He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and basketball shorts, his feet bare.
She stopped a few feet behind him and cleared her throat, hoping he wouldn’t be angry with her for intruding.
“Rian?”
When he stopped punching and turned around, she saw surprise flicker briefly over his face before it went carefully blank.
She smiled warmly at him as she stepped a little closer, her hands folded delicately in front of her.
He watched her silently, which she assumed meant he was either annoyed with her, or simply unsure of what to say.
Sincerely hoping it was the latter, she decided it was up to her to speak first.
“I wanted to thank you for saving me the other night. I’m sorry I didn’t thank you earlier; I should have found a way to tell you so you wouldn’t think that I was ungrateful for what you did.”
“You could have died.” He replied simply, his eyes tightening. “You don’t need to be sorry for not rushing to thank me. I was only doing my job.”
“Right…okay.” She murmured, biting her lip and glancing down at the ground awkwardly. He was always analyzing what she said in a way that made her feel like a fool, like she shouldn’t feel sorry or reminiscent or worried. But she couldn’t help what went on inside of her, emotions or otherwise. Maybe it was his serious nature that caused him to scrutinize everything as though it were under a microscope. He seemed like a person who didn’t feel many emotions, at least not on the surface. But, despite everything, she was curious to find out more about him, even if it took a long time to crack his hard outer shell. She could be patient.
What she couldn’t be patient on any longer, however, was her pursuit for understanding on why she had been targeted and attacked, and if it related in any way to the demon that had killed her mother. Knowing that Rian was ultimately going to be her best source for information on the subject, she searched for a good way to ask him about it.
“Um…so, if you’re not too busy, I was hoping we could talk about what happened two nights ago.”
She glanced up to look at him, and noticed he was still watching her.
“I am too busy.”
“Oh, okay then…maybe another time.” Capri tried to smile, hoping to hide most of her disappointment. As she started to turn, he spoke again.
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t spare a few minutes.”
She looked up at him, her eyes bright. “Really?”
He smirked, nodding his head just slightly. “Walk with me.”
She fell into step beside him as they walked along the side pathway that wound through the massive gardens. His posture was rigid and flawless, and, just as before, she noticed just how much he acted like a strict warrior prepared to enter battle. It was like he was groomed to be unyieldingly faultless, and one slip up could damage his reputation and his pride.
He wasn’t that much taller than her, only a few inches or so, and the shirt he was wearing showed off the strength in his arms and chest. She couldn’t help but wonder how often he had to use that strength against demons, and if it was common for the Furies to fight with fists versus guns.
After a moment of walking, he began to speak.
“I was reading in the library that night, facing the window. I looked up when I noticed movement outside, and it was you walking through the courtyard. I know that you don’t make a habit of walking around alone at night, so I was suspicious. I caught up with you outside, and you were walking very strangely and your eyes were closed. I didn’t touch you at first, just in case you were only sleepwalking. But then you started speaking, and your voice was deeper than normal, and throatier, and the words you said were so strange that I knew it hadn’t come from you.”
“What did I say?” Capri asked, alarmed.
“You said ‘You will suffer as I have suffered, the outcast, disposed of like trash, not worthy of being a Dryad because of dirty blood.’ You kept repeating it, over and over, until I grabbed you before you could reach the tree and you fell to the ground and hit your head. Then I started shaking you to try and wake you up.”
“Was it the demon saying those things?” She stopped mid-step, her eyes wide with concern. “What does it mean?”
“Yes, I believe it was the demon, though I don’t know what it means.” He answered, stopping also and facing her. “I told Thea about it, and I think she understood it more than she let on.” He paused a moment, annoyed. “I just don’t know why a demon would talk about dirty blood, or about being an outcast. It just doesn’t make sense. Demons have never been allowed to live on Euphora, and I doubt they would want to anyways. They hate everything about us.”
“Why do they hate us?” Capri asked, feeling a little sick to her stomach.
