Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (8 page)

“She’s moving on—of course it’s OK. Let go of the leash a little.”

Leaf shook his head. “Not when she’s this important. At least Hunter I trusted. This man I don’t even know.”

Helen rolled her eyes. “Just don’t ruin her date.”

Leaf gave her a quick kiss. “I promise.”

As Helen watched him go, she couldn’t help smile. He was so protective of Syney and even her. Last month, at a council meeting, Elder Thomas was arguing with Helen over some trivial topic, and Leaf jumped down his throat,
maybe a little too hard. Helen had shot a quick glance at her mother, but she was too busy staring down Syney to notice much. Helen sighed and sat down on Leaf’s bed. She was so happy for Syney. She just hoped everything worked out; she was so tired of keeping her own happiness under wraps.

“So I looked around and saw this beast that was more than twice my size. I really didn’t think I was going to make it. I pulled out my knife, which I always keep with me, and I plunged at it. It made a horrifying screech. Winds up I hit it right in the heart. That was one lucky shot. All these near-death experiences have really changed me. I’ve learned to appreciate what I have and what I could have.” Adam reached out and took Syney’s hand in his. “Life could end at any second. We really have to seize the moment. And you’re the most beautiful way to do that.”

Syney stared at him. Was this guy for real? After spending almost an hour getting ready, which involved hair changes, makeup choices, and putting on her new flowing purple cotton dress, she was forced to endure a very long dinner with Adam using his ration of compliments and innuendos. Not to mention at least five stories in which he was the hero, saving others’ lives as well as his own. Syney barely had gotten a word in and was beginning to hate the word
beautiful
. She sighed and started to regret having agreed to the date. He was either trying too hard, or he was the biggest egotist she’d ever met. Not to mention the fact that he had escorted her to the dining hall for dinner. There weren’t many other places to go, but there were at least three that would have been better than here.

As Adam finally ate the last piece of food on his plate, Syney gave an exaggerated yawn. “Oh, my. I’m so tired.” She stood up as he gave her an odd look. “Thank you so much for…the conversation. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Wait. I was hoping we could take a walk through the gardens. I heard they’re beautiful at night,” Adam said, quickly standing and blocking her path.

“Oh, yeah…I don’t think so. Um…Reed!”

Reed rushed over. “Yes, Your Majesty?”

“You’re really tired, right? Long day and all that,” Syney said, giving him a look with wide eyes.

To his credit he picked up her clues quickly and nodded to Adam. “Very long day.”

“Thanks again,” Syney said to Adam. She grabbed Reed’s arm, and the two quickly left the room. “Oh, thank God. And thank you for that.”

“Bad date? It seemed to me like you were talking,” Reed said.

Syney shook her head. “
He
was talking. I was trying to look interested. I mean, who would find stories about killing animals and getting into fights interesting?”

Reed gave her a smile. “I would.”

“But you’re a guy and a Royal Guard.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. But to be honest, that’s the typical kind of conversation around here, even among Magic Users.”

Syney stopped walking and looked at him. “Really?”

Reed nodded. “I guess it’s a Village thing. We like fighting and stuff.”

She frowned. Maybe she had been too hard on Adam. He had started the date by asking some things about her, to which she had given only short answers, mainly because she’d been nervous. Her friend Jess, back in the Human Realm, always had told her that if she was nervous on a date, she was better off talking less than more. So maybe she had caused the bad date. She looked back toward the dining hall.

“We could go back. Blame it on me,” Reed said.

Syney sighed. “No, it’s OK. I guess I’m just not good at this dating thing.”

“Join the club.”

She looked back at him. “But I thought it went well the other day with…what’s her name?”

“Hyacinth. And it did, or at least I thought it did. She was in the dining hall just now, though, and wouldn’t even look at me. I asked her if I did something wrong, and she said no.”

“Did you ask her on a second date?”

“I said we should eat together again.”

Syney shook her head. “I’m bad at this, and even I know you should do something different on your second date.”

Reed’s face fell. “Really? No wonder she didn’t look at me.”

“At least we’re in the same boat,” Syney said, as Adam walked out of the dining hall with Reed’s girl, Hyacinth, in tow.

“Oh, look. They’re right there. Don’t have to look too far,” Adam said as they approached, sending a smile to Syney and Reed.

“Hey,” Syney said unsurely.

“I got to talking to this beautiful guard here,” Adam said, as they stopped in front of them. “And she really wants to go for a walk in the gardens, only I’m not her ideal walking partner.”

Hyacinth, a young girl with long red hair pulled back and sparkling green eyes, smiled at Reed. “Would you like to go with me, Reed?” she asked with a shy smile. “Adam says it’s beautiful in the gardens at night. I’ve only been there during the day.”

Reed looked at Syney, who gave a small nod. Reed gave the girl a big smile and held out his hand for her. Then they slowly walked down the hallway.

Adam offered Syney a small smile and motioned for her to walk with him.

“That was well played,” Syney said to him as they started down the hall.

“I had to do something, considering I must have done something horrible at dinner.”

“Not horrible. It’s just…I don’t know. I’m just not good at this.”

“Talking?”

Syney gave him a look and laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. I think this may be only my second date.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. The first was Billy Lutts when I was a freshman. That was a horrible date. Ended with my mother picking us up from some party and Billy puking in the backseat of the car. He never talked to me again, although in my opinion, I was the one who should have avoided him.”

They reached the entrance of the gardens. Adam was right about it being beautiful. The only light came from a few scattered posts and the bright moonlight.

“I can’t say this was my second date,” Adam said, “but my first ever was pretty horrible as well. She was a bar wench who was amazingly beautiful. Long blond hair, big luscious…eyes.” He glanced at her with a devilish smile. “I took her to this great pub, not the one she worked at, with live music and dancing. We were having a great time when her husband came in.”

