Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5) (31 page)

“Yes, it was.”

“I don’t see it that way. You did me a favor. Ellie needs me. I wouldn’t want her to go through this alone.”

I sat still, trying to see his logic but couldn’t get out a response.

“Were you aware when Jaylyn tried to bring you back?” Ruby asked.

“It wouldn’t have worked. She wouldn’t have been able to heal me but that’s not why I told her no.”

“You knew Ellie died then.”

“Yeah. I couldn’t stay long enough to tell her. That would have been worse to lose both of us like that.”

“Thank you for seeing it that way.” Trever said.

“Sure. I’ll see you later. I’ve got to get back but I’m never far if you need me for something.”

“I know.”

Kole disappeared and Ryon was the only one left like he was waiting for something. “Well, I guess I should be going too.”

“Forever?” Adele asked. Rift whined right after.

“Not necessarily. If it was fitting, your King can call upon us anytime he pleases and we’ll always answer.”

“What’s it like?”

“Better than anything you could even dream about but you’re not coming. Not for a long time. I already told you why.” He looked over at Zayden and Zayden lightly nodded as he kept his hold around Adele.

“We’ll miss you.” Adele replied.

“We’ll see each other again. After all, life is only a temporary state. Nothing is ever really forever until you’re here.” Adele couldn’t say anything else and only nodded her head. “And you don’t have to worry about Ellie. She’s being perfectly taken care of. Hopefully Jay will see that soon so she doesn’t stay this way.”

“Hopefully.” I muttered but I didn’t have much hope in it.

“You still have more to do. There will be conflicting thoughts going around when you get to the city but since the King has returned, no one will be taking action. Izin wants you back and anyone who thinks otherwise will use their wits and keep their mouths shut. You shouldn’t have any trouble at all reaching the palace.”

“Thank you for the insight.” Aleksander said.

Ryon nodded and looked down at Rift. “Go see Zayden.”

Rift lowered his head but obeyed and Ryon disappeared.

There was quite a long pause while everyone watched Adele still looking at where Ryon was standing and Zayden leaned into her ear. “You all right?”

“Yeah. Sad about Ellie though, even if she hated me.”

Trever laughed. “I think she’s over that. She’s the one that has Ryon now.”

“How can you seem so normal about this?” I asked.

“Ryon was right. This life is only temporary. Everyone dies. It’s just the matter of when but it doesn’t mean you’re ever alone. There’s always someone waiting on the other side.”

The room became silent, thinking about his words.

“Well, it’s been a long morning.” Aleksander said as he started to get up. “Perhaps you two should think about breakfast.”

Adele and Trever looked at each other and Aleksander started going up the stairs. Trever smiled to try and change the mood of the house by putting his feet up on the table. “That’s a good idea. Let’s just sit here and think about it.”

Adele laughed and pulled him to his feet. “Come on. It’ll get done faster with two of us.”

“All right.” Adele pulled Trever down the left hall and left us sitting in silence again.

“This is too much to handle in one day.” Ruby said. “We should think about leaving before it gets worse.”

“It depends on if they’re ready.” Zayden replied. “A lot is about to happen in the next few days, on top of what has already. They need to be prepared.”

“And are you? You’ll be the one doing it alone.”

“I won’t be doing it alone. You’ll all be there and I don’t necessarily see it being that hard.”

“Really? I’d be terrified.”

“Well, first of all, my father wants us to come back. He’ll pardon us then and once he’s seen what we’ve become, he’ll choose our way.”

“And you’re actually going to expose that?”

“If it’s necessary to lead up to peace, then yes. It shouldn’t be much of a shock to him. He has one too and he’s never really owned up to being on the losing side of things. He’ll opt to do things my way.”

“And since when is this what you want? I thought you never wanted to be who you are.”

“Things change.”

Ruby looked at us sitting by and smiled. “So, it looks like you get what you wanted after all.”

“What?”

“Oh, come on, Zayden. We all know if things go the way they’re planned to then you’ll marry Adele. Aleksander talked to you about that right in front of us, remember?”

“Yeah.”

“Well? Is that still the plan? You know you have to.”

“I have to? Great. No pressure.”

“Well, it’s how you’ll get things to go your way.”

“Are you sure that doesn’t seem too soon?”

“Not when you wanted her from day one. It makes the time you’ve known her seem longer and seriously, if you’re having a problem with the time now then I definitely don’t see you marrying someone you don’t even know, who’s probably waiting for you right now actually. I really hope you have a plan around that.”

Zayden looked over at Darius and I and I wasn’t sure that he did.

“You do have a plan around that, don’t you?” Zayden looked over at her this time with the same eyes. “Ah, this could be interesting.”

Zayden sighed and sat back putting one leg up on the couch. “Looking forward to it.”

Was he really? I doubt it. Maybe why he didn’t mind staying here another day but we couldn’t do it again. I knew we had to leave soon and so did he.

Chapter 40

Ruby

“It’s ready at the table. I’m going to get my father and check on Jaylyn.” Adele walked out of the kitchen and started to go up the stairs.

Zayden and Troy got up and started heading into the dining room while Darius and I were still laying on the couch. I let them walk away completely before I asked.

“Are you going to eat?”

“No, but you should. You’ll need to save your strength for whatever happens when we get there.”

“So do you.”

