“Created to be what I needed him to be. You must have seen the signs, Trever. He’s been sluggish at times for months. He was never supposed to make it passed twenty-five. His soul was never predicted to last that long.”
“By who?”
“I bet you could guess.”
“Madam Carla.”
“Yes. She created his soul. That’s why he was always so perfect. That’s why he could do the things he could. I asked that of her for you and she did it.”
“Bring him back.”
“So you can watch him die again because that’s what would happen.”
“I’m sure even you can fix that too.”
“I understand that I’ve made many mistakes but my biggest one was Kole. He was just—holding you back.”
“Kole kept me sane!”
“Exactly. No great King has ever been fully sane.”
“You’re the insane one to even think that way.”
“And yet I’m the one with an entire world in the palm of my hand.”
“You took it. It wasn’t given to you.”
“How do you think anyone falls into such high power? Power is taken.”
“I don’t want power. I just want Kole.”
“I’m afraid it’s still not possible even if I could. Kole doesn’t want to come back.”
Confusion struck all of us.
“Why?” Trever asked.
“He’s needed here more. Something happened.”
I heard running and looked ahead towards camp. Ryon had reached us, his eyes only on Trever when he took a breath.
“No.” Trever said. “Why?”
“She was needed. I couldn’t stop it but we have her, she’s safe.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Trever asked.
“Report the tragic accident. It’s what he would want but don’t wait.”
Bryce disappeared and left us standing here to figure out just how we should go about reporting this.
“What happened?” Ryon asked.
“It’s my fault.” I said.
“It’s no one’s fault.” Trever replied with the same low voice.
“He didn’t die to save us. He died because we got in the way.”
“That’s not true.” Zayden said. “Do not blame yourself. He has no regrets.”
“He’s right.” Trever agreed. “He knew the risks as did we all.”
I closed my eyes and lowered my head to sit in silence. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what I would tell Jaylyn or how. I still blamed myself and I felt I always would.
“What are you going to do?” Ryon asked, looking down on Trever. “It’d be hard to cover this up properly. I guess Bryce was right. It has to be reported.”
“You seem awful normal to find out your friend just died.” Darius said.
Ryon laughed but I found nothing about this tragedy funny. “Yeah, funny, isn’t it? Just the way of the world, I guess. I know I’ll see him again. Death is only an illusion.” He kneeled down on the other side of Kole’s body. “It was a peaceful death. Painless.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I can feel it. Jay gave him that. His last time with her will always be memorable.”
I turned away. I couldn’t watch anymore and I had nothing else to say.
“Stop.” Trever said. “We have work to do. There are a couple of ways to deal with this.”
“And I’m completely revoking one of those. He would not want that—trust me. Bryce said not to wait.”
“What wouldn’t he want?” Zayden asked.
“Nothing.” Ryon quickly answered. “So really there’s only one option and it consists of basically telling everyone the truth and completely ruining their demeanor for the remaining of the trip and possibly their lives.”
“Thank you for putting it that way.” I said, knowing he was mostly talking about Jaylyn’s reaction. “You’re helping a lot.”
“Well, it’s true. You already know that.”
“All right. Enough.” Trever said. “But you’re right. They’ll have to know.”
“And how exactly are you going to explain that?” I asked a little frustrated about the whole thing. “It’s not something you can just say!”
“Well, we’ll have to. There isn’t time for the other option.”
“What is it? Would Jaylyn still get hurt?”
Trever did the usual thing when he didn’t want to fully answer and shared a look with someone else. This time it was Ryon but he shook his head like he was encouraging him not to answer. I hoped he wouldn’t agree this time. I wanted to know.
“It would be—well—delayed.”
“What do you mean delayed?” Zayden asked.
“I could bring him back.”
I became hopeful and I wanted to know more. “You can?”
“But not like my father can. It wouldn’t last. He wouldn’t be—” He paused from saying it. He was clearly having a difficult time coming to terms with Kole’s death. “Shit. I can’t do this.”
Trever leaned forward and probably wanted to pace but he was still on the ground. He couldn’t even look at Kole and pulled his head down, cupping the back of it just so he wouldn’t look it.
It was strange. I could see these markings on his neck that where coming from his back. It was like we were watching them form and I began to notice it looked a lot like the pattern Kole had down his spine.
“Trever?” Ryon stepped closer, nervous and cautious.
He didn’t answer. He was still leaned forward with his head tucked down, almost rocking while muttering so softly that I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
Ryon walked to him, reaching out a hand. “Trever.”
“Don’t touch me.”
Ryon drew back his hand. “I don’t know how to explain this but you’re being decorated.”
That’s how he chose to word it? I guess it didn’t matter, Trever seemed to know what he was talking about without seeing it.
“I need to remember him.”
“A tribute. I get it but he’s really hard to forget.” Ryon was being really comfortable about this still and I just didn’t get it. Trever was practically falling apart over it.
“And now I never can.”
“Can I see it?”
