Aylie frowned. “Ryder blames the Order for murdering his family—he would never join them…never.”
Ruah’s deep blue eyes were full of compassion. Ryder WILL become the next high priest. He communicated gently. And he will ask you to join him.
Aylie shook her head in disagreement. “You’re wrong.”
You can influence Ryder to turn away from the path of darkness, he continued un-phased, as if he hadn’t heard her rebuttal. But you must also remember who you ARE. If you forget that, he will be lost.
“What do you expect me to do?” She asked, feeling helpless. “If I can’t stop him from becoming Edryd’s high priest, then how can I change his path?”
I cannot tell you how to fulfill your destiny, the lion said, though his eyes were full of kindness. That is something you must discover for yourself.
“What if I can’t do it?”
I will help you, he promised. Whatever decision you make, I will be with you. I am not asking you to do this alone. Listen for my voice…in your dreams, in your head, in your heart…listen with your spirit. You may not always see me, but I will always be there.
Aylie sighed, blinking back tears of frustration. “But why me?”
Do you love Ryder?
Ryder. Aylie remembered his lips on her forehead…the euphoria she’d felt only a few hours ago when she’d left Kyle’s party. The way he’d held her close and thanked her for helping him. The way he’d comforted her when she’d blamed herself for Bridgett’s death. She forced the memories out of her head. When she looked up, Ruah was gone.
“Aylie?” Her mom’s voice called softly.
Aylie looked up miserably to meet her mom’s worried gaze. “Nice robe.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you about this sooner,” she pushed her hood back, revealing her tear-stained face. “We didn’t want to scare you or overwhelm you before the time was right.”
Aylie shot her a condescending look. “Are we going to talk about the fact that you and dad look like ridiculous, wannabe Jedi’s?”
“This isn’t a joke, Aylie.”
“You’re right,” she retorted. “It’s my life.” She shook her head. “But this explains why you didn’t try to stop me from seeing Ryder—why you encouraged me to visit him in jail. You were using me to get to him.”
Mrs. Bryant shook her head. “That wasn’t our intention, Aylie.”
Aylie glared at her. “You knew this was going to happen all along,” she accused.
“We didn’t know Ryder was going to be Edryd’s next high priest until recently, but we knew it was someone in his bloodline. When all of his brothers died and his father was murdered, he was the only one left,” she explained. “And we didn’t know that you were going to fall in love with him.”
“How could Ruardian choose me to influence Ryder when he’s been dead for a thousand years?”
“His body died a thousand years ago, but his spirit didn’t—that part of him still exists.”
Aylie shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you.”
“His son Rhydian—you know him as Eli, never died. He escaped his brother Edryd’s murderous reach. He’s immortal, so he never ages. He’s been hiding for centuries, moving from place to place. He takes on a new name and identity in every generation, that’s why he’s impossible to track.”
“I know the stories already,” Aylie muttered, folding her arms across her chest. “But why did he randomly decide to move to Silvervane, of all places, and take on the fake identity of a college student after all this time?” She didn’t hold back her skepticism.
“He came here because Edryd’s heir is here. Ryder’s family was originally from England. If his family had stayed in Europe, that’s where Eli would’ve gone. It doesn’t have to make sense to be true, Aylie.”
“Okay, that might explain how he ended up here, but it doesn’t explain why he chose me.”
“Ruardian knows what will happen in the future before the events ever take place—he must’ve known about your relationship with Ryder.”
Aylie bit her lip, contemplating how to respond. “Mom, I don’t want to question your sanity but this is really disturbing.”
“What proof do you need, Aylie? Have you met Ruah yet?”
Aylie narrowed her blue eyes. “How do you know about him?”
“He appears to all of us when it’s our time to be wakened.”
“Wakened?”
“When Ruardian believes we are ready to embrace our unique destiny, he reveals himself to us in different forms—whichever form we will respond to best. The lion is just one of his many forms.”
“Uh huh.”
“When he appears to you, whether in a dream or in front of your eyes, it awakens something inside of you. You feel drawn to something greater than yourself. You become aware of a higher power, for lack of a better phrase.”
“A higher power…do you know how crazy that sounds?” Aylie asked, arching a brow.
“I remember feeling exactly what you’re experiencing right now,” Mrs. Bryant said, putting her hand on Aylie’s shoulder tenderly. “I was a little older than you are now. But before you were born, Ruah appeared to me. He told me I would have a daughter who would one day have the power to change the course of history. I knew it meant giving life to a child that I might lose someday. That has been the hardest part of my destiny.” Tears brimmed in her light blue eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me about any of this? I had to hear the legends from Ryder—the boy everyone believes is about to destroy the world by waking the devil’s spawn from an enchanted sleep.”
“Maybe we should have,” Mrs. Bryant murmured remorsefully. “But we wanted you to have a normal life as long as possible.”
“Does Lucas know anything about this, or is he exempt from this ‘alternate reality’ because he’s not Ruardian’s chosen?” She asked bitterly.
Her mom’s face fell. “He knows.”
“How long has he known?”
“About two years.”
