Despairing Tides (Fate's Intent Book 12) (4 page)

Chapter 7

Bryce

I made Naomi wait up with me that night, convinced that Ellie was going to come visit us. She said she would. I just didn’t know when.

“Are you sure she meant tonight?”

Before I could even answer I felt that strange presence again and smiled. “Yes. See?” Ellie appeared standing in the room and I stood up. “There you are. It’s about time.”

Ellie smiled as she walked over. “Sorry it’s so late. I forgot that you sleep.”

“You don’t sleep?” It sounded odd.

“No. We don’t eat either. We have lots of free time when you cut out those two factors.”

“Oh, well that’s fine. I would have waited all night.”

Ellie smiled again. “I hope you don’t mind, Ryon wouldn’t let me go without him.”

“He’s here?” I looked around but saw nothing.

Ellie looked too and sighed. “Come on.” Ryon appeared at her side and let out a breath. “You wanted to say something?”

Ryon looked right at me like this was something they talked about before coming here. “I’m sorry about my earlier attitude. I didn’t mean to come off as—aversive. I’m sometimes overly protective of Ellie.”

“It’s all right. I understand why and now that you’re both here, I want to introduce Naomi.” I held out my hand to her and she took it as she got up and joined me. “She’s what you would call my mate.”

“Oh, you can use that.” Naomi smiled. “I like the sounds of it better. It sounds rough and eternal like you own me.”

Ryon laughed. “Hello, again, Naomi. It seems we have a mutual interest in the same family.”

I haven’t mentioned it yet and I knew she was surprised. “You’re mates?”

“Still getting used to it.” I said.

“And what’s wrong with me, Bryce?”

I laughed. “Nothing. It’s just you were there throughout my childhood and apparently have been with my sister through most of it.”

“Being dead gives us a different perspective on time, I guess.”

Ellie laughed. “This probably happened because I had a crush on him when I was alive.”

“You did?” Naomi asked happily.

“He was there a lot when it came to raising me. I guess I just couldn’t let that go.”

Ryon took her under his arm and laughed. “I’m glad.”

We laughed and spent time together until the early hours of the morning. It was difficult but we couldn’t even talk about it with the others that day. It made it easier just to listen to other conversations.

By the time dusk came, we were completely successful not to mention our night with Ellie even when we spent time around my mother in the lounge.

“Oh hey, Trever.” Ruby said as he walked in and sat down across from her. “You didn’t happen to see Darius out there did you?”

“No, I’m sorry I haven’t been able to formally greet my good friend since he arrived with all the other things that have been happening.”

My mother laughed to herself. “He is not your friend. He hates you.”

“What?” Trever sarcastically reacted. “What did I do to deserve that?”

“You know what.” Ruby replied with a glare.

“Oh, because we’ve visited all the same places?”

“Do I have to tell you the same thing every time we meet? He will kill you. Do you understand that?” She got up before she got too angry and started walking around the couch.

“Oh, where are you going?”

“I’m going to find him before he finds you and you then do something incredibly stupid.”

It was odd but they never really had a conversation like that in front of us before and I had to ask. “Uncle, what’s the deal with you and Darius anyway? We know he hates you but never knew why.”

Trever looked over at my mother and she turned to me. “That’s a road we really shouldn’t be going down.”

“Oh, come on, Jay. We mustn’t keeps secrets among family. We both know how that turns out.”

“First of all, you’re probably still doing it and secondly, it’s not a secret. I just don’t think it should be brought up is all.”

“What harm is it going to do?”

“A number of things to you if he finds out you’re talking about it.”

Honestly, they were just fueling our curiosity by talking like this. They should have known but thankfully, uncle was going to explain something. Maybe he realized we were old enough for it.

“Everything will be fine. It can be quick.”

“Fine, go ahead but I warned you.”

Trever smiled to ignore her and looked at the rest of us. “Okay. You wanted to know so I’ll tell you. This all started way back before any of you were born. Your parents found each other through love the way Fate intended and everyone was happy. Then they came here and that’s when your father’s found out about us. Us being, myself, Ryon and Kole. Now, part of this you already know. Ryon was with Adele, Kole with Jay and the part that’s never talked about was me and Red.”

