“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 wo
uldn’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.
“Of course. You probably would have noticed if she was gone.”
“What exactly did you do?” I asked. “Ask her how to have a baby without getting pregnant?”
Trever laughed and glanced towards Jaylyn. “Basically but made sure to stress how it was not for me and she agreed to help.”
“Though the news wasn’t actually as easy as I thought it’d be.” Jaylyn sighed.
“Well, what did you expect?” Trever asked. “That even Madam Carla could give life by saying so?”
“I was hoping.”
“That’s much more difficult for the time frame you wanted.”
“So, what happened?” Ruby asked. “What did she tell you?”
“She told me it was possible but risky. Jay would still need a part of herself to make it work.”
“Like giving up her goods?”
Trever laughed to Ruby’s humorous expression. “I don’t think we really need to fully discuss how it is a woman’s body works. She basically just needed one of her eggs.”
The men looked down at their plates to the steaming eggs they had already begun to eat and a stomach-churning expression grew on their faces.
“Thanks a lot.” Jaylyn said. “And they’re not anything like that.”
“No.” Trever agreed with a laugh. “They’re more like this.” He crumbled some of his bread and let a few crumbs drop on the table’s surface in front of him.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I was there when Ryon cut them out of her.”
“Ryon knew?”
I looked over at Jaylyn and she merely nodded. “I wanted it to be done and live and I didn’t want anyone else to find out.”
Ruby smiled and leaned forward, getting into the story. “Tell us how you did it!”
“Well, some of my eggs were harvested just in case our first attempt failed then one was transferred into the other woman and Kole, well, I don’t need to tell you how that worked out. You should know him by now. He requested to do it the fun way.”
Everyone shared in a quiet laugh.
“Then I basically spent the next couple of weeks waiting anxiously to see if it worked and it did.”
“I can’t believe we had no idea about this.” I said. “You think we would have noticed the odd behavior.”
“We did very well to hide it, even if it had to be from you. I’m sorry.”
“So, she was yours. I knew it.” Zayden said. “Is the woman who carried her still alive?”
“We couldn’t risk anyone knowing, what do you think?”
“Then she is dead.”
There was a pause and Jaylyn looked over at Trever. “It’s all right. Take as long as you need.”
Jaylyn took a deep breath and tried to hold back from crying. I’ve seen the expression before. “She’s the one that came to me that night. She was going to have the baby, my baby any day and she wanted to talk. We went somewhere private where she told me she couldn’t do it. She grew attached and she didn’t want to give it up. I couldn’t let that happen. That baby was mine. I might have been a little more subtle if she told me in a public place but we were all alone and consequently, she forgot who I was.”
“So, I’m guessing the killing went the same.” Ruby said.
Jaylyn looked over at Trever again as he was lifting his glass to his mouth. “Don’t look at me. I’m not doing it.”
Jaylyn sighed and looked back at us. “Actually, no. It was worse. I was so angry that she wanted to go back on her word that I made her pay. I took the baby from her womb while she was still alive and I left her there to die. She needed to think about where she went wrong.”
“Oh.” Ruby muttered. “Sorry I asked.”
“Like it really mattered. She was taken from me anyway.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Aleksander said. “You couldn’t have known.”
Jaylyn let out a laugh of frustration, agreeing.
“And at least you know she’s happy.” I said. “What more could you want then that?”
Jaylyn’s eyes became glassy but not enough to shed a tear. “How about her here where I can hold her again? Watch her grow into an image of myself. Losing a child is worse than losing someone else close to you. She wasn’t supposed to go before me. It’s not fair. You don’t know what it feels like.”
“But you can see her anytime you want.” Trever said. “You have that power. Find something that will draw her to you and you’ll always have it.”
“It wouldn’t be the same.”
“Perhaps better than cutting her out completely. She wants you to live happy and you know you won’t that way.”
“But what? I don’t know what would work.”
We looked around at each other, trying to come up with an idea and Troy was first to get up. “What about this?” He walked around the table to a sheet covering some furniture by the window and pulled it off in one clean motion, revealing a stunning grand piano that lied beneath.
