Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2

by Jennifer Collins

  “I got it,” he said, finally looking at Adam and Syney. The two were staring at him with expressions of bewilderment and horror. “What?”

  “You just…you just killed him,” Adam stammered.

  “It’s what had to be done,” Gabe said, looking away.

  “You didn’t even know who it was.”

  “Would it have mattered?” Gabe said, gesturing to the bodies on the floor. “How exactly were we going to explain this without getting tossed in jail and sentenced to death?”

  “That doesn’t make it right,” Adam said.

  Syney placed a firm hand on Adam’s arm. Her sobs and even her tears had ceased. “Stop. He’s right.”

  Adam shook his head and stared at her. Gabe watched as Adam moved slightly away from her.

  “Thank you,” Syney told Gabe.

  He nodded in understanding. It wasn’t just that he had saved her yet again, but the fact that it was Grass at the receiving end made it more than a little deserved. “What happened?” he asked, realizing Syney might be calm enough to answer.

  “Grass got us here. He knocked us both out. When I woke up, Mellisandrianna wanted to take over my body, but she said it had to be voluntary. That’s when she went after Reed,” she said, a hitch in her breath at the end.

  The three lapsed into silence. Syney sat against the bed, staring at her hands as Adam stood and walked to the window. They weren’t focusing, Gabe thought. All they needed to do was look at the big picture. Mellisandrianna was dead. That was all that mattered. Gabe looked at Reed and felt something ache deep down inside. He hadn’t felt like this since Raine had been executed. Too many are dying. But it’s over now, he thought, walking over to Syney. He crouched in front of her. “I have a plan, but I need to know…”He paused to lift her chin so she was looking straight at him. “How did you kill her?”

  Syney’s eyes had hardened somehow; she suddenly looked much older than her nineteen years. “I took her life force,” she said in a calm, detached voice.

  The answer surprised Gabe, although it still worked for his plan. “OK. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll change her clothes so there’s no blood on them. We’ll burn the ones she’s wearing now. Adam, I need you to switch Syney’s knife with Grass’s sword.”

  “They’ll be able to tell the size difference from the wound,” Adam said. His face was almost gray in color.

  “They won’t look or question as long as we sell Ridge on our story.”

  “Which is what?”

  “Mellisandrianna called you both here because she was dying. It’s not far from the truth, and anyone would believe it. She died while you were here. Grass came in and accused you both of having done something to her. He’s always been overly protective of her, and everyone knows it. Then he went after Syney and Reed…”He paused, the name feeling heavy on his tongue. “He jumped in front of you, getting stabbed, and died, but not before snapping Grass’s neck.”

  “We can tell them I killed Grass,” Adam said.

  Gabe shook his head. “No, let Reed be the hero.”

  Syney looked down at Reed, and a few tears streaked down her cheeks. “Will this work?”

  “I think so.”

  “I think so too,” Adam said, walking over to Grass’s body. He roughly pulled the sword from the sheath on the dead Protector’s back.

  Gabe looked back at Syney. “This shouldn’t take long. Once we’re done, I’ll get Ridge. Are you up for this?”

  Syney glanced at him for a moment before looking over to the window. “I’m not ready for any of this. But none of us has a choice. I’m beginning to see that now.”

  He wanted to hug her, tell her everything was going to be OK now. But there wasn’t time. He quickly moved over to Mellisandrianna and pulled off her dress. He threw it into the burning fireplace before grabbing a nightgown out of her dresser and placing it on her. Once she was dressed, he put her into bed and tucked her under the covers. She looked peaceful in death, which seemed unfair. She should have suffered more for all the pain she’d caused.

  Gabe turned to Adam, who had completed his end of the plan and was hovering over by the window again. “I’m going to go. Are you both ready?”

  Adam nodded.

  He wasn’t too happy with the look of the young couple, but this needed to be done, and soon. Gabe headed out of the room and prayed that this plan would work. And it all hinged on a Lycin who was a wild card.

  They smelled the Shifters when they were still miles away, so they were prepared, two defensive lines along the Magic User border, when they approached. Hunter hadn’t seen so many Shifters in one place since the day they’d found Syney in the Human Realm. There were wild dogs, bears, reptiles, and monkeys, but it was a snake that was out front as they stopped just over the set of cliffs right on the border. When they started to change into their human forms, one of them—the one who had been a rather mean-looking black gorilla a few moments before—handed out tunics from a bag tied around its back.

  Hunter stared into the red eyes of the snake—now in human form—who stood only a foot away from him on the other side of the respected borderline. This whole thing made him tense. They hadn’t heard anything from Fern or any of the other wolves from the away party in nearly a week, and now a whole legion of Shifters was dangerously close to crossing over into Magic User lands.

  The snake held out his hand. “I’m Prince Weston, second son of King Lional, the fortieth Shifter king.”

  Hunter stared him in the eyes, not making a move to take the outstretched hand.

  Prince Weston withdrew his hand with a smile. “I’m here as representative of the Shifter Council. We’re requesting a temporary truce until we have a sit-down with Seated Queen Syney to establish diplomatic relations with the Magic Users and Lycins.”

