Of Water and Madness (11 page)

“I think he just hopes he can give her everything she needs emotionally. He’s devoted to her, but part of him worries that she deserves someone better than him. Someone who doesn’t take everything so seriously.”

“That’s nonsense,” Rhiannon huffed, looking insulted. “You can tell him that I have full faith in his ability to take care of Capri and that I would not approve of this marriage if that were not the case.”

“Alright.” He grinned, amused by the heat in her eyes. “Don’t worry about it, though, he’s crazy about her. He’s not going to blow this.”

“I’d hope not.” She let out a sigh and then suddenly remembered the conversation she’d had with Blythe while they were in New York. She felt her face flush with embarrassment. Well, here was her opportunity to ask him… “Brogan, this is kind of embarrassing, but Blythe had this idea that maybe we could set you up on a date…”

“Excuse me?” he managed, surprise and alarm in his eyes as he stared at her, eyebrows raised incredulously.

She shrugged, hoping not to come across as nosy and insistent, which she was sure she was going to anyway. “She says that Jax knows some nice girls down in Texas and if you’re interested maybe we could arrange something.”

He gaped at her, caught off guard. “Well…I don’t know what to say, Rhiannon.”

“Oh, forget I said anything. I knew it would sound meddlesome.” Rhiannon waved it away, embarrassed. “I’ll tell her you said no.”

“But I didn’t say no,” he said softly, his mouth curving into a shy smile.

She froze and then let out a shaky laugh. “Okay, good. Well, give it some thought and when you’re ready let me know and we’ll figure it out.”

“Okay.” He reached out for her hand, amusement in his eyes. “I’m humbled that both of you even thought this up. It’s…strange, but maybe worth giving a shot.”

“I know, it is strange.” Rhiannon laughed, squeezing his hand. “But maybe it’ll be–”

The door burst open suddenly and Lucian peered in, looking distraught.

“He’s not here?” he asked, concern in his eyes as he glanced around despairingly.

“Who?” Rhiannon felt a jolt of fear pulse through her at the anxiety in Lucian’s eyes.

“Liam. I don’t think he’s come back from New Orleans yet,” he informed her, coming into the kitchen fully and shaking his head. He looked exhausted, and more than a little worse for the wear. “He was supposed to have been back hours ago.”

Rhiannon glanced nervously at Brogan, who rose to his feet and eyed Lucian questioningly. “Have you seen Blythe? He could be with her.”

“No, she’s with Jax. She hasn’t seen him since he left.” Lucian wrung his hands together nervously. “It’s possible he chose to make a day of seeing the city, but it’s not like him to not let me know first. I’m probably just overreacting…”

“Lucian…” Rhiannon rose to her feet as well and went to him, fighting back her own anxiety. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, even though she knew it would do little to help since her own nerves were now pulsing through her system on high alert.

“I just can’t shake this feeling of dread that I’ve had these past couple of days.” Lucian scrubbed his face with his hands, feeling helpless. “I should have gone with him.”

“Maybe we should go looking for him,” Rhiannon said, shooting a nervous glance over her shoulder at Brogan.

He nodded, concern in his eyes. “I’d say if he’s not back by dinner, then yes, we should.”

When Liam still hadn’t returned, they got together and went to look for him.

Rhiannon was sick with worry. She could only imagine the host of things that could have happened to him…he could have been hit by a car, shot at, in jail…he could be lying in a hospital bed somewhere, calling for her and she would have no idea. Feeling helpless was doing nothing but causing her grief, and as much as she tried to push it aside and stay positive, there was a portentous cloud shrouding her mind.

Tears burned behind her eyes as she rushed into the meadow with Lucian, Blythe and Jax, praying that it was all just a misunderstanding and that he was okay.

She had to hold on to that, couldn’t let herself dread something worse. What would she do without him?

When they arrived on the shoreline in New Orleans, they had no idea if they were in the same spot as Liam or if they were miles from it.

Night was settling in on the Gulf and it was dark now. Overhead, the moon hung ominously heavy and full in the sky.

“Where should we start?” Blythe asked Jax, who’d already taken out his sensor that Rian had given him. He set it to Dryad and immediately began to scan the area.

“The coastline would have been his destination, so we should walk around here and see if we pick up anything,” Jax said as he began to walk down the beach, watching the scanner for any sign of a Dryad other than the three behind him.

Blythe had her arm around Lucian and was trying to be positive, even though Rhiannon could see the panic in the other girl’s eyes.

“Maybe he just fell asleep on the beach. Lazy bum,” she was saying as she glanced all around them, trying to see through the darkness. She held out her palm and created a small ball of fire which acted as a torch to light their way.

Rhiannon said nothing as they walked, her arms crossed tightly around her chest as she looked out across the waves. She could see the lights from the oil rig far in the distance, and part of her wondered if somehow he was out there, working with the men to clean up the oil.

But no, he wouldn’t have done that…Lucian said all he had to do was test the water and mend what he could from the shore. There would have been no need to go out on the water, much less to the rig itself…

A sudden beeping sound on Jax’s device had her heart leaping into her throat as they all gathered around him, eager to see what he’d come across.

“It’s faint, but there was a Dryad here hours ago,” he told them, pointing to the strip of sand where the waves lapped onto the shore. His eyes then shot to the city streets not too far away. “It’s possible he went into town.”

“Maybe he wanted to get a beer at the local bar. I could see that,” Blythe put in, nodding to Lucian. “Let’s go walk the streets, see if we pick up anything else.”

