Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (20 page)

“We should get going,” Reed said from atop his horse.

The young wolf was growing on Gabe. He wasn’t sure how much Syney had told him, but he had handled it all well—although Gabe did miss Hunter’s company, which he would deny if asked.

Syney sighed and nodded. “OK.” She glanced at Gabe. That was the first time she had even looked in his direction in a couple of days. He didn’t need to
be a mind reader to see that she was angry. He didn’t blame her. In fact he had actually felt bad about what he had done to Hunter, although it needed to be done. He couldn’t have Syney leaving the Village; she was too important.

Syney put her foot in the stirrup just as the gate opened and Adam walked out. He looked around at all of them before settling on Syney. “Sorry, I had to…figure out if I wanted to come.”

She nodded. “OK.”

Adam pulled himself onto the horse then offered his hand to Syney.

They started toward the portal at a slow pace. They weren’t in too much of a hurry, but Gabe kept his ears open for even the slightest noise. He was on edge because of the Shifters. He didn’t like the idea of a group of antsy Lycins walking around the borders of Shifter land. Shifters were known for a lot of things, but backing down from a fight wasn’t one of them. And there was no mistaking the fact that their mission was a clear threat, whether or not it was meant to be. He needed the plan to be accelerated because of that. He couldn’t have the Shifters actually engaging the Lycins. That would put the Magic User queen in the forefront of the war, and he needed Syney to call a peace summit. Those two things didn’t mix.

The other problem he had was Mellisandrianna. He was pretty sure, if she was really switching bodies somehow, that she actually knew who he was. That alone should have gotten him kicked out of the Village, which meant she didn’t know that he knew what she did to stay young. But she also wasn’t giving up the throne anytime soon. He needed Syney in charge. Originally he wanted to kill the queen, preferably in her sleep, but he couldn’t do it. Not because he didn’t want to but because it would cast a shadow on Syney. She was next in line for the throne and the most likely to be blamed if foul play were suspected. There were several things he could do now. The one he was leaning toward was to slowly edge Mellisandrianna off of the throne. Syney had been doing a good job of it already without even knowing it. The two were at odds on just about every issue, and Syney was slowly winning more support. The more council votes she garnered, the easier it would be when she motioned to take the throne. There was one little hiccup there, however: Only a joined queen could take the throne.

Gabe glanced at Syney and Adam, who had yet to say a word to each other the whole ride. He needed Syney to motion for nonroyal and royal joinings. The High Priestess had seen the two around enough—Adam had seen to that—so once the law was abolished, the joining should be announced very quickly. The only thing he worried about was that she wouldn’t get some votes for taking the throne
because
Adam wasn’t royal. Some of the more uptight council members might not be thrilled with a nonroyal-born king, although it was something
Gabe would like to see. Adam had been through more than one person should ever have to, and the kid deserved some good fortune. Although Adam being nonroyal was not as bad as him being half Vampire, and Syney being half Daemon even. But no one needed to know that, not unitl they were able to reunite the great races. And if anyone did find out—that thought worried Gabe.

“You’re thinking too much. Those wrinkles on your forehead are going to become permanent,” Noelle said, her mouth close to his ear.

Gabe laughed. “Not if they haven’t already. I promise.”

She sighed. “Don’t worry about them. She loves him.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Yes, you are.”

“You’re right. I am. But not about them. We need Syney to take the throne. I’ve been coming up with ideas but nothing too solid. Faye says we shouldn’t rely on the council’s votes. They don’t have any loyalties to Mellisandrianna or Syney.”

He felt her stiffen. “Faye says?”

Gabe cringed. This is why he didn’t like to get comfortable with people. Now his secret place with his dead wife wouldn’t be so secret anymore. “Yes.”

“She is dead, you know, right?”

“I do. But I still talk to her.”

“Oh. OK,” she said slowly.

“It’s not what you think.”

“I don’t think anything, really.”

“I’m not crazy.”

“Sure you’re not.”

Gabe stopped the horse and let the others get a bit ahead of them before pulling a large red-jeweled amulet out of his pocket.

“That’s…the Blocadrian head-of-house amulet.”

Gabe nodded. “When they came to kill her and everyone else who was in the estate at the time, she must have known something was happening. She did something to this. When I picked it up, I was on the edge of a lake near the Vampire city of Landanbrough. It was our favorite place to go together. And Faye was there. She knew everything that had happened, even things I didn’t know, which meant it wasn’t my subconscious. Somehow she’s in here.” He ran his thumb over the large red gemstone in the center.

“Can only you go there?”

He frowned. “I don’t know. I’ve never told anyone about this.”

“Maybe we could try together? I’d like to meet her.”

The thought of both women—so different in looks and personality—being together made him smile. “That would be nice. She likes you.”

Noelle laughed. “That’s just weird.”

“Maybe tonight,” he said quietly.

She put her chin on his shoulder. “Maybe. Hey, look, you and I should catch up.”

He nodded and kicked the horse into a quick trot. As much as the idea of the two women he loved meeting each other fascinated him, he wasn’t sure he wanted to give up his secret place with Faye. He thought he had moved on, but now, after talking about this with Noelle, he realized he still wasn’t over his dead wife. That could be a problem.

He hadn’t been this nervous when Amelia had gone into labor. Back then he knew everything would be OK, but it wasn’t. Now he had a feeling everything would turn out badly, and there was nothing he could do about it. The Realm and the people in it had changed so much over the past hundred years. They were both harder and more suspicious. And as much as Gabriel assured him that Syney wasn’t like that, she had a lot to be angry and suspicious about. He had control over his subjects, but some were very upset and hurt about what had happened to them for so many years and had taken matters into their own hands. Unfortunately Syney had been the victim of one of their attacks. That wasn’t something she could just brush away, he knew, but there also wasn’t much he could do about it. Then there was the fact that no one knew about him and Amelia. Sure, Gabriel did, but Hadrian wasn’t sure how much of an advisor he had been to his daughter. She may believe him, and she may not. He just had to be convincing.

