Really? I suppose it made sense that we didn’t know that but Zayden seemed to find it wonderful. “You have a brother? I knew it!”
“What do you mean?” Adele asked.
“We’ve seen him.”
Jaylyn perked herself up a little more and was getting curious as well but I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Seen him?”
“We have?” Troy asked.
“Troy doesn’t remember something?” I joked. He always prided himself in that and I had to call him on it. “Wow.”
“No. No.” Zayden said. “It was brief at the birthday celebration last year. We saw him talking with father. He didn’t stay very long.”
“That’s why I don’t remember.” Troy told me. “That’s the day we started drinking early.”
He had me there. “Oh, yeah, yeah. That’s right. I don’t remember it either.”
“Well, I do.” Zayden said. “You’re related for sure.”
“How do you know?” Jaylyn asked.
“Oh, please.” Adele sighed. “This is Trever we’re talking about. You look like him.”
“That’s such an insult! I do not!”
“It’s obvious to everyone else. Even Zayden knew.”
Jaylyn sighed and started to get up. “That’s so not funny and I think we’re getting completely off topic about Ruby being a huge danger to them!”
Adele laughed and we watched Jaylyn hop up the stairs out of sight. “She’s cute when she tries to deny that. What?”
“You don’t seem surprised.” Zayden said.
“About what?”
“She’s Kaluian. That must mean that her brother is and yet, you don’t seem at all curious about why he was in Seni, speaking with its King.”
“In our part of the world, Trever has the authority to do whatever he wants. You learn quick not to get in his way.”
“You mean, he can even control you? That is impressive.”
“I respect him enough to listen. We’re like family and he’s very valuable to have around. I bet even Darius here would love to get a minute alone with him.”
I looked over and just felt my brow tightening. “Why?”
“Because he’s the only one that knows the secret to survive Ruby.”
It was an insult to me that she said it and I kept the pride in myself. “I don’t need advice about women from anyone, especially some good-for-nothing, know-it-all Kaluian.”
“Easy, Darius.” Zayden said. “You don’t want to start anything I won’t let you finish.”
“Well, it’s true. I can get around it on my own.”
“You have too much confidence.” Adele said.
Maybe I did but I was surely not going to ask for help.
“Why would he need to know what the secret is?” Troy asked.
“Why else? She’s been sleeping with him for years.”
“Ruby and her like-a-sister’s brother?”
“Oh, I know it is weird or at least should sound it. I’ve gotten pretty used to how things are. Jaylyn, not so much. She always hoped that sometime Ruby would actually kill him but that hasn’t happen. Still bad news for you though.”
“But you said it was only foreign.” I said.
“Only because when she’s home, Ruby’s only ever with him.”
“Are they together?” Zayden asked, glancing at me. Like I cared. I’m sure I could take him if it came to fighting for her.
Adele laughed. “Oh, definitely not! Strictly a physical relationship. We can’t be seen with just anyone, you know. We do have our own reputations of being both loved and terrified of to think about. So, we usually keep sexual partners that are equally loved and/or terrifying to others but when we’re away on missions Ruby doesn’t usually care.”
“Doesn’t usually?”
“She wouldn’t have just walked away if she didn’t care. Something about this experience has changed her way of thinking and she does care.”
“If she cares then couldn’t she control it on her own?”
“I’ll give you some advice, though I know you’re not going to take it from some good-for-nothing, know-it-all Kaluian but it’s not worth risking your life for. Being with Ruby would be a onetime thing.”
“That’d be worth it.”
I stood my ground and made it seem ever so true but Adele sighed. “Never mind. You’re not taking this seriously. You just think you need a woman that badly that you wouldn’t mind dying to get it.”
“No I don’t.”
“And I don’t believe that for a second. I bet I can prove it doesn’t matter who it is. It’s only Ruby because she’s the one giving you attention.”
“That’s not true.”
“Oh, really?” She slowly started to get up and I was a little worried. “And if I were to give you my attention?”
She leaned towards me, putting her hands on the arms of my chair and her body was getting closer. I couldn’t help but notice it.
“Darius, if you touch her, I’ll kill you myself.” Zayden’s demand was recognized but Adele only made it harder when her lips were getting closer to me and she kissed me.
I kept my hands right where they were though, not to put them on her like Zayden had said. I wanted to but I also wanted to prove that I wanted it to be Ruby no matter how great this was.
It didn’t work. I had to restrain myself from touching her and she noticed, enough that she backed away with a victorious smile. “See? I win.”
“Zayden, I’m sorry.” I had to apologize before anything else was said because he was still looking at me like he wanted to kill me, maybe because he hasn’t gotten to kiss her yet and knowing I did first tortured him.
“It’s fine.” Adele said, sitting back down next to him. “He doesn’t own me.”
“Maybe not but we have respect for each other’s needs.”
“It’s fine, Darius.” Zayden said. “Forget about it.”
“It’s still true and you know mine isn’t her. I still want it to be Ruby.”
“And I’m not offended whatsoever.” Adele replied. “But just keep in mind that you’ll regret it.”