They trekked up the beach toward the street and headed into town. Though it wasn’t as busy as New York City had been, there was still enough of a crowd to grace the sidewalks and enough cars to populate the streets. But Rhiannon saw none of it, could process none of it. All she could do was scan the faces of the crowd, and hope she’d see Liam among them, smiling at her.

“If he’s been on the move, the sensor won’t pick up on him. He’d have to stay in place for at least five minutes for it to detect his signature,” Jax said, his eyes still focused on the sensor.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t have gone that far,” Lucian said out loud, glancing around at the people walking the streets, at the bustling night clubs and noisy restaurants.

“We’ll find him, Lucian. Don’t worry.” Blythe rubbed his back as much to comfort herself as to comfort him as she stared around anxiously, her entire body thrumming with nerves and adrenaline.

Rhiannon walked beside them, feeling oddly alone and out of place. Without Liam with her, she didn’t feel right being with Lucian and Blythe, much less Jax. But they were here because they loved Liam as much as she did, and were committed to finding him. So, she supposed that in some small way, perhaps she did belong with them…

“I should call the local hospitals, see if he’s been admitted. There could have been an accident,” Rhiannon said suddenly, unearthing the cell phone from her bag that Thea had given her days before.

“Good idea.” Jax nodded at her, turning his eyes back to the sensor.

While Rhiannon spoke on the phone with the hospital staff, Blythe distanced herself from Lucian and went to Jax, lowering her voice so only he could hear her.

“Have you been checking for demons, too?” she asked, brushing against people walking on the sidewalk with them.

“I have. Nothing so far,” Jax solemnly replied, glancing down at her sympathetically. Wrapping an arm over her shoulders, he planted a quick kiss on the top of her head. “He’s around here somewhere. And when we find him, think of how much fun you’ll have yelling at him for making you worry.”

“True.” She tried to smile, but couldn’t fight back the uneasiness she felt. “Why do I have a feeling that Dante is behind this somehow?”

“Believe me, I’ve thought about it.” Jax released her and looked back down at the device, which had begun to beep again. “It’s picking up a strong signal from over there.”

He pointed across the street to a rowdy nightclub, with sultry jazz and blues pouring out into the heavy summer night air. Blazing neon signs glowed in vivid blues and greens over the door, declaring the club as The Holler.

“Let’s go.” Blythe grabbed his hand and sprinted across the street, not waiting for Lucian and Rhiannon to get the hint and follow. She didn’t have time for that; she had to find her brother…

They had to show ID’s at the door, and thankfully Rhiannon had thought to bring not only hers but Blythe’s as well, which handily labeled Blythe as twenty two year old Blythe Collier from California. Anyone who spotted them would simply see two anxious young women, a rough and tumble looking Texan, and a harried looking older man with a shock of white hair and weary eyes.

After the usual questioning looks from the bouncers, they managed to get inside.

They let Jax lead the way into the club, which was packed to the brim with people of all flavors…sultry looking women with gypsy faces, businessmen, gamblers, drunkards, pert college blondes…and the list went on and on. They maneuvered their way through the crowd, Jax glancing from the sensor and up again to the scan the room, hoping to spot Liam in what he had a hunch would be the back corner of the lounge area.

Rhiannon walked behind the others, chewing on her bottom lip anxiously and wringing her hands, uncomfortable with the environment and worried that the little ball of hope that had blossomed in her chest would burn out if they somehow had not found him…

When Blythe, Jax and Lucian all came to a screeching halt, she nearly ran into them. She couldn’t see what it was they saw, but she heard Blythe’s words loud and clear over the boisterous jazz.

“
You have got to be kidding me
…”

Pushing her way through, Rhiannon came up beside Blythe and followed her line of vision, which was on the lounge area filled with sofas and chairs and hoards of people, laughing and talking loudly over the music. And when she saw what Blythe had seen, she felt the color drain from her face and a cold shock freeze her entire body.

Liam was sitting on a leather lounge sofa the color of spicy red peppers, seemingly unscathed with a broad smile on his face. And cuddled up with him was a lushly built blonde with summer tanned skin exposed in all the right places. Rhiannon saw the strange woman lean in to kiss him, and watched with painful disbelief as his hands trailed up her body, holding her against him. She felt instantly sick to her stomach.

Lucian whirled around to face Rhiannon, shock in his eyes. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but no words would come. She saw that he didn’t want to believe what they were all witnessing, but that didn’t make it any less real. It was obvious what was going on.

“Goddamnit,” Blythe spat as she suddenly surged forward, getting over her initial shock and disbelief. The Liam she knew would never do something this careless, this cruel…

When she reached them, her hands fisted on her hips and she glared accusingly from him to the woman.

“What’s going on?” she demanded, pleased by the look of complete and utter shock on his face when he saw her.

“I…” Liam began, for a brief moment looking lost and confused as he stared around him, as if he didn’t know how he’d arrived there. But then he heard the voice inside his head, reminding him that he was there with Stella, and that Blythe was probably just worried. He looked back up at his sister and grinned. “Hey, Blythe. What’s up?”

“What the hell are you doing?” Blythe shouted, her anger blinding her to the dull confusion in his eyes. “We’ve been worried sick looking for you, and you have the gall to be in some trashy bar, cozied up with some bimbo?”

Stella looked to Liam with eyebrows raised. “Is this your girlfriend, Liam?” she asked, snuggling up to him closer and batting her eyes at Blythe.