  Several of the Lycins along the line snickered, but Hunter stood his ground, his arms crossed. The prince had mentioned Syney by name. She was only seated queen, not the one to take any sit-downs for diplomatic relations, which could only mean he knew her. She had mentioned something about working on a Shifter a while ago. Even so, the whole thing didn’t sit well with him.

  “There is one condition, however, that the Shifter Council is insisting upon and for good reason,” Weston continued. “We both must respect the borders and only cross as diplomatic parties.”

  Hunter’s heart sank. That didn’t come out of nowhere. They knew a Lycin party had been over the border.

  “I’m not sure how to take your silence—”

  “How am I supposed to trust you?” Hunter said, cutting him off.

  “Trusting us is the first step.”

  “Toward what?”

  Weston stared at him, his eyes showing genuine feelings. “Toward a peaceful end to this war.”

  Those words, coming from a Shifter, almost knocked Hunter off his feet. What the hell had Syney done to this kid?

  “I know you have no more authority other than running this camp,” Weston said. “But I expect you to send a message to the Village. Your head guard or Queen Syney would be the best to send it to. After that, I’ll come back here in a month’s time to find out an answer.”

  Hunter paused to think for a moment. This was the best result he could have asked for in regard to this mission, but it still unnerved him that it was the Shifters asking for this truce.

  “You’re still not convinced. I understand,” Weston said, motioning to the woman standing next to him. She stalked off to the cliffs. “It took me a long time to get the council to agree to this. This war has been going on for so long that it’s become second nature to all of us. I think some of the old-timers were scared to face a life without the certainty of war every morning when they woke up. But we’re the dawn of a new age.”

  The woman came back with a couple of other Shifters and a handful of people, their hands tied together and sacks over their heads. One of the Shifters dragged a small carriage.

  “Unfortunately I didn’t convince them
early enough to stop the attack on your people who were over the border.”

  Hunter shifted his gaze to those tied up. There were only eight of them. The away party had been thirteen. He looked toward the cart; it had to be carrying bodies. “You’re going to hold them until you get an answer?” He looked back to Weston. It as exactly what he expected a Shifter to do.

  Weston gave a little smile. “Someone once told me that at times you have to show what kind of person you are instead of just telling people. I could stand here all day and tell you I want peace for my family and me, but this is the only way you’re going to believe me.” He motioned to the Shifters next to him who pushed the captured and the cart over the border toward the wolves standing there. He stepped forward a few inches and stared right into Hunter’s eyes. “I want peace, and I’ll do just about anything to accomplish it. Pass that on.” He stepped back and motioned to the other Shifters, who all backed away and disappeared over the cliffs.

  It took Hunter a moment to move. That had to be the most un-Shifter-like thing he’d ever seen, but he believed everything out of Weston’s mouth. His mind went to Cass’s report of being kidnapped; she had said it was a snake. Maybe Weston wanting peace wasn’t so farfetched after all. There were a lot of things Hunter would do for Syney so they could be together.

  “Sir.”

  He looked at Cherry, a young male wolf who had become his second-in-command after Ridge had left for the Village and Fern had gone over the border.

  “What…should we do?” he asked.

  Hunter stared at him. What should they do? He could send one of the guards with the Shifters’ message, but all their reports had done almost nothing. Leaf was no longer head guard, and as much as he liked and trusted Ridge, he wasn’t sure how aggressive the wolf could be against the queen. No, he had to deliver the message himself. He could talk to Syney before giving the report, and she’d back him up in the council meeting. Between the two of them, the council had to be swayed. But there was no way he could leave his troops. He looked back to he cliffs just inside Shifter territory. He would have to bring the troops home without an official order to do so. He would either be punished or praised. “We’re going home,” he said, finally looking back at Cherry.

  He nodded, looking a little relieved. “What about the bodies?”

  Hunter looked back at the cart. All five bodies had been wrapped in cloth and tied. “Get some men together and gather wood. A lot of it. We’ll do the burial fires here. Lycins who die in battle should be burned, their ashes buried near where they fell.”

  Cherry nodded and headed into camp.

  Looking at the eight guards who had been part of the away party, Hunter motioned toward the camp. “Go. Get some food and water.”

  One of them stepped forward. “They fed us and gave us water.” He paused, looking over at the dead. “I’m sorry, sir.”

  Hunter shook his head. “You did nothing wrong.”

  “No, I mean, I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Hunter stared at him for a moment, not fully understanding. Who did he lose? Then it hit him. He looked at his left arm. His joining tattoo was gone. When had that happened? He looked back over to the dead. Fern was there, one of those neatly wrapped bodies, and he had felt nothing when she had died. That wasn’t the usual reaction of someone who was joined. Joining was a connection of two souls. He should feel more than just a sadness over her death. He went over to the bodies and looked at each one until he found Fern. Her neck had been broken, he could tell by the brusing lines along that area. She also had blood caked onto her light skin from cuts along her arms and legs. She had fought a good fight, he could tell. Beyond all of that she looked peaceful, more at ease than she had ever had in life. While he stared down at her, he felt a mixture of emotions. He never really wanted to see Fern die but the idea of seeing Syney again in the Village elicited more emotion out of him than seeing the body of his dead mate. He hated himself at that moment. He looked away from the dead and headed into camp to make arrangements for the burning and the trip home, his trip back to Syney and their future together.

