Seeking Crystal Read Online Free Page A

manners. ‘Get out of my way.’ I pushed roughly past them both and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me to be vilely ill.
    ‘Well, using my special spidey sense, I’d say she just got sick,’ Xav said.
     
    The next few days went no better for me. The conference took the news that their organizer had found his soulfinder among their number with embarrassing enthusiasm. It became one long party, and I’m sure very little of the serious stuff got done. Trace’s family, those not already involved in the event, rushed to Denver to meet Diamond. She was an instant success. How could she not be? Sweet, kind, talented—she was every parent’s dream partner for a much-loved son. His diminutive mother, Karla, hugged her as tightly as if she was the last lifebelt on a sinking ship; his impressive Native American father, Saul, gave her a lovely fatherly embrace, his pride and joy plain for all to see. When he smiled, his dark eyes disappeared into a sunburst of wrinkles; it was one of the happiest faces I’d ever seen, a contrast to his usual composed expression.
    Don’t get me wrong, I was really delighted for Diamond. Aside from the annoying healer brother, Trace and his family were lovely, going out of their way to be kind to us. The soulfinders of the two youngest boys made a particular effort to make me welcome while the Benedicts concentrated on Diamond. Both girls were English in origin and as I had spent most of my life imprisoned—sorry, being educated—in a boarding school in Cheltenham, we had a fair amount in common. Sky was paired with the tallest and youngest of the brood, Zed, a scary-looking boy until he was with his little blonde girlfriend. Then he looked almost tamed. They were in their last year at High School. The other girl, Phoenix, was a more fragile character than the others, thanks to a difficult past, but she was already married to brother Number Six, the ultra-intelligent college boy, Yves. She told me she was far happier than she had ever been before. They were way too young in my mind to be hitched as they were only eighteen but that didn’t seem to bother her. She only said that it was inevitable and wonderful.
    Sky and Phoenix were fun to go shopping with and the Benedict boys (with one exception) charming to me. The problem was that I felt so, well, redundant . It was very clear that in her mind Diamond had already moved on to thinking about how to change her life with Trace in the frame; being a kind of surrogate mother to a grown sister bent that picture out of shape. She would never be so cruel as even to hint that she didn’t want me around, but I was no fool. I knew things would be easier if I took responsibility for myself and got out of the way. Decisions had been hovering over me for a few months; now the flock had landed and it was time to deal with them.
    So I did what I could for her. I kept a low profile, saying that I was still feeling shaky after the mugging, and changed the dates on my air ticket. She had already said she wanted to stay on in Colorado to get to know Trace’s family.
    ‘Crystal, you don’t have to go back, you know.’ Diamond perched on the edge of her bed, playing with the bracelet Trace had given her the night before: an expensive modern setting of the stones she was named after.
    No, I really did. ‘It’s fine. I’ve got stuff to do.’
    She hugged her knees. ‘We’ve decided to get married in Venice, so all our family can come too.’
    Marriage had been inevitable from the start: both Diamond and Trace were traditionally minded and we had been raised devout Catholics. I was pleased she wanted to do the dreaded deed back home where we had our roots. At least that gave me a reason for my existence over the next few months.
    ‘OK, shall I look into arrangements? When do you want to hold the ceremony?’
    She blushed prettily. ‘Trace doesn’t want to wait. We are thinking just before Christmas so we can take our honeymoon over the