"Promises, Ryder? Save them, I'm finishing our deal, when I am done, we're done. Understand?" I challenged him.
"I'm going to tie you to my fucking bed and feed from you until there is no fight left inside of you."
I blinked, my mind shifting from focus. His face changed briefly, shadows moving just beneath the surface of his flesh. His eyes changed, a glimmer of sparks lighting up inside their fiery depths. His teeth sharpened a fracture, something I had never heard of any Fae doing. He wasn't the Dark Prince—he was so much more than he was pretending to be.
"Looks like I'm not the only one keeping secrets Ryder," I whispered as I felt the power shift, Larissa had control of everyone, except Ryder's men and the puppet now watching me intensely.
I sent a silent prayer up as I crouched down low, Ryder did the same matching me move for move. He crouched low, knowing the moment I broke through the shield that he'd have me. I knew it as much as he did. But I would get away from him, as planned.
I'd prepared for it, practicing with Adam. I smiled and lifted slowly, watching his body ripple with power and muscles against his suit. I moved to another spot and watched him follow me, his eyes piercing and beautiful in his anger.
"I'm going to fuck you until you only know the need to please me Syn, until you worship my dick. You'll beg me to fuck you, your mind will belong to me alone," he growled as we mirrored each other’s movements again like some sort of crazy football scrimmage line. He knew my moves before I made them, as if he’d studied me in detail.
"What if I already do worship your dick Ryder?" I said lowering my voice until it sounded seductive.
His eyes narrowed as his mouth shifted into his sexy little smirk. "Pet, if I owned your mind…you'd let me in right now, you'd let me take you right here in front of everyone and not care who watched us. You care, I'll be sure to change that," he whispered icily.
I swallowed and exhaled before I launched myself at him. I was in his arms and on the floor in seconds, his hands biting into my flesh. "Your mine now Synthia," he growled as he rolled me beneath himself which hadn't been in my plans.
I counted inside my head as his eyes stared into mine, ten, nine, eight, I sent my senses out into the room stopping everything and once again everything slowed except Ryder. "Let me go Ryder, I have to prove that you're wrong before you do something stupid."
"I can't let you do that Syn, I have proof that is was the Guild. We have identified most of the people involved," he growled as his thumb trailed down my cheek slowly.
"Then I'm sorry," I said as I slammed my head into his and rolled, using his shock as a distraction. I was up and moving towards the angry men protecting Arianna instantly. Adams wicked flash-bang grenade spell went off and Ryder’s men hit the floor as planned but they wouldn't stay there for long. As I pulled one of my blades from its sheath strapped to my leg and met the puppets gaze, I took quick aim and whispered the targeting spell and launched the blade forcefully through her chest with a killing blow.
Her body dropped as I was thrown back by something slamming against me hard enough to crush the air from my lungs. I cried out as soon as air came back and met Ryder's angry stare. "Why the fuck did you do that! Shit Syn," he snarled low enough that only I could hear him as he held me against the wall.
I looked down to see a blade protruding from my chest, Zahruk stood a few feet away from us—on his feet and unaffected by Adam's spell. His eyes filled with sorrow as he brought his hand down from where he'd thrown his knife—into my chest.
Ryder's eyes dropped to my chest and then over his shoulder to where Zahruk stood horrified by what he'd done. "Fuck!" He shouted as my body sagged, he scooped me up into his arms. Air escaped from my lungs in a sick sound that made Ryder only cuss more.
I could feel the life draining with the blood that was escaping from the damaged tissue around the wicked blade protruding from my chest. I coughed trying to speak, but blood splattered from my mouth to cover Ryder's crisp white shirt beneath his formal wear.
"She's…" I couldn’t get the words out. I struggled to get air into my lungs as I was drowning on my own blood.
Ryder's eyes showed fear and regret. "Fuck, Syn…" his words trailed off as I smiled and tried another ragged breath.
"Ryder," Ristan yelled.
"Not now!" He shouted to his Demon.
"You need to see this," Ristan persisted.
