“Did you sleep with him again? I need to know you’re being smart when you’re with him.” Adam’s question made my head whip around to look at him. His eyes had turned bright green, and a tight strain showed around his mouth.
“Don’t you think I know that?” I whispered, still watching him.
“I hope you’re being careful. The entire realm of Faery is depending on us.”
“I get it. I’m still on the Guild’s contraceptive shot. It’s stronger than the humans’ birth control. I just don’t know if it will wear off while I’m still in that grace period of Transition that everyone is counting on.”
“You have feelings for him, and I understand it. Hell, I still love her. So much fucked up stuff has happened this month that I wasn’t sure until now. But if she were alive, and here to stay, I’d defy the fucking God’s to keep her. So, I get it, but we can’t just allow Faery to die. The whole idea that they would come here in mass exodus is a little overwhelming.”
“I know,” I replied with a soft smile. “I would have given up my life for her, as I would for you. You’ve always been my family. I said I would go with you, and I agreed to be your wife, but I never said I would love you in that sense. I will never lie to you, even if I could.”
He shook his head. “I know, Baby, and if there wasn’t an entire world depending on our child, I’d let you stay with him. Even if I do think he’s bad for you.”
“I don’t think this is a conversation we should be having here. I told you I’d go. I agreed to be your wife, Adam. Let’s leave it at that for now. Please?”
“Fine, but you should know my father has a huge engagement ball set up two days from now.” I felt sick to my stomach hearing the news. I didn’t want any of this, and yet too much depended on it happening.
“I said I didn’t want a huge engagement. Besides, haven’t the Dark Fae learned their lesson about engagement parties after the last one?” I said turning away to look over at Ryder who was writing something down as Larissa spoke to him.
“Ha! At least we won’t have to crash this one.” Adam chuckled, looking like his old self. “The Fae always have a celebration when two people are united. Although, I think I may have talked him in to handfasting us, instead of marriage.” He gave me a sheepish look. “I thought for a long time about this, and at least with the handfasting, it will give you a year to produce an heir, and save the world. If you decide you want someone else after that, I’ll let you go, Syn. I’m trying to get you an out-clause here. When, or if, you decide to go, I’ll let you.” Adam smiled as if he hadn’t just laid it all on me.
“Oh, I see, so I get to produce it myself…” I blushed and glared at him all at the same time. “Nice set up,” I mumbled as I rubbed the back of my neck, uncomfortable with the entire conversation.
“I’ve always been attracted to you. I just always kept it to myself. You ended up with Adrian, and I got lucky when Larissa caught me. Somehow, I always had a feeling it would be you and I in the end.”
“Adam…”
“Adam, give her a break. We both know she’s going to marry you, but I wouldn’t advise pressing the issue here,” Larissa said, showing her perfect white teeth as she bared them at Adam in a mock grin.
“Larissa, are you okay with this?” he asked barely above a whisper, and crushed her against him in a tight embrace. His eyes glowed with hunger as he looked down on her face.
“Like I have a choice? And, actually, I am. If I had to pick a woman to fill my shoes, it would be my best friend,” Larissa said, winking at me as she rested her head against Adam’s shoulder.
I stood beside them awkwardly until I caught sight of Ryder watching me. His eyes going from the couple back to me with surprise. I smiled and moved toward him. “What did Larissa say?”
“I will tell you later,” he replied as he watched my face. “It’s time to tap the leyline. I have other engagements to attend to tonight as well.”
“Such as?” I asked quietly.
“I said I would tell you later,” he gave me a heated look and a panty-dropping smile that was usually guaranteed to distract me. “I said, it’s time to tap the line. Let’s see if these assholes are still waiting for you on the other end.”
I shook my head, and turned back to look at Adam, and Larissa. They were now smiling, and laughing at something one of them had said. Alden was watching them as well, with a sad smile on his face. He met my gaze and nodded. Everything was in place. It was time to tap the leyline.
