by A. K. Koonce
Because we’re going to jump soon.
My mouth goes dry and my eyes dart back up to his for reassurance. The sun illuminates us, shining brightly over us, his skin appearing paler against the light. My heart thrums against my chest, making me aware of its existence as it pounds loudly in my ears. I never really gave my heart much thought before I met him, but now it’s like I’m alive just for him. He makes me aware of my own beating heart when I took it for granted every day of my life before him.
A smile passes from my mother to Jim as he fades the melody away, strumming the last few notes into the whipping wind. Tears run down Shae’s face already. It’s sweet but I can’t help but wonder how lovely she’ll find the ceremony when they start the rituals.
“Thank you all for joining us today,” my mother says, a melancholy smile filling her delicate features. Her hair is pulled up high on her head, a white formal flowing dress falls to her ankles, a color that I can’t remember her ever wearing before. Her voice is calm and endearing all at once and rattles my heart with thick, pent up emotions.
“We are all here this evening for the same cause. Because love found two people when they couldn’t even find themselves.” She pauses looking at us with more emotion in her eyes than I’ve ever seen.
“Love is the strongest emotion, stronger than man himself, stronger than envy, even stronger than hate. And that’s the reason it has the ability to bring conflict and anger halting. It has the ability to tread over race and diversity and distance.” She preaches to them—to us. Though she doesn’t need to. Anyone who has ever felt love, really felt it, knows it’s a conquering emotion. “The man and woman before us are an example of love. The two together symbolize an emotion so few of us are lucky to ever find and feel and experience.”
The witch’s voice cracks for just an instant and I’m firmly reminded she isn’t my mother. But I get the feeling she, too, felt love rip away from her just as my mother had.
Asher’s thumb brushes over my knuckles as he smiles down at me, he leans in, bringing his forehead to rest on mine, my eyes close gently. Our hands linger between us as we listen to the witch’s smooth voice drift through our minds.
“The Gods created man but they didn’t stop there. They blessed the fae and cursed the creatures of the night, oppressed the mortals and then the mystics. But what they didn’t expect was the beautiful creation the vampires and mortals created themselves.” I lift my lashes slowly to see Asher’s face, his strong features set in hard lines, his eyes closed tightly as he listens to my mother’s words. “They are unnatural, yes. But they are human, their hearts beat just as ours do. Asher’s beats for Fallon’s, just as her heart does for his. What the world doesn’t acknowledge though, is that not everything beautiful is intentionally made and not everything intentionally made is beautiful.”
Asher smirks at her words, his eyes lifting to meet mine. He traces my features, my mouth, with his eyes.
“We gather here as a group of people supporting the love that is this marriage, this union. Not between a mortal and a mystic but of two lives becoming one…” I lift my head glancing at my mother, who smiles knowingly back at me. “Kaino, if we could have the bondings please.”
I watch quietly, my eyes scanning their movements as my heart makes itself known again. For a different reason though. The ritual is starting. I swallow hard, trying to force away the fear that is clawing at my dry throat.
Kaino joins the three of us at the cliff’s edge, a thin twisting rope is held in one gloved hand. The witch takes mine and Asher’s hands, lacing our fingers together before lowering our joined hands at our side. We stand side by side holding hands. It’s a natural gesture but it now feels frightening and weighted. My nerves hum through my body as I wait to see what will happen next.
She takes the long rope in her bare hands. Her fingertips smoke lightly and a sizzling sound is heard. My eyes dart to her quickly but she doesn’t expose any emotion. She holds a calm and blank stare.
As she leans into us, between our joined hands, the rope held between the three of us, she whispers something. Her voice is low and barely audible.
“This is going to hurt. It had to be infused with magic as well as the dust of the Red Hills to mark him.”
Asher’s head turns hurriedly to me, his lips parted in shock but he says nothing. My spine stiffens at her words but I keep my composure as best I can.