Ryder spun around with me still in his arms as he faced the Demon and then looked down at where Arianna lay gasping like a fish out of water. "What the fuck?" He snarled looking down at her and then at me.
Arianna had lost whatever spell had been covering up her stench. Even now I could smell the decaying flesh and decomposed organs. Ryder released me and I slid to the floor and met Adam and Larissa's horrified looks. They were under orders to leave me if I couldn’t get back to them. I turned my head at an awkward angle and watched her fingers move. She wasn't dead.
I used everything inside of me to pull the blade Zahruk had stuck in my chest out, to use on her. I pushed up and used the confusion of the crowd as they realized Arianna was pieced together with dead bodies. "I'm going to find you," I growled to the person watching from the dead lifeless eyes. I whispered the targeting spell again and Zahruk’s blade flew from my fingers and slammed into her chest next to my blade. I watched as the reflection of the puppet master faded from her eyes.
I stood on shaky legs and looked at Ryder who looked down at the corpse, Zahruk's and my blades now protruding from its chest. "Told you," I whispered turning to make it back to Larissa and Adam. I got about two steps before Ryder turned me back towards him, which made me fall to my knees at his feet.
"What the fuck was that?" He asked sharply.
I tried to speak, but I was seconds from passing out. His eyes lowered to where Zahruk stabbed me and I watched as the full realization of what his man had done in protection of Arianna set in. "Let…go," I croaked.
"You need a healer," he growled trying to pick me up. I tried fighting against his hold, which caused more blood to flow from the open wound in my chest. He saw it and stopped trying to pull me up. "Why didn’t you just fucking tell me?"
I glared at him. Shook my head and ended up coughing more blood. I moved towards Adam and Larissa who broke the shields protection and ran to me. "She needs a hospital," Larissa cried.
"She won't make it," Adam said barely above a whisper, sheer terror filling his eyes.
We didn’t have time to argue as Ryder reached down and picked me up and sifted out. I landed in some kind of medical ward, more than likely the one Ryder had mentioned at Vlad's bar.
"I need a fucking healer now!" Ryder snarled to the surprised onlookers who watched us silently. "Stab wound to her chest, where the fuck is Eliran?" He continued to snarl at the Fae around us.
"I'm here, you have to set her down Ryder," said a tall blonde Fae with wispy hair.
"Fix her or you die," he seethed.
"You have to set her down Sire, or I won't have a chance to do so," the blonde Fae said clearly.
I watched Ryder step back after he had set me on a table, his eyes searching my face with a rawness I'd never seen before in their molten depths. "Eliran, you have to fix her."
"What is she?" He asked already pulling apart my clothes to get a look at the wound.
"She's unknown Fae."
"She looks human, are you sure she isn't?" He replied as he put oxygen over my mouth and nose.
"I don’t fucking know!" Ryder growled, "She's more human than Fae right now, she has not Transitioned."
"But, Sire—"
"Just fix her Eliran, your life depends on it," Ryder said so softly that I thought I had imagined it.
Thirty Five
I awoke to the whispers of people speaking in hushed tones. I winced as fire spread through my ribs, but at least I was able to breathe again. Either that, or we had all died and I'd hallucinated the healer. I blinked and tried to cover my eyes but the IV and Kflex band
age made it a feeble attempt. The scent of bleach and sterile equipment filled the room.
"If I'm not dead, turn the freaking light off," I groaned.
"There's my girl," Alden's voice sounded from beside me.
"If you guys died too, I'm going to haunt that fucking Fairy until hell freezes over," I mumbled over my cracked lips.
Everyone inside the room laughed.
"I'm serious," I said narrowing my eyes as I tried to move. Adam held his head over mine as I realized I couldn’t move.
He laughed and shook his head, "Nope afraid not, you're alive Syn. Ryder saved you."
"Saved me—my ass, his guy is the reason I got stabbed!" I complained remembering the look in his eyes. He'd regretted what had happened. Good.
"Yeah well, it's over and we won, you got her Syn," Larissa said smiling from behind Adam's head as she leaned over him.
"Where am I?" I asked wishing I could sit up.
