“So is the man we are going to meet,” he said softly as his palm touched her cheek. “I’ll pack you a bag and we will leave within the hour. After I’ve concluded my business there, we will leave for Ireland.”

  “And how will we get out of the mountains?” she asked with a worried look. “More sifting?”

  “For you and the box of evil, I’ll drive,” he said with a grin. “I’m not flying in one of those death contraptions over an ocean, though, so to Ireland, we will sift.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  He brought around a Land Rover that looked as if it had never been driven before. The interior was black leather, while the exterior was an opalescent white. He had driven in silence for over an hour when he turned off the highway, pulled to the side of a deserted stretch of road and parked before he looked at her with a knowing grin. “I know you are uneasy about travelling with the box, but the man who we are taking it to isn’t stupid. He needs it, and we need him to be on our side for the upcoming war. Sometimes having the biggest, meanest evil villains on your side is the best plan. He won’t unleash hell on earth, because he can’t rule it if he does. From what we’ve heard, Lucian is always in control and wouldn’t have need for something like this to unleash evil. He is searching for something. We have no idea who or what it is, only that once he finds it, he’ll probably go back to where ever the hell he came from.”

  “What if he opens it with no real idea what is inside of it, and something bad is unleashed?” she asked worriedly, her fear clear to see in her beautiful eyes. “What if you’re wrong about his motives and he knows what is inside of it and lets it loose?”

  “Then we send Ryder to kill it and him if need be,” he stated simply, as if it was an easy choice. “Ryder is the Horde King, and he won’t allow any harm to come to the Humans because he loves Synthia. She loves the Humans, and was raised as one of you. Trust me, Olivia. She is still an Enforcer, just one with her eyes wide open now. Yours are opening as well, and you see what was wrong inside the Guild, even if you can’t openly admit it yet. Adam, Adrian, and Synthia still ask me every time I see them if you’re okay. What does that tell you?”

  “Loyalty, but I don’t understand it. One day they were the elite, the best Enforcers of the Guild, and the next they just disappeared. How could they go that long without knowing what they were?”

  “Synthia was an infant when she was brought to her adoptive parents. She was spelled, her true powers cloaked. She was branded to suppress her Fae powers and to keep her looking like one of you for as long as possible. Adam is her familiar, or was until she was reborn as a Goddess. He was accidentally pulled here when her guardians were murdered, and his parents had thought they’d lost him. Being connected to Synthia and always within close proximity to her helped kept his powers suppressed as well. As they aged, Adrian saw that Synthia had more power than he did, and he knew she was so much more than he could see, so when Ryder had Vlad offer him immortality and more power than he could have as a Warlock, he accepted the gift. They weren’t flawed, nor did they do it to fuck the Guild over; they just became what they were supposed to be.”

  “It’s almost unbelievable,” she whispered as he put the SUV in gear and pulled back onto the highway. “We were told that they had betrayed the Guild, and hundreds of mission logs were pulled and combed through. I hated questioning them, ya know? Like they had infiltrated the Guild and lied to us the entire time is how we were made to feel, but even as we combed through the mission logs, the facts all checked out and eyewitnesses to the missions were brought in, questioned and nothing changed. They enforced the laws of the Guild with utmost respect. Synthia was found to question her orders more than other Enforcers, but now I think she may have been catching on to what was happening before anyone else. She was always the noisiest about any assignment that she thought was bullshit,” she mused with a small grin.

  “She’s perceptive and persistent,” Ristan agreed. “And stubborn as a mule,” he added with a laugh.

  “You like her,” Olivia asked as a pinch of jealousy set in.

  “I think if my brother hadn’t claimed her, I’d have tried for at least a taste of her. She’s got a fire that most men would love to sample.”

  “And I don’t,” she said quietly as she pulled her legs up in the seat and wrapped her arms around them.

  “You have an inner glow, a slow burn that ignites and flares gloriously, but you’re not the same as Synthia is. She’s a fighter who jumps into the fray without thinking first, and you…You’re a thinker like me. You try to see things from every angle, and you do question things—for the most part.”

  “I didn’t ask enough questions before I handed you over to Cyrus, and if I could undo it, I would,” she said softly. “With all of the things I know now, I wouldn’t have given you up—or Alden, for that matter. I am sorry for my part in it. I know you won’t believe me, but I am sorry.”

  He smiled and turned to look at her, really look at her. Her hair caught the sun and from where he sat in the driver’s seat, she was beyond beautiful. She was the perfect combination of fire and ice. Her sapphire eyes glowed with her own inner purity, while her red halo of hair made her skin seem a little paler than it had this morning.

  “You’re beyond beautiful, Olivia. I have never wanted a woman as much as I do right now. If I had more time, I’d pull over and show you what I could do with your sweet body pushed up against the hood of this SUV.”

  “Really,” she whispered throatily, but as she spoke a bolt of lightning cracked across the sky, making her jump.

  The storm hit the mountain range with a vengeance. Snow and sleet were making the road treacherous, and eventually Ristan caved to Olivia’s nervousness and pulled over at one of the many mountain retreats to rent a room. Once they were inside, he glamoured her some dry, fresh clothing and then did the same to himself.

