Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (54 page)

Adam shook his head. “Syney, it’s not that either.” He took a deep breath and looked her right in the eyes. “You want to kill Mellisandrianna.”

He watched as her face dropped all emotions, and her violet eyes turned to stone. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, her voice hard as stone.

“Right there. That’s what I’m worried about. It takes a certain kind of person to kill someone, whether he or she deserves it or not. And you’re not that person.”

She looked away and wrung her hands but stayed silent.

Adam should have dropped it, he knew, but this was his only in. “Doing this will change you, and I don’t want that for you. There has to be another way.”

“And what if there isn’t?” She looked back at him. “Will you still be here for me?”

“Syney, there are always other options.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

He shook his head in frustration, his anger rising. “Who are you? Oh, my God! Do you even listen to yourself talk anymore? You can’t even entertain the idea that you
aren’t
going to do this! You can’t deal with the consequences before you pull the trigger!”

“Why are so damn mad about this?” She glanced around to see whether anyone was watching, but she and Adam hadn’t gained any attention. “Not even a month ago, I had to practically nail you down to the council-meeting table so you wouldn’t rip Grass’s head off. How is that any different?”

“You are not that person,” he said slowly. “You are different. You are everything that is good and caring in this messed-up world. I’m not. Do you really think my hands are clean? I’ve lied and stolen, and yeah, I’ve killed people. And I if I weren’t so concerned with your seeing that side of me, I would have torn Grass to pieces weeks ago.” He hadn’t meant to go that far, but once he started, the anger poured out of him. He needed to calm down and opted for some deep breaths. It didn’t do the trick entirely, but he was calm enough to continue. “This angry, vengeful person who keeps practicing deadly magic isn’t you, and it’s a dangerous path to go down.”

Syney was quiet for a while, staring at her hands. Adam wondered whether he had gone too far. Maybe it would have been better to keep his mouth shut and be there for her, no matter what. Finally she looked up at him, her face still hard. “I guess I’m not the girl you fell in love with then, because this is who I am. I’m pissed off, and I’m going to kill her before she kills me.” She pulled his hand into hers and placed something in it. “I’m sorry I can’t be an innocent girl for you.” With that she walked away. More like marched, he thought, watching her cross the large room, ignoring everyone around her, including Gabe, who gave her an inquisitive look as she passed.

Adam looked at his palm, where the red ring he had given Syney—Faye’s ring, he now knew—rested. He had gone too far, and now she was gone. He took a deep breath to stop the panic that rose in his chest, but it didn’t help.

“Is everything OK?”

He looked up at Gabe and all of his anger pushed forward onto his father. This was all Gabe’s fault. He had started all of this. Gabe had brought him here and handed him to Syney. Adam stood. “No, nothing is OK. You play with people’s lives and don’t care about the consequences.”

“Are we back to this again?” Gabe asked with a little smirk.

“We never left it! You’re training Syney to be a killer to further your own agenda. You’re breaking her, and you don’t care,” Adam spat before storming off in the opposite direction from Syney.

He debated going straight to their room and packing up his stuff but stopped himself. He wasn’t ready to pack up this part of his life yet, whether or not Syney wanted him to. But what else could he do? Sit in the room and sulk? No, he needed to vent his anger or maybe wallow a little.

A short while later, Leaf didn’t seem too surprised to see Adam at the door of his new house and greeted him with a smile and a very manly hug. “You look like hell.”

“I feel like hell,” Adam said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. He looked around. “So this is your new house, huh?”

“Yes it is,” Leaf said with a triumphant smile. “Now tell me why you’re here the night before your joining.”

“I’m pretty sure I just screwed things up with Syney permanently.”

Leaf raised his eyebrows. “I doubt that.”

“That’s usually what it means when they hand you the ring back, right?”

He opened his mouth to speak but closed it and walked over to a table, where he picked up a box. “Come on,” he said, hoisting the box onto his shoulder. He led the way out of the house and to a ladder propped against it. Once they were on the roof, Leaf placed the box between two wooden chairs and sat down.

