Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (6 page)

“I’m so sorry. I know what that feels like.” Syney bit her lip.

“I was too young to remember them. But my adoptive father did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself.” He smiled, and Syney couldn’t help smile back.

“How long will you be in the Village?”

He shrugged. “Brian has requested me as his personal assistant, but I’m not sure that’s going to fly. To be honest I don’t think I could stand following him around all day long.”

“Well, considering you hate it here, would it be so bad if they kicked you out?”

“I didn’t think so…until tonight.”

Syney’s face burned, and a slow smile spread across her face. This felt really good. It had been a long time since she had talked to a cute boy and felt the little butterflies rumble in her stomach. The last time had been before all the craziness Altera Realm had started, when she was living with the Andrews in the Human Realm. This felt…normal and really good.

“Well, then, maybe I could put in a good word for you, make sure they don’t kick you out on your butt.”

“Thank you. Maybe you could find me a better job while you’re at it.”

“Oh, now you’re pressing your luck. I’m not a miracle worker.”

“So the stories aren’t true? Damn.”

They laughed. A genuine laugh Syney hadn’t had in a long time. She made a mental note to get Noelle a big gift.

“I hope I’m not being presumptuous when I say I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow for a date. Maybe dinner?” Adam suggested.

For a moment Syney watched his confidence waver only a little. It was nice to see a bit of vulnerability. But the idea of doing something beyond harmless flirting raised her anxiety level a little. She bit her lip as she had an internal debate. It would be a good thing to go out and have some fun. Noelle herself had told her she needed some downtime. And Adam was good company as far as she could tell. And he hadn’t been raised in the Village,
which meant he probably had some good stories to tell. On the other hand, the idea of dating always had made her uncomfortable, even when she was in the Human Realm. She took a deep breath and gave him a smile. “You are. But I’ll be ready at seven.”

His smile widened. “Until then,” he said with a short bow.

Noelle snuck up as soon as Adam had drifted away. “That looked promising.”

Syney grinned. “I like him.”

“Good!”

“We’re going to dinner tomorrow at seven.”

“Good!”

“I need a new outfit.”

“Good!”

“I’m going to bed now.”

“Oh, OK.”

Syney shook her head and headed out of the room. “I’ll see you in the morning!” she called over her shoulder.

Reed met up with her in the hall. “Off to bed?”

Syney nodded. “I’ll be fine walking by myself. Just send up Poppy in a little bit. I’ll make up the couch for her in case she gets tired.”

Reed gave her a look. “She’s not there to sleep.”

Syney rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

“I’ll come by in the morning,” Reed said, turning toward the guards’ quarters.

Syney wished him a good night and headed in the other direction, toward her room. This had been a rather good day for her. She actually had gotten something accomplished at the council meeting. She had surprised Leaf during training and even gained the upper hand during one of their sparring fights, at least for a few seconds. She had managed not to kill Mellisandrianna as the entire dining hall sang a ridiculous song that was even worse than the “Happy Birthday” song she’d grown up with. And she had a date the following night with the most attractive man she’d ever met. All in all she was pleased with the day. She even suffered through all her meals with everyone around her without any breakdowns.
No, don’t go there
, she thought, as she reached her room.
It’s been a good day. No need to let your thoughts go there
.

“Syney!”

She turned to see Leaf walking toward her down the hall. She gave him a smile. “Hey. I’m heading to bed. What’s up?”

He looked at her with the most unsure expression she’d ever seen on his face. Usually Leaf was a stoic warrior who didn’t let much bother him. This was odd. He pulled out a small box from his pocket and handed it to her.

“You already gave me a gift,” she said, opening the box. Inside was a silver necklace. The pendant was round, with a curved line separating two gems. The one on top and to the left was a purple gemstone, similar to the ones in Syney’s crown. The other was a brown gemstone that seemed vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn’t place where she’d seen it. “It’s beautiful. But two gifts is too much.”

