He clenched his jaw. They had lost track of the Chosen One once his brother, Marcus, had been killed in the Human Realm, hunting her. Even Scorpina had died. This was the first definite report they had regarding her whereabouts.
“Why do you want to know?” Cass asked, her eyes narrowing.
Wes looked back at her. “Because I’m the one prophesized to kill her.”
Cass’s eyes widened. “You can’t do that! She’s going to put an end to the war!”
“She’s going to win the war for you! The only way to win the war is to have a victor. Don’t be so stupid, Cass.”
“Hey, I’m not stupid! And there are lots of peaceful ways to end wars. A truce, for instance.”
Wes shook his head and gestured to the land around him. “There will be no truce for this. The only way we’ll let the war end is by killing the ruling family of Magic Users. They did this to our land.”
Cass looked away from him. “That’s the first time you said ‘they’ and not ‘me.’”
Wes shook his head. “Whatever. We need to keep moving. Come on!”
He pushed her forward. He should have bound her again, but he didn’t have any more rope, plus he was pretty sure she wasn’t going to run. He had dozed off late the night before and woken up to her staring at him only feet away. She had the perfect opportunity to run but hadn’t. He was also pretty sure she wasn’t afraid of him. He wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.
“How much farther is it?” Cass asked, wiping sweat off her forehead.
Wes didn’t answer. He just stared at her as she struggled up the rocky terrain of Lion’s Crossing. The underground kingdom was just past the crossing, but the crossing was ten miles of tough walking. He assumed Cass would have to stop several times before they reached the end.
She stopped an hour later and collapsed onto a flat reddish rock. “I guess this would be easier if I wasn’t a girl, huh?”
Wes glanced at her. He didn’t want to talk to her. It was easier if he didn’t. Then she wouldn’t put crazy thoughts and feelings into him. He should have been mute the whole time, he thought, mentally kicking himself. But from now on, she wasn’t going to get anything out of him. That way he wouldn’t keep questioning things he had been taught because of her inane jabbering.
“I mean, if I were an animal, this probably would be easier, right?” she said, shooting him a grin.
He shook his head and looked away, although he agreed. A lot of terrain in Shifter land was made more for animals than the other races, which deterred most races from exploring their lands.
“Did I do something?”
He sighed and glanced back at her. She actually looked concerned about his new behavior. This girl is nuts, he decided. She didn’t run away when she could have. She wanted nothing but to talk to him and treat him as if he hadn’t kidnapped her. She had to be crazy.
Cass stood back up, leading the way over the mixed stones that lined the ground. Every once in a while, she’d find her balance on some of the elevated rock faces that turned into cliffs some feet above them. She was trying to catch her breath while looking at the bottom of her feet. Her shoes were flat, not made for this much walking and this rugged terrain. Wes hoped he didn’t have to carry her the rest of the way. She may have looked like a twig, but his own thin frame didn’t lend itself to carrying much weight.
Cass sat down with a huff, and Wes rolled his eyes. Magic Users were so frail. He walked a few steps away and scanned the land in front of him. This was the only part of Shifter territory that hadn’t changed in appearance since the war had decimated the area. But it had become more and more unstable over the years. Most Shifters stay away from the crossing because of the quakes and land shifts. But this route was the shortest distance to the kingdom from where he had abducted Cass. Wes shouldn’t have been surprised when the quake started, but Cass definitely was. He immediately looked at her; her eyes were wide as she clung to the boulder behind her. He was about to tell her to just hold on and that it would pass, when the rocks below him seemed to just disappear; they must have split during the quake. He reached out and grabbed a ledge before falling. Then he looked down. The fall was very, very far. He cursed and looked above him. The ledge he’d grabbed was at least a couple of feet down, and the rocks above it were too smooth to try to climb. If he could just get his feet up to the ledge he was holding on to! He tried a few times, but there was nothing for his feet to get any traction on. He debated changing into his snake form but knew he’d lose the ledge if he did.
He hung his head. This was his luck. His whole life seemed to be one immense disaster. Everyone knew he was going to fail, especially his father. He had been so close to bringing a Magic User princess to his kingdom, and now he probably would die because of a damn earthquake.
“Hey, grab my hand.”
Wes looked up at Cass’s outstretched hand. It was close enough to grab, but he shook his head. “There’s no way you’ll be able to pull me up.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on! You just need one big pull.”
Wes gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to let her help him, but more than that, he didn’t want to die. With everything in him, he let go with one of his hands then swung his hand up finding her hand on the first shot.
“OK, now I’m going to pull on ‘three.’ One…two…three!”
Wes felt her pull on his hand, and at the same time he mustered all his energy to try to jump off the rocks, using any traction he could find. He wasn’t sure it had worked until he felt the flat rock below his feet. He looked down at the ledge that was now below him and sighed.
“I told you!”
He looked up at Cass, who had a triumphant smile on her face. “I need my hand,” he told her.
“Oh,” Cass said with a nervous laugh, as she quickly let go of his hand.
