Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (7 page)

Gabe pulled his good black suit out of his closet and threw it onto the bed. Clothes, check. He rummaged through the trunk at the end of the bed and pulled out a bottle of cologne Faye had given him. It contained pheromones, which should do the trick. What else? What else? Maybe an attraction spell? No, she was already attracted to him, or she wouldn’t have agreed to a date. There had to be something else to seal the deal. He was rifling through his extensive collection of conversation topics when a knock came at the door.

“Come in!”

Adam walked in and surveyed the clothes on the bed. “You’re not dressing me. I look fine.”

Gabe eyeballed the younger man’s dark pants and white button-down shirt. The outfit looked OK but not as sophisticated as Gabe wanted. “You’d look better in black.”

“I look washed out in black.
You
look good in black.” Adam picked up the bottle. “What’s this?”

“Pheromones.”

He handed it to Gabe. “No.”

Gabe shook his head. “You’re going to need help. She’s still hooked on her wolf.”

Adam lay down on the bed. “She didn’t seem that way to me. I got her to blush.”

“Doesn’t mean she isn’t still in love with Hunter. You’re working against that, which means you’ll have to rely on more than just your usual charm.”

“If you’re going to tell me how to seduce a woman, I’m out of here!” Adam snapped. “I’ve had many women. Trust me—I know what to do.”

“Syney is different,” Gabe said quietly.

Adam sat up. “That was the most emotion I’ve ever heard out of you. Are you sure
you’re
not in love with her?”

“I’m sure,” Gabe said, tossing the bottle back to him. “Wear it. And talk a lot about life outside the Village. She hates this place, so anything nonpalace she’ll eat up. Stay away from the topic of Protectors or past relationships.”

“And don’t talk about religion or politics,” Adam said. “Never ask her weight or age. I told you, I know what I’m doing.” Adam stood and walked over to Gabe. “You wouldn’t have asked me to do this if you didn’t think I could.”

He was right, of course, but Gabe didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of being right. People, especially men, who were born as good-looking as Adam tended to get large heads without any help from their friends. Gabe didn’t want to add to it, although Adam was no Prince Brian. He wasn’t arrogant, just sure of himself. Deep down Adam was a decent guy. He just didn’t let people in too often. Considering how he had grown up, Gabe didn’t blame him. That was what worried Gabe the most, though. Syney wasn’t a fan of people who seemed as though they had no vulnerability. She tended to see right through them and toss them aside.

“You need to let her in and see the real you. That’s the only way she’ll let you in,” Gabe said.

Adam broke out into a laugh and handed the bottle back to him. “And she knows the real
you
? That’s ridiculous. No one knows you.” He headed out of the room. “Don’t worry so much. I’ll do fine. She’s going to love me. Just watch.”

Gabe didn’t say anything. He needed Syney to be joined, and Adam was the best he could do. But he still felt antsy not being able to control the situation. He wanted to be on the date with them, but he knew he couldn’t. He had to trust that Adam could do it. But Gabe wasn’t good at trusting people.

Adam opened the door to reveal Noelle, her hand up to knock. “Hello, there,” Adam said with a smile.

“Oh, hi.” Noelle giggled a little and walked into the room.

Gabe narrowed his eyes at her. Her pulse had picked up. He didn’t like this at all. “What is it?”

“I just came by to say hi. Syney is in a meeting with Helen. Do I get an introduction?” She looked back at Adam.

“Adam, Noelle. Noelle, Adam. And he’s just leaving,” Gabe said quickly.

“But I could stay.” Adam closed the door. He walked over to Noelle. “It’s really good to meet you. You know, they say royals are the prettiest of all Magic Users, but I think they might be wrong, because your eyes are magnificent.”

“Oh, wow,” Noelle said, her breath picking up. She wet her lips and even took a step closer to him.

Adam smiled at Gabe. “I told you I’ll be fine. Now if you’ll excuse me. Have a lovely evening.” He left the room quickly.

Noelle took a deep breath. “He’s right—he’ll be fine. And
is
fine. Where did you find him?” she asked.

“His parents were friends of mine. Does that really work? I mean, are you all…you know?”

“Oh, yeah. I think it’s the smile. I’d buy anything he was selling. But that’s why he’s here, right? To court Syney? You know, in order for them to get a joining, the law about royals marrying nonroyals will have to be changed.”

“I know. I’m hoping she’ll fall so hard that she’ll push it at a council meeting. Do you really think he’s attractive?”

Noelle smiled and moved closer to him. “Not as much as you are, if that’s what you’re fishing for.”

“It is.”

They stared at each other, only inches apart, for a moment. Gabe had spent months thinking about Noelle and his feelings for her. He even had talked to Faye about it. He couldn’t get distracted, but now that she was involved, now that she knew he had a plan for Syney, that didn’t seem to be that much of a problem. When he was traveling around, putting some things into place, he couldn’t help stoping over in Bolchin. He didn’t have to ask around too long to find out everything he wanted to know about Noelle, and he had to admit, now that he knew her secret, he liked her even more. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun with her, right? Hunter had been right about one thing—Gabe loved games.

“I’ve been thinking for a while,” he said, running the back of his hand along her cheek. “And I think I’d like to explore what we have here.” He leaned in and kissed her gently. He felt her lean into him and deepen the kiss right away. He had expected the kiss to be good, but he wasn’t expecting all the feelings that ran through his body when they did kiss. It was much more than physical. He pulled back and looked down at her. “But I don’t like to start anything with any secrets.” He stepped back and started to put away the clothes he had pulled out.

