Daughters of legianne, p.9
Daughters of Legianne, page 9
He tucked the pencil into his ball cap over his ear. “Everything okay?”
“It’s good.” She forced a smile to her face and cheer to her voice. “I’ll be back!”
Before there could be more questions, she turned back into the house and fought the urge to sprint to the door. She climbed into her car, then drove until she couldn’t feel Madigan’s power tugging at her anymore.
Hours away from Greens Glen, she found a quiet parking lot to a hiking trail she could pull the car into. She sat patiently, waiting for the couple to unload their backpacks into their car, the only other one in the lot. Once they’d left, she cleared her mind, slowed her breathing, and thought of wide open space. Of quiet, of peace, then let herself shift away.
She stood at the top of the Rose Valley in Ely and inhaled, instantly feeling lighter. She had heard Ely suffered a drought during their growing season, and seeing her treasured valley barren tore her heart in half. The valley had been her place of refuge. It had been witness to her pain, her tears, her frustrations. It had swallowed her shouts and screams. Its wind had dried her tears.
She spread her fingers as she moved towards the sparse wheat field, drawing her magic up and letting its power fill her. Earth and life flowed out of her, washing over the valley. Slowly, in waves, the wheat rose. Rose-colored stalks burst up through dried, cracked patches of dirt.
When she reached the middle of the valley, she paused, tipping her head back. The summer sun of Ely warmed her face as if to give her thanks.
Drawing in a deep breath, she let out a shout of rage. Rage for the lies. Rage for the betrayals. A scream of pain, visceral from the grief and pain she’d held onto after losing her father, then her mother. She sank to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she let everything go.
She closed her hands, and brought her arms around herself in a hug, then collapsed onto her back among the wheat. Feeling drained, feeling freed, even if that freedom was temporary, she let herself doze; the stalks sheltering her.
Chapter 18
Caid sat on Róisín’s front steps when she’d managed the energy she needed to shift home from Ely. Taking advantage of the late afternoon sun illuminating the porch, and him, she studied him through her windshield. His hair was disheveled, and at that moment, he shoved one of his hands through it. The fingers of his other hand drummed against one of his thighs. That small glimmer of hope brightened.
Could he be waiting for her?
It was enough to drag herself from her car when all her body wanted to do was crawl into the house, slip into bed and sleep for days. She was completely drained, her magic quiet, body heavy and bones weary. Reaching for the door handle, her body cried in protest, begging her to stay still.
“Is everything okay?” She closed her door, the sound echoing through the crisp evening air.
“I could ask that of you.” His hazel eyes stayed steady on her as she neared him.
“What do you mean?”
He patted the spot on the step next to him. “You’ve been off for the past week and a half. Quieter, and short when you talk. The way you left today, it had me worried about you.”
“No need to waste your time worrying about me.” She tried to brush off his concern. The exhaustion that had weighed her stomach down eased, only to be replaced by butterflies fluttering about.
He shifted to face her, one of his knees bumping against hers. “I don’t think it’s a waste of time.”
“Caid…”
“Are you okay?”
She looked out across her yard, taking in the houses around her neighborhood. The warm evening air may have been stale of sounds from nature, but it was filled with the squeals of children playing and the occasional clinking of dishes. Life. The people in their homes, the man sitting next to her, life still moved. Despite Madigan.
“I’m okay,” she whispered. “I’ve just somehow found myself smack dab in the middle of a family thing that’s incredibly stressful.”
He watched her for a moment, silent. It felt as though she were hanging onto a fraying rope over the edge of a cliff, waiting. Waiting for him to reach out to her. Her body tensed. How long had it been since she’d hoped someone would reach for her, want her, in a way that she had wanted them?
“Can you tell them you don’t want a part of it?” he asked, finally breaking the silence.
“I wish I could, but…” She blew out a breath, her shoulders sagging. “There’s more than just what’s happening within our family that’s at stake.”
“That’s why Matthew came.”
“His father asked him to stop by, check in. Lucius was very much a father figure to me when my father passed away. After my mother died, Clarissa, Matthew’s mother, stepped in to help me as she could. The distraction of having him here was nice. Now that he’s gone back to work…” She rubbed at her temple. “Reality sets in again.”
Róisín drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs. She closed her eyes and let out a breath, willing her tears not to break through. As much as she liked Caid, she couldn’t show her magic to him—for fear of him running away or rejecting her. Róisín wasn’t ready to open herself to that, not yet. Not again.
Alexandria had left before Róisín could draw in a breath after that fateful night. Her ashen face, her brown eyes so wide that Róisín could see the whites around her irises. No words had been spoken, just a shake of her head, and she was gone. Down the sidewalk, tucking herself into the milling crowds without a backwards glance to Róisín.
“Want to go grab a bite to eat?” Caid’s leg gently bumped hers. “Change of scenery? You’re here all day, every day.”
Her bed beckoned to her, her movements sluggish from the energy she’d spent in the Rose Valley.
He shifted to his feet next to her, and his hand reached down.
She slipped her hand into his and let him pull her to her feet.