Adam took the other seat and looked out over the horizon. They were facing away from the Village, over the wall and toward the direction of the neutral territories. There was a calmness to the dark land, the only light coming from a distance away, probably the Great Lake.

“Only two advantages of a wall town: the view and the brew.” Leaf opened the box and handed Adam a brown bottle.

Adam popped the top and took a long draw on the beer. It had been a while since he’d had one, but it slid down easily. He leaned back in the chair and propped his feet on the ledge in front of him. This was what he needed. He didn’t talk until he was three bottles down and enjoying a good buzz. And once he started talking, he couldn’t stop. He told Leaf everything—from the Ancient One to Syney’s parentage. He ended on their abrupt breakup just as he killed a fourth bottle.

Leaf stayed quiet and listened, only interjecting once to ask where they had sent the pregnant Cass. “So,” he said, swallowing some beer, “you actually are a royal.”

Adam laughed. “Yes. Ironic, right?”

He nodded. “Pretty amusing. And don’t take offense to the fact that I really don’t like your father.”

“It’s OK. I don’t either.” They clinked their bottles in agreement. Adam looked over at him after a period of silence. “No words of wisdom about Syney?”

Leaf cocked his eyebrow and slowly shook his head. “Not sure you need any.”

“Really? You did hear the part where we broke up, right?”

He laughed and sat back in his chair. “I heard the part where you had a fight. If you’ve really been alive for more than a hundred years, I’m pretty sure you know how to deal with an angry woman.”

“We’ve had fights before. This feels more final.”

“Syney is impulsive.”

Adam had to agree with that. She usually showed her naïveté through that impulsiveness, one of the things he loved so much about her.

“I wish you guys had told me all of this earlier,” Leaf said, his seriousness showing for the first time that night.

“Syney didn’t want to, for your own good.”

“I could have helped more.”

“No. Trust me—you did what you could. The more anyone knows, the harder Mellisandrianna seems to come after them.” He grimaced, remembering his attack a couple of months prior.

“The Ancient One…” Leaf said, letting his voice drift off. “It sounds so familiar, but I can’t place it.”

“The soon-to-be dead Ancient One.”

“It really bothers you that Syney’s willing to do this, doesn’t it?” Leaf asked.

“It doesn’t bother you?”

He shrugged his large shoulders. “Seems more like self-defense.”

Adam shook his head. “That’s how she sees it, but it’s more than that. It’s not killing someone on a battlefield. What she wants to do is more intimate. I just don’t think…she’ll still be Syney afterward.”

“Maybe, but it’s her decision to make.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be making me feel better? ‘Cause you’re not,” Adam said, grabbing another bottle.

“You didn’t come here for that.”

He rolled his eyes. “Then what did I come here for?”

“You wanted me to tell you it’s OK for you to leave tonight. To disappear again, reinvent yourself.”

Adam stared at him. Was that what he wanted? Approval to erase the past year? The real question was whether that was actually what he wanted to do. Disappearing was what he did best. It was the one thing Gabe had taught him
well. He’d never thought twice about packing a bag and heading out into the shadows. But he’d also never cared about anyone the way he did about Syney or Noelle or Leaf or Helen. He had put down roots and made real connections. Leaving wouldn’t be so easy this time. “It’s not OK, is it?”

Leaf shook his head. “Whatever she decides to do, she’s going to need you.”

“I’m tired of being the guy who’s just there to be supportive,” Adam said with a sigh of frustration.

“Then don’t be.”

“You just said that’s my role.”

“No, I said she’s going to need you. That doesn’t mean that’s the only thing you can do. She’s been practicing her powers lately with Gabe, right?” He continued when Adam nodded. “Why not you?”

“Because I disagree with her intent.”

“Just because you disagree doesn’t mean you step back. The perfect person for her to practice with is the one who sees the good and the bad. You really think Gabe is telling her what’s going to happen once she uses these magics to kill someone? She needs a voice of reason in the room. Someone to calm her anger.”

