“
Alden, I’m always here if you need me,” I said numbly.
“
I know, Synthia. I also know they had me train some of you to become Druids. I didn’t know it at the time, but if it comes down to a fight, you and what is left of your coven have all been trained for this. If it comes down to it, you could fight against the Guild.”
“
How is that even possible? Wouldn’t we have known it?” Even as the words came out of my mouth, my jaw dropped to the floor as it dawned on me. “…Oh shit!”
Ink.
“
I trained you, Adam, and Adrian in the Dark Arts. I injected ink that made it stronger inside of you, intensified it. You three have the ability to prevent the Mages from harming more innocent people. You also know how the Guild works, and functions. I can’t allow them to hurt, or kill anyone; I won’t allow that to happen again.”
“
So…I’m a Druid Fae?” I almost laughed, but the implications of it were just straight up messed up.
“
Technically, your Fae DNA cancels it out. The ink only increases the magic you use. Sorry, but you’re still only Fae. I need to know something, since you can’t lie now. Did you ever think of me as a father?”
“
In a way, yes, but I’ve always kept my father in my heart, and your sister, my mother. I love you, Alden, and you’ve made me into what I am today…minus the Fae part.”
I thought about things for a few moments, reeling over the information that Alden had dropped on me. If the Guild was being infiltrated by the Mages and they had ordered Alden to send me to the Dark Prince…
“Alden, given my past history with the Fae, do you think that the Guild was hoping I would snap on the assignment and assassinate Ryder?” I asked softly, afraid to hear him answer what my mind had already processed.
Alden nodded sadly, confirming my suspicions. So
, his being there, close by that day, was to save me from myself if need be.
“
Do you think the Guild killed Marie for being close with the Fae?”
Once again, Alden nodded. Yep, shit soup was being stirred and it was simmering now, and getting ready to be served with a side of crunchy crackers. On
ce the soup hit boil, this was going to get ugly.
He sat back down, and we talked for over an hour about what else was going on inside the Guild. He’d explained a lot that he wouldn’t have under normal circumstances. When he
’d left, it was hard, because it felt as if we were saying goodbye for the last time.
It had only been about five minutes since Alden left, and I was still sitting at the table, unable to make my mind work past the idea of the Guild being the enemy. How could this even be possible? My Guild—which I’d loved, grown up inside, and given my faith to—was the enemy. They had thrown me out because I’d been Fae, and, even though I wasn’t a part of it anymore. I still felt the need to defend them. And I still had yet to get up from where Ryder had knocked me down with his word games and trickery. I must have had a sticker on my forehead that said, ‘Please dump info here’, because I was getting it by the truck-loads today.
I
had been trained, unknowingly, by Alden to massacre Fae. I looked at the cell phone in front of me on the table. What the hell was I supposed to tell Ryder? Oh, hey, by the way…I
am
the enemy! Or I was. Oh, and by the way—the Guild was hoping you would trigger me to have a massive freak out, which would result in your untimely demise at my hands. Yeah, that would go over like a truckload of Goblins in a daycare center. I glared at the phone and played out the conversation in my head several times, and it never ended well.
I
eventually picked up the phone, deciding I needed to get it over with, but a noise in the front room stopped me cold. I shook my head, and started towards the front room, wondering what Alden had forgotten and come back here for. That was when I saw him.
He was exactly as I’
d remembered him. He was tall, reaching a little over six feet, with long muted blonde hair and dead black and gray eyes. He wore no human clothes, but there was nothing human about him to stave off the fear of what he was. He was cold, and everything I hated in the Fae. He was the entire reason I’d started hating them. I stepped back, realizing he hadn’t seen me yet. Fear stuck in my throat, making it impossible to speak or cry out. It was probably a good thing, considering this was the leader of the Fae who’d killed my parents.
He was dressed in a
dark, blood red cloak, and a black tunic, and pants, but he’d already removed the hood of the cloak before I’d discovered him inside the house. He must not have gotten the memo that he’d blend in better wearing Dolce or Armani. I looked at the wards, realizing that they were not going off with his arrival. I stepped back so I could watch him for a moment more. He was looking for something. He growled gutturally and stepped closer to the picture of my family.
