“Don’t get all pissy with him, Ryder. He only told me to turn my ass around and come back to where it was safe.” I wasn’t sure why I stuck up for the guy, other than, I knew he hadn’t done anything wrong and didn’t deserve to be throttled by the crew currently standing around us with their hands on their weapons.
“Silas?” Ryder growled his name, as though it was a vile thing on his tongue.
“I caught the scent of the Mage, who has been trailing us for the last mile. I didn’t think it wise that she go toward it in her current condition,” he explained.
“Z, Sinjinn, Aodhan, go scout. Synthia, come to me, now.”
“You guys do know that pregnancy isn’t a condition, right?” I mumbled, even though I had stopped worrying about it. I was more worried that Mages were on our trail. The fact that they were in Faery meant they had followed us, but why? I knew they wanted to ruin Faery, but this shit was getting personal really quick.
“Why the hell did you wander off?” Ryder demanded as soon as the men all hurried off in different directions. “I told you to stay close!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I figured you would want me to make myself scarce so you could service Claire!” I’d spun around on him with my hands fisted at my sides. Great way to hide the fact that I was jealous of that tramp! Ninny!
“You sound jealous,” he purred.
“Suck it, Fairy!”
“I don’t plan to suck anything. I plan to lick it until it flows down my face. Now answer the question; are you jealous?” he continued.
I wanted to scream no, but being that I was now Fae, I couldn’t lie. This sucked! I narrowed my eyes while watching his smile break across his lips. “And if I was?”
“Are you?”
“If I was?”
“Are you?”
“Are we, what?” Ristan asked, as the entire camp shook from an explosion. Ryder grabbed me quickly, and pushed me behind his back.
“To me!” he shouted with enough force to bring every guard in the camp to us. They created a shield around me, and the other women that were pushed inside the protective barrier of the men. “Vlad!” he ordered, and I watched through his arms as Vlad, Adrian, Zade, and more men that Vlad had brought with him moved protectively to the front of us.
“On it,” Vlad said, and began shouting out orders rapidly. Smoke rose from the trees where the men had gone to look for traces of the Mage. I looked in the air, and saw some of the tree tops on fire, but rain pelted them now, as if someone had placed a cloud above the fire.
I turned and watched as Darynda moved her fingers in a circular pattern as she made her way to me. She made it rain! I grinned to myself, and kept that it was her to myself as well. The rules of the trial did say we could manifest water. When she reached me, it was to shiver violently before she clasped my hand.
“Are you well?” she asked, and I nodded at her question.
I felt something touch my shoulder through the cloak, and turned to find the Shifter watching me closely, with his hand pressed to my shoulder. He removed it and nodded to me, before he turned and melted into the crowd.
“Are you sure?” Darynda pried.
“Me and bombs are on a first name basis,” was my reply, which caused her to look at me as if I was insane. “We are close, like this,” I crossed my finger and wiggled my eyebrow, trying to reassure her I was fine.
I could smell blood before Aodhan came into sight with it oozing down his face. I felt my fangs pulse in my mouth and brought my hand up to hide them. I smelled the iron that was thick in the air as well, and knew he’d be harmed with the deadly metal. I felt the pull to heal, and pushed at Ryder, who turned and looked at me.
“He’s hurt,” I said.
“Stay there, Synthia. They didn’t come here for Aodhan; they came for you and the child you carry,” Ryder growled.
I didn’t push, though. Instead, I nodded. “Then bring him to me. I need to heal him,” I said quietly, for his ears alone.
“Synthia,” he warned.
“Don’t you Synthia me, Fairy. I have to help him.”
I felt the urge pulling inside of me. It wasn’t a choice; I needed to help him. If I didn’t, I’d be violently ill. It was like something else was inside of me, trying to come out. My hand trembled with the need to touch him, to run over his skin and pull the iron out. As more men came through the wooded area, the need to help them become all consuming.
