Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy (48 page)

"That's a myth."

"I know...but if it isn't?"

Leaf shook her off. "It's not our problem."

Helen smiled at him.

"What?"

"I'm just wondering. If they had it, then maybe... I don't know... Maybe we..."

Leaf took her hand. "Let's just start with dinner."

She nodded and brushed her hand against his cheek before returning to her food.

They were deep in conversation about the comedic merits of council meetings when a knock came at the door. Leaf looked at it then back at Helen. "Stay over here, away from the door, OK?" he whispered to her.

She nodded and moved even farther into the room.

Leaf walked over to the door and opened it. Hunter looked like hell, and Leaf told him as much.

"Thanks. I had good form, though. You should have seen me," Hunter said.

"I did actually. There were a few blocks you should have made. Rule number one of fighting—never let your feelings get in the way of your form," Leaf said pointedly.

Hunter stared at him for a moment. He sniffed the air and narrowed his eyes at Leaf. "I have to take Syney out of the palace for a while."

"No."

"She needs it. This place is getting to her. She didn't grow up here. She's not used to the politics."

"She's been adjusting."

"And now she's not."

Leaf sighed. "The queen will have both of our heads if she leaves."

"Not if she doesn't know. I can get Noelle to cover, tell everyone she's sick. She hasn't been leaving her room much anyway."

Leaf thought about it. "They won't believe just Noelle."

Hunter looked past Leaf into the room. "Maybe we could get help from someone else."

Leaf shook his head. "Not sure I know anyone who could help."

"Right." Hunter looked back at him. "Sorry. I'm a little desperate." He paused. "Syney's not well, and I don't think I can help her here."

"I'll do it," Helen said, coming up alongside Leaf.

Leaf looked down at her and sighed in frustration. Just like a Magic User. They never followed directions well.

Hunter looked at her. "Thank you."

"Just help her."

"I haven't said yes yet," Leaf said.

Both Helen and Hunter looked at him with desperate eyes.

He sighed. "You have two weeks. If you're not back, I'm sending someone to drag you back."

"Yes, sir," Hunter said. "Thank you again."

Both Leaf and Helen nodded to him as he took off down the hall. Leaf shut the door and stared down at the infuriating girl in front of him.

"Oh, stop glaring. If I can help, I want to. Besides, Hunter isn't going to tell anyone I was here. He loves her. Didn't you see it in his eyes?" Helen said, walking back to the desk and sitting down.

"I did. And I love that you want to help, but we need to be careful."

"I know," she said, taking his hand.

He squeezed her hand. There was absolutely nothing he would change about this woman, and he couldn't have been any happier.

Syney

It had gotten dark. Syney curled her legs to her chest and looked out across the dark Village. Every breakable object in her room was scattered across the floor in pieces, but she still didn't feel any better. Once she was done smashing things, she wandered out to the balcony and slid to the stone floor. It was cold, but she didn't care. She didn't think she could ever feel as bad as she had when Hunter had barged into the room earlier. Everything she had felt over the past weeks melted away, replaced with a numbing pain in her heart and possibly her soul. Everything she had done with Gabe felt dirty; she felt dirty and selfish. She didn't feel like herself. When had that happened? She closed her eyes and tried to force all of her feelings and thoughts from her body, but it didn't seem to work.

She heard her door open and then close and then heard some muffled voices, but it didn't matter. She didn't want to talk to anyone, and she wasn't going to move. She was just going to sit out on her balcony and wallow in the disgusting feelings that crept all over her skin. Whoever it was didn't seem to get her mental message, as she felt someone come out and sit down across from her. She ignored the presence for as long as she could before she finally opened her eyes.

Hunter looked a lot less mad than he had before, but his face and hands were cut and bruised. She had a feeling Gabe had been at the other end of that, but she knew his handsome face would look untouched.

She stared down at her hands, unsure of what to say to him. "I'm sorry I'm a slut" didn't seem to cut it. He was probably still disgusted with her, so why bother talking to him at all? The thought pulled out her tears again. It was pretty amazing that she still had tears left inside her, but they poured out in buckets. "I'm messed up," she managed to get out between sobs.

Hunter shook his head and moved to sit next to her. He slowly put his arm around her shoulders. She let go of any tension she had and just laid her head on his chest, still crying. He gently rubbed her arm and even rested his head on top of hers. She knew she didn't deserve any of this, but she took it anyway. After a while the tears finally stopped, and she breathed in deeply, inhaling his scent.

"We're going to get away for a while," he said. "Noelle packed a bag for you."

Syney sat up and looked at him. "Are we going to see Rose?"

He shook his head. "Somewhere outside of the Village."

Fear bubbled up into the back of her throat. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"We'll be fine. Better than staying here, I think."