  He snapped his fingers and a crackling fire lit in the elegant fireplace. He could’ve sifted her to Lucian’s club and sent one of his brothers to retrieve the Land Rover, but he wanted this time with her. He wasn’t sure why, or what would become of it, only that he enjoyed her company.

  He’d just given her a steaming mug of peppermint cocoa when the violent storm ripped one of the storm shutters away from the window, which made her jump again and spill the cocoa.

  “Ouch,” she cried as she set the cup down and held her burnt fingers to her lips. He moved to her and took her hand into his much larger ones; a soothing coldness emanated from his hands that would ease the pain of the burn as he healed her. “That feels better,” she admitted and lifted her eyes to his with a smiled. “Thank you.”

  He leaned to her, his mouth claiming hers with wild abandonment before he could stop himself. Her hand forgotten, he pulled her body close to his and waited for her acceptance before he deepened the kiss.

  He easily picked her up and headed to the bed, but she struggled against him and he stopped himself, forcing his body to cool the ardor that she created with a single look. He stepped away from her and glamoured a new storm shutter over the window. Satisfied it was secure, he turned to look at her.

  She stood almost fully naked, dressed only in a pair of lacy pale pink panties, and the thick fur slippers he’d glamoured on her feet. He swallowed and forced himself to remain still, as if she was a skittish animal that could easily be spooked.

  “Take off your clothing, and lay on the bed, please,” she whispered huskily. He raised an eyebrow at the abrupt request.

  “Olivia…” He’d been about to give her an out, so she wouldn’t feel obligated to fuck him. However, his curiosity got the better of him and he wished his clothing away as he walked to the bed, laying on it with a cocky grin. “You’re not planning something bad, right?” he teased and watched as she smiled.

  Her hands came up to gently pinch her pink nipples which had a direct
connection to his cock. He barely managed to stifle the groan as she stepped closer to the bed, her eyes feasting on his body.

  “In the books I read, I often dreamt about men made for this, but I was sure they didn’t really exist,” she confided. “Your body is perfect,” she whispered as she brought a hand down and trailed it over his muscular, defined abs. Her fingers barely touched his skin as she traced a circular pattern in his flesh.

  She straddled him as she had in the beautiful place in Faery he’d taken her to, and lowered her lips to his pierced nipple. Her teeth clicked against the piercing on the first one as she gently tested it with a soft pull. She felt his cock as it rose up and curved against her opening. She moved to the other and hid her smile as his cock jumped again when her tongue flicked against his hardened nipple.

  “Damn, girl,” he growled breathlessly as she reached down and started to work his long, thick cock with her hand. He bucked his hips and reminded himself mentally that she wasn’t used to this, and outside of his experiences with Danu, neither was he. Other than Danu, he hadn’t allowed any other female to ever have control of him.

  He lifted his head as she climbed down his body and his heart did a somersault as her tongue darted out to lick her lips as she stared at his cock. He shifted to sit up and rested back on his forearms. Then, as he watched her, she leaned in closer and used her tongue to reach out and taste him.

  His entire body vibrated with the simple act. Fuck, he was in so much trouble with this one. Her lips kissed him, and before he could guess her next action, she’d taken the tip between her lips and slid her mouth down until she coughed on it. He smiled at her ineptness, but fuck if it wasn’t the hottest thing he’d ever seen.

  Instead of giving up, she took him into her mouth again this time slower. His head rolled back and his arms buckled against the bed as he pushed his hips, feeding her more until she tightened her hold on his cock and began slowly working him over until he looked up. Her eyes were liquid fire as she allowed his cock to slip from her mouth and crawled up the mattress until her body was above his.

  “You drive me crazy,” he said shakily as he watched her slowly straddle his body, her hand positioning his cock where she wanted it. She was a wet mess, and she slid him inside her pussy easily.

  “Ditto,” she replied as she began moving her body in a rocking motion. She was the most beautiful fuck he’d ever had. He smiled as he growled and turned her over until her back was on the mattress and her thighs spread wide apart. His cock slid out of her sleek heat and before she could protest, his body shifted and he buried his face in her wetness.

  “Ahh!” She moaned and screamed as he used his nose against her clitoris as his tongue pushed into her. He may not have the ability that Ryder had to grow a larger cock, but he was a Demon. His tongue swelled until it filled her and his eyes feasted on hers as wonder lit in their oceanic depths. He pushed it further until she squirmed against him to get away from it.

  His tongue caressed the sweet spot as she cried out, her body growing slick with sweat as he continued to push his tongue deeper while it fucked her G-spot, right until she exploded with violent tremors and a few choice cuss words that made him smile against her soaking wet pussy. He pushed her legs further apart as his tongue went back to normal size, and he shifted his body around until his cock was back at her entrance.

  He plunged into her body without allowing her to come down from the cloud she was currently occupying, and took her with a force that would leave her sore until he decided to heal it. His cock was gripped by her pussy as if it was refusing to give it back, or maybe it was hugging it. Who didn’t like a good hug with a vagina?