Chapter Thirty Two
“Larissa, it’s time,” I said, coming up behind her and Adam.
“It can wait, Syn,” Adam growled as he pulled Larissa back against his body.
“Adam, you have the rest of the night with her after she and I do what we came here for.” I smirked when Larissa grinned at him impishly, and wiggled her eyebrow.
“And that doesn’t bother you? You know what I want to do, and it doesn’t bother you at all?” Adam questioned, narrowing his eyes on me.
“That you want to get your ghost nookie on?” I smiled wider and crinkled my nose. “Nope, because I know what she means to you. I know what it felt like when you didn’t get to say goodbye. Besides, I can handle sharing, at least better than you.”
“Ouch,” Zahruk said, coming over to us. “Ryder said it’s time. He already has the veil up so they will not see us when you tap the line. So get on with it, girlie; we got shit to do after this.”
“Tell him we’re ready,” I replied, turning to watch as Quinn and the other ghosts closed in around us, and then disappeared from sight.
The men turned at my words, and, as soon as Adam had taken position next to his father, I erected the protection shield around me and Larissa. Angry growls erupted from Ryder and his men, but Adam just watched me carefully, as if he’d known the plan all along. He’d known me the longest out of everyone else here, so it stood to reason that he would have guessed my plan.
“You’re sure you want to do this alone, Syn? I can only give you a boost to tap the line and hold the shield up. Anything that comes through the line will be up to you to defeat,” Larissa said from beside me.
“Nope, not sure at all, but I can handle this, Larissa. I won’t be responsible for him hurting anyone else.”
“Fine, but you need to get whatever is bothering you off your chest now,” she said with keen eyes.
“I’m not sure I can marry him. Not now, not ever.”
“You’re marrying Adam, we both know that,” she said, and shook her head. “You need to be faithful to him, Syn. He deserves it, you both do. You are bound together by destiny. I know you don’t love him yet; not as you love Ryder. I just don’t think Ryder is in the stars for you. He forced his way into your life; unlike Adam, who has always been there for you when you needed him to be.”
“Larissa, they’re not just asking us to get married…they want us to have babies. Which means—”
“I know what it means, Syn. I’m dead, not dumb.” She rolled her eyes with a small grin on her lips.
“I’m sorry. It’s still a lot to take in.”
“He wasn’t only thinking of me when he was with those women, Syn. I lied to him, because I knew it would hurt him to hear the truth from me. He doesn’t remember it all now, but he will soon enough. He felt guilt for me, and lust for you because you were nearing Transition, and your need pushed into his mind when your Transition hit. It’s been messing with him pretty bad, so give him a little time. I would think it has to be a common thing when one has a bond such as the two of you do, and I guess that’s why they try and marry familiars. He’s always had his eye on you a little bit more than a big brother would. It’s always been there, staring us in the face. Adrian and I just never wanted to admit it. I think you were meant to be together, and, in the end, it looks like you will be.”
“I don’t think so. I think we both deserve to be loved. Real love, Lari; the kind that makes everything else in the world seem trivial, the kind that melts yo
ur soul and melds it together with the one you truly love. I do love Adam, but I’ll never be in love with him, and that’s what he needs. Right now, he seems to only care about what the Fae need, and I get that too, I really do…But, what happens when we have done what they need?”
“You’ll have children to be happy and content with, Syn. It’s more than I’ll ever have.”
I swallowed a twinge of regret, knowing she was right, and I shouldn’t be complaining to her of all people. She’d never have anything more because her life had been cut short entirely too soon. “I just don’t think I’ll be a good mother. I truly never had one. She was taken before I learned anything from her.”
“Being a mother will come naturally to you, Syn. Stop selling yourself short. You love unconditionally, and you never give up on a person no matter how much they deserve it sometimes,” she tilted her head a little, and smiled. “And you’ll kill anything that threatens those you love. You’re going to be the best mother ever. You’re going to make bears look timid compared to you.”
