Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (11 page)

Adam gazed at the wolf, who stared back with narrowed eyes. “I don’t think he liked me very much before I brought you here.”

“Whatever.” Syney rolled her eyes and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “To be honest, I don’t like
him
very much.”

“I don’t either,” Adam whispered back.

“See? So in tune.”

“I agree.” He smiled. “We must be soul mates.”

Adam watched as Syney’s smile wavered, and she grabbed her mug. He had said something wrong; he just didn’t know what. That was the one thing he didn’t like about Syney. She was an emotional landmine. Over the past couple of weeks, there had been a few times when he had seen her retreat like this, and none of the things he had said seemed to add up to anything in particular. The other day he had spent a lot on a set of earrings that matched the purple-and-brown necklace she always wore, and she nearly threw them back at him. It was a little frustrating, but he didn’t want to push her.

She looked back at him; whatever had come over her was completely gone. “How about we get out of here?”

“I thought you loved it here.”

“I do. I just figured we could go somewhere…a little more private.” She proffered a small smile that set Adam’s entire body on fire.

Normally when a woman propositioned him, hesitation wouldn’t be his first thought. But here it was. He stared at her as she bit her lip but maintained eye contact. “You know, I think it might be best if we stay here.”

She gave him an odd look and placed her hand on his leg, dangerously close to his favorite body organ—in fact a little too close. “What’s the matter?”

He shook his head and tried to keep his breathing even. “Nothing.”

“That was, um, a proposition,” she said slowly.

“Yeah, I got that. I just…don’t want to.”

Syney leaned back with a nervous laugh. “Oh. You don’t want to sleep with me.”

“Not ever. I mean…just not tonight.” Adam grimaced and looked around. Several wolves gave them looks, obviously having overheard their conversation. “How about we do leave? And just go somewhere to talk.”

She nodded slowly and took his hand as he led them out of the booth and then the pub. “Come on. Let’s go to my room,” she said, once they entered the palace.

Adam stopped. “You sure that’s a good idea?”

Syney moved to stand in front of him and put her hands on her hips. “I’m not going to jump on you and force you to sleep with me. You want to talk, and my balcony is the most private place in the palace. Plus it’s really pretty”

Adam took a deep breath. He felt like a little girl, which was ridiculous. He needed to man up here. He nodded, and they headed to Syney’s room. Once they were on her balcony, sitting on the swinging chair, her leaning against him and holding his hand, he finally calmed down a little. You’d have thought he’d never been with a woman before. He shook his head as he realized he never had been with a woman like Syney. And he didn’t want to mess it up.

“So what’s so repulsive about me, huh?” she teased with a poke to his stomach.

Adam laughed and groaned at the same time. “It’s not you. Well, it is you.” He took a breath. “I’ve been with many women, but this feels different. And I want to wait for a special night.” He cringed at his own words.

Syney sighed. “Thank you for being honest,” she said, sitting up and facing him. “I don’t get much honesty.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I like the idea of waiting. So stop being embarrassed by it.”

“I’ll try. It just isn’t like me.” He laughed and shook his head again. “You’re doing something to my head.”

Syney shrugged. “So…how many women
have
you had?”

“None that I really cared about. You’ll be my first.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet. Now tell me the truth.”

“That is the truth.”

“How many?” she paused. “Ten?” He made a face. “Twenty?” He made another face. “More than twenty?” she asked, her smile fading.

“What does it matter, really? Two, twenty, two hundred…It’s just a number.”

She nodded. “A really high number.”

“Syney,” he said, rolling his brown eyes.

She laughed. “Sorry. You’re right. What happened before doesn’t really matter. That being said, I think I should be honest with you as well.”

Syney’s smile had fallen, and her face turned serious. She finally was going to open up to him about something; a past relationship was his guess.

“Um, my number is two, and the first one—well, he really meant something to me. I loved him. He was, um…my Protector.”

“You and Reed?” Adam asked with a cringe.

She laughed. “No, not Reed. Hunter. He was my first Protector. But he took an assignment out in the field. So he’s gone.”

“I didn’t think Protectors did that.”

“Ones who want to get far away from their charges do.” She shrugged. “But you should know that it’s very much over. I might not be totally over it, but…”She smiled. “You’re helping a lot. I like you. I’m…I care about you.”

Adam smiled and kissed her slowly. “I care about you too.” He stared into her violet eyes, knowing that was an understatement. “And it’s eighteen.”

“Holy crap. I really didn’t want to know that!”

“You asked!”

“Knowing you wouldn’t tell me!”

They both fell back onto the swinging chair with laughter.

He stroked her hair and looked out over the dark Village. “So who’s number two? Rebound guy?”

“No.”

“Oh, God, don’t tell me
I’m
rebound guy.”

Syney shook her head. “Definitely not. You’re more than that, I promise. And number two was a mistake that I made…a few times.”

“Sounds depraved.”

“It was. I, um, someone cursed me. It was a depression thing. Pretty bad. I didn’t know it was there, though, so I thought it was just me. And I found…um…numbness, I guess you could say, with my friend, Gabe. He’s the Vampire I told you about.”

Adam looked away from her quickly. He couldn’t believe his ears. Did she really just say she slept with Gabe? With a Vampire who could easily tell her there was a curse on her and how exactly to get rid of it?

“Vampires have this biting thing,” she said slowly.

Adam nodded. “Yep, I know all about it,” he said a little too hard.

“Are you OK?” she asked. “Was that too much information or something?”

He shook his head and looked back at her, trying to hide his anger. “Of course not. I just can’t believe someone would curse you like that.”

“It was pretty bad. I think…um, never mind.”

“What is it?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s gone now, and I’m happy—especially when I’m with you.” She smiled and planted a kiss on his lips.