Wes pulled himself the rest of the way up, back up to the land. He sighed and lay back against the ground. His arms burned and felt like jelly. He didn’t think he would be able to move anytime soon. He closed his eyes against the sun and evened his breathing. He felt her close to him before she touched him, and when she pulled at his armpits, he wanted to push her away, but his arms wouldn’t move the way he wanted. He opened his eyes as she pulled him to a rock and propped him up against it.
“Are you OK?” Cass asked, kneeling beside him.
He looked at her and nodded.
“We should stay here for a while.”
Wes laughed. “I don’t think I could move if I wanted. Hanging off a cliff is harder than it looks.”
Cass sighed and leaned back next to him. “And you’re not as light as you look.”
He rolled his head to look at her and couldn’t help smile. She had saved him. That didn’t make any sense, but she had. “Why did you do that?”
“Make a joke?” she asked slowly.
“Help me? You do realize I’m a Shifter, right? And I kidnapped you?”
Cass shrugged. “While we were walking, I realized I know nothing about Shifters other than the fact that I should hate them. I was going to ask you about your people, but I couldn’t do that if you weren’t talking to me or if you died.”
He stared at her for a moment. “You’re just…odd.”
The corners of her mouth twitched, as if she were holding back a laugh. “I’ve been told that.”
Wes shook his head and closed his eyes. They sat in silence for a while as he rested his body. He debated changing into his snake form, mainly because he always felt better that way, but he didn’t have the energy for that. When he opened his eyes, the sun was beginning to set.
“Can you start a fire?” he asked.
Cass cringed. “I need something that can burn.”
Wes sat forward and stretched the creaks out of his bones and muscles before pulling off his T-shirt. Then he tossed the shirt at her. Cass took it and placed it in front of them. A few moments later, she set it on fire. “Will it last all night?” he asked.
/> She nodded. “The fire will maintain itself, even if the shirt burns away. It’s magic,” she said, giving him a grin.
He rolled his eyes. “What’s so great about magic?”
“It feels like the most amazing thing in the world.”
He noticed her faraway look.
She sighed and glanced at him. “What’s so great about shifting?”
“It’s not like something I do to feel good,” he replied. “I have to shift. It’s like breathing.”
“But I’ve been with you for almost two days, and you haven’t shifted.”
“You don’t get it,” he said, looking away.
“Then explain it.”
“Could you go through life without doing magic?”
“I guess.”
“I can’t go through life without shifting. It’s not possible. I can’t go a week. If I do, I’ll wake up as a snake one day and won’t be able to shift back for a few days. Both of my states are me.” He looked back at her; Cass was staring at him with utter concentration.
“Tell me more.”
He shrugged. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. How about your family? You said your father is a king, right?”
Wes didn’t say anything at first. The one thing Shifters were known for was their secrecy with other races. Shifters never knew who in their ruling family was king or queen, and they never knew who was next in line for the throne. That way there wouldn’t be any targeted attacks. He shouldn’t tell Cass anything. He needed to stop talking again. It was better that way.
“So you’re going to stop talking to me again?” Cass sighed. “How about I answer your questions, and you answer mine?”
It was an intriguing option. He didn’t want to tell her anything, but he could get good intel not only on the Magic Users but also on the Chosen One. That was worth it, right? He eyed her. “Fine.”
“OK, um, what’s your family like?”
This wasn’t a question he was ready for. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “I mean, like, my mother is hard and icy with no soft edges at all, and my one older sister is like her, but she still has some softness to her. But my other sister is amazing. Helen is kind and cares about people even before she meets them. I want to be more like her, but I guess I’m scared.” She shook her head. “So what’s your family like?”
Wes moved around uncomfortably. “My father is…a lion. Literally. He…roars when he’s disappointed in me, which is often. I used to be one of three sons, but both of my brothers died, the oldest last year when he was tracking the Chosen One.”
“What about the other one? When did he die?”
Wes clenched his teeth. “When we were kids. We were out here, playing around, and he got caught by a quake and land shift.”
Cass looked away, at the large crevice Wes almost had gone straight down. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ll be the first king who isn’t a big cat.”
“Is that a good thing?”
Wes looked at her. “Not in my father’s eyes.”
“I don’t think my mother would want me to be queen. I don’t think she wants Syney either, though. She probably wouldn’t be happy with anyone but herself.”
Wes looked over at her. “Tell me about Syney.”
Cass stared at him for a moment, obviously remembering his comment about having been prophesized to kill her. “She’s not what you think she is. She’s the most un-Magic User. If there’s anyone who could bring a peaceful end to this war, it’s her. I promise.”
“I already told you—there can’t be a peaceful end.”
“And I think you’re being pigheaded! Think outside of the revenge box for a moment, Wes!”
He opened his mouth to yell back at her but stopped. He liked the sound of his name from her mouth. He sighed. He wanted to think the way she did, but he couldn’t. The Shifters hadn’t started the war. From what Wes had been taught, the Magic Users had shut down their borders and had killed any non-Magic User or Lycin in their lands just for being there. And then the attacks had started. They sent fireballs over to Shifter land, destroying all the large majestic buildings in their main city. A year later the land started to die. The Great War was unprovoked and vicious. “I’m not sure I want a peaceful end,” he spat at her.
