Seducing Destiny (7 page)

Chapter Eight

*~*
Ryder
*~*

I wait in my office for Ristan to answer my call, as I weigh and consider my options. It was a delicate situation, one I wasn’t prepared for, but one I couldn’t ignore either. I watch as Ristan sifts in, his mind elsewhere. He turns and takes in the anger I’m churning with.

“What’s up?” he asks, his silver and black pattern eyes narrowing as he watches me.

“Where have you been the past few days?”

“Alden used the link I gave him; he said it was urgent and I tend to believe him,” Ristan’s tone is even; unaware that he’s a few words away from being dead.

“He needed you directly after you sent Synthia to the throne room?” I ask, his eyes watching me as they narrow even further.

“Yes,” he continues. “What does it matter? You knew of this agreement, and you know Alden means a lot to Synthia, brother,” he says, reminding me of our bond.

“Why did you send her to the throne room?” I ask as my beast watches him for any sign of weakness, willing to rip his throat out if he lies.

“Because you told me to,” he says, and then he shakes his head. “I fail to see where this needed immediate response.”

“I’m giving you this courtesy because we are blood. You are my brother, and together we’ve been through a lot,” I say and try to word it correctly, since lying is something Ristan can do.

“What am I being accused of?” he growls, directly getting to the point, his silver and black pattern eyes swirl, watching me.

“You sent Synthia to the throne room, where she was attacked by Mages.”

I watch as the blood leaves his face and his eyes open wide and then he’s moving towards me. “Is she okay? Are the babies okay?” he demands. His voice filled with pain as he watches me. And then he stops. “I didn’t set her up, I’d never do that to her,” he assures me as his hands comb through his hair and he scrubs his face with worry. “Answer me, please, are they okay?”

“They are fine. She escaped and killed those who attacked her. The question is, why did you send her to the throne room and tell her it was at my request?” he falters for a moment and his throat works.

“Because
you
asked me to,” he says softly, very much afraid. My brother isn’t afraid of anything, so his fear is not for himself.

“I did no such thing, Ristan,” I say and watch him cautiously.

“You met me in the corridor on my way to see her and requested she join you in the throne room!” His voice is louder this time, as if he is trying to convince himself of what he saw. I reach out and feel his mind. Fear for Synthia and the babes is all I find at the forefront of his mind. I find the memory and it is as he said. He believes he met with me and I asked him to bring her. My brother didn’t betray us.

“No, I never asked you to send her there, which means the Mages are both braver and bolder than we had anticipated. The babes are fine; their mother is quite the little warrior Goddess, even pregnant. Thankfully,” I say.

“I would never harm Synthia or your children, Ryder. I’ve grown very fond of her in the time she’s been here, and even before. I promise you this now, I will hunt down whoever it was who deceived me and I will kill him for you as a gift.”

“That’s not our goal right now, but thank you. What makes this so disturbing is if someone could impersonate me well enough to trick you—I need to find Synthia,” I growl as I push away from the desk and sift to the women’s pavilion.

The sunroom that she likes to relax in is void of her presence. I can feel an emptiness which only comes when she closes herself off to me; it’s just like when Joseph had her and I couldn’t feel her anymore. I don’t like it. I’m beyond pissed. My body shakes with anger and I find a focus point as Darynda comes into the sunroom from one of the entrances and looks around.

“Where is she?” I demand.

“She…uh, she was here. Right there,” she stumbles over her words as her slim finger points to the very empty chair.

“She isn’t there now; if you’ve helped her to escape or have agreed to help my enemies, I will end you,” I warn her, my voice filled with deadly promise I will keep.

“I swear it! She was right there, I mean, she was when I stepped out a few moments ago. She has to be here!”

She is about to get hysterical and I don’t have time for it. I didn’t miss Synthia by much. I can smell her sweet scent still. I call the guard violently. Zahruk sifts in, his eyes searching for threat instantly.

