Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (18 page)

Syney looked up at the ceiling and wiped her wet face. Then she returned her gaze to Gabe. “Do you even care about me at all?” she whispered. “He loved me, and I loved him. It was more than some stupid little relationship.”

“Does it really even matter?” Adam yelled.

They all looked at him.

“To me, it does,” Syney snapped.

“He still left, so what does it matter? And for the record, I would have chosen death if it meant leaving you,” Adam said.

Syney looked away from him with a shake of her head.

Noelle didn’t know who looked the most miserable, Syney or Adam. Their faces were wet with tears, and they looked as if they’d been through the ringer. Adam finally shook his head and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Syney just doesn’t understand
, Noelle thought.
She’s angry and needs time
. Noelle decided against going after Adam and telling him that very thing. She needed to be here for Syney and Gabe right now. She just wasn’t sure who needed her more.

“From now on, you tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll decide if it’s the right thing,” Syney said. “You OK with that?”

“No,” Gabe said.

“Good.” Syney walked out of the room without looking at Noelle at all.

This wasn’t good. Noelle knew she had to go talk to her but hesitated. Gabe went to the bed and sat down heavily. She walked over and sat next to him, taking his hand in hers.

“More than a hundred years of planning, and everything is in the hands of an emotionally driven, majorly pissed-off nineteen-year-old,” he said.

Noelle squeezed his hand and put her chin on his shoulder. “She’ll calm down. And she isn’t as dumb or blind as you think she is. She’ll see the big picture if you show it to her.”

“Maybe, but I don’t like things I can’t control, not when it comes to this.”

“Let me talk to her and see what I can do.”

Gabe kissed her softly. “I’m glad that you’re here and that I met you.”

She smiled at him. “Me too.” She gave him a quick kiss before leaving the room.

Noelle figured Syney would go to her room; she probably was out on the balcony. It was her preferred place for sulking. Sure enough, Syney was sitting on the bench on the balcony, staring out at the Village. She didn’t acknowledge Noelle as she walked over to the railing, leaned against it, and looked at Syney.

“You can hate me and Adam, but I need you to listen to one thing,” Noelle said.

Syney glanced at her but looked away quickly.

“When what you are is a death sentence in every territory in the Realm, you get really good at lying. And there may be times when you find someone you fall in love with or befriend, and there’s this little voice in your head that tells you that you can finally come clean with someone, tell him or her your secret. But your voice of reason, the one that keeps you alive, gets much louder than that little voice and wins out. It’s horrible when you lie to stay alive, but it’s what you have to do. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you enough to tell you. But for me it’s been a way of life.” Noelle felt the tears fall down her cheeks and wiped them away. She didn’t expect Syney to say anything in response and left soon after saying her piece. Noelle knew Syney needed time to think things through. She hadn’t only found out Noelle and Adam’s secrets but one of her own, which changed everything. At least Noelle had known what she was her entire life. Syney just found out that she was part of the race that had tried to kill her less than a year ago. Everything she knew was gone and replaced with something that was much more painful to understand.

Noelle went back to Gabe’s room. She knew going to him would help her at least forget about some of the night. At least she hoped it would.

Syney leaned forward on the couch and smiled at Reed, who frowned back at her. “How are you today?” she asked him.

“Fine.”

“That’s good. How’s Hyacinth?”

“Fine.”

Syney kept the smile pasted on her lips. She had been forcing a smile the whole morning, and her cheeks were finally starting to hurt. She hoped her face wouldn’t stay this way permanently. It wouldn’t only be embarrassing but also a total lie. She was no longer a happy person. Her whole life had been turned upside down, and she felt as though her best friend and boyfriend had betrayed her. In short, life sucked.

“Is something wrong?” Reed asked.

“Nope.”

“You sure? Because you’re creeping me out.”

Syney sighed and let the fake smile fall. “All right, I have to level with you. I need your help, and you’re not going to like it.”

“What do you need?” Reed asked, leaning forward.

“Some things have happened, and I need to leave the Village for a bit. I know this isn’t the ideal thing to do, and I’ll work on Leaf to get permission. But I…need you. And I can’t tell you much; in fact I don’t want to. You really
don’t need to be pulled into this whole mess. But I need a Protector to come with me, no questions asked,” Syney said.

Reed nodded. “I’ve been waiting for this actually.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. And I know the most direct route. I don’t even think we’ll have to tell Commander Leaf. We can get out to the front lines and back in maybe a day. But we could stay longer if you want,” Reed said quickly.

“The front lines?” Syney asked.

“To see Hunter.”

Syney stopped and genuinely smiled. This kid was good. She really thought he didn’t know about her and Hunter. She clearly didn’t have to worry about him telling her secret. But she still didn’t feel comfortable saying anything more about Hunter. “That’s not what this is about.”

“Oh. Then where do you want to go?”

“To the Human Realm. And I’m going to be meeting with a Daemon.”

Reed sat back and stared at her with wide eyes. “Are you nuts?”

“No, I’m not. This is…important, and I have to do it. I want to end the war, and this might be the only way to do that.”

Reed sat quietly, looking at her for a moment, before finally nodding. “OK. But you’re going to Commander Leaf and getting permission.”

