Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5) (32 page)

“Of course. You probably would have noticed if she was gone.”

“What exactly did you do?” I asked. “Ask her how to have a baby without getting pregnant?”

Trever laughed and glanced towards Jaylyn. “Basically but made sure to stress how it was not for me and she agreed to help.”

“Though the news wasn’t actually as easy as I thought it’d be.” Jaylyn sighed.

“Well, what did you expect?” Trever asked. “That even Madam Carla could give life by saying so?”

“I was hoping.”

“That’s much more difficult for the time frame you wanted.”

“So, what happened?” Ruby asked. “What did she tell you?”

“She told me it was possible but risky. Jay would still need a part of herself to make it work.”

“Like giving up her goods?”

Trever laughed to Ruby’s humorous expression. “I don’t think we really need to fully discuss how it is a woman’s body works. She basically just needed one of her eggs.”

The men looked down at their plates to the steaming eggs they had already begun to eat and a stomach-churning expression grew on their faces.

“Thanks a lot.” Jaylyn said. “And they’re not anything like that.”

“No.” Trever agreed with a laugh. “They’re more like this.” He crumbled some of his bread and let a few crumbs drop on the table’s surface in front of him.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I was there when Ryon cut them out of her.”

“Ryon knew?”

I looked over at Jaylyn and she merely nodded. “I wanted it to be done and live and I didn’t want anyone else to find out.”

Ruby smiled and leaned forward, getting into the story. “Tell us how you did it!”

“Well, some of my eggs were harvested just in case our first attempt failed then one was transferred into the other woman and Kole, well, I don’t need to tell you how that worked out. You should know him by now. He requested to do it the fun way.”

Everyone shared in a quiet laugh.

“Then I basically spent the next couple of weeks waiting anxiously to see if it worked and it did.”

“I can’t believe we had no idea about this.” I said. “You think we would have noticed the odd behavior.”

“We did very well to hide it, even if it had to be from you. I’m sorry.”

“So, she was yours. I knew it.” Zayden said. “Is the woman who carried her still alive?”

“We couldn’t risk anyone knowing, what do you think?”

“Then she is dead.”

There was a pause and Jaylyn looked over at Trever. “It’s all right. Take as long as you need.”

Jaylyn took a deep breath and tried to hold back from crying. I’ve seen the expression before. “She’s the one that came to me that night. She was going to have the baby, my baby any day and she wanted to talk. We went somewhere private where she told me she couldn’t do it. She grew attached and she didn’t want to give it up. I couldn’t let that happen. That baby was mine. I might have been a little more subtle if she told me in a public place but we were all alone and consequently, she forgot who I was.”

“So, I’m guessing the killing went the same.” Ruby said.

Jaylyn looked over at Trever again as he was lifting his glass to his mouth. “Don’t look at me. I’m not doing it.”

Jaylyn sighed and looked back at us. “Actually, no. It was worse. I was so angry that she wanted to go back on her word that I made her pay. I took the baby from her womb while she was still alive and I left her there to die. She needed to think about where she went wrong.”

“Oh.” Ruby muttered. “Sorry I asked.”

“Like it really mattered. She was taken from me anyway.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Aleksander said. “You couldn’t have known.”

Jaylyn let out a laugh of frustration, agreeing.

“And at least you know she’s happy.” I said. “What more could you want then that?”

Jaylyn’s eyes became glassy but not enough to shed a tear. “How about her here where I can hold her again? Watch her grow into an image of myself. Losing a child is worse than losing someone else close to you. She wasn’t supposed to go before me. It’s not fair. You don’t know what it feels like.”

“But you can see her anytime you want.” Trever said. “You have that power. Find something that will draw her to you and you’ll always have it.”

“It wouldn’t be the same.”

“Perhaps better than cutting her out completely. She wants you to live happy and you know you won’t that way.”

“But what? I don’t know what would work.”

We looked around at each other, trying to come up with an idea and Troy was first to get up. “What about this?” He walked around the table to a sheet covering some furniture by the window and pulled it off in one clean motion, revealing a stunning grand piano that lied beneath.

“You play?” Ruby asked.

“Well, it’s not sitting here for no reason.”

Darius laughed quietly. “He has the girlie hands.”

Troy just rolled his eyes and started playing a slow melody. Jaylyn must have known it because she smiled and closed her eyes to just listen while mouthing silent words.

“Wait a second.” Trever interrupted, making Troy stop and look up. “Where have you heard that?”

“It’s the song Jaylyn sang to get Ellie to fall asleep the night she stayed with us.”

“Where did you hear it?”

Jaylyn shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess, I’ve just always known it. Why?”

“Father used to sing that song to you when you were a baby.”

“Oh. I guess I remembered.” She got up from the table and walked to Troy. “Play it again. I think you might be on to something.”

Troy started playing it again as Jaylyn sat to his left and laid her head on his shoulder while she started humming. A curious giggle filled the room from all angles.

Chapter 42

Jaylyn

The giggling started to fade and Ellie appeared on top of the piano with her chin resting on her hands and her feet crossed at the ankles up in the air. “I knew you’d find a way, mama! Miss me already?”

“I miss you every time you turn your back.”

“Well, then I won’t do that anymore!”

It was true. My mood seemed to be lightened from the last few minutes just by hearing Ellie’s own happiness. “It was actually Troy’s idea.”

Ellie got a big smile on her face and looked at him. “Oh, can you play it again? Please, oh, please?”

He laughed. “Of course I will.”

