The Prophecies (The Sentinel Series Book 2) (25 page)

The next few minutes passed in a hazy blur. I don’t remember much of what the man said at the start of the ceremony about joining us in matrimony, though I tried to focus on it, all I kept thinking was this beautiful man was going to be my husband.

‘Baby?’ Seth squeezed my hand gently.

‘Mmmm?’

Seth smiled. ‘This is the part where you have to say something.’

I blinked and looked at the man, who I realised was waiting for me. Damn it, I really should be paying more attention.

I echoed the registrar’s words back to him. ‘I, Eve Jones, take you, Seth Hamilton to be my husband. I give to you my pledge to stay by your side as your wife in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad, and to love and honour you for as long as we both shall live.’

Seth grinned and then it was his turn, repeating the same vows that I had just said.

I beamed but Seth pressed on. ‘I further promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, protect you from harm…’ I narrowed my eyes at this. ‘…encourage you to achieve your destiny, laugh with you and cry with you, grow old with you, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.’

And then he was slipping the ring on my finger, my heart pounding in my ears, and he was kissing me. I was so glad his arms were so tightly around me, or I’d have been a heap on the floor. And that was it, husband and wife, till death do us part.

Seth had to guide me forward to sign the marriage certificates, as my legs wouldn’t work properly and I realised my face was aching from smiling so much. Gabriella congratulated us and then as the registrar turned to leave he said something which burst my bubble of happiness, not dramatically, just enough to bring me back down to earth.

‘That’s an interesting birthmark you’ve got there,’ said the registrar and I felt Seth stiffen at my side. ‘It looks like a pair of wings.’

‘
Shield yourself,’
Seth hissed in my head.

I did one better than that, I shielded us both.

‘I’ve always thought it looks like a pair of feet,’ Seth laughed, the smile not quite meeting his eyes.

The man laughed and then walked away. Seth watched him go, and the photographer continued to snap around us, until Seth’s cold glare made him stop and hurry away.

And then we were all alone on the beach and Seth returned his eyes to me, his wary angriness quickly being replaced by love and warmth.

‘So Mrs Hamilton, are you ready to go home now?’

The registrar had unnerved him, I could see that. But I wasn’t ready for my special day to be over yet.

I leaned my head against his chest, listening to his heart and I couldn’t help smiling, he had given it to me now, it was mine to keep forever.

Far out in the sea, was a black shadow, swaying in the gentle breeze, and I remembered, from my holiday here a few years before, that it was a tiny sand bank, an uninhabited island with a few palm trees. The island was probably the same size as my bedroom back in the fort. It was so far out, and due to the complete lack of facilities, people rarely went there. It would certainly be deserted at this time of night.

Holding onto Seth tightly, I slid there. We landed on the soft sand, in complete darkness, the tiny lights of the shore glinting at us in the distance.

‘Eve?’ Seth said, quietly.

I leant up to kiss him. ‘I’m not ready to go home yet.’

He swallowed nervously; his hands trembled as he put them round my waist. ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’

My heart swelled with love for him. ‘You won’t.’

I lay down on the warm sand looking up at the black sky peppered with a thousand stars, above me. The scarlet sun had now been replaced by a snow white moon, glinting over the waves. After a moment, Seth lay down next to me, kissing my shoulder, softly.

I wrapped my arms round him and he pulled me tightly to him.

‘Can I show you how much I love you,’ Seth said, quietly, his hands tightening round my waist.

I smiled in the darkness. ‘I thought you’d never ask.’

And he showed me, tenderly, softly, beautifully, as the moonlit waves lapped gently onto the shore.

I woke the next morning as the first slice of gold lanced through the darkness of the night. We had to get back; my Guardians would be worried by now. Seth was snoring softly, by my side. I pulled my dress back on and paddled out into the cool water, the rosy glow of the morning lighting the waves.

I closed my eyes, feeling the warm heat of the sun on my face. Strong arms were suddenly around my waist, as Seth kissed the back of my neck. I turned round in his arms and kissed his bare chest. The night before had been one of the most incredible, beautiful experiences of my life and I didn’t want to break the magic between us but we had to go home.

‘We should go,’ I said, quietly, against his chest. ‘My personal guard will be wondering where we are.’

‘Yeah Lucas is having a bit of a hard time lying to Eli about our whereabouts.’

