Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (36 page)

“Then you, my dear, are going to disappear.” He pushed off from the bed. “Take only what you desperately need. We’ll leave tonight.”

“What about my Protectors?”

“I’ll help,” Adam said. “We should be able to knock them out.”

Cass looked at him skeptically. “Really?”

Adam grinned at her. “I’m much stronger than I look.” His face turned serious. “I really admire you for this. It’s not easy.”

“But worth it,” Syney said, looking at Adam over Cass’s head.

Gabe knew they were talking about having a mix-raced child and couldn’t help it when his heart broke a little. They had both been through so much yet were still encouraging Cass and her child to go through possibly even worse than they had. That took courage.

“I’m a little scared,” Cass said.

“Well, yeah,” Syney said. “You’ll be leaving everything you’ve ever known. That’s scary.”

“No, I mean about the baby.” She looked at Gabe. “Is it even possible to have a healthy baby from two different races?”

Gabe glanced at Syney but stayed silent. This was her secret, and if the person wasn’t important to the mission, it was her prerogative to say anything. Although he felt a lot of pride when she looked at Cass and told her that she was only half Magic User, the other half being Daemon.

Cass’s mouth flew open, and she stared at Syney for a while. She finally closed her mouth and hugged her. “Thank you,” she whispered after she pulled back. She looked back at Gabe. “I’ll pack. What time tonight?”

“I’ll come to your room after Adam and I take care of your wolves.”

She nodded and stood. “Thank you all,” she said before heading out.

Gabe watched her go. She was in over her head, but she wasn’t going to listen if he tried to say anything to her, so why bother? Shifter pregnancies were dangerous. Once the fetus had developed, it would start to shift into animal form in the womb, which was very painful, or so he’d been told. That was why only the royal Shifter family had multiple children per family. Most Shifters had one child and stopped. He shook his head and looked at Adam and Syney, who were staring at each other silently. This wasn’t good. Something was wrong.

Adam cleared his throat. “Did you find out anything about permanent curses?”

“No. I was looking through the various books on the races, but then Cass dropped her bomb.”

“What about permanent curses?” Gabe asked.

“How to get rid of them,” Syney said quietly.

“Daemon.” Gabe walked away from them to pack a few things for himself. The trip back would be quick, but on the way there, he had to keep Cass’s pace so a few days’ clothes were needed.

“Daemon what?” Adam asked.

He looked at them. “Daemons can remove permanent curses.”

“So theoretically
I
could?” Syney asked.

Gabe shrugged. “There are a few things you might not be able to do. Adam can’t read minds or compel, although he’s part Vampire.”

“But I might be able to,” Syney said.

“What is this about?”

“Nothing,” Adam said, quickly throwing a look at Syney, who agreed with him.

“Right. Now who’s keeping secrets?” Gabe said pointedly. “Adam, I’ll meet you here at ten.”

“Sure.”

Gabe shook his head and threw some clothes into a leather bag. This whole thing was crazy—although the fact that Cass was pregnant with a Shifter’s child did have its appeal. The Shifters were the one race that was the weakest link when it came to calling a summit. Even though they tended to side with the Daemons, he was never sure if they would show up when called. He thought that releasing Weston was a good move toward that, and now his and Cass’s child might be a deciding factor. He just hoped he wouldn’t get caught helping a royal princess escape the Village.

Helen slipped out of her ceremonial robe and looked at the now golden tattoo that ran down her right arm. She was officially the high priestess but couldn’t care less. The whole ceremony had taken less than an hour. When she was younger, she had looked forward to this day as other girls had to their joining day, but she had become so disenfranchised with the entire religious system that she had to use everything within herself to even smile as Vasclineda transferred the title to her. She had gotten disturbingly good at keeping her face neutral so others couldn’t see her frustration and sadness. Leaf had become her only saving grace, again.

The ceremony was big, although nowhere near a royal crowning ceremony. She spent most of the ceremony at the front of the chapel praying with Vasclineda. It wasn’t until the end when Helen was facing the filled pews that she became aware of hundreds of eyes on her. There was only one pair that she actively sought out as everyone sang the final song. Leaf was in the back yet she could still see him, one of the advantages of being over six foot five. He stared at her stoically as Vasclineda wrapped her left arm in the ceremonial high priestess cloth. Helen felt her arm tingle but her attention was pulled in its entirety to Leaf.

Helen shook the memory of the morning away and smiled when she heard the two short knocks on the door, Leaf’s secret code for her. She threw open the
door and pulled him inside, embracing him the second it closed. “That was just horrible!”

Leaf sighed, ran his hand down her long dark brown hair and looked into her blue eyes. “But you looked amazing.”

Helen laughed and pulled back to look up at him. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I’m here on official business.”

She frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“No, although I’m not very happy about this.” He paused and sighed. “Your Protectors have been reassigned in accordance with the Rules of Declaration.”

