Chapter Twenty Seven
The squeeze in Edynn's hand woke her up. Raising her head from the edge of the bed, she blinked the grogginess from her eyes as she looked down at her hand which was holding Adam's. It twitched again so Edynn looked over at his eyes only to find them still closed. It had just been a glimpse but the memory of his red eyes were burned into her memories. No wonder he always wore shades no matter what. Adam feared someone would know him only as a sympath because of his color. The thought of someone finding out his other half made her think of his past. She couldn't even imagine what Adam went through as a child because of his eye color.
Using her other hand to brush her hair back, Edynn's gaze drifted over to the mattress behind her. Most of the beds had been destroyed so Rebekah managed to salvage a mattress to sleep on. Apparently it was large enough for two people because the female was sprawled on top of Sam who slept peacefully with her on top. Sitting with his back against the wall closest to the door was Ahnger whose head was bowed down since he was asleep. Another mattress hand been saved because Ahnger's shellan was sleeping right next to her male on it. The female had arrived after the others left and said she was on their side since she was good friends with Adam. Edynn had fallen asleep in the chair she was sitting on when she felt Adam's hand twitch in hers. Since he wasn't up just yet, Edynn figured she could get some sleep when Adam's hand twitched again.
Adam's eyelids shifted like he was dreaming before they fluttered open.
A pair of red eyes met Edynn's amber ones.
Adam stared up at Edynn as if he couldn't see for a moment before his eyes widened with fear clear as day in his gaze. Edynn was forced to let go of his hand when he rolled over to his side so she couldn't see his eyes. Adam flinched as if the role was painful but stayed quiet. The others were still asleep which meant Edynn had a few minutes to talk to Adam alone. And from the way how his body was so tense, she had the feeling it would take a while to convince the male she wasn't afraid of him.
"Where are my shades?"
"They were damaged. We didn't have any spares lying around." Adam was still on his side. "Adam, we know. It's okay. You don't have to hide your eyes anymore."
It was a while but Adam eventually pushed himself up. He flinched again from the cuts on his body where Edynn helped him sit up. Eyes still closed, Adam ran both of his hands over his head like he was trying to get rid of a headache. There must've been some remains of the sedative in his system because the male bowed his head and took steady breaths to clear his head. He choked on the air when he took in too much air. Edynn sat back down as the male grew accustomed to his battered body.
When Adam raised his head up towards the ceiling, his eyelids pressed further together like he was afraid to open them. It was when he brought his head back down did he open them very slowly. The red of his eyes stood out from under his eyelashes. They were so dark that the color seemed to shimmer over the brown lashes. Then they shifted over in Edynn's direction and she gasped. Adam quickly averted his gaze as if looking at them frightened her.
"I'm fine," she assured him. The female placed a comforting hand on his shoulder to show she wasn't scared. "I'm just not used to seeing you without your shades. I just need to get used to not seeing them."
"You are not afraid?"
Edynn shook her head with a faint smile. She was telling him the truth. Seeing the male without his shades was different but she could adjust to them missing. As for his eyes, she wasn't afraid of them one bit. Edynn had already spent so much time with Adam to know in her heart he was no sympath. Even though Rehvenge said the male was responsible for all those lesser killings which had the mark of a sympath, Edynn knew Adam's actions those six weeks must've hurt him. The male was kind and cared for those around him. He must've been backed into a corner to resort in using his sympath abilities to find her. Besides those six weeks, Adam in his heart was no sympath.
Taking a second chance, Adam brought his gaze back at Edynn. To show she wasn't afraid of him, the female placed both of her hands on the side of Adam's face and tilted his head up so she could get a better view of him. His eyes were so dark they almost looked like red garnet gemstones. The red almost merged with his pupils from their darkness. Edynn rubbed her thumbs under Adam's eyes as she took them in. With each rub Adam began to relax under her touch until he rolled his head against her soft hands.
