Adam shook his head and turned away. This wasn’t the feeling he had wanted.
“Adam, I need you to talk to me,” Syney said, pulling him to look at her. “Rule one, remember?”
He looked down. “I’m sorry.”
She sighed. “We need to talk.”
Adam watched as she sat down on the steps, wringing her hands. “Isn’t this where you start yelling and screaming?”
Syney frowned and shook her head. “I’m upset, but yelling won’t get us anywhere. I mean, you didn’t sleep with her…”She paused, searching his face. “Right?”
He shook his head and slowly sat next to her. “No. I didn’t even kiss her. I just…This need keeps coming over me. I tried to push it away, but ever since you gave me blood last week, it’s been getting stronger.”
Syney turned to him and took his hands in hers. “This is the stuff we have to talk about. I told you I fully support your exploring that side of you.”
“I’m…not sure I want you to see that side of me.”
“Why? It’s you, and I love you. You can’t scare me. I promise,” she said, squeezing his hands.
Adam slowly nodded, not believing how lucky he was right now. “So how do we do this?”
“Well, I’d feel more comfortable and safer if you only took from me.”
“That’s a lot of blood, you know.”
“I know. But it’s for you, so I’m OK with it.”
Adam stared at her. If karma comes back around, he really wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve Syney. “OK.”
She smiled. “Good.” She leaned forward and kissed him lightly.
He stayed forward for a moment, breathing in her scent before looking at the rows of benches in the room. “I didn’t think we knew this many people.”
“Oh, we so don’t. I was informed that the whole palace would be invited. And then we have to make a public address to the entire Village.”
“Sounds great,” Adam said, his voice not hiding his displeasure.
Syney put her head on his shoulder. “Welcome to royal life.”
He rolled his eyes. That was probably the only thing he really didn’t want out of all this. But in order to have Syney, he had to be king as well. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make. “You know, it’s funny…We’re going to have thousands of people here and the only two I actually want here can’t be. I wish they had met you, or me for that matter.”
Syney stiffened against his shoulder before sitting up and looking at him. “Your parents.”
Adam nodded. “It’s crazy to miss people you’ve never met, huh?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
He watched as several emotions ran over her face, ending with what he was pretty sure was guilt. What the hell did she have to be guilty of? “What is it?”
“I…I want to tell you something. But it’s not really my secret to tell you. But I don’t think I can keep it to myself. Not right now, at least.”
Adam put his hands on either side of her face. “Rule number one, remember?”
Syney nodded. “When I tried to call Amelia, she didn’t show up right away. Faye did.”
“Gabe’s Faye?”
“Yeah.” She pulled the ring he had given her off her finger. “This is Faye’s ring,” she said simply, as she held it up.
It didn’t connect for Adam at first. Why was she talking about Faye and showing him his mother’s ring? Sure, her mother and Faye had known each other, but he’d already told Syney that. Why would she be so upset? Then it clicked. He stood quickly and walked a few steps away. There was no way, no how. But why should it be so surprising? Gabe was a master liar and manipulator. Why not lie about who his parents were? But if Faye were his mother, his father had to be…Gabe.
He looked at Syney. “No way.”
Syney stood. “Faye told me. I’m so sorry. I should have said something sooner. I just wasn’t sure it was my place.”
Adam shook his head. “He can’t be.”
“Gabe is complicated. We both know that.”
“No! I don’t believe it.”
Syney sighed as the door opened at the back of the room, and Noelle slowly walked up the aisle.
“Hey, guys,” she said. “Sorry for being late.” She walked toward them before taking a seat in the first row.
“It’s OK,” Syney said quietly.
Adam turned away from them, his hands on his hips. This was just ridiculous, he knew. But Syney had a point. Gabe was complicated. And he loved to play with people. Still the denial sat heavily in his chest—the same denial Syney felt when they’d told her she was part Daemon, he bet. He looked back at Syney. “Why wouldn’t he just tell me?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been racking my brain but can’t think of anything.”
“What’s wrong?”
They both looked at Noelle. Adam shook his head and looked back at Syney. He silently told her to tell Noelle, which she did. There was no way the words were going to come out of his mouth.
“Oh, God, he didn’t,” Noelle said talking more to herself than Syney or Adam.
“Are you so surprised?” Syney asked, rolling her eyes.
She frowned. “It’s not that. It’s Faye.”
“What about her?” Adam asked, sensing something bad was about to happen. He watched as Noelle looked down at her hands. She didn’t look well, and he wasn’t sure it entirely had to do with what she was hiding. She looked wan and had bloodshot eyes. “Are you OK?”
Noelle looked up at him and shrugged. “Been feeling a little sick. I’ll be OK.”
Syney stepped forward and placed the back of her hand on Noelle’s forehead. “You’re burning up.”
“It’s just the flu.”
“You should go to the infirmary.”
“She can’t,” Adam said, sitting next to her, “but there’s a doctor out in Colchin I might be able to persuade to come here.”
Noelle smiled at him. “Thank you. I might actually take you up on that if this doesn’t get any better.”
“Why not just see our doctors?” Syney asked.
