"Wait." Her smile faded. "What are they going to say when they see her? They'll know someone performed spells on her."
Raine shook his head. "It'll be all right. Let them come up with their own reasons. The Vilori were natural healers, just as your line were natural persuaders. They'll probably just attribute it to that."
Cass eyed him. "What should we do with this stuff?"
"I'll take it—the book too. The next time you break into the library, I'll bring it so you can put it back."
"I want to keep it."
"It's too dangerous for you to have. If you want to look through it, we'll meet in the library tomorrow night. OK?"
She nodded and handed everything to him. They walked into the other room and stopped when Hunter spoke.
"Thank you," he said softly, still staring into the other room.
"You're welcome." Cass led the way out of the room. She turned just as Raine passed something to the Vampire. It looked like a book, but she couldn't tell. The Vampire quickly grabbed it and slid it into his pant's pocket. She frowned and walked back to her room. Something definitely was going on, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what it was.
Syney
Syney looked around the room she was in. It looked like the queen's throne room, but something was different. She was pretty sure she wasn't actually here. The last thing she remembered was being attacked in her room. She looked down at her stomach—not a scratch. She was also out of the ball gown and in her usual leather pants and wool sweater. She sighed. Great, she thought. I'm either dead or dreaming. She kind of hoped for the dreaming, although her life at the moment wasn't the greatest. She looked around the room. She had been here many times, but something nagged at her. She looked at the walls and realized that all of the banners were now purple. The whole room was decked out in purple. It seemed odd but still kind of right.
"Hello."
She spun around and looked at the woman behind her. She didn't look too much older than Syney and not too dissimilar either. She had dark hair that was curled and set just above her neck. She wore a purple gold-laced gown and what looked like Syney's purple amulet.
"Hi," Syney said unsurely. This was all a bit odd.
"I'm Amelia."
"Syney."
She smiled and gestured her over. "I know. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Syney joined Amelia as she sat down on one of the steps that led to the throne. "You're a Vilori, right? The last queen?"
She nodded, her violet eyes shining. "And you are the lost Vilori."
"Right. Guess news travels, even to the afterworld," Syney said with a nervous laugh, when a thought occurred to her. "Oh, god. I'm dead aren't I?"
Amelia laughed. "No, you're still alive, and yes, I'm really here. I needed to see you. I saw this as an opening."
"You wanted to see me?" Syney asked.
Amelia just smiled and stared at her.
Syney slowly understood, and tears sprung to her eyes. "Mom?"
Amelia started to tear up as well. "I'm so sorry that I sent you away. But I knew it was for the best."
Syney jumped up and walked a few feet away. "You sent me away?"
"I had to."
"What are you talking about?" Syney demanded. "Why would you have to send away your daughter? Who no one knows you had, by the way."
Amelia rolled her eyes. "So much like your father."
"And who exactly is Daddy dearest?"
"I can't tell you, but just know that he loved you as much as I did. Neither of us wanted to let you go, but they would have killed you like they did me."
Syney took a breath to calm down. "The Daemons?"
Amelia looked away. "We don't have much time, so listen. Don't trust anyone except Hunter. Everyone has a motive, and you need to keep yourself safe. And stay away from Mellisandrianna. Stay out of her sight. She is dangerous and has secrets that can destroy her."
"Then I need to find out what they are. Do you know?"
Amelia looked pained for a moment. "That's it. I have to go." She rushed over to Syney and embraced her. "I love you." She looked at her. "You are everything I could have hoped for."
She seemed to dissolve right then and there. Syney cried out for her, but the entire room started to dissolve.
Syney's eyes fluttered open, and she groaned as pain shot through her body. She looked up and into Gabe's golden eyes. "Do I look as good as I feel?"
"You looked worse an hour ago," he said with a smile. "But you never could be anything but gorgeous."
"You flatter me," she grumbled, and tried to sit up.
"Stay down," he said, pushing her gently. "You almost died. That deserves some rest."
"Did you..."
"No, not this time. It was...magic."
"Huh." She rolled her head to the side and saw a large glass window that looked out to the next room. Hunter stood there watching her. She smiled, and he quickly turned away.
"He's scared shitless. Blames himself. He doesn't know how to handle it."
Syney smiled at Gabe. "It's nice having a mindreading Vampire around."
He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Get some more sleep. It'll help the healing."
"I don't think I can," she said. A moment later she heard Gabe's voice in her head telling her to sleep, and she stifled a yawn. "No fair," she said groggily.
"You're welcome."
"Where's your shirt?" she managed before she fell asleep. She could have sworn she heard him laugh, but it might have been a dream.
Mellisandrianna
The queen swept into the infirmary with Grass on her heels. She looked around at the nearly empty room; only Syney's wolf and the Vampire were there. She sneered at both of them. A few green-clad doctors rushed out of the surgery bay to greet her. They scurried around, giving her updates on Syney. She had been stable the night before, but unconscious and not getting any better, and then that morning, when they returned, she was almost totally healed. They chalked it up to the Viloris' natural healing ability. The queen narrowed her eyes at them. The healing was always toward another person; they never had been able to heal themselves.
