Endless Night (Fate's Intent Book 3) (14 page)

“But you’re making her one because you’re putting it off.” Troy said.

“You say that like it’s easy to just do.”

“That’s because it should be if you really care about her.” Zayden explained. “This isn’t about worrying if you’ll survive every time, is it?”

“No and I do care about her but I’m just not ready.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll get there.” Troy said.

“It helps that she thinks it’s best to hold off on it as well. She has a real problem even thinking about the possibility of killing me.”

“But how long will that last?” Zayden asked.

I shrugged at the question. “I don’t know. For as long as I need it to, I hope. I know I could easily convince her to but first I have to be ready.”

“Don’t take too long.” Troy replied. “Trever may be counting on things going badly so she’ll break first like he said.”

He just had to mention that name and completely ruin my mood. “Oh, don’t. It will not come to that so can we please not talk about him? It annoys me.”

There wasn’t even a long enough silence to take a breath before I heard Adele’s laugh echo in the high ceiling. “And people think I have problems.”

I looked up to see her stepping down the stairs towards us. She was wear this weird short blue corset top around her ribs that looked almost like suede from this distance and some kind of black strips coming out of it to cover the rest of her top that tied around her neck. She also had on these small blue shorts but it was her boots that were strangest of all. They were blue that traveled all the way up to her thighs with openings behind the knees but the top of them went even higher and attached to her belt. I learned to like it quickly but I still have never seen anything like it on anyone.

“What are you wearing?” I had to ask it and maybe get some kind of answer.

“What?” She looked down at herself as she stepped off the bottom step. “It’s what I wear when we go to warmer climates. Maaki can get pretty hot even during this time of year.”

“Are you all dressed like that?”

“No. Each reflects our own personal taste. Ruby will help break you of your problem when you see hers.”

I narrowed my eyes just slightly. “I’m not going to give in just because of what she’s wearing.”

“Well, I could always make you.”

She said it so casually that I laughed. “Make me?”

“Don’t think I can?”

She raised her hand up towards me and I immediately felt it, quickly putting my hand down in the water to my lap. “Hey! Don’t do that!”

Adele laughed again and lowered her hand. “Then don’t think I can’t and you should probably learn to limit your open aggression about Trever around here.”

“Why?” I didn’t feel the need to. I wasn’t afraid of him.

“Because he’s important whether you want to believe that or not.” I sighed and strayed my eyes down on the water. I did not want to get into why but I think she knew why because she crouched down behind me with a change in her voice like she was trying to be caring. “I understand why you hate him but what you’re doing is like asking Ruby to hate every woman you’ve ever been with.”

“And doesn’t she?”

“She usually doesn’t get along with other women but that’s not the point. The point is, it’s foolish.”

“The point is, it’s not the same.” I corrected. “All those women were only in my life for one night or even less, not over and over and especially not after the fact.”

“Well, then that just proves that there’s one very different thing between you and Trever.” I didn’t say a thing because I didn’t care about the answer but Adele went ahead and told me anyway. “He has heart. He’s never used women because he knows how to care.”

“Are you talking about me again?”

Adele sprung right to her feet from the humorous yet annoying sound of Trever’s voice. “No!”

I didn’t even have to look to know that it was him and I heard him walk closer. “Still lying, I see.”

“What are you doing here?” Great question.

“We have a new target.”

“What do you mean we?”

Trever looked up, tracing his eyes along the high ceiling. “Kole is on the roof and so you know, he can hear everything you’ve said.”

Adele quickly glanced down at us and started to walk with Trever to the far wall but we could still hear them. “So, who’s this target?”

“Why? You want in? That won’t be necessary. Kole can handle it.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t tell me. You’re using my roof after all.”

“Just a poor soul caught abusing his wife. I saw her last night. She was pretty banged up, too scared of what he might do if she told anyone but I knew.”

“So, you’re having Kole kill him?”

Trever folded up the papers into his pocket and began to scale the obstacles on the wall to reach the highest window. “Better to catch him before he touches those children, assuming he hasn’t already. What else could really be done? It’s hard to change one’s nature. Once he’s dead, she’ll take over his estate, we’ll wipeout any and all debt and she can live happily ever after with her children in a fearless environment.”

Adele smiled and looked back towards us. “And that, gentlemen, is a perfect example of heart.”

Trever sighed and turned back before going out the window to the roof. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“It’s okay. Jaylyn is with Ellie right now. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a few extra minutes.”

Trever smiled and glanced at us. “Good luck explaining that to them.”

He was finally gone and Adele slowly turned back around to us like there was some secret about who this Ellie was.

“Explain what to us?” Zayden asked. We were awake enough now and all started climbing out of the pool. “Who’s Ellie?”

Adele smiled as she pushed the water off us, putting it right back into the pool so we were dry. I almost forgot what that felt like. Still weird. “Ah, I’ll let you decide that when you see her. Everyone has a different opinion. Just hurry. Get up to Ruby so she can dress you.”

“Dress us?”

“Yeah. If you’re going to travel with us, you’re going to dress like us.”

I laughed and looked over Adele’s outfit again. “Ah, I don’t mean to be rude to your style or anything but I don’t think that will look good on me, let alone fit.”

“You’ll be wearing guy clothes, obviously. Ruby designed them, I just threw them together. We had to work away from that Senian look you tend to have.”

“We actually have that?” Troy wondered, looking at himself then to us next to him. I didn’t know we had that either.

“You can. Just think of this change as having to be in disguise, dressing as someone you’re not. You made us do it, now we’re making you.”