“Shifters have a specific protein in their blood that’s visible in any blood test,” Adam said. “I’ve had a few Shifter friends over the years.” He smiled at Noelle. “Anything you need.”
Noelle gave a small laugh. “Oh, put that smile away.”
He took her hand. “I’ve seen a few flus run through villages. I think it might be best if I get the doctor sooner rather than later.”
She nodded and started to cough. Once she caught her breath, she looked up at Adam. “You should know this…”
“What?”
“If it’s true…when Faye died, she somehow put herself into the Blocadrian amulet. Gabe was able to see her when he held it.”
This was getting better and better. Adam shook his head and looked at Syney, who slowly closed her eyes and cursed. Not only was Adam’s father not dead, but Gabe also had a direct line to Adam’s dead mother—someone he’d been trying to reach since he was a teenager. His hurt was chased away by a new piercing anger. He stood and took a deep breath. Then walked into the aisle.
“Maybe only he could use the amulet,” Syney said quietly.
“No, I used it to talk to her before he destroyed it,” Noelle said almost as softly.
Adam shook his head, still not believing all of this. It was beyond frustrating. At least he knew now why his parents never came when he had called them forth all those times. He had done it every night for a whole year once. That was before he had turned off the part of him that made him feel and care for people, the part that Syney had turned back on. His eyes burned with tears that he refused to shed. This was a betrayal. There was no other way to see it.
When the large wooden door opened at the end of the aisle, he knew it was Gabe but kept his back to him, not trusting himself at this point. He was either going to rip his dear dad’s head off or weep like a baby. Neither option was appealing.
; “Why the long faces?” Gabe asked.
Noelle cleared her throat. “Maybe you should help me back to my room.”
“I thought we had a rehearsal or something?”
“Don’t worry about it. You should go,” Syney said, a distinct edge to her voice.
Adam took some deep breaths and turned to half face them, still keeping his head down.
“Are you two fighting? Because that’s normal before joinings,” Gabe said.
Adam rolled his eyes as he gritted his teeth. He looked at Syney, who looked at him desperately before turning to Gabe. “I talked to Faye last week. I finally get why you won’t give me her journal back.”
Gabe’s eyes darted from her to Adam. “You don’t know anything. It’s complicated,” he said quickly.
“There’s nothing complicated about lying to me about my parents!” Adam yelled, no longer able to hold back his anger.
“It’s complicated. You were never supposed to know,” Gabe said, his voice still calm.
“And that makes it better how?”
Gabe took a step toward Adam. “Because you deserve devoted, loving, dead parents instead of a live one who doesn’t know how to be a parent.”
Adam scoffed and squeezed his hands into fists. “And how do you know what I deserve?”
“Because you’re my son!” Gabe yelled. “The product of two great houses! And you’re just like her! Right down to that damn smile!”
“Really?” Adam stepped to within inches of him. “Because I’ve never actually seen her. You took that away from me.”
Gabe looked at Noelle, who looked away quickly.
“What? No apology?”
Gabe shook his head. “I don’t regret anything. You want to be mad, then be mad. I don’t care.”
Adam took the swing quickly. He felt the bones in his hand break the second they hit Gabe’s face but heal just as fast, thanks to the blood he’d just had. The punch had felt good, almost cathartic. Good enough to keep going. Gabe started to fight back once Adam had him on the floor, which felt better to Adam. At least Gabe cared enough to fight his own damn son. He heard Syney yelling at him to stop, but he needed to get this out. He might explode if he didn’t.
Finally Gabe grabbed Adam by the shoulders and planted his foot into his chest. With one big shove, Adam flew a few feet back, allowing Gabe time to get to his feet. “Are you done?” Gabe yelled.
Adam looked up at him and wiped some blood from his nose. “I am.”
“Good. Now maybe we can sit down and talk.”
Adam stared at him for a moment before standing up. “No. I’m done with you. With all this crap. Don’t talk to me. Don’t come near me. I’m out.” He started to walk down the aisle but stopped after a few steps. He may have hated Gabe, but his heart still ached for Syney. He turned around and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the throne room with him. He didn’t stop until they were in the hallway outside Syney’s room. He leaned against the wall then sunk to the floor. The tears he’d been holding back stung his eyes again as he let them fall this time.
Syney knelt in front of him and placed her hands on his knees. He looked up at her tear-streaked face and let out a sob. She leaned forward and pulled him to her. Adam buried his face in the crook of her neck, not caring if anyone saw them there in the hall. He knew Reed probably wasn’t too far away but didn’t really care. Everything he’d known about his past had been a lie—a lie made up by the one person who was supposed to support him in life, his father.
After a while he took a deep breath to calm himself and leaned back against the wall.
“What do you need?” Syney asked, wiping the tears from his face.
Adam gave a bitter laugh. “Lots of alcohol.”
“OK, I can do that. I’ll get some bottles of vinum.”
He grabbed her hands. “I need you.”
Syney leaned forward and kissed him lightly. “You have me. Always.”
Later that night, after far too much drinking, Adam looked at Syney as she slept next to him and realized she was his family now. And that was the only family he needed. He’d meant what he’d said: he was out of it. No more jumping through hoops. No more scheming. Gabe was dead to him. Now all he wanted to do was what he actually wanted to do. The idea was exhilarating, and just a little scary.