“I do kill shit well,” I agreed, and looked around at the angry faces watching us. “We better do this before they join forces and try to shatter my shield.”
“Okay, so the plan is that: I help you tap the line. I can feel the disruption in the air when they sift so I can help give you a little warning when they come through, but I can’t wield a weapon or help you do the killing, as I am only a soul—even though I look like more right now. It’s sort of forbidden for the dead to help the living, so let’s not test the powers that be more than I already am.”
“That’s fine, Lari. I just need strength, and a second pair of eyes.”
“Then get dressed, it’s time to kick some ass,” Larissa said, grinning wickedly. I whispered the spell that would place the shield in darkness, making it impossible for anyone to see inside of it as we prepared for war.
I smiled, and closed my eyes, feeling my clothes change around me until the feel of leather, tight against my breasts, covered me. The tops of my breasts were pushed in by a comfortable leather vest, and leather pants that hugged my frame, while giving me enough room to move in. I felt Larissa’s hand on my face, warm for the moment until death would claim her again, as she ran a finger over my face, leaving behind delicate Celtic markings in blue woad paint for strength, and courage.
“Holy shit, Syn, Keira Knightly has nothing on you,” she whispered as I weaved my hair into leather straps that would hold it back from my face.
“Okay, dropping the darkness. Wish me luck, Lari. You might be getting company on the other side.” I smiled, as she frowned.
“You won’t die, Syn. It’s not your time to go. You have to live. Consider this, if the world of Faery dies, so too does this one. You and Adam have always been special; you can do this. You were meant for greatness, and that comes with a certain price that has to be paid.”
I met her eyes and nodded. “I don’t want to hate Adam, Larissa, and I don’t want to resent Adam because we were forced into this. That’s what scares me, and well, I’m just not attracted to him—not after having Ryder.”
“You won’t hate him. You know he is driven by a need to fit in. He was ripped from his family by you, and now that he has them back, he’s fighting for a way to keep you in his life, because you’re all he has left of this world. He’s just as afraid as you are, but he’s stubborn and, worse yet, he’s male, so he won’t say it, but he needs you in his life. His world is changing just as much as yours. He’s a strong, proud man, and will not admit to being afraid of losing you, but he is.”
“I know, and I feel horrible about it. But I can’t change the past!”
“Exactly! That’s what we keep telling you, and yet you keep holding it inside. Let it go! Quit thinking everything is your fault, and just let it go. I know you thought you did when I died, but I felt your pain. You and Adam both held me here; and limbo sucks. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not too bad, but eventually I would like to see my parents before I choose to be reborn.”
“I don’t know how to let go. I feel too much, and there is so much I could have changed very easily had I just done something differently. I’ve been holding this in and using it for strength, if I let it all go, what the hell will I have left?”
“You will be who you are destined to be. Now, tap that line, because Ryder looks like he might be able to breach the shield with that glare alone.”
I turned, and looked directly at him, his golden eyes piercing to my soul as he took in my garb. His eyes lowered slowly until they reached my feet, and then came up slowly as a smirk kicked up the corners of his beautiful mouth, even though he still held his lethal glare in check.
“Laugh it up, Fairy,” I mouthed the words to him before turning to face Larissa as she held out her hands. I’d made the shield so I could speak to Larissa alone, so no one outside could hear us—well, at least those with Fae hearing. “On three, Lari,” I said, reaching down to pick up the daggers before counting under my breath.
We touched fingers as we had done so many times as children, and combined our strength. She was giving me a good jolt of energy, considering she was a ghost. I opened my eyes and watched her chant. She was as beautiful in death as she had been in life. Her natural curls flew around her face as she chanted the words with her eyes closed. The other ghosts were chanting, and with every word the power inside of me grew in strength.
When she opened them, I released her hands and stepped back. I could hear Ryder and Adam both speaking to their men, trying to figure out how to remove the shield and get inside of it before I could tap the line. Both of those ideas would fail.
