Electus (Regnum Series Book 1) (26 page)

"What the hell is going on?" the one goon asks. Another shot fires, and he is down, motionless. Each of the other goons learns their lesson and take off. Shots fire as they run, catching one other man. The rest escape. Jacob takes a deep breath. Tia runs over to Javan to check out his wound. Allison joins her.

“That can be fixed,” Allison assures Javan, giving him a consoling glance.

"Who shot them?" Jacob asks, searching for someone in the yard.

"Me,” a voice sounds from behind them. Tia glances over and smiles at the site of Fera holding her pistol.

“What are you doing here?” Tia walks over to Fera, embracing her. As usual she is professionally dressed and smells fantastic. They release from their hug.

“Well, I sensed something was wrong when your father didn’t call me this morning to review Mr. Avery’s schedule for the following week. So, I decided to head to the office, because I left my jacket there, anyway. I thought Mr. Avery might have called him in, this morning.

“That’s when I overheard Mr. Avery telling one of the secretaries about a new employee and his position in the company. From what he described, it sounded just like your father’s job. A siren went off in my head.

“Right away, I drove here and peered through the window, finding the house torn to pieces and three men guarding people tied to chairs in the kitchen. That’s when I decided to park down the road, then walk through the woods behind your house to sneak through the back. I came just in time to catch those goons surrounding you. By the way, where is Osborn?”

Tia glances over at Javan, who Allison is healing, then mumbles, “He passed away last night.”

“Oh my god,” Fera begins to cry and pulls Tia close. This brings back Tia’s tears, also, her eyes glowing pink.

“How did it happen?” Fera probes, releasing Tia. She sniffles and glances at Edwin, who returns the look. “It’s a long story.”

Chapter 21

Once all the dust settles, they survey the house. There are pieces of broken glass and furniture lying around. Tia wanders about, searching for a memory to hold on to. Every piece of her beloved home is destroyed. Each room she enters is a reminder of the pain her family endured and the sense that nothing will ever be the same.

She finds herself in her bedroom, glancing at the photographs on her wall and the old white dresser that holds her hand-me-down clothing. Tia’s chest tightens at the sight of a music box, smashed on the floor. It was the one that Fera bought her, a few years prior. Her eyes land on something that wasn’t trashed. Her fingers graze the stuffed bear Osborn gave her for her fourth birthday. The scent reminds her of him.

“I wish you were still here,” she whispers, as though he is in the room.

“He will always be here. No one else would stay in this dump.” Tia glances up at Edwin, who makes another attempt to ease her sorrow. He walks over and sits beside Tia on her bed.

“I miss him, it hasn’t even been a whole day.” She leans in, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Me too, sweetie.” He wraps his arm around her shoulder. After eighteen years of believing he was just her uncle, she now senses no shame in thinking of him like a father.

“Why didn’t you just tell me about the two of you? I would have kept the secret, I would have understood. I would have... called you dad,” she mumbles, clasping tightly to the stuffed bear.

“Your safety was our main priority. Besides, I’ve seen you keep secrets. You would have taken us to show and tell ‘My dads are flaming homos. They took me in cause my parents are wanted by the capitols,’” he jokes. Tia begins to laugh, she can’t help herself, but it shortly turns into a tearful moment.

“Oh honey.” Edwin pulls her close and they embrace for several minutes. “I know your hair is a mess but that’s no reason to cry,” he teases. She releases him and chuckles.

“Do you want help packing?” he asks her, wiping her cheek.

“That would be nice, actually,” she responds, attempting to smile.

“Great.” He stands up and heads for the door. “Hey Quade, come up here.” Quade rushes up the stairs and down the hall to Tia’s room, where they hung out many times before. “What’s up?” he greets, looking around.

“Tia needs help packing,” Edwin answers, patting his shoulder, then walks down the hall.

“You don’t have to help, he’s just being...”

“Edwin,” Quade finishes. He shuffles over to her bed and sits beside her. “You doing alright?” he pries, rubbing her back.

“I’ve been better. I’ve also been worse, so I suppose okay,” she responds.

