“And how is Seth not involved? Have you forgotten that I kept her alive for him?”
“You helped keep her alive because it was the right thing. You never wanted to—”
“Seth!”
My head snapped up and my entire world was leaning out a window on the second floor, her eyes watering, eager to get closer to mine.
“Cadence!” Meg walked down the stairs and turned so she could see her above the porch roof. “Don’t you dare take one step out of that house or you’ll never leave it again!”
Cadence was upset but her look down at her mother turned angry. I hoped she wouldn’t listen and leaned on the gate with an encouraging nod. She seemed like she wanted to but she began to pull herself back inside.
Meg sighed and walked back to my father. “You see why it concerns me? She’ll never learn with your boy around.”
In a flash, my head spun back up. Cadence dove out of her window, catching her hands on the edge of the porch roof and flipped herself around, spinning in the air and landed on her feet. It was so incredibly amazing. Her body moved with perfection and her landing was flawless.
“Cadence!” I loved it but her mother was furious. “What did I say?”
“I heard you. I didn’t step out of the house. I vaulted.”
I smiled to the genius and she turned her head to me. All those emotions came back to her face and she ran to me.
Chapter 34
Bryce
She hugged him over the gate and their kiss—it was so passionate and connected. They truly had something that I’ve never seen before.
“I was so worried. Are you all right? When I saw him come back without you, I thought that he—I thought that you—I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if—”
“I’m all right.” Seth said, naturally trying to calm her hysteria. “You’ll never have to worry about him ever again. We took care of it.”
He looked up with the rest of us as smoke climbed to the clouds where Dirk had set the building on fire.
“Gone?”
“For good.”
She hugged him again in joy of the idea but it was clearly still upsetting for her to think about. I remember the shape she was in when we first saw her. Any girl would have been terrified to know that he was still around.
“I never wanted to send that letter.”
“I know. I realized the words weren’t you.”
Seth looked up at her mother and his father having what seemed to be a quiet argument about the situation, only it didn’t look good from my perspective. Meg was standing her ground against Zayden almost as if she learned how from Adele herself.
“She made you do it but don’t worry—”
“Ah, Seth?” I didn’t want to cut into this but I thought I should stop him. “Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep.”
He looked at his father again and Zayden looked sorry while walking towards us.
“Father, no.”
“Now wait a second. You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
“But I have an idea. You agree.”
“We’ve merely come to a mutual understanding.”
“Same thing. How could you?”
“We’ll talk about it at home. Say good-bye.”
“No!” His voice jumped all of us and he clutched Cadence as close as he could get her.
“Seth! I am not going to argue this here!”
“Cadence.” Her mother was right next to Zayden, trying to enforce this separation they clearly didn’t want to have. “Get in the house.”
“But mother—”
“Right now, young lady.”
She didn’t seem like she was going to. In fact, she sat up on the rock wall by the gate and turned so her legs were outside of her yard by us and she hopped down. Seth’s hand was in hers and she walked him to the corner of the wall, I guess to say their good-byes alone or as alone as they could really get.
I heard a few things like Cadence saying she didn’t want him to go and Seth replying that he’ll always be with her. It was sweet but I couldn’t understand how he could have kept this a secret for so long. He’s been in love and we were just beginning to find out? It all felt so unreal.
The rest of the conversation was low enough to be kept between them but I still watched, especially when Seth reached down and picked up what looked like to be just a simple rock. He held it in his hand with something he took from his pocket and shook it for a moment. Cadence reacted with some level of joy when he put a chain around her neck and she reached to the wall, picking a purple flower that grew on the stone and handed it to him.
Their hands were together as they turned and walked back to us, looking relatively happier than when they walked away. Cadence had a blue heart shaped rock wrapped in silver wire hanging from her neck on a silver chain. Seth must have just made it in the seconds he had that rock in his hand. He was always good at things like that.
“Bryce, I just wanted to say thank you for healing me earlier.” Cadence parted from Seth and kissed my cheek after a brief unexpected hug.
“Sure.” I said, a little stunned that just happened at all. “No problem.”
“And Dirk.” She hugged and kissed his cheek too. “I just love your hair.” It gave all of us a nice laugh. “No, really. Thank you for everything else. I can sleep soundly now that he’s gone.”
“You’re very welcome and if you ever need help sleeping again, I could always—”
“Absolutely not!” Seth cut in before Dirk could really explain but we all knew what he would have said.
Cadence didn’t take offend. She laughed instead. “That’s sweet. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“He’s not sweet.” Seth griped. “He’s an animal.”
“Thank you.” Dirk wasn’t the least bit hurt about that awful truth.
“All right.” Cadence turned back to Seth and stayed close to him. “Don’t fight. This is where I want to be.”
“Just not yet.”
Her mother chimed in maybe to get them to know that she was still here and still waiting.