I braced my body and placed my hands at my sides as I sent out feelers for the closest leyline. I sent a silent prayer to any God who would listen, and tapped the line.
*~*~*~*~*Ryder*~*~*~*~*
“Get that fucking thing open, right fucking now!” I snarl as fear tightens my chest and makes me careless. I hate that I feel this; this fucking need to protect her even from her own stupidity. Nothing I tell myself makes it go away. She’s inside of me, like a drug; I crave her.
The beast wants me to drop the veil that would expose us to her enemies. I growl at him. I’d made a promise to Syn that I’d keep it up so that her Fae assassin wouldn’t sift out as soon as he sifted in. The magic veil is an old Fae trick used to hide entire armies from those opposing us. Child’s play, but it takes more concentration that I could be using to break through her fucking shields.
The thought of giving her to another male enrages the beast, and he’s getting harder to control as time grows near. I know where the Mages are now. Larissa told me where to find them, and how to kill them, but there are only a small portion of them in Washington State. They are scattered all over creation—hiding from us like worms beneath the soil. She made me give her my word that neither Adam nor Syn would be aware of what was going on until this local threat had been removed.
Syn looks fierce and beautiful with the warrior’s woad, the blue simulating delicate and intricate tattooing on her face. Her hair tied up behind her head framing her face as she lowers it into a fighting pose. The beast wants her now; he wants her to scream for him, and watch as her eyes light up with desire. I growl at him, uncaring that others watch me as I do so. This isn’t the time or place for our dick to get hard, she’s in real danger.
He stiffens.
The beast inside goes wild as she taps the line and places herself in harm’s way.
A male sifts in, but he’s only a scout. He was there that day. He participated in that atrocity, but he is not the one she wants.
She stands perfectly still, calmly waiting for him to strike, and when his smile registers the Goddess of war in front of him, he does. She’s faster. She moves with unmatched skill and speed, her blades are almost invisible, moving in perfect harmony as they hit their mark.
She smiles and kicks the body of the Fae still standing in front of her, and it crumples as the head rolls off
the body from where her blades cut through muscle, tendon, and bone as if they were no more substantial than butter to a hot knife.
My cock grows hard as she turns and prepares for more to come. Fuck! I hate battle wood. The beast is pacing; he wants inside the shield she has erected. He could get inside her shield, easily. He knows it; he’s claimed her mentally and physically, but to do so would out us to all that were watching.
He wants to kill Adam and take his place, but fate is a fickle bitch and has plans that not even I can overcome. Not for her or for the beast that prowls inside of me. He taunts me that this will not come to pass, that he has done the ultimate stacking of the deck in our favor. For the life of me, I don’t know what he means, and, stubborn beast that he is, he won’t tell me more.
“Fuck, she’s outnumbered!” Adam shouts as he watches four more Fae that were there that day surround Syn.
Her eyes meet mine, and I shake my head. She can allow us inside at any time she chooses, and yet she doesn’t plan to. I can read it in her beautiful eyes; they say this is her battle alone. That I have to give her this chance. “Z, the tall one in front of her, he’s the one from her childhood memories?” I ask my second in command.
“Yes, but he’s not the one who killed them. He’s not Light Fae either. Assassin for hire maybe?”
“Alden, remove this fucking shield, now!” I growl, trying to contain the beast that is now rattling inside of my chest. My men sense him. They close ranks. Their own beasts strain for release as mine demands to be allowed into the fray to protect her. She’s outnumbered, and she knows it.
“I can’t, Ryder. You, Adam, and I have all tried to take down her shields before. She is the only one who can do so, and she can determine who can pass through it. She will not fail; she’s a born warrior. Just be ready when she drops it, because, if she does, it means she’s in trouble,” Alden says, watching her with fatherly pride. That fucking Warlock knew she was going to do this. Shit!
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