Gabe watched her, his heart picking up speed. This is a good thing, he thought. Chapters in lives end all the time. His chapter with Faye ended a while ago. What he had with her now was just a holdover. Nothing but a holdover that needed to be taken care of. Noelle raised the candlestick and was about to bring it down when Gabe ran across the room and grabbed her wrist.
Noelle looked at him, tears in her eyes.
Gabe picked up the amulet. “Noelle, you have to…you have to understand.”
She let out a sob and shook her head. She dropped the candlestick and ran for the door.
Gabe knew he couldn’t let her leave and was thankful at that moment for his Vampire speed. He blocked the doorway just as she got there. “Don’t leave.”
“Now you want to talk?” she said, her tears in her voice.
It broke his heart to see her this upset. He knew he had to make a decision. He was going to lose one of them either way. Gabe stared into her eyes as he lifted the amulet and squeezed it. A Vampire had the most strength of any of the races, and only one squeeze smashed the entire amulet to pieces.
Noelle looked at his hand as bits of metal and gems fell to the floor. She looked back at him and stepped closer. “Gabe,” she started.
He shook his head and ran. He didn’t stop until he was miles away. He couldn’t believe he had just done that, but it needed to be done. He just wasn’t sure anything was going to be OK anymore. He was never alone as long as he had that damn thing in his pocket, but now he had nothing. You have Noelle, a small voice in the back of his mind whispered. He nodded in agreement with a smile. She was amazing and all his. He didn’t have to be alone, and he wasn’t.
By time he returned to the house, everyone was asleep. He slipped into his room and slowly walked to the bed. He tried to get in quietly, but Noelle rolled over the second he sat on the mattress.
“You’re back,” she said, quickly putting a hand on his arm. “Are you OK?” Gabe nodded and sat against the headboard. “I’m fine. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I pushed you to do that, and it was selfish of me.”
He ran his fingers though her blond hair and pulled her into a kiss. “It wasn’t selfish. It was for us.”
She nodded. “But it still was huge for you.”
“Maybe, but you’re worth it.”
Noelle sighed and smiled at him. Gabe felt something settle inside him. Some anxiety finally seemed to leave, and he relaxed into the bed. Not bad for a chapter beginning.
“Do you have to go?”
Adanna glanced behind her at the young valet in the disheveled bed before standing up and slipping on her dress. “Can you tie this, Alexis?” she asked, ignoring his question.
The man stood up and tied the back of her dress, planting a kiss at the top of her spine. “Just a few more minutes, princess.”
She sighed and stepped away from him. “I have to go, you know that. This was…great, really,” she said with a fake smile as she slipped out of the room and down the hall. Alexis was the last in a long line of young valets and assistants Adanna had on call but none really meant more to her than some fun in a dark room. Nothing was more important to her than following in her mother’s footsteps and taking the throne to rule over the entire Village. Not that that seemed likely now that the twit from the Human Realm had taken power. Adanna’s whole body fizzled with anger for Syney. She had no right to come in and take over. Syney wasn’t fit to rule the Village. She had proven as much when she went to bed with her wolf. At least I stick to Magic Users, Adanna thought as she walked into the throne room.
Mellisandrianna was sitting at the long wooden table that sat against the right wall of the throne room, looking over some papers. She looked up at her middle daughter. “Darling, how are you?”
Adanna shrugged and sat down across from her. “Same as always. What are you doing?”
“Just looking over the palace’s finances. Let me show you.”
“Shouldn’t Syney be looking at these?” Adanna asked bitterly.
“We had an appointment but it seems a trip to the Great Lake is more important than learning how to run the Village,” Mellisandrianna said with the same bitter tone.
At least I’m not alone, Adanna thought leaning in to looked over the spreadsheet in front of her. They were halfway through the stack when Grass came into the room, without knocking, Adanna noted.
He stopped in front of them and gave a short bow. “Your Majesty, Princess Cass has just arrived with a Guard.”
“Cass is back?” Adanna asked, not genuinely caring either way. Her two sisters were more like distant relatives than actual close family members. Neither would take the time to talk to Adanna about secrets and other things sisters would normally talk about. Even growing up Adanna found herself spending time with their mother over Cass and Helen. Mellisandrianna told her everything she needed to know about life, love, and, most importantly, power.
“The Guard brought back a new report also,” Grass said with a nod. “It’s marked urgent.”
Mellisandrianna sighed and stood up slowly from the table. “Let me see it.” She walked over to the throne and sat down.
“Are you OK, mother?” Adanna asked moving to stand by her side.
She nodded as she took the report from Grass. “Just moving a little slower these days.”
Adanna looked her over and noticed wrinkles on her mother’s normally pristine face. This was the first time she would describe her mother as old. Adanna thought about her mother dying and the thought sent a couple different emotions through her. One was sadness. Her mother was really her only true friend and losing her would mean a lot. The other, the one she tried to push away, was elation. She was second in line for the throne and with her mother gone and Syney constantly being in harm’s way, it seemed like Adanna might actually make it to the throne herself. Adanna thought back to a few years ago when Mellisandrianna had talked to her about her death. Her mother had told her that she wouldn’t really die and that Adanna would help keep her living.