Hadrian was most anxious about whether his daughter would like him. It seemed childish, but when your child grows up not knowing you, the innate love they have for their parents, for raising them with love, isn’t there. The thought that his own flesh and blood may not like him was a scary thought. Amelia always told him he got too anxious about things he couldn’t help. God, he missed her. He closed his eyes and pictured her. His anxiety settled down
slightly, only to be raised again as Becca walked into the front sitting room. He looked over her tall, thin frame and wondered why a Magic User would be living out in the Human Realm. Gabriel had told him that Becca’s family was one of the first to leave the village after the war started. It made sense for some to leave and Hadrian had accepted the fact. Not for the first time, Hadrian found himself finding Becca’s long, wavy dirty blond hair attractive but he shook off the feeling. It may have been a hundred years since Amelia died but it still felt like only months ago to him.

“They’re almost here,” she said with a smile.

Hadrian nodded and stood up from the flowery couch.

“You seem nervous,” Becca said.

He shook his head. “Not at all,” he lied, smoothing out his black suit. He hoped the black color didn’t bring his black eyes out too much. He preferred to dress in a sophisticated manner and rarely did one find him in anything but custom suits and formal wear. He had lost most of his belongings when the Daemons were put to sleep, but Gabriel held some of them in storage. The man had thought just about everything through; Hadrian had to give him credit for that.

“She’s absolutely lovely. You should be proud of her.”

Hadrian looked at Becca and took some breaths. He didn’t know what to say. He was proud of Syney for even surviving for as long as she had. But what did he really have to do with any of that? He had held her only once after she was born, not by any choice of his own. It was a difficult time, what with the attacks and unexpected deaths. He had to leave so soon after she was born and only was able to see her once more before her mother was killed and before Syney disappeared. Amelia had shared with him a plan to send her away, but there wasn’t a specific spell for something of that magnitude, and as powerful as Amelia was, even Hadrian doubted her ability to create her own spell. He should have known not to doubt her; she always accomplished what she set her mind to.

He opened his mouth but was saved by the front door opening. Gabriel walked in alone and entered the sitting room. He gave Becca a kiss on the cheek and took Hadrian’s outstretched hand.

“How are you?” Gabriel asked.

“Fine. Where is she?”

Gabriel laughed. “Patience, my friend.”

Hadrian stared at him, knowing his almost totally black eyes were extremely unnerving to those on the receiving end of the stare.

Gabriel shook his head. “Don’t try to intimidate me, Had. You know it never works. She’s outside. I wanted to come in first.”

“Why? What’s wrong? This is an earlier time table than we discussed for our first meeting.”

He frowned. “I had to accelerate the plan. Some things came up, and I had to let Syney in on the plan…and her biological connection to you.”

Hadrian felt his temper rise. “We agreed that I would tell her.”

“I know. But like I said, things came up, and it had to be revealed,” Gabriel said in his calming voice. “If I hadn’t told her, she would have cut me out of her life. I couldn’t have that. Not if we’re going to succeed.”

With everything in him, Hadrian pushed back his anger. Gabriel didn’t do anything lightly when it came to the plan to bring the Realm back to its glory. Plus, Hadrian trusted the Vampire. He finally nodded. “All right.”

“Syney’s also a little pissed off, so she might not open up to you right away. We planned to be away from the Village for a few days, so don’t expect to get very far today.”

“Just bring her in,” Hadrian said sternly.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and turned back toward the door. “Maybe some tea, Becca?” he called over his shoulder.

The blond woman nodded and hurried to the back of the house.

Hadrian wasn’t expecting this many people but was able to pick out Syney quickly. It was as if Amelia were there, standing in front of him, only with his grandmother’s wavy auburn hair. She was breathtaking. She was around the same age as Amelia had been when Syney was born, maybe a little younger. Hardrian was full aware for the first time since being back that he hadn’t aged in over a hundred years. He knew this fact, of course, but it felt odd to look only a few years older than his daughter. He wasn’t sure he was a fan of her black leather pants and sleeveless shirt, however. The feelings of a protective father almost made him smile. It felt good to want to tell her go on upstairs and change right now. Amelia always had told him he was going to beat away admirers from his baby girl. “Overprotective Papa,” she had said with a giggle.

He looked at the others who accompanied his daughter. He had met Adam once since being back from exile. They’d talked about olden times over beer in an old pub in Bolchin. He had liked the young man almost instantly. The young wolf gave away his position as Syney’s Protector almost immediately as he scanned the room then gave Hadrian a once-over as well. He was thorough, which pleased Hadrian. He needed his daughter protected, and he couldn’t do it himself. The blond Magic User was interesting, especially as she ran a hand down Gabriel’s arm, intertwining their hands. Hadrian thought his friend never would get over Faye but was glad to see how wrong he was.

Gabe tilted his head, motioning for the others to follow him to the back of the house. The wolf was the last to leave and only did so when Syney gave
him a nod of approval. Even then he gave Hadrian one last very hard look as he left the room. Syney slowly walked into the sitting room and sat on one of the winged armchairs. She placed her hands in her lap and avoided looking up at him at all. Hadrian felt his heart break a little. He didn’t expect much, but this was almost painful. He sat on the couch perpendicular to her, not too close but not too far either.

“I would say it’s nice to meet you, but we’ve met before. Just a very long time ago. And you were much, much smaller,” Hadrian said, giving her a smile. Not that she noticed. Her eyes darted everywhere around the room, except to him. “I guess you want to know about your mother.”