"You left?" she asked as cold as ice.
The head doctor looked at her and stammered that one of them had mentioned needing sleep and that it had sounded good and right at the time.
Mellisandrianna glanced over at the Vampire. He met her gaze and held it longer than most would, but he eventually looked away. She knew he'd had something to do with this; it had Vampire written all over it. She hated Vampires, even when they had been a staple in the palace. They were a nuisance and nothing more. "Leave," she said firmly.
"Um, me?" the doctor asked.
"Everyone. I'd like some time alone with Syney. Has she awakened yet?"
"Only for a moment. I put her back to sleep," the Vampire said smoothly.
"Hm. Now go."
The Vampire and the doctor—all of the doctors—did as she asked, but Hunter looked at her, not moving.
"Commander Leaf is outside. He will update you on the status of Syney's protection. I suggest you go speak with him," Mellisandrianna said, walking toward the swinging door that led to where Syney was.
"I shouldn't leave, Your Majesty," Hunter said quietly.
Grass scoffed. "Are you really disobeying an order from your queen?"
Mellisandrianna turned her icy stare on Hunter. After a moment he relented and walked out. She smiled at her victory and walked over to Syney's side. She looked much better than the reports had said. She wondered who had helped the healing along. She should have the secured section of the library checked to make sure it was still locked. She pulled the blanket down and examined Syney's midsection. Several scars lined her pale skin. The largest was on her right side. It was thicker and darker than the rest, probably from the knife moving after it had been stabbed in. That was the perfect place. She looked to Grass, who handed her a clear container filled with a green honey-like substance. She poure
d some of it onto her index finger and began to trace a symbol on the spot she had chosen. As she did she chanted some words. Once she finished, it shone blue for a moment before disappearing, as if nothing had been there at all. She handed the container back to Grass, who slipped it into his pocket. At that moment Syney moaned, and her eyes fluttered open. Mellisandrianna pulled the sheet back up to cover her quickly.
"Hello. You gave everyone quite a scare," the queen said with a smile.
Syney took a moment before speaking. "I'll be sure not to raise such a ruckus next time I get attacked."
"I'm sure that won't happen again," Mellisandrianna said. "We had an emergency council meeting this morning. Security will be tripled. We also are launching an investigation into who attacked you. We will find who was responsible." She looked over as Leaf filed into the room with Hunter, Fern, and Reed. "Right on time. I want you to feel safe, so we've added to your protection detail. I want a Protector on you at all times. Hunter will stay as your lead, of course, but you also will have Reed and Fern. I wanted a woman to do the overnight. Fern will be on duty in your room as you sleep."
Syney swallowed. "OK."
"Good. Now all you have to think about is getting better."
Syney grimaced, and her hand flew to her right side.
"Are you all right?"
Syney nodded. "Just some pain."
Mellisandrianna smiled. "It will pass." She looked to the guardians. "Take care of her—very good care." She turned and left the room. Everything had been a success. Now all she had to do was sit and watch Syney destroy herself.
Gabe
Gabe opened the small blue book. It didn't take him long to find the spell he needed and even less time to grab everything he needed to perform it. It was a relatively simple spell but one that took a lot of concentration. He would have preferred that a Magic User do it, but that wasn't a possibility. He couldn't do it here; he had to go to the place where it had been originally cast in order to undo it. But it wasn't too far—only a day's run for him. He stopped in to see Syney before he left. Princess Cass had worked wonders on her. She looked amazing and only complained about one spot that still hurt. She didn't understand why he had to leave, but he promised to come right back.
"I'm not sure Mellisandrianna will let you back in," Syney said. She was in another room now, one filled with beds. She was sitting up, eating.
"She won't even know I'm gone. I'm fast, remember?"
Syney laughed and then grimaced as she grabbed her right side. "Ouch."
"Did the doctors look at that?"
She nodded. "They can't find anything wrong. It's probably just something to do with the scar. It'll go away. And you'd better be fast." She paused. "You saved my life again, you know."
"All I did was carry you."
"Right. But it still helped."
He smiled at her and ran a hand down her face. "I'm a sucker for a pretty face."
Syney laughed again. "You'd better get going. Be back by tomorrow."
"I will," he promised. He knew he should be.
It didn't take him as long as he'd thought. Once he was outside of the Village, it only took him a few hours to cross into neutral territory. The lands of the Realm used to be flourishing and widespread, with large cities that anyone could come and stay in. Now it was full of abandoned cities and lands. He followed the Great Lake through the neutral territory and into the old Daemon lands. He stopped running and took in all of the crumbled houses and walls. The Daemon territory once rivaled the Magic User Village in vastness and its sheer number of people. The sight of everything ruined and on the ground broke his heart a little. He walked toward the center of the old city but was forced to stop at the beginning of a gaping hole in the ground. It had to be at least a hundred feet across and even deeper. He looked over the edge but couldn't see anything in the deep, vast blackness. But he could hear them below. Their heartbeats were there—but slow—and their breathing was deep. He pulled out the small blue book and combined the ingredients as needed. He held his hands over the mixture in a clear glass jar and repeated the words in the book. "Vigilemus dormiens Daemones. Venit et petere tua iure locum in terris." He felt the magic pull on his life force and the mixture flashed black. He picked up the jar and threw it into the hole. He heard it smash somewhere, and a vortex of black wind swept up out of the hole. Gabe covered his eyes for a moment as a bright white flash lit up the lands. When he brought his hands down, hundreds of people—or to be more specific, Daemons—surrounded him. He smiled. He had done it.
