She was worrying me because I knew she was going to break down again and I would have to see it but instead, she laid her hand flat over his heart and I noticed Trever getting curious of her sudden pause. Was she trying to bring him back? He would have known that before anyone else.
“Jay, no.”
Before he could have touched her to pull her hand away, Kole pulled a deep breath into his chest and opened his eyes.
My heart just fluttered from the overwhelming experience of seeing it and Jaylyn smiled. “Kole!”
He was still breathing fiercely but it was inconstant and his voice seemed panicked. “No, Jay!”
As quick as they came, they were gone. His breaths stopped and his eyes closed. His body once again laid still and Jaylyn tried shaking him awake. “Kole? Kole? Kole?!”
Her jaw started chattering and she was ready to explode again after getting a mere break. I could see it and I knew others could too.
Trever pulled her back away from Kole by her arms to catch her before she would try again. “Jay, no. There’s nothing you can do.”
“But he was there! I saw him come back! I want him to come back!”
Trever pulled her right into his arms and Jaylyn’s tears started flowing hard again, making every one of us feel what she was.
“I know you do but you wouldn’t be able to heal him. You’d only see him die over and over.” Jaylyn continued to cry. “It’s all right. We’ll take care of it from here. Troy, take her inside.”
I nodded and walked over to them, taking Jaylyn from Trever’s arms and into mine. “Come on. I’ve got you.”
She was still in heavy tears but went with me willingly back down into the shelter.
It wasn’t until we got into our main room when she pushed me away and fell to her knees, leaning herself down towards the floor to just let out her tears.
I just stood behind her and watched her pain. I didn’t know what I should do; what I could do but I knew I didn’t like seeing her this way. I had to help her. I wanted her to know that she was still loved and would be taken care of.
I stepped to her and leaned down, carefully lifting her up to her feet. “Jaylyn, come on. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not!” She pushed me away again. “It’s not!”
She fell back down to the floor and all I could do was join her. “I know you’re upset and there’s probably nothing I can do to change that but that won’t stop me from trying.”
“No, please.” She muffled in her words from sniffling so much while she moved herself farther from me across the floor. “You have to leave me. Now!”
“No. I’m not going anywhere.”
“But you have to! Please! Just go!”
“No. I know you think you want to be alone—”
“It’s not that. You just have to go.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to die too.”
“And why would you think I would?”
“Because I’m cursed. People I love always die and I don’t want you to be next.”
“Jaylyn, I won’t be. I promise.”
“But you can’t promise that and I know you won’t really leave so that’s why I am.”
She rose up to her feet and I immediately did after her with worry on my voice. “What? No. You’re not.”
“I have to.” She looked directly in my eyes without a blink. “I have to go back. I can’t continue this mission.”
“Why not?”
“Ellie. She needs me. I won’t leave her to his witch of a mother. I have to get her.”
I remembered my deal with Kole about Ellie and tried to get Jaylyn to hold off on her plans. “Don’t worry. We will get her just not yet.”
“We will?” She turned just as we stepped inside our room.
“Yes. I’ve already talked about it with Kole. He said, if anything happened to him, he’d let us take her.”
Jaylyn showed just the slightest smile before it faded and she started to look sad again. “He knew, didn’t he? That he was going to—”
She couldn’t even finish her sentence and I was hesitant to tell her the truth that I knew too. I didn’t want to make the situation any worse for her and remembered what Kole told me. It’s better not to tell her some things just to save her from a hurt that would never go away. It was true and this time, I intended to listen.
“I would guess that someone with a family to think about would have a backup plan in case something ever went wrong.”
“Yeah, I suppose but are you serious that he chose it to be us?”
I laughed by the way she insinuated the word ‘us’ to be a surprise. “What do you think? My parting with Kole wasn’t a bad one. It’s what he would have wanted anyway. He never wanted Ellie to be ripped from your life and neither did I. I know how much you love her.”
“Troy, that’s really—sweet that you’d agree. Can we do it now?”
I laughed from seeing her show an innocent smile but I shook my head. “Not yet but we will. They still need us here.”
“Promise the second we can leave that we will.”
“I promise. It won’t be that long from now.”
“Okay. I feel better.”
“Do you?”
I knew she didn’t really and she just paused there then started to get emotional again with tears. “I miss him, Troy.”
“I know you do. Come here.” I took her in my arms and she cried against me. “I miss him too but we’ll get through it.”
I held on to her tightly and just let her cry. She needed to get it all out rather than pretending like nothing was wrong and I would let her do it as long as she needed.
Chapter 25
Jaylyn
I woke alone that morning or at least it felt like morning and I knew we had to continue today. I wasn’t going to hold everyone back because of what I was feeling for Kole’s loss. I missed him. My body just ached from within and the hole in my heart felt as though it were sucking the life from me but I would go on just the same. Something like this wasn’t powerful enough to kill me and I told myself that my strength would be my only salvation out of this dark state of loneliness.