“You’re not alone,” he whispered when she stood face to face with him. “You have people here who are friends. Lina may be loud and wild, but she’s a good person, and I know she’s been worried about you, too. And I…” His Adam’s apple bobbed with his slow swallow. “I’d like to think we’re becoming friends, too.”
“Does that mean you’ll talk to me again?”
His eyebrows drew together, and he frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You and I used to talk every day before you left for the day. And now? It’s like you can’t get out of here quick enough.”
His hand that still held hers tensed briefly. “I’m sorry. It started as just not being sure how Matthew would react, because I thought you and he were, and then.” He shrugged. “I can’t really explain it.”
“Try,” she whispered.
His head lifted from their joined hands to look at her. “Since the meeting, I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to be around you, get to know you. Shit, even if we just sat here every night and talked about nothing, it would feel like everything. That’s why I started sticking around. I could disguise it as work related, hope you wouldn’t ever notice. Gave me an excuse.”
“You didn’t need an excuse.”
“But I do.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t want to scare you away.”
“I don’t scare easily.”
His lips tipped up into a half smile as he stepped closer. “Róisín?”
“Hm?”
“Can I kiss you?”
Her lips parted, a giddiness filling her core. She nodded her head. Butterflies took flight in her stomach, surging higher to her chest where their wings pounded as he angled his head down to hers.
A slight brush of his lips over hers at first. What she’d felt when they shook hands that first night was nothing compared to what this light touch of their lips had done. Or what happened when he sealed his lips over hers and a rush of energy charged through her system.
Bringing her free hand up to his chest, she felt the solidness of him, his warmth.
Caid’s fingers curled around the back of her neck, his thumb stroking her throat as she opened her mouth for him.
Feeling her legs going weak, she leaned against him, taking their kiss deeper, their tongues caressing.
“Jesus,” he breathed out when they came apart, his chest heaving, eyes bright.
She looked up at him with a shy smile.
“As much as I’d like to keep doing that, I asked you to dinner, and we’d never leave this spot because I could kiss you all night.”
Her exhaustion had fallen away, her body hyper aware of his nearness, the breeze along her bare arms and in her hair. The way her lips burned when his eyes dropped down to them. Standing, or even sitting on those steps, with his mouth on hers all night sounded better than cake and ice cream at a birthday party.
Chapter 19
Róisín’s porch door slammed hard against the side of the house. She startled, dropping the book she had been reading. She used her magic to bring the book back to her lap.
“Dammit, Ro, answer your phone, please!” Lina burst through the door.
Róisín grabbed the book from midair and hugged it to her chest.
Lina stopped short when she entered the room. Her cheeks grew red, and she cleared her throat. “Hi.”
Róisín pushed her glasses up on her head and blinked at her. “Hi. I’m so sorry, I’ve been swamped with…” She looked over the piles of books before her. “Work.”
“I know, you said it in your text the other day. But sweet Jesus, woman, take a break occasionally.”
“You’re right.” She closed all the books and set them on the table. She stretched her legs out before rising. “Coffee while I apologize profusely and grovel?”
Lina waved a hand in the air. “You’re already forgiven. I’m sorry I barged in like an idiot.”
“It’s okay. I forget about anything and everything when I work on a project.”
Lina looked at the worn books. “Doesn’t it get boring? Reading about stuff older than creation?”
Trying not to think about how old she was, or how much longer she had left, endless time compared to a human, Róisín pulled her attention away from the books and shrugged. “Not when you love history and old things.”
“They say it doesn’t feel like work when you’re doing what you love,” Lina said.
“Shit! Comin’ atcha, Caid!” Wyatt’s muffled voice came from outside.
“I mean, it could have at least brushed him, dammit,” Lina huffed.
“What was that?” Róisín turned from the cabinet she had opened for cups.
“Oh, Wyatt tossing stuff down to my asshole brother.” She scowled through the door at Caid before she flipped him the middle finger with both hands.
“Everything good there?” Róisín asked. She knew it was a small town. Lina had surely heard about Róisín and Caid’s dinner at the diner two nights before. Róisín didn’t know if it would’ve created an issue between the siblings. Guilt niggled. She should’ve asked Lina if it were okay first.
“Just be happy you’re an only kid,” Lina muttered.
“Uh-oh. Here.” Róisín handed her a cup of coffee, then sat at the table across from her. “Sounds like we both have had a lot going on.”
“Mm.” She frowned. “First, let me enjoy the only cup of this I can have today, while I tell you the good stuff.” She shot her brother a glare through the door. In response, he threw up his hands in surrender and backed away from the door. “Then I’ll divulge why brothers are the worst creatures in the world.”
Before Lina could continue, Wyatt’s head appeared upside down as he looked down over the staging platform. He smiled and waved at them, the moment relieving some of the tension filling the room. Giggling at him, they returned his greeting.
“Okay, good news.” Róisín attempted to distract her from whatever struggle happened between her and her brother.
“I’m pregnant.”