Adam kissed her back, but his mind reeled with anger. He didn’t stay much longer after that. He wasn’t in the mood to sit around and cuddle. He was in the
mood to hit someone. He headed straight to Gabe’s room and walked straight in without knocking.

Gabe stood by the bed wearing only pants. He looked over as Adam entered the room. “Hey. How are things going?”

Adam responded by decking him.

Gabe staggered a bit, and Noelle gasped as she lay in bed.

Adam looked at her, just realizing she was there, holding a sheet over her chest. “Sorry for barging in,” he said then looked back at Gabe.

“What was that for?” Gabe asked, wiping blood from his lip.

“You really had to sleep with Syney? You couldn’t just tell her the curse was there?” Adam yelled.

“She told you?” Gabe looked at Noelle with a smile. “That’s good.”

Noelle nodded. “She wouldn’t tell that to just anyone. I don’t think she even told Helen.”

Gabe grinned at Adam. “You’re doing an excellent job.”

Adam gritted his teeth in anger and turned away before he slugged Gabe again. “I can’t believe you’d take advantage of her like that!” He turned back. “I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised. You like to screw with people’s lives—why not screw her literally?”

Gabe cocked his head to the side. “You’re really upset about this.”

“He loves her.”

They both looked at Noelle.

“Really? You think?” Gabe asked. “This works. But we need Syney to reciprocate.”

“She will. Just give her a little time,” Noelle said.

Adam swallowed. He wanted to tell them to shut up. How dare they talk about Syney that way. But he realized only a couple of weeks ago he stood in this very room talking the exact same way. He plopped down on the end of the bed and dropped his head into his hands.

“Hey, no second thoughts here,” Gabe said.

Adam looked up at him. “We have to tell her. Everything.”

“No.”

“She’ll understand. She wants the same things we do. She was in love with her damn wolf! Trust me. She’ll get it.”

“
Is
in love, and don’t you forget that,” Gabe said coldly.

“He’s right,” Noelle piped in.

“I know I am,” Gabe snickered.

“Not you,” Noelle said. “Adam. We need to tell Syney. Doing all this with her being in the dark is stupid. It’ll backfire eventually.”

Adam looked at Gabe, silently begging him to agree.

“I’ll think about it.”

Adam stood. “Which means no.” He shook his head and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Gabe asked.

“To bed,” he yelled as he slammed the door behind him.

Once in his room, he lay on his bed and draped his arm over his head. He understood the importance of what was going on here—and the importance of Syney—but all he could think about was the fact that he did indeed love her, and he was lying to her. Both of those things didn’t sit well with him. His adoptive father had told him never to get too close to a woman unless he knew she was the one he would be with until the day he died. He sighed and realized he couldn’t live without Syney, but Gabe and his master plan were derailing the getting close part. He knew he shouldn’t have taken this assignment. Either way he wasn’t going to win.

Helen was used to seeing many people come and go in the library as she sat working at her corner table on a daily basis, but Vasclineda, the high priestess of the Village, never had been one of them—until now. She smiled as the old woman slowly sat down across from her. Vasclineda was an elegant older woman, her gray hair pulled back in a bun but the lines all along her face gave away her age. It was an honor to spend time with the religious leader of her people, and Helen felt the presence of the goddesses sitting across from her.

“It’s lovely to see you,” Helen said.

Vasclineda nodded. “Yes, yes. It is good to still be seen.” She laughed, which teetered off into a hacking cough.

“How are you feeling?”

“Not well. I do believe my time on this plane will be ending soon.” She smiled at Helen. “Which is why I have sought you out, my dear. The goddesses have agreed to have you as my replacement, as was your request. They believe you will be a blessed replacement.”

Excitement ran through Helen. This is what she had wanted since she was a child. She pushed down all of her feelings and tried to keep her composure. “I’m honored.”

“As well you should be.” Vasclineda patted Helen’s hand. “I would like to start your training as soon as possible. Your vows ceremony will be scheduled for the end of the week.”

Helen nodded eagerly. “I’ll be ready.”

“Good, good.” She stood up slower than she had sat down and headed away without a good-bye.

Helen smiled brightly. It was an amazing feeling to be able to do the one thing she’d wanted for so long. Not to mention the fact that the goddesses had blessed her for the position. She believed wholeheartedly in the Magic User religion, finding solace in prayer and the religion’s dogma. It was almost surreal. She stood up and gathered her books. She wanted to tell everyone but especially Leaf. He’d be so happy for her. She was halfway to his room when reality crashed down around her. She was going to be high priestess and would take her vows—one of which demanded chastity—in a few days. Helen fell back against the nearest wall as her world crumbled around her. She wasn’t sure how long she had stood here, thinking. But it had gotten dark outside, which meant it had to be a few hours. She sighed and pushed off from the wall, having made her decision. She started again for Leaf’s room. This was going to hurt, so she might as well get it over and done with now. Better to stick the knife in instead of wandering around, knowing it was going to happen.

Leaf smiled as he let her in the room. Then he reached down for a kiss, but she stepped back, out of his grasp. “What is it?” he asked, concerned.

Helen looked up at him, knowing tears had filled her eyes, but she had to stay strong. “I’m going to be taking the priestess vows at the end of the week.”

Leaf smiled. “That’s wonderful! Just what you’ve wanted.”

Helen nodded. “I thought it was,” she said, her voice heavy.

“Helen—”

“I believe in those vows.”

“As you should,” Leaf said, leaning against his desk. “What’s this about? Something is bothering you—it’s obvious.”

Helen looked him dead on. “I believe in
all
the priestess vows. To honor, to obey…to love only the divine.”

Leaf looked away from her.