‘Come on then, they worry about me enough as it is, I don’t need to make it any worse.’

Seth kissed my forehead. ‘We could stay here for a few days, have a proper honeymoon.’

‘Eli would never go for that. I’m sure if he knows I’m missing from the fort now, he’ll be pacing the corridor, turning slowly grey with worry. A few days, Guardian free, would really upset him.’ And Eli was right; with the sheer number of people wanting me dead it was just too risky, for me and for Seth.

Seth nodded and then, grabbing his shirt from the beach, he pulled it on and came back to me. ‘Well we can still do one traditional thing.’ He picked me up and swung me up into his arms. ‘I can still carry you over the threshold, even though technically we’ll be sliding over the threshold.’

I giggled as I wrapped my arms round his neck, closed my eyes and slid us both back to our bedroom. The sun was just setting over the fort. It was strange to think that only this morning we had been here as boyfriend and girlfriend and now we were returning twelve hours later as husband and wife.

I pulled my dress off and hung it in the wardrobe, it was beautiful. It was a real shame that my training and saving the world didn’t require me to wear such beautiful clothes. I pulled on jeans and a hoodie, just as there was a knock on the door. I went to answer it, and Quinn was standing there.

‘Hey, where have you been?’ Quinn grinned at me as he came in. ‘I came to get you for our run this morning but you were already gone. Lucas said you’d gone for a walk but you’ve been gone ages, you guys ok?’

Seth nodded, smiling hugely. ‘More than ok, Quinn, you’ll never guess what we did today.’

And my heart leapt with such guilt. I was the only family that Quinn had. The one thing that his Mum, my Mum wanted was to be around to watch me grow up and get married. She’d never had that as she had died not long after my first birthday and now I had denied Quinn that chance as well. My complete selfishness had meant I only had eyes for Seth. I hadn’t thought about Quinn, hadn’t thought how disappointed he would feel that he hadn’t been there to watch me getting married. And Persia, my best friend, I’d denied her the opportunity too. They would both be so hurt. Instantly, I knew I couldn’t tell them what we had done. I hastily pulled my wedding ring off and saw the disappointment flood through Seth’s face. He had been about to shout from the rooftops that we were married and here I was denying all knowledge of it.

But I had an idea, maybe not the best idea, considering the speed that I’d just come up with it, but it was all I had. ‘Seth proposed to me,’ I blurted out, before Seth could say anything different.

Quinn turned back to me with confusion. Of course he had been involved in the other proposal in the woods, although he must have known that one didn’t end successfully. I pressed on with my lies.

‘Seth wanted to do it again, this time where we couldn’t possibly get interrupted. ‘We went to Mexico so Seth could propose on the beach, and we’re getting married tomorrow here in the chapel,’ I gabled on.

‘Really? That’s so cool Eve, I’m so happy for you,’ Quinn grabbed me into a big bear hug, and swung me around. I caught sight of Seth’s surprised and confused face over Quinn’s shoulder. Quinn turned back to Seth and hugged him tightly too. ‘We’re going to be brother-in-laws.’

Seth suppressed a smile. ‘Do you know, it kind of feels like we are already.’

Quinn laughed. ‘Yeah it does feel like that doesn’t it?’ He turned back to me. ‘What time tomorrow?’

‘Six o-clock.’ It was the first time that came to my head.

‘Yeah six o-clock sounds like a good time to get married,’ Seth said, dryly.

‘And I’ve already bought the dress; I found it in a shop in Mexico. But Seth hasn’t seen it yet, we’re saving that for tomorrow.’

Quinn grinned hugely. ‘I’m so excited, I’ll go and speak to the chaplain, get it all sorted for you and I’ll get some champagne for afterwards.’ He quickly left mumbling about arrangements and plans.

I turned back to Seth cautiously; he looked at me, arching an eyebrow. ‘We’re getting married….again.’

I went up to hug him. ‘I’m sorry Seth. I couldn’t tell him we had got married; it would have hurt him so much. I should have brought him with us.’

‘I’m kind of glad you didn’t bring him. It would have made what we did on that island last night a bit tricky if Quinn was standing nearby,’ Seth mumbled, kissing my neck.

I giggled. ‘You’re not mad?’