When he looked back at Noelle, she was still standing in the middle of the room, her hand to her mouth. It was a little mean, he knew, but if she wouldn’t
open up to him, she’d never open up to Syney, and now that he knew her secret, she was a big part of the plan. Finally she looked up at him and shook her head before walking out of the room. She would come around, he knew. It was only a matter of time. And he couldn’t wait.

Helen sat in the library, waiting for Syney. She had no idea why Syney had wanted to meet. Their lessons on the Realm had ended a few months ago, although they often met to go over books when one had a question. But Syney had gone through official channels for this meeting, which was odd. Helen waved as she saw her enter the room.

“Hey, sorry. I went shopping for a date.”

Helen looked at her, stunned. “A what?”

“Oh, right. You weren’t at the shindig last night. I got asked out,” Syney said, opening her notebook.

“Please don’t tell me it’s Brian.”

Syney smiled. “Not Brian. His name is Adam. He did, however, come in with Brian.”

“Ah, he’s the one who saved Brian’s life, right?”

Syney nodded. “He’s really cute.”

Helen smiled. “I’m so happy for you. It’ll be good to move on.”

“Uh-huh.” Syney’s hand went the necklace she was wearing.

Helen stared at it for a moment, speechless. She knew what it was. Leaf had showed it to her after he had gotten from his mother. They had talked for hours about whether he should give it to Syney. Helen thought it was a good idea but said Leaf should wait a bit longer before he gave it to her. She needed to heal first.
I guess he decided differently
, she thought.

“That’s a pretty necklace,” Helen prompted.

“Thanks. It’s just something I found. Noelle brought a bag of gifts to me this morning. I guess it’s customary for the whole Village to give a queen gifts on her birthday. Anyway, I wanted to meet with you to discuss something,” Syney said, quickly changing the subject.

“OK. What is it?”

“Well, I’ve been through all the history books in this library, but none of them says anything about the Great War other than it started and never ended.”

“That sounds about right,” Helen said. “Most of our books don’t go into much detail.”

“I was wondering if we could make a new book, or at least do some research into the war. How did it start? Who were the first casualties?”

“Why the sudden interest?”

Syney sighed. “I just really want to know. I mean, I’m supposed to be this savior who ends the Great War, and I don’t even know how it started.”

Helen nodded. “I get it. But you’re not going to find much here. Even the secured section doesn’t have any history books.”

“What about the journals?”

“Possibly, but most weren’t collected once the war started. You could…maybe that might work.”

“What? You do realize you’re talking to yourself in your head, right?”

Helen laughed. “I was thinking you could go into the Village. There aren’t any Magic Users who would still be alive, but there definitely are some Lycins. They—”

“Age differently, I know. Do you think they’ll even talk to me?” Syney asked.

“You’re their future queen. I think they’ll throw you a party,” Helen said with a smile. “Hey, why don’t you just ask Gabriel? I’m sure he was around back then.”

“He was, but knowing him, he’ll just lie to me, so what’s the point?”

Helen nodded. She wanted to ask Syney about the Blocadrian necklace he had given her, but she wanted to keep in mind what Leaf had said. If Helen asked Syney about it, she might tell her to talk to Gabriel, which would make Leaf very angry. Helen hated making him angry, although he was cute when he was. “If you want I can go with you. We can tell them we’re writing a new history book.”

“That would be great!” Syney grinned at her. “How about in a few days? I think I have a whole day open sometime this week. I’ll check with Noelle.”

“Sounds good,” Helen said.

Syney got up. “Well, I’m off to get ready for my date. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck!” Helen yelled after her as she walked out of the room. She was so happy that Syney was moving on. This is what she needed. It broke Helen’s heart to see her a few days after Hunter had left. It had taken a whole week of prodding to even get her out of bed. And now she genuinely seemed excited about this date. Helen would have to ask around about this Adam guy, just to make sure he wasn’t after Syney so he could become king.

Helen piled up the books she was taking out of the library and headed the Leaf’s room. He was getting dinner tonight. She walked right into his room and stopped dead. Leaf was there talking to Reed. They both looked at her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Helen stammered. “I’ll…wrong room. I have to—”

“It’s all right, Princess. Reed was just leaving. I’ll be right with you.” Leaf looked back at Reed. “Keep me posted. If you see or even sense anything suspicious, come to me right away.”

“Yes, sir,” Reed said. He turned to Helen and gave her a bow. “Princess.” He left the room quickly.

Helen stared at Leaf, wide-eyed. “I’m so sorry. I just…I should have knocked.”

“It’s really OK. I told him that I had a meeting with you and that you were coming to get me. Don’t worry. Besides, he knew all about Syney and Hunter and never said a word,” Leaf said, pulling her into an embrace.

“Did he really?”

Leaf nodded. “He at least suspected. But he’s a good Protector and guard.”

“OK,” she said with a sigh. “It just makes me nervous that someone…if anyone finds out…You saw what she did to Hunter. He could have been put to death.”

Leaf kissed the top of her head and cradled her to his chest. “It’ll all be OK, no matter what.” He pulled back. “I’ll go get dinner.”

“Wait, what did you need to talk to Reed about so secretly?”

“Syney has a date tonight with an unknown. I want to make sure she’s all right.”

“An unknown? Really?” Helen asked sarcastically.

“He’s not from the Village. I just want to make sure everything is OK.”