Escaping Destiny (34 page)

As he got closer, he spun around and sliced
out with his sword. I dodged it as if he had attacked in slow
motion. I sifted in close and my hand had shot out before I could
have thought better of it, and gripped something hot and wet. A
sickening noise filled my ears as I pulled my arm out of his
chest—with his heart in my hand. He fell to the floor
lifelessly.

I looked up to see Faolán watching me. His
eyes were wide with fear as he started chanting a spell in Latin
that sounded an awful lot like one of the ones that the Guild used
to make shields like the one Ristan and I had been trapped in. I
threw the heart at him as hard as I could and watched as he caught
it and tossed it to the ground.

I wasn’t stupid; he had more magic than I
could deal with right now. Maybe in this form I could kill him, but
I was draining from using too much, too soon. Ryder was on me
before I could decide what to do, and Faolán sifted out as the
remaining Blood Fae sifted out after him. I glanced around and
couldn’t see any more Mage aural signatures in the hall.

“What the hell, Synthia!?” Ryder asked as he
took me in slowly, with a carefully guarded look in his eyes.

“Ryder,” I whispered as the power vibrated
inside of me, wanting to come out. It was the same feeling I’d felt
by touching Ryder, only this was my own, and it was coming from
me.

“Impossible,” Ryder argued with a note that
was more disbelief than anything else. He looked me over and
touched his fingers along the multitude of colors from the
brands.

“Ristan,” I said and pushed my way through
the crowd to where the Demon was lying on his back, covered in
blood.

“
Bring him back,”
I begged of Danu,
and watched as she narrowed her eyes on him, as if she was
considering what to do. I sank to the floor and pulled the huge
Demon onto my lap. “
Please!”
I screamed it in my mind,
knowing she would hear it loud and clear.

“Synthia, he’s a Demon, and one I really
like, but I still can’t interfere. It’s against the rules,” she
said sadly. I saw Eliran push through the crowd to kneel beside
Ristan, as well as the little Demoness, Alannah.

Eliran glamoured off the jerkin from Ristan’s
body armor and bent to examine the multitude of ugly stab wounds
all over his chest, arms, and throat as Alannah gently stroked
Ristan’s hair. His lifeless eyes stared blankly, and my heart broke
for her. I couldn’t bear it and reached down and closed his
eyes.

“I hate these types of spells,” Eliran
muttered. “Nasty things—once it acquires its victim, it keeps
slashing until they bleed out. He can’t generate as long as it is
in place.” Eliran chanted for a few minutes as I held my breath.
His eyes met with Alannah’s and nodded gently. Both of them shot
power into the Demon, and his wounds began to close at a rapid
rate. His chest rose as he took a deep breath, and I almost cried
out with relief from it. He coughed and choked for a few moments
before his eyes opened and his lips parted to release a vivid
curse.

“Fuck!” Ristan shouted as he tried to sit up
but fell back down. His eyes landed on me, and he closed them with
noted relief.

“Demon,” I cried as tears ran down my face.
My heart gave a happy lurch and I smiled at him and tilted my head
in a way which wasn’t human at all. I’d seen Ryder do it a million
times before.

“I was given a vision of you dying…” Ristan
growled, covering his face with his hands. “Fuck,” he said again as
he scrubbed his face and looked back at me. He looked at my new
brands and smiled sardonically as he shook his head slightly. “That
bitch,” he said softly. “I told you, she gets her way, fucks with
my head, and still she abides by the rules.” He turned his head and
looked at Eliran, and then Alannah.

“Mother?” he questioned, and I blinked,
startled. Alannah tousled his hair like a little boy and laughed at
him.

“Remember our talks about seeing the future?”
Danu said to me gently. “So many choices that could lead to many
different outcomes. One future was of you dying by the same spell
and all we have done would have easily been lost. Another
possibility would have been me sending him a vision that stopped
the Mages before they ever attacked. That one would have saved him
from the spell, and the pain of it, but then you would not have
embraced your destiny until it was too late to save your children,
Ryder, or yourself. You are loyal to your friends and those you
love. You go a little crazy and use anything you can when they are
being hurt. I just gave him the first vision of a possible future,
and he reacted exactly how I wanted him to.” She shrugged like it
was no big thing.