"Guild hospital. There’s been a lot of wrangling while you were out. Ryder is claiming you and I are Fae and no longer fall under Guild jurisdiction, he tried to keep you and demanded the Guild turn me over as well. Alden filed a formal complaint and injunction against Ryder and brought you back to the Guild until this could be sorted out and speaking of, he failed to protect you from danger so the contract is void. You attended the Engagement Ball which was in the contract, by Fae law you were there by invitation…only problem is, he said if we didn’t want to send everyone else to face a boatload of charges, that you had to come back willingly and renew the contract."
I blinked at the overload of information from Adam "So let me get this right, if I don’t go back to Ryder…the strike team does?"
Adam sighed and shook his head, "They said they would Syn, but that's up to you. You can choose walk away this time."
"No," I snorted, "That wasn’t an option. They were my team last night—"
"Last week," Adam said sheepishly as he scratched his head and crinkled his nose.
"Last week?" I winced as I tried to sit up. "Why didn’t anyone wake me up?" I shook my head as much as it would allow me to.
"You were treated by the Fae, Ryder said it might take your body a while to heal since you haven't um…transitioned yet," Adam winced and stood fully up again.
"Transitioned my ass and no, I'll go Adam. Tell the team they did well, to stand down. I'll go see Ryder," I met his emerald eyes that now had that ring of lime.
"You don’t have to Synthia, I'll find a way to deal with him," Alden argued.
"Alden, listen to me. I did this. It was my idea, my team, my coven, my responsibility. He has answers, I need them. Adam needs them and sooner or later without help —we will end up hurting someone and then the Guild will have to hunt us. I can't live with that, can you Adam?" I asked meeting and holding his eyes before looking behind him to where Larissa held his hand.
"No," he said as his teeth ground together.
"I can do this, you made me strong enough and smart enough Alden. Sooner or later we have to learn to be what we are and you haven't found a way out of being Fae yet. I can't feel my magic right now and without it I'm a sitting duck."
"I don’t like it, Synthia," Alden continued.
"You don’t have to like it, we just have to deal with it," I whispered closing my eyes briefly before opening them back up, "What happened with Arianna?"
Adam snorted, "Well she was one of us, but she'd been dead for a couple years Syn. Her body is being wrapped and readied to be taken back by the Seattle Guild in a few days. They are going back through the missing persons files now. Seeing how many of them might have been the first victims. The press is going absolutely ape-shit crazy over this and hounding Ryder, they're camping on his doorstep. We got you out before they could connect us to anything. You got lucky Syn, this time."
I'd killed his puppet, or her puppet—which meant soon we'd know who had been pulling her strings and why. I closed my eyes and tried shaking off the sick feeling that came with knowing she'd been a victim before a tool.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I stood outside Ryder's estate after fighting through the press, who even now were flashing pictures of me standing in his driveway. I was dressed in low hip hugging jeans and a baggy shirt that hid the fact that my ribs were wrapped from where Zahruk had stabbed me. I stood my ground, watching as fourteen males piled from the house shirtless. Someone needed to put a freaking warning label on these guys. May cause hormonal overload.
Ryder stood in the middle, his eyes sliding down my body slowly. Probably looking for damages. We said nothing. I could feel the Fae pulsing with their wild magic, waiting for me to strike, or do something stupid. I shook my head wondering if we'd get into a pissing contest next. Maybe I had interrupted their workout session, which could account for the lack of dress and pissy looks I was getting from them.
"You ordered me here," I said finally breaking the silence.
"I did," Ryder said with his lopsided grin that looked more dangerous than friendly.
"I'm here," I mumbled.
"You are."
"Okay, we gonna measure dicks all day Ryder, or are we gonna sign a contract?" I snapped.
"You don’t have a dick Syn, I would have noticed," Ryder's smile lifted roguishly.
I rolled my eyes and then rubbed them in frustration. "Your man stabbed me Ryder, because he thought I was a danger to your fiancée. I broke in because you were in danger. I tried to talk to you when this first went down and you didn’t listen to me then, so I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have listened to me about this. You're too fucking stubborn. We were hunting a killer, you were getting ready to marry his or her puppet and I saved you. I did what you wanted me to, only there was no assassin unless you consider the one pulling the strings on your…well whatever she would be now."