Cass tentatively reached out and took his hand in hers. “No matter what happened to start the war, there’s no reason there should be more death. If anything we should learn from what happened.” She paused. “Two whole houses of royal Magic Users were killed by Shifters and Daemons. And I’m sure your ruling house suffered losses as well. But that doesn’t mean people should still die.”
“No Shifter killed any Magic Users.”
Cass shook her head. “There isn’t much known about the war, but the fact that the Shifters killed Magic Users is true. That’s why Daemons were cursed to sleep, and Shifters were cursed to only change into one animal.”
“What are you talking about? Shifters never could change into more than one animal. My great-great-grandfather was a black snake, like me. That’s where I get it from, and he was born long before the war.”
She frowned and pulled her feet up under her. “This all makes no sense. How can we know two different stories? They both can’t be right.”
“Which means one of them is wrong.”
“And you’re so sure it’s yours?” she barked.
She was only inches away and mad as hell; both things made Wes smile. He wasn’t sure why he did what he did next; it just seemed right at the time. What he didn’t expect was for her to kiss him back. Not only that, but she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and pulled him even closer to her. He thought that nothing could feel better than shifting, but this came pretty damn close. Finally he got his senses back and pulled away from her.
Cass put her hand to her lips. “Wow,” she breathed.
Wes, on the other hand, shook his head and looked away. That was bad and could never happen again, no matter how much he wanted to grab her and do it again. Wes sighed as she leaned onto his bare chest, putting an arm around him. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“You’re cold.”
He was about to say he wasn’t, but that would be a lie. He took a deep breath and smelled her. Magic Users smelled sweet, always. Almost like the buah manis, a pale yellow flower that grew above the kingdom. This was the first time he didn’t think the scent was too sickly sweet. It was just right. Cass fell asleep after she laid her head on his chest, leaving Wes alone with his thoughts. Whatever was happening here, it was wrong, and he probably shouldn’t bring her to the kingdom. With his luck, his father would see her as nothing but a security risk and make him kill her the second he saw her. Wes didn’t know whether he could do that. That being said, he felt a pull toward this destiny of killing the Chosen One, this Syney. Maybe the sooner he did it, the sooner all this would end. Maybe then he could tell his father that Cass wasn’t like the others, and Lional would let him keep her. He rolled his eyes. She was a woman, not a pet. No, if he let Cass go now, he was pretty sure he’d never see her again. He wasn’t good with that option either, but at least she’d be alive that way.
During the night he gently laid Cass down. Fortunately she didn’t wake up and continued to snore softly. He stared down at her for a moment before grabbing some small stones and making them into an arrow that pointed back to Magic User lands. Cass could just walk straight across and get to the border in about a day, less if she retraced their steps.
He gave her one last look before heading off. He wasn’t going home, though. He needed to do some research on Syney and find out if she ever left the Village. That was his best shot at getting her. He headed toward the neutral territories; there were spies everywhere, and the best were all there. When the sun started to rise, he pictured Cass waking up alone. She’d see the arrow right away and then his little message. He kept it brief; he didn’t have many small stones. He felt “Go home” would get h
is point across. He just hoped she wasn’t as crazy as he thought she was and keep heading toward the Shifter kingdom. But as she told him, she wasn’t stupid, so he doubted it. But she was beautiful, damn it. He had to admit that.
Syney was quieter than usual when he picked her up for their date that night. She wasn’t cold, but he sensed her hesitation when he leaned in for a kiss or suggested a place to go. He was pretty sure he knew why—a friend of his in Colchin had reach out and told him of the Head Guard’s investigation—but he was hoping the whole situation wasn’t going to come up, not tonight. Tonight he wanted things to be special. He had planned a “magical” evening he hoped would end with some intimate moments between them.
When they walked out of her room, he turned to face her. “What’s wrong?”
Syney smiled at him. “Nothing.”
Adam nodded. “I’m assuming it has to do with the guard commander’s background check on me.”
Syney tried to act surprised for a moment before cringing. “So you know about that?”
He nodded. “I heard some things. Is there something specific he’s looking for?”
She sighed and put her hands on his hips. “He’s just making sure you aren’t a psycho who’s going to hurt me. Which you’re not, although what he did find is a little…weird.”
Adam groaned. “He didn’t find anything.”
“That’s the weird part.”
He looked away. This was what he had been afraid of. He felt comfortable with the way his relationship with Syney was developing, but he couldn’t control the other people around her, especially Leaf.
“Hey,” Syney said. “Just tell me. Whatever it is.” She slipped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.
Adam sighed and wrapped his arms around her. “There are some things that are still a little hard to explain.”
Syney pulled back and looked up at him. “Well, let’s take tonight and go over it all.” She smiled at him. “How does that sound?”
He hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I have a surprise for you.” He gestured to his shoulder bag.
“Hmm, I like surprises. Although not always the ones that fit into a bag.”
Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 Page 11