His eyes might've been sympath eyes but they weren't in a way. Without the shades covering them, Edynn could now see what emotions would cloud those red eyes. She could finally see them bright up when Adam was happy or darken when something was bothering him. Edynn could at last get to actually see Adam for who he really was.
"I think I like you much more without the shades," she laughed.
Adam took one of her hands and pressed it against his lips. "Thank you," he whispered.
There was a loud yawn behind Edynn so she looked over to find Ahnger stretching his back against the wall. The male shook his head like a dog would when it was wet and opened his eyes. They were black instead of gold which meant the darkness was present. Black eyes flashed around the room until they locked onto Edynn and Adam and a huff came from the male like the darkness wanted to laugh. Making another huffing sound, the black receded from Ahnger's eyes until they were gold. The others must've heard Ahnger's yawn because they began to stir. Rebekah accidently rolled on top of Sam as she woke up before staring down at the human who was now awake. As the two stared at one another to see who would get up first, Ahnger helped Sayge up who stretched her back just like her hellren.
While the others did their best to wake up, Ahnger eyed Edynn and made his own huffing sound. The male knew that it was time to go face the Brothers since Adam was awake. Edynn wanted to tell him not know but knew they couldn't wait. Rheaper was still out there with his personal army of sympaths who clearly wanted Adam. Wrath and Rehvenge wanted to hear everything from the male before declaring his fate as a friend or enemy.
"I would say I'm glad you're awake but then I'd be lying," yawned Ahnger.
Adam sighed as he pushed himself off the bed. He flinched when he landed on his left leg since it had a deep cut thanks to the wind. Edynn grabbed his arm to steady him since it looked like he was about to fall back on the bed. When she looked up at Adam, she watched as he averted his eyes away from his friend. The male must've accepted Edynn but was probably still nervous about the others.
"Adam," called Ahnger. "You don't need to keep your eyes hidden. Everyone knows about them so you might as well forget about it. Besides, it's not your eyes you should be worried about."
Hearing the seriousness in his friend's tone caused Adam to look over at Ahnger. The male sighed as he leaned back to look out the doorway before looking back. "We need to get the Brothers together now that you're awake. Wrath and Rehvenge need answers about you and they need them fast before they assume the worst out of you."
"Does this summoning have to do with Rheaper?"
"Yep."
Adam looked down at Edynn who was staring up at him. Worry was written all over his face as well as his eyes but it was difficult to tell if he was worried for himself or the others. Placing a gentle hand on Edynn's, he removed her from his arm as he took a step forward. Since he didn't wobble, the male took more confident steps to join his friend who was already on the phone to tell the others to head over to the study. Sam and Rebekah had finally found their way up and the human made his way to stand by the two males. Once Ahnger was done talking, he stuffed his phone back in his pocket and nodded to the hallway.
Knowing the others were making their way to the study, Ahnger led the two outside but stopped when Edynn marched up right behind them. She stopped when they stopped and looked at them with a stubborn gaze.
"You said you could do it by yourself," she spoke to Adam. "Well, this time I'm going because I promised I would."
Before someone could object, Rebekah slung her arm over her cousin's shoulder and cracked her knuckles. "And I can't let my cuz go up there by herself. I told Tohrment to fuck off so I would look like a pussy if I stayed behind. I'm coming along as well so don't bother."
Ahnger eyed his female. She folded her arms over her chest and shrugged. "I wasn't here when the four of you made your declaration but I won't stand by with Adam at the mercy of the others. Might as well add me into your little band of rebels."
Since no one was going to stay, the six made their way out of the tunnels and into the mansion. The place as quiet which didn't help at all. No one was around so the quietness around the group played on their minds as they got closer to the study. When they approached the huge doors, there were some voices that made it past the solid wood which meant the others were already inside. Ahnger took a deep breath before knocking on the doors.
"Enter."
The male pushed open the door and led the group inside. All of the Brothers were in their spots and looked over at them with natural looks. Rehv stood in front of Wraths' desk while Tohr stood by his king. It wasn't just the males who were in the room since Xhex, Victoria and Gabrielle stood next to their hellrens and Payne next to her twin.
