Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5) (9 page)

BOOK: Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5)
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“Why don’t you ever just tell us?” Adele asked.

“We had to wait until we knew for sure first.”

“But how did you really? What if it’s not us?”

“I’ll prove it.” Trever flipped through the pages of the book like he was looking for something specific. “
It shall begin with the first shock of the world when two teams from both sides of hate cross paths and unexpectedly join together under the terms of war through love, creating a double sided betrayal of both duty and country.
Sound familiar yet?” I looked around at everyone to the coincidence. It did sound like us. “There’s more about Zayden’s part.
Fate brought them together in life yet only if they choose to stay as such can the course of the world be changed and only together will they prevail but in the end it will be solely up to the noble baron to secure their futures and form peace between their nations
.”

“So, that’s why you said it’s going by the book but why me?”

“Hmm. It doesn’t say but it does say this;
upon arrival the noble baron shall discover the only window of opportunity to make said peace but if he chooses to let it pass the world will remain in a darkened war for eternity
but then says nothing about what will happen if you do take it. Peace, I’m assuming.”

“So, I’m just supposed to know when that is?”

“I guess so. Best keep your eyes open.”

“What else does it say about our futures?” I asked. “Anything worth knowing or is that just about peace?”

“Haven’t fully had the time to check but it’ll have to wait some more. We should all be getting some rest for now.”

“Hey! That’s not fair.”

“It seems plenty fair.” Aleksander said. “We’ve done what we needed to for now. You know how important this trip is for everyone. Now it’s time for a rest.”

I sighed and leaned against Troy and waited for him to finish his cigar. I didn’t want it to be over. I liked hearing about this.

“This is hard to believe, you know.” Adele said.

“I do.” Aleksander nodded. “But it’s all true and we would have liked to tell you sooner but we needed to wait for some things.”

“I don’t think my father’s going to believe any of this.” Zayden said.

“He may not but it’s also not necessary that he knows. Izin’s always been a good man but it’s going to take some convincing before he remembers it. He wasn’t always as you see him but time changes people and war corrupts even the most solemn of us.”

“Can we sleep now?” Ruby asked, holding her arms around just one of Darius’s. “I think I’ve fallen asleep like five times already.”

“Just pick a room.” Aleksander said. “I’m sure there’s enough for everyone here.”

“Does Ryon have a specific room that’s just his?” Adele asked. “You know, so we don’t take it.”

Trever laughed. “No. He’d rather just crash on a couch than a bed. He says it makes waking up alone easier.”

“Well, that just makes things easy for us.” Ruby muttered.

What was left of the cigars were put out and we started to head towards the stairs.

“I’ll be right up.” Troy said. “I’ve got to go get something.”

“Should I come with you?”

“No. Go ahead and pick a room. I can find you.”

“Okay.” I was still unsure about leaving him but kissed him just the same and went to find a room for us to stay in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13

 

 

Troy

 

“Troy, what can we do for you?” Trever tapped his cigar on the edge of the bowl on the table to remove the ash from the tip as I walked back.

“I wanted to ask you about your father.”

I sat where I was before and Aleksander let out a long breath while putting his cigar out. “I’ll leave that to you. I should probably turn in.”

“Thank you.” Trever replied.

Aleksander walked away, leaving us alone.

“So, what exactly is it you want to know?”

“Back at the lodge when you were laying dead, it grew cold at one point when your father came. I just wanted to know what that really meant. Kole said he marked someone, first saying it was him but then said Bryce wouldn’t kill him but take something he loves.”

“Yes.”

“What does it really mean? He wouldn’t really take Ellie, would he?”

“Troy you have nothing to worry about. I told you he could be reasoned with. He would never follow through.”

“Then what really happens when it grows cold?”

“He was just angry and I didn’t want anyone to be on that side of him. It could have gotten dangerous. Kole was right to send him away. My father would do anything for Jay.”

“Anything like getting her gift so young.”

“What else?”

I expected to hear it from Trever but Kole overheard something and I’m sure he just couldn’t resist.

My eyes narrowed but I mostly tried to understand what all of this meant, never mind the fact that Kole was back. I just wanted to know the truth. “And she never knew?”

“No.” Trever said while Kole joined him. “It was something my father wanted for her in case he couldn’t be around but it turned out to be a mistake. He didn’t think things would have gone the way they did until about a few months into it but everything he did was by choice—for her.”

“You keep a lot of things from her, you know.”

Kole laughed. “You should know Jay enough by now. She’s emotionally fragile. It’s better not to tell her some things just to save her from a hurt that would never go away. It took her a long time to get over Bryce’s death and that was without knowing the details.”

I nodded, surprised in myself that I was agreeing. “I suppose that’s true.”

“Good. Since you’ve got everything under control.” Trever rose up to his feet. “I’ve got to find myself a bed. We’ll be getting up early.”

“Better to just not sleep.” Kole muttered.

“Well, you should still get to it at some point tonight. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” I replied.

Trever went off to find an empty room to stay in while I stayed on the couch and looked across the table at Kole.

“What?” He asked like he was annoyed by my stare. “So, how’d everyone take the boring news? Is it still making you dizzy?”

I took a long breath when I thought about everything that was talked about during his absence. “It’s still a little unbelievable. At least, it is for me.”