I needed to remind myself that the Fae were
not so easily killed. Seeing Ristan harmed had made me lose it. She
was correct in that, but she was wrong. I wasn’t crazy; I’d held it
together until the enemies had been dispatched.

I felt sick and totally understood why Ristan
had issues with this lady. She was sadistic and relentless in her
ways.

Ryder pulled me against him as the men helped
Ristan to his feet. Danu moved to stand beside me. I glanced at her
briefly and wondered what the reaction of those present would think
if they knew their Goddess was in their midst.

The moment Ristan was up, I threw myself into
his arms and shook with visible relief.

“Wow, Flower,” he said with a small laugh as
he wrapped his arms around me.

“I watched you die, which means I get to hug
you, Demon,” I muttered against his chest. He squeezed me tight,
and then released me but held me at arm’s length.

“The spell they used would have killed you,”
he smiled softly. “It was a choice, and an easy one at that. Now
that you have come into your own, you will be a lot tougher to
kill.” He winked as he reached out to touch my new brands.

“Ryder,” Cornelius said, coming up to stand
close to us with his eyes angry and narrowed on me. “We have a
traitor in our midst,” he accused with those yellow and green eyes
still firmly on me. “Those were Blood Fae attacking our
people!”

“Cornelius, I’d be very careful with what you
say next. Synthia is and has been under my protection since the
moment I laid eyes on her. I know exactly who was leading those
warriors and I will be having words with the Blood King about this
soon enough. Moreover, I think we need to talk about the contract
you and my father made. I’d like for you to meet with me
tomorrow.

“Why do we need to wait until tomorrow? I am
here right now,” he argued.

“Because I said that is when we will talk.
You will meet with me tomorrow in my office, and until then you can
stay in one of the guest chambers.”

“I’d rather we do it tonight,” Cornelius
pressed.

“I suggest you heed my words, and leave it
until tomorrow! Do you want to argue the matter, and challenge me?”
he demanded.

“No,” Cornelius answered quickly.

“Good. Synthia, come with me,” he growled and
didn’t wait for me. Instead, he sifted to me and smiled as his
hands touched my skin. We sifted out of the chaos, leaving it for
the men to take care of. He took us to his chambers, and pulled me
close against his body, still in the Horde King form, his wings
comforting me with their heated touch. “You scared the fuck out of
me,” he growled softly, “I am going to eradicate the Mages and
Faolán from this world, and any other one that they are
occupying.”

“Good,” I whispered against the warmth of his
body.

Ryder stared at me for a few moments before
he sat me on the bed and moved away. He had been quiet, as if he
was mulling over a puzzle.

“What the hell are you, Synthia?” he growled
softly, as he ran his hands through his hair and his wings rustled
behind him as they rose a bit higher.

“I’m still Fae. I’m still me, Fairy,” I
whispered through the lump now forming in my throat at the thought
of his rejection.

“No, Synthia, there has to be more to this.
You came into your Heir brands tonight and instead of an emblem
like the rest of the Heirs, you have the markings for all four
Castes on you. The red glow in your eyes tonight, when you came
into your powers, I half expected. That would have been normal for
the Blood Heir. Your father does the same in anger. But the rest,
no. No one has ever in the history of the Fae possessed more than
one brand. This,” he ran a finger down my brands on my arm. “Horde
brands are normally black, gold is the Caste color for the Horde,
this is something very different. Did Danu speak to you and let you
know what was going on?” His tone was taking on more of a
frustrated growl, like I was holding out on him or something. Like
I was the one keeping secrets. I shook my head solemnly.

“She didn’t say why she did this. She was
here tonight, though. She told me that if I didn’t accept her, our
children would die. She said you could die as well, if I didn’t
accept her and embrace what I was. She warned me tonight, and egged
me on, encouraging me to accept her and then Ristan—shit I thought
he was dead and she played me, Ryder. She said she’s been the one
setting events into motion from the start of this. My
parents—everything. She said I couldn’t become what she needed me
to be here in Faery,” I replied sadly. His features softened a
little as he absorbed and considered what I had told him.