“I know, mother. Okay?”
“In the house, Cadence.”
She was getting upset again and hugged Seth tightly. “I miss you already.”
“Just remember what I said because it’s true.”
They parted and kissed again, a few times.
“Cadence.” Her mother said again. “In. Now.”
She kissed him one last time but it was longer than the rest and then she helped herself back over the wall.
Seth didn’t want to let go. He had her hand, even when they could only touch by their fingertips.
“Seth.” Zayden said.
Their figures slipped apart and Meg was right there to help Cadence turn away. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s get inside.”
Cadence pulled herself away and looked at her mother with sheer distaste. “Don’t touch me. I hate you right now.”
She hurried off inside when she began to cry and Meg looked right at Zayden.
“It’s all right.” He said. “Good-bye, Meg.”
She turned away, closing the door behind her.
“Let’s go. Seth.” His eyes were still looking at the house, maybe hoping to see her out that window.
“I don’t see how I could ever forgive you for this.”
“We’ll talk about it at home but first you’re going to apologize to your mother for making her worry the way she did. Is that clear?”
Seth didn’t respond. He turned away and began to walk back towards the palace. Zayden sighed as anyone would have and we followed.
It wasn’t any better when we stepped back through the portal. Of course our fathers wanted to know what happened but Seth ignored most of it.
“Not here.” Zayden said. He took Seth shoulders and made sure he went with us into the conference room.
“Where’s mother?” I asked.
“They went out to shop.” My father said. “Adel
e needed to get her mind off—stuff.”
“Can I go now?” Seth asked.
“Absolutely not. You’re going to wait right here until your mother comes home.”
Seth forced himself to sit down but he did so with black eyes. My father and Darius kept looking at him briefly while they asked how everything went. I for one wasn’t going to sit like an angry stiff. I was happy to talk about it, just as Dirk was.
“It was awesome!” They seemed surprised and I guess I had to explain. “Well—after saving Seth and making sure he didn’t stay a giant fur ball.”
He nudged me like he didn’t like to hear it.
“Watch it.” Zayden said. “You won’t like the effect if you bit him.”
“If I’m going to bite anyone, it’s going to be you.”
“You’d probably hate that more.” Zayden said it sort of jokingly while sharing a laugh with my father and Darius. I was interested but I was more interested in telling them what happened.
“Okay, getting back to your trip.” Darius said. “Why are you two so excited?”
I looked at Dirk with my smile and he seemed like he really wanted to answer so I let him have this one.
“We did exactly what you wanted by doing what Zayden asked of us.” They were still waiting and he blurted it out excitedly. “We made our first kills!”
Their faces were blank at first and they looked at Zayden between them. I was getting a little worried.
“You did?” Darius asked.
They didn’t seem happy for us as Zayden was and he tried to explain. “There was this situation with a kid who had a pretty solid plan to take over Hintus by killing everyone in the royal family until Cadence was on the throne and he’d marry her.”
“A kid thought of this?” My father asked, maybe, hopefully trying to figure this out to accept it.
“Yeah and Trever and I agreed that we couldn’t dispose of the fool and nor would Aleksander assign the Assassins to take care of him before he was an adult and it could have been too late for that. So then I thought it should be done by other kids. What’s the problem? They’ve been training for this. They were great.”
“No. No problem.” My father said. “It’s just—sorry we missed it but we kind of wanted to be there when that day came.”
“We didn’t plan it.” Zayden said. “It just sprang upon us when we found Seth in a cage.”
“A cage actually held him?” Darius asked.
“It was the one Trever would use for Ryon, to keep him contained when he was younger.”
“Yeah, you remember him.” Seth said a little smugly to show his attitude. “My uncle that’s actually older than my father and doesn’t age because he’s been dead my entire life.”
My father and Darius were even more shocked to hear that he knew because I’m sure they knew the whole time.
“Yes and they also found out about that.” Zayden said. “And also met—Kole.”
My father looked directly at me by snapping his head when he heard that name. “You met Kole?”
“Briefly. He helped with a memory issue on the other boys who didn’t want to get involved.”
“You talked to him?! What did you talk about?!”
He was getting a little angry at me and I honestly didn’t know how to answer. I looked at Zayden and he thankfully stepped in.
“Relax.” He said. “It was nothing. Brief. There was something that went on in their world that stopped anyone from crossing. Ryon couldn’t get to Seth but you know Kole. He was always—perfect and he hasn’t changed. He was able to get away to help. That’s it. We haven’t seen Ryon yet. I don’t know if he still can’t come here or if he’s concerned about what will happen when he does because they know.”
My father relaxed a little with a breath and leaned back. “Kole better not come here.”
“He won’t. He’s not that stupid.”
“He’s Kole. Of course he’s that stupid.”
“Give him a break. We were lucky he got away because he made it so much easier. He hasn’t been allowed to see her or even watch since the last time she saw him.”