Trever finally moved his hands from his head and reached for the back of his shirt, pulling it off while Ryon walked around to look.
I was already at a good enough angle that I could see the purposely placed black lines. There were two roaring lion heads on his shoulder blades, facing in. The diamond pattern was down his spine like Kole had and below it was a mirror image of the lion heads upper jaw with an arrow between them.
“He’d be impressed but please don’t bring him back here, Trever. Jay’s going to find out eventually so the right thing to do is just to tell her.”
Ryon looked at the rest of us like he was looking for some encouragement in his plan but I just didn’t know what to say about any of this.
“I’ll have to agree with him.” Zayden said. “Bringing him back here would just be wrong and Jaylyn’s going to be effected by it either way. She’ll still need time so she should be told sooner rather than later.”
“And who’s going to be the one to do that?” I asked. “You?”
“You want it to be me? She’s going to know something’s wrong right away if it was me.”
“It should be one of us.” Trever said, looking up at me for the first time in minutes.
My eyes were down on Kole and I just shook my head. “I can’t. It can’t be me. I wouldn’t know how to.”
“All right. It’ll be me then but first we have to get him there.”
Trever climbed to his feet and put his shirt back on while Ryon pulled the arrow out of Kole’s body with one quick motion.
Zayden flinched from seeing it and put his hand on his stomach as if he felt what he did to him. “You have no compassion, do you?”
“That’s an obvious woman trai
t.” Ryon said while he lifted Kole’s body right over his shoulder, letting his wings drag behind. “You’re coming right along, aren’t you? Your father should have let me be there.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“I know that. Let’s just get back.”
He started to walk back with him and we followed.
“I’m not looking forward to this at all.” I muttered.
“We don’t have any other choice now.” Trever said. “I’ll still tell her unless you’ve changed your mind.”
“No. It’d be better coming from you.”
“It’s okay. I’ve given her news like this before. I’ll know what to do.”
“You mean, your father?”
“Yes. I was the one to find out first then had to tell her but this won’t be completely the same.”
Darius laughed to himself and muttered even quieter. “I should hope Kole was never like her father.”
Trever heard it anyway because he laughed in agreement. “Definitely not but it’s different because she’s grown up now. It might seem harder more quickly.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear.” I said.
“Don’t worry about it. I said I’d handle it. Stay out here with him, Ryon. We’ll tell the others. I don’t know how long it will take for Jay to want to come out. We’ll burn him then.”
“Take as long as you need.” I said.
“If I need you, I’ll get you.”
I nodded but stayed outside with Ryon. I couldn’t be there when she was told. I was hurt just from thinking about it and she was much closer to him than I was. She was surely going to take it the hardest.
Chapter 23
Trever
I dreaded everything I was about to do. I’ve never been more afraid. My poor baby sister got reattached to him at the wrong time. My friend; he left me with this task and I couldn’t stop it. I never felt more powerless over someone’s actions. I should have took measures of being here more cautiously but it was too late. We already lost one and telling the others of it was a heartache.
“Hey, what’s the matter?”
We only stepped a foot back inside but Adele already seemed to know something was wrong. She was a smart girl but it may have been just who had walked in. Darius was right next to me like he actually didn’t care if he was near me and he didn’t even look angry about it. It had to be a first occurrence.
“Ah, some bad news, actually.” I began to explain but it was harder than I thought and this tightening feeling grew in my throat.
“It’s Kole.” Darius said, sounding relatively normal about it.
“What happened?”
“He’s dead.” Zayden answered.
Adele’s eyes widened and she pushed Zayden aside to look at me. “No. It’s not true.”
I didn’t know what I could say. I was still trying to realize it was true myself but when I did say something, I was trying to be as normal as Darius could be. “I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you it wasn’t.”
Adele huffed in disbelief and her tears started to fall as she rushed towards me. It only made it worse. It took everything I had not to breakdown with her. I still had to tell Jay.
“What happened?”
“You go ahead and talk about that.” Darius said. “I’ll wake Ruby and tell her.”
“Darius, be subtle.” Zayden requested.
He looked back with a smile. “I will.”
I didn’t believe him but Red’s reaction was not the one I had to focus on.
“Well?”
Adele was still looking for answers while she clung to me and I tried to answer. “I don’t exactly know.”
Adele turned in my arms and looked up at Zayden. Her eyes were filled with tears and they asked the question for her.
“He saved us. I’m not quite sure what happened but we were moved quickly from a storm of arrows and he wasn’t.” More tears fell from her eyes and she fell into his arms next, losing her face against his chest. Her tears weren’t because of him but he didn’t know what he could do to stop them. “Easy, Love. It’ll be all right.”
“Take care of her, Zayden. I’ve got to let Jay know.”
That’s all it took for Adele to quickly push herself away from Zayden and she spun right around to me with an anxious voice. “No! You can’t!”
“I have to.”
“It will kill her!”
“Adele, let him.” Aleks said, stepping up to her to finally intervene. “She’ll need to know too.”