Róisín hopped up from the table and squealed in excitement. “Congratulations! Come here.” She motioned her close and embraced her tightly. “You’ve been trying to tell me for almost two weeks, haven’t you?”
“Yes.” She dabbed at her damp eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. “While you’ve been off on a wild journey to some super ancient times, judging by the looks of those decrepit books on your coffee table, I’ve been dying to tell you I’m having a baby.”
“I’m sorry.” Róisín hugged her again. “Like I said, I get deep in it.”
“I wish I had something like that. Something that took my attention so wholly.”
“You’ve had the campaign,” she reminded her. “Any idea on how that’s going to go when the vote happens?”
“I’d like to say I’m going to win. I heard that scumbag is trying to buy votes around town, though.” Her eyebrows scrunched. “I don’t know what will happen. Thankfully, I’ve got this baby and getting ready to be a mom to distract me.”
Róisín smiled. “How far?”
“Doctor said seven weeks. Which means, probably a blizzard baby. Hopefully, by then, things here will be better.”
She reached across the table and took Lina’s hand, giving her a comforting squeeze. “It will be.”
Even if Róisín wouldn’t be there to see it, she would do everything in her power to make sure it was so for Lina and Thomas, their baby, for Caid…
She looked through the door to where Caid passed a piece of siding up to Wyatt. “Now… What’d your brother do, and do I have to trip him off my back patio into a ceramic planter before the day is out?”
“No. I’d hate to have you aid and abet me in sabotaging my jerk of a brother. It’s just…” She sighed heavily. “We don’t have the greatest relationship with our parents. Not for the lack of us trying, but both of us, once we were old enough to be out, we were out. He basically wiped his hands of them. Sometimes I get it in my head to try again. Like right now, I want to let them know about the baby. I said something to him about it the other day when he came for our weekly breakfast, but it ended up in an argument.”
“Over you telling them?”
“Not telling them, but me still wasting my time on them. If things have changed none of the other times, why would it now? A part of me feels like maybe he’s wrong, this might be it, but…”
“The other part worries he’s right,” Róisín finished.
“Exactly. I’ve talked to our mother a few times over the years. Cordial, but that’s the extent of it. That maybe”—she wiggled her fingers, making quotation marks—“just hangs on. I’m scared though.”
“Well, there’s time to weigh it out. You’re going to be pregnant for a few more months,” Róisín said.
“It’s just.” She frowned. “It gets lonely, you know? I love and adore Caid, he’s always been there for me. But I can’t stop myself from dreaming of a life where I have parents and not just, well, people who brought me topside.” Lina snorted and placed a protective hand over her stomach. “If nothing changes when I do?”
“Then you take the time you need to mourn the relationship that you could’ve had, and move on with the family you do have,” Róisín told her.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re wise far beyond your years?”
If only she knew.
Chapter 20
Caid slammed the tailgate of his truck, the latches protesting with loud thunks. When it failed to close and dropped back into his hands, he hissed out a breath.
His day had been utter shit, and a broken truck was the last thing he needed to pile onto it. Taking the top of it in his hands, he put the weight of his body behind the push, forcing it to latch. His chin dropped to his heaving chest, his shoulders rounded.
The chiding from Wyatt throughout the work day had been fine. If he were to be honest, he expected it. Staying at Róisín’s house would be noticed. It was a small town, and her house sat at the end of the cul-de-sac where all her neighbors could see. There was nothing to hide, and there wasn’t any shame trying to latch onto him over the new shift in his relationship with her.
It had been in the way Lina had looked at him through Róisín’s patio door the day before that had been the warning. She was angry with him. Over what, he hadn’t known. Until she flagged him down in town on a trip to the hardware store.
Her harsh footsteps had echoed over the linoleum floor of the store as she stomped over to where he was trying to locate a box of nails he needed for Róisín’s house. The slap against his bicep stung like a nettle up his arm. They’d exchanged heated words and she had fled the store, tears streaming down her cheeks, leaving him standing there, curious eyes on him.
He wanted to feel regret for the spiteful words that tumbled from his lips, especially when he watched her face fall and her eyes fill. He dug deep, searching for it, but came up empty. The scar he carried from his parents actions had deep roots that had wrapped around his every fiber of being.
He gripped the top of the tailgate, grinding his molars together. He knew he needed to go to Lina, to talk to her. Put his differences aside and let her say whatever she had wanted to say. It was different this time, almost like he couldn’t be that brother for her anymore. He was tapped out. Even pretending to care was exhausting. Why couldn’t she just give up on them like he had?
“Caid?” Róisín’s voice was quiet next to him. “You’re going to break a tooth, or your fingers are going to put holes in your truck.”
“What?” He blinked and looked down at his bulging knuckles, white from the tension of his grip.
She rested one of her hands over his, the touch breaking him free, grounding him. “Are you—oh.”
The word became muffled as he brought her against his chest, his arms wrapping tightly around her.
“You smell amazing. But you’re not good, are you?”
“I am right now.” He buried his nose in her hair, the scent of honey and lavender filling his senses, stroking along his skin, soothing, calming. “You smell amazing too.”