“Synthia,” Ryder said, his hands framing my face as everything inside of me was set on fire. “Fucking hell! Bring them here, now!”
They were brought one by one and laid at my feet. I dropped to my knees, even as Eliran dropped with me. I closed my eyes, and allowed whatever was inside of me to cure the tainted blood from their system. When I was done, my eyes grew heavy, and Ryder watched me with worry set deep in his eyes.
“Get the horses, there’s a copse a few miles from here. We can secure the area in case the Mages follow us. She needs rest,” Ryder ordered, and everyone ran to obey him. Of course they did, he was the freaking Horde King.
It was an hour on horseback before I was pulled off, and handed off into waiting arms. Ristan, who was now my official bodyguard, and Adam both took turns holding me as camp was set up and secured. They set up enough tents to house half of Spokane easily. I’d wondered why they hadn’t glamoured anything, but then Zahruk telling me how the trial required that outside of basics of food and water, no magic could be used. They might as well be mortal.
I was in Adam’s arms, with my head nuzzled against his shoulder when I felt well enough to stand. I told him, and he placed me back down on my feet. “Thank you,” I said, and watched him smile.
“No problem. Don’t mind holding you, Syn.”
“I know, but I feel better,” and I did.
“They are as mortal as we were when we first met them,” I said with a wide grin. Ryder was efficient, as if this wasn’t his first Trial, but some of the men were scratching their heads, and cussing at the tents as if they’d been built by the devil himself.
I wanted to laugh, but I hurt and I wasn’t sure why. I looked to where Ryder stood talking to his men, and caught the eyes of the Shifter on me. For some reason him staring at me was disturbing, and yet I felt no violent feelings from him. Something was off about him, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Ryder turned and motioned me closer, and I smiled at Adam and kissed his cheek before moving over to Ryder.
“Our tent is set up and ready for you. Follow,” he ordered, and I did because I wanted to lie down. I felt as if I’d run in a marathon today. Inside the tent was basic, with a crude makeshift bed, and covers that looked thick and welcoming.
“Synthia,” Ryder said, stopping me before I made it to the bed. I turned and looked at him carefully. “You can’t do shit like that now. You need to think about the babes,” he said carefully.
“I couldn’t stop myself, Ryder. I don’t know what the hell it is, but something happens to me when they are poisoned with iron. It’s like a drug to my system, and the need to help them is more than I can bear,” I replied honestly, with tears forming thick in my throat.
“Shit,” he said, raking his fingers through his hair. “We were afraid of that. Ristan has seen you healing people en masse. We need to figure out if you are collecting the iron in your system, or where it goes when you are done.”
“I have no clue,” I said, eyeing the bed longingly.
“Get some sleep, Pet. We leave at dawn,” he replied, and kissed my forehead, before running his fingers across my flat abdomen.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dawn came fast. The air was chilling, and there was a somberness to the group that hadn’t been there yesterday. The excitement of going on the trial was tarnished by the Mages attack and their attempt to escape the men when they’d gone looking for them. The injured had been all healed—by me. I was still drained, but I wasn’t about to ask Ryder to feed me here.
I’d wait until the ne
xt camp, and ask him to put up a thicker tent. I might be Fae, but I’d been raised by humans and being in the middle of an open camp, surrounded by others wasn’t where I wanted to feed. I wasn’t shy about nudity, but screaming with pleasure was another subject. I’d be damned if I screamed his name where everyone could hear it.
“Coffee?” Ristan’s voice caught me off guard, but the mouthwatering aroma was welcome. I turned to find him holding out a cup of coffee.
“How did you manage to get this?” I asked, as I took it and brought it up to my nose for inspection. It smelled like heaven, and I’d figured there would be no coffee available during the trip.
“I lived as a human for a while, Flower. I have many moves,” he held his arms out wide, “and moves you haven’t seen yet. Stick around; I am also a master on the grill.”
