No Time to Cry (Nine While Nine Legacy Book 1) (15 page)

He pulled a matching armchair over to
the settee and sat down across from me. Very solemn. “You were killed the other
night. That life is over.” His face was hard now, resolutely set, his eyes
stone. “Na Ceann
C
omhairle
will not hesitate to do
whatever they see fit to do to protect the secrets and ways of the
Rúnaigh.”

He searched my face. I could
feel the earnestness emanating from him. Obviously, this
C
omhairle
didn’t screw around, or like to be messed about with. “Do
you understand my words?”

I nodded soberly.

“If you run, they will find
you.” He searched my face again. “I’m sorry, but if you value your life, this
new life…at all…you really have no option.” He finished quietly, gravely.

“Just as I think I’ll be
ok…” I wiped angrily at a tear. “I thought when I left last night, I thought I
was fine. I thought…I can handle this. Be okay with it, adjust.” Should I tell
him about the strange light that came from me? I shook my head forlornly,
shrugged again. “I’m not.” The words came out softly, sorrowfully. “Did the
others, the ones before me, did they handle it better? How was it with them?”
My voice came out weak, tearful. I looked into his eyes.

“There’s never been anyone
quite like you.” His eyes were locked to mine. “It’s been different with you
from the very start.”

 Why for just the
briefest of seconds was I wishing that he was speaking of something else? Why
did it feel as though his words were in regard to something better? Why was my
heart racing at that thought, at the way his eyes were gliding over my face
taking me in?

 He leaned forward
slightly. “You weren’t supposed to gain a body back, become corporeal, when you
did. Nor as quickly as you did.”

He looked at me carefully,
looked me over as if searching for the answers to his unasked questions in my
face, in my eyes. As if I could possibly reveal anything to him.

“You should not have gone
solid so quickly. That doesn’t happen. It should not have been mere minutes, or
even hours. It takes time for a new body to form for the mhésen, to bond to it.
And, as we’ve discussed before, you should look nothing like your old self.”

I began to cut in with my
stand-by argument, but halted, too tired to re-hash it yet again.

“And yes, we have clarified,
you
do not
exactly, but the fact remains, you do
enough
to make
it an issue, possibly. We’ll just have to wait and see on that account.”

I simply nodded. I was done
with that argument. I suppose I did look enough like my old self that if any
California friends saw me they would recognize me. But here in Seattle, it
should be just fine.

He continued, noting my
silence, and acceptance, on the subject. “The reason Max is here is so I can
try to get some answers.” He watched as a tear rolled down my cheek. “I’m sorry
you had to see him again. That was unfair. Cruel.”

I looked down at my hands
where they were holding tightly to the edges of my jacket.

 “You weren’t supposed
to be here,” he added. “You were expected to be meeting up with Halah, not
having breakfast with Liam here.”

“He was early, we had some
time,” I offered bleakly. I wasn’t about to fill him in on the reason why Liam
felt the need to treat me to coffee this morning.

I couldn’t remember what
song it was from, but the words played over and over in my head, ‘…we grow up
and blow away, who we were, what we dreamed of…’

I shrugged, listless. I
didn’t know what was left to say. So instead, I swallowed it all down, deep
into my soul—I mean my mhésen—and wiping the last of my tears from under my
eyes, I sat up, straightening myself. “Can you please tell Liam I’m ready to
go?”

Gideon looked intently at
me. Judging my state of mind obviously…I’d switched tracks rather quickly. He
nodded his assent.

“I don’t
ever
want to
see Max again,” I told him. “Please,” I beseeched faintly.

“There should be no need of
that,” He stated gently, as he stood.

How
stupid was this? I want him. He wants me. But we’re not going to do anything
about it. Maybe it was idiotic to even feel this way, mere days after losing
everything—
and
after just having tried to choke a guy to death—but
inexplicably, I did.

And was it wrong? Truly?

Was being able to feel
anything
after
losing it all? I’d been ripped from my previous life and drop kicked into this
new one. And I’d decided to embrace it, I was trying to embrace it—at least it
was a life—in all its bizarrely impossible craziness.

Why exactly couldn’t he be with me? Was
it a rule of the
Rúnaigh? Like office politics, no fraternization
between co-workers? That seemed pretty lame. Was it just a rule of Gideon’s
making? I knew I should ask Liam, just toss the words out there and see what
became of it. But would he give me a straight answer? And I didn’t really want
to broach the subject at this precise time and place.

Or maybe at all.

I liked just being with him.
It was so comfortable just sitting next to him in the car, in the quietude. It
reminded me of our road trip. I know…a shrink would probably have a field day
with me. Tell me I was attracted to him because of what he is, what he could
do, or some similar rubbish.

But I recalled how I’d been
attracted to him at the party. How hot I’d thought he was. How I’d wondered who
he was there with, because I didn’t know him. All
before
the realization
of the death thing, when I’d spotted him briefly on the crowded rooftop.
Before
I’d seen my lifeless body on the sofa.

“So, how does this happen?”
I asked him in a low voice as we stood next to Pike Place Fish waiting for
Halah to arrive. “How do you know when to…when I’m supposed to—?”

“Halah will give you a
signal. Well, you’re watching me first, so you’ll see her signal me.”

“But how…how is this person
going to die?” I asked in an even lower tone, barely audible. “We’re in the middle
of a marketplace.”

“Could be a heart attack, a
stroke, or maybe a robbery gone wrong. Perhaps…an allergic reaction to
seafood.” He shrugged, poking at a fish on ice. “We never know until it
happens. We’re Coimhdeacht…it really doesn’t matter to us. The how. We just
need to Cull and Usher.”

