A Life Earthbound (24 page)

But even with all the arguing and fighting to convince herself that everything was fine, that her life was just as she wanted it, some tiny part of her nagged from the empty hollows inside, begging for release from this prison of sanctity and purpose.

Freedom
, it screamed.
I want my freedom…

And as she sat at the dining table, numbly eating her breakfast, listening to Burke talk with her mother, and Michael discuss something with Brogan, she felt a tingling on the back of her neck and looked up to see Liam enter the room. He looked fresh and relaxed as always, and that tiny part of her strained toward him. She was quite certain it showed in her eyes as he looked at her.
You’re the only one who can free me…

When his lips slowly curved into a warm smile, she felt her heart beat fast and steady, fighting back against the emptiness. She allowed herself the briefest of moments to feel the sensation, before turning away to sip her tea.

It wouldn’t do to lead him on, she knew. If anything, she wasn’t cruel.

Her father sat down beside her, looking much as she felt–empty. She wondered if he felt as though his heart had been ripped from him, and if that was why he had been walking around like a zombie for several weeks. Was that the answer, the understanding she’d been looking for?

No. She still had no clue how to talk to him, how to bring it up. She didn’t have the courage, the ability to push past her fear of rejection from him, her fear that her intervention might only push him deeper into his hole. She needed more time…

Later, she stood alone in the Greenhouse, the globe in front of her and her mind focused intently on her work. She was tending to a recent burn area in Australia, urging re-growth and decontamination of the soil. Her hands hovered over the affected area, and her eyes were closed as she created fresh seeds beneath the surface, seeing in her mind as they took root and began to grow. Without her assistance, the area would quite possibly never re-grow. Yet it was crucial for the ecosystem to thrive and start anew; for the forest to begin fresh growth with plants she’d helped make even more dynamic and useful for the environment and the animals that lived there. Her gift was to restore and improve the Earth, as it cycled through its ever changing eternal life.

She heard a noise and turned, her hands still hovering over the globe. Michael was standing in the doorway, his hands in the pockets of his expertly tailored black slacks. He looked, as usual, bored and annoyed.

“What are you doing here?” Rhiannon asked, pulling her hands away from the globe and crossing her arms as she faced him.

“My father suggested I come see what kind of work you do.” He shrugged, stepping into the room and glancing around, looking unimpressed.

She watched in irritation as he stepped toward her father’s boards and sneered at all the charts, figures and drawings of new plants they were creating.

“So I know your element is Earth, but what is it exactly that you do?” he asked, wandering toward the globe, peering at it with a skeptical look on his face.

Letting out a huff of breath, she attempted to be polite, despite how much his arrogance irritated her.

“As an Earth Dryad, it is my duty to regulate plate shifts in the Earth’s crust, maintaining balance at all times so that everything continues to function properly. I also monitor and influence flora growth throughout the planet, ensuring that the various ecosystems are flourishing and continually improving. The Earth is a forever constantly changing organism and as Dryads we maintain every part of it. Without me, plant and animal life would not be able to sustain itself. Without water, my creations would perish, and the Earth would dry up. Without air, water would have no means to travel and spread throughout the planet. And without fire, nothing would ever have the chance to start anew and re-grow, better and improved. We are all just part of maintaining the delicate balance of our planet, and no one of us is more valuable or more important than the rest.”

Michael walked around the globe, eyeing it. He turned his attention back to her. “Show me.”

“Alright.” She went to one of the worktables where a round ceramic pot sat, filled with fresh soil. She motioned for him to come watch, and as he stopped beside her, she held her hands a few inches over the soil.

Closing her eyes, she summoned her power and felt it shimmer from within her, then spread to her arms and then down to her palms, where she felt it leave her and go into the soil. She imagined a seed growing, one of her latest creations, and guided it through development, seeing in her mind’s eye the green stalks emerging from the seed, and pushing up through the soil, seeking air and light. She imagined the leaves sprouting from the stem, and buds growing, spreading skywards to bloom into soft, yellow flowers. Opening her eyes, she glanced down at her creation, pleased. And when she turned to Michael, his eyes were bulging and he looked more than a little petrified.

“It just…came out of nothing,” he stammered, eyeing her with a mixture of revulsion and horror. “How does it work?”

“I created a seed within the soil and expedited its growth so you could see it. That’s all,” she explained, concerned by the look in his eyes.

“You really are a freak,” he told her, backing instinctively away from her, shaking his head. “None of this makes any goddamn sense.”

Anger flashed in her eyes as she rounded on him, crossing her arms over her chest again.

“You asked to see how it was done, Michael. Don’t act surprised when I show you.”

“It isn’t normal…” he muttered, eyeing her with disgust now. “My mother was right to warn me about this place, but my father wouldn’t listen. He’s so hell bent on coming here, on being with you people. But it’s just not natural, it’s not right.”

“Not natural?” Rhiannon’s eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “What I am is as much a part of this planet as the soil itself. I would argue that you, Michael, are the unnatural one out of the two of us.”

“I should have listened to her. She was right about all of you. You’re nothing but freaks; you shouldn’t exist. It goes against all common scientific knowledge.”

“Your mother sounds like quite an ignorant woman,” Rhiannon spat, feeling her rarely used temper rise. “Maybe it’s better for all of us if you just go back to her and never return.”

“Trust me, I wish for nothing else but that,” Michael muttered, looking bitter and distracted. “I hate this place.”

With an exasperated sigh, Rhiannon threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. “Then leave. No one is forcing you to stay.”