Leave it to the Demon to be a coffee expert over a campfire. I could see water being tossed on several as I sipped the coffee, wondering where he had gotten the cream and sugar. But then again, I probably didn’t want to know.
I finished the cup and handed it back to the Demon, who held his hand out expectantly. He didn’t move from where we stood. “You pissed that I chose you for guard duty?” I asked, lifting an irritated brow.
“Nah, I eat hearts and fuck shit up. I specialize in the shit, so obviously I’m the right man for the job when it comes to protecting my delicate little Flower. Besides, I got to watch your little handmaiden blush when I tried to tell her you and I went way back. She didn’t buy it, can you believe that shit?”
“Delicate?” I flipped him the finger even as he started to laugh. I’d noticed that out of all of Ryder’s men, I let the Demon get away with more than any of the others. He gave me a lot of shit, but he was also the one who was helping me adjust more than the others were.
I was still trying to come to grips with the idea, that it was his visions that had set off the chain of events that had brought me to this point; he himself did not deliberately do this to me. I found I just couldn’t blame him for something he had no control over; he was only telling it how he had seen it. The guy was cursed.
It had to be hell to be given glimpses of the future, and then told to figure it out. I’d walked in one of those visions with him, and the pain I had from it still lingered in my mind. How many of those visions did he get on a daily basis? How was he still sane? Well, somewhat sane.
“When do we leave?” I asked, since he had yet to break the silence from me flipping him off.
“Soon; Ryder and a few of the men went to check the perimeter of the camp. When they come back, we should be ready to go. Most of the tents are coming down now,” he said as he watched the movements around camp.
“Thanks for the coffee, Demon.”
“Hey, I like you better with coffee in you. If you need to use the bushes…I will escort you there,” he offered.
“I do,” I replied.
When I’d finished, and was walking back to the camp with Ristan, the men were riding back in. Ryder was atop his black warhorse, proud and beautiful as always. His men flanked his sides as they rode in a V formation through the remains of what had been the camp.
When he reached us, he dismounted and patted his horse lovingly. He wasted no time as he walked to me briskly. “Feeling better?” he asked, and I smiled.
He’d held me through the night, as if I was his most prized possession. “I am. I was just drained from healing the men.”
“Good. We need to move out,” he said, nodding his head to his men who left to help get rest of camp moving.
“Trouble?” Ristan asked.
“No, but that in itself is trouble. Silas couldn’t pick up their scent. I’m not sure it’s worth finding this fucking relic, when your safety is my main concern now, Pet.”
“I’m fine, Ryder. Besides, this relic is one of the keys to the survival of this world. This world, has to accept our unborn children. Too much depends on us getting them.”
“It’s not worth it if it threatens you,” he argued as fire lit behind his golden eyes.
“It threatens our children if we don’t finish this, Ryder. We finish it, period. This isn’t up for discussion. I want this place fixed, like yesterday, for our children. Their lives hang in the balance, and depend on the Goddess and this world to accept them, so don’t tell me we’re going home! What we’re doing is finishing this trip, and getting the damn relic. If we find any of the Mages, we’ll kill them. Shit, Ristan can gorge on their hearts!”
“Now that’s a woman,” Sinjinn said as he winked at me when I turned to where he stood.
“Sinjinn,” Ryder warned with his tone threatening.
“Hey, he’s just saying what the rest of us are thinking,” Sevrin said with a roguish wink in my direction.
Twenty minutes later, we were riding again. Once again, I rode in Ryder’s arms, pressed against his massive chest. “You know, you may yet cause a mutiny with my men,” he rumbled in my ear.
“They’re loyal to their king. But, I have tits, and you don’t. So I guess it’s possible,” I replied, resting my head against him and enjoying the feeling of being safe in his arms.
He laughed and shook his head. “You do have really nice tits,” he agreed.
“Good enough to cause a mutiny over?” I asked as a smirk covered my face.
“Good enough to cause a war,” he replied, causing me to laugh.
