Broken Road (Fate's Intent Book 7) Page 13

  Everyone else smiled while crossing their fingers and I walked into the kitchen. Darius was standing at the counter with his plate of food in front of him. “Hey.”

  “Hey. It was better fresh.”

  “I know. I would have been here on time but I just completely crashed after last night.”

  I figured that wasn’t the truth. I knew it had to do something with Meg and tried easing my way into the conversation about Ruby so I didn’t make it look like I was after something. “I wish I could have. Adele had me up a few times. Remember when I back when I mentioned her sex-drive going through the roof?”

  “Yeah. You’d get it like ten times a day.”

  “I think I knew what it actually was.”

  “Really?” He really seemed interested. “What?”

  “She was pregnant then.”

  “Oh. You know we don’t have to talk about that.”

  “It’s all right. I’ve been over it. Sometimes forgiveness can be hard but not doing it can just make things worse.”

  “Something’s telling me that you’re pointing that wisdom a different way then you were speaking of.”

  I sighed for a quick moment and just decided to get right to it like I probably should have in the first place. “You have to talk to Ruby.”

  Darius laughed. “I knew it!”

  “Think about it. You’re not the one that’s been waiting for her, she’s been waiting for you to apologize.”

  “For what?”

  “For being overbearing by what she can and can’t do.”

  “You know why I did that.”

  “Yes, but maybe she doesn’t. I think if you tell her why you were that way, she could come to understand.”

  “If it’s even mentioned she’ll get mad and I don’t want that.”

  “Then try to be calm and caring about it. Let her say whatever it is she has to and don’t turn it around on her. I know you can work this out. You love her. Just try.”

  Darius sighed. “This really isn’t a good time for me to be trying anything, okay?”

  “I didn’t bring Meg here so she could be your fallback.”

  He lifted his head right up and met my eyes. “I should have known she’d tell you.”

  “My wife doesn’t keep secrets from me. Not anymore.”

  “Well, so what? She left.”

  “You shouldn’t have been with her at all. You should have been trying to get Ruby back. It’s like you don’t want her because you’ve just stopped caring.”

  I started to turn away and Darius spun me around by my shoulder. “How dare you even say that to me?!”

  I was smiling the whole time he thought he was being intimidating. “See? You do. So go. Our birthday celebration is coming up and I don’t exactly want to try to explain to our people why you and your wife aren’t even looking at each other. Go talk to her.” I tapped his shoulder and turned towards the door. “You have my luck.”

  I walked out, giving him a second to realize that I was right.

  “So?” Adele asked in a whisper.

  “I think it’s going to work.”

  “Nope.” Ryon suddenly appeared in a chair near us. I wasn’t that surprised but Adele seemed to be.

  “Ryon, what are you doing here?”

  “It’s not going to work.”

  “How do you know?” Troy asked.

  “Because he’s always been stubborn about this whole thing. How could any of you not see that?”

  “How do we get him out of it then?” Adele asked.

  “I’m sorry if this is opening old wounds but you need to show him again and remind him of their future together.”

  I looked at Adele and she was very still, staring in front of her. It had to have been when she showed him his son and then they―I don’t even want to think about it either but Ryon may be right. Seeing his son again could change his will to talk to Ruby.

  “But I can’t.” Adele said. “That was the last of it.”

  “You mean of this?” A small vial of herb appeared in Ryon’s hand with another of blood and he tossed them to Adele.

  “Yes. This. Trever?”

  “Yeah. He’s concerned. He just wanted to help but knew Darius wouldn’t accept that from him but maybe he will from me. It’s kind of what I do now. I show up when I want to fix all your problems.”

  He looked at me and I hoped he wasn’t going to go into too much detail about what my problem was he helped fix.

  “And thank you for that.”

  “You don’t have to. I know. Just show him.”

  Ryon disappeared and Darius walked out only a second later and was going for the stairs.

  We all seemed hesitant about this but I guess I needed to know if my talk worked at all before we mention showing him again.

  “Are you doing it?” I asked.

  He sighed and turned before taking the first step. “Look, I know what you’re trying to do and I appreciate it but it’s not your problem to fix.”

  He turned away and Adele anxiously stood up. “Darius, wait!” I didn’t think he would have but he did listen to her and turned back. “If you would just remember what it was like when you saw him and what you wanted to know, you can fix this.”

  I didn’t know what she was talking about but Darius did. “There’s no way to know that.”

  “There is a way.” Adele held out her hand with the vials in them.

  Darius stepped closer to see them but he didn’t seem happy about it. “Trever? Thinking he has to come rescue me from my mistakes?”

  “No. Ryon brought it because we’re all worried about you. Maybe if you see what the future holds, you’ll want to change this now.”

  Darius reached for them but Adele clenched her hand and pulled them away.

  “Sit down.”

  “No. If I see it, I do it alone.”

  “Why? We’re here for you.”

  “I don’t want you to be here for me.”

  “Well, we are because we’re a family and that’s what families do. Your problems are our problems and we’ll work through them together.”