She pushed the thoughts away as Mellisandrianna made a noise and folded the report. “Something wrong?”
“Possibly. I’ll have to see how this plays out.”
So will I, Adanna thought looking around the throne room.
Cass made a beeline to her room the second she returned to the palace. She didn’t have a welcoming party, so what did it matter anyway? No one even knew she was coming back. She was happy to have Ivy return with her. Ivy actually had broken her leg on her last patrol, so she wasn’t of any use on the front lines. At this moment, however, Cass thought of no one but herself as she lay in a bath of scalding-hot water. She wanted to wash the last six months out of her body if she could.
An image of Wes entered her mind, and she rested her head against the porcelain. She knew she was never going to see him again, and the thought made her sadder than she’d ever been. Sure, he had kidnapped her, but he also had let her go. And he had kissed her. That thought made her smile. She had never really thought about boys, or men, before. They always seemed like a necessary evil in life. You grow up and join with someone and have a family. But she always felt that feelings didn’t have much place in the Realm’s system for joining. She wasn’t overly religious like Helen and didn’t really buy into the idea that Venus saw the future love of her pairings. But now that she had met Wes, she had a totally new outlook—on a lot of things. She told Hunter as much before she’d left. She told him everything, even about the kiss. He had been quiet, letting her talk. At the end he did ask some questions about the lands and the supposed curse. Cass gave him as much information as she could, most of which Fern had backed up when they returned from their scouting mission over the border. Something didn’t feel right to Cass, though, and she promised herself she would look into the whole thing once she had taken a nice long bath and eaten three times her body weight.
She also had tried to apologize again to Hunter, but he cut her off
and sent her away. What she had done before leaving the palace in the first place ate at her more and more now. She had felt it was wrong for Hunter and Syney to be together because they were so different. But now…she felt more like Wes than she felt like most Magic Users. She also thought he was a much better person than most members of her own family.
Cass was relaxing even more into the bath when she heard someone enter her room. She was tempted to tell the person to get lost, but she didn’t have the energy. She did muster a smile when Helen walked into the bathroom.
“Cass! They told me you’d come back, and I thought there was no way you’d come back and not come see me first thing! What’s that smell?” Helen asked, crinkling her nose.
“My clothes,” she said, gesturing to the pile of ripped and torn clothes.
“OK, I can see why you didn’t come see me first,” Helen said with a laugh. “I’m so happy you’re home.”
“Oh, me too! Do you know what’s crankier than forty wolves who have no alcohol or beds? Nothing!” Cass yelled, grabbing a bottle of soap and scrubbing some into her hair. “I’m going to be washing dirt out of my hair for weeks!”
Helen smiled at her. “It’s so good to see you.”
Cass returned the smile. “It’s good to be seen.”
Helen shook her head. “You finish up. I’ll wait for you to go get some food.”
Cass nodded and dunked her head under the water. Once she felt clean and dried, she put on her favorite dress and walked with Helen to the dining hall—only Helen continued past the door. “Hey…food, remember?”
“Things have changed around here, that being one of them. Come on,” Helen said, taking her hand and walking to the Grand Ballroom. Instead of being one big open space, the room now held hundreds of wooden tables, with buffet tables along each long wall. At first Cass didn’t know what to think as she looked around at everyone chatting over dinner. Although everyone was now on the same level, there was still a distinction to the tables. Royals were all on the right side of the room by themselves. She did spot a few tables where some royals sat with their Protectors or several nonroyals.
They both got a tray of food—Cass’s piled very high—and found an empty table toward the back of the room. “I’m guessing this was Syney’s idea,” Cass said, right before she bit into a pollum leg.
“Oh, yeah. I’m sure you can guess how happy Mother was about the whole thing. She’s been eating in our lunchroom upstairs. Says she’s been too busy to come down here.”
“Well, I like it, I think. Keeps things interesting,” Cass said, tossing more food into her mouth.
“Didn’t they feed you out there?”
“Don’t get me started. Where’s Syney? I was hoping to…talk to her,” Cass said, slowing down with the food.
“She’s out of the palace for a few days.”
“What? How did she get away with that? Doesn’t she know how dangerous it is out there?” Cass yelled.
Helen put a hand on her arm. “Calm down. She’s all right. Reed and Gabriel are with her.”
Cass shook her head. She didn’t like the idea of Syney being away from the palace at all, not with Wes being out there. He might have let Cass go, but that didn’t mean he still wasn’t under the stupid perception that he had to kill Syney to win the war. “It’s not safe,” she muttered.
“What’s the matter?” Helen asked.
Cass sighed and looked at Helen’s arm, which rested on the table. There was something new. Helen had a gray tattoo racing like flames over her forearm. She smiled at her sister. “They made you a priestess!”
Helen glanced down at her arm and nodded. “I’m training with Vasclineda. I should be named high priestess soon.”
“That’s great!”
Helen’s smile wavered ever so slightly.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Cass asked.
“Of course. I just…had to give something up I miss dearly. And I’ve been seeing things, thinking about things—” She looked over at Cass, a look of uncertainty crossing over her face. “I’m fine, it’s nothing, really.”
