He laughed, “I knew I would find you here and I knew you’d have questions. I don’t have the answers Synthia, hell. I’ve probably as many questions as you do now. But I knew you’d need family and you’re all I have. Also, Ryder has threatened the Guild with payback for the killings at his club. I issued no orders for an attack, it didn’t come from us and you have his ear girl, use it.”
I snorted, “Have you met Ryder? That man makes my stubbornness look like nothing. Besides that, I don’t have his ear. I may be under contract with him, but I’m his enemy right now—right along with the rest of the Guild.” We were talking. We’d never spoken about his sister before. Hell, we didn’t actually talk to each other unless he was training me, or giving me an assignment. It was awkward, but I needed it more than I could admit.
“He’s planning something, we’re evacuating the Guild. Only the Keepers of the Guild will remain. The books and records have to be protected. Syn…” he hesitated running his hand through his messed up hair, he looked as if he’d been doing it for a few hours, “I don’t know all the ins and outs of it with the Fae, but now I know you’re gonna need to feed eventually. Marie thought Ryder could help you. Before it made no sense, but now it’s starting to. She left us instructions in case anything ever happened to her. She told me you would need to seek him out. I figured when they requested our help that it was the perfect time to carry out her wishes and see what came of it,” he shrugged his wide shoulders, “Figured if nothing happened, or if Ryder wasn’t able to see anything different inside of you that maybe everyone had just been worried for nothing.”
“So you think I should feed from Ryder?” I asked narrowing my eyes.
“No,” he turned bright red as he responded, “No of course not Syn,” he rubbed the back of his neck and laughed uncomfortably, “I just think that the first time you do…you should be with someone you couldn’t hurt.”
“Or kill,” I said what he hadn’t.
He nodded, his face sagging with relief that I’d said it instead of him. He looked as if he’d aged since I’d seen him last…and maybe we all had. “Synthia, I’m looking into the records to see if anyone has ever succeeded in stopping a Fae from turning, I can’t promise results, but maybe we can find something to slow it down until I can. I can’t bring back my sister, but I can protect what she loved the most—you.”
“I get it Alden,” I snapped. I hadn’t thought about feeding yet, hell I couldn’t even grasp the reality of what was happening. “We got bigger problems than me feeding. Arianna isn’t what she appears to be. She’s got pieces from our victims magically sewn on to her like a fucking quilt.” I was dodging emotions again and from the grin he flashed he was thankful I had.
Alden swore violently, “Necromancer?”
“Not quite, more like a puppet. Her eyes take in everything, as if someone is controlling her and seeing through her. I need to get to her, to get to the one controlling her. Get the master’s attention, maybe it will stop the killings. Problem is I’d need to kill his puppet to draw him out Alden.”
“And doing so could start a war if you get caught before you can kill her and break whatever spell is covering up the fact that she’s nothing more than a fucking puppet,” he said rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Good grief, if she is what you say she is—the implications between the Dark and the Light Fae…”
“I can’t do it without a team Alden. And not without the Guild being cleared out and safe from any repercussions that might come back on us.”
“I can’t give you the okay to kill the Light Heir Synthia, even if she isn’t who she says she is,” I felt my stomach drop as he shook his head, “But I can give you a team and assure you that the Guild will be safe.”
I smiled slowly, “So unofficially I have your permission, but if anyone asked…”
He smirked, “If anyone asks, this conversation never happened,” he stepped closer placing his arms on my shoulders, “I don’t show emotion kid and I think it rubbed off on you a little bit. I’d like to think you know that…well that I consider you family and have ever since my sister brought you home in diapers, be careful Syn. I can’t claim responsibility which means no one will come to help if you get caught. You’d be at the Dark Princes mercy.”
I nodded and exhaled slowly, “You have.”
“Have what?” He asked narrowing his eyes.