If others were awake, they were probably just waiting on me. They shouldn’t have. Treating me differently now would only make me remember that things were different. Without Kole, I could see no one show a smile today. He was always center of the jokes but I fought with myself; I pushed passed whatever this was that I was feeling and I was ready to get on with the day. Peace was more important than my grieving. I was never selfish.
I walked right outside because the horses were already gone and there they were. Everyone was outside and they looked at me when I stepped out.
I didn’t want this to be different but I looked to where Kole laid last night and there was no sign that anything had happened. Adele was closing this leather sack and kind of turned like she didn’t want me to see it but I knew what was inside.
“Take me with you.”
I almost let out a tear to hear that voice again. Kole. It was like he was here beside me. I could hear him as if he were and of course I wanted to do what he asked.
I walked closer to Adele holding out my hand for the sack. “I’ll take it.”
She just looked at me and clearly wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.
“I want to.” I said in the calmest voice.
She handed it to me and even watched me hold it. “I’m sorry about Kole, Jaylyn.”
“It’s okay. You were right about him anyway. I didn’t know what I was thinking.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I said it’s okay. I think I’ll be fine now.”
I turned from Adele and attached the sack to Rajet while Trever started to take all the gear off Kole’s horse, dropping it on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Troy asked. “I just saddled that horse.”
“He doesn’t need it. I’m sending him home.” He took the bit out of the ho
rse’s mouth and dropped it on the ground with the rest. “Don’t worry, there’s only one way to go.” He patted the horse on the neck and sent him off into the mountains.
I watched it for a moment and then heard Kole’s voice again. “Take my bow. It’s yours now. I want you to have it.”
I nodded my head slightly and picked it up.
“Jay, what are you doing?” Trever asked, watching me starting to attach it to myself.
“What does it look like? I’m taking them.”
“No one’s been able to use those but Kole.” Ryon said.
“I think it’s time. Show them.”
I got the first sign of a smile when I heard his voice again in that very familiar upbeat tone and I took the bow off my back with one arrow in a flash. I held it towards the trees and let the arrow go. It hit a tree dead on and went all the way through it, making it crack in half.
“Whoa.” Everyone muttered.
“Think again.”
“He taught you, didn’t he?” Ryon asked, his voice a little offensive.
I just smiled, shrugging my shoulders as I put the bow on my back.
“I knew it! I’ve been trying to get him to do that for years!”
“He knows why.”
I laughed.
“How is that funny?”
“He says you know why.” Everyone never took their eyes off me and they looked a little worried. “What?”
“He says?” Ruby wondered.
“Are you feeling okay?” Trever asked.
I heard Kole’s laugh again. “They think you’re going crazy, Jay. Don’t let them think you’re slipping. Think of something.”
“I’m fine. I was just thinking about when he told me that. I didn’t even have to ask him to teach me. He insisted and he’d want me to have it.”
“Good.”
Everyone was still giving me looks and I just didn’t get why they would need a better explanation other than that. “What? I’m just trying to make good of the situation.”
“But it’s not so stop.” Trever replied, walking passed me with Roslyn.
“He’s right. Don’t pretend for them.”
My mood was saddened to hear him say that and I stepped towards Trever, taking his arm so he would turn. “I’m sorry, all right? He doesn’t want us to feel sad.”
Trever looked into my eyes and his started to become wide with the details of my thoughts. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was impossible.
He made me release his arm so he could take mine and he started pulling me away from everyone. “Family conference, right now!”
Chapter 26
Adele
I watched them in a quiet argument and my father asked Ryon a question. “It’s happening again, isn’t it?”
“You think I can tell?”
“I’m not saying you should.”
“Well, it would seem so anyway.”
“Then that means that he’s really here.”
“Wait.” I cut in, wanting to get to the bottom of everyone’s confusion. “What are you talking about?”
My father and Ryon looked at each other and my father answered. “It all started around the time Bryce died. Jaylyn, as some of you may remember, went through a stage of disbelief and it didn’t help that he stayed with her through it.”
“What do you mean? Trever?”
“No. Bryce.”
Ruby and I looked at each other as the most confused. We were there. We saw how Jaylyn was at the time but I was still lost about the story. We never saw Bryce there.
“He was with her.” Ryon said, trying to ease our confusion. “You didn’t have to see him for him to be there. He was communicating with her. Trying to help her through it but it wasn’t working.”
“So, she was actually talking to Kole?” Troy asked. “He’s here? Now?”
“Here exactly, that’s uncertain but over there with them, probably more likely since he is the subject of what they’re talking about.”
“She’s never mentioned anything of hearing her father before.” I said.
