Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (52 page)

Syney curled her feet underneath her and looked at Noelle. She hadn’t woken up since passing out in the dining hall hours ago, and her sleep hadn’t exactly been restful. Her fever had yet to break, and Syney didn’t need to read her mind to know she was having some sort of nightmares. Syney had set up camp in the armchair next to the bed and watched over her friend. She couldn’t believe she’d spent weeks not talking to Noelle. It almost felt like a punishment to sit here now and watch her suffer. The only good thing about the day was seeing Adam go off with Gabe. Colchin had worked wonders for her the year before, and she could only hope it would do a little good for them.

A knock pulled Syney’s attention to the door. She went over and placed her hand on the knob but stopped before removing the magical lock from the door. “Who’s there?” she called out, her heart racing a bit. That is what had been happening lately any time she was alone, along with sweaty palms and a tightening in her chest. She knew it was some kind of panic attack, but they never lasted long, so she just pushed through them by taking deep breaths. She swore to herself that if they got any worse, she’d tell Adam, but he had so much on his mind lately that she didn’t want to give him one more thing.

“It’s Reed.”

Syney exhaled the breath she’d been holding and removed the lock from the door, letting in Reed, who was followed closely by Helen. “Hey,” Syney said, closing the door behind them.

Reed placed a stack of leather-bound books on the table between the couches and picked the top one up as he sat down. “I think this one might be our best chance.”

Syney walked over and looked at the cover. “
Complete and Comprehensive Look at Disease in Altera Realm
,” she read. “That would be where I would start.”

As he opened the book and flipped through the pages, Syney couldn’t help but smile. Over the past weeks, Reed had proven himself to be more than just a good Protector. Since the whole incident with Leaf, Ridge, the new head guard, hadn’t made a move to remove him from Syney’s detail. He also hadn’t questioned the removal of her other three Protectors. She figured he was a little overwhelmed with jumping into a pretty big position or didn’t care what her Protectors did; either way it was just fine with Syney. For Reed, being Syney’s only Protector and on duty every minute of the day was a pretty daunting task but one he treated with grace and dignity. He didn’t question any of the craziness of her life and was her biggest supporter, even more than Adam on some days. She officially had given him the title of “Little Brother I Never Wanted to Have” and he took it with a smile.

“I hope you don’t mind my being here,” Helen said, catching Syney’s attention. “Reed explained about Noelle, and I want to help if I can.” She looked at Noelle, who was still unconscious in bed.

“She said you were joining her and Gabe tomorrow.”

Helen inhaled quickly and looked at Reed.

“Oh, don’t worry. Reed has enough on the whole group of us to get us all killed at least five times over,” Syney said with a laugh.

“Truth,” Reed said, not looking up from the book.

Helen’s cheeks pinkened, but she smiled. “OK, then yes. Although I’m not so sure we’ll be able to now.”

Syney looked at Noelle. “You never know. If anyone can find something to help her, it’s Gabe.”

“I hope so.”

Syney sighed and looked through at the rest of the books Reed had put on the table. “What are the rest of these?”

“Oh, I…um…I thought they might help you,” Helen stammered.

Syney picked up the top book. “You think this book on Daemons would help me?” she asked slowly, wondering how much Helen knew about everything. Leaf hadn’t known about her unusual parentage, so how would she have found out?

Helen bit her lip and pulled a leather journal out of the handbag that was tied to her wrist. “I found this in my mother’s room. It’s the journal of the first Crystallianna queen, Lassandrianna.”

“The queen after Amelia?” Syney asked, taking the journal from her. She knew exactly who it was. If her speculation was correct, she was how the Ancient One had weaseled her way into Magic User royalty.

She nodded. “She mentions Amelia, a lot actually. I was thinking about you and how nothing is known about your parents. No one really has an explanation for it, but I was wondering if the reason no pregnancy or child was registered was because it was…forbidden.”

Syney flipped through the pages of the journal, one passage catching her attention. Lassandrianna had seen them together, Amelia and Hadrian. She knew their dirty little secret, which meant the Ancient One knew as well. The thought was beyond disturbing. But she could only deal with one thing at a time, and Helen’s question lay unasked in front of her. “Yes.”

“Yes?”

“My mother was Amelia, and my father is Hadrian.”

“The king of Daemons.”

Syney nodded as she watched many different emotions pass over Helen’s features. She seemed scared yet eased, as if something finally had started to make sense.

“You…you really are special, aren’t you?”

She shrugged. “I like to think so.”

“No, I mean to the Realm. You really are the only way to get peace, at least with the Daemons.”

“Well, it’s what I want, but I have a lot more to do before there’s any kind of peace.”

Helen nodded. “Like dethroning my mother.”

“Helen,” Syney started, not knowing how much to really tell her. “Your mother is really an ancient being who switches bodies” seemed a little inappropriate. “She…she doesn’t think like we do about all this.”

“I agree, and you should know that I’m behind you. Anything you need, please ask.”

“That’s good to know. Thank you. And this Daemon book is good to have. How did you get it out of the library?” Syney asked, sitting across from Reed.

“I did an invisibility spell.”

Syney’s mouth flew open. “You used magic?”

Helen smiled triumphantly and sat next to her. “It wasn’t much. After watching Adam heal your face, and helping him, I had to find out more. And it’s exhilarating.”

“I know,” Syney said with a laugh.

“I’ve been trying anything I can get my hands on in the restricted area. It’s just small stuff, though.”

“An invisibility spell isn’t small stuff.”

“It is when it’s supposed to be used on a blemish. I had Reed hold the books up to his face while I cast the spell.”

Syney barely could hold back her laughter as she met Reed’s eyes. He rolled them and looked back at the book he was reading. “Well, big or small, I’m very proud of you.”

