A Cursed Bloodline
Page 88

Emme had been quiet. As Liam’s former lover, she didn’t feel she could express her sorrow like she wanted to with Allie so close by. Taran’s threat over how Diane glared at me forced her to speak up. “Taran, don’t start a fight at Liam’s funeral.”
Taran’s dark waves flipped behind her when her head jerked in Emme’s direction. “She’s the one starting it. Do you think she’s upset about Liam? No, she’s mad that Aric dumped her ass.”
Diane narrowed her eyes further. I supposed Taran had a point. She stormed to where Aric spoke to his mother and another elderly were—and smacked him hard across the face. The brutal strike echoed, causing a stunned silence among the crowd. He shook his head to clear it. I rose, slowly, shocked at her outburst.
She rushed toward me. Aric intercepted her, looming over her. “You can say and do whatever you want to me—I deserve it—but my Celia is off limits.”
Eliza took her place next to her son. Her back was to me. I couldn’t see her expression, but I saw Diane’s. She took a couple of frightened steps back and left. The reception resumed as if undisturbed. It seems some level of violence was expected at a were funeral.
Danny left his conversation with Makawee and walked toward our table. Heidi surged out of nowhere, her outrageously large breasts pressed tight against the fabric of her hot pink dress. He lifted her hand and kissed it. His eyes never left hers until they joined us at our table.
I smiled at her. Aric had told me she was the one who’d placed me in Makawee’s dress the night we were captured. She didn’t remember doing it, as she remained under Anara’s control, but I couldn’t help but think she’d done so against his will.
Bren swaggered over with his arm around some werecheetah and a bottle of witch’s brew at his side. The cheetah snuggled contently against him. I’d wondered where he’d disappeared to. Taran gawked back and forth between them. “Son of a bitch. I can’t believe you hooked up at a funeral.”
Bren gave her a hard stare. “It’s what Liam would have wanted.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, knowing he had a point.
The sun had begun to skim across the orange and red sky when Aric knelt before me and took my hands in his. “Liam’s family would like a word with you before they leave, sweetness,” he said quietly.
I stood with him, knowing I had to face them and yet wishing I didn’t have to. Gemini joined Aric’s side, his dark almond eyes locking on Taran. There was something different in the way he regarded her, but I couldn’t determine what it was. She pretended not to notice and reflexively tugged the sleeves of her silk gloves. He lowered his head and reached his hand out to Emme. “They wish to see you as well,” he said.
Emme shot me a panicked glance as Gemini led her ahead of us.
Aric tucked me against him and escorted me to where Liam’s family and his mate waited beside the simple urn holding his ashes. My eyes burned as we closed the distance and I struggled not to fall apart. But my grief and guilt over Liam’s death made it impossible to stay strong. By the time we reached them, I was wailing miserably and so were they.
Liam’s human mother towered over me and yet she met me with kindness. “Don’t weep for my son,” she told me as her own tears continued to run. “He died honorably.” She kissed my forehead and gazed out into the setting sun. The ache in my chest tightened when I caught her eyes lower to fix on the large portrait of Liam. “He was a good boy, always was,” she said remembering. “He’d pick dandelions and leave them around the house for me. ‘I know you like flowers, Mommy,’ he’d say. Even once he found out they were weeds, he’d continue to bring them to me, knowing they made me smile.” Her lips quivered a few times and her voice cracked. “I’d give anything for him to bring me one now.”
I gathered her in my arms, my voice shaking. “I would, too. God, I’m so sorry.”
I released her into the arms of her husband. Except for his advanced age and a few extra pounds, Liam’s werewolf father resembled him perfectly. He smiled while he continued to cry. “Thank you for tearing out the witch’s throat for us,” he said politely. “I hope you got to eat it before you were captured.”
“Um” was the only answer I managed.
Liam’s sister, Maeve, passed her child to her husband and threw her arms around me. A tear trickled down her face when she released me. Like her mother, she was also human. “Liam really liked you, Celia,” she told me. “He said you were kind and smart and funny.” I smiled. “He was also impressed by your sexual prowess. He used to tell us how you and Aric would go at it for hours.” My smile faded. His sister didn’t look anything like him, but I could tell they were related.
Allie gave me an excuse to turn my crimson face away. She clasped Emme’s hands and smiled gently. “The full moon is in two days. I’ll be with Liam soon.”
Allie was nothing more than a walking skeleton. Her pale skin clung to her sunken face and what remained of her muscles dangled from her bones. When weres die, their mates usually join them by the next full moon. Judging by Allie’s fragile condition, she would join Liam before then.
Emme squeezed her hands. “Of course you’ll be with him. You’re his mate for eternity.” She reached out as Allie lost her composure and gathered her tight.
It was the moment that Emme needed to release her despair and say goodbye to her beloved Liam.
Chapter Thirty-five
“Will they try to kill us?”
Aric’s grip around me tightened. “I don’t want you to worry about anything, love.”
Okay, not the answer I want to hear.
Koda drove our SUV along the grassy path leading to Mount Elbert, the command center of the North American Were Council. Shayna rode in front with him, gripping his hand tight. She was quiet…and scared.
Aric’s protective hold on me increased the closer we drew to the base of the mountain. My eyes darted toward Eliza on my other side. She tried to smile when she caught my glance, but failed to conceal the bitter scent of her nervousness.
“Um. This is the part where someone says, ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Celia. Of course we’re not walking into imminent doom.’ ”
No one laughed at my comment.
“Sweetness, I don’t want you to worry,” Aric repeated once more.