Syney nodded. “I’ll go right now. Thank you.”

“Thank me after you get permission.”

Syney chuckled as she stood. “You know, you’re starting to sound like Hunter.”

Reed stood and looked at her. “I learned from the best.”

She sighed and nodded. “Yes, you did.”

The two walked to the Lycin gym, where daily training was underway. Syney noticed how much smaller the group was now that extra Protectors had been called up and a good number of guards were out on missions. A cold chill ran up her spine. She didn’t like the idea of so many guards being out of the palace. It would be a good time for someone to attack, in her opinion. She waved at Leaf, who moved across the gym to join her and Reed near the door.

“Your Majesty,” Leaf said with a bow. “What can I do for you?”

“I was hoping for a word in private,” Syney said.

Leaf frowned in concern. “Is something wrong?”

“No. I just need a favor.”

He nodded. “Reed, could you lead the next drills?”

The younger wolf smiled at the opportunity and nodded. He headed into the gym as Leaf led Syney to a small room across from the gym. It looked like
a small meeting room and had only a table and couple of chairs. Leaf leaned against the table and crossed his arms, waiting for her to ask her favor.

Syney smiled at him nervously. This was harder than she thought it would be. She needed to figure out how much she actually wanted to tell him. She settled on the bare minimum. “I’d like permission to take Reed and leave the Village for a few days.”

He stared at her but didn’t say anything.

“Um, I need to…go to the Human Realm. I have some unfinished business to take care of.”

Leaf remained silent but cocked his head to the side.

“It’s an emergency. Needs to be done.”

He looked away from her and at his feet.

Syney frowned at his silence, unsure what else to say. “So can I go?”

He looked back up at her. “Yes. Take your other Protectors with you.”

“No, I won’t need them. I’ll have Reed and Gabe. As well as Adam and Noelle. Trust me, I’ll be fine.”

Leaf nodded. “OK.”

Syney was about to leave, but she just had to ask. “Why are you letting me go?”

“Do you not want me to?”

“No, I do. It’s just odd.”

He sighed. “You wouldn’t have asked if it weren’t important. And I like the fact that you did ask instead of just going.”

She smiled. “OK. And thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Is there anything else?”

Syney bit her lip. There was one thing that had been on her mind, and Leaf was the only one she could ask. She looked up at him. “Is he ever coming back?”

Leaf looked at her with sad eyes. “Probably. But not anytime soon.”

“And when he comes back…he won’t be my Protector anymore.”

He shook his head. “No, not unless he asks for that job. And I don’t think he will.”

Syney nodded. “Thank you for helping him…avoid death and all that.”

Leaf glanced away. “Hunter is as much a brother to me as Lake is. I did what any brother would.”

They stood in silence for a moment before Syney took a deep breath. “I’ll check in when I get back. We’re leaving in the morning.”

“OK. I’ll tell the queen you went to the Great Lake or something. I don’t think she’ll care much.”

“Sounds good. Thank you again.”

Leaf nodded as Syney walked out of the room. She grabbed Reed, and they started to make arrangements. All they needed was a few horses and food for the journey. Syney wanted to hunt down Noelle or Adam or even Gabe but decided on spending the day alone. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about everything that had happened, and another day to think on it sounded like a good thing.

The patrols had turned into search parties, and the morale in camp had fallen. Hunter looked over as Fern helped a limping Ivy through camp and began to regret not taking the death sentence the queen had offered. If they didn’t find Cass—and soon—he was certain he would be put to death anyway, so what did it matter if it had occurred a few months before?

“What happened?” he asked, deflated.

“It was stupid,” Ivy said through gritted teeth. “I was rushing, trying to cover more ground, and some rocks came loose below me.”

“Eight-foot drop,” Fern said dryly.

“You need to get to the medical tent,” Hunter said, motioning a male guard to take over for Fern.

“I’ll be fine. I still have time on my patrol.”

“Your leg might be broken. It’s swollen enough.”

Ivy shook her head. “She was my responsibility. If I don’t find her…”

Hunter stepped closer to her. “She was my responsibility, not yours. Now go. See what they can do in the medical tent.”

Ivy nodded and limped off.

“You should be sterner with her. Maybe a beating.”

Hunter looked at Fern. He wasn’t totally shocked by the comment. He had learned that Fern followed the old way of thinking when it came to the guards. He shook his head and looked away from her.

“A good commander has control over his people. The princess should never have been allowed to leave camp, and those responsible for protecting her should be punished. She’s obviously dead, and someone will need to be brought before the queen.”

Hunter took a deep breath and noticed more than a few faces turn toward them. He grabbed Fern’s arm and pulled her into the command tent. “What was that?”

Fern’s entire face turned hard. “This whole operation is poorly run. You can’t be an effective leader if you rule with emotions. If a wolf steps out, you handle him or her. You keep everyone in line and set the standard as a leader. You do none of that.”

Hunter gritted his teeth and stepped within inches of her. “You have no idea what it takes to be a good leader. I was chosen for this mission for a reason.”

“Because you couldn’t keep it out of the seated queen.”

He squeezed his fists tightly but kept them at his sides. “Leaf asked me to do this before all that, but I turned him down. The reason you’re not commander is because we actually want wolves alive by the end of this.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”