Of Water and Madness (21 page)

“That is none of your business,” she declared, scowling at him.

Perhaps she should have seen it coming when he turned on her next. “You’re even worse. You broke one man’s heart to marry another, never truly loving either of them. Then for years you pranced around criticizing everyone else while you have been the worst of all. You cheated on your husband and hurt him, then you accused your daughter of murder and hurt her, and now you have nothing. You are the definition of a disgrace.”

“Liam!” Clarity managed, turning to Serendipity apologetically. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him, he’s not normally like this.”

“Don’t apologize, Clarity,” Serendipity said sharply, the wound he’d ripped open in her heart pulsating painfully. “It isn’t your fault your son is cruel.” She jabbed a finger into his chest, her eyes hard and cold as ice. “I warned Rhiannon that you were good for nothing and for awhile I thought I was wrong. But now I see that I was indeed correct. You disgust me; you disgust all of us.”

She grabbed Clarity’s arm and whirled around, dragging her away. Liam watched them go, scratching his head curiously at the sight. Had he upset them?

But before he could give it much thought, the little voice came into his mind again and urged him to go back to Stella.

It didn’t take long for the Muses to relate to their husbands what Liam had said. And it took even less time for both Lucian and Rohan to head out into the courtyard to demand he explain himself. Neither of them could believe that Liam would be so insensitive to his own mother and another woman, but if the Muses were being honest, then he had definitely crossed the line.

They walked together, side-by-side, both fueled by anger and frustration. Lucian’s anger was more miserable and helpless, and Rohan’s was red hot. But both men could agree that they were at their wits end with Liam.

“What did you say to my wife?” Rohan snarled, approaching where Liam lay in the grass with Stella. Lucian stopped beside Rohan, crossing his arms and staring down uncertainly at his son.

Liam glanced up at both men, and for a brief second felt fear and confusion race through him. But when Stella ran her fingers through his hair, caressing him soothingly, the feelings subsided and were replaced by cool indifference.

“I just told them the truth.” Liam smiled as he sat up, eyeing both men. “What’s the big deal?”

“What you said was uncalled for and insensitive,” Lucian charged, shaking his head disbelievingly. “It’s not your business to get involved in the details of my marriage, Liam. Do you hear me?”

Liam chuckled, rolling his eyes. “So she was offended. Big deal. She needed to be put in her place.”

Lucian’s eyes widened in shock as he glanced over at Rohan, who was barely constraining his fury.

“I’ve been waiting for any excuse to punish you for what you did to Rhiannon,” Rohan began, clenching and unclenching his fists as his lips curled into a sneer. “I’d say you causing my wife distress is a good enough reason.”

He lunged forward, only to have Lucian grab him and hold him back.

“
No!
” Lucian shouted, shoving Rohan and standing defensively between the Earth Dryad and his son. “I will not stand by and watch you beat my son to death, Rohan.”

Rohan looked at his old friend, his eyes filled with bitterness and rage. “I’ve given him plenty of grievance over this, Lucian, and you know it. But I can’t put up with it any longer.”

“Taking your anger out on him physically is not going to accomplish anything,” Lucian reasoned. “Whatever he may have done, he is still my son.”

“And what about my daughter?” Rohan snarled. “Your son was supposed to love her, he was supposed to protect her. And instead he broke her heart and left her to bleed on the damn floor.”

“You don’t know that,” Lucian said darkly, his hands shaking as the adrenaline pumped through him.

Rohan paused for a moment as he interpreted Lucian’s words, his eyes trailing down to look at Liam and Stella, who were still sitting in the grass silently. He felt a sudden disbelieving laugh bubble in his throat, and he let it out gleefully.

“I know what I see with my eyes, Lucian.” Rohan smirked cruelly. “And I see your selfish son ruining his life. Serendipity was right; he is worthless.”

“
Damn you!
” Lucian launched himself at Rohan, fists flying, his vision hazed with red. Rohan fought back, and the two men swung at each other and tangled together, clawing and pounding, intending to destroy.

Brock cursed loudly as he and Clynn appeared suddenly from the castle, racing down the cobblestone walkway, both fighting back the initial shock at seeing their two friends brawling.

Brock grabbed Rohan and forcefully yanked him off Lucian, which wasn’t hard since he was by far stronger. But Rohan swung out and clipped him hard in the jaw, causing him to howl in pain. His own temper burst and he would have struck back had Clynn not shouted at the top of his lungs, halting the fighting.

“
Stop this, now!
” Clynn yelled, one hand on Lucian’s chest and the other gripping Brock’s shirt, his face contorted with fear and anxiety. “We mustn’t fight, please,” he managed, his breath ragged and his heart racing.

Brock stepped back from Rohan, hands raised in the air and shutting his eyes to calm himself. He had come out here to stop the fight, not to get involved…

Rohan wiped at the blood that was dripping from his split lip, his eyes dark and dangerous as he glared at Lucian. But seeing the hurt on Clynn’s face had guilt creeping into his system.

Lucian pressed the palm of his hand to his right eye, where he was certain he’d have a shiner. His biggest fear at the moment was how they were going to explain to Thea why they had fought.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself and sensing the worst of the anger had passed, Clynn backed off Lucian and stared accusingly at all three men.

“Look at what’s become of us,” he declared, shaking his head, misery in his eyes. “We used to be like brothers, the four of us. Why are we doing this to ourselves?”

