Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (27 page)

Syney looked at him then Adam, who rolled his eyes. Gabe was getting more irritating now that things weren’t only in his hands.

“It’s when you want something from anywhere in sight and call it to you,” Hadrian explained.

“Oh, so, if I wanted that cup over there, I’d do the spell, and the cup would come to me?” Syney asked.

Hadrian nodded. “Yes.”

“That’s a good one then,” Syney said. “Mark it and I can see if I can get it to work.”

By the time they were done, three bags were full of books and supplies. Hadrian had left an hour before, bidding good-bye to everyone before he left
the house. He and Syney had shared an awkward hug, neither really comfortable with the gesture. He did promise to stay in touch, and Gabe promised to keep the lines of communication open.

Adam stuffed the last book into a leather bag and closed the flap, sealing it with a strap, and looked at Syney, who appeared exhausted. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get some sleep? Gabe and I can pack the rest of the supplies.”

She nodded and gave him a quick kiss before heading out of the room.

Adam put a few bottles of herbs in another bag and shot Gabe a look. “You know, you can let your guard down now that everyone knows everything about the past and the plan.”

“Who says my guard is up?” Gabe asked, pulling a few bottles off a shelf.

“Seriously? Your guard is always up.”

Gabe looked at him and shook his head.

“And you can work on being nicer.”

Gabe rolled his eyes. “I am nice. You know, Syney liked me long before you came along.”

“Please don’t remind me of that.”

“While we’re making demands, I need you to keep your head out of the clouds.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you can’t see anything but Syney,” Gabe said, “and I need you to keep a clear head. Now that Syney knows what’s going on, she’s going to start looking for trouble.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because it’s what anyone would do. Once you know that someone—someone you know—is really after you, you tend to want a big fight to end it all.”

“But you’ve known about the Ancient One for a long time, and you haven’t confronted anyone.”

Gabe looked at him. “Because it isn’t my fight. My job was to get Syney to the Village safely and to keep her alive until she solves the problem.”

Adam pulled the strap on the last bag and walked closer to Gabe. “It would be nice for you to tell the truth once in a while.”

“I am.”

“This means more to you than just some job. Syney means more to you than that.”

Gabe stared at him for a few moments. “I need you to be cautious and keep your eyes open. Hadrian was right—we’ve had too many die already, and I don’t think everyone’s going to come out of this alive.”

“Syney’s going to be OK, though, right?” Adam asked, suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation.

Gabe shrugged as he headed out of the room. “No one’s safe in war.”

Adam stared after him. Gabe always had been a pessimist, but something about his attitude was much worse than usual. He wondered whether it was Gabe’s growing relationship with Noelle. Or maybe even how close Gabe was with Syney, even though she was angry with him half the time. Gabe finally had people he didn’t want to see die—people he cared about more than making this stupid war go away. Adam liked and disliked the new Gabe. Change was a good thing, but if he got any crankier, Adam was going to have to kill him himself.

They crossed back over to Altera Realm the next morning and started the hike back to the Village. Gabe and Adam led he way, both weighed down by leather bags filled with magic books and supplies while Reed pulled up the rear. Noelle couldn’t wait to get her hands on them. She had done magic growing up and missed it when she had moved to the Village. She was the most excited, however, to be doing the magic with Syney. The young queen was much more gifted than Noelle when it came to magic. In fact she was more gifted than anyone Noelle had ever met, and it thrilled her to watch her do spells. It was going to be fun for the two of them to go over all the spells they were bringing back. Although the danger of bringing all this into the Village wasn’t lost on her, she got an excited chill when Gabe told her what they were doing.

“You OK?”

Noelle looked at Syney and nodded. “Just thinking.”

“About what? Kids? Having kids? Having little Vampire kids?”

Noelle rolled her eyes. “I’m not having kids,” she said with a laugh.

The remark garnered looks from Gabe and Adam.

Syney laughed. “Uh-huh. That’s what they all say.”

“Well, what about you?” Noelle asked in a much quieter voice.

“Me? I’m good right now,” Syney said with a smile. “But my options are still open.”

Noelle put an arm around her. “I think we’re in a pretty good place.”

“Yeah, I mean, sure, I have this über-evil entity trying to kill me, but at least my love life is good.”

“Both our love lives,” Noelle corrected.

“So things really are good with you two?” Syney asked quietly.

Noelle looked at Gabe and nodded. “I think we’re finally in a good place. No secrets.”

“Honesty is nice, as is not having to worry about being caught.”

Noelle wondered when the elephant in the room would be brought up. She worried about Syney and Adam’s relationship when it came to Hunter. Noelle had seen Syney and Hunter when they were at their best, and that had to be a hard thing to get over. As much as she pushed Syney to move on, she did think it was a little soon for her to have fallen so hard for Adam. She just hoped it was real and not a replacement relationship to keep her occupied.

She was about to mention Hunter when Reed pulled them both to a stop from behind. Almost at the same time, Gabe spun around, eyeing the trees around them. “What’s wrong?” Noelle whispered.

Reed sniffed the air. “Shifter.” He stared at Gabe for a moment before Gabe nodded. Gabe said something to Adam, who quickly walked over to the girls and pulled them farther into the trees.

Adam leaned in close to them. “They’re going to look around. We’ll just stay here for a little bit.”

Noelle nodded, but Syney glared at him. “I can help.”

Adam shook his head. “It’s fine.”

A yell echoed through the air.

