They Who from the Heavens Came (The Wisdom, #1)

Gwen had arranged the funeral. If Itzy had been in the right frame of mind to think about this, she might have found it strange that Evelyn hadn’t been in charge, but she was too stunned to process the details.

Gwen insisted Itzy and Devon stay for the morbid buffet afterward. It wasn’t often she flew all the way from Canada to England, and she wanted to see her niece for a few hours before she caught her flight home.

She probably wanted to see her nephew, too. That was a bitter pill for Itzy to swallow – that the one family member she felt such a close connection to wasn’t hers alone.

The girls hovered in a corner, a few feet from the buffet table, neither of them with much of an appetite. Itzy stared vacantly around the room, her hand tightly clutching the black bag slung over her shoulder. Across the room, her brother was engaged in what looked like a heated conversation – possibly an argument – with his mother.

‘Are you alright?’ Devon asked.

Itzy tore her gaze from her brother and wondered how to answer her friend. She tugged at the black dress she’d bought for the occasion. She didn’t own any other dresses. Despite her hair, she’d never felt comfortable in anything too fitted, too feminine. Even this dress wasn’t particularly girlish. It fell to her knees and swept out gently at the waist. Its neckline was square and unrevealing. With Devon’s curves, it might have been sexy, but on Itzy’s waifish figure, it was perfectly funereal.

‘I keep feeling like someone’s watching me,’ she admitted. The sensation had crept up on her while queuing to view the body and it hadn’t let up since.

‘Which one?’ Devon countered.

Itzy quickly saw her point. Everyone was watching her. They tried to hide it behind drinks and empty conversation, but there it was. Itzy was as much a spectacle at this funeral as her father.

She felt someone touch her elbow. Instinct made her turn, as if identifying her intruder would change what had just happened. When she saw him, she was hit with a wave of recognition, though she couldn’t place where she’d seen him.

He looked about her brother’s age – nineteen. He was nearly a foot taller than her five-foot-five and he had a broad chest to go with his height. His hair was pale blond and his eyes a clear, glassy blue. He wore the remnants of a black suit. His jacket had been discarded elsewhere and his tie hung over a crisp white button-down shirt.

‘Sorry,’ he began. His eyes flitted briefly to Devon before settling on Itzy. ‘You’re Itzel Loveguard, aren’t you?’ When Itzy stared blankly, he said, ‘I’m Seth. Ambrose. I mean –’ He laughed disarmingly. ‘I’m Seth Ambrose.’

Itzy still didn’t know what to do with this information, so he went on. He moved his hands a lot when he spoke, bending his arms and revealing the outline of his muscles. His fingers were long and looked like they ought to have been holding something, a paintbrush perhaps.

‘I noticed you across the church,’ he told her softly. ‘Why didn’t you sit with the rest of the family?’

Who was this person to ask her such a personal question?

Itzy pushed a lock of hair out of her face and looked in the direction of Seth’s ear, unable to meet his eyes. ‘Um, I don’t think they’d have wanted me with them.’ She darted her eyes around the room, as if worried someone might have overheard and been on their way over to scold her for speaking so honestly.

Seth shrugged. ‘That’s not your problem, though, right? He was your father. You should have been up front, with your brother.’

‘No, really,’ Itzy said. ‘That would not have gone down well.’

Seth looked at her curiously for what felt like a very long time, before saying, ‘You don’t know that.’

Devon seemed to sense Itzy’s discomfort and took over. ‘Did you know Stephen well?’

Seth shook his head. ‘I’m more a friend of the family.’ When he spoke again, his eyes were on Itzy. ‘I just found myself watching you and thinking it must be harder on you than anyone else here.’

Itzy lifted her head in surprise. ‘Why?’

He gave her a look that suggested he shouldn’t have to explain such a thing to her. He opened his mouth to say something, when another boy approached and stood at Seth’s side.

The blood rushed out of Itzy’s face. ‘Osiris,’ she breathed.

He looked so much like Stephen, it was like staring at a ghost. But up close, she could see there was a lot of Evelyn in him, too. He was now almost a foot taller than Itzy. His black hair was overgrown, dashing into his dark eyes, which were mirrors of Itzy’s. He had that same sand-blasted complexion, too.

He looked stricken, like something had just happened to him, but he wasn’t sure he should tell anyone. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, he smoothed his expression.

‘It’s Oz,’ he corrected his half-sister.

‘Oh. Right,’ said Itzy, unable to take her eyes off him. What had that glimpse of emotion meant?

He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked, his tone cold.

‘I….’ Words failed her. She felt stupid, and far too young to deal with everything that had suddenly become her life.

Seth put one of his painters’ hands on Oz’s shoulder and said, ‘Oz.’

Oz shook him off and went on like he hadn’t heard him. His dark eyes found his sister’s. ‘Your mother threw him out seven years ago. You weren’t even supposed to be his family. He already had a family – me.’ He hammered a whitely clenched fist against his chest to emphasise his last word.

Then it happened. Itzy was finally sick. Everything she had been carrying inside poured out, all over her brother’s black trousers and shiny matching shoes. She heaved forward and fell to the ground, unable to control her body.

‘Itzy!’ she heard Gwen cry from across the room before she hurried over to her niece.

Mum, Itzy called out in her head. Mum, I need you. You should be here. Why aren’t you? Why are you never there for me anymore?

It occurred to her that Oz’s mother had vanished, too. She hadn’t seen Evelyn since the service. The Loveguard children were two lone kids without guidance at a time like this. What did that mean?

Then she fell to the floor. The last thing she saw before everything went dark was a pair of grey eyes.