“But weren’t you married?” Dirk asked.

“That’s a longer story. I was your mother’s sent protector so I had to be around her and that’s how she chose it to be. Now, Zayden and Troy got over the brief mishaps with Ryon and Kole but Darius, now he’s the exception to the rule. He hated me from the second he heard my voice. I really wish you could have seen it because it was so clear. He knew about the prior years she spent in my bed and he instantly formed a lasting hate for me that he has yet to let go of. Every time he sees me, something goes off inside his head to turn into a deranged, militant sociopath with a heavy desire to kill me but as the years went on he just stopped showing it. More so kept it to himself, if you will but he still wants the same things he did back then. To see me dead but I can luckily say, that has yet to happen. I’d love to see him try though.”

“Is that an invitation?” We were all jumped to see Darius standing ten feet behind Trever while cracking his knuckles.

We didn’t know what to do. Honestly, I was getting a bit scared by his stare.

“Hello, Darius.” Trever said as he has yet to turn around. “We were just talking about you and no, it wasn’t.”

He turned around to see him holding his right fist with his left hand. “Well, what a shame. You had me all prepared.”

Trever laughed as he stood up. “And I thought you would have put it aside by now.” He started walking around the couch towards Darius and I was just getting more nervous about it. “But I was wrong and here we are almost twenty years later and your still hanging on to it.”

“Some things never change.”

“Indeed. Like you still believe you could win against me.”

“Don’t believe I can. I know I can.”

“Your confidence exceeds you. It’d be best if you abide to your own limitations.”

Darius got madder as he reached back behind him and pulled out his sword. We immediately jumped up and rushed over to do—something, I guess.

Trever was backed up all the way to the couch and my mother got in between them. “No, Darius! Put it away!”

He started to calm down a little bit upon her words but Trever changed that quickly by smiling while speaking. “Darius, silenced by a woman and not even your own.”

That pushed him over the edge and his anger risen. “Sorry Jaylyn but I’m not letting him get away with that.”

My mother put her hand on his chest and tried to stop him from moving forward but she couldn’t hold him. “Dirk! I need you to intervene now!”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Get him out of here!”

Dirk stepped in with her and used his strength to try and take Darius away but Darius was using his strength right back and they weren’t getting anywhere. “Father, let up! It’s not worth it!”

“This is not your concern, son. Leave!” Out of nowhere, Darius somehow heightened his strength over Dirk’s and pushed both him and my mother aside.

I went to help my mother up and Dirk just seemed utterly amazed with what just happened but was also getting angry. “No!” His eyes turned red when Darius was about to swing his sword toward Trever.

Dirk quickly got up and grabbed his father’s wrist and stopped the swing while fire ignited off nearly his entire back. Darius started to get weak, enough to drop his sword and fell to his knees.

“Dirk! Enough!” My mother shouted. Dirk let go as his eyes changed back and Darius passed out. She went to Darius’s side and touched his face. “You better get out of here. He’s not going to be happy when he gets up.”

At that moment, Dirk’s eyes got wide and knew she was right. His father would truly be mad enough to teach him a lesson. I couldn’t even believe what he was just doing to him. He could have killed him.

“Go. Now. I’ll cover here.”

Dirk looked at us and we all left the lounge. Something was going to come from this. I didn’t know what but I knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Chapter 8

Ruby

I was still looking for Darius but suspiciously saw Dirk and the others rushing to get out of the palace. “Where are you off to in such a hurry? Have you seen your father?”

Everyone all stopped and looked at Dirk directly. “Seen him? I might have.”

“What did you do?” I didn’t like his tone and knew something was wrong.

“What didn’t he do is what you should be asking.” Seth said.

My stomach instantly fluttered. “Dirk! Tell me you didn’t!”

“I had too! He was going to kill someone!”

“Who?!”

“Me.”

I turned my head and Trever was walking to us. My eyes turned red. “I should have known but that doesn’t mean you should have!”

“It’s all right, Red.” Trever cut in. “He’s fine. Jay is with him now.”