"What are they doing here?" asked Tohr with a nod in their direction.
"Here to make sure you guys don't gang up on Adam," Rebekah snapped. She wasn't earning any points in becoming a Brother if she kept up her ugly act in front of Tohr.
Ahnger eyed Adam who gave him a slight nod. The male then placed a hand on his shellan's shoulder and guided them over to his family. Sam whispered something to Rebekah who was still glaring at Tohr with a snarl. He must've said something that made sense because the female grunted before stomping off with Sam. Edynn gripped her shaking hands and took a deep breath. When Adam looked over at her, she met his eyes and nodded to show she was okay standing by his side.
She promised to be by his side when this day would come and she would live up to her promise.
"I think I'll let Rehvenge take the reins on this one," spoke Wrath. The king waved his hand to give the floor to Rehv. Tapping his cane on the floor once, the other king looked up at Adam with a purple gaze.
"You didn't tell us you were half sympath. Why?"
Adam swallowed the lump in his throat. "I did not know of the existence of sympaths until you came here to tell us about Rheaper. I believed them to be something different."
"And what did you think they were?"
"I…I believed them to be demons." Someone muttered something under their breath but Adam heard them so he glared at the person who happened to be Qhuinn. "I was born in fifteen eighty-nine near a village full of Catholics. Being born a child with my eyes is all they needed to label me as a demon's bastard. I am pretty sure you would be called one as well if they saw you."
That ended any other unwanted opinions.
"So you pretended to be half human and half vampire. If you didn't know what a sympath was, how could you know what a vampire was?"
"I did not know about vampires until I met Ahnger." He looked at his friend when he spoke. "Our first meeting was all it took for me to pretend to be half vampire. Ahnger had assumed I was one because I was half human even though I could find no similarities between us. He could not sense emotions like I could so I figured he wasn't a de—sympath. But Ahnger was the first person who I spoke to in four centuries and the only thing we had in common was that we were running from something so I joined him on his travels when he offered me to join."
When Rehvenge didn't say anything, Edynn now understood why he hid his eyes. She knew it had to do with the time period he had been born in but didn't think it went to where he thought of himself as the son of a demon. A child to be raised in a society who saw him evil just because of his eyes sounded unbearable. It made her wonder how he could've survived so long when people probably wanted to kill him because of the trait that made him different.
"You recognized Rheaper's name when I told you about him. By any chance the two of you met before?"
Adam gritted his teeth when he said, "Once."
There was some shuffling in the room and Edynn looked around to see the others uneasy. Adam just admitted he knew of the existence of his father. She hoped he had a good explanation to ease the others.
"He gave me a proposition and I declined. I have been on the run ever since."
"You only met your father one time?" pushed Rehvenge. "In your so-called four hundred years of running, you've never at least once contacted Rheaper?"
Edynn held her breath when she saw Adam raise his head to face the male and narrow his eyes. "What reason would force me to reach out for that monster?" he said in a low voice.
"You just said people saw you as a demon's bastard. Surely you felt the need to be close to someone just like you. Perhaps you did work with your father for a time but left. Rheaper has a way in convincing others to join his cause. Maybe he offered you salvation in return for your services."
Figuring Rehvenge was testing Adam, Edynn reached down to take his hand but missed when Adam took a step forward. The sound of windows cracking sounded when Adam took one more step before stopping. Those closest to the windows looked behind them to find fresh spider web cracks on the glass.
"I just told you I declined his offer. I had no interest in joining him. Especially after what he did."
The cracks in the window grew. Some papers on Wrath's desk fluttered against the wind. A couple of liquor bottles rattled from the slightly strong wind when one glass tumbled over and spilled the drink.
Adam was falling for Rehvenge's taunt without knowing he was discrediting himself. The buildup of wind and glass threatening to shatter was working against the male's favor. This time Edynn grabbed Adam's hand in hopes of snapping him out of the taunt. She might as well not have touched him because he didn't even acknowledge her. He was already caught up in the game the male weaved.
