Spirit Bound - Christine Feehan [16]
Judith took a deep breath and pulled back from that yawning precipice of despair and sorrow, knowing if she went over the edge, she’d take Blythe and Airiana with her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was thinking of Paul today and it’s just so close. The idea that Levi could hurt Rikki when we stood for him, when we’ve accepted him into our family—that’s just so horrible.” She hadn’t been sleeping lately. Was it possible she was affecting Blythe? It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
“But it happens,” Blythe said.
Airiana put a comforting hand on Blythe’s shoulder. “Yes it does, Blythe. Sometimes, especially when we’re quite young, we trust the wrong people.”
Judith nudged Airiana with her bare foot in an effort to lighten the mood. “Some of us are still quite young.”
Airiana gave her a mock scowl. “I am not the baby of this family, Lexi is.”
“You’re close,” Judith teased. “Not quite grown yet. Didn’t you get carded going into an R-rated movie last week?”
Blythe burst out laughing as Airiana winced. “You can’t deny it, Airiana, and you’re never going to live that one down—at least not for a very long time.”
Airiana joined the laughter as she shook her head at the absurdity. “Clearly the woman needed glasses.”
“Who called earlier?” Judith asked as the laughter subsided.
“I almost forgot,” Airiana said. “Inez called. She said she needed you to call back as soon as possible. Someone’s inquiring about buying the gallery and she’s hoping you can take the time to show them around.”
“That would be so nice for her and Frank to get out from under that payment,” Blythe said. “She really struggled to keep things going for Frank while he was in jail. His health is so fragile right now that they can’t keep both the store and the gallery. You’ve been so good to them, Judith.”
Judith indicated Airiana with her teacup. “I’ve been working at the gallery more than in my own shop. If Airiana wasn’t helping out, I wouldn’t have been able to help them.” She grinned at her sisters. “I might just get out of working out tonight.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Blythe protested. “If I’m going, you have to go too.”
“Levi doesn’t even let Rikki off the hook,” Airiana pointed out. “You’re going to go, Judith. Call Inez back, but don’t you dare try to make an appointment to see them this evening. We promised Levi we’d learn self-defense.”
“But I’m hopeless,” Judith wailed.
“Only because you won’t hit anyone,” Airiana said. “Personally, I enjoy hitting the man. Try it, honey, you might like it. Just pretend he’s someone you don’t like.”
Judith’s heart jumped. She forced her mind away from that possibility. Airiana had no idea just how dangerous that would be. Judith could tap into every element, draw power from all energy, ignite the room with Lissa’s fire, flood it with Rikki’s water, bury it with Lexi’s earth or use Airiana’s air to blow a house down. She couldn’t afford—not ever again—to lose control of her emotions. She didn’t even dare acknowledge a darker emotion, for fear of what would happen.
She was afraid to hit someone, especially someone she loved. She ducked her head to hide her expression, hanging on to her smile a little grimly. “Levi thinks I’m a pansy ass.”
Airiana nudged her with her toe. “Isn’t that better than having a big ass?”
“Or no ass at all?” Blythe asked.
Judith gave them both a mock scowl. “You’re both obsessed with my butt.” She studied Blythe’s face. “But you didn’t come here to discuss any of this, did you? What’s wrong, Blythe?”
Blythe sighed and put down her teacup. “You know Elle and Jackson are in Europe. He’s taken a leave of absence for six months and they’re touring right now. But they’ll be coming back. The seventh daughter has always lived in the Drake house in Sea Haven. They’re definitely coming back. Joley Drake married Ilya Prakenskii. We can pretend that Levi is a Hammond all we want, but Ilya’s going to know. And Jonas