It didn't take him long to find the one Daemon he needed. His smile broadened at the sight of his old friend. "Hadrian!"
The older man smiled and walked up to Gabe, extending his hand. "Gabriel." He was handsome and tall, with dark hair cut short and even darker eyes. His smile fell. "How long?"
Gabe looked at him sadly. "A hundred and eighteen years."
Hadrian's face turned grave. "That long?" He turned away and spat out a curse. "How many has she gone through?"
"At least two since Lassinadrianna."
Hadrian shook his head. "We have to stop her."
"There's more." He paused. "It's Syney. She didn't die with Amelia."
He shook his head. "No. That's not possible."
"Amelia must have done something. Sent her away, through time. I don't know. But she's alive now and in the Village."
Hadrian's dark eyes flashed. "Then we have to do something about that."
"I'm working on it. Make sure everyone stays low. We don't need anyone knowing you're all back...yet. I have to return to the Village."
Hadrian grabbed Gabe's arms. "It is good to see you, old friend."
"And you. We'll make things right. I promise."
Hadrian gave a nod and turned to his people.
Gabe quickly walked out of the crowd then picked up speed once he was back in neutral territory. He made it back to the Village the next day, as he had promised.
Syney
It took three days before the doctors finally let Syney leave the infirmary. Shortly after her arrival, they had moved her to a larger room in the infirmary that Mellisandrianna had arranged. Syney preferred this room, if only because the bed tilted so she easily could sit up and talk to whoever visited, and visit they did. Noelle and Helen came by every day. Helen even continued their lessons, for which Syney was grateful, if only for the distraction. Sitting in a bed and being yelled at every time she tried to leave became stressful after a while. She had a Protector on her at all times now. Reed wasn't so bad. He was young but very eager. After one day of his standing guard, literally at attention, Syney finally had talked him into playing cards with her. She taught him how to play Palace, a card game she and Jessie used to play a lot. He finally started to relax after that and even started to joke around. Fern, on the other hand, refused to even speak to Syney, beyond calling her "Princess" and asking if she needed anything. Luckily, most of the time that she was there, Syney was asleep. Even with as cold as Fern was, Hunter was the coldest of all of them. When he was on duty, he sulked by the window or the door. He never came within three feet of Syney, and conversation was completely nonexistent. Syney wasn't sure how she felt about it or him. Since her attack, every time she woke up there had been someone by her side, even Mellisandrianna, but none of them had been the only person she wanted there—Hunter.
Both Hunter and Reed escorted her out of the infirmary. The doctors had wanted her to ride in a wheelchair, but Syney just stared at them and shook her head. She was feeling almost 100 percent herself. There was only one nagging pain on her right side, but it was the largest scar she had, so she just figured some time would make it go away. No one was quite sure how she had healed so quickly, but Syney shrugged it off. There were a lot of things she had done—like healing Hunter and producing purple lightning—that didn't make sense to her, so why dwell on them?
They all walked in silence the entire way to Syney's room. They passed the dining hall and the Lycin gy
m. Both were full, with noise pouring out of them. Syney debated grabbing some food but opted not to. She didn't want all of the stares and whispering. But once she got to her room, she stopped and stared at the door. She didn't think this would be that hard, but this was her room, her sanctuary. The one place in the palace that was just hers for her to be herself. And now it was tainted. They still hadn't found who had attacked her, but Leaf did tell her that it was a male Magic User. That didn't make her feel any safer—just the opposite actually.
"Noelle cleaned it all. Looks just as you had left it," Hunter said softly.
Syney nodded but still continued to stare at the large wooden door. She couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't safe, even with two wolves standing behind her. She wasn't safe because she couldn't do anything herself. Rose had it right. If she couldn't protect herself, she would always be at risk. She took a deep breath, turned back, and headed down the hall.
"Princess, where are you going?" Reed asked, falling into step beside her.
"I have to do something," she said.
The Lycin gym was large, the walls and floors all padded. There were at least thirty Guards there, all practicing hand-to-hand combat. They were being closely watched by three trainers and Leaf, all of whom weaved their way through the pairs, stopping them every once in a while to give a pointer or correct their form. When Leaf looked over and saw Syney, Hunter, and Reed at the door, he yelled for the rest to stand at attention. He walked over to the trio and gave Syney a short bow. "Princess, how are you feeling?"
Syney smiled at him. She had seen Leaf several times since she had been attacked. He even had brought some flowers and updates on the search for her attacker. "Good, actually."
"I'm glad. If there's anything you need, please let me know."
"Actually there is something." She glanced around at all of the Guards, who stood at attention. None of them were looking over at her. "I, um, was wondering if you could take on another student."
Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy Page 25