, we both looked to Peter, who had tears streaming down his lightly stubbled cheeks. “May the gods show kindness on your union and allow it to be long and fruitful.”

The air around us shimmered, flickered, and we were back where we’d started. Catya smiled and ran to us, throwing her arms around my legs until I scooped her up. She reached out to Liam and he gave her his hand.

Love is good. It will stop the darkness.

I gasped and she let go of Liam, her voice fading from my head. I looked at him. “You knew she could do that?”

“Yes, she spoke to me before.”

Peter stepped up and took her from my arms. “She will be a powerful leader of our pack one day. The gypsy blood runs strong in her, giving her access to strengths that haven’t been seen in many years.”

Well, that was interesting.

From above, there was a sound of a giant pair of wings whooshing down toward us. Blaz. Which meant it was almost time to go home.

“I don’t know if I can keep this from him.” I slipped my arm around Liam’s waist.

“I think you can trust Blaz. He’s one of the few.” Liam placed a kiss on my temple. “But before we go, I have something for you.”

From his pocket he pulled out a small jewelry box. “It’s not a ring; that would be too obvious.”

I took the box, the purple velvet smooth on my fingers. “No hints?”

He shook his head and I opened the box.

A simple gold chain lay curled in the bottom of the silk-lined box. I lifted it, uncoiling the chain until what hung from it was revealed. A simple teardrop stone made of a blue material. “It’s beautiful. What kind of stone is it?”

Liam lifted the chain from my hands and slid it around my neck. The blue stone nestled in beside the fire opal. “Blue amber.”

Peter clapped Liam on the shoulder. “You’ve been planning this awhile, haven’t you?”

Liam flushed and I leaned into him. “What do you mean, Peter?”

Smiling, Peter pointed at the pendant. “Amber, amongst many other things, represents the everlasting bond of eternal love. And being blue, it is amongst the rarest, most priceless, of the variations of the stone.”

He left us standing beside the river, not that I hardly noticed. “Rarest?”

Liam lifted his hand to my face. “You are priceless to me. A mere diamond would never be good enough for you.”

“You got this when we were in London, didn’t you?”

He gave me a wink. “I’ll never tell.”

I leaned in and kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I love you, O’Shea.”

Laughing, he tightened his grip on me. “And I love you, Adamson. You do realize you will never be rid of me now?”

I smiled and, for the first time in a long time, a sense of peace settled over me. We were together, for good or bad, we would ride the storms coming our way. And when it was all said and done, we’d be together.

“I’m counting on it.”

Coming August 2014 …
A Rylee Adamson Novel #8

Authors note

Thanks for reading “Guardian: A Rylee Adamson Novella” I truly hope you enjoyed the continuation of Rylee’s story, her friends, and the world I’ve created for them. If you loved this book, one of the best things you can do is leave a review for it. Amazon.com is where I sell the majority of my work, so if I can only ask for one place for reviews that would be it. Again, thank you for coming on this ride with me, I hope we’ll take many more together. The rest of The Rylee Adamson series, along with my other novels, are available in both ebook and paperback format from Amazon.

Enjoy!

Shannon Mayer’s Amazon Author Page:
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About the Author

Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, dog, cats, horse, and cows. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.

She is the author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and two contemporary romances. Please visit her website for more information on her novels.

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Shannon Mayer’s Amazon Author Page:
http://amzn.to/19vLaCg