I was still heated about this but kept my distance. I didn’t want to touch anyone but that didn’t stop me from casting my red stare towards my son. “You better get out of here and don’t even think about showing up at dinner. Your father will not be happy to see you.” Dirk didn’t say a word as he turned with the others. “But the rest of you are still expected to be there!” I sighed when I watched them leave and put my hand on my head.

“You shouldn’t be angry with him.” Trever said. “He saved my life back there.”

“But he could have killed his father in the process, Trever. That can’t be overlooked by me and I know it won’t be by Darius either.”

“Everything will turn out fine. He did the right thing.”

“You say that because you’re still breathing. Why do you always have to egg him on? You know how much he hates you.”

“It’s not like I have to say much but this time he actually attempted to take action.”

“Just stay out of his way as long as we’re here. I don’t want anyone to get hurt and try not to say anything else to him.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good. I’m going to see him and maybe I can get him to forgive Dirk for this.”

I turned away and walked towards the lounge but Trever didn’t follow. He walked in the other direction and I was thankful for that.

“How is he?” Darius was on the floor with Jaylyn at his side when I walked in.

“He’s fine. So, I take it you know?” I nodded and kneeled down next to him. “Where are they now?”

“I sent them away and Dirk won’t be joining us for dinner.”

Jaylyn nodded to my decision since she knew it was the right thing to do. I didn’t like it but I’ve never seen Darius’s anger directed at our son and I was hoping to put it off for as long as possible.

Darius started to wake up just a moment later and he quickly sat up while grabbing his sword that was sitting next to him. “Where is he?!”

“Calm down and give me that!” I took his sword and set it aside, out of reach. “You’re not taking this out on him!”

Darius angrily stood up and all we could do was stand up with him. “My son just tried to kill me and you expect me not to do a fucking thing about it?”

“That wasn’t his intent, Darius.” Jaylyn explained. “He had to weaken you. It was the only way to get you to back down.”

Darius took a deep calm relaxing breath as he bent down and picked up his sword again. “All right but this isn’t over. You can count on that.”

His tone worried me. I’ve never seen him this mad at Dirk before. I just hoped he’d listen and stay far away tonight. I wasn’t ready for what was going to happen.

Chapter 9

Dirk

I was out in the city with the others just to get away for a while and we went into Carmen’s, a local eatery we’ve heard stories about. We got to walk back to the private section just to hide ourselves even more. I was glad of it and majorly disappointed in myself. I just fell back on the nearest couch and put my head back. Everyone was quiet for a moment around me but I knew they were all thinking of it.

Lana moved closer to me and put her hand on my leg. “Don’t worry about it, Dirk. I’m sure he’s not going to do anything remotely drastic as you think.”

I sighed and lifted my head. “My father? Yeah, right. He might as well kill me for what I did.”

“You shouldn’t want to take it back.” Bryce said. “You saved a life back there.”

“But I did it against my own father’s will. There must be some kind of disloyalty towards that.”

“Don’t look at it like that.” Seth said. “None of us really know what will become of this. So, let’s just not worry about it now.”

“He’s right.” Cadence added. “You shouldn’t let this ruin your day. We’ll get some drinks for now and deal with it later.”

I nodded and Cadence waved someone to come over out the door. A waitress came in the matter of seconds. “Are you ready to order, Cadence? The usual?”

“Yes. Times six and make one a double, please.”

“You got it. I’ll be right back with that.”

“Thank you.”

We waited for the drinks in silence. Thankfully, it wasn’t that long. The waitress hurried right back in, carrying a tray of mugs in one hand. “All right. Here we are. Who gets the double?”

“Him.” Cadence said, pointing at me.

“Here you go.”

She slid it in front of me and I looked up and took it. “Thanks.”

“And one for the rest of you.” She slid a mug to everyone else.

“Thank you.” Cadence smiled. “What do I owe you?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s on the house.”

“All right. Thanks.” The waitress nodded and walked away.

There was another pause and I was hoping it wouldn’t be brought up again. I was almost kind of glad when Bryce was acting strange, looking around because I knew that wasn’t about me.

“What is it?” Naomi asked.

“Lana, could you close the door?”

“Why?”

