Free Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 by Jennifer Collins Page A

left without another word.
    Syney shook her head.
What just happened?
she wondered. And then her heart stopped.
    “Syney, honey?”
    The voice. There was no mistaking her mother’s voice.
    Syney stood up and spun around. Her mom and dad were both there, both crying, and both reaching out to her. Joyce’s light dirty blond hair and soft hazel eyes were exactly as Syney remembered them and Richard’s white hair was still combed to the right as always. Both looked exactly the same as they did the last day she saw them, before leaving for the village, before their deaths. Syney didn’t think twice as she ran into the arms of Joyce and Richard. Their bodies were solid and even warm. She wasn’t sure when she started to cry, but she couldn’t stop. Finally she pulled back and looked at them. “Are you really here?”
    Joyce nodded. “Yes, baby. Oh, you look so grown up.”
    “No, I don’t,” Syney said with a sniffle.
    “At least a year older,” Richard said, wiping a tear from her face.
    “Are you guys OK? I mean, I’m sorry you got…pulled into this.”
    “We’re fine,” Joyce said firmly. “It was a bit confusing at first, but Amelia has helped a lot. She explained so much. You weren’t just
our
miracle baby.”
    “You’re a princess, like I always said,” Richard told her.
    “Queen now, honey,” Joyce corrected.
    “You know?” Syney asked.
    Joyce led her to the couch, seating Syney in the middle. “We can see everything. I knew Hunter would be a good match for you.”
    Syney turned red. “Oh, God. Don’t tell me you saw
everything
!”
    Her parents laughed. “We do know what privacy is,” Richard said. “But I think I like this new guy. Just be careful.”
    “I always am.” Syney smiled at him. Then something clicked. “Wait, you’ve met Amelia?”
    “Oh, yes. We’ve met your mother,” Joyce said, nodding. “She wanted to thank us for taking care of you and to explain a few things. She’s really amazing. Just like you.”
    “Really?”
    Richard nodded. “Like mother, like daughter.”
    “Now, honey. There’s one thing we have to talk about before we leave,” Joyce said. “You have to know that what happened to us wasn’t your fault.”
    “Absolutely not,” Richard added, putting his arm around her. “We were meant to find you and raise you the best we could, and we did that.”
    “What happened after that has nothing to do with you and everything to do with what you’re destined to end,” her mother said.
    “The war,” Syney said quietly.
    “And you will, honey,” Richard told her with a reassuring squeeze.
    “I hope so.” She looked between the two of them and couldn’t help but smile. “It’s so good to see you both. How much time do we have?”
    “I don’t know,” Joyce said, “but we’ll be here for every damn second we can be.”
    “Mom! Language!” Syney laughed.
    “I think it’s the death. She’s been getting more and more foul mouthed,” Richard said with a chuckle.
    “Oh, stop it, you two!” Joyce said.
    They talked for hours, reminiscing and discussing what it was like for all of them now. Syney never thought she’d ever feel the way she did that night. She had her parents again. And not only that, but she knew she never really had lostthem. They were always looking down on her, watching to make sure she was all right. Joyce described their lives now as comfortable. They could look down on Syney when they needed to, almost like looking into a mirror at the living, but most of the time they continued on with their lives, except instead of going to a job they worked with others that had passed to look after those still alive. “Kind of like guardian angels,” Joyce had said excitedly. That thought alone made Syney more comfortable.
    They left early in the morning after a tearful good-bye. Syney stood in her empty room for a while, thinking about what had just happened. She didn’t even hear Noelle come in; she was so deep in thought. Once