A Life Earthbound (7 page)

Then he took off toward the castle, where his father was inside meeting with Thea.

Capri looked up at Rhiannon once more, this time her lips pursed in a pout and her eyebrows furrowed.

“Mean,” she said quietly, pointing after Michael’s retreating figure.

Rhiannon sighed and nodded as she clutched Capri tighter to her, needing comfort.

Yes, there was no doubt in her mind that Michael was a downright, mean little boy.

It had taken
her weeks to perfect her creation, but now that it was done, she was immensely proud of it. It was a lovely, pale pink lily with black spotted petals and a long, tall stem brimming with slender leaves. She’d grown it just as her father had taught her, and put it in a ceramic pot she’d found in the greenhouse.

She hoped her mother would like it.

It was Serendipity’s birthday, and there was going to be a big party that night in celebration. Knowing her mother would spend hours at her dressing table, Rhiannon strategically placed the flower amongst her mother’s various perfumes and oils.

Then she sat back and waited.

That was nearly an hour ago, and although Serendipity was seated at her dressing table applying her creams and powders, she had yet to comment or even notice the flower.

So Rhiannon waited some more.

Rohan was standing in front of his dresser, putting on a hunter green tie, his elegant fingers expertly sliding along the silk material. Rhiannon’s eyes followed the movement of his hands, enchanted.

In her eyes, he was the most handsome of all the men on Euphora, including Sebastian. Her father looked tall and trim in his expertly tailored black suit, gold cufflinks and waves of bark brown hair feathered with strands of gray at his temples. He had a dignified face, tanned and classically handsome, with wise and intelligent eyes.

But there was something wrong with him that she couldn’t quite place, and because of her youth had no hope of possibly understanding. But it was still there, and because she was so closely in tune with him, she could sense it as clearly as she could sense her own secret feelings.

“You shouldn’t wear that tie, Rohan, it doesn’t suit you. Put on the blue one,” Serendipity remarked, her eyes flashing at him in the mirror over her dressing table.

His hands paused as he was looping the tie, and his eyes met hers in his own mirror over his dresser. There was a momentary heartbeat of silence as her parents stared each other down. Rhiannon sat between them, anxious and confused.

Then it passed. Rohan removed the tie, opened the drawer in his dresser and put it away. He grabbed the sapphire tie his wife insisted upon and dutifully put it on without saying a word.

Pleased, Serendipity smiled primly and began to powder her face.

“I do hope that Burke brings little Michael along tonight. He is such a bright boy, so much potential,” she commented, reaching for her mascara.

“Yes, dear,” Rohan replied, his voice hollow and void of emotion as he straightened the tie.

“And there had better be enough champagne and caviar to go around. I would just die of embarrassment if Burke caught us unprepared. He said he might bring along a few more of the lead Enforcers for us to meet. I just love meeting new people. Oh, and Trinity is about to burst, I can’t believe she hasn’t had that child yet. Thank God I didn’t get so huge when I had the girls, how embarrassing to walk around like a cow. Poor thing looks miserable.”

“Mmm hmm.”

Rohan sat beside Rhiannon to put on his shiny, black dress shoes. She watched him intently, enjoying the scent of his cologne. She wanted to reach out to him, to have him hold her, but she knew if she tried he would just pat her arm and walk away. It was just his way.

Serendipity spritzed on her signature scent of luxurious sweet pea perfume and rose to her feet, elegant in a draping, off the shoulder gown the color of a delicate pink rose.

She looked at her daughter in irritation. “How many times have I told you to be careful how you sit on your dresses? Stand up, let me make sure you haven’t wrinkled it.”

Rhiannon climbed off the bed, brushing at the skirt of her light green tea dress.

Serendipity gripped her arm and whipped her around to examine the back of the skirt, brushing at it with her hand. Seeing no wrinkles, she released Rhiannon and turned to Rohan.

“Come. Let’s go.” She glided to the door and stood beside it, waiting for him to open it for her. He did so, and she strolled out into the corridor, stopping again for him to join her.

Rohan motioned to his daughter. “Come along, Rhiannon.”

