The Spirit Guardians Book 3: Fated

Chapter 16

Lillian stood outside on the porch with Cherie, watching steam rise from the grill. The sun was still bright even in the evening now that summer had arrived. The temperature was at least comfortable though, and hopefully would remain so for the dinner that would commence later that night.

"So Mitsuki likes steak, huh?" Cherie asked.

Lillian nodded, beginning to string lights across the porch. She'd already completed decorating the porch in balloons. They were blue, Mitsuki's favorite color.

I know more about her than I thought, Lillian realized. She knew Mitsuki's favorite food, her favorite color, her favorite time of day (dusk, right when the stars came out). Her favorite animal was a raccoon, and she loved any dessert with chocolate in it. She disliked the taste of coffee and was adamant that she have at least an hour to herself each day to decompress. She loved Halloween and slept with her covers bundled around her head at night.

Lillian felt her cheeks grow hot and continued stringing lights. She'd barely had the chance to wish Mitsuki a happy birthday earlier in the day. Lillian had woken up late after a night of unrest and had caught Mitsuki just before she left to go to training.

"Lillian," Cherie interrupted. She had definitely asked Lillian a question but Lillian had been too wrapped up in her thoughts to hear.

Lillian looked up. "Yes? Sorry?"

"I asked if you tied all the balloons up."

"Yeah, I did. Sorry. Didn't sleep that well last night," Lillian muttered, plugging the lights in so that they reflected a burnt yellow across the porch.

Something was growing inside her with each passing day when she thought of Mitsuki. When they had made up from their fight, there was something in Lillian that wanted to hold onto her forever. She still wasn't sure why Mitsuki had broken down into tears, but all she knew was she wanted to stroke her hair and hold her hand and...

Lillian's breath caught. This was what had kept her up at night. A lot of times she fell asleep imagining Irene sleeping beside her. It was stupid to keep up the façade that Irene still cared for her deep down. They had dated when Lillian was seventeen and Irene sixteen. Their relationship had barely lasted a year. But it had struck something deep in Lillian. There was something difficult about letting go of the first person she had opened up to.

Because now when she fell asleep, she thought of Mitsuki's strands of hair tickling her nose or their hands interlaced together. Lillian was beginning to tingle just at the thought of it.

But then she remembered what Cassie had said about Irene. That was she was suffering. Did she still owe something to Irene? Did she still need to make sure Irene was cared for? She could feel Irene slipping from her grasp, but Lillian did not see that as necessarily a bad thing. The blue eyes that haunted her were now replaced by the bright illumination of Mitsuki's dark brown eyes.

"Do you think she'll like the decorations?" Cherie wondered.

Lillian giggled. "Mitsuki isn't one for attention, but I'm making sure she gets a proper party anyway. You only turn twenty-four once. Two dozen years on this earth should be celebrated."

"Good, good. You already have the present all wrapped up?"

Lillian quietly nodded. After going with Cherie to one of her meeting places, they'd stopped at a small town and browsed the shops. Knowing Mitsuki's birthday was coming up, Lillian had taken it upon herself to buy a present. She was planning to give it to Mitsuki privately later that night.

The decorations were soon finished, and the others headed outside to snack on some appetizers as Cherie finished up dinner. The porch door suddenly opened, and Lillian jolted. Mitsuki stepped out, narrowing her eyes as she gazed at the decorations. Francesco was following behind, jingling his car keys in his hand.