Helen rolled her eyes and walked over to her dresser, where she started to take off some of her ornate makeup. It had taken hours to apply the thick black eye liner and red rouge. She was never a fan of make-up and preferred to wear none.

The Rules of Declaration were the current Magic User laws. She knew what he was talking about. Only royal Magic Users were assigned Protectors. The high priestess never left the Village and rarely stepped foot outside the palace; therefore no Protectors were assigned to them. It was a stupid rule but one that was becoming more necessary. There weren’t many guards in the palace, and a good deal of them were now second and third Protectors.

“I don’t like the thought of you walking around without protection,” Leaf said, taking a seat on her bed.

“I’ll be fine. It’s Syney everyone keeps trying to kill.”

“Doesn’t mean someone else won’t be caught in the crossfire. You’re still a royal princess.”

“And we royal princesses are dropping like flies.” Helen’s heart sank as the words came out of her mouth. There’d been no word on Cass for the past two weeks. Helen would be more worried if her younger sister hadn’t come to her the day before she disappeared and told her that everything was all right and that she would try to come back if she could. Helen had questioned her, but Cass was evasive and took off before Helen could get another word out. Helen had gone straight to Leaf that night, but by the time they went to Cass’s room, all they found were her Protectors knocked out cold in an empty room. A day later the council ruled that Cass was a runaway, and in accordance with the Rules of Declaration, they stripped her of her title of seated princess. Helen and Leaf were surprised by the vote, especially Syney’s vote, which sided with the council. Syney had been as elusive as Cass, which made Helen more comfortable but also angrier. Comfortable because it meant Syney knew where Cass was and was OK with it. Angry because she was being kept out of the loop. Leaf had told her she needed to trust Syney, and she was trying, but it was getting so hard when no one was telling her the truth.

Leaf held out his hands, and she walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed. “Congratulations on today.”

She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“I share your frustrations,” he said quietly.

She sat up and looked at him. “About Syney?”

He nodded. “I decided to follow Adam as much as I can.”

“Why him and not Syney?”

“I think he’s a big part of what’s going on, whatever it is that Syney is trying to hide. I also don’t think I could get away with following Syney; I think she might have converted Reed to her cause or whatever she’s go up her sleeve. If Reed sees me, and he’s good, then he’ll tell her,” Leaf said holding Helen’s hand.

“She does have a way with wolves,” Helen said, smiling at him.

“There is something I was hoping you could do.”

“Anything.”

“Get closer to Noelle. She’s Syney’s closest confidant. I’m hoping if she feels more comfortable with you, she might open up and tell you what’s going on.”

Helen nodded. “Good idea. I like Noelle. And maybe I could even befriend Gabriel.”

Leaf gave her a stern look. “No.”

“You said yourself that both Noelle and Adam spend a good deal of time with him, and we both know Syney does. He might be the key to all of this.”

“Oh, I know he is. But that doesn’t mean I trust him. Especially around you.”

She smiled. “Because you love me.”

Leaf smiled back and kissed her lightly. “Because I love you,” he said, squeezing her hand. “And about the Protector thing…I’ve asked Ivy to keep an eye on you.”

“You’ll get into trouble for that.”

“No, I won’t. The Elder Lycin Council found her at fault for Cass’s kidnapping and stripped her of being a guard. I had them reassign her as my personal assistant so I could keep her in the palace. She’ll be personally assisting me by watching you.”

“All right,” Helen said, stealing another kiss. She was OK with this plan and hoped something would come of it. She missed her sister and would do anything to find out what had happened to her—anything.

The queen sat back on her throne. It was getting harder to stand. It was getting harder to breathe, even. It was time to move forward with her plan, but she kept hitting a wall. The damn girl was never alone, not even when Mellisandrianna called her to a private meeting. It was suspicious and made her very uncomfortable. It was as if Syney knew everything that was going on, which made her even more dangerous. “We need some adjustments,” she told Grass.

The wolf nodded. “How so? You don’t want her dead anymore, right?”

“Right, but I do need her vulnerable.”

Grass slowly smiled. “She has a few vulnerable spots.”

“Let’s see what we can do for her friends,” Mellisandrianna said, spitting the last word out with contempt. Connections with others were the basis of weakness.

“I know of some royals who aren’t entirely happy with their future king.”

She grinned at him. “See if any of them would be willing to take some matters into their own hands, as soon as you can. I’ll work on that assistant of hers.”

“What about the Vampire?”

She looked away with a shake of her head. Gabriel McMann had been a thorn in her side for as long as she had known him, which was a very long time. He always put himself where he didn’t belong and where he wasn’t welcome. And he also was very dangerous. “Leave him. The others are easier targets.”

Grass bowed and headed for the door. He stopped when the queen called out to him.

“Just because we don’t want Syney dead doesn’t mean you and your wolves can’t put her in her place,” Mellisandrianna said sweetly.

Grass smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

She watched him go and felt a little better. Once Syney’s support was gone, she would be open for whatever Mellisandrianna needed of her. Everything was going to run smoothly from now on.