My mother starts to chant a string of fast, rhythmic words that I don’t understand as she laces the rope around our forearms, wrapping around us, tying us together, before crisscrossing the rope slowly down our arms. It burns like fire on contact and I wince, breathing hard through my teeth but no sound escapes my mouth.
La tull, La sol, es unte. Wil te rhoesa, wah unte.
La tull, la sol, es unte. Wil te rhoesa, wah unte.
La tull, la sol, es unte. Wil te rhoesa, wah unte.
Her words flow gently through my mind but don’t hold any meaning. I don’t know how many times she chants, how many times she crosses the flesh searing rope against our arms. My eyes clench tightly closed, and I breathe shakily through my nose.
I feel her at our wrists now, she unclasps our hands until our palms are flat against each other’s palms before tying the rope around the back of our hands. I feel her knotting it there. My wrist hurts so bad I’m sure the flesh is gone entirely but I don’t look.
She pulls our tied arms closer, my feet stumble against the smooth ground but Asher pulls at my waist, facing me to him. I open my eyes to him, we face each other, one step away from the edge of the cliff.
Our bonded hands fume white smoke between us, his face is stern but composed, like the pain isn’t there at all.
“Breathe, Fallon. It’s almost over,” he whispers into my hair as he presses a slow kiss to my temple.
I do as he says and focus on my unsteady breaths.
“The two of you are now eternally bound.”
I chance a glance toward Luca who nods for me to finish the ritual.
To jump.
My eyes dart nervously to the crowd who waits for me to plummet to my death with happy smiles on their faces.
“You know I’d never let you jump, Fallon,” he says pulling me against his strong chest.
“You wouldn’t?” I ask, hope fluttering through the thick cloud of panic in my lungs.
“Of course not,” he says pressing his lips softly to mine, washing away all the fear in my mind. I meld into him, the pain in my arm barely surfacing with his mouth against mine. “I’d never put that much pressure on you,” he says, his breath fanning over my parted lips.
His words are said strangely and confusion joins my overcrowded emotions.
But only for a moment.
He pulls me even closer to his body, wrapping his free arm tightly around my hip, my hand grips his shoulder out of reflex. My nails sink into his shirt as he leaps over the edge of the world.
The wind tears at our bodies and clothes, wrapping the layers of my dress around my legs as we fall toward the reaching waves below. I feel it the moment we leave the shielding magic that surrounds the Wanderer’s world, like a bubble reluctantly popping all around us.
I clench my eyes closed and hide my head in his chest.
What if we’re not a true match? Or worse, what if we are but I flounder in the water until I pull us both down to the dark ocean floor.
Our bodies hit the water hard, knocking the thoughts from my mind and the breath from my lungs, leaving me no further time to dwell on my fears.
The water’s cool and is a relief to my throbbing arm, which now moves freely at my side, unbound as if the salt water dissolved the rope. Instinctively I cling to Asher. But it occurs to me I really will just drag him down. I unclench my fists from his shirt, my arms and legs fling rapidly through the heavy water. I push panic into each movement of my thrashing limbs. I am alone, drifting through the open ocean. An offering to the water fae in hopes that they won’t kill me before I kill mys
elf with my inability to find the surface.
I keep my eyes closed tightly, the pressure of my lungs press against the walls of my chest as I fight to find oxygen again.
Something brushes my leg, clasping around my ankle. I scream, a muted and diluted sound of my fear. My legs kick strongly, trying to get away as I suck in small amounts of water in my irrational attempt to flee. The salt burns my nose and lungs and I almost want to cry, just add my pain and salt to the water that has taken me in as one of its own.
My body goes still, my mind wonders how I even got here.
I proposed to Asher. I proposed a life of love and freedom and commitment but I found death instead.
Would I reach the deep ocean floor before death settles in? I hope not. I hope whatever has its hold on me takes me away and devours me quickly.
My mind feels heavy and tired.