“But it’s all true.” My father explained. “She was just a child when it first happened and being just a child, she was easily convinced that she kept hearing him because she missed him so much. Now is not the case. She’s going to know that it wasn’t just a coincidence.”
“But why would he come here?” Troy asked. “Bryce said he didn’t want to come back.”
“Bryce?” I was beyond confused. “When did you see Bryce?”
“Last night when Kole died.”
I glanced back to where Trever was and leaned forward with my voice urgent but quiet. “What?! What happened?”
“Trever nearly lost it.” Zayden said. “And Bryce—well, he stopped something; something that was happening to him.” Everyone seemed to lean in and want to know more.
“What exactly did you see?” My father asked.
Even Zayden seemed unsure to answer and I was wondering if someone was going to.
“He changed.” Troy finally answered. “Like his eyes weren’t his anymore and his skin was getting thinner that you could see his veins.”
“And they were black.” Darius said like nothing was wrong about it. “His veins, I mean and his eyes; black and gold.”
I didn’t know what to make of this. I knew it wasn’t his gift. He could read minds. That didn’t give him the power to transform in anyway or at least I didn’t think so.
“It can’t happen now.” My father said, looking at Ryon like he was only talking to him and I guess he was. None of us knew what was going on.
“It won’t. Bryce took care of it. At least for a while.”
“What was it?” Zayden asked. “Bryce said he wouldn’t be able to hold back the lion’s call again. What does that mean?”
Ryon and my father looked at each other again but at least my father opted to say something. “The lion is the image of Kalu’s spirit. It lives within him because he’s the true heir but it would only truly show itself when Trever gets beyond angry.”
“He was beyond angry last night.” Troy said.
“Yes, and it was enough to sense that Trever had not become King. It will come back to make sure he does.”
“Come back?” I asked. “How?”
“Oh, no.” Ruby groaned. “Is this really happening? I didn’t think he was serious.”
“What?” I asked, hoping to get some kind of answer. I knew Ruby knew a lot of things about Trever. This had to be one of them.
“He used to tell us this story when we were young about the lion’s rage and how it breaks out of its human binds, massacring entire villages in a horrible bloody vengeance unless he resumes the throne.”
“What? Like human binds being an actual person?”
“Yeah and right now, it’s him.”
Now I was starting to become a little worried about this.
“It’s all right, Adele.” My father said. “It won’t be yet.”
Before I could have went on, Jaylyn and Trever came walking back and we stood right up to their presence.
“You all right?” Troy asked.
Dumb question. Of course she wasn’t all right but Jaylyn didn’t really help by smiling like nothing was wrong. “Yeah. Fine.”
“Well, good.” Ruby said. “But I have a question.”
“Ruby.” I sighed her name rather loudly. I hated it when she asked someone questions with that tone about her voice. They were either mainly for her pleasure of things or she was about to make someone really uncomfortable and I didn’t want that for Jaylyn right now.
“What? It’s not related. I’ve been wanting to know.”
“What is it?” Jaylyn asked with a smile.
Jaylyn was being open about this much like I remember Kole being but didn’t know if she was ready for anything that would be asked.
“Okay two questions. Where did you get that outfit and where can I get one?”
Jaylyn looked down. She was
still wearing the two piece white outfit she wore from the night before. It had a thick band around her waist that was embellished in emeralds in silver settings. The white flowing fabric under it was attached just on the side and wrapped around the back, attaching to the band again which left the fabric to drape open over her left hip. The top was quite similar. The thick band going around the top of her chest was covered in the same emeralds in silver settings and two pieces of fabric crisscrossed around to her back to cover her breast.
She shrugged her shoulders with a happy tone. “You can’t. Kole made it for me.”
She kept her smile throughout saying it and Ruby shared an awkward look with those of us around her. “Oh. I see. Well, I like it. He—had good taste.”
This was why I didn’t want her to ask. Jaylyn tried to keep her smile while nodding in agreement at the same time. “Yeah. He does—I mean—did. If you want, I bet Adele could—”
“Yeah.” Ruby nodded back, trying to keep her emotion together as well.
“Just—you know—change the colors or something.”
“Yeah. Of course. Adele, you could—”
“Please stop talking about this and I will.” I muttered through my clenched jaw.
“Okay.”
“How are you?” My father was looking right at Trever, demanding an answer with his eyes.
“Are you trying to evoke my bad side, because that would be a really bad idea? It’s under control.”
“It better be.” My father replied, climbing up on his horse. “It’s best if we go.”
We got on our horses without a word and I took down the fortress.
Naturally, my father started to ride east first but Zayden got in front of him. “For your protection, let us. If we fall into a trap they may be more hesitant if we’re standing in the way.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can’t but I’m sure I have a better reaction time than you.”
Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5) Page 14
