Clarity by Claire Farrell Page B

back to Nathan’s house for food and drink. Judging by Jakob’s expression, he had absolutely no interest in hosting a wake, but Byron seemed insistent on it. I walked with my family, while Nathan and Amelia caught up with their grandfather. I didn’t particularly want to be around Nathan while he was in a mood. I could understand sad or upset, but he was livid, and I had no clue why. Those flashes of anger were becoming disturbingly more frequent. I didn’t recognise him when he acted that way. I didn’t particularly like him when he acted that way.
    “That was really something,” Dad said.
    “Oh, Dad.” I expected him to go all weird and call them hippies or something.
    “No, I mean, I liked it. Everyone’s talking about how beautiful a sending off it was. We all missed her funeral. It was nice that they did this. Everyone’s been saying it. They’re a part of the community now. And you know what? She sounded like a wonderful person.”
    “She was,” I said, crossing my fingers that nobody would ask questions about the real funeral because I was pretty certain it hadn’t been legal. “She kept them all together. Now she’s gone, and everything’s messed up.”
    Erin put her arm around my shoulder. “When someone leaves, another person takes over their role. It can take time for things to get sorted. They’ll be fine.”
    “I hope so.”
    Nathan’s family had made up a story about Lia’s death, telling everyone that she hadn’t been in the country when she had a heart attack and died. A death certificate from France had arrived a fortnight later, along with lots of other falsified documentation that allowed Nathan’s family to bury Lia in the local cemetery. That was strange enough, but Nathan hadn’t gone into any details, and I wasn’t altogether sure there was even a body in the grave we had visited. I had the strongest feeling that an awful lot of secrets remained.
    Dad and Erin ’s fingers remained permanently entwined, and although Gran gazed at them disapprovingly, she didn’t make one disparaging remark, which was a massive relief. I really needed her to lay off the battles for that one day.
    A buffet of food had been laid out when we finally arrived at Nathan’s home. I didn’t know who had organised everything, but they had done an amazing job. It was almost like a party, but then, every wake I’d ever been to had ended up having a party feel to it, so I wasn’t too surprised. All of the guests seemed to be enjoying themselves. Lots of goodwill had been earned, and I figured the whole thing was a huge success.
    Nathan’s family were the only ones who acted as though they didn’t want to be there.
     

Chapter Six
     
    Perdita
     
    I didn’t see Nathan for at least an hour, and when he finally appeared, he dragged me out of the living room after him, a scowl on his face.
    “What’s up?” I asked in the hallway.
    “Nothing.”
    “Okay, stop. Right now.” I wriggled out of his grip and put my hands on my hips, glaring at him. “What’s your problem?”
    “Nothing. Let’s just get this over with, okay?”
    “Nathan! You can’t ignore me and then come over and pull me by the hair like a little caveman!”
    “What? I didn’t pull your hair.” He backed up, his hands raised defensively.
    “It’s a figure of speech. I’m talking about the way you’ve been acting! I thought you were done with the bossy aggressive crap because you hunted this week. What’s with you?”
    He avoided my eyes, reminding me of Amelia in a sulk. “ Opa wants to see us. Can we deal with that first?”
    Ignoring his foul mood, I brushed past him and stalked toward Byron’s office. Amelia, Byron, and Jakob were there, as was the young man who had been sitting with Byron and Jakob at the memorial. He stared at me a little too long, and I felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze.
    Despite still being miffed at Nathan’s attitude, I edged closer to him. Without moving more than an inch, he