“I guess that’s fair.” Zayden sighed.

Adele smiled and turned around to lead the way.

Jaylyn was in view when we made it upstairs and started down the hall. It wasn’t surprising but she was also in some sort of weird looking outfit that I’ve never seen anyone wear. It was mostly just this one piece that was like a high collared sleeveless shirt on the top but it barely covered the rest of her. At this angle, it seemed as if just a strip of the green suede came down from top and went between her legs. She had her gray thigh holster for her weapons that seemed to hold this suit on her with boots that went above her knee.

Damn. I liked this one too but I was getting worried. This was Jaylyn. Ruby was ten times as racy when it came to her clothing. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what she would look like.

I had to stop trying and just wait my turn, I guess. I focused more on Jaylyn in front of us in the middle of the hall and noticed she was talking to some little blonde haired girl.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed she was hers. The hair was exactly the same but I didn’t want to make it obvious and alarm Troy right off that maybe this was something she has yet to mention.

“Oh really? How old?”

“I’ll be four, silly.” The girl held up her hand, showing the number with her fingers.

“Wow, four. Where did the time go?”

“Will you come? Please? Daddy says I had to ask.”

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll be back in time, sweetie but when I get back we’ll do something extra special together just the two of us. How about that?”

“Okay! We could go riding! Daddy promised me a pony!”

“Did he? Well, we’ll have to make sure he comes through this time. If he doesn’t, we’ll beat him up together.”

“You’re the best!”

Jaylyn laughed and hugged her. “Now go downstairs. Your grandmother is waiting for you and I promise, if I see your father, I’ll remind him about the pony.”

“Okay! Have a fun trip! Bye!” She skipped down the hall as Jaylyn stood up and watched.

She passed us like we weren’t standing here all and I couldn’t help but breakout a smile with another clue about who she could have been.

“What?” Jaylyn asked.

“You didn’t tell us you have a kid.” Zayden said a bit playfully.

“She’s not mine.” Jaylyn snatched.

“Trever’s then?”

“Ah, no.”

“Really? Blonde curly hair, lightening green eyes and she’s not yours or Trever’s? Have another sibling then or family?”

“No.”

I heard Ruby’s laugh and looked up, watching every step she took. She looked incredible. She was wearing a pair of red suede patchwork shorts that were cut the length of the sides that wasn’t really that long and laced up to stay on and show off her legs but the best part was her hair. She still had it completely down and her hands were covering her breasts like she had yet to put her top on. I kind of hoped she wasn’t planning to go like that because then it would have been hard to keep to our agreement.

“Be sure to tell them who her father is, Jaylyn.” She said, reaching her side. “I’m sure they’ll really believe she’s not yours then.”

Jaylyn just stood annoyed, shifting her weight and sighing. “She’s not mine, okay. Stop making a big deal about it and put clothes on!”

She started walking towards Adele’s room and Ruby stayed behind with a smile, not caring that she was topless. None of us really cared. “It’s Kole. What a strange ironic coincidence.”

Zayden and I looked over at Troy at the same time and Jaylyn sighed again and turned around. “All right, so what but I’m not her mother. I’ve never been pregnant in my life.”

“How do you know you’re not now?” Ruby smiled.

“If I was, believe me, I’d be the first to know.”

“Maybe it’s too early to tell. You are getting awfully moody.”

“Adele! She’s doing it again!”

Adele came out of her room, strapping her sword around her waist. “Would you two cut it out?! I’m really not in the mood for your arguing and you three, get dressed! Do you want to stay here?”

“No!”

“Then hurry up. We’re leaving when you’re ready. You too, Ruby!”

Ruby laughed. “Come on. She’s serious.” She turned down the hall and we followed into her room. “Pardon my mess.” She kicked a bunch of her clothes back into the closet and shut the door. “I’m still in the process of looking for my top.”

“Whoa.” Troy muttered. “Nice room.”

“Thank you. Well, here’s your stuff.” She took a step towards the bed and turned so we could see it while slipping on a pair of knee high boots that matched her shorts in the red patch work design. “We didn’t have much time but it’ll do.”

We got closer and I noticed there seemed to be a lot of leather involved. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

Ruby laughed as she got down on her knees and started crawling around her bed, looking under it while holding one arm around her breasts. “You chose this. Remember that. So, strip down and suit up. Adele’s probably getting impatient but hopefully she won’t be moody on this whole trip because we’ll have Zayden!” Instead of doing it, we just kind of stood there for a moment and watched what she was doing. “What are you waiting for? Adele will leave you here. I’m not paying attention to you. I have to find my thing or she’ll leave me here too. She’s done it before. I don’t want that.”

She looked back under the bed again and I started changing my clothes first. I most definitely didn’t want to be left here. Luckily, it didn’t take long before Zayden and Troy followed my lead and we all tried to completely ignore Ruby still in the room. It was a little hard since she was making noises and signs that she was getting aggravated.

“Shit. Where did I put it?” She popped up to her feet, looking around the room with her eyes moving fast to scan the area.

“What’s it look like?” Zayden asked. “Maybe we can help you find it.”

“It’s red.”

Troy laughed and looked around at the mostly red room. “Well, that narrows it down.”

“Yeah, sorry. It’s the only color I can actually wear without looking weird.” Ruby reopened her closet and started digging through it. “That and natural skin colors. Where could it be?” Her mood suddenly changed from this anxious girl to this more slow moving, possibly hiding something girl while she slowly closed the door. “Muscles, I apologize in advance for this.”