Tethered Wings (Hidden Wings Series) (19 page)

Kade was always there to pick me up when I needed him most. He knew I was broken, and he came to hold me together. I turned toward him, and wrapped my arms around his neck, and cried. He sat on the ground with me, rocking, comforting, and cradling me in his arms.

“It will be alright,” he whispered over and over again, never loosening his embrace. “Everything will be alright.”

I knew I would eventually get through this, especially with him by my side.

He pressed his lips to my forehead and wiped my tears. “I’ll always be here for you, Emma.”

“I know you will,” I sobbed.

“Please don’t give up on me. On us,” he whispered.

“I won’t.” I promised.

That was the second time he spoke those words, almost pleading for me not to give up on him. I wondered if he thought Ethon was more appealing because he was immortal and had wings. Although appealing, they weren’t
more
appealing than what Kade had proven. His love and loyalty surpassed wings and speed.

Noticing I was pulling out of my unglued state of sadness, Lia and Jeremy slowly made their way over. Kade helped me up, and as soon as I stood, Lia and Jeremy wrapped their arms around me. In our huddle we all cried again. They knew my parents and spent a lot of time at our home. My parents loved them, and treated them like part of our family.

After we cried it out, I finally made my way over to Samuel and Alaine.

“Thank you so much for doing this. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I know my parents are happy to be resting here. There couldn’t have been a more beautiful place.”

“It was my pleasure, sweetheart,” Alaine said, hugging me. “Victoria was my only sister. I loved her and Christian. We left our most precious treasure in their hands. That’s how much we trusted and respected them. They deserved so much more.”

Samuel and Alaine hugged me, and we stayed and watched as the last pieces of dirt covered the graves. Even though it felt like the walls were tumbling down around me, I would keep climbing because that’s what they would have wanted.

Alaine covered the plots with the biggest, most beautiful bouquets of flowers. In between the graves she set a large carving of an Angel, much like the ones in the ballroom. He was beautiful, about eight feet tall. His face was solemn, his wings spread out behind his back, and his arms outstretched over each of my parent’s graves. A perfect Guardian Angel, who would be watching over them in their eternal sleep.   

I was glad to have my best friends here with me.

The three of us sat in the cemetery and talked and about the many memories we shared with my parents. Kade stood near the exit, waiting and watching, giving us our moment. When the sun finally started to set, and it felt right to leave, I said my final good-bye.

As we left the gate, Ethon was standing there, holding three red roses in his hand, which were almost the same color as his eyes.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Emma,” he said stepping forward, offering them to me. “The opened roses are for your parents, and the one that’s still closed, is for you. With the love and support around you, it’s just a matter of time before you bloom.”

“Thank you,” I said, holding them in my grasp. “They’re beautiful.”

“You’re welcome,” he answered. He glanced behind me and his eyes locked onto Kade. His eyes were blank, as he turned to leave.

“That’s really sweet of you, Ethon,” Lia said. His head twisted, he gave her a slight smile, and then walked away.

Lia wrapped her arm around me and led me toward the house.

Miss Lily made an amazing buffet dinner with many different types of yummy food, but I barely ate. My insides were still too sore.

After dinner, we went upstairs. When I opened the door to my room, Lia grabbed my arm.

“I’ll be right back. I have something for you, but I left it in my room.”

“Alright,” I answered. Jeremy and I entered my room, and he plopped on my bed and dropped backward.

“Tomorrow is our last day here, can you believe it?” He asked. “It seems like we just got here. The days just flew by.”

“I know.
Way
too fast,” I sighed

“Well, we have to do something fun,” he said.

My stomach twisted wondering what he could have wanted to do. “Yes, definitely,” I said. “We will have to make tomorrow the best day ever.” And it would have to be safe.

A wide grin formed on his face. 

Lia knocked and entered. She walked over and handed me large, flat box. I pulled one of the sides open and pulled out a scrapbook.

“Wow, how did you get this?” I asked.

“I asked Alaine if she could pick one up for me, and I would pay her back. Of course she refused to take my money, but I thought it would be nice for you to have. You know, to put your memories in.”

“Thank you, Lia,” I said, wrapping my arms around her neck. She hugged me back. 

I went to my closet and pulled out the box filled with hundreds of pictures. That night, the three of us sat and sorted through all of them.

My mom had written the date, my age, and the location of each picture.

I carefully traced my finger over her handwriting. She was so detailed and it made me smile. If I could be half the woman she was, I’d be happy.

This was the very last day I had with Jeremy and Lia, and I didn’t want it to end with sadness. So, I pulled myself out of bed and decided there would be no more tears or glum faces.

None of them had a clue of what they wanted to do, so I thought I’d go and ask Alaine for suggestions. When I came down the stairs, she was on her way to her study, and waved me to follow her. It must have been something good, because she had a large smile on her face.

In her study she snapped the door shut behind us.

“Hey sweetheart, how are you doing today?” She asked.

“I’m great today. I’ve decided there will be no more tears while they are here.”

She smiled at me and shook her head. “You are amazingly strong.” She leaned forward and gave me a hug. “So, before I tell you my surprise, did you want to ask me something?”

“Yes, since today is their last day, I was wondering what we could do to make it memorable.”

Her smile widened. “I thought it would be fun to have a going-away party for your friends in the ballroom tonight. I’ve already hired a DJ, and a decorator. I know its last minute, so we didn’t have many options. I just told them to make it black and white.”

