Embracing Destiny

by Hutchins, Amelia

  The sun was setting over the meadow when power suddenly erupted into the air, heavy with a strong vibration that slithered over my flesh. I turned to see the silhouette of a figure moving toward the fortress. More power sparked through the air, and it made everyone in the courtyard stop whatever they were doing to take cover.

  Synthia had returned, finally.

  I grabbed the stone of the battlement, watching as she walked barefooted through the flowers, staring directly at me. Her dress was white, splotched in crimson, as if she’d been killing her way back to me. Platinum bands covered her wrists and biceps, and a delicate necklace hung from her neck. Her hair was tied back in war braids, and her ample cleavage spilled from her dress as she slowly approached the castle. In the middle of the field, she stopped, looking up at me curiously. No recognition ignited in her eyes, only a strange coldness that wrapped around my heart like a vise.

  “Fuck…”

  I sifted into the throne room, alerting the others that Synthia had returned, when immense power entered the room, igniting, causing those that were sensitive to drop to their knees. The hair on my neck rose as I slowly turned, staring down into stunning violet and blue tri-colored eyes. Her brands continually pulsed silver and purple over her flesh, a beautiful combination on her sun-kissed skin.

  “Synthia,” I whispered, taking in the ethereal beauty of my wife. She still made my heart kick start every time I peered into those gorgeous eyes, lighting my soul on fire with a need to take her.

  A guard approached her, placing his hand on her shoulder, and she turned toward him with a deep growl rumbling up through her lungs. The sound of suction filled the room as he gasped and then wailed in pain. She brought his heart up as his body slammed against the floor, lifeless. Synthia held his heart to her ear while listening to it carefully before she moved it away from her, not finding what she sought.

  I swallowed hard, studying the coldness in her eyes. My gaze slid to the guard, narrowing before settling on her once again. No emotion over the loss or sense of guilt for murdering the guard showed on her delicate features. Instead, there was amusement and pride for the kill she’d delivered.

  “You killed him?” I asked.

  “He touched me,” she hissed as her full lips tugged into a pout. Her voice exploded into the room, coming out in layers as it danced over my flesh, demanding attention. My dick twitched, and her eyes glowed hungrily as if she was merely fae instead of a goddess. “It is forbidden to touch the goddess,” Synthia smirked.

  Staring at me, she dropped her arm, squashing the heart until it turned to dust in her hand before she opened her fingers and glamoured it clean. She stepped closer, inhaling my scent, and I remained still, allowing her to find what she was looking for.

  Adam sifted into the throne room, having heard the news through the mental link he’d been awarded by becoming King of the Dark Kingdom. He stared at Synthia, moving toward her, intending to pull her into a hug.

  Considering she wasn’t even Syn anymore, it was a bad fucking idea. His hand lifted, and I growled, warning him not to touch her with a look over the top of her delicate head. He pulled his hand back, forest and emerald-green eyes drifting over the bloodied dress to the dead guard at her feet.

  She vanished, and I exhaled slowly.

  “Why didn’t you stop her from leaving?” Adam demanded.

  “Something is not right,” I admitted, nodding to the deceased guard. “She just ripped his fucking heart out and didn’t bat an eye. She felt no remorse. All he did was put his hand on her shoulder.”

  “What the fuck?” Adam snapped, stepping back as he shook his head.

  Lightning crashed outside, and slowly we all turned, staring out the doors. Thunder erupted next, clapping loudly overhead as the doors were blown open as if she was inviting me outside. I sifted back to the battlement, peering down at where Synthia once again stood in the meadow, looking up at me.

  Lucian and Spyder materialized beside me, peering down at Synthia and the blood coating her dress. Lucian whistled at her curious expression and something else that lingered in her gaze.

  Spyder winced, turning to look at me with something in his gaze that pissed me off. He seemed excited about her changes and yet terrified of them at the same time.

  My heart thundered against my chest until Lucian spoke, and then it stopped, turning cold and lifeless. He had that fucking effect on people.

