Page 246 of Nobody's Girl

Strength fills my bird body as I glide through the air. Eden flies up high and I follow him over the tall treetops. We’re going back to the mansion.

Kyle has been taken there and he waits with Galchobar for our return. A brief ceremony to cement his commitment to me will be held. No one will attend. This is between Eden, me, and Kyle. Galchobar will officiate.

Guess The Creator is telling the old guy what to say. This is a new deal for the Phoenixes.

‘Yes, it is. Thanks to my stubbornness,’ Eden sends to me.

‘This is not your fault, Eden. Please stop blaming yourself. It was meant to be. Can’t you look at it like that? Our Creator makes no mistakes,’ I send back.

His sleek bird head looks back at me and he winks his large emerald eye. ‘You are right, my princess.’

I’m right! Wow! Marriage ain’t so bad! And my man makes a handsome bird.

‘You’re quite beautiful yourself, precious,’ Eden sends.

I feel as if I’m blushing with his compliment. Can birds blush?

The mansion is lit up. We can see it from a mile away. This night has lasted forever. I swear we’re in a time warp. Never has a night lasted so long.

As we approach the backyard, it becomes pretty obvious why it’s as large as a football field. We require a bit of room to land. ‘If I trip and fall all over myself, you better not laugh at me, Eden.’

His chuckle fills my head as he thinks about how funny that would look.

Okay, the scene does look funny I have to admit, but I’d rather not be the comic relief this evening.

‘Make sure you stay in bird form until you stop, or I’m quite sure you’ll take a tumble if your human legs try to keep up at the fast pace of our bird legs,’ he sends to me, along with a mental picture which frightens me.

So much to think about!

As we descend, my bird feet hit the ground running. I hold my wings out some to use the wind to slow my large body. My weight as the large bird is a burden I’m not used to, and I lean forward, threatening to take a nosedive into the lush lawn.

‘Raise your head, Princess.’

I do as Eden says, finding myself balanced and slowing. Once I stop completely, I picture myself as a human again.

In an instant, the weight of my body changes. My hands rub my arms, which are tired. Involuntarily, I run my hands all over my body to make sure I really am the same girl with all the same parts.

I hear Eden giggling as he runs up behind me, picking me up and tossing me into the air. His strong arms catch me as I come down.

“That was exhilarating, don’t you agree?” he asks me.

“I do,” I say, and he laughs.

Still holding me off the ground, he presses his body to mine. My legs wrap around his waist and my arms do the same to his neck as he walks with me.

“Thank you for saying those words so many times when I know it was hard for you a few times during our vows. I swear to you I will always treat you as the equal I consider you to be,” he tells me as he looks into my eyes.

Even if I wasn’t able to get in his head, his eyes would tell me he was telling the truth. I don’t know why I was ever afraid.

“You weren’t afraid, Princess. You were pissed. As well you should have been. We’ll get that changed straight away. I’ll not have our successors be subjected to such an outdated thing,” he says, then stops walking. “We’re here, if you care to stand on your own. It’s a bit awkward having Galchobar see us this way, don’t you think?”

I look back and see the old man and Kyle sitting by the swimming pool. ‘Damn, Ally, really?’ Kyle thinks to me.

Thankfully, there seems to be a privacy screen between the telepathy Kyle and I share and the telepathy Eden and I share, or I’m quite positive the two would never get along.

I glance at Kyle and send him, ‘You should see the things I’ve had to see about you and Laura in your very dirty mind, Kyle.’

He blushes and looks away. I smile up at my new husband and unwrap my legs from his waist. “I love you,” I tell him.