Aylie shook her head angrily. “Unbelievable.”
They were suddenly interrupted by a mass of people emerging from the cabin. Most of them were unfamiliar to Aylie, but she spotted Ren and Derek in the middle of the crowd, and waited for them to reach her. She had a few things to say to them as well. By the time they made their way over to her, she had decided to ride home with them. Her mom protested, but she stalked away, following them to the car.
“You owe me an explanation,” she said, as they climbed into Eli’s car. He had given Derek permission to drive back without him. He was going to be with the council for a few more hours and wouldn’t be home until late.
“I know,” Ren said, biting her lip. “Please don’t be mad, Aylie. Your parents made us promise not to tell you. They said we had to wait until the time was right.”
“But you’re one of my best friends. I just don’t understand how you could keep something like this from me.” She didn’t try to hide the hurt in her voice.
“I wanted to tell you so many times. I was waiting for you to tell me about Ryder so I would have a reason to confide in you about what I knew. You never gave me a straight answer about him and you avoided me for weeks when I asked, remember?”
Aylie pursed her lips. She wanted to be angry with Ren and Derek, but part of her understood that they were respecting her parents’ wishes. It wasn’t their fault that her mom and dad had hidden their involvement with the council. In some ways, she was almost relieved that they knew about everything…the Order, Ruah, Rhydian—all of it. Finally she would have someone to talk to who understood the crazy world she’d unwittingly gotten sucked into. She didn’t know how much she should trust them right away, but at least they had a grid for what she was dealing with.
The ranch was dark when she got home. Her parents were still with Eli at the council meeting and Sam was spending the night at a friend’s house. She knew her parents were going to be home really late so she tur
ned the porch light on for them as she walked into the house. She shrugged out of her jacket and hung it on the coat rack inside the front door. She wasn’t hungry after everything that had happened so she headed for the stairs, intending to go straight to bed. She stopped short when she saw someone sitting in the middle of the staircase.
“It’s just me, Aylie,” Lucas said quietly.
Aylie’s heartbeat slowed. “Why are you sitting here in the dark?” She asked, flipping on the hall light.
“It wasn’t my idea to keep everything from you,” he said, lowering his head into his hands. “I wanted to tell you right away, but mom and dad made me swear not to.”
“How did you find out?”
“Derek told me when we were seniors in high school. We used to play hockey together, remember?”
“Is that why you’re not friends with him anymore?” She asked, glaring down at him.
“Something like that,” he replied gruffly.
“I guess that explains why you hate coming home so much.”
“Yeah.”
She paused, leaning against the corner of the railing. “Do you believe what they’re saying?”
“I believe some of it,” he said, lifting his eyes to hers. “I’ve seen things. But I don’t believe you’re doomed to sacrifice your life for the sake of some lame-ass kid who refuses to do his own dirty work.”
Aylie was taken aback by his tone. “So you don’t believe Eli’s the Lost Prince, then?”
“He might be, but that doesn’t mean he’s the one we should all bow down to.”
Aylie narrowed her eyes, trying to understand what he was saying. “What do you mean?”
Lucas straightened up, raking his hand through his dirty blond hair. “There are two sides to every story.”
“Are you saying that you think Edryd is the good guy?”
Lucas shrugged. “I don’t know…maybe he is. I’ve never heard his version of the story, have you?”
Aylie shook her head and fell silent. Was her brother actually defending the cruel and heartless murderer who had brought such violence and tragedy to their backdoor?
“You should think about which side of this you want to be on,” Lucas said, interrupting her thoughts. “I know I have.”
He stood silently to his feet and walked past her to the end of the hall, pausing to glance at her one more time before disappearing through the front door. She pivoted on her heel,
watching him vanish behind it in shock.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
R yder stayed in his room while the Kavanagh’s spent Christmas morning together as a family. He was thankful they didn’t try to talk him into joining them—he’d never been much good at faking holiday spirit. At least, not since his mom and all of his brothers had died. His father had taken him on a hunting trip last year during the holidays and it had been a welcome distraction from memories that were too painful to relive. Christmas had become nothing more than a cruel reminder of everything he had lost and this year was even worse with his father now dead. If Aylie hadn’t come into his life when she had, he would’ve been utterly alone.
He pushed the bedroom curtain aside and watched the sun rise up over the mountains in the distance. There was a fresh layer of snow on the ground, with a fresh shower of flakes still falling. There had been a storm last night and Ryder had hardly slept. He’d been awake all night devising a plan to get home. He’d been locked up in Judge Kavanagh’s house for three days now and he was going crazy. He wasn’t used to such strict rules and constant observation. He missed the freedom of the Mansion and the mountains and the forest. He missed Aylie, and he planned to do something about it.
After lunch, the Kavanagh’s would be visiting relatives in the next town over and would be gone for several hours. Ryder had already declined the invitation to go with them, much to Kyle’s relief. He told them he didn’t really enjoy being around people he didn’t know very well and would prefer to stay in his room. The Judge had argued with him at first, but then she decided to let it go.