“I know it’s hard, with your father gone and all. I liked him. Always so kind to me, whenever I had the chance to see him, that is. Just too bad that we couldn’t have a funeral for him. You know, for closure,” Quade yammers, attempting to comfort her.

Tia appreciates the effort behind it, knowing words aren’t his strong suit, but he means well.
He cares. He loves me
, she thinks to herself. Her chest aches with the thought of the pain he is enduring because of her.

“Thanks Quade. Your face appears a lot better,” Tia declares, touching his cheek with her thin fingers. Her other hand is still grasping the bear. He gazes into her eyes, and a primitive urge stirs within her. She wonders if there isn’t something there between them, after all.

“Allison gave me some medicine for it,” he responds. All Tia can hear is the pounding in her chest.

Someone clears their throat. Tia turns and catches Javan in the doorway of her bedroom, staring at the two of them. She lowers her hand from Quade’s face and her’s turns pink. Tia isn’t sure why, but she feels as if she was caught in a horrendous act.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Javan starts, avoiding her eyes, “I just wanted to let you two know that we should be leaving soon. We have a long flight ahead of us.” He doesn’t utter another word, just enters the hall and heads down the stairs, out of sight, once more.

“Well, I guess I should help you pack, after all.” Quade stands.

“That’s okay. I think this is all I need from here,” Tia holds up the worn teddy bear that she clasped to for so long.

“Are you sure?” he questions, glancing around the small room. “Then again, doesn’t look as though there is much to pack in here.”

Tia and Quade exit her room. She closes the door and something Quade mentioned, moments before, tugs at her. Once they reach the bottom of the stairs, Tia heads for the kitchen, where Edwin is sorting the trash.

“Uncle...Um...Dad,” she calls, catching his attention. He grins, slightly, before answering her, “Yes, daughter?”

“I think we should have a service for Osborn. Today. Before I leave,” she mentions, hoping he won’t think it sounds lame. Edwin stares at her.

“I think that would be wonderful. Javan,” Edwin calls, and Javan enters the kitchen. Even after a kidnapping, Tia finds him cool and collected, all except his jittery hands. “What time are you leaving?”

“Well, we missed our flight, but another one leaves in an hour,” he answers, placing his hands in his pockets. “Why do you ask?”

“It won’t work, then,” Edwin frowns at Tia. She crosses her arms, then slides a strand of hair behind her ear, nervously. “It’s alright.”

“What won’t?” Javan pries, confused.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. It was silly,” Tia remarks, still not looking at Javan. He appears concerned now.

“No, please explain. What’s going on?”

There he goes again with his pushing,
Tia thinks.

“We want to have a memorial for Osborn,” Edwin admits, glancing at Tia.

“There is a flight heading out tomorrow morning. We can stay another night,” Javan responds, without hesitation.

“Are you sure that is alright?” Tia questions, turning to him. His eyes appear swollen.
Something is wrong with him.

“He was a great man, I wouldn’t expect any less than for his family to wish to say goodbye,” Javan responds, removing his eyes from Tia.

“Thank you,” Edwin replies. “We should fix up the house and have it here. If anyone needs a place to sleep I can arrange bedding.”

“Sounds perfect. I’ll make some calls and advise the others we will be staying here for the night, then heading out first thing tomorrow morning.” Javan exits the kitchen. Tia can’t help but sense he is giving her the cold shoulder, but doesn’t understand why.
Not like I did anything wrong here
. She just ignores the issue for now to assist in cleaning up the mess.

Javan allows Tia and Quade to use their magical abilities to make the clean up a speedier process. Most of the house is back into shape, and Tia assists Edwin in pulling out the old cots from the basement. Fera offers for some of the guests to stay at her place, as well, if there is not enough room available for everyone.

The others arrive from the hotel, as they finish setting up. They decide to dig a medium sized hole in the back yard to burry items that belonged to Osborn, as well as, reminded them of him.

Tia advises everyone to be ready for the service by six o’clock with food to follow and possibly a bon fire. The only black outfit Tia owns is the dress that Javan bought her. She throws it on along with black flats she found in her closet. Her hair is loose, and she doesn’t wear make up due to the amount of crying she expects to endure.