"You broke into an engagement party with almost every house of royal Fae in attendance, an engagement that I set-up, there was never going to be any wedding Synthia, ever. I was trying to draw out the Light Fae among other things and you ruined it."
I blinked at him. No wedding? He hadn't planned on going through with it? And why was he trying to draw out the Light Fae? Ryder had more secrets and I was starting to wonder if he wasn’t trying to start an all-out war with the other castes of Fae. "Why would you need to draw out the Light Fae?" I asked trying to pull more information from him.
"That's none of your fucking business," Ryder growled, "You broke Fae laws Synthia, without a good fucking reason."
"You were about to start a fucking war Ryder, on my Guild. I saved lives. I don’t regret it, not even if it leaves me your fucking slave for eternity. I was born to save people, I'm good at it. I take out bad people. I do what no one else wants to do Ryder. I get the job done." I winced and grabbed my ribs before realizing what I had done and righting myself again.
"You're not healed," he growled.
"Nope, still human," I said hiding the pain in my voice.
"You're in pain."
"I'm fine."
"Who is stubborn?" He said moving closer to me.
"I am. Never said I wasn’t."
"You should be healed by now," he whispered as his eyes met and held mine.
"Nope, not yet. I need to finish this and get home. I need to find the puppet master. He needs to die. Like yesterday."
"You won't be going home this time. You will be staying with me. Indefinitely."
"No, I won't. I was stupid last time to sign before reading every detail. I came here because you forced me back. You knew I'd come," I watched his eyes sparkle in answer, "Well I'm here, you didn’t protect me, you got me stabbed. You broke our contract, Alden thought it was a temporary clause, but it wasn’t. If you failed to protect me from harm you forfeit your claim on me. That's why I'm here, because you don’t like to lose."
He smiled and tipped his head, "It won't happen again and I didn’t lose Syn. You’re here and I told you. I always win."
"Ahh, but remember Ryder,
you're as stubborn as I. We're both hot headed. Where there's a flame, someone's bound to get burned and this time it won't be me."
"You burn pretty hot Syn, I haven't forgotten," he whispered smiling softly.
"Not gonna happen, I'll be making my own contract. It goes both ways. Watch what you wish for, you just might get it."
"You're going to need to feed sooner or later Syn," he warned as his eyes turned hard.
"Then I guess we better get to negotiating Ryder," I challenged him back.
"Is your body changing?"
"Nope, I'm still me."
He smiled, "Your eyes are Fae Syn, unique as well. I have never seen a mix of blue and purple before. I'm curious as to how Adam became your familiar."
"He's not my familiar, he's my family."
"No, he calmed you. He grounded your power with his own. Most Fae spend eternity looking for a familiar who can ground their powers. Yet you, a newborn walked in with one in your pocket. Explain."
"Explain?" I laughed, "Okay, last week? I was a Witch. I knew where the hell I belonged Ryder, this week? This week I'm a fucking Fairy Ryder. A fucking Fairy, my entire life has been a huge fucking lie. I got people who loved me killed because I can't think of another reason for those Fae to be inside my house that day. No one can, but now that I know I'm Fae—or turning Fae, I know they were there for me. So explain? I have no fucking idea, Ryder…I don’t even know who my actual parents are, or why they hid me. Adam is only getting pieces of what he thinks we are —hell! He doesn't even know why he is drawn to me, but he is. When I get pissed or upset—he feels it! Nothing in my life makes any sense now. The only thing I do know is that I don't want any of this."
"I need to know what the mark is on the back of your neck is," he growled.
I threw up my hands and stood there, waiting for Ryder to invite me in so we could get this over with. When he didn’t say anything I tapped my foot impatiently waiting. I looked around us at the smiles and smirks from his men. Ristan was there, a guarded look in his eyes, a sad expression on his face. Maybe he felt bad for everything that had ensued after he'd asked me to investigate the Light Heir.