"You got all of that from the few minutes inside the house?" Zahruk said whistling.
"Yes" I replied trying not to show how tired I was.
"You think a woman did that?" Ryder asked carefully.
"No, I don’t think. I know at least one of the killers was a woman. There was mauve colored lipstick left on the glass. The victim wore no makeup. The heel impressions in the gravel and dirt also confirm my theory."
He considered it and then spoke softly, "Why would a woman take another's uterus and ovaries?"
I ignored it. I had no freaking idea why anyone would do something so horrendous. "What leaves a green aura trail in its wake?" I asked after a few moments of awkward silence.
Fourteen heads shook their reply.
"They took her eyes, she wasn’t a power Fae. She was an earth Fairy for fucks sake." Ryder snapped testily.
I dropped my arm and felt my knees sag briefly before I caught myself. Ryder had noticed it though. There wasn’t much he didn’t notice.
"Are we boring you?" He asked harshly.
"She took a bomb today," Adam replied before I could, "She has yet to sleep which means she hasn’t healed enough and needs to do so soon."
"Stop it Adam," I lashed out not wanting it pointed out that I was vulnerable until I had slept.
"No Syn, you saved their fucking asses today and ours! No one else could have prevented it from killing all of us. You shouldn’t be swaying on your feet, you should be sleeping and you know it!" Oh hell, he was pissed.
"I'm fine," I whispered lacking the tone I had been aiming for by a long shot.
Fourteen sets of eyes looked in my direction. I felt the weight of every pair as they took in my pale skin and the blood that was still crusted to my nose. I felt on display and it burned through me making my spine a little straighter and my eyes a little brighter.
"Zahruk, show them to the rooms I've selected for each of them and see that Synthia is placed in the red room," Ryder said dismissing us.
"Oh. Hell. No. No red room of pain," I snapped angrily. I was big into reading and no way in hell was I entering no red room of pain in this place.
Ryder's lips twitched but otherwise he gave no sign that he knew of what I was talking about. Larissa on the other hand snorted with laughter until I turned my glare on her. I was bitchy when I was in pain and I was doing my best to stay upright at the moment.
"I assure you there is nothing inside the red room. It's a bedroom, we call it the red room because everything inside of it is, well, it's red," Zahruk said scratching his head in confusion over my dislike of red.
I nodded unable to care any longer. I needed to find a bed and throw myself in it before I turned into a pansy-ass and fainted again. I turned without giving the Fae around the table another thought. We walked through the halls and back towards the stairway.
I lifted my head and looked up with a grumble. Grinding my teeth I stepped forward to start up the steps but a hand at the small of my back stopped me cold. I turned coming face to chest with Ryder, knowing him instantly by his unique rich scent alone.
"Change your mind and decided to make me elaborate something else?" I mumbled feeling my eyes grow heavy.
"No," he replied softly picking me up as I cried out trying to bring my legs back down to the ground. "Hold still or I will drop you on your head. On second thought it might knock some sense into you."
I felt him moving up the steps and even with the fear arising, I couldn’t make my mind work. My body needed to heal and I'd been careless knowing what would happen all along. I settled further into his arms, resting my head on his shoulder as he curved his arm around my legs, keeping them far enough from my ass that I felt safe and not lusted after for the moment.
Or maybe it was just sleep talking. I inhaled deeply of his spicy scent before I opened my eyes to find him watching me do so. Great, that’s all I needed right now. Smell the Dark Prince who is carrying you up the damn stairs like Cinder-freaking-rella!
His lips turned up in the corners as if he'd heard my snappy internal comment. I was so stupid when I was tired. Luckily I hadn't sighed with bliss as I had wanted to.
"I could have walked," I mumbled not knowing if it had even come out since my mind was blanketed with the calm feeling of settling into sleep.
"My ass, you are not fine. You can hardly stand up. Admitting to weakness after doing what you did today is not the same as being weak."
I didn’t answer him. Couldn't. My mind gave in and sleep overtook me until I felt myself being lowered from his arms which caused me to automatically grab onto him and pull him with me—which was just another dumb thing I had done today. I should've started a list, but I was pretty sure the pen would have run out of ink by now.
Our faces touched slightly, cheek to cheek before he moved his face around until our lips were way too close for comfort. Mine shivered violently which caused him to cuss as he pulled away and brought the blankets up and over me.
"You need a healer, you are the most stubborn human I have ever met," he growled reaching for the phone.
"No Fae, call Larissa," I whispered through the chattering of my teeth.
"She left, Z took her to get some stuff from that shithole you call a home. Besides, she already tried to heal you," he mumbled before setting the phone back down. "I can heal you, won't be like she did but the only other alternative is we wait—or I get in bed with you to warm you up and stop the incessant chattering."
"I'm fine," I said barely audible past the chattering of my teeth.
"No, the word is stubborn as hell. Choose, either I can undress and climb in bed with you—for which I won't be responsible for what happens, or I can heal you enough that you can sleep. Decide," he growled showing his teeth set together.
"You are not getting in this bed," I mumbled trying to keep my eyes open.
