Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy (12 page)

Syney peered closely at him as he explained the process. It was a lot to take in after all of the stress of the past few days. But she was happy for someone to
finally give the lowdown on part of this new world she had been thrust into. "So the blood, or my boosted immune system, attacked the venom."

"Yes."

"And Scorpina? Is she dead?"

"Yes," Hunter said curtly.

"What about the other Shifters? You said that they were surrounding the house," she said to Gabe.

He smiled. "You have a good Protector."

Syney looked back at Hunter, who was looking at the bed. He had fought them for her. He had laid his life on the line multiple times that day. She wasn't sure how she could repay that, or even how she felt about it. "Thank you," is what she settled on.

Hunter looked back up at her and gave her a curt nod. "We need to go. The more time we spend in this Realm, the more dangerous it gets for us."

Syney nodded and got up from the bed. She looked at Gabriel. "Thank you, for what you did."

He stood. "It wasn't free."

Syney blinked at him, not understanding.

"I can kill him," Hunter said quietly behind Syney, causing her to almost laugh from the absurdity of the comment.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"To go with you," Gabriel said matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

Gabriel eyed her for a moment before cocking his head to the side. "Not all Vampires are fans of the Great War. We all are, however, very opportunistic." He paused. "I want to be there, to see the new reign. And get in on the ground floor."

Syney smiled. She liked this Vampire. He was honest, something she hadn't gotten a lot of in the last couple of days. "Deal."

Hunter spun to stand in front of Syney and glared at her. "No deal. Vampires aren't to be trusted. They're hired killers who care only for themselves. They aren't allowed in the Village and for good reason. Their blood may have healing properties, but they also need blood to survive, and where do you think they get that from?"

Syney was taken aback by Hunter's forcefulness. This was another side of him, one she only had seen when he was the wolf and fighting. "He saved my life."

"Because he wanted something."

"He saved my life," she repeated.

"And now he's charging you for it," Hunter said.

Syney placed her hand on his chest. "Listen to me. He didn't hesitate to save me. He even tried before she attacked me. He's been nothing but honest with us. It was my life he saved, and I want to repay him. If this is what he wants, than then this is what I can do."

Syney felt Hunter take a deep breath.

"And what if you're leading a lion into a sheep's den?"

Syney smiled. "When he starts eating the sheep, you can do what you like with him." She looked around Hunter's large frame to Gabriel. "You OK with that?"

Gabriel gave her a sly smile. "I will put up no fight to him."

Syney looked back at Hunter. "You OK with that?"

After a moment Hunter nodded reluctantly. "We need to move. But we need a car." He turned to Gabriel. "Can you handle that?"

Gabriel nodded and disappeared from the room.

Syney blinked a few times. One second he had been here, and then he was gone. "Wow."

Hunter nodded. "Vampires are fast."

Syney sat down on the edge of the bed. "What else are Vampires?"

Hunter looked down at her. "I told you I'm not the one to explain the Realm to you."

"Yeah, yeah, duty, honor all that. Just a few questions? Near death and all—don't I deserve that at least?"

Hunter sighed and nodded. "What do you want to know about Vampires?"

"Do they sparkle?"

Hunter cocked an eyebrow. "Sparkle?"

Syney gave a short laugh. "Never mind. Can they be out in the daylight?"

"Here, no, unless they're really old. But in Altera, yes."

Syney nodded. "And you said the races were Magic Users, Lycins, Shifters, Vampires, and...Daemons?"

"Yes."

"And the Daemons are in hell, the Shifters are mean bastards, and Vampires are selfish killers for hire." She paused. "Are you sure going to the Altera Realm is the right thing to do?"

Hunter gave a small smile. "Yes. The Shifters stay on their land. They haven't broken lines since the war started. And almost all Vampires chose to stay in this Realm after war was declared. The Village is extremely safe."

Syney stood and walked to a few feet from her Protector. "Then we have a problem."

Hunter nodded. "I agree."

"The Vampires didn't put the hit out on me and my parents. And the Shifters are just attacking whenever they can, so they wouldn't logically have
done it. The Daemons are sleeping happily in hell. So that leaves Magic Users or the Lycins."

Hunter took a deep breath. "I am truly sorry about the Andrews. They seemed like honorable people who had no business being dragged into this fight."

Tears welled up in Syney's eyes, but she pushed them back. "Thank you. I'll find out who did this."

"I expect no less."

They looked at each other for what seemed like hours but was only a few moments. Syney felt a tug to fold herself into his big, strong arms, to get lost in his powerful body. But she willed herself to keep a distance between them. She couldn't get distracted, not when she was heading right into the action. And the worst kind of action too. The kind when you don't know who is good or bad.

"Ready?"

They both turned to Gabriel, who stood at the door, a set of keys in hand. Syney hadn't heard him enter the room at all, or even open the door.
Vampires are really, really quiet
. She made a mental note and headed out of the room.

They piled into the SUV that Gabriel had procured and headed out onto the road. Syney stayed quiet the whole time, watching the scenery fly by out the window. She tried to will her mind to relax and stop going over the recent events, but that wasn't happening. The one thing she was able to do was try
not
to think about her parents. Living without them would be hard, but trying not to think of them all bloodied and dead would be even harder. Instead she focused on all of the things she already knew about Altera Realm. Shifters were scary as hell and wanted her dead. Vampires were scary as hell and wanted her dead for money. And either the Magic Users or the Lycins wanted her dead, but she wasn't quite sure why. Not the ideal situation.

After a few hours, Hunter pulled up to the rock face that served as the portal to Altera Realm, and the three got out of the car. Syney looked up at the rock face. It looked normal, but nothing scared her more than being taken out of her own home and thrown into a place that couldn't be trusted. She looked at Hunter, who seemed anxious to get back to the place he called home. On the other side of her, Gabriel's face held more trepidation than her own.