  Adele was quite amazing when it came to talking. It didn’t take much but she got him to agree even though it seemed he still didn’t want to.

  “Just not out in the open like this.” He said. “Can we―”

  “We’ll take it to the study.”

  Adele happily passed him and started for the stairs. We got up to follow but Darius still hasn’t moved.

  “Come on.” I said. “It’ll be good for you.”

  “I hope so.”

  Chapter 29

  Darius

  Everything was set up in the study for only me and Adele looked right at me before lighting the herb. “Ready?”

  “Only if it’s promising.”

  “What about your future wouldn’t be?” Jaylyn asked. “We’ve seen you before.”

  I frowned. “When?”

  She looked around like maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. “When Trever showed us how he could induce a vision with specific others in it and you―”

  “Walked away. Right. What happened?”

  “Nothing much.” Zayden said. “We saw all three of our sons doing some kind of training then you were there, asking how it was coming along.”

  “That’s it?” It seemed useless.

  “It’s always rather short.” Adele said. “Are you ready?”

  I sighed and sat back on the couch. “I suppose.”

  She lit the herb and I watched the smoke rise up above it.

  It was dark but there was a small fire lit. I saw me. I walked into my room at the Senian palace and the image focused down on what I was holding in my arm. It was a little boy; my boy as an infant. He had his mother’s hair but he was right out asleep so we couldn’t see that he also had her eyes. I looked a little tired myself so it must have been late.

  I walked over to the bassinet in the room and gently lowered him down then covered him with a blanket
, tucking it in around him. “Goodnight.”

  I kissed his head but hung back and watched him for what seemed like the longest moment. I was seeing this unusual change in myself. The baby was very young so this had to be only months away and I saw how much I really wanted to be there.

  “Am I too late?” Jaylyn came into the room from behind me and skipped right over to me.

  “Shh. Don’t wake him.”

  “Awe, I wanted to say goodnight.”

  “You can. You just have to be here when he wakes up in another two hours.”

  Jaylyn laughed and I was beginning to find it weird that we haven’t seen Ruby putting her son to bed. “I will if you want me too.”

  I laughed a little while Jaylyn put her arm around me and I did her, getting her to snuggle beside me. It was weird. I looked up at Troy and he was kind of unhappy about how close we seemed.

  “He’s just so sweet. I don’t want to leave him.” Jaylyn went on, keeping her starry eyes down on my son.

  “You’re welcome to stand here all night. It’s probably what I’ll do. I’m afraid to fall asleep like something will happen if I do. He’s kind of all I have.”

  “Not true. You have us.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jaylyn’s smile was relaxing just watching it like this and the image began to fade while she gently rubbed my chest.

  I didn’t really know how to respond but it accomplished seeing what I wanted. I didn’t even want to sleep while my son did in case anything happened. Now that’s devotion.

  “What was that?” Troy asked.

  “Oh, did you see him?!” Jaylyn said, ignoring Troy’s jealous moment. “He was so sweet and Darius you were so sweet! I kind of can’t wait to see him now!”

  I wanted all of that to happen but I was having doubts about if Ruby would even accept an apology this late.

  I had to try.

  “I should talk to her.”

  “Yeah, you should.” Adele said. “See, I knew you wouldn’t be bad at it.”

  I tried not to smile because she was right but I couldn’t help it. “Let’s not carry on about it. I have to see if this works first.”

  “Then go see.” Zayden said.

  I nodded and left the room. I started towards the stairs and went up them with long strides, skipping steps but I stopped before taking the last step that would put me on the sixth floor. I haven’t stayed up here in a while but realized I missed it. I took the step and slowly started walking towards my old room where Ruby stayed. I felt almost nervous to actually see her but I stayed outside the door, deciding to knock instead of going right in.

  Ruby came to the door and was wrapped tightly in thick clothes like she was cold. “I’m not speaking to you.”

  She closed the door in my face before I could say a word and I leaned in towards it with a soft voice. “Ruby, please. Can I come in?”

  She opened the door again and looked at me with narrow eyes but they were her natural golden glow not red. “I’m not speaking to you until your hair grows back.”

  She closed the door again and I couldn’t help but laugh and ask. “Why?”

  “I loved your hair.” She said from inside. “You know that. How do you think that makes me feel, you cutting it all off?”

  “Ruby, I—”

  She opened the door. “I’m not speaking to you until it grows back. So try knocking again in about four to six months. Bye.”

  She slammed the door shut again and I started to get a smile on my face with a quick thought and raced towards the stairs. I flew down from landing to landing without even touching the stairs until I made it to the bottom and thankfully everyone was back on the first floor because I wouldn’t have been able to stop any sooner.

  “What are you doing?” Jaylyn asked while laughing.

  “Adele, you can make hair grow, right?” I was sorry that I completely ignored her question but I needed this.

  “Ah, yeah. I can do lots of things.”

  “Good. Could you make mine how it used to be?”

  “Why?”