Blythe, having seen the scuffle from her window upstairs, had raced down as quickly as she could and was now running toward them at full speed.

“What the hell is going on?” she cried, reaching Brock first and hugging him. Immediately she pulled away, examining his body for injuries. The only clear one was a bruise already blooming on his jaw. “Christ, dad,” she whispered, at a loss for words as she reached up to tenderly touch the bruise, frightened and furious tears in her eyes.

“I’m alright, babydoll.” Brock tried to smile, but winced from the sharp pain.

“Goddamnit, explain yourselves!” she shouted, rounding on the other three older men. She had to bite back a gasp at the sight of Lucian and Rohan, bleeding and bruised, both panting from the fight. “Did it start with you two?”

Lucian nodded, feeling ashamed. He shot a glance down at Liam, who was sitting there, his face oddly calm and blank. Stella’s eyes gleamed with excitement, but he was too weary to pay much attention to it.

“I’m afraid Rohan and I let our tempers get the better of us,” he explained, reaching out to Blythe, deeply embarrassed. “But it’s over now and I think we both feel better, at least emotionally. Right?” He glanced over to Rohan, who was taking deep, steady breaths in an attempt to calm himself. He met Lucian’s eyes as he nodded.

“I’m sorry, Lucian. Please forgive me,” he apologized, though there was no emotion in his voice.

Blythe found herself feeling oddly sorry for him. He was obviously on edge since Rhiannon had taken off and she supposed she couldn’t blame him. “Clynn, can you take them inside so they can get cleaned up? Then maybe you can explain to Thea what happened, smooth things over before she has to see the damage.”

Clynn nodded. “Certainly. You heard the girl, let’s go inside before Thea catches wind of this.”

The four men headed inside, and it pleased Blythe to see Lucian pat Rohan on the back, and Rohan turn and smile at him. She had learned that with men, it seemed arguments were sometimes best settled with fists, not words.

With a heavy sigh, she turned to Liam and Stella. As calmly as she could, she asked her first and most important question.

“Did you encourage them to fight?”

Her question was directed at Stella, but it was Liam who responded. “No, of course not.”

“I didn’t ask you,” Blythe said, her voice level despite the quick flare of temper. “Stella, did you encourage this fight?”

Stella smiled innocently. “I just don’t know what you mean by that, honey. How could I get two grown men to bicker with one another?”

“You know damn well how, bitch,” Blythe spat, her eyes hard as steel. “I know you are somehow controlling my brother. So tell me, did you cast some kind of voodoo magic over Lucian and Rohan?”

“Voodoo’s for sinners, hun. I don’t play around with that stuff.” Stella batted her eyes and turned to Liam, brushing his hair away from his face affectionately. “Tell her what a good girl I am, Liam.”

Liam’s lips curved into a slow smile as he met Blythe’s eyes. “Stella and I only watched, Blythe, we didn’t do anything. She wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less start a fight.”

“But something did,” Blythe concluded, shaking her head at him. “They never so much as argue.”

Liam shrugged nonchalantly and grinned. “It’s over now.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Feeling strange and disillusioned, Blythe wrapped her arms around herself and turned away, unsure just what was happening to her family. She didn’t even glance back when she heard Stella and Liam laughing, as if they hadn’t a care in the world.

That night, Liam lay alone in his bed, moonlight washing over him in pale blue rays, sleep successfully evading him.

Her name and face flashed constantly in his mind like neon signs, vivid and glowing.

Stella, Stella, Stella…

And yet his heart felt heavy in his chest, aching from some long forgotten pain. But he couldn’t shake the image of her blue eyes, glittering hauntingly at him, drawing him in possessively…

The memory of his father arguing with Rohan and literally going to blows with each other flickered in his mind, and he was uncertain why he felt upset about it. Stella told him it hadn’t mattered and his mind had seemed to agree. Their argument had nothing to do with him just like Rhiannon’s disappearance had nothing to do with him.

There was that damn pain again…he thought angrily, his mind fighting to push it away.

I don’t even feel it, it’s not important. Think of Stella, lovely Stella…

But he didn’t want to ignore it; he wanted to know where it came from and why. It had been plaguing him for some time, getting worse at the mention of Rhiannon’s name or when he saw her face…but he was almost positive that he didn’t care about her so why did it hurt?

He loved Stella. He wanted to marry Stella.

Right?

He stared up at his ceiling, his blue eyes sharpening suddenly as the memory of Rhiannon’s face flashed in his mind, her smile a bit shy, a bit uncertain, but the surrender clear in her eyes. So beautiful…

And then the vision of her rising over him, ivory skin glowing white in the moonlight as her body cruised over his. Her dark length of hair slipping from her shoulders, draping down to his chest as she leaned in to cover his lips with hers, her eyes glittering like emeralds in the dark.

Those hands, practical but delicately feminine, sliding over him, his body reacting to her touch. He could almost feel her, warm and close against him, as he pulled her into his arms and loved her.

His heart filled with it, this love for her, and he felt hot tears spring into his eyes as the pain mixed beautifully with this warmth and desire. She was Earth…he was Water…the two elements that best suited each other, so perfectly. She needed him, and he had saved her…

No! Stella! I love Stella!

I don’t think so…

Rhiannon means nothing, she’s worthless to me. I love Stella, only Stella.

He saw as clear as day Rhiannon arching beneath him, her lips parted as she said his name…

Where is she?

It doesn’t matter. Who cares? She’s history.