“You play?” Ruby asked.
“Well, it’s not sitting here for no reason.”
Darius laughed quietly. “He has the girlie hands.”
Troy just rolled his eyes and started playing a slow melody. Jaylyn must have known it because she smiled and closed her eyes to just listen while mouthing silent words.
“Wait a second.” Trever interrupted, making Troy stop and look up. “Where have you heard that?”
“It’s the song Jaylyn sang to get Ellie to fall asleep the night she stayed with us.”
“Where did you hear it?”
Jaylyn shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess, I’ve just always known it. Why?”
“Father used to sing that song to you when you were a baby.”
“Oh. I guess I remembered.” She got up from the table and walked to Troy. “Play it again. I think you might be on to something.”
Troy started playing it again as Jaylyn sat to his left and laid her head on his shoulder while she started humming. A curious giggle filled the room from all angles.
Chapter 42
Jaylyn
The giggling started to fade and Ellie appeared on top of the piano with her chin resting on her hands and her feet crossed at the ankles up in the air. “I knew you’d find a way, mama! Miss me already?”
“I miss you every time you turn your back.”
“Well, then I won’t do that anymore!”
It was true. My mood seemed to be lightened from the last few minutes just by hearing Ellie’s own happiness. “It was actually Troy’s idea.”
Ellie got a big smile on her face and looked at him. “Oh, can you play it again? Please, oh, please?”
He laughed. “Of course I will.”
Ellie smiled again as she stayed where she was and he started playing again. She hummed along and I just watched her. I realized that I truly was happy and now that I could see her this way anytime I wanted, I started to feel better. It’d be better than not seeing her at all. I had to have known that all along.
Troy played through the song one time and Ellie clapped her hands together at the end. “I love that song! You play it as well as mama sings it!”
“Where’s your father? You didn’t come here alone, did you?”
“Don’t worry, mama. I can’t get lost. He always knows where I am and if I was in danger, he could get to me in a second.”
“Danger?” Everyone at the table was curious too. “What danger?”
She sat up and looked around. Troy and I looked at each other and Ellie moved herself in an instant. Everyone looked around for her as we got up from the piano and did the same. I found Ellie crouched down in the corner by the door.
I was still confused and tried to approach her. “Ellie? What danger?”
She looked up and I could tell sh
e was afraid of something. Then Ellie moved herself again and was standing at the other end of the table. “The Dark Ones.” She jerked her head to the right and screamed. “Daddy!”
In another instant, Ellie was wrapped up in Kole’s arms with her face hidden in his chest. “Shh, it’s okay, baby. They can’t reach you here.”
“Kole?” Trever wondered. “What’s going on?”
“Something you won’t have to worry about for a while.”
“Well, tell us anyway.” I said, worried by Ellie’s sudden frightened behavior. “Who are the Dark Ones?”
“It doesn’t concern you, Jay.”
“She’s afraid. I want to know why.”
Kole sighed and kept Ellie in his arms. “Who do you think they are? They’re all the bad people once from this world. A good portion killed by the ones sitting at this table.”
“But why is she so afraid of them?” Adele asked.
“They’ve been seeking full power over our world for centuries and they’ve been failing but now they have a new leader. They call her the Black Witch. Guess who? She left this world recently and has always been power hungry.”
“Arianna.”
“Yes. She changed their strategy and set her focus on Ellie.”
“What? Why?” I wondered, only starting to worry more.
“Did you tell them?”
“Yes.”
“Then I can tell you. She’s special. Nothing like anyone has ever seen. Ellie is a soul pure of heart who hasn’t been corrupted by war and is also of royal blood. This makes her greater than anyone. The Black Witch knows this and wants to use Ellie to get to those who resist. She’s the one that brought her here.”
“But how could she know?” Adele asked.
“Look at her. She looks so much like Jay that it’s scary and if she knew that then she figured out she was of royal blood because her fate was written to end only by the rightful person to take her place and that was Trever. She put it together easily but luckily she didn’t get to Ellie in time and that just makes her seek her powers more.”
Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5) Page 23