Endless Night (Fate's Intent Book 3) (35 page)

All we had was a couch or two but Jaylyn didn’t seem to let the limited availability affect her mood. She pushed me back on one and proceeded to climb over me, directing her lips to meet mine. It was hard to think of anything else from here except that she was mine and I was about to lay claim to her again. Maybe I didn’t realize it or we’ve just been in too close of quarters with everyone else lately that I haven’t had time with her like this in a few days. It made it that much more special to me that she was mine and always would be.

Chapter 56

Adele

Training withered to less and less by late afternoon.

Zayden and I were first to gather outside around a fire while Jaylyn and Troy were still inside. I wasn’t about to be the one to go get them but eventually we didn’t have to. They came out on their own and joined us, stuck together at the hip.

It was nice to see her this way rather than this morning but now were just waiting for Ruby and Darius to be done.

We could hear the sounds off in the distance. Loud echoing shrieks of wood cracking and stones shattering didn’t exactly make the moment relaxing. Jaylyn would jump in Troy’s arms whenever a sound got louder and I knew she was becoming irritable from having to listen to it.

“Please don’t.” I said.

“He’s doing it on purpose. I know he is.”

“He’s training him. It’d seem less annoying if you didn’t think Kole lives his life to annoy you.”

“He kind of does though.”

I let out a long sigh, keeping my eyes on Jaylyn. She wasn’t always like this with Kole around, just recently when she’s with Troy and it was really starting to get to me. “Go ahead and say whatever you want but Kole is in our life and that’s obviously not about to change. It’d be better for everyone if you just accept it now.”

“Whose side are you on?”

“The side of truth. You don’t really want what you think you do. Kole gone means he’d take Ellie with him and everyone should know by now that you’d never want that.”

Jaylyn finally sat quiet in Troy’s arms and kept her face blank, her eyes staring into the fire so she wouldn’t cry. I didn’t mean to sound so—mean but it was the truth and she had to hear it from someone.

“It’s okay.” Troy muttered. “We’ll deal with it.”

“I only don’t want him around because of you. He’s unstable.”

“Kole is many things.” Ruby laughed as she approached alone. “But it’s lucky for you that firstly and most importantly, he’s loyal.”

Jaylyn laughed. “Loyal?”

“Not to you, obviously but to Trever and he would never allow Kole to harm them.”

“You seem pretty certain about that.” Zayden said.

“I know Trever. You haven’t noticed that he’s been the least hateful towards you? It’s because they’re planning something and you need to be alive.”

“Did Kole tell you this?” I asked.

Ruby shrugged and took a seat. “He didn’t really have to. If it was the plan, they would have been dead the moment they stepped into the city.”

“Then why give us the test if they already decided?”

“Why do they do anything they do?”

“Hey, Red! Come back here!”

Chapter 57

Ruby

I sighed to Kole’s voice and slowly got up after finally getting the chance to sit down. I was ready to kill him. “That was pretty pointless.” I walked back through the trees to find Muscles and Kole standing together. “What now? Torturing me all day wasn’t enough for you? Now you have to do more?”

Kole laughed. “No and that wasn’t torture. This is completely serious. We were just—”

“Let me do it.” Muscles cut in, taking a step forward. “Alone. Please.”

Kole looked between us and nodded. “I suppose that would be best. Just give me her answer when you have it.”

Muscles nodded and Kole left us to talk. At first we were just standing here, listening to Kole’s footsteps getting farther and farther away.

“What’s going on?” I finally asked.

“Can we sit?” Muscles went over to one of the fallen trees closest to him and sat down, waiting for me.

My look was even more confused and maybe even a little worried but I went to him and took up the empty space beside him. “What?”

Muscles had his eyes on the ground in front of him and waited through a long pause before he started to answer without looking over. “I’ve talked with Kole more in depth about what I could do to you if we—got intimate again and I’ve agreed to his plan but he thought maybe we should run it by you first.”

I was watching him through his words but when he stopped and finally looked up, I had to look away because I knew what he was asking. “You mean testing your control with other women?”

“Yes.”

“And you really want to?”

“It’s not that I want to, it’s just—remember this morning when I came into the room and kissed you?”

“Of course I remember that.” Who would forget? It was the most perfect spontaneous kiss I’ve ever got.

“I could tell that you were surprised by it and everyone else seemed to be too.”

“I really was. It wasn’t something I’d expect you to just do. Why? What’s wrong?”

Muscles lifted his head again and looked right into my eyes. His were alive with fire and I couldn’t look away. “I dreamt about us last night and the night we had to part. It seemed peaceful at first, perfect but then everything changed. We were in your room and the bed was covered in blood. You were laying in the middle of it while I stood over you—you were looking at me but you weren’t looking at me. You were dead and it was my fault.” He looked away, closing his eyes like he was ashamed for even dreaming about it.

“It’s all right.” I said, leaning towards him for comfort. “I’m right here. I’m not dead.”

“But you could be!” He snatched, lifting his head with his words. “If I don’t know how to control the strength this way, you could be! I never want to see you like that again!”

He startled me a little and I just tried to think this through. “Okay. All right. All right. Okay. If this is something you think you have to do to protect me than go ahead. I don’t want you to feel this way. I don’t want you to be scared to get close to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I just—” I had to speak the truth. “I don’t want to be anywhere where I can hear what’s happening. I don’t want to know.”