“Because we are all that’s stopping them from destroying the world.” He replied darkly, his eyes sparking with an excitement she’d never before seen in them.
So there was something he was passionate about, she thought curiously as she watched him with wide eyes.
“I see…so what happened next?”
“When you snarled and struck out at me, it confirmed my suspicions that you were possessed, and so I banished the demon from your body. I started to pursue him before he could get away, but I made the decision not to leave you alone in case there were others waiting.”
“There might have been more of them?” She paled at the thought of it, her brow creasing with worry.
“Never underestimate a demon. They are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. Fortunately, as I later discovered, there were no traces of other demons, only the one, though he was long gone before I was able to go looking for him again.”
“I’m sorry…it’s because of me that you weren’t able to catch him.” She felt horribly guilty, though she knew she should be grateful that he stayed with her, seeing as she would have been terrified otherwise.
“Just like it’s because of someone else that the demon gained access to Euphora in the first place.” He countered grimly. “What we need to focus on right now is not who this demon is, but who let him in. Has anything strange happened to you recently, or has anyone acted suspiciously around you?”
“I…” She paused, unsure whether or not she should tell him about what she had witnessed in the library. It had just seemed so farfetched before...but she supposed given the current circumstances, it could possibly be connected to what had happened to her. “Actually, there was something…it was something Rohan said.”
“Rohan?” Rian’s eyes narrowed as he watched her.
“Yes…I was in the library the day I was possessed, and I overheard a conversation between Rohan and another man.”
“And what did they say?”
“Rohan said something about needing the other man’s word that something would be handled…the other man just told him not to worry, that it was being taken care of.” She paused, her eyes widening in shock. “Do you think Rohan might have been talking about me?”
“Anything is possible.” Rian replied grimly, looking concerned now. “You didn’t recognize the other voice?”
“Well, I thought I did…I mean, I know who it sounded like…but it’s just not possible.”
“Who did it sound like?”
Capri stared at him, shaking her head as though she didn’t really believe it herself. “It sounded like Brock.”
For a moment he didn’t say anything, as though he was processing what she had said and was trying to make sense of it. “You have never met Brock, how do you know his voice?”
“From my dream. The man my mother trusted, the one who ordered her and I to be killed, it was his voice I heard in the library.”
“Brock no longer has access to Euphora, and it is highly unlikely he was walking around the castle, much less with Rohan. Rohan is a law abiding man, he would have notified us immediately if he had seen Brock here.”
“You’re right…I must have misheard.” Capri chewed her bottom lip anxiously. “Though, it bothered me how quickly Rohan blamed Blythe after this happened.”
“Did he say why he thought she had done it?”
“All he said was that fire was bad blood, and that her father and grandmother couldn’t be trusted, therefore she couldn’t be trusted either. But Blythe would never do anything to hurt me. She’s my friend.”
“It’s possible that Rohan is covering up his own tracks. Though I can’t imagine him planning anything with Brock if he was so quick to accuse him of being bad blood.” Rian considered, looking off across the courtyard towards the castle. “I would never assume him capable of something like this, but as I said, anything is possible.”
“Why would he want to hurt me?”
“Any number of reasons, I suppose. People do brash things all the time out of desperation. But we can’t start assuming it was him without proof. I will look into this; just promise me you won’t tell anyone else what you have just told me. Until we find out who is responsible, it is safe to say that no one can be trusted.”
“I trust you.” Capri said before she could stop herself. She blushed at the look he gave her.
“You trust too easily. You hardly know me.” He met her eyes again, his expression impossible to read.
“You saved me when you didn’t have to. If that isn’t enough for you to earn my trust, then I don’t know what is.” She didn’t mean to sound defensive, but she certainly felt that way.
“Well, if you insist on trusting me, then I guess I can’t stop you.” He said, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to convince her otherwise. “Come to me first if anything else strange happens, okay?”
“Okay.” Capri smiled then, feeling better. “Thank you for talking to me about this.”