“Good to know. Next time you argue with me, I’ll just start playing with them,” I replied impishly.
“You do that, and I’ll let you win,” he replied silkily.
“After I’m done playing with them, I’ll make sure to award you with a gentle nibble…” I continued to tease him, enjoying the subtle peace that sat between us out here in the open.
“Nibble on me, Pet, and I’ll fuck you until the bed breaks.”
“Really? I don’t see any beds out here…but I’m willing to try,” I said, turning to look into the fire that was now lit in his eyes. I loved his eyes, but I loved them more when that fire started to kindle, and then burned for me.
“I wouldn’t offer that right now. I may be tempted to stop this horse and make a bed just to fuck you on it,” he said smoothly, his voice already growing hoarse, as he pressed his massive erection against my back.
“You wouldn’t,” I said, trying to sit up. He wouldn’t allow it, though. Instead, he pulled my body closer to his, and his hand lowered until it was pressed hard against my sex.
“You wouldn’t,” I repeated, even as I pressed his hand closer with my own, moving it to where I needed it. The others around us seemed oblivious to our antics, but Ryder covered me with the cloak, and his hand in the process.
“I would. Now lean back; and no sounds, Pet, I mean it.”
The authority in his whispered command had me leaning back quickly. I smothered a gasp as his hand lifted the skirt I wore, and parted the panties out of his way. The movement from his horse, and his hand worked against me. I wanted to moan. Hell, I wanted to beg him to make a bed, just so we could break it.
“Good girl. You want me to fuck you, don’t you?” he crooned.
“Ryder,” I whispered as his fingers played gently with the soft flesh between my legs.
“God you smell so fucking good; so ripe and ready to be fucked,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “I want you, right here, right now, beneath the sky. I want to take you until you beg me to stop,” he continued, his voice growing thick with lust.
“Please,” I begged, even though I wasn’t even sure what I was begging for. I just wanted him, and right now I felt as if it didn’t matter that eyes were watching us, or that we were mounted on a horse. It only mattered that he do as he was threatening to do now.
His hand moved away and my brain began to function. Ristan was riding up beside us with a smirk on his face.
“Ryder, the Shifter would like permission to approach you,” he said.
“Not now,” Ryder growled.
“I think yo
u should hear what he has to tell you.”
I remained silent through their exchange. My body was still fighting to gain control after Ryder’s magic fingers had set it to blaze. I swallowed as heat lit my cheeks. Ristan knew. I could see the quirk of his lips, and the knowing look he gave me. Sex was a necessity to the Fae, but I’d been raised differently.
“Fine,” Ryder replied.
The moment Ristan turned his mount around and nodded, the Shifter came forward. Silas eyed me, before turning his attention to Ryder.
“We’re being followed. I’ve caught his scent five times in the last hour. This one is on his own, and not a Mage, Ryder,” Silas said, pinning me with those stunning eyes.
“How many?” Ryder asked, as his arm came down protectively over my waist.
“Only one following us, and he is strong. I can catch his scent, but every time I think I have pinned his location, he moves.”
“Which Caste is he from?” Ryder asked calmly.
“No idea, but he is moving with a purpose. He’s been on each side of us. I think he is throwing his scent, trying to keep his presence masked,” Silas said with a sharp twist to his lips. His eyes once again landed on me, and that uneasy feeling came broiling back to life.
“Zahruk,” he shouted over his shoulder, “take two guards and scout ahead, but stay within shouting distance. No magic unless a life is dependent on it. I would rather repeat the trial than lose one of my men to the Mages.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was several hours before Zahruk and his scouting party came back to the group. We’d been traveling for what felt like forever when Ryder called a halt next to a bubbling stream. I was still looking lovingly at the natural springs that seemed to bubble up from nowhere.
“We will camp here,” Ryder announced.
“We are moving about as fast as snails,” I griped. My ass was sore, and my legs hurt from the endless gait that his horse had trotted here with.
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