  “Ruby won’t talk to me until it grows back and I don’t really want to wait the four to six months she said it’d take.”

  Adele looked around at the others and smiled. “All right. Sounds like a good enough explanation for me to have to lift a finger.”

  “Thank you. Now get lifting.” Adele brought her hand towards me and my hair slowly started to grow back to the original length. The moment it was, I turned from them and started up the stairs in a hurry. “Thank you!”

  I was feeling better about this and made it up quickly, knocking repeatedly like I was someone completely different. I could hear her sigh from inside and she came to the door again. “What now?”

  It opened and I was standing with a smile. “Can we talk now?”

  Ruby sighed with a laugh behind it. “I’m going to kill Adele.”

  “You didn’t say it had to be naturally.”

  “Well, I still have nothing to say to you.”

  “But I have something to say to you if you’ll let me come in.”

  She sighed again and turned into the room, leaving the door open. “Should I just start getting angry now?”

  “No. I think we need to set some things straight and I owe you an extremely huge apology.”

  Ruby’s eyes narrowed. “They got to you, didn’t they?”

  “It shouldn’t matter. The point is that I am sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “I should have never went as far as I did to make sure nothing happened to you. I know you’re not the fragile thing like I was treating you but I did those things because I know what it was like to grow up without my mother and—”

  “Darius, you don’t have to—”

  “And I just didn’t want that for our son. The saying may go, ‘every boy needs his father’ but I think he needs a mother just as much.”

  Ruby turned away. “Funny that you say that now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know about you and Meg.”

  My eyes got wide but there was really no point in trying to hide it. “Who told you?”

  “No one needed to tell me. Walls have ears you know.”

  “Ruby—”

  “What I really can’t believe is that you were actually willing to be out of our son’s life completely and be a father to a child that’s not even yours.”

  “Ruby, I thought you hated me. I haven’t talked to you in weeks or even seen you until today. You had me convinced that you were leaving me and Meg was the one that was there to help me not break down.”

  “Oh, you mean by fucking her? Yeah, that sounds like you.”

  “Ruby, I’m sorry. If I knew you were the one waiting for me, I never would have been with her. I would have come to you right away.”

  “So, now what? I’m supposed to forgive you for cheating on me for the second time while we’re married and be okay with it? How many times do we have to do this? How many more times are you going to choose someone else over me? I don’t think I can take another time.”

  “You won’t have to.” I stepped up behind her but kept my hands from touching her. “I didn’t think that you wanted me anymore. I thought that I had lost you.”

  “And I cried myself to sleep every night knowing you were making love to another woman that should have been me.”

  “Ruby, I don’t know what you want me to say. Apparently, neither of us knew what was really happening because we never asked. I just wanted to give you the space you wanted and thought that you’d come to me when you were ready but when you never came after weeks, what was I supposed to think?”

  She turned around and looked up at me with watering eyes. “I don’t know if we could make this work again.”

  I took a slow step forward, getting emotional with every word. “Don’t say that. I need you.”

  Ruby slowly shook her head and took a step away. “No. You need sex. Not me.”

  “I wou
ld give it all up if it meant having you back. I love you. When I saw you this morning after what felt like a lifetime, I fell all over again. You’re the only one for me.”

  “You know that’s not true.”

  “Meg? No. I used her because I didn’t want to feel the hurt of you leaving me anymore. We both knew it and that’s why she left. I wasn’t nearly as hurt then because I knew I still wanted you. I was just waiting for you to come to me but I guess now I’m coming to you. I want you back and I’ll do whatever you ask of me to get it. I can’t lose you. Not after everything we’ve been through.”

  There was a long pause while Ruby stood through my speech and just watched my eyes. For a moment I thought she was going to see my way but then she let out a frustrating sigh. “Darius, I can’t—”

  “Please don’t. I won’t walk away from you.”

  “But I don’t know how I can be with you again. Trever was right. He knew I’d get hurt by you more than once. I should have listened.”

  “No. He’s wrong. He’s always wrong. Would you really rather be with him than me?”

  “At least he’s never made me feel like this.”

  “Don’t do this. I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this. Please. I won’t have you go to him. I love you. I want you. Just tell me what it is I have to do.”

  Ruby’s eyes were on the brink of letting out more tears and she only got out one thing. “Just leave.”

  “No.” I muttered, taking another small step towards her to close the gap.

  “There’s no other way. I don’t want to hurt you and I will if you don’t go.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Ruby.” I stepped even closer and took her arm.

  “Please.” She begged me and tried pushing me away. “You have to go. Now! You’re going to get hurt if you stay around me!”

  “Then I don’t care. I’m not leaving you.” I got my arms around her and she began to cry harder. Her grip became tight on my back through her loud cries and a breeze came through the windows, chilling the air around us.

  I didn’t back away. I kept my arms around her even though I was beginning to feel weak but Ruby’s hold only seemed to get tighter with her crying anger. It was like I even got too tired to stand after only seconds and without knowledge of it, I collapsed down to the floor. “Ruby.”