“
Adam
,” Syney practically whined.

He looked out to the path they’d been walking on. “I’ll go check.”

Noelle nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

He gave Syney a kiss before heading back to the path.

The two stayed huddled up to the tree for a while before Syney finally got restless. “We have to do something,” she told Noelle.

“It’s better if we just stay here. It smells like a snake, so it’s probably hard to catch.”

Syney looked toward the path. “I’ll just take a look.”

Noelle grabbed her arm. “Don’t.”

They both heard the twig break at the same time and looked to see a young man standing naked only feet from them. Neither could get out a scream before he charged them, a very long knife in hand. He was heading for Syney; Noelle knew instantly. She was a no one compared to the seated queen of the Village. That rationale was also what drove her to jump in front of Syney. At the time
it seemed like the best thing to do, but as the long knife slid through her flesh, just above her stomach, Noelle thought of all the things she wanted to live for. Tears came to her eyes as she fell into Syney’s arms. She had thought about the end a few times—that happened when you grew up in a dangerous place—but this was nothing like she pictured it. Her life didn’t flash before her eyes, and all she felt was numbness. She looked up at Syney.
She’s worth it
, Noelle thought.
She’s going to fix the Realm. She’s worth dying for
.

Syney screamed as loud as she could. She put her hands over the bleeding wound on Noelle’s chest and screamed again. She wasn’t sure who came first or who grabbed the Shifter as he changed into a snake and tried to get away; all she was focused on was Noelle. She was dying. Her eyes weren’t even open anymore. Syney looked up and found Gabe’s eyes. “Help her! Vampire blood heals! You healed me twice!”

Gabe shook his head.

“Vampire blood is poisonous to Shifters,” Adam said, kneeling next to Noelle. He looked at Syney. “You have to do it.”

Syney shook her head. “I can’t. I only half healed a small cut on you! She’s dying!”

“You’re her only hope,” Gabe said staring at her.

Syney wiped away some tears and stared down at Noelle. She had to do this. This was the only way Noelle would live. She nudged Adam out of the way and gently laid Noelle’s head down on the grass. She knelt next to her friend—her best friend—and placed her hand over the gaping wound. Blood poured out so fast that it pooled around her fingers within seconds. She closed her eyes and tried to call the power back that she had felt the night before. She told herself she needed to heal Noelle now! But she couldn’t feel anything. She opened her eyes and yelled, “It’s not working!”

“Think about your love for Noelle. Your powers are connected to your emotions. Harness that!” Gabe told her.

Syney closed her eyes again and thought about Noelle. She thought about the first time they’d met, how timid Noelle had been with her. She moved on to all the times Noelle had been there for her, how much she had helped. She had been the one who’d taken care of her when Hunter had left, who understood when Syney needed some time to just not move. Noelle was the best friend she had in the Realm. She was always there and always knew the right thing to say. Syney slowly opened her eyes and stared at the blue lights coming out of her hands. She felt the power flow through her and into Noelle. She’d never felt so connected to someone before, and she was happy it was Noelle. The power didn’t stop flowing, like it had the night before with Adam. It kept going until Noelle shot up, sucking as much air into her lungs as she could.

Gabe caught her and put his arms around her. Noelle looked up at him and started to cry. Syney looked at her hands. She still felt the power tingling through her fingers and throughout the rest of her body. It was amazing, as if someone had flicked a switch inside her. The power wasn’t settling down anywhere in her body.

“Syney.”

She looked at Noelle.

“Thank you,” Noelle said, tears pouring out of her eyes.

Syney shook her head. “No, thank you. You jumped in front of me.”

“A stupid decision, by the way,” Gabe said with a shake of his head. “Her I can heal—you I can’t,” he said to Noelle.

“But Syney did,” Noelle said with a smile.

“You did good,” Adam said into Syney’s ear before kissing her head.

Syney nodded and shook her hands, the power still coursing through them.

“Hey! I’m glad everyone’s OK, but can we get going?” Reed said, struggling with a long black snake in his hands. “I’m not a huge fan of snakes.”

“You caught him?” Syney asked, standing up.

“Little bastard tried to run, but I grabbed him,” Reed said. He held the snake at the jaw so that it couldn’t open its mouth. Syney bet the thing was poisonous but didn’t want to mention that fact to Reed. She had some questions for that snake, and she wouldn’t get any if he let it go.

When they got back to the palace, Reed immediately took the snake to Leaf. Syney went to follow, but Gabe stopped her. “Let them do their thing,” he said, leading the way to her room.

“But I want to interrogate him before anyone else. I want to know about the war from the Shifters’ perspective. This might be the only one I’ll ever be near,” Syney complained.

“I agree, but you have to do things quietly if you want to stay out of the queen’s eye,” Gabe said.

Syney stared at him for a moment. He had a point. “Now was that so bad? You explained, and I actually agree.” She motioned between them. “See? This works.”

Gabe rolled his eyes and kept walking to her room. Once there, they hid all the stuff they’d brought back with them. Most went into a drawer in Syney closet and the rest under her bed. The day was still early, but after the adventure of their morning, Syney felt wiped out. She looked at her bed and debated taking a nap while the Shifter was being locked up. By the time she woke up, she should have an opportunity to talk to him. She picked up the glass she always kept on her nightstand. Some water sounded good also. She held up the glass and was surprised to find it full. It was always empty—and she could have sworn it was empty a second ago. She stared at it oddly. Where did the water come from?