‘I could marry you every day for the rest of our lives and I would never tire of it, never tire of seeing you in that dress, never tire of listening to you say, ‘I do’, never tire of … afterwards.’ He kissed my shoulder. ‘If you want to get married again tomorrow, I’m all for it baby.’

Just then the bedroom door burst open and as I pulled away from Seth I only had time to register a mass of red curly hair, and a squeal so high pitched that probably only dogs could hear it, before I was knocked to the floor, with Persia’s arms tightly round my neck.

I giggled as I prised Persia’s arms from my throat so I could breathe. ‘I take it you’ve heard?’

‘You’re getting married tomorrow. That’s so brilliant, I’m so happy Eve, I could cry,’ she scrabbled off me and my heart ached for her that she could be so happy for me so soon after her sister’s death.

‘Of course, you must be bridesmaid, though I don’t have a dress for you. We could go shopping tomorrow, I could slide us to a shopping centre or something,’ I muttered. Girly dress shopping really wasn’t my thing, especially as I’d have to take my Guardians with me.

Persia squealed again. I thought my ear drums might actually burst if I had to hear it again.

‘I must go and tell Lucas,’ she said and ran out the room.

I turned back to Seth who was sitting on the end of the bed, grinning at me. I went to sit on his lap.

‘Nothing is ever simple is it?’

‘Not with you, no.’

I woke later that night, hot and sweaty again. It couldn’t be nerves. I’d already married Seth once, I couldn’t possibly be nervous about marrying him again. I wasn’t even nervous the first time. My stomach was hurting again.

Seth’s arms were wrapped tightly around me as he snored softly by my side. His heat was burning me.

I extricated myself from Seth’s arms and padded into the dark bathroom. I didn’t even bother to switch the light on; it would only wake Seth if I did. The cool tile floor under my bare feet made me feel instantly better, so I lay down on them. Sweat seemed to be dripping from every part of my body. My skin felt sore, kind of raw, like I had been badly sunburnt. The coolness of the tiles soothed my burning skin and I soon drifted off to sleep again.

When I finally woke properly, I was back in my bed. The sun high in the sky indicated that I had slept well into the day again.

I tutted. ‘What’s wrong with me, I’m sleeping so much lately.’

‘You’ve had a busy few days. You were so hot last night you had me worried there for a while. When I found you in the bathroom last night, I thought you’d passed out, but then I heard the snoring.’

I giggled. ‘I don’t snore.’

‘Yeah, it sounded like a marble stuck in the vacuum cleaner.’ Seth proceeded to do a very convincing impression of a heavy snorer.

I giggled into the side of his neck. ‘How attractive, you must be the luckiest man alive to end up with such a beautiful catch.’

‘Yes, I count my blessings every day,’ he said, dryly.

I poked him hard in the ribs. Seth chuckled.

‘Are you still hot now?’ Seth asked, pressing his hand gently onto my forehead

I was but not as bad as I had been before, the sunburnt feeling had passed. ‘A little.’

‘Yeah, you do feel hot. Do you want me to go and get Cassidy?’

‘No I’m fine,’ I lied. Married and still lying.

‘You were hot like this before the wedding, but I just thought it was last minute nerves.’

‘I was never nervous about marrying you, it was the one thing in my life that I was so sure about.’

Seth rolled over kissing my shoulder and taking me in his arms.

I’d obviously caught some bug, something that was making me hot and dizzy, something that was making my innards quiver and tremble, as if they were moving inside of me.

Seth kissed my neck, then my collar bone and I quickly caught up to his mood. For a while, I forgot how rotten I felt and tried to enjoy the intimacy that I had experienced with Seth ever since we had got married. But something was different this time. Though he was normally always tender and gentle, wherever his hands touched me or held me, now it seemed that he was pressing his fingers hard into my skin. I looked down at one point at his hand on my arm, wondering why he was holding me so tight, but he was just stroking me softly, hardly touching me at all, but the pain felt like he was crushing my arm in his strong hand. In fact, everywhere our bodies touched, seemed to be causing me pain, as if my body was unbearably melting around his. But I couldn’t tell him how much he was hurting me. Remembering the agony he had been in when he had inadvertently beaten me up, I couldn’t recreate that agony now, not as he was softly kissing me, his hot lips burning mine, painfully. I pushed the pain to the back of my head, I was getting good at that lately, and kissed him back.