“Just doing my job.” He said again, his lips curving ever so slightly before he turned and walked away from her. She watched him go, wishing he knew just how grateful she was that he had been there to protect her. If it hadn’t been for him, she might very well be dead.
♦ ♦ ♦
She stared at the daffodils on her nightstand that night, her mind numb and her body tired. Moonlight drifted in from the open window, casting a soft blue glow around her dark room.
Never before in her life had she felt this way, as though her world was crumbling around her, falling apart at the seams despite how desperately she tried to hold on to it.
The simple fact remained that she was home, where she truly belonged and with her family. She supposed that was at least a step in the right direction.
But then she had found out that her mother was murdered, and that her death was never really solved in its entirety. And surely it shouldn’t rest upon her shoulders alone to find the killer, but she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing…she had spent her entire life standing by and doing nothing, and it was no longer her wish to continue living that way. She needed to be stronger than she felt, even if that meant putting herself in harm’s way.
Which, if the events of the past few days were any indication, harm was exactly where she had put herself.
Had Rohan heard her asking questions about her mother’s death? Had that sparked something within him that set him off? Had he been involved with the murder, despite the evidence pointing to Brock alone? Was that why someone had let in the demon to lead her from the safety of Euphora, so they could silence her?
Even if it hadn’t been Brock she had heard in the library, it was still likely to be the same person who had let in the demon. The two incidents were just too coincidental to not be connected. But who was it then? What if the Furies didn’t find out in time, and the person attempted to harm her again?
Fear shivered through her as she sat on the side of her bed, and so she clutched her arms around herself to try and regain some sense of warmth.
She shuddered again as she recalled the helplessness of being possessed, the feeling of being trapped inside her own mind and body, fighting for release. Whoever had allowed that demon to possess her had wanted her to feel that way. They wanted her to feel powerless, weak, frightened. They wanted to take her again, only this time she was a full grown woman, capable of fighting back. And so they had resorted to possessing her, and tricking her with her own mind into walking right off Euphora and into what was surely a death trap. So who would require her silence so desperately that they were willing to surrender her to the mercy of a heartless demon?
Was it really Rohan? Could he be responsible?
It was then that she heard the voices. They were soft at first, almost muted, but as she stood up and walked towards her open window, the voices became louder and much clearer.
“I insist on accompanying you. What if you need assistance?”
It was the four Furies, all dressed in matching black uniforms, and Rohan, who looked arrogantly superior in his tailored gunmetal gray suit. Rohan had been the one to speak, and he was looking angrier by the minute.
“What’re you gonna do, Rohan, grow a plant?” Roarke laughed boisterously at his own joke, while the others around him were silent. “We have this handled, as always. It’s just a lead anyways, and odds are it’s not even the same demon who was here a few days ago.”
Capri’s stomach clenched at his words, and her eyes shifted to Rian, who was standing beside his father silently. She watched him closely, noting how he stood so dignified with his hands clasped behind his back. He had a holster around his waist with a pistol strapped to it, and she saw a strap with several dozen of the liquid nitrogen bullets on it wrapped over his shoulder.
It’s like they’re going into battle, she thought uneasily. Guns blazing, bullets flying, men dying…she had to bite her tongue to fight against the fear she felt just thinking about it.
“Then you should have no problem with me joining you if it is simply following up on a lead.” Rohan insisted again.
Roarke seemed to consider for a moment, before sighing audibly. “Fine, but you better not get in the way.”
Balgaire shifted suddenly and leaned towards Roarke, saying something quietly to him so Rohan would not hear. Roarke looked at his partner questionably before turning back to Rohan.
“You better stay here, Rohan.” Roarke ordered, the amusement in his voice gone. “Apparently Balgaire feels this is going to be a bit more serious than just following up on a lead. You’re not trained in dealing with these demons, so you’re going to have to stay behind. We’ll be back in the morning.”