"Not anxious to go home?" Syney asked.

Without looking at her, Gabriel headed for the rock face. "This place isn't my home," he said over his shoulder. A moment later, he stepped into the seemingly solid rock and disappeared.

"That easy, huh?" Syney asked. "What if some human stumbled upon it and fell through?"

Hunter shook his head. "Only Alterans can go through the portal."

As Syney headed for the rock, she silently wished they had been wrong about her. Maybe it would be as solid as the Delaware Water Gap, and she would just bounce right off. She put out her hand, just at the spot Gabriel had walked through. Her hand went right through the rock, sending a tingling sensation up her arm. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, praying she wouldn't get caught in the middle. A second later she was kneeling on damp mossy land. She took a deep breath. Before her was plush green forestland bathed in sunlight. It was amazingly beautiful. She turned and saw the same scenery behind her. There wasn't anything to mark the portal. Suddenly Hunter was standing in front of her, having just passed through the portal himself.

"You OK?" he asked.

Syney nodded and stood up. "Fine. A little tingly."

"That's the portal. It'll go away in a moment."

Syney sighed and turned back to the forest. "Which way?"

"Straight ahead," Gabriel said, suddenly appearing next to them.

"It's about five miles north," Hunter confirmed.

"Five miles?" Syney asked, a whine in her voice.

"I could carry you," Gabriel offered. For the first time, there was a flirty edge to his voice.

"We can walk just fine," Hunter said sternly, and steered Syney into the direction of the Village.

They walked for about an hour before Syney thought she was going to die. She stumbled to sit down on a fallen tree trunk and took some deep breaths. She was never one to exercise a lot, and all of the walking and running in fear was wearing her out.

Hunter, annoyed, looked down at her, but she waved him off. "I'm not sure what's going to explode first, my lungs or my legs," she said, trying to catch her breath.

"It's not much farther," Hunter said, his hands on his hips.

"Let her take a break," Gabriel said. "I could use a private run anyway." He shot Syney a smile before turning into a blur and disappearing.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Syney said, staring at the spot where Gabriel had been standing. She looked at Hunter, who was gazing out into the trees. "Hey, before we get the Village, there's something I wanted to ask you."

Hunter looked at her with an annoyed expression.

"So this whole place... I really don't know much about it, obviously. I'm nervous. But you I trust. I need you to help me. "

"How?" he asked, his face softening.

"I need someone to tell me who to trust, how I'm supposed to act. I just know I'm going to be the girl at the royal dinner who uses the wrong fork and is laughed out of the palace." She paused to take a breath. "Just help me out? Steer me in the right direction."

After a moment he nodded. "I should warn you, though, that I don't have a high opinion of many people in the Village," he said quietly.

"Really? That might be exactly what I need."

"You two done with your powwow?" Gabriel asked, reappearing next to Hunter.

Syney sighed and stood up. "Yup. Onward we go."

"You missed some," Hunter said, turning away from Gabriel.

Syney turned back to see Gabriel wipe something from his lips. He gave her a smile. For some reason his eyes seemed even more golden than they had moments before. She shook it off and turned back toward the direction in which they had been walking.

Half an hour later, they came to the base of a rather large hill. Syney eyed it with loathing and began to trudge up it. Both men reached the top first and stopped to wait for Syney. Once at the top, she bent forward and attempted to catch her breath. She slowly stood and lost her breath again. In front of them, a little bit in the distance, stood a large sprawling complex made of stone. She saw hundreds of small and large buildings, all surrounded by a thick stone wall. It was about the size of Manhattan, without being surrounded by water. It was as if they had stepped back into the Middle Ages and were about to enter a kingdom of the reigning king.

"Holy crap," she whispered.

She heard Gabriel give a low chuckle.

Hunter stepped up next to her. "Welcome to the Village."

Cass

"You're going to wear a hole in the floor."

Cass looked at her older sister, Helenandrianna, and sighed. "It's a stone floor."

Helenandrianna laughed and tucked some of her long black hair behind her ear. Although they were several years apart in age, Helen and Cass both shared their mother's delicate features and thin frames as well as their lines dark hair and crystal blue eyes. "You've been pacing for hours. You'll be the first to ever wear a hole through a stone floor. I always said you were destined for something big."

Cass didn't laugh at her sister's joke. She picked up her pace and bit her nails. She had been anxious since she and Raine had returned to the Village without Syney and Hunter. She didn't like leaving them. She wanted them here, safe and sound. She smoothed out her dress but kept up her pace. She did feel a little more comfortable in her normal clothes. The jeans she had been given to go into the Human Realm had felt too restrictive. She loved the feel of the heavy cloth dresses she wore around the palace. She loved how they made her feel more royal with their gold trimming.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Helenandrianna said, stepping in front of her sister to stop her pace. "Leaf and Ember trust Hunter explicitly. You need to as well."

"It's not about trusting him. They just should have been back by now. I can't believe she ran off. This is just all one big mess-up!" Cass yelled. She
sighed and collapsed on the chaise lounge at the end of her bed. "Do you ever wonder about the old magics, Helen?"

Helen peered at her sister with her matching blue-crystal eyes. "Where did that come from?" She sat down next to her younger sister.

Cass looked up and contemplated telling her about Becca and the healing spell. Helen wasn't like her other sister, Adanna, who was hard and very strict when it came to any rules in the Village. Cass always had been closer to Helen. They shared a more easygoing nature that everyone said they had inherited from their father, who had died when they were children. Neither could recollect anything about him except for faint images, but they still felt his spirit when people compared them to him.