Of Water and Madness (24 page)

“I was angry with you, Liam,” she explained, feeling terrible. “But that didn’t make it right.”

“The point is that you and I never argue, but Stella’s influence over me caused us to.”

“And a lot of us were pissed off at how Rhiannon was handling it, which didn’t help,” Blythe added, earning a fierce look from Liam. She held up her hands to stop him from arguing with her before she had a chance to explain. “Look, she was getting on my nerves because she acted like it didn’t matter that you broke up with her. She was pretending to be fine with it, saying that it was your choice, that if you hadn’t been happy with her then she understood. I never even saw her cry about it, Liam, it was pathetic. She just bottled it all inside and acted like none of it mattered.” Rolling her eyes, she continued. “The point is, whatever friendliness we’d shown to each other pretty much evaporated over this. It wasn’t until she left that I actually knew that she was hurting over you.”

Liam scowled, feeling miserable and anxious and furious all at once. “Well, if Dante really is behind all of this, he’s certainly gotten his wish. Everything’s pretty well screwed up.”

“She’ll understand once we explain this to her, Liam,” Lucian began, attempting a half smile to showcase some kind of optimism. “When she returns, we’ll–”

“God…” Liam interrupted suddenly, panic in his eyes as he felt his heart drop like a rock. “Stella knows that Rhia is gone, doesn’t she?”

“She would have no way of knowing where to find Rhiannon, Liam,” Thea reasoned, fighting back a sudden wave of fear that rushed over her. “We don’t even know where she is.”

“She found me, didn’t she?” Liam demanded heatedly, jumping to his feet as he turned to face all of them. “And when I broke the connection I had with her, she must have felt it. For all we know, she and Dante could be on the hunt for Rhiannon right now.”

“Yeah, but what good will getting to her do? We already know what Stella is, so if she attempts to control Rhiannon and return her to Euphora, we’ll be one step ahead of them.” Blythe looked to her brother, not seeing the sense in it.

He met her eyes and the darkness in them frightened her.

“If they get to Rhia, then they have control over all of us, Blythe. Dante is smart enough to know just what lengths we would go to in order to get her back.”

Blythe paled, glancing over at Jax, who nodded gravely, his eyes hardening. “He’s right. Our only option is to get to her before they do.”

She curled her
legs beneath her on the oversized, over-cushioned arm chair, lifting a glass of crisp chardonnay to her lips. The window before her was open wide to the fresh outdoors, where she watched the sun set slowly over the sloping hills in the distance. Twilight set in and the first few stars began to awaken as the cool evening air drifted in to caress her face.

Rhiannon smiled, feeling content in this place, surrounded by the fields of golden barley and the dark shadows of trees lining the horizon. She’d always come here when she needed to center herself, and now she needed it more than ever.

The little bed and breakfast had been a convenient choice and she couldn’t have asked for more comfortable surroundings. She had her own quaint bathroom with a claw foot tub, a large four poster bed with fresh white linens, and a room decorated with cheerful knick knacks and floral wallpaper, all in shades of warm rose.

The wine had been an impulse buy when she’d ventured to the local market for something to eat, but she applauded herself for her choice. It was refreshing and crisp, and soothing to her heart and mind.

Here, in this space that was her own and away from the prying eyes of her family, she let herself mourn. Hours ago she’d cried herself dry, until there was nothing left but an aching throat and a decimated heart.

Then she had set out repairing it, bit by bit, building her defenses once more to bury deep the heart that Liam had freed. Now that it was done, she had no intention of ever releasing it again.

She did truly want him to be happy, but she wanted her own happiness as well. And the only thing she had left that made her happy was her work.

She missed it already, since neglecting her duties was difficult for her. The thought of all the responsibilities she was piling onto her father distressed her, but there just hadn’t been any other option. Besides, she vowed to make it up to him once she returned, whole and new. Then her life could continue on, as if the last few months with Liam had never happened.

Taking another sip of wine, she purposely focused on his face in her mind, telling herself not to feel any anger, doubt or misery. She was only to feel neutral toward him, and it was important for her to ensure she could do so without faltering before she returned.

But when the image of Liam kissing the blonde intruded into her thoughts, she felt her heart clench pitifully, the pain resonating through her body. Annoyed with herself, she pushed aside the feelings and the image and tried again.

His face, one she’d known all her life. There, that wasn’t so hard. No pain, no sorrow. Just neutral indifference. He meant nothing to her. He was only an acquaintance.

But when the image in her head smiled that goofy grin at her, and his eyes honed in on her with that look mixed with charm and a deep, barely restrained desire, she felt her throat tighten and a sob build within her chest.

No…no, that doesn’t exist any longer. Do not cry over what does not exist, it’s foolish.

But because she had a harder time shaking the memory, she gave up for the time being and poured herself more wine.

I just need more time, she thought as she lifted the glass to her lips once more and took a long sip. Outside the window, the moon began to rise in the slowly darkening sky.