“I doubt it.”
She sighed. “This isn’t something you should be joking about, Darius. Have you ever thought about what will happen to her during your little suicidal mission? If you go through with it and die, you’ll not only be obviously hurting yourself, you’ll be hurting her. Maybe you should think about that instead—if you truly care as she does.”
I lost my smile as I looked towards the entrance where Ruby left. She really cared about me? No one has really ever cared about me before and for the first time it seemed like this was something I would take seriously. I didn’t know her that well, it’s only been a few days but I knew I’d do anything I could to save her from hurt even if that meant never getting the chance to be with her. I guess you could say that I cared too.
Chapter 34
Adele
Ruby and Jaylyn walked in from the rain. It was still quiet almost like we didn’t talk while they were gone. I was glad of it. Mentioning anything about my momentary weakness with Darius would have just brought on a fight but I was most glad that no one ever mentioned it, not even Zayden. He looked distressed about Darius getting to kiss me first but I didn’t think it needed to be openly discussed and neither did he.
Darius’s eyes were naturally fixed on Ruby when they were farther in and I looked for an answer to her situation. Jaylyn silently replied with a slight nod, letting me know she was okay.
I dried them both off and Jaylyn sat back down next to Troy while Ruby walked steadily over to her chair and lowered herself down. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.”
“I know they told you.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to worry. You won’t hurt me.”
It was almost like they forgot we were sitting here and Ruby lowered her head in an obvious tone of sadness. “I can’t promise that.”
Darius leaned in closer and lifted her
head up to look in her eyes. “But I can.”
It was a sign that he cared. I guess what he was saying could have been true and Jaylyn let out an innocent awe of gratification while putting her hand over her heart. “That’s so sweet!”
Ruby rolled her eyes and looked over at me.
I laughed and tried to get away from it for her sake. I knew she didn’t like to keep moods like that. Ruby wasn’t one for the mushy stuff. “Jaylyn, stop talking. Hungry?”
She got a big smile on her face, easily forgetting about it like I had hoped. “Always!”
“Then just sit there and shut up.” I closed my eyes and held both of my hands out.
“What exactly is she doing?” Troy whispered.
“Oh, she’s hunting.” Jaylyn whispered back.
“Hunting?” Darius wondered loudly.
I pretended not to notice as they talked around me but it got difficult.
“It’s the second step to mastering her gift.” Ruby said. “Moving stuff she can’t see. There are actually three steps.”
“What’s the last?” Zayden asked.
“Moving stuff with her mind.” Jaylyn said. “She practices a lot. More than us at least.”
“What would you need to do?” Troy asked.
“I’d need to be able to give life not just heal it but it’s not like I get a lot of practice in, well, on people anyway. My second step is giving life to plants. I can do that but people are harder because human life is much more complex since we have souls and whatnot.”
“What about you?”
Jaylyn laughed. “She’d have to use her gift and not kill someone or have it affect her energy. Like that would ever happen!”
“Hey! It might.”
“Yeah, right! You have to use it when you’re mad and when you are, you express no reason to be subtle. It’ll take a lot more practice for you.”
“And concentration! So, would you stop talking?!”
I heard Jaylyn cover her mouth and mutter softly. “Sorry.”
It was quiet again and I focused on what I was doing. All my energy was being put into this and I pictured the river and what I wanted from it. It was more difficult since we’ve been walking farther away from it all day. It started to run south while we kept our eastern route but I still wanted to try this.
It didn’t take long before I opened my eyes and looked towards the door. A large bubble of water floated towards us with two fish in it, one twice the size of the other.
“Well, I’m not really big on fish but it’s better than nothing.” I got up and created a work station to put the fish on.
“I’m not complaining.” Jaylyn smiled.
I used my gift to bring the bag of daggers over and dumped them out on the raised surface I made. The fish were killed and I pushed the water aside to use later. I was completely to myself while I was doing this and I looked up to see Zayden watching. “What? You think we should feed you?”
He laughed. “That’s entirely your choice, I guess.”
“Well, if you want some, don’t ask me. Jaylyn could eat this big one herself. You’ll have to ask her if she feels like sharing.”
“Of course I’ll share.” Jaylyn cut in before anyone could even turn her way. “That was a stupid question.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re just lucky she’s just so naturally generous.”
“Why? You wouldn’t have fed us?”
“I’m more used to fixing for four.”
“Four?”
Zayden used this odd expression and I smiled while looking towards my subject. “Jaylyn eats like two people.”
“Hey!”
“Well, you do. She can out eat most men.”
“It’s one of her talents.” Ruby joked.
“Talents?” Zayden asked.
“Don’t great people usually have those?”
“You should see Zayden’s.” Darius said sort of jokingly.
Zayden’s eyes bolted to him faster than lightning. “No!”
I was a little interested in how he refused so quickly. “Ooh. What are you trying to hide?”
“Nothing.”
“Clearly it’s something.”
“It’s just things I can do—they’re not normal. Being around you three is making me believe it’s not a talent but a gift.”
He had a gift? I almost collapsed.
“You mean like ours?” Ruby asked.