“Oh, my God. Did you know she was married?”

“No.”

“What happened?” Syney squealed.

“I thought he was going to take my head off, but instead she yelled at him for leaving the house. She even hit him—not like a slap but a full-on punch. I got out of there so fast and even left town. No way was I getting in the middle of that.”

Syney laughed. “So I guess we’re even in the bad first-date department.”

“Sounds like it.” Adam smiled at her. “What was it like growing up in the Human Realm?”

They walked by a series of trees that looked white in the moonlight. “It’s…much faster. I mean, nothing changes here. Back home you go one year, six months sometimes, and there’s a new faster, shinier invention, most of which are made to make things even faster.”

Adam nodded. “I remember that. I always loved those cars. Much better than horses.”

“So you’ve been?”

“I have an…aunt of sorts who lives there. You wind up having a lot of adoptive relatives when your parents die when you’re young.”

Syney gave him a sad smile. “How young were you?”

He looked away and took a deep breath. Obviously this was a subject he didn’t want to talk about, but Syney loved seeing this other side of him. All night he had seemed to be putting on airs but not right now.

“You don’t have to—”

Adam shook his head. “It’s OK. I was under a year old. I don’t even remember them.”

“I’m so sorry. I would give anything to see my parents again.”

“Your adoptive parents?”

Syney nodded. “They were the only parents I knew.”

They walked up to a large tree at the far end of the garden. Syney looked over and met Reed’s gaze. He sent her a smile and looked back to Hyacinth. “It really is lovely out here,” Syney said.

“I told you.”

Syney laughed. “You’re not used to being wrong, are you?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“You remind me of a friend of mine. You’ll probably see him around. Can’t miss a Vampire in a Magic User Village.”

Adam laughed and looked away. “You don’t say. A Vampire, huh?”

She nodded. “He’s harmless.”

Adam looked back, his face turning serious. “Never underestimate a Vampire.”

Syney took a deep breath. “Got it.” She looked around again. “It’s too dark, though. They should put more lights in.”

Adam surveyed their surroundings before placing his hand on the tree next to them and whispering something. Suddenly the whole tree lit up, casting light on everything.

A few people looked over. “Stop it. You’ll get into trouble,” Syney whispered.

Adam lowered his hand, and the light faded. “Sorry. I forgot magic isn’t popular around here.”

Syney stared at the tree for a moment before looking back at Adam with a smile. “What was that?”

He shrugged. “I conjured light through the tree. It’s pretty simple.”

“Do you think…Can you teach me?”

He grinned. “Absolutely.”

“Really? That’s great. I hate the fact that us Magic Users seem to be afraid of magic.”

“Have you done any?”

She nodded. “The last time I was in the Human Realm. I met a woman who kept all the magic books her family came across.” She paused then added, “It felt amazing.”

“It does.”

Syney bit her lip and stepped closer to him. His approval rating rose each minute. “Do you know a lot more?”

He nodded. “I was raised with magic. It’s common in the neutral territories.”

“Hm. I think this is going to be a beautiful friendship,” Syney said, sliding her arm around his.

They began to stroll through the gardens again. Adam told her about some of the more interesting people he had met on his journey through the neutral territories. He had played cards with a Shifter bear that was a bad bluffer. He had made friends with a gang of Vampires who ran a strip club of sorts in the Human Realm. Syney rolled her eyes at that. She could picture Gabe operating a place like that. After they had talked for hours about their lives, they finally met back up with Reed, who had gotten a good-night kiss only moments before.

Adam patted his back. “Good job, kid.”

Reed, who was beet red and smiling like an idiot, just nodded.

Syney laughed. “Well, I guess this really is good night now.”

Adam’s smile fell, and his face softened. “Actually I want to give you something. But I have to stop by my room first. Can I come by your room in a few minutes?”

Syney gave a nervous laugh and bit her lip. “Um, that’s…probably not a good idea.”

“Nothing intimate…Well, it’ll probably be intimate. Just say yes.”

Syney stared into his brown eyes and got a little lost. She felt her cheeks heat up as she nodded.

“Good,” he said, before taking off.

Syney and Reed walked back to her room, with Reed talking the whole time about Hyacinth. She was so happy for him and told him as much. “And
things went better this time for you, I could tell,” Reed said as they stopped at her door.

She nodded. It definitely had gotten better for her once Adam had opened up and stopped trying to show off. She really liked the man she had walked through the gardens with. He was nice and had been so many places and seen so many things. And he had laid himself out there for her to see. It was a refreshing change from the guarded people who lived in the Village. She was wishing Reed good night as Adam walked up the hall with a bag in his hands.

“I’ll send Poppy in a bit,” Reed said.

“Um, could you have her stay out in the hall tonight?” she asked, knowing full well her face was bright red. There was no way she was sleeping with Adam, but that didn’t mean there might not be a good make-out session involved in the night’s festivities.

Reed gave her a grin and nodded.

“Hey,” Adam said with a smile.

Syney smiled back and led the way into her room. She turned around to awkwardly offer him a seat, but he already was sitting on the floor, pulling out four black candles from his bag.

“Sit down,” he said, placing the candles in front of him in a circle.

Syney sat as he lit them. She felt a rush; she couldn’t help it when magic was involved.

Adam opened a small blue book and read an incantation. “What were your parents’ names?” he asked, looking up at her.

“Joyce and Richard Andrews.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. He repeated the incantation, this time adding both names at the end. He opened his eyes and gazed at her for a moment before looking off at something behind her. He looked back to her and gave a soft smile. “Good night, Syney.” He got up and left without another word.