"You haven't told us anything, Adam. Or should we call you Mihsery?"
The windows shattered.
"I am an Adam! Never in my life had I ever wished to face that thing that is my father by blood! He defiled my mother and more!"
Books flew off their shelves and papers soared form Wraths' desk.
"That's enough!" shouted Wrath. "De—"
"He is the murderer of innocents!"
Just after Adam yelled at Rehvenge, the wind died as well. But no matter how silent it was in the study, Adam's words lingered in the silence. Even Rehvenge looked at a loss for words. Because she was still holding his hand, Edynn felt Adam shake under her grip. And when she looked up at him, the male's eyes were closed as if he was reliving a terrible memory.
"And they are dead because of me," he whispered.
Adam opened his eyes when he stopped shaking. Stepping aside so he could look down at Edynn, there was centuries of hurt in his gaze that she was positive she would've fallen to her knees from its weight.
"You had asked me if I ever wondered about returning home and I told you there was nothing left for me." Turning back around to face Rehvenge and Wrath, Adam's voice held anger no towards them but towards him. "The real reason why I have no desire to return home is because it no longer exists." This time Adam turned his gaze over to Wrath. "You are from the Old Country. Does October third sixteen thirteen mean anything to you?"
Heads turned to Wrath. The king's eyebrows furrowed together like he was thinking of something when he nodded. "A village burned down that day. No one knew how the fire started so it was considered an accident. It was reported that…that there were no survivors. That was your village?"
"Aye. And it was no accident." Adam squeezed his hand without knowing it so Edynn knew this was the encounter between him and his father. "My grandfather had just died so I knew the seals containing Rheaper wouldn't hold for much longer. I wasn't even out of view from the village when Rheaper had the villagers kill one another. He had one hundred and twenty-eight innocent humans kill their family and friends because I was not there. And when I ran back to see what was happening, he ordered the survivors to walk straight into the houses on fire and they did as told. I watched them burn in those houses. And the girl." He squeezed Edynn's hand again. "She was just a child. She hadn't known what life would give her when I was forced to witness Rheaper snapping her neck in front of me. He tossed her body into the fire just when the house collapsed. The destruction of the village is my fault. One hundred and twenty-eight people are dead because I left without thinking what would happen to them if Rheaper found his way to the village. And now thirty-nine are dead by my own doing. I have ended one hundred and sixty-seven lives simply by breathing."
"Thirty-nine? That's the number of sympath bodies we found by the cabin," spoke up Ahnger. "They're just sympaths. They were after you so it was self-defense."
"They were living!" Edynn flinched from the tightness of Adam's grip. "Thirty-nine living souls. Thirty-nine beating hearts I have silenced. Innocent or not, it was not my right to do what is considered unforgivable. For not being where I was meant to be, one hundred and twenty-eight humans paid for my mistake. Because I could not dematerialize to escape, I was forced for the first time to take not one but thirty-nine lives." Adam's eyes widened over some realization and gasped. "And I fell for it. I did exactly what he said he would teach me. He told me he would have me take a life and now I have."
Edynn broke her gaze from Adam and stared at Rehvenge. This talk about his past was killing him so she begged that Rehvenge had no more questions. Adam looked like he was about to break down after he spoke which probably had to do with something from his encounter with Rheaper. But when Edynn glanced at Rehvenge, the male just stood there with a cool face like nothing had bothered him.
Glancing at the others in the room, they wore the same neutral looks just like Rehvenge. Even those who swore they would support Adam wore the same mask. Edynn wanted to scream for this to stop. She knew Adam couldn't take much more of this. Any more questions and confessions would only add more guilt he had been carrying for four hundred years.
This time it wasn't Rehvenge who talked but Wrath instead. "So Rheaper's been after you for four centuries. We've all seen what you've done so we can confirm he wasn't lying about his heir being like no other sympath to exist. But if you refused him so long ago, why did he wait for so long to come after you?"