She walked, head down, into the hallway. Before her father closed the door, she stared back inside, wondering if she should ask her mother about the gift she had neglected to notice.

But before she could decide, her father shut the door. Her heart broke; another fresh crack to join the sea of fractures that were already slowly but surely breaking her down.

She sat beneath her favorite tree in the courtyard, her knees pressed up against her chest and her chin resting on them. Her eyes felt hot and heavy, an unfamiliar sensation. The disappointment still lingered, even though she fought to push it away.

In the distance, everyone danced and celebrated. Her mother glided along the dance floor, arm-in-arm with a man Rhiannon didn’t recognize, while her father spoke with Clynn at one of the tables. There were many people she didn’t know, most of them humans involved in some way with Euphora or with the Enforcers.

She had managed to slip away and even though she was afraid of being scolded, she was tired and didn’t want to be there anymore.

There was a rustling noise behind her and she whirled around to see Liam approach, smiling at her.

“Why are you over here?” he asked, plopping down on the grass beside her, his sky blue dress shirt already smudged with food.

She eyed him thoughtfully and shrugged.

He frowned. Her eyes were glassy and bright, and her brow was creased in a way he wasn’t used to seeing. “You look sad, Rhia.”

She shrugged again, looking away from him.

“Tell me.”

Biting her lip, she gripped her knees tighter to her chest, rocking back and forth as she debated whether or not to speak. She’d gone so long without saying anything that it was hard to find the words.

When she didn’t respond, Liam shifted closer and put his arm around her shoulders. Then he placed a tiny kiss upon the top of her head–just like he’d seen his father do with his mother when she was sad.

Rhiannon stiffened, unused to the closeness and affection, unsure what to do in response.

He continued to hold her and she gradually began to calm down. When she tried to speak, her voice was so quiet it was barely more than a whisper.

“What?” he asked, unable to hear her.

She stared at him, her eyes huge and her lips trembling. But still no tears fell.

“She didn’t see my gift,” she repeated, a bit louder. Saying the words aloud and admitting the problem hurt just as bad as keeping it inside.

Liam smiled sympathetically. “Your mom?”

Rhiannon nodded.

Unsure how to help, Liam squeezed her tighter and smiled brightly. “Maybe she’ll see it later.”

She nodded again, though it did give her some hope. She smiled slightly and looked at him again. He was so nice and easy to be around, at least when he wasn’t with Blythe. The Fire Dryad was a bit too rambunctious for Rhiannon to handle and was often intimidating. But Liam…he was kind.

Feeling better, she rested her cheek against her knees and gazed at him, her jade eyes seeing him as if for the first time. Along with the sliver of hope he’d given her, one of the tiny cracks in her child’s heart was slowly beginning to mend.

Almost a month later, Euphora would be rocked by a terrible, devastating tragedy.

Rhiannon had no way of knowing how life-altering the night would be as she sat in the parlor, watching her parents socialize once again in their stylish clothes, her mother adorned with glittering jewels. Serendipity laughed beautifully, and as she did so the diamonds at her ears and neck caught fire in the golden light of the chandelier.

Rhiannon sat alone on a bench in the corner, watching the party unfold. She liked watching people, how they moved, how they spoke, the subtle nuances she was still so unfamiliar with.

But she absorbed it all. Filing it away in tidy compartments in her mind to use later. She had an excellent memory. She had already breezed through the alphabet and could recall exactly how to pronounce a word after only hearing it once.

What she saw next she made sure to tuck away, not because it had anything to do with her, but because it had to do with her closest and dearest friend. She was inordinately protective where tiny Capri was concerned.

Capri had a flower clutched in her hand as she slipped away from her mother. She walked up to Rian, one of the Furies, and held out the flower to him as a gift. He pretended not to see her and turned his head away, ignoring her.

Capri pouted, clearly unsure why he wasn’t seeing her. Hanging her head, she turned around and sniffled, tears beginning to run down her face.

She went back to her mother, who immediately lifted her into her arms and comforted her, cooing and shushing as Capri began to cry.

“Poor thing, I’ll take her for a walk outside, calm her down.” Heidi smiled apologetically to her husband, kissing his cheek before leaving the room with Capri in her arms.