  “I see Synthia found her way home, finally,” Lucian rasped thickly. “Not all of her, though, it appears.”

  “Care to elaborate on what the fuck that means?” I asked carefully.

  “Let’s go meet your wife, and we will ask her what she is missing. Shall we?” he asked, vanishing to stand in front of Synthia.

  I sifted inches away from her and studied her curious gaze. She moved without so much as disturbing or displacing the air, appearing again further away. Her pretty eyes watched me inquisitively, sizing me up from a distance.

  More and more creatures began sifting into the meadow, causing her eyes to stray, but they always returned to me, as if she was trying to place me in her mind. Her delicate nose lifted as she tilted her head. Her blood-red lips pursed into a tight line as if she found me familiar. She better have felt me, because I felt all of her. I was embedded in her soul as much as she was in mine.

  “Synthia, it’s me,” I said carefully.

  She appeared before me, causing the entire world to groan as she tore through it to get to me. Her platinum head lowered, and her nose pressed against my chest, inhaling as I peered over her head, looking at the gaping hole she’d just created by sifting.

  “Did she just fucking rip apart the fabric of Faery?” Adam asked, noting the gaping holes Synthia tore through the veil to reach me.

  On the other side of the veil, men turned, watching us curiously before reality hit them, and they rushed away from the portal hole she’d left between realms.

  “Spyder, close the hole,” Lucian ordered without taking his eyes from Synthia.

  Her hands lifted, stroking my chest before she ripped the shirt from my body. Her tongue tasted me as her lips kissed my chest, sampling my flesh as a moan of lust escaped her throat. Her tongue traced the markings of my tattoos and brands as if she intended to fuck me right there, in front of everyone, without caring who watched, just like the fae when feasting after a battle.

  “I’m starving, and you’re fucking delicious. I want your cock,” she uttered breathlessly. Synthia’s hand slid down my chest and pushed into my pants. Wrapping her tiny fingers around my cock, she smiled through hooded, glowing eyes while it grew, welcoming her familiar touch.

  “I don’t know, this isn’t so bad,” I muttered, smirking down at the ethereal beauty. Synthia watched me as she stroked my cock with a tight, sure grin, causing precum to leak with anticipation, and the need to paint her pussy with it. “You want me to bare your pretty flesh and fuck you right here in front of everyone?” I asked huskily, letting the rasp in my tone slither over her skin.

  “Yes,” she whispered through a moan, tightening her hold on my dick.

  Her head leaned against my chest, and I placed my hand on the back of her head, holding her to me as my eyes closed. Pain lanced through my chest as I peered down, watching her other hand push through my flesh and vanish into my chest.

  Lucian grabbed her arm, applying enough pressure that she stopped reaching for my heart and turned to look at Lucian, hissing at him for disturbing her. The moment her hand was pulled free, my chest healed, and I watched her through narrowed eyes. She’d tried to remove my heart with one hand while she worked my cock with the other.

  The meadow was filling with gods and goddesses, and Synthia inspected them all. Lucian still held her wrist, which was now covered in my blood.

  “What’s your name, sweetheart?” he asked, and
she turned slowly toward his voice, studying him before she pressed against him.

  She gave Lucian a saccharine smile and then placed her hand against his chest, ripping his shirt open. Her mouth brushed against his abs, and I frowned, watching my wife as she licked her sexy-as-fuck tongue down his body. I wanted to pull her back to me, but Lucian’s gaze warned me from doing that.

  “What’s your name?” he repeated in a multilayered tone that demanded a reply. He turned, staring at Lena, who was frowning, glaring daggers at Synthia as the color in her eyes turned to that of a moonless night. Thick black lines traced from her eyes as if she was about to go full Fury on Synthia, which I wasn’t sure Lena would live through. “Tell me your name, and I’ll take you to paradise, woman.”

  I felt Lena’s pain, but something wasn’t right with Synthia, and while Lena was powered by furies, Synthia was a goddess. The power that ebbed and flowed from Synthia was enough to bring the fae to their knees.

