Page 51 of Rekindled Prophecy

Matthew cleared his throat to gain their attention, ripping her out of her reverie. She turned towards him knowing her face was as red as a cherry tomato.

A big grin plastered itself on his face as he said, “Sorry to interrupt, but I thought you’d want to know that the email came in with Greylyn’s certificate so the wedding can continue. Kelly requested a half hour to finish re-doing her hair for the fifteenth time. She’s upstairs arguing with her mother about whether it should be up or down, curled or straight.” He threw his hands up in the air. “I gave up trying to intervene in that battle. But as soon as my bride’s hair is in place, then we are all set for the main event!”

His apparent joy showed itself as his aura radiated pink and yellow for love and happiness. It was hard not to share in his enthusiasm. It certainly was a welcome diversion from the fiery incalescence that racked her small frame, originating from where her small, slender hands were still trapped between Kael’s larger, sinewy ones. Looking down, she noticed the dramatic contrast in their skin tones. Her seamless ivory versus his golden tan color, but somehow, they just looked right together.

Laughing, Greylyn extracted her hand from Kael’s grasp and gave Matthew a tight salute. “Ready to report for duty, sir. Give me a second to gather up my materials and refresh my memory on the order of things. It has been a while since my last wedding, and I certainly don’t want to screw this up. Please excuse me.”

With that, she hurriedly walked back into her room via the patio French doors. Their dress shoes crunched on the pebbled path. Each step Kael took away eased her frazzled mind and body. Peeking out the window, Greylyn saw him turn around slightly for one last look back at the Carriage House.

The salacious devil had the audacity to wink.

Chapter 21

Wedding Crasher

Greylyn searched her worn leather-bound bible for the appropriate wedding passages, but her head jerked up at the sound of tires crunching on the long gravel driveway along with the distinct roar of a high-performance sports car. All the guests were present and accounted for. But a familiar twinge at the back of her mind let her know exactly who had arrived.

Oh no, he could ruin everything!

She raced to the window in time to see an incredibly tall, well-dressed man slam the door of a shiny black Mercedes coupe. His jet-black hair matched the car and shimmered like silk despite there being no sun to cast light on it. His all-too-familiar voice rang out crystal clear, with just the slightest French accent, as he addressed the group gathered in the gazebo.

“Good day! I’m so sorry to interrupt what looks to be quite a party, but could someone point me in the direction of a gorgeous little brunette that goes by the name of Greylyn?”

His usual husky baritone made anything he said sound sultry and alluring. In addition to Jasper Moreau’s exotic good looks and dazzlingly perfect smile, he could easily undress a room of women with just his voice. It draped over you like a mink coat on a cold winter’s day, like a warm caress of a Caribbean breeze. If the ice-blue eyes set in his dark, handsome face did not leave women panting, just a few words from his angelic lips worked their own black magic. She could not help but grin at the collective feminine gasp from the gazebo.

Although he had often tried to use his wiles on her, she had always insisted they keep things platonic. Not that she had not been tempted. After all, 450 years was a long time to be alone. But it just had never seemed right somehow. Besides, she knew how desperately she depended on him. Romance would only complicate things.

On any other occasion, she would have run out to him and flung her arms around him in relief. He was her best friend. The one person who knew all her secrets…well, almost all.

But this time was the exception. His presence could do more harm than good. Aside from spoiling the façade of a blooming relationship between herself and Kael, the contentious history between Jasper and Kael…well, they could never be accused of playing well together.

Jasper despised Kael even more than she did, or at least more than she thought she had before this weekend. Although not fully aware of their history before she met the dark guardian, she knew Kael was at the top of Jasper’s Most Hated List. It was also clear, that the feeling was mutual. Keeping these two hotheaded men apart was imperative if there was to be any chance for a peaceful wedding. The last time Jasper and Kael were in the same location, the damage to a full- mile radius of downtown Tel Aviv had been ruled a terrorist disaster.

Praying that Kael, Matthew, and Kelly were still in the main house, her mind raced to adjust her story. She had not calculated Jasper into this scenario. How had she forgotten his voicemail about crashing the wedding? Any chance to Kael not going full dark and demonic would evaporate if those two came face to face. The best thing she could do was to get rid of him immediately.

Ha! Convince Jasper to leave? Yeah, good luck with that.

The tall, Adonis-like guardian had an incredible stubborn streak. With Kael present, it would be damn near impossible. She had not even told him about the dark guardian’s presence here for a reason.

Cowboy boots crunched on the pebble pathway, indicating he was heading in the direction of the Carriage House. Jasper did not go anywhere without his boots and he did not put them on unless they were as shiny as stars in the midnight sky. They were as much a part of him as her jeans and worn-out tee-shirts were to her. The sad thing was the male guardian angel was a much snazzier dresser thanshe would ever be.

Before he even knocked, she threw the door open and yanked him inside – slamming the door behind them. He was a century, or more, older than herself, but Jasper appeared to be in his late twenties, early thirties. Tall and muscular, long ebony hair pulled back in a sophisticated ponytail. Smiling from ear to ear and decked out in a fashionable suit, he could have been the cover model for every romance novel ever written. In fact, he had been on the cover of one years ago. She still had a copy of the book in the Camaro’s glovebox.

Jasper’s exquisite eyes, the color of a glacial lake, glinted with glee at her, along with his self-satisfied smile.

“Hello, darling! How is my beautiful angel?”

Any other given day, she would have welcomed his presence, his help. But today just was not one of those days.

“Miss me, darling?”

She backed away from his embrace, biting her lower lip in contemplation of how to break the news to him that he had to go.

“What? What’s wrong?” His lips had already taken on a pretty pout.

With an elaborate eye roll, she took a deep breath and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a return smile. She could no more stay irritated with Jasper than she could deny the sky was blue and the grass was green.

Quickly, she explained what was going on with the couple, the wedding, Kael, etc.

---