Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5) (26 page)

“I know.” She thankfully cut me off before I embarrassed myself. Of course she was attractive but it was hard to actually explain. “You love Adele and you wouldn’t let anything get in the way of that. I’m sure he knows that.”

“Exactly. So, we’ll wait. First, we’ll talk to Adele and if she’s still okay with it then I’ll find the time to talk to Troy.”

“Okay. That seems fair. Think you’re ready to go back out? Everyone might be thinking about going to bed by now.”

“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”

We turned from the sinks and walked out of the bathhouse to the others.

“There you are.” Troy said. “Shit, we almost forgot you two were here.”

“We weren’t in there that long.”

Troy kept his smile as he leaned in and kissed her. “Joke. We know what you were doing.”

Jaylyn glanced over at me for just an instant and tried to keep from widening her eyes. “Really? You know?”

“Yeah.” Darius laughed while holding up his hand like a gabbing mouth. “Talking. We’ve come to know that you’re quite good at it and more so the advice giver.”

“Oh! Well, sorry if it felt long.”

“Not horribly bad.” Troy replied.

“They not come in yet?” I asked, looking outside.

“No.” Ruby said. “They’re still out there but we all should really—” She got up with Darius and started heading to the stairs.

“Good idea.” Jaylyn got up too, pulling Troy up with her. “I haven’t slept well since we left. So, I’m kind of hoping tonight changes that.”

“Of course it will, provided you have the proper remedy to get you there.” Ruby looked at Darius and took his hand. “I know I do.” He smiled back and started going with her up the stairs.

“You go ahead.” I said. “We’ll be just a minute.”

“We will?” Darius wondered.

“Yes, we will.”

“Okay.” Ruby smiled. “But you know I’ll only wait for so long.”

Darius smiled back as she turned from him and walked up the stairs the rest of the way with Jaylyn.

“Why exactly will we be just a minute? This is cutting into quality time with my woman.”

I glanced out the window at Trever now sitting on the ground by a fire, smoking a cigar with Aleksander still standing and I knew what the right thing to do was. “I think we should say something to him.”

Darius raised his voice, almost shaking the glass of the house. “Are you crazy?!”

“Think about it. He just lost his friends.”

“Not my problem. If I have anything to say to him it’s going to be, I hope you’re next.” He left it at that and made his way up the stairs.

“What about you?” I asked Troy. “Are you coming?”

He sighed. “I don’t want to be rude like Darius, Zayden but what could we really say? Nothing will change any of it. We should just go to bed.”

“Fine. Then you go but I’m going out there.”

“Okay. You’re choice.”

I nodded and watched him head upstairs.

“What about you?” I looked down and Rift looking up at me, tilting his head. “Nothing to say either? You should come anyway. I’m sure you have your own business to take care of. Darius wouldn’t like to see that in his house.”

He tilted his head to the other side and it gave me a little cute stare while we headed outside. I let him go off towards the trees and I approached the two still out here.

Aleksander looked back to my footsteps and started backing away. “I’ll leave you alone and turn in.”

I nodded and took up his place behind Trever while he went inside.

“I don’t want your pity.” Trever said. “So if you’re here to give it you can just turn around and go back inside.”

“I don’t pity you.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Did you really bring Ryon back to save Adele from something?”

“You should know that already.”

“I guess I just don’t understand it.” I said, sitting myself down next to him. “Why do it at all?”

“To help, I guess. I had to do something. I led him to this. It was my fault. I should have seen it a lot sooner, knowing what I was putting him through by having him stay with her until she met you.”

“You mean until she met Troy.”

“It doesn’t matter now. It was one of you and he had to lose her just the same.”

“I am sorry about them. I know they were your family.”

“I thought you didn’t pity me?”

“I don’t but I can still be sorry. One of them was my family too.”

“I’m surprised you feel that way.”

“Why? It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t be in my life. He told me what happened.”

“Then I’m glad it ended peacefully between you.”

There was a pause and I thought of something else. “I just have to ask. If everything worked out the way you originally intended and I was with Jaylyn, would you be King?”

Trever sat still for a long time but never looked over once while answering. “I guess that’s why I wasn’t so disappointed when Troy found her first. I wasn’t ready but peace will be easier achieved this way. Izin never had to make up with me. It’s better that it’s two Kings that will make true peace.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Rift came up next to me and looked me right in the face since I was sitting on the ground. “And what do you want?”

Trever laughed quietly. “He doesn’t want you to regret.”

“You can hear his thoughts?”

“Humans are animals just as wolves are. He misses Ryon but he wants to appease you now. He knows a thing or two about loss and he’s already so young.”

“Yeah. I heard what happened.”

“He’ll be fine. Something tells me he’s going to have an abnormally long life for a wolf.”

I smiled because he remembered the vision too when we saw my son with a white wolf whom he called Rift.

“Well, everyone’s getting to bed so maybe you should—” I started to stand and Trever laughed.

“It’s okay, Zayden. I know I’m not welcome in Darius’s house.”

“I was inviting you to be. The nights are still cold and unsafe.”

“And I’ll survive. Just go tend to Adele. She should be waking up soon and you might want to be there to explain where she is.”

“If you insist.”

“I do very much so. You don’t have to worry about me. Being alone comes easy when you do it so much over the years.”