Just as my limbs relax around me, a strong, hard body pulls me against them. My head settles against their chest.
Asher.
The sound of his heart pounds wildly beneath me.
Luca was right.
He’d never let me fall.
Chapter Twenty
Something Almost Normal
The fire that was in my arm just moments ago has shifted to my lungs as I cough up salty water and choke for air. Asher lies me against the smooth, warm rocks of the shore, the waves drift in like a blanket over my toes and ankles. My hands clutch my throat as I lie coughing and shuddering for air that is slowly making its way into my pained lungs.
A seagull sits a few feet away tilting its head to the side, trying to understand why the human girl can’t succeed with the basic task of breathing.
As I sit up, Asher kneels at my side, his hand resting flat against my spine, rubbing short circles between my shoulder blades. The tattered pieces of my dress cling around my ankles…probably what I thought was attacking me in the ocean…
He’s entirely unaffected, like our cliff diving experience was just light exercise to him. His wet hair sticks to his forehead, brushing his eyebrows that are set in concern. Water clings to his long lashes as he watches me, waiting like the seagull for the human girl to catch her breath.
In a light zig zag pattern, he runs his finger down my arm. Water droplets cling to my flesh, my eyes trail his movement against my skin where he traces against stark black lines. A thin rope design is etched into my skin, crisscrossing down my forearm and wrapping around my wrist and the back of my hand.
I trace the lines as well, trailing behind his finger. A matching brand mars his forearm with the same intricate black lines. My heart warms and flutters at the sight of his branding next to mine. It’s pretty in a strange way. Meaningful and touching. A memory I will never forget, nor will the lines embedded into my flesh allow me to.
“Are you okay?”
His voice is quiet. The world around us is alive and loud and we’re just here, dropped into it, keeping to ourselves the best we can to not disturb the sound of the crashing waves or the squawking birds or the rushing wind. The sun set sometime between leaping from the cliff and nearly dying beneath the waves but the sky is on fire with an ethereal orange and pink glow, highlighting the heavens around us.
“Yes,” I say, my breathing as normal as my tight bodice will allow.
His hand, lined in black, brushes my wet matted hair from my face. His thumb trails my jaw as he watches me in silence for a few minutes. “You let go,” he says, a statement filled with thought and concern. “Months ago, I was afraid I’d never find you again and I had that same fear just now. I’ll never let you go, Fallon, but that means nothing if you won’t hang on.”
“I-” I pause as guilt shakes into my chest. A chill runs down my spine and I fold my arms over my chest to keep some warmth in me. “I didn’t want to drag you down. I don’t want to drag you down, Asher. I’m not as strong as you are, I’m human.”
His brows pull together as he tilts his head to meet my downcast eyes. “I’m human, too… Partly. I’m definitely not perfect and I am very much aware that you are not perfect, either.”
“Thanks,” I say sarcastically.
He laughs, his fingers digging into my thick hair as he tilts my head up. His beautiful eyes bore into mine. “I meant that we have flaws. I know you have flaws, but they are my own now. You are a part of me.” He glances at his inky arm. “I wouldn’t have dove into that water with you if I didn’t think I couldn’t take care of you. I’ll always take care of you, Fallon. But you have to let me. We’re a team, remember?”
I shudder at his words and the cool wind. He wants to take care of me.
“I’m sorry,” I say, looking away, keeping my focus on the flat gray rocks.
“Don’t be sorry.” He pulls my body into his side. “We should go before we both freeze out here.”
“Go where?” I ask glancing back up at the intimidating cliff high above us.
The jagged bluff is painted in a swirl of ominous black, white and red colors. The lines bend and arch together making a symbol of an eye. Its pupil is red but streaks of white burst from the center, seemingly seeing all. It’s eerie and unsettling. A chill traces like a spider down my spine.
“It’s The Eye of the Ocean.” Asher’s explanation doesn’t seem to settle my nerves. “Some say it’s a symbol of the watchful Capitol just across these waters. Some say it’s a symbol of the hidden community of mystics.”