"Fine, then close your eyes," he said already placing his hands on my shoulder which was bare. I felt his warmth pushing through his fingertips and into my system. It felt intimate and disturbing at the same time.
"No, no stop."
He didn’t, he continued sending those butterfly fingers over my skin, caressing my shoulder, which pushed the pain away with every wave of Fae magic he pushed into my system. The rush of heat made my eyes become heavy and I wasn't able to keep them open any longer.
I listened to his breathing as he pushed healing powers through me, calm and unlabored. Unlike Larissa when she healed me. Her powers came from spells and used energy to heal as where his came from dark magic bred from his race.
I fought to keep my eyes open and watched as his face as it took on a dark hue, his eyes turning into twin embers as they met and held mine. "If you make me, I will induce sleep so you can heal. I don’t need some half-brained female mucking shit up because she's too weak to admit when she needs to rest."
I growled, or more to the point I tried to. It came out sounding more like a moan than anything else. "I can't go to sleep with you in my room."
"You won't, it's not that you can't. Sleep, we need to catch a killer tomorrow, if the pattern keeps it will be a Witch that dies next."
I stared at him for a few moments hating how much sense he had just made. There was a killer loose and he was right. If the pattern was spot on, then we would be finding a dead Witch within the next few days. I exhaled and closed my eyes feeling the heat of his on me as I succumbed to sleep.
Fourteen
I awoke to the deep, rich scent of coffee. My eyes popped open to find Larissa staring down at me with a positively magical Starbucks venti-cup. "I love you," I mumbled before coming up to rest on my elbows.
"You better, this place had no coffee. Can you believe that? Not a single freaking bean in this entire place. Who lives like that?" She droned on as she extended her hand when I had finally made it into a sitting position and handed me the hot latté.
"The Fae don't drink coffee Lari, they drink us."
"That’s so wrong," she chirped movi
ng from where she had been sitting in the small chair beside the bed to finish opening the drapes, allowing more sun to blind me. She was dressed in yoga pants and a black tank top, as if we were at home gearing up for our daily workout.
"Going running?"
"No there's an actual gym they said we could use. I wanted to keep on schedule since afterwards we need to meet up with Alden and the team from the Guild to go over the game plan for tonight," she stopped talking and looked back over her shoulder tilting her head as if considering saying something before she continued, "You should get up, it's almost noon now."
I blinked at her and then over her head to check the position of the sun for confirmation of the time. "I never sleep in," I mumbled off handedly.
She snorted, "Remember the time we got tanked and Adrian—"
She spun around with wide eyes. We didn’t speak of him, hadn't since he'd died a few years ago on a job gone wrong. "And couldn’t even remember the way home? Yeah, I remember—well I remember the morning after," I finished for her so she wouldn’t feel like an ass for bringing up his name, even though I felt the strings of my heart tug with the memory of my first love. My heart clenched as an image of him arose in my mind.
Adrian had been our fourth, but he'd been killed on a job a couple years ago. One that should have been routine, but it had all gone wrong from the start. One thing after another and before we knew it, before we could pull him out, he'd been killed. The pile of clothes I still kept in my closet at home was the only sign of him we could find except for the puddle of blood, too high in volume for a human to live through the loss.
It had been tested and the DNA test had proven that it had belonged to Adrian. Alden had been referring to Adrian when he had said I got people around me killed, the job had been routine and should have been simple to complete. Instead I'd gotten him killed and all because I wanted to prove we were the best in the Guild.
I shook my head and exhaled before taking a deep drink of the latté. Larissa smiled sadly, as if she'd been thinking along the same lines I had been. "He'd be pissed if he could see us now," she said as her lips turned into a small smile.
"He'd be blowing a few gaskets."
"Who wants to blow me—what?" Adam said coming in to the conversation with a brilliant smile.
"Adrian would be," Larissa said as she moved back to sit in the small leather chair.
"Let's not go there, not today," Adam replied sitting on the bed oblivious to the fact that I had a cup of coffee in my hand. His plopping caused it to spill on my shirt. I looked down as I held the coffee out to prevent any more from escaping the cup.
I was wearing a silk nightgown that I hadn't put on myself. I'd passed out in my clothes. I swallowed the urge to growl and met Larissa's stare as she took in the bright red nightgown. "Did you by chance dress me while I was comatose?"
"Nope," she said already moving her shocked stare to Adam. It had a look of hurt that she failed to hide.
"Hey, I didn’t dress her. I went with you!" He was off the bed as if it had bit his ass with a guilty sparkle in his green eyes.
I looked from one to the other and narrowed my eyes. "Lucy, you got some explaining to do."
They both turned bright red.
"You two!"
"It's not what you think Syn!"
"We were planning on telling you!"
My head swung as they both said something else. I reached over and set my coffee down on the small night stand so I could rub my already pounding temples. "Shit! Shit! Shit! This is not happening, when did it happen?" I paused rubbing to peer at Larissa who was now looking like she was ready to cry.
It wasn't a smart idea to date inside a coven as small as ours. If they broke up and couldn’t get along, it could mean mistakes that we couldn’t afford. It could turn out badly and I loved them both. Not to mention the Guild had its own views on dating and I couldn’t afford to have either one moved from my coven.