“Nice,” I muttered, a tad on
the sarcastic side.

“Wait here a minute.”

“No way.” I grabbed his
sleeve and stopped him from departing, from abandoning me here.

“I’ll be right back,” he
placated, as he pried my fingers from his flannel over shirt.

I watched as he walked away
and disappeared around the corner to another aisle of stalls.

We’d arrived at Pike Place Market a
little early, even after all the drama at Elysium, and it was already quite
busy and in full swing. The fantastic p
ublic market
overlooking the
Elliott Bay
waterfront was
full of all kinds of shops and booths, filled with merchants offering up a wide
variety of wares.

I hoped to stop by the chocolate shop
before heading home.

I wrapped my arms around my
waist, hugging myself, trying to smother the butterflies that were holding a
cotillion in my tummy. I was rooted in place solidly from fear and
apprehension.

I glanced around the main
level of the market, I’d been to Pike Place a few times before, and I’d never
missed the chance to shop here when I’d visited. I would always hit up that
chocolate shop, and stock up on incense and herbs too.

There was a comic store
also—yes I buy comics…Buffy’s my favorite…shut up—and quite a few nice places
for antiques and knick-knacks as well. Don’t even get me started on the awesome
food spots in and around the market.

The upper street level, where I was
currently waiting, contained
fishmongers
,
fresh
produce
stands, and
craft stalls operating in the covered passages.

 I was hoping when we were done I could
stop in at one of the used book stores to pick up a few reads, to go with that
chocolate…

Outside we had passed what
Liam had referred to as the early-rising buskers, street performers set up
along the front of the market. One had been playing acoustic guitar. Off to his
left had been a few college-aged kids putting on something of a play, or so it
seemed. They’d had life-sized puppets, so I’m not really sure.

Liam returned finally…okay,
it was maybe fifteen minutes later, but it felt like an hour had dragged by.

I wasn’t feeling very well.
He had a paper sack tucked under one arm and was holding two large—very
large—Starbuck’s cups in his hands. Thank you sir! I could really use a coffee.
He handed me one of the cups, and then handed me the bag, inside was a very
much needed cranberry scone.

“Thanks.” I smiled
tentatively. “Is it
maybe
okay if we move down to the
flower market instead of here…all the dead fish staring at me are giving me the
heebie jeebies.” He looked at me like I was nuts, and shot a half grin at me.

“Dead fish are giving you
the heebie jeebies?” He shook his head.

Yes, the irony didn’t fall
short of me. Fish were nothing compared to watching a human life fade from
human eyes, which I’d be experiencing for the very first time, very soon, but
that did not change the fact that fish eyes were freaking me out!

The new spot at the flower
market was much more to my liking…and smelled much better too.

“So, Iliana…” Liam began.

 I knew what was
coming. It was in his tone of voice, and on his face. Why wasn’t Halah already
here so we could forego this until later? I had enough on my mind without
rehashing last night.

“Liam.” I stopped him with
my hand upraised. “There’s nothing left to say. I made a mistake last night. I
got caught up in the music, had too much to drink. I know what I feel, how you
feel about it. That nothing will
ever
be between us. Let’s just pretend
it never happened. In fact, I think…I really do think it might be best if we
don’t hang out. If we don’t spend any time together unless we absolutely have
to for culling. No coffees, no surprise meet-ups, nothing. You were right, I’m
just…I’ve just been transferring my messed up feelings onto you, glomming on to
you for comfort, like you could fix it, as if being with you could fix it all.
It’s not real, they’re just misplaced emotions. It won’t happen again.”

There. That should do it. I
didn’t need Liam. Right? So, why did my chest and throat feel so tight now,
like they were being brutally constricted?

Like I was going to cry?

I drank from my coffee…the
coffee he’d so kindly bought me…and kept my eyes cast down.

When he spoke his voice was
cold, remote. “There’s Halah.”

I looked up, to where his
eyes were aimed. Halah was perusing the fish market where we had just been. I
watched as she first pointed out some crab legs to the vendor, and then…was
that squid?

The young man was laughing
at something she had said as he wrapped her purchase. She waved to him and left
the stand, heading towards the stairs that lead downstairs to the lower arcade.

“Where’s she going?” The
butterflies were starting to feel like hummingbirds.

“Come on.” Liam stuffed his
hands in his jacket pockets and led the way, staying behind her a few paces. I
felt like I was going to be sick.

“So where is the—”

He cut me off with an upheld
hand to hush me.

He paused at a fruit stand
and looked over the apples. I was spying on all the patrons, wondering which
one it would be. My anxiety cranked up a few notches. They all looked so nice.
And probably were here to buy ingredients for dinner or a present for a loved
one, or a souvenir because they were on vacation. Oh my gods…this sucked! What
a crap job!

Liam looked at me, shook his
head. Did he see the panic in my face, my eyes? “Let’s go.”

I followed, still looking
around me. Halah was making her way down the stairs. I frowned. What was that?
The fish vender must not have sealed up the squid well enough. I could see a
tube, or was it called tentacle…whatever…it was hanging out. Oops, there went one.
Splat! Right onto the steps. Gross. Another one oozed free of its packaging,
this one a couple of steps below the other. Then I watched as a third fell a
bit further down. Halah, unaware, just kept walking, leaving her dinner behind
on the stairs.

I almost called out to her,
but Liam jogged me in the side with his elbow and drew my attention to a group
of jovial friends gathered near the sign pointing to the lower level. He
watched them casually with sideways glances, waiting a few beats before tugging
me along after him. This was it. This was it? I surveyed the group as they grew
nearer the steps.