Knowing if she didn’t get away that she might very well strangle him, she swept past him and left the room, indignation coursing through her. What an egotistical, insufferable child he was…

Storming through the corridor, she threw open the door to the kitchen and shut it behind her, needing something to do with her hands to distract herself. She went straight to the greenhouse and began grabbing different pots from the shelf and arranging them on the counter, deciding she would grow more sage for the turkey they had planned for dinner.

Almost manically, she began shoveling fresh soil from a giant drum into the pots, spilling more on the floor than she was managing to get into the pot itself. Scowling, she slammed the pot on the counter and began rummaging through the cabinets, searching for a broom to sweep it up.

She finally found it, and whirled around to face the mess, only to knock one of the pots over with the broom handle, causing it to crash to the floor. With a low growl through clenched teeth, she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, trying to calm down.

Her hair was falling in her face, and her eyes were hard as steel as she opened them and began fervently sweeping up the fallen soil, her breath coming out in raspy gasps and her hands trembling with barely controlled anger.

Liam entered the kitchen and was taken aback to find her in this state, quite clearly crumbling to pieces. He almost blinked at what was surely a mirage. Rhiannon didn’t fall apart like this…

“Rhia?” he called out, stepping toward her.

She glanced up at him, startled out of her manic rage, her lips parting with surprise. She watched him stare down at the ground, and at her hands that were clenched so tightly around the broom handle that her knuckles were white. Good God, what was happening to her?

Carefully, she set the broom aside and backed away until she was pressed up against the counter behind her. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deep and slow, feeling embarrassment creep up to flush her face.

“What are you doing here, Liam?” she managed, not wanting to look at him.

“I came in to get a snack…” he murmured, still dumbfounded by the scene he’d just witnessed. “Jesus, Rhia, what’s going on?”

“Michael,” she muttered, her lips curling into a snarl before she could stop herself.

“Can’t stand him either, huh?” Liam asked, relieved that it wasn’t something more serious. He stepped toward her, dodging bits and pieces of ceramic from the broken pot on the floor.

She opened her eyes, only to see he was right in front of her, staring down with amusement in his deep blue eyes, warmth radiating from him in glorious waves. The part of her that yearned rose up in desperation and screamed, begging for him to free her. The reasonable side of her shuddered in near submission.

“Am I cold?” she whispered suddenly, not even knowing where the words came from. She saw the surprise flash over his face, and his smile fade as he shook his head.

“Of course not,” he replied, the urge to reach out and hold her threatening to consume him. She had always been the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes upon, and seeing her like this, with clear sadness in those serious green eyes, destroyed his control in one vicious swipe.

She recognized with startled relief that her heart was indeed beating in her chest. It was pumping life through her, this very moment, and it was all sparked by the very sight of him. It had always been him, and only him, who could make her heart pound and her pulse jump. And all her life she had ignored it. But just then, the freedom-seeking lost soul inside of her jumped up and seized the chance awakened by the weakness in her resolve.

Pressing one hand to her heart, comforted by the rapid, pulsating beat, she reached out hesitantly with her other hand to touch his chest, eager to feel his own heart. She focused on her hand as she tenderly extended her fingers, palm spread, over his shirt. Her eyes felt hot and heavy as she reveled in the sensation of another heart, beating in time with her own.

Impossibly shaken, she clenched her hand over his shirt, holding him there, knowing if he moved she would crumble. Her knees felt weak as she looked into his shocked and mystified eyes, and when his hands came up to touch her, she didn’t object.

Cupping her face, he moved in, hovering just over her mouth, closing his eyes to wrangle back the beast raging in him. The urge to take her, the desire, had always been lying in wait. And the utter submission in her beckoned it forth with surprising strength.

But she needed tenderness, that much he knew. And he wanted nothing more than to give it to her.

He said her name as his lips found hers, and he lost himself in the feel of her body pressed against his, in the scent of her, everything he’d ever wanted.

Rhiannon shuddered once and gave in, the little soul inside of her shouting with exalted joy.
I have a heart! It does feel!

And the feel of him, the tall, lean body and lightly calloused hands, his black curls of hair and warm, sunkissed skin…it took her back to when she was thirteen, and the sweet, sweet memory of it staggered her. It was just the same…

But no, it wasn’t the same. It would never be the same, because she wasn’t the same. He was, certainly, but she had changed in ways that were irreversible. Whatever she thought she felt now was only a fallacy, sparked on by a brief moment of weakness and temper. It wasn’t real…it couldn’t be. How could she handle it if it was?

Pushing him back, she turned her head, breaking the kiss. She didn’t want to look at him, not after what she had just done. Oh, she was horrible. She’d let him in, led him on, when she couldn’t possibly be what he wanted her to be.

“I’m sorry Liam,” she managed, the hollow ache returning to her chest as she forced back the part of her that had rejoiced. She wasn’t that, couldn’t be. It was too messy, too confusing, too much for her to handle…

“What are you sorry about?” Liam asked, even though he knew. As swiftly as she had given in, she was closing up again. “Damnit, don’t be sorry about this.”

“I have to be. It was a mistake. I was feeling weak and vulnerable, and I used you. But nothing’s changed.”

“You were her again, Rhia. For a moment, you were the girl I remember, the girl I want. This proves she’s still in there somewhere, like I’ve always known. Release her, damnit, and let yourself be free.” Agitated, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, annoyed that she wouldn’t even look at him.

“I can’t,” she whispered, despising herself. “And I won’t.”

Frustrated, he started to leave, only to whirl around and point a finger at her. She glanced up, her face unreadable. “This isn’t over.”

With that, he left the room, leaving her to dwell in the dull silence and come to terms with what had happened between them, yet again.