“What do you think it is?”
A pause settles between us before he glances up at the ominous painting.
“Perhaps it’s just a reminder that there’s a higher power watching over us.”
For whatever reason his description of The Eye of the Ocean sends a shiver across my flesh and my attention lingers on the strange image for several moments.
Taking my hand in his, Asher leads me up the rocky shore, the smooth stones warming my careful steps. He pulls me closer to his side, his previously pressed button-up is now sopping wet and clings to his skin, emphasizing the lines of muscle beneath. I pause as we stand at the bottom of a smoothly carved lane that trails up the side of the cliff, right next to the tumbling ocean.
“Has this always been here?” My feet pad quietly against the flawless granite as he leads me up the strange path.
“I made it last night.” He glances down at me as I raise my brows at him. “I wanted to make you a present for our wedding day. I stayed up all night.”
“Why?” I can’t help the smile that pulls at my lips.
Several hundred feet in the air we stop just outside a… house carved into the cliff. Two shiny windows look out at the ocean and a single stone hinged door is outlined in the center.
“Because I wanted something almost normal for us. I wanted to make a home for you, Fallon.”
My heart’s gone. I know it’s gone because it’s melted in my chest. I part my lips with a breath of air that’s clouding my lungs as I stare up at his sweet gray eyes.
Pulling me against his side once more he opens the door to our home.
I’ve never had a home before…
I follow close behind him into a single room. Our single room that my amazing husband built for me with his bare hands on the night before our wedding. My body feels crowded with emotions, bursting with happiness and sentiments.
Strands of my messy hair cling to my face as I take in the dimly lit room. A dainty table with two wooden chairs fills the majority of the space, what appears to be a sink divots the counter on the right side and a bed barely big enough for just Asher fills the left side.
It’s small and rough around the edges but it’s mine. It’s ours. Asher made us a home, something I never even thought I wanted until this moment.
I bury my face in his wet chest, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist as I take a shaky breath.
“Do you like it?” he asks against my hair, sweeping his arms around me as hesitation and worry tread his voice.
I nod, not looking up at him as tears threaten my eyes
. Asher loves me, he wants to take care of me, and he built me a house. The life I had, the future my government promised me, it wasn’t this. It wasn’t even close to the heart-pounding happiness that fills me now. How did I ever think I’d be content in that life?
“Are you okay?” he asks in a soothing voice, running his hand up and down my spine.
“I love you, Asher,” I say, his chest muffling my voice.
His hands halt against my body, his muscles strung tight against me. I take a deep breath, knowing it’s the first time I’ve said it to him and remembering how he ran away after saying it to me. I raise my head and look him in the eye, needing to know how he feels.
The arrogant and easy demeanor he normally possesses isn’t anywhere to be seen. He takes heavy breaths as he studies my face.
Is he still worried he’ll ruin my life?
Angling his head low he lingers above me. “I love you, too,” he says, his breath fanning my lips just before he presses a kiss hard against my mouth.
A kiss like I’ve never felt before passes between us, a feeling of urgency fills my nerves as our bodies rush to close the space between us. I fist his drenched shirt in my hands, wrinkling it even more. His palms travel low against my back, past my waist, cupping me to him before grasping the underside of my legs, my damp dress tangling in his fingers as he lifts me from the ground. My thighs lock around his trim waist instantly, finding alluring warmth everywhere our bodies touch.
With fluid composure he carries me to our bed, skewing the neatly made blankets as he pushes me up the mattress with just his hips. He holds his weight above me on his forearm as his other hand runs down my side sending shivers over my cold body and grips my hip.
My heart pounds faster with every flick of his tongue and I find myself rubbing against his lean hips to release the energy that’s building low in my stomach.
A groan passes over Asher’s soft lips, an encouraging sound that has me rocking my hips harder against his, my breaths faltering with every torturous move he makes.