I barely containe
d the hiss I felt when he picked it up and tossed it carelessly to the floor. I couldn’t tap the leyline, because there wasn’t one here. I pulled my magic to me and smiled as it slithered through my mind. I cracked my neck as the tanginess of electrical power filtered through me. It came without having to think about it; just the fact that I’d needed it had brought it to my palms. I pulled the energy to me and allowed it to light up my brands.
He turned tho
se lifeless eyes toward me as I launched a powerful ball of blue-white energy right at him, but he was faster. The fireplace exploded as the ball of blue magic shattered the bricks and mortar. He moved out of the way in time to miss getting hit by the debris. He was up and moving toward me quickly, but I was prepared for it and fired another wave of magic at him. It connected, and sent him crashing against the wall. I sent one ball of energy after another at him.
He snarled and sent his own flying at me, but I easily dodged it and threw a
nother back at him. Blood spattered the wall behind him, but he didn’t stop fighting. I felt my magic as it began to wane and at the same time, something inside of me was pushing to get free, as if something stronger was buried there. I showed no weakness, keeping the energy balls in both palms locked and ready as I allowed him to pull himself away from where I had pinned him against the wall.
“
You shouldn’t have come here. Now I’m going to kill you, bastard.”
He smiled coldly
, and looked me up and down slowly in a way that made my skin crawl. He wiped the blood from his lips and spat it onto the floor as his eyes continued to take me in. I wanted to throw up as I remembered him giving my mother the same look before he raped her. “So, finally we meet,” he growled and tilted his head to watch me as he pulled his own magic around him.
“
You killed my parents. I want to know why,” I said, never removing my eyes from him or my magic from my hands as I stalked him, precisely and effortlessly.
“
They were expendable,” he shrugged as if it didn’t matter what he’d done. “Although your mother was a
sweet
meal.” He smiled, but it was a diversion. I knew the moment he planned to attack, and I sifted, easily avoiding it, shocked that I had managed to do so. He smiled wider, revealing perfect white teeth with pointy baby fangs, just like
mine
. “You discovered what you are,” he said as he stepped closer.
“
Why them?” It was the only thing I needed to know before I took him out.
“
Because you—” His eyes looked over my shoulder, then he immediately sifted out mid-sentence.
I turned m
y head and locked eyes with Ryder and his men, who had sifted in behind me. I didn’t drop my magic. I didn’t know who to trust anymore. I stepped back and turned toward Ryder with my hands glowing from my magic, as I’d seen Ryder’s do before; bright, beautiful, and deadly magic.
My
magic.
“
Syn, drop the magic,” Zahruk said as he stepped in front of Ryder slowly, protecting him from me as if he needed to be.
“
I didn’t invite you in,” I snapped, angry that I’d been seconds away from discovering the one answer I’d needed since that grisly day so long ago; only to have it ripped away when they’d sifted in.
“
I didn’t ask,” Ryder said, pushing Zahruk out of the way.
“
You have no right to be here. Not after what you did,” I seethed, but dropped the magic since it was taking too much strength to keep it up. I wasn’t suicidal. Ryder was king of badass, and I was a daisy next to him.
“
I do if you are in trouble, Synthia. You are still mine to protect.”
“
I think you’ve done enough protecting me, Ryder. I seem to get hurt more around you than I do on my own. If I’m not mistaken, your second in command stabbed me. You stalked me, and killed my boyfriend, and then bit me…stop me if I’m off here.”
He just stood there, staring at me with no emotion on his beautiful face. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit him, but in the end I just wanted to hold him. And
I think that part pissed me off the most. His eyes held caution, as if it was taking everything he had to stand still.
“
You need new wards on the walls. Yours didn’t keep him out. He was the one who—the one who attacked your mother,” Ryder said quietly as his eyes turned gentle.
“
Raped my mother; he turned her FIZ, which should be easy for you to say.” I watched his expression shift. He smiled coldly, and I felt my pulse quicken. I was such a fucking masochist.
“
So he did. You tapped a leyline?” he asked, distant and cold. I wanted to scream at him. Why wasn’t he trying to pull me to him and check for wounds? Anything would be better than this cold asshole that was suddenly treating me like a fucking stranger.
“
There isn’t a leyline here. If there was, I’d still have my parents,” I replied, stopping the pain in its tracks as I forced it down.
“
He just showed up?” Ryder asked, not bothering to turn around as Ristan sifted in, late to the party.
“
No, Ryder, I opened the fucking door and asked him if he took sugar with his tea! What do you think happened?”