“Oh, that’s awesome,” I squeaked. “This is going to be amazing, and black and white is pretty befitting.
”
My life had once been clear-cut, black and white, but now, the colors had starting to bleed together into an ugly gray. That gray seemed to follow me everywhere. I just had to remember to keep finding the silver lining.

“Yes, and black and white coordinate with any color,” she smiled.

“Do you think we could make it a Masquerade party? I’ve always wanted to go to one, but never had the chance,” I asked, knowing it was a far-fetched idea, given the time.

“Yes, we can. I actually had a Masquerade Ball here last year, and still have a box full of masks stored somewhere in the attic. I also have a bunch of extra Victorian gowns from a theater company which shut down a few years back. They are also in storage. I’ll have James go and pull them out for me. There should be something in the box for you, Courtney, and Lia, but I’m afraid I don’t have anything for Jeremy.”

“Oh, that’s okay. Jeremy won’t wear anything but shorts and a button up shirt anyway. Thank you so much,” I said, hugging her tightly. I was just about to leave, and then paused and turned back to her. “I also wanted to let you know I really can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me. I could never imagine how hard it must have been for you to give me up, but I really had a wonderful life. And it was because you allowed me to.”

“Oh, Emma,” she said, stepping forward and cupping my face in her hands. “You don’t know how much those words mean to me. Your safety was, and will always be, my main priority. I just hope I can offer you just as much happiness as they did.” She leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

“Maybe, once this war is over and Lucian is gone,” I said.

“Yes,” she breathed. “We all hope it will end soon.”   

I hugged her and left. Running back up the stairs, I couldn’t wait to tell Jeremy and Lia about the Masquerade Ball. As soon as it left my mouth, Lia grabbed me and swung me around in a circle, squealing. Jeremy wasn’t too thrilled about it, until I told him he could wear whatever he wanted. 

Then we went and made the announcement to Courtney and Caleb, who were thrilled that they would finally get to attend a party in the ballroom.

At least it kept us in the house, and kept them busy and excited.

James eventually pulled out the gowns from storage, but they were too musty smelling and badly wrinkled. Thankfully, Courtney had a back-up plan. Because she and Lia were almost the same size, she dragged her into her closet to look for dresses. Courtney had a whole row of beautiful dresses, which were perfect for a masquerade ball.

Just as I wondered what I was going to wear, there was a soft rapping on the door. When I opened it, James was standing there.

“Hello, Emma. I’m so sorry to bother you,” he said, talking in a quieted voice.

“Hi James,” I returned. “It’s really nice to see you again.” 

“It’s nice to see you as well,” he smiled warmly.

“Please, come in,” I said, stepping to the side. 

He took one step inside the door and then handed me a long, black garment bag. The last time I’d seen one like this, it carried the magical super suit.

“Alaine, asked me to bring this to you. She said it’s something for you to wear to the Ball tonight.”

“Really?” I bubbled. Excitedly, I took it from his hands, my stomach twisting with anticipation.

“She said if you’d like something else, just let her know.” 

“No. I’m sure this will be perfect. Thank you so much.”

He smiled, and then shut the door as he left.

I carried the bag to the closet and hung it up. My fingers tingled as I carefully zipped it open to reveal a simple, yet elegant white gown. It had spaghetti straps, with a sweetheart cut, and was fitted around the bust and waist with shimmering iridescent beads. From the waist down, the material was soft and flowed to the floor. In another pouch, I found elegant, white high heels in my size. How did she know?

With about three hours left before the party, I zipped it back up.

I could hear Courtney and Lia laughing and chatting away, trying on dresses a room down.

Jeremy was with Caleb in his room, playing some war video game. The floor seemed to rumble and boom with sounds blaring from his surround sound.

It was their last day, and they were each having a wonderful time…without me. I knew it was inevitable, but I didn’t think it would happen this fast. I wasn’t the same girl who left LA a few months ago.

I yawned, still tired from the whole day before. I lay on my bed and decided to take a nap until they came back. Not too long after I rested my head on my pillow, I was out.

I stayed that way until I was rudely awakened by abrupt shaking. Lia and Courtney were jumping on the bed, trying to get me up.

“Wake up, sleepy-head. The party’s in an hour. We have to start hair and makeup,” Courtney beamed. She spent many hours on online, learning all the different makeup techniques.

“Can I just wear my hair back in a ponytail?” I asked. 

“Emma. Are you kidding me? This is a Masquerade Ball, and there will be gorgeous guys all dressed up down there. You can’t show up with a ponytail. Courtney will be your makeup artist, and I will be your hair designer. Now, off to the bathroom Cinderella, or you’ll be late for the ball.”

I dragged myself to the bathroom. Lia plugged in the flat and curling irons, while Courtney spread make-up all over the bathroom counter.

She closed the toilet lid. “Sit,” she ordered.

“Yes, sir,” I said in a military voice. She huffed and rolled her eyes.

I sat there for forty-five minutes while they had their way with me. They both took turns beautifying themselves in between trying to make me up. They looked beautiful.

Lia used a darker makeup for her eyes, and added false eyelashes. Her lips were painted with bright red lipstick, which looked amazing against her straight black hair and honey complexion.

Courtney’s light brown hair fell in large ringlets down her shoulders. Her bright, blue eyes were framed with more natural colors, and dark mascara which made them stand out.

When they were done with me, they stood there with wide smiles, before turning to give each other high fives.

“I better not look like a prostitute,” I said.