“It’s not from me,” he said.

Syney looked up at him. “I don’t get it.”

“I’ve had it for a few months. My mother sent it to me through Rose. A jewelry maker in Ragin had it, a special order that was just finished, and gave it to Rose. She thought I might know what to do with it.” He paused. “Hunter had it made for you. The top stone is from Queen Amelia’s crown. Helen had gotten it for him. And the bottom one is—”

“Rose’s,” Syney said quietly, as she looked down at the pendant. Both of their mothers. She loved it. She quickly snapped the box closed and held it out to him. “I can’t take this.”

“It’s yours.”

“No, it’s not. And I don’t want it.”

Leaf sighed and stepped closer to her. “One day you’re going to want something to remember what you had with Hunter. This is for that day. Good night.” He walked away, leaving Syney alone in the hallway, still holding the box in her hand.

She gripped it, willing it to crumble in her hand, but it wouldn’t. After a moment she went into her room and closed the door behind her. She leaned against the door and pulled the box to her chest, as the tears she’d been lacking all day filled her eyes. She took a jagged breath as thoughts crowded her mind. Hunter. Her Hunter. Her soul mate. She pushed off from the door and walked through her darkened room and onto the large stone balcony that overlooked the Village. Then she leaned against the wall and slid to the floor, her tears and sobs growing.

Syney missed him. She missed his smell, his touch, his eyes, his calming effect, his friendship, his ability to know when something was wrong, the way he always knew what to do, the way he protected her. She missed
him
.

Her heart was broken; there was no denying that. And she was still so angry. How dare he leave her? He didn’t even say good-bye. But he made sure to marry someone else before leaving. With everything that had happened, though—the way he’d left and his marrying Fern—there still wasn’t any way she could hate him, and that was the most frustrating part. This was the first day since he’d left that she hadn’t spent every second thinking about him, and he had invaded her mind anyway. She opened the box again and ran a finger along the two gems.
He knew her so well. This was the ideal gift. Damn him! She snapped it shut again and almost threw it off the balcony but thought better of it. Maybe Leaf was right. Who knew if Hunter would even return from the mission? Then how would she feel about throwing away the only thing she’d have to remember what they’d had or even him? She pulled the box close to her chest and laid her head on her knees as she cried harder. Nothing was supposed to hurt as bad as this did. She missed him, and damn it, she still loved him.

“We should increase patrols.”

“Maybe even expand them from two wolves to three.”

“We could move up the mission and cross over the border now. See what they’re up to.”

“But the Shifter was in our own lands.”

“So?”

“Then we should increase our defenses. Maybe we can get more guards.”

“And do what? Line them up along the border in one big line? That might work.” Chuckle.

“It’s a better idea than changing to offense.”

“Why’s that?”

“More people die that way,” Hunter said, putting an end to Fern and Ridge’s back and forth. They looked at him as he studied the map in front of him.

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Ridge asked, an edge to his voice.

Hunter wasn’t surprised Fern had suggested going over the border early. She was antsy by nature and didn’t like to sit still. He also wasn’t surprised by Ridge’s wanting to bulk up defenses. He was a natural leader, and part of that
was due to his innate care for his men. Hunter looked at Fern. “And you’re sure it was a Shifter?”

She nodded. “A snake if I’m not mistaken. But I only got the snake part as we left. I think it must have changed to get away.”

Hunter sighed. What had happened that afternoon didn’t sit well with him. He didn’t like unpredictability in his enemies, and that was what this was. They had been on the edge of Shifter territory for a while and this was the first sign of them crossing over onto their lands.

“What’s the matter?” Fern asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

“None of us do,” Ridge said.

“Shifters are predatory. They attack any chance they get. But this one runs?”

“Maybe it saw it was outnumbered,” Fern said.

“No, a snake could have taken out at least one of you, especially Cass. She’s the weakest link, and any Shifter would have smelled her.” Hunter looked back down at the map. “Something isn’t right.”