  News of her mother’s death had been delivered by a Royal Guard. Adanna didn’t know what to think or do. This had been unexpected, even with her mother’s failing health. It’s always unexpected when your mentor and only confidant dies. She cried one tear before jumping up from her seat and marching to her mother’s chambers. She needed to see her.

  Several guards were carrying two bodies out on stretchers when she walked up to the room. She had heard that two Protectors had been killed in the room soon after her mother had died, but she hadn’t questioned it. Her mother always had told her that when she died there would be added carnage. She didn’t realize what she meant until right at that moment.

  Barging into the room, she grimaced at the smell of all the blood. “Where is she?” she demanded.

  Ridge gave her a small bow. “Princess, I’m so sorry.”

  Adanna looked from him to Syney, who sat on the chaise longue at the end of the bed with that Adam guy. She narrowed her blue eyes at her. “Why are you here?”

  Syney looked at her with the look of someone who had cried a whole day’s worth of tears. “I…I was here when…she died. She called for me…to give me her blessing as queen.”

  She tried her best not to roll her eyes at the lies being thrown at her. There was no way her mother would ever give her blessing to this stupid girl. She shook her head and looked over at the bed. There she was, beautiful even in death, her dark brown hair laying delicately on the pillow and her deeply lined face looking peaceful. “Leave.”

  “Princess?”

  Adanna looked at Ridge. “I want to be alone with my mother for a few moments. Leave.” She glanced at Syney. “You too.”

  The three of them left rather reluctantly. Once they were gone, Adanna slammed the door shut and leaned against it for a moment. Although she knew this day would come, it didn’t feel real. She just hoped she wasn’t too late.

  She found the neatly wrapped stone exactly where her mother had shown her, tucked away in the bottom dresser drawer under several silk scarves and went to lie next to her mother in bed. Mellisandrianna didn’t give away all her secrets to her middle daughter, but she did give her enough to know what to do when the time came. She laid the medium-size opal stone on her mother’s chest and placed her hand over it. After a moment it shone with a bright orange light that filled the room. Adanna wasn’t sure it was even working—other than the stone giving a nice light show, she didn’t feel anything.

  After a few moments, however, a deep burning inside her chest began. It stung and clawed at her pain receptor, but she kept quiet, as she knew Ridge was on the other side of the door. The pain became almost unbearable, and she felt as though she would pass out, when finally the stone glowed blue. A thick black smoke seeped out of every orifice on her mother’s face. This feels wrong, Adanna thought, letting go of the stone and stepping away from the bed. What had her mother gotten herself into?

  Once all the black smoke had come out of her body, Mellisandrianna seemed to shrivel a little, as though all the water in her body had been pulled out, and the smoke hovered over her. Adanna stepped back until she was against the wall, staring at the foreign smoke. Suddenly it shifted and swirled until the shape of a face pushed forward, a smile curling its lips.

  Adanna opened her mouth to scream but was nearly choked by the black smoke as it shoved its way into her mouth and invaded her body. A moment later she opened her eyes and looked around the room. She stretched her arms out and moved her jaw around. She took a deep breath and walked over to the full-length mirror on the other side of the room. She looked at her reflection and smiled. This was exactly what she wanted to happen, albeit not the exact way, but she could work with it. She always did.

  She ran her hands down the front of her dress as she admired herself. It felt good to be so young again. Sighing in contentment, she walked back to grab the stone from Mellisandriann
a’s chest. It had worked its magic once again. She wrapped it in the deep blue scarf she had found it in and tucked it inside her pocket. She had work to do and people to eliminate—Syney being her top priority. It took much more than a simple life-force stealing to kill the great Adaeve, and Syney had just proven that.

  Syney stood in front of her full-length mirror and brushed the same section of her long auburn hair for the tenth time as she stared blankly into the empty space in front of her. Adam wasn’t sure what was causing her funk, Reed’s death or Mellisandrianna’s. It was the latter that weighed the heaviest on his own heart, only because it had been at Syney’s hand. There were so many things he wished could have happened the day before, but there was no use dwelling on them. Now he had to deal with the consequences of what had happened. More importantly, he had to force Syney to deal with them.

  Adam walked over to stand behind Syney and gently took the brush out of her hand. She looked at his refection in the mirror and mustered what Adam assumed was supposed to be a smile. He took her hand, led her to the couch to their right, and sat her down. “Are you ready for this?” he asked, taking her hands in his.

  She nodded. “I just thought…I don’t know…that there would be, like, a weight lifted once she was gone. But I feel nothing.”

  “I think you’re still in shock.”

  She peered at him, tears clouding over her violet eyes. “Then I guess I’m not looking forward to the moment when it wears off.”

  Adam tucked her hair behind her ears and placed his hands on either side of her face. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. If anyone can get through this, it’s you.”

  “And you’ll be here, with me.”

  “There’s nowhere I’d rather be. I promise you.”