“Be supportive while voicing my concerns,” Adam said softly, nearly kicking himself for not seeing this himself. He shook his head. “I’m an idiot.”

“Not all the time,” Leaf said, taking a swig of beer. “I do agree that she’s in dangerous territory, but the way I see it, your main problem is yourself. Could you still love Syney if she killed someone?”

Adam dropped his head back and stared up at the stars. That had been Syney’s question as well, and he still didn’t have an answer. He had seen people change after choosing that lifestyle, become bitter. If Syney changed for the worse, she wouldn’t be his Syney anymore. “I don’t know,” he finally settled on.

“That’s what you have to figure out.”

Adam rolled his head to look over at him. “What about you? What if it were Helen?”

Leaf looked out over the wall, a contemplative look on his face. “I don’t know. But I’d never find out if I left before it even happened.”

Adam smiled. “Once I become king, the first thing I’ll do is appoint you as my chief advisor.”

“Thank you, but I’ll have to decline.” He held up his hands. “I haven’t had this many calluses since I was kid, and I love them. Besides, I finally moved out of my mother’s house a few weeks ago and into my own house, and it has a view. The palace isn’t for me.”

“If you ever change your mind, let me know.”

Leaf grabbed another bottle. “Never. So you feel better?” He gave Adam a smirk.

“Mostly. Thank you.” He stared at the distant lights. He bit his tongue for a moment as a thought entered his mind. He didn’t want to bring up the subject, but since Leaf was magically solving all his problems tonight, why not add another to the mix? “So, um, you’re friends with Hunter, right?”

Leaf stiffened. “Yes.”

Adam nodded. “He’s a hard shadow to live in.”

After a moment Leaf shook his head. “You’re not living in Hunter’s shadow.”

“Come on. They’re literally soul mates.”

“Did Syney tell you that?”

“No, a nosy Psyche, but it’s still true.” He paused. “If I stay, I’m going to be in even more over my head than I am now. We’ll be joined. And if Syney kills Mellisandrianna, then the troops will come home, including Hunter. What will happen then?”

“First, you said yourself, you’ll be joined. It’s a sacred bond, one Hunter won’t mess with. Second, he won’t be anywhere near the palace. The only way he’ll go there is if he asks for Syney’s detail again, and he won’t once he knows she’s joined. Hunter is a good guy, an honorable man.”

“He’s also in love with Syney, and trust me, that’s not a love you want to give up on easily.”

“Than why are you contemplating it?” Leaf asked, turning the tables.

Why was he? The thought sobered him up. There was no way he could give up on Syney, no matter what she decided to do. She told him once that she was all in, and he was too. He threw Leaf a smile. “Thank you.”

Leaf toasted him with his beer bottle. “You’re welcome,” he said, as a noise behind them drew their attention.

Helen climbed the last rung of the ladder and smiled at them. “Hey, you two. Adam, didn’t expect you here.”

They both stood, and Adam walked over to her, a little unsteady. “Just needed some company. I thought you were doing that thingy with Syney?”

“Oh, we did. She was…a little upset, though. Said she needed to be alone for a while.” Helen eyed him. “She said you two were finished.”

Adam looked at Leaf. “Probably just needed time to think clearly. Did she say where she was going?”

“No, but I assume her room.”

He nodded and shook Leaf’s hand before heading back to the palace. He needed to make things right. And for the first time in a very long time, he needed to settle down.

Syney stopped in front of Helen’s door and took a couple of deep breaths to settle herself. What if Adam was right? What if she was changing?
Then so be it!
the emotional part of her brain yelled. The bitch needed to die, and Syney didn’t want anyone to do it but herself. She deserved the satisfaction after everything Mellisandrianna had done to her. Why couldn’t she get a little payback? Her last breath was jagged as tears filled her eyes. Still, she didn’t want to do any of this without Adam. She shouldn’t have given back the ring; that was stupid. But his words had hurt, and it had been the only thing she could think to do at the moment, unfair as it was. Now she had to live with it.