He growled
, and I almost smiled—almost. There was the emotion. Maybe it was bad, but it was better than nothing.
“
Next time, I suggest you kill him,” he replied.
I lifted a
brow at his words. “Um, hello! I was trying until an army of men
sifted
in and scared him away! I had him right where I wanted him until you got here.”
“
Maybe strike before asking if he’d like fucking sugar in his tea next time,” Ryder snarled.
“
I thought it was Alden coming back in; he’d just left. I never imagined that the Fae who…” I swallowed. “That he would sift right in and start breaking shit!”
“
Well, he did, and he could have easily killed you. He’s not some just newly Transition Fae like you! He could have killed you! I told you that you needed to fucking stay with me until you learned your powers,” Ryder snapped.
“
Or, I could have killed him! We won’t know because you keep thinking you have some right to protect me, when you don’t.”
“
You could have fucking died!” Ryder fumed as his jaw ticked wildly and his nostrils flared.
“
But I didn’t. I was holding my own against him just fine until you showed up and scared him away! I get it. I’m nothing more than a child in your eyes, Ryder—and I wouldn’t survive a week in
your
world! But, right now, I don’t trust you—actually, at this point, I don’t trust anyone except Adam, and he’s not here right now!”
He nodded
, but said nothing before he stepped back to talk to Zahruk. “Station Savlian and Sinjinn at the doors. Ristan, try to get a reading on the Fae who was here. Dristan, put his ass through every record we have and see if you can match his features, cloak, and brands. Call me if you find anything that goes bump in the night around here. And do not let Synthia leave this house alone at all. That’s an order.”
“
Excuse me? You don’t control—” He sifted to me and pressed me between his hard body and the wall.
“
I will not let anything happen to you. I’m not a fucking saint, Synthia. I’m not a fucking human either, so stop confusing me with what you think I’m allowed to do. I told you from the beginning of this that I wasn’t human. I don’t play by human rules.” His eyes lowered to my mouth, and came back up to lock with mine.
“
Let go,” I whispered.
“
Make me,” he challenged heatedly.
“
Ryder,” I warned.
“
How’s the hunger?” he asked, removing his hold on me and backing up to allow me space enough to breathe.
I met his eyes
, and flashed him just how hungry I was, before turning and leaving the front room. I sifted the moment my feet hit the stairs, without realizing I’d done so. I’d only wanted to get away from his men and their probing gazes. I needed a moment alone to collapse and, the moment I hit the bed, I did. I inhaled slowly and exhaled even slower. I did it for several moments, before I noticed that I wasn’t alone.
“
Are you okay, Synthia?” Ryder asked as he leaned against the door.
“
I’m fine,” I whispered as I moved onto my side to look at him. The man was a sex god from any position.
“
I may not be human, nor have I spent an extensive amount of time in this world, but even I know ‘I’m fine’ coming from a woman is normally code for she’s about to cry. You just faced the man who killed your parents. I’m here if you need me, or to feed. Use me, please,” he said softly.
“
I have to be fine,” I said as if I’d said it for so long that now it was my motto.
“
For who? Who says you have to be strong anymore? You are allowed to fall apart, because I will hold you through it. You can crumble, and I’ll hold the pieces together until you can pull yourself out of it.”
“
You had Adrian turned into a
Vampire
because you wanted inside me, Ryder, and I’m not sure I can forgive you for doing it,” I said as I looked up to meet his eyes, and watch as he shut down once more. “You don’t get to put me back together when you shattered my world just to sleep with me. You took too much, and you won’t offer me anything in return, besides sex. You keep telling me that you want me, and, yet, you turn around, and tell me you are not in this for the long run. I can’t keep doing this to myself. I need someone who wants me.”
“
I take what I want, and I wanted you. I made a stupid fucking choice according to the rules of this world, Syn, but I’d never wanted anything more in my entire life than I wanted to have you. I shouldn’t have stolen him from you, or fucked with you at all. I can’t give you what you want. I can’t be the man you need, Pet. I can only be this. I’m Fae, and, while it might not make sense to you, you have everything I can give freely of myself. I’m leaving Zahruk inside the house tonight. It’s not up for discussion.” He smiled roguishly and sifted over to the bed. He kissed my forehead, so gently that it shocked my heart. I’m pretty sure it stopped beating for a moment while his lips pressed against my skin.
“
Ryder,” I whispered brokenly, but he’d already sifted out.