She realized that she was sitting in near darkness, since she had yet to turn on the table lamp beside her. As she reached over to flip it on, there was a brisk knocking at her door.

Fear raced through her first, before she scolded herself and pushed it aside. There was nothing to be afraid of, no one knew where she was. And the humans who owned the inn had been very nice and hospitable. It was probably just one of them, knocking to offer her room service.

Rising to her feet, she set her wine glass on the windowsill and went to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open slowly.

Behind it she saw the elderly husband and wife who owned the house, and she smiled at them.

“Yes?” Rhiannon asked, feeling foolish for having expected anything else.

“Dear, I just wanted to see if you like your room,” the wife asked, her voice warm and kind.

“It’s important to us that you’re comfortable,” the old man put in, wrapping an arm around his wife and beaming up at Rhiannon.

“It’s lovely, thank you,” she assured them, glancing over her shoulder and motioning to the window. “I was just enjoying the evening. It’s beautiful here.”

“Yes.” The woman agreed. “A beautiful room, for a beautiful girl.”

“Very beautiful.” Her husband smiled down at her, then stared back up at Rhiannon. “I think she may be running from something, don’t you agree, dear?”

“Indeed,” the woman replied, her eyes glittering with something odd that Rhiannon couldn’t quite place.

“I told you both earlier, I’m here on vacation,” Rhiannon reminded them, the urge to close the door and shut them out sweeping over her. But her carefully ingrained manners prevented her from doing so.

“What a boring vacation for a young lady,” the man chimed, eyeing her with a strange smile. “I’d say she could use a little action.”

“Excuse me?” Rhiannon asked, her brows drawing together in confusion.

“Action, dear,” the woman said excitedly, nodding her head and smiling. “Watch this.”

When Rhiannon saw the old woman began to tremble and shake, dark smoke seeping from her mouth, nose and eyes, she first thought that she was dreaming. Surely this wasn’t happening, not really…

But when the initial shock and disbelief wore off, real terror gripped her heart.

The smoke formed a serpent on the floor at her feet, the old woman crumbling lifelessly into the hallway. Rhiannon’s eyes shot to the old man, who looked completely unperturbed, as if this happened every day.

And when the serpent shifted and formed a man, Rhiannon jerked back in revulsion, her heart leaping into her throat to flutter like a trapped bird.

“Hello, darling,” Dante grinned wickedly, adjusting his black leather jacket to showcase the pistol holstered to his belt. “Don’t move or I’ll have to shoot you.”

She remained frozen in place, her eyes jolting to the elderly man, who was still standing in the doorway, calm as day. That was when she noticed a blonde woman step into the room and her eyes widened when she saw her face. Stella smiled and waved cheerfully.

“You,” Rhiannon murmured, trembling down to her toes as her eyes shot back to Dante, who had begun to laugh.

“Aren’t you impressed? You should be,” he told her, sauntering forward, his golden eyes glittering with madness. “Rhiannon, darling, this is Vivica, my own personal Muse.”

He reached out and wrapped an arm possessively around the blonde when she came up beside him, pulling her close. She smiled darkly at Rhiannon before tilting her head up for a kiss from him, her tongue erotically sliding along his lips.

Revulsion mixed with bewilderment as Rhiannon stared at the woman. So Stella had been with Dante all along? That meant that Liam had been tricked. He had fallen for her without even knowing where her true allegiances lay.

Knowing he had been played like a fool only made the whole situation considerably worse…but just what purpose had been served by having Stella, or Vivica, as Dante called her, manipulate her way into Liam’s life and onto Euphora? And why were they here now, quite possibly to kidnap her, or even kill her?

Regardless, she wasn’t prepared to stick around and find out. She had to get away, somehow…

She inched further back, wondering if she could make it to the window and escape. She’d only have a split second before he pulled his gun on her…

“I’m sure you’re wondering what all of this means,” Dante began, kissing Vivica’s hand lushly, his eyes on Rhiannon. “The details are all very interesting, but I just don’t have time to tell the story right now. Time is of the essence.”

When he grinned at Stella, Rhiannon whirled around and flung herself toward the open window, frantically crawling over the armchair she had just been sitting in. Her hands grasped the windowsill the second his latched onto her waist and threw her back inside. She fell to the floor, crashing against the armoire beside the door, panting and groaning in pain.

He hovered over her, his booted foot pressing into her chest as she gasped for air. There was a dark and sinister evil in his eyes as he grinned.

“Nice try. Trash the room, darling,” he said to Vivica, even as his eyes held Rhiannon’s. “I want them to suffer with guilt and terror when they realize we found her first. In fact…”

He swiftly pulled a switch blade from his boot and, flicking it open, grabbed Rhiannon’s hand, slicing her palm open. Hauling her to her feet, he squeezed her hand so blood droplets fell onto the beige carpet, staining dark red. For good measure, he smeared her blood on the dresser, on the chair, on the walls. He wanted to strike as much fear into them as possible, and picturing the boy’s anguish gave him a tremendous amount of giddy pleasure.