  The proof being that those who guarded the stronghold were doing just that. The entire world pulsed from her presence. Blades of grass danced to the vibration as if a loud bass speaker was placed into the meadow, blaring music in front of them.

  The sky turned a multitude of angry colors as the wind howled all around, never touching us, as if directed by her.

  “Sorcha,” Synthia said softly, smiling as Lucian’s clothes vanished. Her hand reached for his cock, but he stopped it, holding her against him while he studied the vacant gaze peering up at him. “Feed me. I’m so hungry.”

  “Just like that, huh? Don’t care who you fuck, as long as you get fucked, Synthia?” he countered.

  “My name is Sorcha, Goddess of the Fae, and you’re talking too much. It’s starting to bore me,” she complained, ripping her hands away from him. He stepped back, instantly dressed as if he’d conjured clothing in the way the fae did. Only Lucian wasn’t fae.

  Asher sifted onto the field, clueless about what was happening. He slowly walked toward us, which caught Synthia’s attention. His gaze settled on her, and he froze. She met him before we could stop her.

  Synthia took Asher to the ground hard, removing his clothing with claws as he held perfectly still, staring up at her. His hands lifted, settling on her hips as he swallowed hard enough that we all heard it. His eyes turned toward us as his head remained in her direction without turning.

  “I am hungry. Feed me, or you die,” she sneered, and the trees cracked with her words.

  “Now who’s rocking the fuck-me vibes, woman?” Asher hissed, groaning as his brands pulsed in sync with hers. He moaned beneath her, and she lifted, intending to plant herself on his thick cock, which she’d begun stroking, preparing it to fit into her body.

  “Flower!” Ristan shouted from where he stood on the battlements. “We don’t fuck other people, woman! You’re married! Behave.”

  She started to push onto him while everyone stood around watching. Blood pounded in my ears as a growl escaped my lungs. My wings expanded, filling the meadow with absolute power as I prepared to fight her to keep her from fucking anyone but me.

  Her eyes turned, studying me before she stood, abandoning Asher’s cock, walking toward me. Iridescent wings exploded from her back, and I paused, starting at their unequivocal beauty that took my breath away. Her head lowered as her eyes took in my wings, darker and more lethal than hers, but we were the same, and she knew it.

  “My little caterpillar shed her humanity and turned into a butterfly. You finally grew your pretty wings, Synthia,” I mused, watching her walking toward me.

  My clothes vanished, along with everyone else’s. The only one who had clothes on was Synthia, and I remained perfectly still, observing her carefully as she crept forward, intending to pounce. Her eyes were purely predatory, like something inside of her was calculating the odds of getting to me before Lucian could stop her.

  She was hunting me down, as if she planned to capture me, and then fuck me. I wasn’t wholly opposed to the idea, either.

  “You want me, come and get me, woman,” I rumbled thickly, ignoring Ristan, who snorted as he entered the meadow she’d just pulled him into, forcing him into the chaos.

  “She just seriously invited us to a fucking sausage party without asking! I can’t even put on my clothes!” Ristan winced the moment her eyes turned to him. “Oh no, you ain’t fucking me. That’s something that we can never undo, Flower.”

  Her eyes dismissed him, swinging back to me to slide down my body and settle on my cock. I swallowed hard, surveying her cautiously as she approached me with her head slightly tilted.

  “I want it.”

  “It’s yours,” I answered, watching the victorious smile play over her mouth before she paused hesitantly.

  She stopped, turning to peer out over the meadow as if she heard something no one else could. One moment she was almost to me, and the next, she was across the field, standing silently as she waited for something. Her wings dipped, dropping to a guarded stance that had taken me years to master before battle. She stood as still as a statue, waiting as everyone else grew tense with unease.

  Her hand lifted as men burst through the portal at the entrance of the forest. I stepped closer, intending to sift to her and fight at her side, but Lucian shook his head.

