He tried to brush his lips against hers but Adele put up a firmer hand, pushing him away with a little more force. “But I can’t.”
That’s my girl.
Sedrik grabbed her wrist from the harsh pressure she was giving and it was clear on his voice that he was getting mad. “I told him that I would have you again and trust me, I will.”
Adele got wide eyes and I knew she was now starting to see it and stated her response. “No.” She brought up her other hand and punched him hard to get away. “You won’t.”
It gave her time to get up and start walking but he went after her. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back, trying to hold her still against his body. “Where do you think you’re going? I’m not done with you.”
Adele tried pulling away. “Let go of me. We’re not doing this.” She grabbed his forearm and knocked him down to the ground then kicked him under the chin, putting him on his back where he belonged. “What happened to you? You’re not who I remember.”
“You’re right, I’m not.” He grabbed her ankle before she could walk away and she turned, kicking at him to let go. He fell back even harder but instead of staying to fight, she started running to get away.
I pulled her behind the tree with me before she would have ran by and Adele was frightened to see me. “Zayden! He’s—”
“I know. Run.”
Adele’s eyes got wide and she didn’t even look back. She ran off as fast as she could to get out of Sedrik’s sight.
“Rift. Go with her. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He whined at me but he turned just the same. Now it was my turn.
Sedrik was to his feet once again and he started after Adele but I stepped out from behind the tree and he stopped in his tracks. He was staring right at the blackness hate in my eyes and seemed surprised as anyone would.
“I told you to stay away from her.” I said. “You will never have her.”
I stepped toward Sedrik and took a few swings at him. He moved out of the way of one and blocked the second but was finally hit on the third. He was knocked back and I kicked him to the ground. I wanted to badly taste his blood to end it for good but I held myself back from it. It was the first time I’ve been able to control it like that and it alone felt good. I wouldn’t let myself turn into something like my father had warned and now I never would.
I had finally gained the control I’ve been after and stood proudly over Sedrik while my eyes faded on their own. “It’s too late. She knows who you really are now and she won’t ever come back.”
“Kill me then. Get it over with.”
I wanted to but remembered what Trever had said. “No. It’s not your time.”
In an eager attempt to get back to Adele, I turned but began to walk away at a normal pace, leaving Sedrik to his defeat and basked in my own victory.
“Zayden!”
Troy and Darius were up ahead and started running towards me. Curious, I turned back to get an unwelcoming blade to my right shoulder that was meant for my back.
“Gift from me.” Sedrik muttered.
Darius and Troy reached me and Darius only proved how defensive of me he was by easily knocking Sedrik out, making him fly backwards to the ground from the force he used. I was glad he was here. I was glad that I didn’t alter how this day would go by staying mad at him.
I fell to my knees and Troy got down to assist. “Zayden.”
I was breathing heavily and looked up with one hand around the wound. “I’m all right.”
“We have to get that out.” Troy reached for the handle.
“No!” I hit his hand away just so he wouldn’t touch it. “I’ll do it.” I reached up and grabbed the handle myself, taking a deep breath. I slowly pulled out the dagger and threw it to the ground next to me.
Pressure was immediately applied and Troy helped me to my feet. “Better?”
I nodded, still just trying to understand how that happened.
“Wait.”
I looked back when Darius took my other arm. Sedrik was sitting himself up but looked around a bit confused. “Who are you? More importantly, who am I?”
We looked at each other, unsure about what was happening.
“You don’t know who you are?” Darius asked.
“Should I?”
“Wow, Darius. You hit him that hard?”
“Let me handle this.” I took a step forward, pretending to be presentable even though I had blood running down my arm and the pain of it almost consuming my upper body. “You’re the King of Lecca. This is your palace. Go back inside and take a nap. You’re looking a little tired, your majesty.”
“Okay, thank you, whoever you are. I do feel as if I could use one, my head is killing me and do you know you’re bleeding?”
“Yeah, I know.”
Sedrik nodded and looked for a way inside.
We quietly laughed and tried to sneak away to head back.
The second I walked into view, Adele ran to me with Rift right next to her with his own bark. “Zayden!”
“I’m all right, Love. It’s just a scratch.”
She saw the amount of blood and didn’t believe me. She moved my hand for herself and saw the stab wound. “That’s not a scratch.”
“It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“Here, let me.” Jaylyn moved my hand and put hers under my shirt while her eyes started to glow.
It didn’t take more than a moment and I didn’t feel it anymore. It was relaxing and that pain had vanished. “Thanks, Jaylyn. That’s much better.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, what about Sedrik?” Ruby asked.
Adele gasped and looked to me. “You didn’t—”
“No. I didn’t.”
“But your eyes—”
“I know, Love. It’s okay. I controlled it. I wanted to do it but I held back. Looks like I won’t be needing you anymore, Jaylyn.”
“That doesn’t hurt my feelings. Congratulations but what did happen to Sedrik?”
I casually glanced over at Darius and Troy and we all tried to keep from laughing.
“You didn’t kill him did you?” Ruby asked them more specifically.
“No.” Troy laughed. “We’re not going to have to worry about him. Darius made sure of that.”
“Oh, I really didn’t think I did it that hard.”
“You hit him!” Ruby bursts out.
“I only hit him once and he completely lost his memory.”
“It was actually pretty funny.” I said.
“Seriously? He lost his memory?” Jaylyn asked.
“Yeah, completely gone.” Troy laughed. “He didn’t even know who we were and we had to tell him who he was.”
“I guess that’s for the best.” Adele said. “We’d better go.” I most definitely agreed and we walked to get the carriage ready. “Zayden—about what you saw—” She pulled me aside like we needed to talk in private or something.
“I know, Love. It’s okay. You did what I wanted you to. Everything is fine.”
“What? You wanted me to do that?”
“Yes. I knew that you would have stopped it and reveal Sedrik’s true self. It was the only way I could get you to believe me.”
“I’m sorry, Zayden. I should have believed you to begin with. I guess I just didn’t want to remember him that way.”
“It’s okay.” I said as I hugged her. “It’s over now. Let’s go home.”
We walked to the carriage, leaving the covered cart behind that held Bianca’s body and rode out of the city, not looking back.
It felt weird to be home and getting back to sitting around and doing nothing. Actually, it really only made things worse. I was thinking again and all those feelings were building up. I was a wolf and until now never knew. It was still hard to take in but there was one thing that I could never get used to; that loss I felt those weeks ago was revisiting me. Thoughts of losing Seth was back now that we were and it was worse that I couldn’t talk ab
out it with anyone, especially Adele.
I was getting up earlier than usual every morning because of it and on this morning I headed up more stairs instead of going down. I walked out onto the back balcony and walked towards the stone railing, looking over the edge to the spring down below and climbed up.
Would I jump? The thought almost felt nice but I knew it wouldn’t kill me. It was just water; a seeming endless black pit below like my corrupt soul.
Instead of taking the cold plunge, I looked in front of me at the ledge and my eyes grew black. I could feel everything stronger around me and jumped towards it, climbing all the way to the top.
I couldn’t take in the scenery. All my mind was focused on was the loss that now seemed to run my life. The betrayal of those closest to me didn’t seem to matter anymore. I had them back but thinking of what I lost and how it would change the future is what I couldn’t forget and no one could convince me otherwise.
What would happen? How could this be what Fate intended for the future? I couldn’t believe that it was. There had to be something else but my mind kept drawing to all the wrong what ifs. To me, my future seemed darker and more filled with doubt than ever. It seemed over before it really begun.
Coming Soon—
The Seventh Installment
Of The Fate’s Intent Series
Broken Road
Forgotten Days (Fate's Intent Book 6) Page 24