Cass frowned but didn’t push Helen any further. Helen didn’t have many secrets from Cass, but there was generally a good reason for her keeping them. Cass went back to concentrating on her food and let Helen stare off into space for a while.
“Hey!”
Cass looked up from her potatoes and squealed a hello at Ivy, who had crutched her way over. “Hey! Come sit!” Cass said, moving her tray aside. “Helen, this is Ivy. She’s one of the royal guards.”
“I guessed as much,” Helen said smiling at Ivy. “I hear you were the only guard who could stand Cass.”
“Hey!”
“That’s not…entirely true,” Ivy said.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Helen said. “Can I get you some food?”
“Oh, um, no. It’s coming,” Ivy said, as Leaf walked up and placed a tray in front of her. “Thank you.”
Leaf nodded and took the seat next to Helen. Cass watched as both exchanged terse greetings. “Welcome back, Princess,” he said.
Cass smiled at him. “Thank you. It’s good to be back. So when will Hunter’s report be reviewed?”
Leaf was quiet for a moment then said, “At the council meeting at the end of the week. Syney should be back by then, and I’d like her here in case there’s a vote.”
“Good idea,” Cass said, nodding. “Have you looked at it?”
“I have.”
“What would the vote be on?” Helen asked, looking back and forth between them.
“Bringing the guards back. There’s no need for them to be out there,” Cass said sternly.
“I suggest you hold your views until the council meeting,” Leaf said quietly.
Cass looked at him. He hadn’t meant to be mean at all. It was almost like a warning, and he was right. You never knew when someone was listening. She nodded to him.
“Ivy has expressed an interest in being assigned to your duty,” Leaf said.
“Can she?” Cass asked, excited. “I mean, I am down a Protector.”
“I approved it through the Lycin council of elders. There will still be a hearing on her actions at the camp but for now, until or if Ivy is chosen from the fire, she will be one of your Protectors.”
Cass smiled at the blond guard, who smiled back. “This is great!”
“I’m honored, and thank you, Commander,” Ivy said.
“You’re welcome. Have a pleasant day, Princess, Priestess,” Leaf said, bowing to each in turn.
Cass watched him go then looked to her sister, who looked the way she had as a child when Adanna had stolen her favorite toy. Helen and Leaf? Huh, Cass thought, as she forked some food into her mouth. First Syney and Hunter and now these two. Add to that Cass and Wes, and the only conclusion she could come to was there must be something in the water. Or maybe it was Syney herself. Everything seemed to be changing since she had come to the Village. Maybe this was all part of what she was meant to do. If that was true, Cass hoped she might actually see Wes again—and not only in her dreams.
Syney stepped into the shower and let the hot water wake her up. It was early, and she’d been up almost the whole night with Adam, reading through the notes Hadrian had written. She had come to one conclusion: She needed to learn how to use her powers, Magic User and Daemon, or else she was screwed. But at least now she had a name for the evil that had been trying to kill her since the day she was born, mostly through other people of course: the Ancient One. No one knew exactly how ancient she was or even if she was a she, but Hadrian had come to one conclusion also: She was one evil bitch.
Everything had started much earlier than the Great War. Hadrian and Amelia had started to investigate the Ancient One soon after they’d started dating. Amelia had noticed some odd behavior from the Crystallianna head of house, Lassandrianna. The two had been close friends growing up, more like sisters than friends. But when Amelia had been crowned queen, Lass b
ecame aggressive in council meetings and even persuaded the council to crown her seated queen, something that never happened outside of family lines unless there was an emergency. Most queens were paired before the ruling queen took the full queenship. Amelia was the only exception and only because she didn’t have any other family to take the throne from her ailing mother. There was still a lot of time for Amelia to be joined and have a family, and her firstborn daughter would become seated queen. But somehow Lass had snagged the position. That was only one of the odd behaviors Lass had displayed. She stopped talking to Amelia and made her an enemy in almost every motion in the council. Amelia had confided this all in Hadrian, who had found the story oddly familiar.
After a little investigation, Hadrian had found two different rebellions in the Realm that had started the same way, with two powers holding opposite opinions. That in itself wasn’t too strange, but add to it the fact that everyone said the rebel leader had undergone a dramatic personality change right before the leader started to fight the regime, and you had a conspiracy. The Shifter Rebellion was the oldest, going back a few hundred years before the war. There was only one royal family in the Shifters’ society, but there were always multiple sons in that ruling family. The second son had decided, rather suddenly, that his brother was making terrible choices and needed to be replaced. He gathered some support among the people, but after a few months of fighting, the older brother won out, killing his younger brother in the process.
The other rebellion had occurred within Daemon society. Hadrian said it happened much the same way, with two brothers fighting over control of the lands. The rightful king won in both instances. The interesting thing was that at the time of each rebellion, that race was the major power in the Realm. There was always one race that was a step ahead in regard to commerce, agriculture, and culture, and that race constantly switched as lifetimes passed by. The Shifters had been very powerful for a few hundred years, but after they had fought among themselves for months, the power had shifted to the Daemons. Right before the war started, the Magic Users held the most weight in the Realm.
Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 Page 18