He chuckled almost silently like he was amused but I saw through it. “I’ll be all right. You go.”

“Please don’t do this. I don’t want you to regret anything you did.”

“I don’t regret saving you but this changes nothing.”

“I almost lost you if it wasn’t for him.”

“Well, we were in that mess because of him. Think about that.”

“Just come eat with me.”

“I’m okay.”

I sighed and started to get off him. There was no use. “All right. Go ahead and be stubborn. You know where I’ll be.”

I walked through the hall where the others went to go eat.

“Darius coming?” Zayden asked.

I sighed and shared a glance with Trever. “No.”

“Then you can tell us.”

I felt my brow crease with confusion. “Tell you what?”

“What you haven’t told him that you were supposed to.”

I immediately turned my eyes towards Trever, flashing them red. “You told them?!”

“No! I didn’t say anything!”

“He really didn’t.” Troy said. “He said it wasn’t his secret to share.”

“Well, good.”

“So?”

I sighed and looked around the table. “What? It’s nothing, okay?”

“But it has to do with Darius.” Zayden said. “Something you haven’t told him. Sounds important to me.”

I looked over at Trever and really didn’t want to tell them a thing.

“You know you have to sometime.” He smiled. “I’m sure they can keep a secret. I’d trust them to.”

“I trust them. Just not with this. They don’t keep anything from each other. Darius would be bound to find out before I ever got around to telling him.”

“Red, he’s not going to—”

“We’ve already spent a whole day talking about this! We don’t need to do it again!”

“All right.” Trever sighed. “Enjoy your time of wondering, boys. She’s not going to tell anyone for a while but maybe by then it’ll be obvious.”

They looked across the table at me but I did well to avoid their eyes. It probably only made them want to know more but I couldn’t do it. This was something I was scared to tell Darius about let alone anyone else.

Chapter 41

Adele

I came down the stairs with my father and noticed something strange on the couch. I quietly let him continue walking while I leaned over the back of it at Darius laying alone. “You not eating?”

“What do you think?”

“Is it because you don’t want to admit that you actually did something nice for Trever and he returned the favor or you just don’t want to eat his food?” Darius just looked up at me and pressed his eyebrows together. “What? You wanted to know what I thought.”

“Rhetorically.”

“Well, don’t worry about it. I knew you’d feel that way so I made sure I was the one that made your plate. He didn’t touch a single thing on it. I promise. Now get up.” Darius sighed and folded his arms across his chest. “Oh, come on.” I walked around the couch and sat on the short table in front of it. “Ruby needs you to be in there. I’m surprised that she even let loose her grip around you.”

“Did you see Jaylyn when you went up there?”

He changed the subject quick but I followed. “Yeah. She’s not going to be eating either.”

“I just don’t get it. How did Ellie die? I mean, she was only four years old.”

I got a slight smile on my face, listening to Darius’s worry but was still sad myself thinking about it. “I don’t know. I’m sure she’s asking herself the same questions.”

“It’s tragic really.”

“I know but there’s nothing we can do. It’s already happened. Now, come on. You should eat.”

I got up and Darius sighed, getting up after me. I smiled to myself to hear that he did it. I wasn’t sure if he was going to just because I said but I guess my dominant nature even worked on him and we walked into the dining room where everyone else was already sitting down, eating in silence.

I sat down next to Zayden as Darius quietly walked over to Ruby and sat next to her.

Of course she immediately took notice and wondered aloud. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Hungry after all I guess.”

Troy looked around the table and set his focus on me. “Did you see her?”

Everyone looked over and I could see their faces; they all seemed to want to know the same thing. “Yeah. She’s just going to need some time.”

“I’m still a little in shock.” Zayden said. “I don’t think any of us were expecting that.”

“Trever, what did Kole mean by ‘you should tell them the truth?’” I asked.

“The truth about Ellie and what she did.”

“But we know that.” Troy said. “She already told us.”

“No. She didn’t. She told you what she’s been telling everyone for the last four years. She didn’t tell you what really happened.”

Ruby got defensive and shook her head. “No. She wouldn’t have lied to us.”

“She would because she didn’t think anyone would believe the real story. It’s never been done before. She took a huge risk and she could have died.”

“What was it?” I wondered.

“Are you sure you really want to go down that road?” Jaylyn was standing at the door with her arms folded in front of her and startled us all. “Once you know, you’ll never look at me the same again.”

“I don’t believe that.” Troy said.

Jaylyn slightly smiled and stepped closer. “Oh, I seriously doubt it.”

“Are you going to tell us?” Darius asked.

“Is that what you all decided? To know the truth?” We gave a slight nod and she sat herself at the head of the table so we could all see her. “Okay, well, first you should know that Ellie was in fact, one hundred percent born of my blood.” I was both confused and shocked but Jaylyn’s facial expression never changed. She sat stiff and tried to make it clearer for all of us. “I was at a stage in my life that I hid for the most part. I felt like something was missing and I wanted a child to fill that void. We were already in the Assassin life for almost a year and I knew that it just wouldn’t have been feasible for me to actually get pregnant so I just tried to forget but instincts wouldn’t let me. I was beginning to feel desperate and sought Madam Carla’s help.”

“And who do you suppose she asked to go there for her?” Trever asked.

“You?” Ruby guessed.