Noelle took as deep a breath as she could and looked at Gabe. He was tense, his usual relaxed sensibility gone, which is what unnerved her the most. Even in the most dangerous situations, he’d always been able to maintain his calm exterior. She watched as he looked at Adam and Syney sitting across the dining room. He stared at them for only a moment before returning his gaze to his untouched food. Gabe usually ate like a horse; this side of him was scaring her.
“Why don’t you go over there and talk to him?” Noelle said, her voice scratchy.
Gabe looked up at her. “Why? He doesn’t want to hear anything I have to say.”
“He’s hurt. Probably feels rejected. You just have to explain things.”
He shook his head. “He won’t like my explanations.”
Noelle sighed. It had been almost a week since their showdown in the crowning room. She had avoided the topic of Adam, mainly because she didn’t have the energy for that conversation. But she couldn’t let this go on. She hadn’t spoken to Syney the whole time either, letting Syney’s second assistant take up the slack, and that alone made her more upset than she’d been in a long time. “Why did you do it?”
“Because he deserved better than me.”
“But you raised him.”
“Yeah, as a deadbeat guardian. Not the father he needed to impress or overcome. It was better for him this way. That way neither of us could disappoint each other.”
Noelle stared at him for a moment. “He needs to know how much you care about him.”
Gabe briefly looked back at Adam and Syney. “It was selfish.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you don’t love him.”
Gabe leaned forward. “Do you still want to join?”
She looked back at him, surprised. She wasn’t ready for that. “Of course.”
He nodded and stood. “Then I’m in. I’ll see you later. Get some more sleep.”
“I will,” she said, and watched him walk away. She worried that Gabe’s sudden eagerness to join stemmed from his issues with Adam. Not that it made her any less giddy. She never thought she’d join with anyone. Out in the neutral territories, it was more of a choice, and there weren’t many men she’d choose to be with out there. Once she’d come to the Village, she didn’t think she’d have time to find someone she even liked. The pairing of nonroyals was much less formal. There was one big chapel in the Village for nonroyals to celebrate their monthly services. It was during that service that pairings were announced, but only after a person submitted his or her name for a pairing. Some never submitted their names, choosing instead to remain unjoined their whole lives. The idea had appealed to Noelle, as she didn’t want to reveal her Shifter side. How would she ever explain that to the man she was paired with? But Gabe seemed to be perfect for her, and now she was going to have something, given secretly, that she never thought she could.
Now she just had to figure out how they were going to do this. She’d been feeling sicker every day, so leaving right now didn’t seem like the best thing in the world to do. Unfortunately Adam’s offer of a doctor had gotten forgotten in the mix. She was feeling much worse than any other time she had been sick and now feared the worst. When she was growing up, she had heard of Cranglian flu; it was the most invasive disease in the Realm. It also was the only disease that affected each race differently, although it was well disputed as to what it actually did to each race. The only thing known for sure was that it came on suddenly, with regular flulike symptoms, but grew worse as weeks passed. Most Realm diseases lasted a week at most. Only the Cranglian flu could last longer, which meant if she wanted to be joined with Gabe, she should move fast. You never knew what the future hel
d.
The only way she was going to get this done in the Village was through a priestess who was willing to break some laws. Unfortunately there was only one priestess Noelle knew, and she wasn’t quite sure how Helen would react when she asked her. She either would turn Noelle in the second she was done talking or flat out say no. There was the possibility she would say yes, but who was she kidding really? She was trying to figure out a good way of asking her when Helen sat down across from her. Ivy, a guard Noelle had met a couple of times, sat down tentatively next to Helen. They were both smiling oddly.
“Noelle, how are you?” Helen asked.
“Good. And you?”
“As well as I can be, I guess.” Helen glanced over at Syney and Adam. “Is there something going on?”
Noelle searched her face for signs of a setup but could only find sincerity. Syney always had trusted Helen as more than a friend, and Noelle needed someone to talk to now. If she was good enough for Syney, why not open up to her? She looked at Ivy. Her she wasn’t ready to trust.
“Ivy’s fine. I promise,” Helen said. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Leaf and I know something is going on, and we’re worried. We want to help if we can. Syney won’t tell me anything. I think she’s trying to protect me, but I don’t need protecting. What I do need is to help.”
Everything in her voice and face was genuine. But it still wasn’t Noelle’s place to say anything to her. But maybe she could give her a little, if only to get something she wanted. “Adam and Gabe are fighting.”
Helen nodded. “Those two were close?”
Noelle gave a small laugh that dissolved into a cough. “You could say that.”
“Are…are either of them trustworthy? I’m worried about Syney.”
She smiled. “They’re both very trustworthy. Believe me when I say they want the best for Syney and the entire Realm. They just know more than most people do.”
“More than you?”
“I’ve learned from them.”
Ivy leaned toward them. “Is anyone in danger?”
“Possibly. But there’s so much going on,” Noelle said. “It’s all moving parts.”
“How can I…we help?” Helen asked, taking Noelle’s hand in hers.
Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 Page 31