"He believed I would change," answered Adam. More like whispered since he now sounded so tired. "After I ran, he did give chase for half a century just for the fun of it until I no longer sensed him. But I knew he would be waiting for his chance so continued to run. It just took him three and a half centuries to wait for me to slip up." He didn't need to explain what alerted Rheaper of his son's presence. Everyone figured out it was him who had done all of the lesser killings. It was only a matter of time before Rheaper came after him.
"So when you heard he was in Caldwell you decided to run?"
"It was the only solution. I feared he would live up to his oath. Besides, he has an army with him. I figured he and his followers would leave if I did as well. I just did not expect lessers to be working with him."
"What oath?"
"What about the lessers?"
Both of the kings spoke at the same time but Adam answered their questions in the order he heard them in. "Rheaper swore that he would kill every person I formed a relationship with until it was just me and him. He believed the death of those close to me would drive me to him. As for the lessers, they were working with the sympaths when they came to the cabin. I believe Rheaper has convinced the enemy to work with them so he must know of my interaction with you and the Brotherhood. There's no point for me to run now. He'll keep to his word and come after all of you just for knowing me."
The silence felt like it was killing the others. Clearly they wanted to argue over this claim of lessers and sympaths working together. Even the kings appeared doubtful of what Adam was saying. But as they stayed silent, it was the silence which spoke volumes. Adam wasn't lying. There had been many bodies of the enemy around the cabin that were both lesser and sympath. They were working together and their target was Adam. It was now only a matter of time before they got him.
Rehvenge turned around and started talking to Wrath in a low voice so the others couldn't hear. Edynn could only give Adam a comforting squeeze with her hand. She was surprised when he squeezed back. When Rehvenge turned back around to face the crowd, Edynn held her breath as the male cleared his throat.
"Many have claimed you have no intentions of joining your father. Are you saying the same?"
"Aye."
"And you are positive Rheaper will come after us?"
"One thing I know about him is that he does not lie. He has no use for lies. What he says is the truth so he will come."
Rehvenge tilted his head back when Wrath stood up. Those who had been sitting stood up as well. "So we have a bunch of lessers aiding an army of sympaths whose main target is in capturing you. We all pretty much know they won't go chasing after you if you run. Rheaper will most likely have them kill us before coming for you. Do you still plan on leaving?"
Edynn brought her gaze up at Adam. He was staring at the floor.
"I do not see the point in it anymore."
"Can you kill Rheaper?"
The question didn't just startle Edynn but Adam as well. Wrath had asked a straightforward question and was waiting for the male's answer. Edynn took one look at Adam who told her his answer without speaking. The others must've seen it too because they shook their heads in disappointment. Even though Wrath couldn't see, he also shook his head and turned his head in Rehvenge's direction. The male was still staring at Adam who lowered his head to stare back at the floor.
"I don't fully trust you," admitted Rehvenge. "With everything you've done to help the Brotherhood and the concern you held towards us does not answer for your deceit. But because of you attempt to run, we know now that Rheaper has lessers working for him and their common goal. If you want to earn our trust back, the best thing you can do is to do nothing. You are to stay here inside the mansion where everyone can keep an eye on you until we figure out how to handle Rheaper. If anyone finds so much as a hint of leaving, that's it. You are half sympath so you will suffer a sympath punishment for not only going against two kings' rulings but your own. Do you understand?"
Adam mumbled, "Aye."
"As for the five of you," addressed Wrath to those who stood for Adam, "don't think of helping him if he attempts to leave. You will be punished as well and it won't be a kind punishment."
Ahnger, Sam, Rebekah and Sayge nodded to show they understood. Edynn didn't bother showing any sign of her understanding. Her sole attention was on Adam. He had looked beaten before this meeting started. Now he looked like he was ready to give up the fight before it even started.
He carried the weight of one hundred and sixty-seven deaths for four hundred years. These next few days would determine whether he would be forced to carry the burden of forty-three more lives or not.