“I’m strong because you showed me how to be, I’m faster because you made sure I knew what could happen if I wasn’t fast enough. I’m me because you raised me Alden, you raised us all. Hard lessons aren’t easy to teach children, we’re stronger because you made us into what we needed to be.”
Thirty Four
I watched Ryder and his men moving into the room below, there were hundreds of Fae gathered inside the ballroom of the Dark Fortress along with human dignitaries and members of the press. Security was next to impossible to bypass, so just getting to the rooftop where we were crouched, had been a death-defying feat without the team being detected.
“Last chance to back out guys, if this goes wrong we’re dead. No one will be able to save our asses. I need to know you can do this job. If you’re thinking this is too much, then it probably is. I know most of you are here because the Guild is on the line. I get it, you’re pissed. So am I. But the Fae are not the bad people here tonight, no attacking them unless you have no other option.”
I searched each face of the team I’d trained with. I knew their weaknesses. I knew their strengths. These were my people. They were why I fought and would continue to no matter what DNA I had been born with. They were good people, trustworthy, but this mission was suicide. I was asking for their lives, but if we couldn’t stop Ryder from blaming the Guild—they’d have to hide like rats in the sewers, they deserved better.
Twelve sets of sober eyes looked up to me with no doubt, or reserve about giving their lives to ensure the Guild stayed up and running. I exhaled a shaky breath and looked to Adam and Larissa who like me had dressed in black leather. The others had on black fatigues.
“Adam, blow it,” I said clasping the rope into my harness.
We waited, watching the Fae beneath us as they laughed and danced, unaware that we were about to crash the party. As the glass shattered I jumped, making sure I was first on the surface to throw up the shield to protect the others as they came down. Eyes closed, arms out from my sides, I sailed through the air with a smirk on my lips as screams erupted.
When I was a few feet from the floor, I flipped so that I landed facing Ryder. I landed hard but tossed up the shield throwing Fae around the room and cutting one half of the crowd off from the other as it went up smoothly. When it was fully erected I looked up and undid the hook as I watched the rest of the strike team come down.
Ryder and his men surrounded Arianna and that would be a problem, one we’d expected. I wasn’t sure Larissa’s magic would be strong enough to bring them in and consume their minds. Adam signaled as he hit the floor and the music swiftly changed to Crazy Town’s Butterfly.
“Go time, you’re on Larissa,” I said turning to meet her smiling eyes.
I met the death shining in Ryder’s eyes. He’d kill me without thinking twice now. I was technically only fulfilling my contract. It just wasn’t playing out in a way he had expected. His nostrils flared as the tick in his jaw started up. I blew him a kiss and sent my residual magic into Larissa.
The team took over and kept the shield up protecting Adam and Lari as she started moving, sending her power out to flow through the room. She’d caught enough Fae with her seduction spell to ensure only Ryder and the thirteen would be the only obstacle in my way. Only a few of the Fae had begun to follow Larissa’s dance steps. The rest were glaring murderous looks at us.
Ryder strode towards us in long angry strides that made him look dark and seductive while showing just how deadly he was. His body sizzled with electrical current.
I faltered briefly. Images of his mouth pleasuring me flooded my mind. The
feel of his naked skin touching mine, sweat covering our bodies while we’d fucked like animals. I pushed those memories away, locking them into a box inside my mind, to view when I was alone.
I smiled at him, flashing him my best come and get me smile while I watched his hands from the corner of my eye. Larissa had gotten a better hold on the crowd and some were now following her moves. It was a slight they wouldn’t let go unpunished. While the Fae were big on fucking over each other, they united when fucked with as a whole. This plan had to work, it was the only one we had. If we failed, the entire Guild would suffer Ryder’s wrath. I couldn’t allow him to hurt them.
“Stupid Synthia, you shouldn’t have come here,” Ryder snarled as his hands rested on his hips.
“I didn’t come here for you Ryder,” I said meeting his angry glare head on.
“If you leave now, I’ll only punish you,” he said lower for my ears alone.
“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 bandage 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.
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