I moved to get out from beneath the covers but I wasn’t wearing pants. Embarrassment rose to my ears, coloring them pink. He'd seen me naked! And I'd been asleep, oblivious to the fact that he'd had me at his mercy. This day was off to a great start.
"Out, both of you."
"Syn—"
"Synthia—"
I shook my head and held up my index finger to the doorway. After they left still sputtering and trying to explain I got up and inspected my body for signs of abuse or anything else. I was still testing my limbs when a pixie walked in humming lightly under her breath.
"You're awake! Hi I'm Malinda, was the nightgown a good choice?" Her voice was musical. Not a Pixie, she was a Brownie.
Brownies were Fae that loved to clean and actually fed from doing so. They'd been almost wiped out when the humans had caught wind of it. Enslaved by some of the seedier humans who abused them, or sold them since they were weak and easily caught since they had to clean if they see a mess.
"Syn," I replied after a moment of hesitation, she'd dressed me? She didn’t look much older than a twelve year old and was as small as one. She had whitish wispy blonde hair and giant blue eyes that took up more space than a human's normally would.
Her eyes widened so I clarified it for her. "My name is Syn," I continued as I opened the drawer to find my workout clothes folded neatly. "Thank you for folding them." It was all I could think of to say. She's gone through my bags. That irked me, but knowing she had dressed me instead of Ryder was instant relief.
"You are very welcome," she smiled sweetly before she turned and left the room just as quietly as she had shown up.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
An hour later, after showering from the workout with Adam and Larissa, we were standing in the entranceway waiting for Ryder and his men who planned on following us out to meet up with Alden.
"So I need to ask," I looked between Adam and Larissa seriously considering slapping them both—hard, "How serious is this between you guys?"
"Very." Adam said with a serious look on his absurdly beautiful face.
She smiled just as bright and nodded at Adam shyly.
"How long?"
"How long what Syn?" Larissa asked.
I rolled my eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest, "How long has it been going on?" How long had they been together and how the hell had I missed it? Some friend I was.
"Syn—" Larissa stopped before the fourteen Fae walked in.
"Finish Larissa," I said ignoring the intrusion.
"Six months," she growled angrily.
I had to force my jaw not to drop at the look of triumph in her eyes. How the hell could I have missed that? I felt a twinge of hurt. These were my best friends and I had missed the fact that they were more than an item. They were an actual couple.
"Syn, after Adrian—"
"No, enough," I said quickly needing silence. The Fae were not on a need to know basis with this information.
"Alden called, if you three are not too busy we need to head out," Ryder said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Plans have changed."
He was dressed in a white button down shirt and jeans today, as were the rest of his crew. I'd changed into a light blue long sleeve shirt with my favorite jeans and knee high boots with a comfortable three inch heel. Casual Friday wear.
"There's been another death," he said already heading to the door.
"What?" I squeaked as my heart sank in my stomach.
"They found a dead Witch this morning. Need me to spell it out for you?" He continued as he opened the wide double doors.
"Who?" I asked afraid of the answer, only a few of the Witches lived outside of the Guild. And we knew and liked most of them.
"I didn't ask," he continued walking making me run in the heels to try to keep up with him. "Zahruk, take the other two with you in the SUV, I'll take Syn with me."
We walked out to the yard silently as a group. I heard an engine purring to life from a garage I hadn't noticed that was connected to the house. The midnight blue SUV pulled o
ut and the driver opened up the door and got out.
"Follow," Ryder said as he strolled toward the garage. I followed until we were standing in front of a darker SUV. As I stepped around it and placed my fingers on the door handle I hesitated.
"Afraid little itchy Witchy?" He purred from the other side, his hands resting on the hood as if he was readying to jump over it.
"Should I be?" I retorted raising my brow line. I should be. I could see it in his eyes.
"Very," his lips twisted up into a full out smirk.
I rolled my eyes and opened the door and pulled myself up into the seat. It still had the new car smell, the seats white leather and soft against the palm of my hand as I fastened my seatbelt and settled in.
The moment he got in, the nervous energy I felt around him came slamming home as he closed the door sealing us inside the SUV together. "Why am I riding with you?" I asked needing to know why he had me alone yet again.
"How did you walk through the ward last night?" He got straight to the point.
"No clue, but I'm not Fae if that is what you're thinking," I snapped.
"There is no birth record of you being born. Nothing from before your parents brought you to the Guild. Marie pointed this out, said it was strange."
"Marie said I have no record of live birth?" I asked making sure we were on the same page.
"Yes."
"Do I look dead to you?" I replied in a voice that dripped sarcasm.
He turned his head in my direction as he grabbed the steering wheel. His eyes flowing over my body making the air in the SUV crackle before he turned those golden eyes back on the driveway we were driving out of in line with the other cars.
"Adam doesn't have one either, Larissa on the other hand does."
I wasn't an idiot, I'd known something was up when I hadn't been able to get my papers from the Guild or Alden, but I'd figured it had been due to the violent deaths of my parents. "Adam was abandoned practically on the Guilds steps, my parents were killed. Ever think that it might have been an oversight on the Guilds part due to the fact that we were orphans?"