“I at least hope you know that I don’t want to do this either.”

“But you’ll have to want to if it’ll work at all.”

“I understand that but what I’m saying is that I wish it wasn’t necessary, I wish it could be you. I just can’t risk that right now.”

“I know. Just―don’t like it too much, okay?”

He smiled for the first time. “I won’t. Doing this will just get one more thing out of the way for us to really be together. That’s what I want and I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“I know it sounded like I was joking but I guess I’m just not really sure how to respond. You’ll be making love to another woman. Some part of me is telling me that I shouldn’t allow that.”

“It won’t be love. I’d never think of it that way. It’d just be like—”

He paused but I knew what he wanted to say. “Like how you used to do things?”

“Kind of, except Kole says that I probably wouldn’t even finish before she’s dead and would have to move on to the next one.”

“Okay! That’s enough!” Whoa! No! I sprung right up to my feet and took a few steps away. I wasn’t—no. “I don’t need to hear about it!”

“All right, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“No. It’s fine. I just don’t want to hear about it.”

“Okay. I’m sorry. I guess I’ll find Kole and let him know.”

“You do that. I’m sure he’ll be excited for you.”

“Ruby—”

“No. No. Don’t let me stop you. I’m not standing in your way.”

“This is for us.”

“Yeah. For us. I get it. Just go find him.” I walked off before he could have replied and I just wanted to get away. Of course I hated it. What would he think? That I’d be excited that he’s doing this for us? Definitely not.

I made it back to the fire but it was quiet and all eyes were on me.

“You okay?” Zayden asked.

“Fine.” I sat back down where I was before, keeping my eyes on the ground and responses short.

“What’d they want?” Jaylyn asked.

They couldn’t let it go, could they but I couldn’t even come to say it. “I’m sure you’ll find out.”

Footsteps traced towards us and the sound of Kole’s laugh echoed. “Well, that’s all that really matters. I’ll bring them here straight away. It’s not really that far. In the meantime, relax. It won’t go that badly. Trust me.”

“I’m finding that hard to do actually.” Muscles said.

“Just start relaxing. I promise I won’t let you down. They’ll be perfectly doable.”

Kole disappeared behind the shack and only made things worse because I knew what he was doing.

“Is he leaving?” Adele asked.

Muscles sat next to me but I couldn’t even look at him. “Yeah.”

“Let me guess, more women?”

Why was I still sitting here, taking this? I saw Muscles glanced towards me like he expected me to react. “Yup.”

“It’s funny.” Zayden said. “He kind of made it sound like he’s getting them for you.”

Not helping!

“They are for me.”

“What?!” Adele shouted.

Definitely not helping! I had to leave. I couldn’t take it anymore. I got up from where I was sitting without a word and just walked away. I couldn’t take another sound out of them talking about it without me killing them. I just—I just wanted to die myself.

Chapter 58

Zayden

Ruby just got up and left. Whatever this was about, she clearly didn’t even like hearing it.

“I hope I didn’t just make it worse.” Adele muttered.

Darius laughed only briefly. “No. She knows.”

“Then you’re serious?” Jaylyn asked. “He’s getting them for you?”

“You sound surprised. You were sitting there when he explained what would need to be done.”

“But I didn’t think you’d agree.”

Darius sighed and looked down like he was disappointed about it already. “I didn’t want to—at first but I don’t want it to be her.”

“What to be her?” Troy asked.

“The one I kill. I’ve already seen it once. I won’t let it be true.”

A dream I assume. I guess none of us were really seeing how dangerous he could be but he seemed to know and I started to smile in hopes to change the mood. “It’ll be just like old times then, huh?”

Darius looked over with a smile but Adele cut into it, hitting me in the chest. “Don’t encourage this. It’s wrong and he shouldn’t have agreed.”

“It’s the only option.” Darius argued. “I won’t let it be her but I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“I’m thinking about what this will do to Ruby. She’s just supposed to sit by while Kole inflicts his ridiculous theories on you?”

“It’s no theory.” Every head around the fire turned and Madam Carla was standing beyond it with her eyes blankly forward.

“It isn’t?” Jaylyn asked.

“Tried to tell you.” Darius said.

“It’s what must be done.” Madam Carla went on. “There may be some consequences, yes but the consequence of losing Ruby before her time is far greater. A risk, no one here should be willing to take.”

“Fine.” Adele muttered. “But I still don’t have to like it.”

“And I’m sure you won’t. Just let things be as they are. Kole knows what he’s doing. I trust in every decision he makes on this.”

“All right. I’m going inside. Someone should be with her while Darius murders a few women.”

I just knew he bit his tongue so he wouldn’t say anything back and Jaylyn started to part from Troy and get up herself. “Maybe I should too. I know how to distract her the best.”

Adele laughed to herself, waiting for Jaylyn to reach her side. “I don’t think she’ll need much help to be angry.” Adele’s eyes met Darius’s with a smile before she turned completely with Jaylyn and they went inside.

“They’re never going to see right in this, are they?”

“From a woman’s point of view, it’d be hard for them to accept.” Madam Carla said. “Even Ruby may need her time.”

“Could have used that information sooner.”