“Just do it please?” Lana got up and closed the door while Bryce kept looking around. “Ellie?”

We didn’t see her. We first heard her whisper. “Is it safe?”

“Yes.” Bryce answered. “The door is closed.”

Ellie appeared in front of us. “Oh good! Hi everyone.”

“Ellie!” Naomi said excitedly. “Sit here.”

She moved over and Ellie walked over and sat next to her. “Thanks. Hope you don’t mind. We just had so much fun when we snuck out last night, we just had to do it again.”

“We?” Seth wondered.

Bryce smiled and looked around. “Ryon’s here?”

“Yeah, he’s right there.” Ellie said as she pointed to the empty space. “You can show yourself now.”

“In a second. Just checking the perimeter.”

Ellie laughed. “They’re not going to find us here.”

Ryon sighed and appeared in front of us too. “You say that and pretend that everything is fine then it won’t be.” He paused from his worry for a moment and looked around. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” Bryce wondered.

“Do you realize where we are?”

“Yeah. It’s Carmen’s.”

“We used to spend days at a time in this room when I was living and usually drunk off our asses.”

Bryce laughed. “We know. You’ve told us before.”

“I didn’t think you’d ever been here.”

“We kind of had to get away.”

It was mentioned again but Ryon didn’t go on about why. He still just seemed delighted to be here. “We had a lot of good times in this room.”

It was odd how Naomi and Ellie were acting. It was like they were sisters who were suddenly being all buddy-buddy with each other and I wasn’t the only one that noticed.

“What’s with you two?” Lana asked.

Naomi and Ellie looked at each other.

“Oh.” Naomi said. “They visited our room last night and stayed until the sun came up. We completely lost track of time.”

“It’s like that all the time in our world.” Ryon laughed as he walked over and sat on the other side of Ellie. “That’s why time seems quicker there.”

“Doing what? You must have loads of free time.” Lana said.

“Most of the time. We could just lay in bed for a week and not even realize how long it’s been.”

“But you don’t sleep.” Seth said. “Why would you even have beds?”

Ryon easily got a smile on his face. “Haven’t I told you before? What would you use a bed for if one does not sleep? Sex actually becomes a big part of the afterlife because there’s always time and you don’t get tired so that makes it better.”

We all laughed. Ryon has always been a great company to us but now it just seemed better because we were much closer in age. With Ellie wanting to come here to see Bryce now, I felt we were going to be seeing more of Ryon as well.

That was all right. Everyone got along. We sat there for a while ordering some more rounds and it helped me forget about the problems I was going to face with my father. We completely lost track of time until the door was opened to receive another round and Seth noticed it was completely dark out. “Oh shit! We have to get back!”

The others looked to the door and gasped.

“Fuck! The dinner!” Bryce said.

They were all about to get up but stopped and looked at me, not making an anxious move. “It’s fine. Go.”

“But aren’t you coming?” Lana asked.

“No way. I’m not ready to face him yet.”

“That’s a very smart move.” Ryon said. “Darius can hold his anger in for a long time. As is why you’re in this mess in the first place.”

“Tell me about it. Know any way to get him out of it?”

Ryon laughed. “Sorry, man. Red’s the only one capable of that.”

I sighed. “Great.”

“But you should at least come back with us.” Seth said. “Just don’t show up at dinner.”

The others nodded in agreement and continued to look at me. They just didn’t want to leave me here alone and I should have been grateful but I sighed again anyway before getting up. “All right. We better go before you’re late.”

“We better get back too.” Ellie said. “I’m sure they’ll be looking for us soon, if they’re not already.”

Seth nodded. “Okay. We’ll see you later if it’s at all possible.”

“Oh, we’ll definitely be back.” Ryon smiled. “I don’t know when but we will be.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Ryon nodded as he disappeared with Ellie. The rest of us left Carmen’s and headed back to the palace.

I wasn’t looking forward to this. I watched my friends and my beautiful wife head towards the dining hall but I went for the stairs. I couldn’t walk in there, especially now. I could only imagine what his expression would look like but I would never know what to say to it. Sorry? That wasn’t going to be good enough this time. It had to be something else and I’d spend this time trying to think about what.