I nod my head, acknowledging him before I shovel more food into my mouth. Apparently, I’d worked up quite an appetite myself. Suddenly, we hear the front door open and close, and it doesn’t take long for us tofigure out that it’s Ronan and Orin. Ronan is yapping away, and Orin is listening as he always does.
“Ladies and gents, your carriage awaits,” Ronan says in a playful tone, bowing at the waist mockingly. I just shake my head and wash down the biscuit with a swig of the piping hot coffee.
“Ah, what a gentleman. Sounds like someone is working for a tip,” Maeve quips. She drinks her full glass of water like it was going to be the last she’d have for a while. I stand from the table and lean over to kiss my mother on the head, and walk to where my father is sitting. He stands, reaching out his hand to shake mine. His grip is firm, halting, like he doesn’t want to let go.
“I accept cash or credit, doll,” Ronan retorts with a wink as he walks over to his father and shakes his hand, while Maeve embraces my mother with such adoration that it makes my heart ache. I know she misses her mom. Hell, I miss her mom. Even now, I’m still struck by just how much she looks just like Imogen, with her light red hair and freckles across the bridge of her nose. But it’s her eyes most of all, sea green, vibrant.
Orin and Maeve make their way to the Rover, Ronan following a few steps behind, closing the gap with a light jog. Orin opens the back door for Maeve, and Ronan sneaks up behind her and pokes her side, making her turn and punch him hard in the arm. Orin laughs, shaking his head as he takes his place in the passenger seat.
Maeve turns around to find me walking up behind her. I reach up to hold her face in my hands. I rub the pad of my thumb across her cheek. She closes her eyes and leans into the touch. She reaches up to covermy hand, letting a sigh pass her lips as if she’d been nervous. I kiss her forehead before allowing her to crawl into the backseat, then follow to take my place next to her. Ronan slides on his shades, then turns on the radio as he starts down the driveway.
“Lady and gents, please keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. If you have any questions, critiques, comments, or complaints, keep them to yourself,” he announces as we pass through the gates and turn onto the street. Maeve groans in playful annoyance. Ronan just flashes his widest grin at her and cranks the volume up.
It doesn’t take long for us to arrive at the private airport. The cabin crew is waiting at the base of the stairs to greet us as we ascend into the jet. The pilot stands next to the cockpit and welcomes us as we walk inside. As usual, he gives a quick rundown of what kind of weather we’ll be flying into. He expects turbulence mid-flight, but assures us that it’s nothing he hasn’t handled before. Maeve’s grip on my arm tightens, and I pat her hand reassuringly.
Orin and Ronan settle into a row of their own near the front of the plane, while Maeve and I go to the lounge-style seats toward the back. The pilot comes over the speaker, reminding us to fasten our seatbelts before we turn onto the tarmac. Maeve is tense next to me as the jet begins to pick up speed. The nose of the plane tips upward, and she clutches my hand so hard that both of our knuckles are white.
“How long has it been since you’ve flown,mo agra?” I ask with a raised brow.
“Uhhh, umm, it’s been a while,” she says, her voice shaking, her eyes darting back and forth at the window beside her. I pull her more tightly to my side.
“My sweet, inexperienced Maeve,” I say, leaning my head on top of hers, and I smile as I feel her jerk away.
“Don’t be an ass,” she says, jabbing my shoulder playfully.
Once the plane levels out and we can unfasten our seatbelts, she begins to relax. I press the button to make the automatic footrest extend and wait for Maeve to get comfortable. Her head is resting in my lap with her long legs stretched across the other end of the lounge. I massage her scalp and watch the tension leave her brows as sleep begins to consume her. I lean my head back against the headrest, quickly losing the battle myself as I drift into oblivion, Maeve within reach.
Chapter 31
Maeve
Eonian (adj) constant and indefinite; continuing forever
19 Years Old
My mind was swimming in the ocean, waves crashing over me one after another with no land in sight. My ears rang, and the chaos around me had become muffled like hands covering my ears, making it impossible to decipher a single word. Sweat began to gather at the back of my neck, my face hot, my eyes heavy. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Everything was in slow motion, and I couldn’t see Orin. The crowd closed in on me as the lights lowered. I began to shove past people, not paying attention to who they were, as I couldn’t see them anyway. Everyone was a blur.
I was having a panic attack.
Where were the exit signs? Aren’t they supposed to be visible? Why the fuck did I think I could handle this? I was in no way ready for this, and all it took was one tiny whiff of cologne to send me into a spiral. One whiff of the same cologne that slick-haired Italian bastard wore. It was a mixture of metallic citrus, wet moss, and cheap cigarettes. I felt like I was going to puke. Then, suddenly, I crashed into a tall, stocky guy. He grabbed my shoulders, trying to steady me, but I started fighting himoff. My fist connected with his ribs, and he grunted before grabbing both sides of my face in his hands. I tried to fight him off again.
The sound of Orin yelling my name began to filter through the muffled ringing, and his face slowly started to come into focus. Tears of relief began to stream down my face, followed by a shuddering sob. I was thankful we were near the edge of the crowd and only a few people watched the scene. I didn’t really care, though. I just wanted out of there. Orin scooped me up, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him carry me out of the stadium. There was an SUV with two other men waiting for us outside the exit, and Orin climbed into the back seat with me. He didn’t loosen his hold on me. He only spoke once the entire drive.
“I’m right here, Maeve. You are safe,” he said, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a comfort to hear, no matter how hard it was to believe.
It wasn’t until we were back home in my room that I finally raised my head to look at him. I hadn’t spoken the entire way home. I wiped my face with my hands and pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes, attempting to push the headache away. It was wishful thinking. My head was pounding. Orin looked like he had been crying himself, his eyes bloodshot and puffy, but I hadn’t heard it. He met my gaze, and the expression I saw there was both sorry and broken. I pulled him in for a tight hug, not only because I needed one, but because I could see he needed it too.
After a while, he sat me on the bed before walking into my closet to grab something better to sleep in. He laid out a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt on the bed before leaving.
After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, the daylight began to creep above the horizon. Finally giving up on the idea of sleep, I walked into the bathroom, and I avoided looking at myself in the mirror. I turned the shower on with the heat blazing, discarded my clothes in the hamper, and stepped into the scalding water. I felt some of the tension slowly leave my body as if someone had poked a tiny hole in my skin with a pin, allowing the stress to trickle out drop by drop. After I finally felt clean enough, I wrapped my hair in a towel and another around my body, then headed to the closet to find my workout gear. I got dressed, put on my game face, and went downstairs to train with Lorcan.
Wrapping a ponytail around the end of my braid, I tossed it over my shoulder just as my feet hit the bottom step in the foyer. I walked through the front door and began to jog, making my way to the training gym we had on the estate, where Lorcan usually trained me and everyone else. He was probably up by now, so why not start early? It was about ten minutes later when I finally walked through the doors, sweat already coating my skin, only to find the building empty. Odd.
I walked around, listening for any sign of life, and came up empty until I opened a door in the back. Orin sat in a chair with headphones in, completely unaware of me. He was watching something on the projector, and I sat and waited, trying to figure out exactly what it was. Just when I realized who was in the video, Lorcan pulled me by the arm, yanking me out of the doorway with his hand over my mouth to stifle my surprised yelp. He looked angry, the way a parent looks when you’re caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
“What are you doing?” Lorcan demanded in a harsh whisper.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I said, my voice sounding so unsure, even to me. “I wanted to see if we could start early. Last night… something happened, and I…” I trailed off, not sure what to say.