He laughed. “Yeah, tales of destiny and all of that other nonsense people believe in.”

“You don’t?”

He lost all signs of joy from his laugh and his voice became low as he looked down at the floor in front of him. “Sometimes I wish I didn’t. They don’t all get to end in happily ever after. Fate can be quite cruel to some.”

“You’re not talking about you. You seem to enjoy your life from what I’ve seen.”

He laughed slightly and looked up. “Only because I’ve always had to make it that way. Everyone has a purpose and mine came much sooner than I’d like.”

My eyes narrowed and yet I became intrigued with questions. “What do you mean?”

“The reason I’m really here. Not for the last trip before retirement, no way. I won’t ever be able to see that. My life’s journey ends on this trip.”

“What?” I was in disbelief to the idea. I thought maybe he was just joking but Kole never cracked a smile.

“It’s true I’m afraid. I’m not going to make it to Randal. I won’t even lay eyes on the wall. I’m going to die the first night we spend in your country.”

“How do you know this?”

“I already told you. It’s my purpose. It’s why I’m here. To protect what I came for. My destiny was never happy. I was basically born to die so I had to make the best out of what life I was going to have. I’m doing what Bryce commissioned me to do.”

I didn’t know what to say so I just sat still and expressionless.

“I know.” Kole said, finally smiling again. “But I’m not trying to make you believe me and I don’t care if you do.”

“It can’t be true. What about Ellie? You just left her, knowing what was going to happen?”

I might have asked too much of a sensitive question when he didn’t answer right off but he eventually did. “She knows. I told her what was happening. I tried to change things because of her but it can’t be done. What’s written cannot be changed. She was never supposed to be part of my life but she is and I still have to go through with my destiny.”

“No. There has to be away around this.”

“There isn’t but nice try. Jay cannot heal me because of my gift, remember? Her healing power won’t work on me so it’s going to happen. I don’t have a choice and no one can stop it. I’ve already done my part in bringing peace and this is what I have to do next.”

“But what about your shield? You must have that back by now.”

“I do but it still won’t matter. It can be penetrated by one thing and they know about it.”

“I remember Trever stabbing you through the hand at the lodge. Is that all it takes?”

Kole laughed. “No, it had his blood on it. Only that can pass my shield because it’s what I’m supposed to be protecting but if it reaches my bloodstream, I’m shut down until it leaves completely.”

“How do they have his blood?”

“They don’t.” He glanced around the room being very curious but I figured it out on my own.

“Bryce’s blood? They kept it after all these years?”

“Your father had it poured into the molten metal used to make thousands of arrowheads. He knew it was important so he drained every drop.”

I felt this weird feeling like my chest had just sunk when he told me that. “I’d never thought I’d see myself turn against him but that’s just plain evil.”

“When someone wants something bad enough, they’ll do anything. Bryce was tortured to give up Jay but he would have rather died and so he did and your father got desperate.”

“You wouldn’t have any idea about what happened to him, would you?”

“No. Sorry. We weren’t involved at all. We heard he died in southern Seni in some kind of civil raid but I won’t lie when I say Trever sighed in relief but the journal your father had someone steal for him was lost.”

“And then found.”

“Eventually. Trever’s been chewing his fingers to the bone trying to find its location over the years. He was always worried that someone found it and was able to decode it. That would have been bad for all of us. Bryce was a brilliant man but he made one mistake.”

“What?”

“He named her. As it is, the world knows of Jay but to know of her secret—that would have been a price to be paid for anyone. These days most only care about money. That’s why your father tried to do it secretively. If others knew, it’d be a race against time.”

“I’m glad he didn’t then.”

Kole laughed. “You should be. Could you imagine what it would have been like?”

“We don’t have to go back to that. I’d be a worse person today if that happened.”

“You mean from fucking your sister?”

He said it jokingly of course but I still took offense to it. “No! I meant by the way I’d treat others like I’d think it would be okay to even live in that situation.”

“Yeah. I guess you would have turned out a little twisted. You’d probably never marry or have children. You’d die alone with a vile outlook on the world and nothing to look forward to.”

“There’s something to look forward to in dying?”

“Just seeing those you lost again.”

“Are you looking forward to it?”

“I don’t have a choice but no. No one is waiting for me.”

I sat across from him and didn’t know what else to say. After hearing about my own destiny, another having one seemed believable enough but I knew what this would do to Jaylyn. Kole’s death would mean her own out of Ellie’s life. She’d never be able to see her.

“You can’t tell anyone about what’s going to happen to me. No one must know.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

Kole got a slight smile on his face as he leaned back more comfortably to relax. “I feel better telling someone. Even if it’s you. I’ve had to keep it to myself for a long time. Too long really.”

“I couldn’t imagine.”

“And I wouldn’t want you to. It’s not something I’d wish on anyone, Troy. Even you.”

“I know what this will do to Jaylyn and you do too. She won’t be able to go on knowing she lost both you and Ellie so quickly.”

“Maybe.”

“You know it’s true.”

“What do you want from me, Troy? Just come out and say it.”

“Let us raise her. For Jaylyn’s sake.”

He paused for a moment and seemed surprised by my offer. “You’d really be willing to do that when you’re supposed to be having one of your own?”

“It’s Ellie. That’s not a question.”

BOOK: Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5)
13.02Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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