“Sometimes I think you were created to be my
perfect drug,” he growled from deep in his chest as his arms
reached out and pulled me close until I was pressed hard against
his burning skin. “I can’t stay away from you, and I’m drawn to you
like a fucking addict.” His mouth lowered even as his hands came up
to hold my face up, locked in their sheer dominance.

I moaned against his mouth as he ground his
erection against me. He pulled his mouth away from mine, and turned
me around, pressing me against the wall with my face pressed
against it. He removed the dress, leaving me only in a thin pair of
soft pink lace panties.

“I often wonder why I couldn’t walk away from
you when I first set eyes on you,” he whispered, as his magic
pulsed over me, removing the up-do. My hair cascaded down my naked
back freely. His hand came up to rest on my neck, as the other one
played with my hair. He lifted it up, and kissed the back of my
neck tenderly. His free hand came around and held my face with his
fingers on one side, and his thumb easily pressed against the other
side.

“I plan on fucking you, Pet; slow, hard, and
for hours on end. Think you can handle it?” he purred against my
ear as his mouth sent heated breath fanning against my neck.

“Yes,” I replied as I ground my ass into him,
seeking his cock.

“Good, get on your knees,” he urged as I
turned toward him as his hands allowed it.

“Ryder—”

“Chain of command, Synthia. I say it. You do
it. End of chain, am I clear?” he growled as his wings expanded
behind him.

“Yes,” I said as I lowered myself to my knees
without breaking eye contact.

“Good girl,” he replied even as he glamoured
his clothes off, and waited for me to do as I had been told.

My hand went up to grab his cock, and I
stroked it softly as I licked my lips with anticipation. I realized
as my lips slid over his silky smooth skin, that I’d been starving
until I’d met him. For his taste, for the one thing only he could
give me. He’s my drug of choice, and I don’t think there’s a rehab
for it. There’s only the addiction, one so strong that without it,
I’d die.

“Fuck,” he growled as I started moving my
mouth against him, pulling him further into my throat as his hips
moved forward and back. I moaned against him, using my tongue to
stroke the thick vein on the underside of his massive cock. “I love
the feel of your lips upon my skin.” He gripped my hair and held it
in place as he continued to move his cock deeper. And then he
pushed me again.

“Get on the bed, now,” he ordered as his hand
came down and stroked his throbbing cock.

I got up from the floor and moved to the bed,
crawling on top of the enormous mattress and then turning back
around to face him as I lay against the pillows. He moved onto the
bed slowly as he began to change back to his more familiar Fae
form. His wings were the last to vanish as his eyes burned into
me.

“Turn over, and get on your knees with your
ass in the air, Synthia, now. I want you to slowly remove your
panties, and show me everything that’s mine.”

“Yours?” I asked, raising a delicate brow at
him.

He moved fast, stretching himself on top of
me as he pushed my hands over my head with one hand and his other
firmly planted between my legs on what he was claiming as his own.
“It may be between
your
legs, Pet, but make no mistake, this
belongs to
me
. Understand?”

“Yes,” I whispered, meeting his gold eyes
which had begun to glow with hunger.

“Good girl; now do as I told you. Show me
what is mine, and make me want to fuck it,” he growled before his
head lowered and his teeth slid over my flesh at the side of my
neck, making my skin tingle in their wake.

I turned over easily, and lifted my ass
seductively in the air. I spread my legs until I heard him growl
with approval. I placed my head on the bed, turning it to the side
and then used my hands to undo the two small bows on either side of
the panties, and enjoyed the hiss of air he gave, as I exposed
myself to his growing hunger.

“Tell me what you want,” he ordered.

“You; I want you to fuck me,” I replied in a
voice thick from lust.

I loved when he played with me, when he took
control and became the master of the bedroom. He was a natural Dom,
without needing to say it, or demand obedience. He had it without
trying. “I’ve been craving you all day. I wanted it to end, just so
I could fuck that sweet haven,” he purred.