Into the Light (Book 2 the Shadow Warriors Series)

Chapter 15- James's POV

James finished his food and stood from the table, and Syn looked at him with her mouth full of food from her second plate. He looked at her with an unblinking gaze, his purple eyes dark and cold.

'Where are you going?' she asked, her cheeks full. 'Why are you standing?'

'Because I am done,' he replied. 'You would have been done sooner if you didn't decide to get a second plate.'

His sister rolled her eyes and bit back a scowl. 'I was hungry,' she said. 'But can't you stay?'

James set his jaw before he looked at her adopted family. He didn't want to stay.

The number of people in the room was starting to make him nervous, and it didn't help that he was nervous about them taking his sister away from him again.

He couldn't live without her by his side any longer.

He didn't want to live in the shadows without her.

Syn's eyes grew softer when she heard his thoughts, and she slowly nodded. 'You won't lose me again,' she said. 'I'd rather die before I get taken away from you again.'

James set his jaw and swallowed hard. He looked at her new family again before he looked at her, not waiting to see her adopted mother staring at him with an unknown look in her eyes. 'Your adopted mother doesn't like me,' he said.

His sister glanced at her mother before she looked away dismissively and towards her brother. 'She is protective of me,' she replied. 'She doesn't want me to get hurt.'

Neither did he...

James set his jaw and pressed his lips into a thin line.

'She won't tell me that I can't see you again,' his sister said, 'nor can she take me away from you again. I won't allow it.'

But what if she tried... He tried to keep that thought private, but the look on his sister's face meant that she heard it.

Syn looked at her adopted family before she looked at him, her face a mask, but her eyes were filled with pain, sadness, and determination. 'Then I will leave,' she said coldly. 'As much as it hurts for me to say that, I will leave my new family behind if it means for me to be with you.'

'No,' James said, his heart aching, but he stayed firm. 'You will not.'

'Bu-'

'I will leave if you don't stay with them,' he said, his heart fully breaking, but he knew that it was safer for her to stay with them while she regains her memory than it was to stay with him and Razul. 'I will make sure that you can't find me.'

Pain flashed across his sister's face before she set her jaw and gave him her best poker face. 'Fine,' she said coldly and turned her head so that she was looking away from him. 'Be that way, James.'

James set his jaw so hard that it shook. His heart broke, but he kept to his statement and threat, even if it was going to hurt them both in the end, even he knew that.

'Syn...' he began but trailed off, not knowing what to say.

'No,' his sister replied, her voice brisk and sharp while she started to eat again. 'Leave. You have stated what you were going to do. There is no reason to continue this conversation.'

Again, his heart broke, but he kept firm. He looked at the four others that were gathered with them, watching the two warriors with curious gazes, but he didn't care.

He looked at his sister, who still ignored him. He felt guilty for causing her pain, but he didn't do anything to repair it. 'I'm sorry,' he said as a ditch effort to remedy the situation.

His sister's grip on the fork became harder while she set her jaw. 'No,' she said, her voice cold and emotionless, something that James didn't like but understood. 'No you are not. Now, leave, James. You said what you needed to say, and you aren't going to change your mind.'

Even though I want you to... he heard his sister's thought, the pain and sadness evident in her voice.

James didn't say a word and ducked his head closer to his chest in shame. He didn't know how to remedy the pain that he caused, wanting to protect her stronger than anything else.

So with one last look towards his sister, he left without a single glance back and no words spoken between the pair.

***

James sat on the old mattress that he had used before Razul had found them and moved a hand through his hair.

His heart ached, and longing filled his chest. He wanted to go back to his sister, to get her to understand why he didn't want her to stay with him, even though he needed her just as much as she needed him.

Someone cleared their throat, and James looked up to see that Razul was standing in front of him.

James scowled and blinked when Razul bowed. "What?" he asked, his voice cold and hard. "What is it?"

"May I ask what happened?" Razul asked and raised an eyebrow. "Why did you leave?"

James set his jaw and narrowed his eyes. He didn't say a word while he looked at the older male, daring him to continue.

Razul stayed silent and waited for James to answer his question, annoying James even more.

Finally, James huffed and shook his head before he looked away from the older male that had taken him and his sister in. "Because I told Syn that I would leave if she didn't stay with her new family," he said. He cleared his throat and moved a hand through his hair before he shook his head. "I don't think Syn's adopted mother likes me, and I don't think she will let me stay with them."

"She will," Razul said and raised his hand to silence James when he was about to say a word. "I know that you were awake when you heard us talking. She said that she would not split the two of you. You are more than welcome to live at her house or for Syn to live with us."

James moved a hand through his hair and stayed silent while he grimaced.

"This hasn't been easy on her, Your Highness," Razul said, and he knew that he was talking about his sister. "She was missing her support, you, and it had hurt her more than we could know."

"Then why did the Five allow her to not remember us then?" James asked bitterly. He scowled and folded his arms across his eyes while he narrowed his eyes. "Why couldn't she stay with us after she got the sword?"

"I don't know," Razul replied after a moment's pause, "but I can guarantee that Syn will know in due time, and once she knows, then she will tell you. She will help you see what she sees and then some."

James sighed and lowered his head, defeated because he had no idea if his sister would forgive him or even care. "If it's not too late, and unfortunately, I am afraid that it is."