“Because Bryce is on my side. He was never good for her.”
I was completely confused now.
“Not you.” Zayden said. “You’re grandfather. He’s been dead since your mother was nine.”
“Yeah, she told me that. So, when do I get to meet him?”
“Never!” My father never answered one of my questions so quickly.
“Why?”
“Because it’s not right and your mother—she never wanted you to know he could come here.”
“I don’t think any of you wanted us to know that.” Seth said.
“And we already talked about why.” Zayden said. “It would have been harder for you to understand.”
“Are we done?”
“Is your mother back?”
“I can’t sit here all fucking day.”
“Watch your mouth!” Zayden’s voice practically rumbled the whole room but Seth didn’t seem fazed. “You will sit there until your mother comes back so you can tell her yourself about how sorry you are.”
“But I’m not. I had a justified reason. What? Are we going to tell her all about that now?”
“She already knows.”
“How?!”
“From Meg.”
Seth sighed. “Of course.”
“And it was her idea.”
Seth sat up a little straighter like he was actually intrigued in a conversation since he’s been here. “What idea?”
“The recent decision of distance.”
“Why?! Doesn’t she know how important it is to me?!”
“It’s not about you, Seth. She’s thinking about Cadence.”
“What about her? Like another year is going to make a difference?”
“It’s not just another year. It’s two.”
“Two?” Seth stared in front of him at his father and I wasn’t sure any of us really should have been sitting here for this conversation but we were and Seth nearly fell apart in front of us. “Years? I can’t see her again for two years?! Why?! What about next summer?!”
“She won’t be available to the world next summer. The very morning she turns fifteen she’ll be taken to an undisclosed location for a year where she’ll begin her training to become an Assassin. She can’t be distracted. That’s why it’s so important to her mother and to yours. Cadence kept her life for this purpose. She has to succeed. You shouldn’t even want to think of what might happen if she doesn’t.”
Seth was upset like he was when he got that letter, only this time he stayed long enough for the rest of us to see it. “What am I supposed to do?”
“That’s simple; what you’ve always done while you waited; continue living your life.”
“With not even a letter like she never existed?”
“Of course not.”
Seth’s head hit the table. It had to hurt and I kind of leaned away to look at him.
“Go up to your room. I’ll send your mother to you or she’ll come running on her own.”
Seth rolled out of his chair without a word and left.
“He’s going to be like this for two years.” Darius said.
“I’ve already came to that conclusion before he knew it was going to be two years.”
“And your plan?” My father asked.
Zayden looked across the table at us.
“Us?” Dirk and I reacted at the same time.
“It needs to be you. He’ll listen to you.”
Dirk and I looked at each other and both laughed.
“Since when?” I asked.
“Since you’re young and want the same things.”
What he was really asking hit me and I became nervous about it while I stood up. “You want us to manipulate Seth with other girls just so he’ll be distracted from her for a while? I can’t do that.”
“I can.” Dirk stood right up after me, being incredibly pompou
s. “Does that mean any girls or do they have to try to be better than her because you’d be asking for a lot. She was hot.”
I looked over in disgust. “He was right. You are an animal.”
“Just doing what our King wants of us.”
“And that makes you loyal? I’ll pass. I know where I should be loyal and it’s not here.”
“Bryce!” My father stopped me from turning. “He’s just trying to help him.”
“Well, he can’t. No one can. No one but me.”
I left without looking back and instinctively went to Seth. I was a little cautious about going in at first but I did and Seth was standing at his balcony door, looking out.
Rift was the first one to notice me and looked at Seth. Seth didn’t move and I stepped in farther.
“Hey.” I said, just so he knew someone was here. It wasn’t the right time to be surprising him.
He turned his head only long enough to look. “Hey.”
I didn’t know what else to say but I had to say something. He needed to know that I was here to help.
“I know this must be difficult for you and if you ever need someone to—”
“You don’t know anything!”
He snatched at me but I made sure that I didn’t take a step back in fear.
“I saw you.” I said. “I was there, remember? I saw how you were with her and you truly do have something greater than anything I’ve ever felt for a girl. You’re connection was real. I could feel your energy when you were with her.”
“So, what do you want, Bryce?”
“Just for you to know that I’m here for you. You don’t have to be alone. I can take you to her anytime you’d like.”
“Only in mind, not body.”
“But I could work on it.”
He turned, taking his focus completely off staring outside. “You’d be willing to do that?”
“I have to learn some time. If it works, it would be easy for you two to meet somewhere private and you’d be able to get back here in seconds if you needed.”
“But you’d be watching.”
“Only when I get you there and back.”
I could tell he liked the idea but I would need a lot of practice before I could transport a person. I didn’t even know if my father could do that yet or if he has even tried.
Blooming Life (Fate's Intent Book 10) Page 20