Ellie smiled again as she stayed where she was and he started playing again. She hummed along and I just watched her. I realized that I truly was happy and now that I could see her this way anytime I wanted, I started to feel better. It’d be better than not seeing her at all. I had to have known that all along.

Troy played through the song one time and Ellie clapped her hands together at the end. “I love that song! You play it as well as mama sings it!”

“Where’s your father? You didn’t come here alone, did you?”

“Don’t worry, mama. I can’t get lost. He always knows where I am and if I was in danger, he could get to me in a second.”

“Danger?” Everyone at the table was curious too. “What danger?”

She sat up and looked around. Troy and I looked at each other and Ellie moved herself in an instant. Everyone looked around for her as we got up from the piano and did the same. I found Ellie crouched down in the corner by the door.

I was still confused and tried to approach her. “Ellie? What danger?”

She looked up and I could tell she was afraid of something. Then Ellie moved herself again and was standing at the other end of the table. “The Dark Ones.” She jerked her head to the right and screamed. “Daddy!”

In another instant, Ellie was wrapped up in Kole’s arms with her face hidden in his chest. “Shh, it’s okay, baby. They can’t reach you here.”

“Kole?” Trever wondered. “What’s going on?”

“Something you won’t have to worry about for a while.”

“Well, tell us anyway.” I said, worried by Ellie’s sudden frightened behavior. “Who are the Dark Ones?”

“It doesn’t concern you, Jay.”

“She’s afraid. I want to know why.”

Kole sighed and kept Ellie in his arms. “Who do you think they are? They’re all the bad people once from this world. A good portion killed by the ones sitting at this table.”

“But why is she so afraid of them?” Adele asked.

“They’ve been seeking full power over our world for centuries and they’ve been failing but now they have a new leader. They call her the Black Witch. Guess who? She left this world recently and has always been power hungry.”

“Arianna.”

“Yes. She changed their strategy and set her focus on Ellie.”

“What? Why?” I wondered, only starting to worry more.

“Did you tell them?”

“Yes.”

“Then I can tell you. She’s special. Nothing like anyone has ever seen. Ellie is a soul pure of heart who hasn’t been corrupted by war and is also of royal blood. This makes her greater than anyone. The Black Witch knows this and wants to use Ellie to get to those who resist. She’s the one that brought her here.”

“But how could she know?” Adele asked.

“Look at her. She looks so much like Jay that it’s scary and if she knew that then she figured out she was of royal blood because her fate was written to end only by the rightful person to take her place and that was Trever. She put it together easily but luckily she didn’t get to Ellie in time and that just makes her seek her powers more.”

“What do you mean by powers?” Ruby asked.

“In our world everyone has them. Some are greater than others. It’s almost like you. Everyone in this room has a particular power but take them all and then some and put them into one soul; that’s what we have.”

“Oh, I see.” Ruby said kind of smugly. “So, you’re a hundred times better than what you were before.”

He smiled confidently of course. “Something like that. The Dark Ones have planned to use Ellie’s powers against everyone else but they won’t ever get to her with us protecting her.”

“Who’s us?” Adele asked.

“When Ellie—well, when she arrived in our world, there were some there who automatically knew who she was. Those who still care about the living world, for reasons of their own, swore to protect her against the Dark Ones for eternity and the league of her protectors was created.”

“Does this league have a leader?”

“It’s more of a council really. The Elders, they’re called.”

“Who are they?” Troy wondered.

There was a pause and Kole looked around the table. “I’m not sure if I should. It seems you’re forgetting you’re talking to someone that’s dead.”

Darius chuckled. “It’s really not that shocking anymore. We’re getting used to the unusual happening.”

“All right. If you all promise me no tears, I’ll tell you.”

Everyone looked around at each other and Adele answered. “Deal. We want to know.”

“Well, to tell a long list in the least amount of words, everyone here has lost someone close to them. They’re all a part of the Elders. Highly unbelievable due to the war this world caused but ours has its own and it has caused them to come together.”

“And they really have no problem doing this for eternity?” Zayden wondered.

“What else is there, really? It gives us a purpose again. Protecting Ellie is our top priority. A fight is coming but the league is ready. They’re stronger.”

Ruby laughed. “A fight? Can lost souls really hurt other souls?”

Kole laughed too. “Well, that might be a little harder to explain. A fight in our world is strictly a power fight. With the right amount of effort and the right technique a soul can be—well, I don’t want to use killed, that’s the wrong word. Um, they can be destroyed, meaning we don’t see them in our world again.”

“So, is the fight going to be dangerous?” I asked.

“The Elders don’t seem worried. Bryce says we’ve got the advantage with Ellie.”

My eyes got wide. “You’ve seen my father?”

“Yeah. He’s at the head of the Elders. Ellie is his granddaughter after all. He won’t let the Black Witch a hundred miles near her. Although, I highly doubt she’ll be in the fight. You know how she is. He’s just hoping it doesn’t spill over on your turf.”

“What do you mean?” Zayden asked.

“Bringing the fight to your world. Our powers are limited here.”

Suddenly, Ellie lifted her head off Kole’s chest and there was a pause. “Daddy, they’re coming.”

“Are you sure?”

“I can feel them.”

“Then we have to go.”

“Wait!” I stood up when Kole was about to turn away. “If they’re after her, you should leave her here.”

“I can’t. We need her there to get them to fight. We can feel each other’s presence, if they sense she’s not with us, they’ll back down and look for her. What are you going to do if they come here? You won’t be able to fight them so I have to take her.”