“This is going to change things.” Adele muttered through her heavy breaths, trying to calm her tears.
“We’ll get through it. Why don’t you go outside? They could probably use your help with the burial preparations.”
She wiped her eyes and could only nod.
“Come on, Love.” Zayden put his hand on her lower back and took her arm with his other hand. “I’ll walk you.”
She nodded again and Aleks went with them outside to Ryon and Troy, leaving me to break the news to my sister.
I knew what this would do. Even if she hasn’t warmed up to him a day ago, she would still care and I prepped myself to keep my emotions under control so I would be the strong one.
She was asleep in her bed right in the middle and I walked over sitting on the left side. “Jay, wake up.”
I rubbed her shoulder and she slowly moved her head to open her eyes just slightly. “Trever? What do you want?”
“Jay, we need to talk.”
“Why? I’m sleeping.”
“This is serious.”
She sighed and turned over completely while she started to sit up with a tone much like one Adele would give from being bothered. “Someone better have died.”
I laughed because she sounded so much like her but I lost it quickly when I knew what I came to say. “I’m sorry, Jay. I shouldn’t have laughed because you’re right.”
She lost her annoyed look and became instantly worried. “What?”
I took her hand and tried to take this slowly for her sake but it was beginning to feel more for mine. I was having a hard time just coming out with it like I planned and she saw the sorrow growing in my eyes or felt something from me.
“Trever? Where’s Troy?” She was truly panicked and already started crying.
“No, Jay. It’s not Troy.”
She pulled her hand from mine and I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. It wasn’t even easy for me to say but she helped only by saying his name for me. “Kole?”
It was even hard to nod but I managed to conjure one.
It was silent then. I didn’t hear the sound of her crying and she was just staring at me but her mind was screaming. It just took longer for it to come out in words and I fell with her.
Chapter 24
Troy
“No!” The loud rumbling sound came from underground and I knew what had happened.
“He told her.” Ryon said.
Only it didn’t stop with a simple word. It was followed by a continuous strain of panicked screaming.
I let out a long sigh and had to look away though I could still hear it. “Shit.”
“Did you really expect it to be any different?” Aleksander asked.
“Of course not. I was just never looking forward to it.”
Darius patted my shoulder while he held Ruby close to him in his other arm and we waited in the growing silence of the night, only hearing Jaylyn’s sorrow in the distance.
Her cries alone put everyone in a down mood but not a word was exchanged. We waited with Kole’s body prepped on a stone burial slab; waiting for when Jaylyn would be most ready to join us to say good-bye.
Time passed slowly until three full hours had finally went by. The sound of Jaylyn’s cries diminished and the night was still once more. Still, no one said anything.
Adele and Ruby were becoming moderately calm from the shock of everything and stood like the rest of us, stiff with either their eyes on Kole’s body or the ground
in front of them. Mine were constantly shifting.
It would seem that we’d spend the whole night just standing the way we were but a careful movement caught our attention at the shelter entrance. We all looked over with one quick motion and Trever instantly advised us to remain quiet with a silent hand gesture. I became most curious as I watched him look back to the entrance and I knew we were about to see Jaylyn for the first time since Kole’s death.
She stepped out slowly, walking right by Trever as if he wasn’t there to begin with and walked straight over to us. I watched her but she never looked at any of us. Her eyes were blank; empty. Her skin was pale almost like she couldn’t have been real. Her hair looked nearly white under the darkened skies and the mists of the fog. She wore white but it barely covered her body and it seemed she was giving off her own light through this dark hour like some kind of divine spirit.
No one spoke to her. No one could. What would we say? Sorry? That wouldn’t nearly cover what she was feeling so we stayed quiet and simply moved aside as she got closer.
Her eyes never strayed from being straight forward and she reached the foot of the stone slab where Kole’s body was laying. Her fingertips grazed along the edge of it until she made it to his head and she just stood, staring at his still face. It was like she was completely emotionless like her soul was lost with him and she didn’t know how to express it.
Adele and Ruby didn’t like to see her this way and it became hard for them to keep in their emotions when they watched her touch the cold skin of Kole’s lips. They had to turn their eyes away and hold in the sounds of their grief.
I watched carefully but Jaylyn didn’t even take notice. She didn’t take notice to anyone around her except for what was in front of her; Kole. Her fingers parted from him after slowly grazing across his lips and she leaned down, giving him her last kiss. I hated seeing her like this. Her grief was so deep she couldn’t even show it anymore.
Her lips parted from him and she looked down to where her hand was resting on his chest. Black feathers were ruffled around her fingers where his body was cradled within his wings and just below it was the wound he took from the arrow that killed him.
Jaylyn gently slid her hand down on it, touching the cold moisture that was his blood. Her hand shook when she saw the crimson fluid staining her pasty skin and her other hand gripped a handful of Kole’s feathers over his chest. Her eyes were unblinking as the blood smeared across her skin from her fingers and the sight of it was drawing her in.
Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5) Page 13