She stares at her reflection in the mirror. It appears different from the beginning of the week. Her face matured in just a few days time.

“You look beautiful,” Javan calls from behind her. He leans in the doorway, dressed in all black. Tia wonders if he even needed to change for the funeral. Her heart pounds at the sight of him.
How does he do that?

“I think you are missing something, though.” He pulls a chain out of his pocket. It glimmers in the light from the window. Tia watches the chain dangle, ending at the pendant that has four swirls, intersecting in the middle to form a diamond shaped hole.

“Where did you find it?” she inquires, staring at its reflection in the mirror.

“I grabbed it last night, from your room, while you were changing. I didn’t want you to forget it, seeing how important it is to you,” he responds, placing the chain around her neck.

Tia watches him in the mirror. He focuses on the clasp.

“Thank you,” she replies as he releases the chain. Javan’s eyes travel up to hers in the mirror. He turns away, not saying anything else, but leaving Tia alone in the bathroom, grazing the pendant with her index finger.

By a quarter to six, everyone who planned on attending the memorial arrives at Tia’s house. Out in the back yard, they set up the hole just a few feet deep. They brought out all the chairs available in the house, along with some extras that Fera had over at her place. They set the seating up, facing a beautiful trellis, covered in deep red roses.

Edwin stands up to speak, first, in front of the small group. He is holding onto a shirt that Osborn wore often. It’s red plaid with black buttons lining the front. The shirt is worn rather thin and has several minor stains on it.

“There are so many important stories to tell about Osborn Trumble. We’ve known each other for a long time, obviously. I mean Tia, how old are you now? Forty?” Some of the people chuckle.

“He was a very intelligent, kind, strong man. I never saw him cower from anything, except spiders. It was easy for him to just know his duties as the head of a household, and carry them out flawlessly. Osborn was a man who knew his place in the world.

“He always said that his most important role was being a father. It was a job that he took seriously, right up to the day he died.” Edwin glances at Tia, his eyes bogged with tears.

“I remember the one time, not long after we met. We were out at a restaurant, and the waitress approached us to politely ask if we could leave. Apparently an older couple was concerned that he would spread some kind of Regnumian virus to them. We barely even touched our meal.

“The waitress was advised by her manager that if she did not ask us to leave, she would be fired. The couple were rather wealthy and were frequent visitors to the restaurant, therefore the owner felt he had no choice.

“Naturally, Osborn, being the classic man he was, turned to the waitress and said, ‘Tell the couple that I will leave, but their dinner is on me.’ Then, he pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket and set it down on the table.

“The waitress just gawked at him. He smiled at her and advised, ‘Whatever doesn’t cover our dinner and theirs, is your tip. May you find better employment in the future, my dear.’ Right before he walked away, he turned to the waitress and whispered, ‘Give them our leftovers, as well. Tell them it’s complimentary.’” Edwin smiles, and stares at the shirt in his hands.

“That was the night of our first date. He wore this shirt that evening. After that, no matter how much I told him to throw it out, he still wore this on every anniversary.” Edwin throws the shirt into the hole, his face streaked with tears. “Goodbye, love.” Tia never heard that story, but remembers her father wearing the shirt. Her lips curl at the thought of her father having someone to love after all.

Fera is next to speak; she is already sobbing as she approaches the trellis. Yet, her make up stays in tact. Somehow, she remains radiant through trauma.

“When I started at Mr. Avery’s company, I was twenty-two and rather naive. Of course the interview went well, but my first day was rocky. I spilt coffee, I faxed the wrong documents to the incorrect number. I stapled a file to my desk, still not sure how that happened. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck.

“I was in the break room, having a total melt down, when Osborn entered. There is me, trying to find Mr. Avery’s third snack of the day, and the item he requested was out of stock. Therefore, I decided the best solution was to kick the vending machine, repeatedly, with my stiletto heels.

“He approached me and he advised, ‘Peppermint patty. It’s his second choice, if they are out of the milky ways.’ After that, he calmed me down, bought me a cup of tea and offered to teach me everything I needed to know about the company and how to perform.” Fera pulls out a peppermint patty and tosses it into the hole in the ground. “I’m gonna miss your advice.”