  He pushed her legs up, allowing them to close a smidge as he raised them for better depth. She cried out as he pushed deeper into her welcoming heat. He bent his face over her body and nipped at her perky nipples, rolling them between his tongue and teeth until he felt her slipping over the edge again. Only then did he allow himself to find release as he sipped a taste of her soul, her pussy feeding his Fae while her soul fed his Demon.

  This time, he didn’t have to pull back on his Demon; it controlled itself and only took a small sliver, seeming content with that. As if it wanted to please its host by not wasting this treat so he could have more in the long run. Ristan knew he would never get enough of the way her soul tasted, addicting and dipped in a purity that was hard to find any more in the Human race. He took her four more times, enjoying each orgasm as she screamed out his name and God’s. As if God would ever approve of her screaming his name while she was being fucked by a Demon? He smiled when she mumbled incoherent words until she passed out.

  Yeah, he was going to have a hard time letting this one go.

  He curled his body protectively around hers and slept, blissfully unaware of the Goddess who watched them from the reopened storm window, her ire rising at what she witnessed. Ristan tucking his much larger body around the librarian’s, and then kissing her forehead tenderly.

  *~*~*

  Ristan felt her presence before he caught a glimpse of her rounding the cabins. He finished loading the few things they’d brought with them into the back hatch as Olivia came out and got into the passenger seat of the Land Rover.

  His eyes scanned the snow-covered woods as he moved to the driver seat and bent over to start the engine so that the heater would kick in and keep her warm. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he gave her a gentle smile and turned to move to where Danu had slipped into the woods behind the cabins.

  He had just broken through the brush when he caught sight of her further down the trail. She was dressed in a white robe, her features obscured from his vision as he approached her. His heart sped up, but he knew he had to face her.

  “Danu,” he whispered, wondering how he could explain Olivia to an ancient Goddess who had a black spot where her heart should have been.

  “Your time is up, and it is time for her to die,” she whispered and turned to look at Ristan with blood tears running down her face.

  He paused and hated the sick, twisting feeling that entered his stomach at her angry words. He felt his heart turn cold in his chest and he shook his dark head at her.

  “If you kill her, Danu, you’d better kill me too,” he whispered. “I am not the child who thought the world of you any longer. I did love you at one time, I am sure of it now, but you didn’t love me back. You can’t love anyone because I don’t think you’ve ever been taught to love. You can’t understand it because in your world it doesn’t exist. That’s why we, the creatures you created, are flawed. You forgot to love those you created, and in turn, it made most of us unable to comprehend what it was.”

  “Love is a weakness,” she snapped. “I am a Goddess! I can have no weaknesses. If I loved every one of my children, it would only paint a target on their backs for other vengeful Gods and Goddesses to use against me. I created the Fae without love because I needed them to be stronger than the race before them and to not have weaknesses that could get them killed. I made you to be killers, ones who would fight until your last breath for me and in doing so, I had to give my soul! I will die if you are too distracted by a tight pussy to save Faery, so you now know your real flaw.”

  “I played my parts, I fulfilled every task and demand you set before me; I helped heal the Tree of Life,” he growled, hating that she thought she could stake her claim on his life after what she’d done. “I will help find the relics, but I’ve already told you, Goddess, we are done. What you did to me? I can eventually forgive you for that, but your constant need to control me, and the blatant disregard for the fucked up situations you leave me in? I’m over it. Touch Olivia and I will end my part in saving Faery. I help fight for Faery by choice, not because I can’t survive elsewhere.”

  “You fight because it’s your home, and your people need it to survive,” she whispered as she wiped at her eyes.


  “We would survive,” he replied with confidence. “We would easily take over this world and make it our new home, but we want ours. That’s the difference, Danu; we will survive at any cost. You, on the other hand,” he said leaving it open as he shrugged his shoulders. “Leave the little Witch alone; who I fuck and who I fall in love with is not up to you. I don’t know what’s happening between us, but I am willing to see where it goes. That’s my choice.”

  “I could easily flick my fingers and kill her,” she said as she narrowed her eyes on him. “But I fear you will have to learn life’s lesson on your own. Lesson number one, your pretty little redhead just stole your car because she can’t wait to be rid of you. Lesson number two, she seduced you enough to get you to let your guard down, and it worked so well that you forgot there’s a box inside the car that one certain Demon will kill to get,” she said with a whisper filled with self-confidence. “Maybe he’ll find her first, or maybe I will. Tick tock, baby,” she said with a nasty laugh as she snapped her fingers and disappeared.

  “Bitch!” he roared as he spun and sifted to the spot he’d left Olivia in, only to find her and the Land Rover gone.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Olivia sped onto the highway and didn’t stop until she had put over a hundred miles between herself and the Demon. Her heart ached with every mile she drove and she considered going back, but then she would remind herself over and over again that he was her captor and there would be no future with him.

  Captor, meaning he’d taken her by force, played kinky fuckery games with her, which, if she was being honest, wasn’t such a bad thing. Well, if she was being honest, she’d enjoyed it far more than she was willing to admit. But, freedom! No more being locked in a cell, no more being confined to a bedroom. No more worrying that she was teetering on the brink of losing her heart to a Demon. She felt as if she was channeling William Wallace and even now should be painting her face blue as she drove each mile to freedom.