Syney took a deep breath. "OK. I trust you."

Hunter stood and held out his hands to help her to her feet. "You officially have a two-week vacation." He led the way into her room.

The lights were on. The room looked like a disaster zone. "I should clean this up," she said.

"Don't worry. I got it."

Syney looked over at Noelle. "You shouldn't have to. I..." She stopped, not knowing what to say.

Noelle handed Hunter a leather bag and Syney her cloak. "Safe journey."

"Thank you," Hunter said, gently pushing Syney toward the door.

Syney walked out, the pounding in her chest hurting more and more. She would have to make amends; she just wasn't sure how. For now she just followed as Hunter led her out of the Village and away from her problems, or at least she thought.

Cass

Cass sat down in the library at one of the large wooden tables and stared up at the secured section. There weren't many people in the library at this time of night, which she appreciated. She hated to cry in public, and that's all she had done for the past half-hour. Up there—that was what Raine had died for. She couldn't bring herself to attend the execution earlier, and luckily her mother hadn't insisted. Just the thought of him up on that platform made her silent tears run even faster. Raine shouldn't have died, not for her.

What made her the most uncomfortable was the thought that he had really brought back the Daemons. She remembered him passing what she thought was a book to the Vampire the night she had healed Syney. But that could have been anything, right? There was no way Raine was...was... What? Evil? Anyone who wanted the Daemons back was evil. She wiped some tears from her face. Her fingers were itching to do some magic, but she wasn't sure she wanted to—not because she was scared of being caught, but because it was magic that had killed her best friend.

"No, it wasn't."

Cass nearly jumped out of her skin as the Vampire appeared out of nowhere across from her.

"Sorry. I always like to make an entrance," he said with a smirk. "And no, Raine didn't die because of magic."

Cass kept her mouth shut and looked away from him. Maybe if she ignored him, he would go away.

"No, I won't."

Cass looked at him, her eyes widening. "I didn't say anything."

He rolled his eyes. "You were thinking it."

"So you read thoughts or something?"

"The education system in the Village is surely lacking these days. Yes, Vampires can do that," he said, as if talking to a five-year-old.

Cass scowled at him. "What do you want?"

"I want you to stop wallowing and get back into that room."

"No."

"No to the wallowing or the room?"

"Both."

His smile fell from his face, and he leaned forward, grabbing her hands. "I need you to listen to me very carefully. Raine did not die because you were doing magic. He died because he knew how important your doing magic was. And because he cared about you."

Tears welled in her eyes. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

He sat back. "No."

She looked back up at the windowed room. "I'm not doing it anymore." She looked back at him. "I'm done." She got up and started out of the library.

"What a waste of potential," he yelled after her.

Cass rolled her eyes. She couldn't let him get to her. That's what Vampires did. They got under your skin and made you do things you weren't supposed to do—like magic. Well, she wasn't going to give in. She was stronger than that. She held her head high as she walked back to her room.

Hunter

The trip to Colchin would take at least a day on horseback. Hunter pushed Syney as far as she could go before he finally stopped at a rock face just inside Magic User territory. There was a small cave where he built a fire and set up camp. He offered Syney some dried meats he had packed for the journey, but she shook her head and leaned against the rock wall.

"At least have some water," he said, handing her a canteen.

She took it but didn't drink.

She hadn't spoken since they had left her room; she only sighed and stared absently. It bothered him to admit that Gabe had been right. This was the way Syney had been acting lately, and he hadn't done anything to help her. He had thought it was all about him and Fern. He didn't think anything else was bothering her. He was the selfish one.

"Tell me what it feels like," he said.

She looked over to him and shrugged. "Just a throbbing in my side. It was one of the knife wounds. I guess it went a little too deep."

"Not that." He took a breath. "The other stuff."

She bit her bottom lip and looked away. "I don't know... It's just darkness. Like there's this black cloud that keeps following me around. Like it's just impossible to be happy anymore." She took a jagged breath and looked back at him. "That doesn't excuse anything, though."

He shook his head. "It doesn't. I need you talk to me from now on."

Syney sighed.

"No, I mean it, Syney. You have to trust me with everything. I can't help you if you don't."

She finally nodded after a few moments of silence. "OK."

"Now get some sleep. We should arrive in Colchin by dinnertime tomorrow."

Syney took the blankets he offered and lay on the ground. "What's so special about this place that we're going out of Magic User territory?"

"It's a place of legend, I guess you can say. It's a sanctuary. All races are allowed, but no violence is tolerated."

"All races?"

"You'll be fine. The town is run by Psyches. They settled it hundreds of years ago and spelled the land. If anyone tries any act of violence whatsoever, it comes back at them. They are inflicted in the exact way they inflicted the other person."