“I was actually wondering,” Helen said. “I know you guys had that book on healing…”

“In the closet, top shelf.”

“Really?”

When Syney nodded, Helen nearly jumped out of her seat to get the magic books. The three sat in the room reading their respective books for a while, just waiting. Syney flipped through the Daemon book, not really knowing what she wanted to read about. It didn’t take her too long to decide, though. “The Death Squeeze” was a section she had skipped over last time she’d had the book, knowing only too well what that felt like. It had only been a year ago that a Daemon had used the ability on her, killing her in the process. Gabe had barely been able to save her that time and she knew the power was dangerous. But she realized it was something that was more than useful to her now. She needed to start thinking about going on the offensive. Queen Bitch needed to know Syney wasn’t some weakling who could be pushed around and assaulted without any repercussions. Interestingly enough, the Daemons had only two offensive powers: the Death Squeeze and energy channeling. The rest of their abilities had to do with the mind. Syney felt a bit of post-traumatic stress as she read about the unique ability. The Daemon’s hand could actually dematerialize and push into someone’s chest, squeezing his or her heart until it stopped beating. The whole thing was said to mimic a heart attack. A killer could literally get away with murder. Syney looked down at her hand. It had done some amazing things over the last couple of years, including pulling the life out of her fiancé and channeling energy to kill a Shifter. But could she really stick her hand in someone’s chest and squeeze the life out of him or her? The thought alone was terrifying. But if she wanted a way to kill Mellisandrianna without it looking like anything but illness, this was her best bet. Gabe’s statement a few months ago snuck up on her now. Could she really kill someone? Not a nameless person but someone she knew? She looked at Helen. She was the perfect person to ask this kind of advice, especially since she was the spiritual leader of the palace. But would Helen even look at her
the same once she mentioned killing? There was only one way to find out, she thought, just as a loud scream echoed through the room.

Syney jumped up and rushed to the bed as Noelle sat straight up, yelling out again. “Hey, hey, it’s OK,” Syney said, crawling into bed next to her.

Noelle’s usually serene face was red and streaked with tears. “What happened?” she asked in a hoarse, wet voice.

Syney gently pushed her back onto the pillows. “You passed out in the dining hall.”

“I’m cold.”

She felt Noelle’s forehead; it was boiling to the touch. “It’s going to be OK.”

Noelle gave a shallow laugh. “That’s not what you’re feeling.”

She was right, Syney thought. But I can change that. She took a deep breath and thought of the night at Becca’s when she and Adam had come together. Just thinking of it made her heart skip a beat.

“Oh, stop, please,” Noelle said, shifting uncomfortably.

“Sorry. I thought it would help.”

She closed her eyes and sat back in the bed. “I did get a little hot under the collar.”

“Maybe I should just break the connection then, so you won’t have to feel what I am feeling.”

“No,” Noelle opened her eyes again. “I’ve never really had a friend to be honest, someone to talk to and share things with, until you. I actually like having our own secret connection.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded.

Syney smiled. “Okay then, I’ll try something a little less X-rated,” she said, looking at Helen and Reed for a moment. They both stayed in their seats but glanced over to see if they were needed. It took Syney a moment to think of one of her happiest memories. She closed her eyes and was down the shore with the Andrews. Syney always had loved the ocean and could spend hours jumping and splashing around in crashing salt water until her fingers were pruned. They’d go down the shore for a week every summer. It was the one thing each year the whole Andrews family looked forward to. Syney opened her eyes and met Noelle’s stare.

“Where were you just now?” Noelle asked, looking the calmest she had in a while.

“One of my favorite places in the Human Realm.” She smiled. “Wanna see?”

Noelle shook her head. Syney had told her all about the memory transfer, including the consequences of giving someone a memory.

“Stop being stubborn and give me your hand.”

Noelle hesitated before doing as told.

“Close your eyes,” Syney said, as she pictured the memory of being at the shore at age ten while tracing the symbol Hadrian had showed her on Noelle’s palm, a circle with three lines across it. When she opened her eyes, she saw tears coming out of Noelle’s closed eyes.

“Where was that?” she asked quietly as she opened her eyes.

Syney sat back in bed, lying next to her. “It’s called the Jersey Shore. It’s where one of the Human Realm’s huge oceans meets the land. The waves crash onto the beach all day long. Sometimes they’re so big that you can even ride them on boards.”

Noelle’s breathing was finally evening out.

“I wish I could see it for real.”

“One day I’ll show you. You’ll love it. Although I’m pretty sure you’ll burn in the sun.”

“That doesn’t sound fun.”

“It isn’t, let me tell you. But the water and the boardwalk are amazing. You can eat pizza and seafood while looking out over the beach. Makes me warm just thinking about it.”

“I liked your pink outfit,” Noelle said with a small laugh.

Syney stopped and racked her brain, knowing that memory was gone, but she laughed along with her friend, knowing that was what she needed. They lay in bed for a few more minutes before the door flew open and Gabe rushed in, with Adam not far behind him. “Did you find anything?” Syney asked, sitting up.

Adam walked over to her and kissed the top of her head. “We did actually.”

“Really?” Noelle asked hoarsely as Helen and Reed walked over to the end of the bed.

Gabe pulled a chair to the side of the bed and took her hands in his. His face, for once, betrayed his calm exterior.

Syney knew what was coming next wasn’t going to be a good thing just by Gabe’s demeanor. She looked at Adam, his brown eyes filled with sadness. Then she looked at Gabe. “Do you want some privacy?” she asked quietly.

“That’s a good idea,” Adam said, taking Syney’s hand and helping her off the bed.

Before Adam led her, Helen, and Reed out of the room, Syney looked back and watched Gabe lay a kiss on Noelle’s forehead. Once the door was shut, Syney turned to Adam. “What’s going on?”