Zayden sat through a fairly long pause before he said anything. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen that Enchantress you’ve talked about but I can change the color of my eyes too.”
“Really? What does that make you do?”
“I can feel and hear things differently, more advanced than the average person.”
“Well, let’s see it.” I sat back down with him and waited for it.
“I don’t think so. It can be a little too much to handle for some people.”
“Like terrifying?” Jaylyn asked. “You’ve seen Ruby’s red eyes. What could be more terrifying than that?”
“It does it differently than hers. It doesn’t just change the iris of my eye but it changes the whole thing.”
My heart fell into my stomach. I’ve seen something like that before and hoped that I was wrong. Very, very wrong. “Black?”
Zayden looked over and appeared bewildered. “How did you know that?”
I was ready to just empty my eyes of these building tears but I got up, my voice was quick but loud with demands. “Show me. Show me right now!”
“Are you all right?”
“Just show me!”
Zayden looked around but no one said anything. Jaylyn and Ruby probably didn’t even know why I was so nervous but they would in a minute.
“All right but only if you calm down.”
“I am calm!” I may have lied and tried taking a more relaxing breath, forcing my voice to sound normal. “I’m calm. Show me—please.”
I looked into his beautiful blue eyes and I was waiting for it in a way but when it happened, the more I began to fear it. His pupil started to expand until it consumed the whole of his eye and they were solid black. I couldn’t even tell if he was looking at me anymore but it only made the reality of it more terrifying and I said nothing.
“Oh—my.” Jaylyn muttered. “Adele?”
I was still, looking at him with a blank expression, trying to think that somehow I was wrong. “I’m hallucinating.”
“No you’re not.” Zayden said. “This is real and I can feel you starting to panic.”
“No.” I started walking away, thinking aloud. “It can’t be. It just can’t.”
“Awe, Adele! Isn’t it great?”
“No, it isn’t!” I turned to Jaylyn a few feet away from being at the doorway to my room and my voice was severely anxious. “This isn’t great whatsoever! It’s totally, completely and utterly not great, okay?!”
“What’s wrong with you?” Zayden asked while his eyes changed back. “How did you know what color they’d be?”
I couldn’t say anything.
“She’s seen it before.” Ruby whispered.
“Seen it?” Darius wondered. “When?”
“In her dreams.” Jaylyn smiled.
Everyone looked at me and they probably could tell I was a little on the edge by the way I was standing. I was shifty. I couldn’t seem to hold still like I was shaking all over from nerves.
“You’ve dreamt about me?” Zayden asked, sounding a little amused.
“No! It wasn’t you. I mean, not completely. It was a part of you obviously that I’m not really happy talking about right now.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
I don’t know what happened. My frustration got the better of me and I let out a long sigh followed by a loud voice. “A child, Zayden! A little blonde boy about ten years old with black eyes just like yours! I’ve seen him—a lot!”
“Really? That’s weird.”
“Like maybe he was yo
ur future son!” Ruby smiled.
I wanted to hit her. She wasn’t helping at all but for some reason Zayden didn’t seem that surprised or he just didn’t understand. “Okay and you’re freaking out why?”
I was leaning more on he didn’t understand and I was breathing hard, only getting more and more intense. “Because—I have rights to freak out as you say.”
“Why?”
What was I going to say now? I didn’t want to but something just made me come out with the truth and I didn’t know where it would lead me. I had to turn while I said it so if I was going to cry, no one would see me and I headed for the stairs instead of my room. “He was my son.”
I didn’t even stay long enough to hear or see a response. I didn’t want to think about it. It couldn’t be true. We were too different, from two different parts of the world. I knew this was going to be up to me. I had to be the one to stop it.
Chapter 35
Jaylyn
Adele walked out of sight and Zayden sat in dismay.
“Whoa.” Troy muttered. “Really?”
“It’s true.” I said. “We’ve heard the dream.”
“But it can’t be real. We’ll have a child together? But that plan was expunged.”
“Then you obviously don’t know about the General.”
“What about him?”
I looked at Ruby with a smile and she slowly started to answer with her own. “He gets visions—of the future.”
Everyone had their eyes on Zayden. He seemed even more in shock than a few seconds ago. “Like a gift? Are you saying that gets passed through generations?”
“I’m saying it could be possible. We’ve been open to believing in the strange and unusual.”
He turned his head towards the stairs and I could only guess what he was thinking. It was about her for sure but I was wondering if maybe he wanted it to be true. I could feel his emotion change, mold into something softer than I felt from him before.
“Go talk to her.” Darius said. “You know you want to. She’s out there barely dressed and is probably soaking wet by now. Just imagine it.”
Zayden rolled his eyes towards him. “Please. That’s the last thing on my mind.”
“You should still talk to her.” I agreed. “Find out why she really is upset as she is. Basically, see if we’re right. Then come back and tell us everything!” I really wanted to know but I couldn’t be the one to go up there. Adele would easily get out of talking about it to me but Zayden may have been a different story if he kept persisting.
Aligning Stars (Fate's Intent Book 1) Page 19