“Okay. Just—”

“I know. Quit stalling. She could be awake already.”

I quickly turned and headed inside, anxious to know if he was right. I was the last up the stairs with Rift at my side and we went in the room I laid Adele in. She was still where I left her and I took a breath to relax. My eyes were on her and I walked over to the bed, sitting next to her while Rift got himself a comfortable spot on a chair. I started taking off my boots and Adele began to move from the sound of them dropping on the floor.

I leaned towards her and rubbed my hand on the side of her face. “Love?”

She took a heavy breath like she was waking up and started to open her eyes just a little bit. “Zayden?”

“There you are. How are you feeling?”

Adele started to sit up and looked around the room, confused. “Where are we?”

“Don’t worry. We haven’t made it there yet. This is Darius’s manor. It sits outside of the city.”

“Oh, no. How many days was I out this time?”

I laughed. “None. It’s only been a couple of hours. We needed a place to get back on our feet.” She sat silent and just stared off into nothing, acting like she was still tired but I knew she was thinking about something. “What’s on your mind?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing. It’s just—weird. I feel—I don’t know—fine. It’s like nothing ever happened.”

“That’s how you’re supposed to feel.”

“Zayden, that’s not nice.”

“No, Love. I mean, that’s why he did it.”

“Who did what?”

I looked at her oddly and was a little confused myself. “What, you don’t remember what happened? One of the black lions took away your pain so you wouldn’t be sad anymore.”

She paused like she was trying to think back on it. “I remember. Those eyes. They were so calming and gentle. It was peaceful. Is that what he was doing to me?”

“I hope you’re not upset.”

“No. I’m not. It’s just—it’s kind of making me feel like I never cared.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“Did you ever find out what happened? Like how he—”

She trailed off and I was hesitant to answer. “Your father said it was a self-choice.”

“It’s because of us, you know?”

“I don’t think anyone’s to blame.” She turned away and started getting out of bed. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. It’s like I want to cry about it but I’m just—not.”

“Your pain was taken from you. You cried too much already. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t like seeing it. It’s like you couldn’t stop.”

“I’m sorry, Zayden. I—”

“No, you don’t need to be. I understand that you cared about him.”

“I know.” She stepped in closer, putting her hands around my neck. “But that’s over so it can be just us now.”

“Are you really fine with this?”

“Isn’t that what you want me to be?”

“Of course not. We can do things however you need to. If it didn’t really work like we were told then we can hold off on our future plans until you’re ready. You can go away for time to yourself for as long as you need and then if you decide—”

“What are you saying? You want me to go away so I can think about if I want to be with you?”

“No. I just want to know that you’re going to be okay with the changes. I know you loved him and I don’t want you to be thinking about him if we’re going to build a life together.”

“Zayden, I love you. I’m not going to need time. I feel fine.”

“I just want you to be sure.”

She smiled and moved herself so she was sitting close in my lap. “I couldn’t be more sure about this.” She brought her lips into mine and the passion from the kiss caused me to temporarily forget about my worries. I just wanted to focus on her. I brought my arms around her so she wouldn’t fall and she was acting desperate to keep her lips touching mine.

“Are you really sure about this, Love?”

“I always am. I know I need to get over this. I need you to love me.”

“I do love you.”

“Then show me. It’s been days. I want you to.”

I was looking in her eyes and couldn’t refuse her. She seemed truly sincere and no matter how tired I was, I couldn’t let her down. I agreed and let her know just by bringing my lips back into hers.

Chapter 33

Zayden

I woke from the shining sun but had no intentions on getting up yet. Rift was still fast asleep in the chair and I laid with Adele under my right arm, watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful that I barely wanted to move so I wouldn’t wake her. The night we shared helped greatly give her the rest she needed and all the while watching her, I couldn’t help but wonder what she was dreaming about. If it was peaceful or if she was lost somewhere in the past with Ryon.

It seemed almost as if hours went by that was really only minutes when she moved herself closer to me and opened her eyes only for a brief moment. “Why are you watching me?”

“You’re beautiful when you sleep.”

“Oh, is that the only time?”

I laughed, barely letting out a sound. “No. You know better than that. You’re always beautiful to me.”

“Mmm.” She was still obviously tired and had her head on me with her eyes still closed. “How long have you been up?”

“Not too long, I guess. I was hoping to sleep more but I don’t feel that tired after our night.”

“Oh, goodie for you.” She joked. “It’s already too late for me. I’ve seen the light. I won’t be able to get back to sleep now.”

I kissed her head while we laid together through a pause. I was thinking about maybe why I was so completely awake and relaxed and it wasn’t just my night with her. I thought about what I shared with Jaylyn and knew we still had to talk to Adele about it. “Hey, Love?”

“Hmm?”

“Jaylyn and I wanted to talk to you about something now that you’re awake.”

Her eyes opened and she backed away. “About what?”

“The trying to control this gift thing.”

“Oh, okay. What?”

“Don’t you think Jaylyn should be here for this?”

“Then go get her if you want her to be. If we’re up, I’m sure she is.”

“All right. I’ll get dressed first and find her.” I got out of bed and simply put on my pants before walking to the door. Of course, Rift perked his head right up and was more alert than ever to follow me. We went to the room Troy was staying in with Jaylyn and I knocked on the door.