He waited until they’d been gone at least twenty minutes before he started his trek to the Bryant Ranch. There was no forest on this side of town, so he wouldn’t be able to transition without leaving himself exposed. Without the swiftness of his panther form, it was going to take him a lot longer to get there than he would have liked. He found the nearest bus stop and hopped on, riding it to the edge of the city limits. From there, he took the gravel road out of town on foot. The scenery was so familiar and comforting, it soothed his soul in spite of the fact that he was being accosted by a swirl of heavy snowflakes.
Finally, Ryder reached the Ranch’s back pasture. He trudged through the snow-laden grass, picturing the surprised look on Aylie’s face. He sauntered toward the barn where he knew she was mostly likely finishing her morning chores. Apparently she wasn’t exempt from her work, even on Christmas morning. He breathed in the fresh mountain air. This was going to be much easier than he’d thought. He crept around the back of the barn, peaking in through the crack in the sliding door. He saw Aylie brushing Knight’s coat vigorously, like she had something on her mind. He smiled to himself, noiselessly sliding the door open just wide enough to slip through unnoticed. He stole up behind her without a sound, wrapping one arm around her waist. He covered her mouth with his other hand to keep her from screaming loud enough to alert her family of his presence. When he released her, she jumped into his arms, smiling up at him. She was practically glowing.
“How did you manage to get away from the Kavanagh’s?” She asked, breathless.
“I have my ways,” he replied mischievously, kissing her on the lips. She leaned in to deepen it, wrapping her arms around his neck. There was a fierceness to her kiss that set him on fire and alarmed him all at the same time. He didn’t want to stop her, but he could feel something beneath the kiss that concerned him. He forced himself to pull back, just enough to look into her eyes. “Is everything okay?” He asked, searching her ocean-blue eyes. In his eighteen years of life, he had never felt this way about another human being before and he felt like his heart might explode at any minute.
Aylie dropped her gaze to his lips again with a hungry look that made his body come alive. “Of course, why do you ask?” She murmured, kissing him again.
Ryder felt like he was about to lose his mind. She was kissing him like her life depended on it and he was fighting the urge to take things to a level he knew he shouldn’t. Not yet, anyways. She took a few steps backward and he followed, pressing her into the back wall, his hands on either side of her head as he kissed her back. He couldn’t help feeling her desperation in every part of his body. He slid his hands down the sides of her neck, her arms—her waist. He didn’t want to hold back, but something was pulling at his mind. Something wasn’t right. He had to control himself…get her to talk instead of letting her push him over the edge. He tried to step back, but she held him tighter. He laughed into her mouth but she had no intentions of letting him breath anytime soon.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, he thought. He leaned in, kissing her so hard and fast that he felt a little lightheaded himself. Aylie gasped, breaking away for an instant to catch her breath. It was all he needed. He laughed, taking a deep breath of his own. He rested his hand lightly on her chest to keep her from crushing into him again before he had a chance to find out what was wrong.
“What’s going on, Aylie?”
She frowned. “Nothing. Why do you keep asking me that?”
He leaned over, looking down into her eyes with his piercing, soul-searching gaze. “I know you, Aylie. We’re connected. I can sense what you’re feeling.”
“I missed you,” she said, gazing back at him innocently.
“I missed you, too,” he smiled, kissing her lightly on the forehead. “But there’s something else going on—I can feel it.”
Aylie averted her eyes, looking down at his chest. “It’s Christmas,” she said, with a tortured expression. “Ca
n’t we just enjoy being together for one day?”
Ryder thought about it, noting the way she refused to give him a straight answer. Maybe she just needed time to process what was bothering her. Maybe she still felt guilty about Bridgett’s death. Whatever it was, he would get it out of her eventually. “You’re right,” he said, lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes again. “What do you want to do then?”
She perked up suddenly, her lips breaking into a slightly mischievous grin. “I want us to spend the day with my family.”
Ryder’s eyes widened. “You want us to spend the day with your family, as in…me spend Christmas day with your family?”
Aylie nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what I want.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea….”
“It’ll be great,” she interrupted confidently. “My parents already know about us, anyway. I’m sure they’d love to get to know you better.” Her tone was strangely condescending as she said it.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.” She took his hand, lacing her fingers through his. “Come on.”
He followed her with trepidation, bracing himself for the cold reception he was sure to encounter. He hadn’t met her father yet, but Lucas’s opinion of him was quite obvious. He felt Aylie squeeze his hand reassuringly as she pushed open the front door, dragging him into the living room where the rest of her family was gathered around the television watching a Christmas movie. They looked up as he entered and the surprise on their faces was evident. Lucas didn’t even attempt to hide his displeasure. He instantly stood to his feet and walked out of the room, glaring all the way.
Mr. Bryant reluctantly stood to his feet, crossing the room to extend his hand in a friendly gesture. “You must be Ryder,” he said, attempting to smile politely.
Ryder nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Payne. My wife and I want you to feel welcome here at the Bryant Ranch.” His gaze shifted to Aylie. “I know my daughter thinks very highly of you.”
WAKENED (The Silvervane Chronicles Book 1) Page 19