  “Don’t fucking move. There are only so many fucking holes we can close before Synthia destroys the entire veil between Faery and earth. You wanted the Goddess of the Fae to man up, now stand back and watch her work. I have a feeling your new wife lacks something she needs back immediately, and without it, she isn’t the woman you married. That’s a mindless being with no fucking conscious thought. Her only needs are to feed, fuck, and destroy.”

  “What the fuck could she be lacking?” I inquired, studying the way her head remained tilted as the mages approached her slowly.

  “Her fucking soul,” he snapped as her hands rose before the men could reach her.

  The moment her hands lifted, the men nearest her burst into flames, taking them to their knees. Power erupted, stifling the meadow as if the air was being sucked out of it. Men screamed as they began melting to ashes before reaching her position. Her hands had barely moved, and yet every mage that rushed her was either burned or rendered to ash.

  She was fucking beautiful, glorious, and terrifying all at the same time.

  Thunder clapped above as the wind howled, lifting her hair and sending the ashes of her victims away. Rain began to fall, cleansing the meadow of the battle until all that remained were the pristinely cleaned skulls of those she’d just slaughtered. The men, who had yet to die, screamed, burning alive as she studied them without moving from her spot.

  Her eyes held no remorse as she watched them suffering a grueling death. It was only when one man remained that her wings vanished. She walked through the dead toward him as his eyes slid down her body. She walked in his direction, the mirror image of Danu the first time I’d encountered the goddess.

  Bilé stood still, watching Synthia as she approached him with slow, leisurely steps. I moved, but Lucian grabbed me, holding me there as he covered us in clothing.

  “Let your power back out, Ryder. Call your mate with it. You need to go to her. She sees Bilé as a challenge, but that’s not Synthia. That is a goddess who wants a man who will take her to the ground and fucking destroy her. She won’t go down easily, either. You need to be that man.”

  “That’s fucking Bilé. He will kill her!”

  “He can’t kill her. She’s stronger than he is now. He just doesn’t fucking realize it.” Midnight eyes peered across the meadow, watching Synthia as she slowly moved to Bilé.

  The moment she reached him, he stepped back, taking her in. His clothes vanished, and I growled, hating that she was amped up and willing to fuck anyone. Her hand slid over his chest, stroking it before his hand captured hers, bringing
her knuckles to his lips as he kissed them.

  I swallowed anger that rose violently, igniting within me as she followed him to the ground, shedding her own clothes before she leaned over, kissing him slowly. Bilé’s hands slid through her hair, holding her mouth against his as his hips rolled, inviting her to take him. She was the mirror image of his wife, and he was about to fuck her because of it.

  “I can’t watch this fucking happen, Lucian!” I snapped harshly, starting forward, only for him to stop me, staring into my eyes.

  “You will,” he warned. “You wanted Synthia to take her powers, and she has. You left her in that pit, and while you may not have known what was down there, you chose to walk away. That isn’t your wife. That is the creature she would have become had she never entered the human world. She carries her own beast within her, but she no longer has her humanity, and without a soul or heart driving her, she only knows what she was created to become. She is your perfect mate, but she isn’t Synthia anymore. She is Sorcha, born of a goddess and the Blood King. Basic needs are driving her, and unless you want to end up one of her victims, figure out how to call her back to you without moving, because if you move, she will come to you. If she does that when sifting the way she is, she will destroy the barrier between worlds without even realizing she has done so.”

  “She’s about to ride the bastard’s dick! The bastard that murdered my brothers!”

  “No, she’s about to rip his fucking heart from his chest. She knows her heart is missing. Synthia is trying to become whole again because she’s stuck inside that unfeeling monster right now.” He shrugged. “Might as well fucking let her kill him, right?”

  Bilé howled over the wind as he stared at Synthia’s hand that had pushed into his chest cavity. Her mouth crushed against his, and his eyes widened in horror. If I wasn’t so fucking pissed that my wife was about to seat herself on his cock, I’d think it was sexy as fuck, but she was mine. My power ripped through the field without warning, slithering over her as she was about to push down on him. Her lips left his as she rose, glaring at me.