"So what should I do about it?"

"What is your heart telling you to do?"

"To be careful. With him, not myself."

"And what is your head telling you to do?"

"That I've always liked him, and he's a super cool guy."

"So what's stopping you from accepting what he has to offer?"

I pulled out of Chase's arms. "Do you seriously have to ask me that?"

"Yes." He dropped his arms to his sides. "Just say it."

"You. And Ben."

Chase nodded. "I screwed up."

I laughed once. Then I shook my head not sure I'd heard him right. "Say what now?"

"I screwed up. You know I did."

"But ... I mean ... is that even possible? For an angel to screw up?"

"One who's been recently fae for too long of a period of time? One who'd been ensnared by a charm so powerful he wasn't even aware of it until he entered the Elysian Fields again? Yes. It's possible."

I squeezed my eyes together, trying to put all the pieces in place in my mind. I held up my finger, drawing a map of all the players and the things I knew about them. Eventually I gave up, shaking my head and opening my eyes again. "Sorry. Total short bus over here. I have no idea what you're saying."

He laced his hands behind his back and stared up at the sky, looking so much like a child confessing his sins it would have been comical if it hadn't been my guardian angel telling me how he'd totally screwed up my life.

"I came to the Here and Now to watch over you. We had been banned from using the portals and were content to follow the faes' wishes. But when we learned that some demons had been getting through, and that certain humans had been targeted, we knew we had to do something. We defied the fae decision to keep us in the Overworld, and send a few emissaries out to keep an eye on things."

"Things as in me."

"And others. Once I was attached to you, it became clear that there was a plot to alter the course of many destinies, with respect to the way humans and fae live together. Scryings were carried out and certain alternative outcomes were created by those trying to force their wishes upon the world."

"Torrie the demon wanted to get out."

"Torrie is only one player in a group of them, and his motivations are probably purer than you want to accept, but that's not important. What is important is to know that Ben was involved in some of it, and while I was trapped in the limited body and mind of a fae, I was susceptible to spells and other manner of fae machinations."

"You got your a.s.s spelled by someone other than a pixie. Don't tell me, let me guess ... Samantha."

Chase nodded once before continuing. "In the hours that I came back to my existence of a member of the Overworld, I came to the conclusion that your match with Ben was the only way out of the mess that was being created. I had no idea that this decision was being influenced by anything other than my love for you."

I felt sick. "You mean your love was tainted?"

"No. I mean that I was fed an idea and thought the idea was my own. But it was not."

I was ready to vomit. "And that idea was ..."

"That you and Ben belonged together."

I grabbed my stomach and turned around, heaving into the gra.s.s and leaves at my feet. Awesome. I was married to a mind f.u.c.ker. A guy who messed with angels to trick them into dumping me and forcing me into shotgun marriages. Could life possibly get any c.r.a.ppier for me right now? As my friend Tim would say, No, I think not.

Chase stepped towards me, but I waved him away, wanting nothing to do with his pity or help.

"I'm sorry, Jayne. If I could undo the hurt I caused, I would. But I cannot."

I wiped my mouth off with the back of my sleeve before standing, resting my hand on my tender stomach. "But Spirit blessed the union."

"A light show created by a very clever witch," he said, a disgusted tone entering his speech.

"But I felt it," I said, begging for an explanation.

"I am not the only one susceptible to trickery."

My mind was spinning with the implications. "So I'm not really bound to Ben?"

"No, you are not."

I laughed once, but it sounded more like a bark. My eyes searched the forest floor, seeing nothing. Then I turned and looked up into the face of the angel before me. "I'm not bound to Ben."

"No. You're not."

"I'm not bound to Ben," I said a little louder, not sure I even believed the words coming out of my own mouth.

"No, you're not."

"I'm not bound to Ben!" I shouted, a smile breaking out across my face.

Chase smiled. "No, Jayne. You are not bound to Ben," he said softly.

"Whoo hoo! I'm not bound to the biggest a.s.shole on this side of the Mississippi!!! Oh, happy day!!" I danced around the clearing, my heart feeling lighter than it had in a really, really long time.

"Jayne."

I ignored the angel to my right, concentrating on getting my Irish jig just right. "I'm not bound to Ben, yeah! I'm not bound to Ben, yeah! Ben can go suck a duck, yeah! I'm not bound to Ben, yeah!"

"Jayne," said Chase, a little louder.

"What?" I asked, still dancing.

"It's time for us to go."

My feet went from feeling like springs to feeling like lead. The dancing stopped abruptly. "Go where?"

"Back to Spike. Back to what you came here for."

"Oh. Yeah." I'd forgotten about my friend, the one guy who might actually really love me in a way that was totally possible to live with without murdering someone. "Can you bring me back?"

"Yes, I can. And Jayne?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for marrying you to that a.s.shole."

I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants.

When I finally got my breath back I stumbled over and patted my big guardian angel on the arm. "Thanks for that, Chase. I really, really needed to hear it."

"So what are you going to do?" he asked me, picking me up in his arms like a baby.

"Do? Well, first I'm going to apologize to Spike for being such a pain in the a.s.s."

He jumped up into the air, his huge wings beating strongly and creating currents of air that swirled around us. "I approve."

"Good. And then I'm going to go find me a dragon guardian to watch over the portal to this place."

"Excellent."

"And then I'm going to go to the Underworld and do it there too."

"I'm not a fan of that part."

"Tough t.i.tties. You might be my guardian, but you're not the boss of me."

"Don't remind me," he said wryly.

"And when I'm done kicking a.s.s and taking names in the Underworld, I'm going to track Ben down, dump his sorry b.u.t.t, and try to figure out how to turn him and Samantha into toads."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks.

"Just do me one favor."

"What's that?"

"Watch your back."

I smiled. "That's what I have friends for."

Cliffhangers Do they make you crazy?

If you are not a fan of cliffhanger endings (I can't seem to help myself), you can go to my website www.ElleCasey.com and read the first chapter of the next book in this series, on the page t.i.tled "Sneak Peeks". If the second and/or third books of the series have already been published, you can go to Amazon.com and click on the "Look Inside" feature of those books and read the first chapter or more for free. You can even download the sample chapters to your Kindle for free.

Other Books by Elle Casey.

Apocalypsis: Book 1, Kahayatle.

Apocalypsis: Book 2, Warpaint.

Apocalypsis: Book 3, Exodus.

*Apocalypsis: Book 4, Haven War of the Fae: Book One, The Changelings War of the Fae: Book Two, Call to Arms War of the Fae: Book Three, Darkness & Light War of the Fae: Book Four, New World Order Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 1, After the Fall Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 2, Between the Realms *Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians My Vampire Summer.

*My Vampire Fall.

*My Vampire Winter.

*My Vampire Spring.

Wrecked.

*Reckless.

*Coming soon.

About the Author.

Elle Casey is an American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, Hercules the wonder poodle and Monie the Bouvier des Flandres who will someday be bigger than everyone in the family. In Elle's spare time she writes women's fiction and young adult novels (you can find her Women's Fiction work under the pen name Kat Lee.) A personal note from Elle ...

If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving positive feedback on Amazon.com or any book blogs you partic.i.p.ate in. More positive feedback means I can spend more time writing! Oh, and I love interacting with my readers, so if you feel like shooting the breeze or talking about books, please visit me. You can find me at ...

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Acknowledgments.

I always thank my readers first, because without them reading, commenting, reviewing and of course investing time and money into my work, I wouldn't be able to do this wonderful thing called writing. I appreciate each and every one of you!