Bride of Alvar (Redemption Saga, Book 1)

Chapter 35

After the last citizen leaves Underland, a knot of dread forms in my gut that I can't shake.

This is it.

Now we stand on his balcony, watching as the gates of Underland close for possibly the last time.

"You should leave too," Alvar states somberly. "I will not have you die because of me. I love you."

"I can't leave," I say, turning to him, my eyes wide and pulse wild.

I don't want to leave you. Not now. Not ever.

"Lucy, we are no closer in knowing what to do when Saul comes back, at this point I think it's safe to say you shouldn't stay with me," Alvar says, his gaze turns away from mine.

"Come here," I tell him, my voice dropping low. I fight my tears, extending my arms out to Alvar.

He doesn't wait for further invitation. Swooping me into his grasp, he holds onto me tightly.

Our love is real and within our reach, but all we have left is this fleeting time left to savor it.

I remove his shirt as he removes the ties from my dress. With the last light of the sunset kissing our naked skin we entangle into each other's embrace on his balcony. I trail my fingers over the scar on his face tenderly, intending to memorize every edge and plane of his body.

I'm determined to never forget the moments I've had with him.

His heart beat beneath his broad, muscled chest pounds in rhythm with mine.

I don't want this to stop. Together we are stronger. I believe in us.

We make love till the moons are high in the sky, their sleepy glow covering the balcony.

I fall asleep, praying for an answer, nestled against my husband's chest.

*

My eyes flutter open, I remember vividly the night before and I stretch, groaning in appreciation at the reminder of the way Alvar had taken and shattered me.

I squint into bright sunlight, but I feel off. Something is different.

"Lucy! Lucy!"

Huh? That voice... it's familiar. A voice from another life, another world.

"Lucy! Oh thank God!"

Hands are touching me, pulling me from my bed in an embrace, but not the embrace of Alvar, not the same muscular chest and fervent intensity I've come to crave. This person is less firm to the touch, he's treating me as if I were a flower that could be broken.

"I thought I'd never see you again! Oh, Lucy," this person is almost crying. "What happened, where have you been?"

My eyes focus and I see the distressed face of Mike staring down at me.

Mike?

"Mike!" I cry out. My eyes wide, and I not to myself that I probably appear more upset to see him than I should. "Where's Alvar?"

"You're back," Mike says with teary eyes, and holds me so tightly I wonder if I'll suffocate.

"Mike, where's Alvar?" My own eyes are filling with tears. I can't believe it. He's thrown me back to Earth. He's put me back on Earth.

"Who is Alvar?" Mike blinks and won't let me go.

No. No. No. NO! My mind screams in a tantrum of fear, rage, and hurt.

"What happened, where am I?" I ask Mike directly, gripping him by his upper arms.

"I found you in my home," Mike says, "You were lying on the bed when I got back from work. Where have you been, Lucy?"

"What do you mean?" I feel violated, I had't had a choice. "How could he do this to me?"

To protect you, an inner voice whispers gloomily. You know this is the best way to ensure nothing happens to you.

"Lucy, I don't understand, you've been gone for months. We all thought you were kidnapped and being held captive by some pervert or dead even. I mean... you don't know all the things that have been going through my mind..." Mike shakes his head. "We got a letter saying you'd gone to Underlund and to not look for you. We thought it was some cruel letter sent by the sadistic bastard who took you."

A pang of guilt hits me hard, but my frightened and frustrated mind can't possibly process it. Still, "I'm sorry, Mike, but I'm not sure how to explain this."

"Take your time," Mike soothes.

"I wasn't kidnapped." Well, not really.

Mike stiffens, his body tense against mine. "So you ran away? Why would you leave me like that? Without an explanation or a goodbye?"

"I don't know how to explain it," I say, I don't have time to feel bad for him when my husband's entire world is at risk.

"You said that already," Mike states and he practically drops me. "What is this, some kind of sick joke? Don't you understand I've looked for you everywhere, made every inquiring, never gave up and now you're telling me you weren't kidnapped?"

This is too much. It's too much. I burst into sobs, I can't control myself. "Just go away, Mike, please, just go away and leave me alone. I'm sorry, but you'd never believe me if I told you!"

"What do you mean, Lucy?" Mike won't stop persisting.

By now, I'm sure, Alvar is at the mercy of Saul, and all I can do is try to comfort my faithful fiancé who searched for me tirelessly while I went and married someone else. Do I feel terrible about this fact? Yes, any decent human being would I imagine. But my mind isn't on Earth anymore, I belong in Axus and I will return to save Alvar and all of Axus or die trying.