“Does sound odd,” Ridge said, looking at the map as well. “What are you seeing on here?”

Hunter sighed and pointed to where their camp was. “We’re here. Fern said they smelled the Shifter over here.”

“That’s farther into our land than our own camp is,” Ridge said quietly.

“Exactly. What if they’ve been coming onto our land for a while now?”

“For what?” Fern asked.

“Food,” Ridge said with a smile. “That’s why we can’t hunt. They’ve been poaching the land.”

“But why? They have so much land of their own,” Fern said.

Hunter shook his head. “I don’t know. But I bet whoever you ran into today was on his way back from somewhere and didn’t know we were here.”

“You’re right. I don’t like this either,” Ridge said. “Do we have a map of Shifter territory? The whole thing?”

Nodding, Hunter pulled it from the pile on the table and placed it on top. “It’s old. Back from before the war.”

The entrance to the tent opened, and Ivy walked in. “Can I have a moment, sir?”

“Sure.” He turned to Ridge and Fern. “You two are in charge while I’m on patrol. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good hunting,” Ridge and Fern both said as Hunter walked out of the tent with Ivy.

“I’m assuming this is about Princess Cass?” Hunter said.

“Yes, sir. I’d like to be assigned to her.”

“She already has Protectors.”

“I know, but I’d like to take her away from camp once in a while, with your permission of course.”

Hunter stopped walking. “What’s this about?”

Ivy sighed. “I admire that she’s here. Not many Magic Users would be. This is something she wants. It’s the least I can do.”

Hunter looked her over. He had met her only once before the mission. Raine had introduced them right after they’d been paired. He had a feeling her connection to Raine had something to do with her sudden kinship to Cass but didn’t want to bring it up. Raine was still a sensitive subject among the guards and Cass. “All right. But you’ll take full responsibility for her. Meaning if she decides to run or get herself killed, I’ll hold you responsible.”

Ivy smiled. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

“Just make sure to tell me when you’re leaving and where you’re going.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I don’t know anyone who’d want that assignment, especially me. Just don’t kill her yourself,” Hunter said, and walked away toward his tent.

Once inside he took a deep breath. He made his way to the small table in the back of the tent and pulled out the small paper calendar he’d brought with him. He made an X over the day. One hundred twenty-two days gone. He cradled his head in his hands and closed his eyes. He could spend all day working with the troops and doing patrols, but when he was alone, he felt the physical effects of being away from the Village, away from Syney. He once told Leaf he needed her to breathe, and he hadn’t lied. He took a few short breaths and looked at the ceiling of the tent. For this very reason, he tried not to be alone too much. The whole mission—and his men, whom he had sworn to protect—fell away, and all he wanted was her. He took a deep breath and stood. Then he went to his trunk and pushed it open. He looked toward the opening of the tent but he knew Fern would leave him alone. She was big believer in privacy before a patrol, for which he was thankful.

He pulled off his shirt and tossed it into the trunk. He ran his hand down the long leather strap and picked up the smooth brown stone with gold flecks that was tied to the end of it. He could still hear Syney’s words right before she had given it to him:
I promise we’ll be together forever
. He closed his eyes, squeezed the stone, and pictured her that night, the last time he had kissed her, the last time he had talked to her. He hadn’t wanted to leave, but as Gabe was so fond of saying, there was more to the matter than just him and Syney or their feelings. He opened his eyes and pulled the leather strap and the stone over his head. Then he wrapped it up and slipped it into a small pouch on the interior of his
trunk. He never would forgive himself if he lost it. It was all he had left of her. Suddenly his chest tightened, and he knew he had to go. If he stayed by himself for too long, the idea of running back to the palace and taking Syney away, far away, always got too strong. He pulled off the rest of his clothes and left the tent, changing into wolf form once he was outside. He took off at a run and pushed all his feelings aside. As hard as it was, he needed to in order to keep a clear mind.