“Synthia is missing. Search the entire castle for her,” I growl. One by one they sift in and then out. I stand perfectly still, using my magic to search for her, but she’s gone. I can feel that the medallion is still here, but she’s no longer in possession of it…which means someone has removed it from her neck. I eye the room, sensing for it as I leave the room—because it’s not here. It’s close, though. Synthia is powerful, and I’m not sure if she can shield both the necklace and the mark.

I turn and walk out of the sunroom, searching the corridor, following her scent even as I change forms. He’s better with scents and tracking and he’s shaking the fucking cage. Wings unfurl from my back, the pain of the shift brief as I don’t fight it.

At the end of the hall is the medallion. I reach down swoop it up, smelling it. It’s male. I don’t recognize the scent. I growl from deep in my chest and turn to find my men watching me, waiting for me to give them direction. My eyes take in the blood on the floor, and I feel eviscerated as I determine my next move.

I can’t feel her connection through the mark either. It’s a bad sign, very bad.

“She’s with a male,” I snarl; the kick to my gut is raw and brutal. The beast growls deadly, the thought of another male touching our woman is un-fucking-thinkable.

“She’s no longer in the walls of this Kingdom,” Zahruk says as he dares to step closer.

“She left here with another warrior,” Claire states as she moves close to me, pushing her way through my men. “I was coming to find you, Ryder,” she says as she moves closer and tries to place her hand on my chest. I catch it and twist it painfully.

“What man did she leave with?” I seethe, watching as her pupils dilate.

“I’ve seen him around a few times; they were practically all over each other, and she doesn’t deserve you. Not like I do,” she whispers seductively.

For a brief second I hesitate, but the thought of someone impersonating me well enough to fool my own brother burns through my mind, then Syn’s eyes full of desire and love flash in my mind, and I know her; she’s not deceitful, not with me. She wouldn’t leave me without saying something. She isn’t like that; she’d come up to me and slap it in my face, but she wouldn’t hide it from me. Reason returns and I realize that males aren’t permitted in the pavilion unless they have medallion marking them as mine, so this male had to have had help to access this place. My eyes narrow on the simpering beauty before me.

I slam Claire against the wall, my wings pinning her in as I allow the fangs in my mouth to elongate and my eyes to fully change to obsidian, giving the beast full control. “You play with words, wench. I’ll give you two seconds to tell me the truth in its entirety before I end you.”

She’s shaking, her hands visibly so. She’s never been this close to the beast and he loves the fear in her eyes, loves the heady scent that wafts from her feeding us both. The beast loves fear, and he’s excited for the chance to make a kill.

“Have it your way,” I say as I reach out with my magic, watching as Claire feels the blood in her veins as it begins to boil. The pain on her face is priceless as she realizes I’m burning her from the inside, and she can’t stop it. No one can except for me.

“No!” she screams and huge tears fill her eyes. “I just wanted her gone!”

“Is that so? And tell me you stupid bitch; did it slip your imbecilic mind that you wanted her gone while she was heavily pregnant with
my
children?” I say, and it’s barely above a whisper. I can feel my men as they relish the excitement of the beast, wanting the kill as much as he does.

Her eyes flick to my men as if she’s looking for help. “Zahruk,” I growl and he steps up, his eyes gleefully aware of what I want. His clothing changes to his robes and he bares his brands as he whispers words that draw on his mother’s powers. He lays his hand on her forehead and projects for all of us what happened in this hall.

He’d used it on Syn before, and she’d hated me for it. I step away as she slides to her knees, as he pulls her past and replays the few minutes she’d had with Synthia. We all watch silently as she pleads for Zahruk to stop, but he continues.

I watch as Synthia follows me, or who she thinks is me, into the hallway and away from her guards. She thought it was me, up until the bolts are shoved through her tender flesh. Only then did she realize her mistake. Too late.

I don’t know the man who pretended to be me; don’t care, because he’s already dead. I watch as a portal is opened in the corridor, and she’s carried through it.

“Aodhan, trace and locate where that portal goes. Zahruk, ready the men for war,” I say, knowing it will be a dead end.

My men are ready, and as Claire stands up once more, I turn in her direction. “Asrian, take Claire to the lower levels and await me there.” I turn to my men who have already glamoured their armor on.

I glamour my armor on in anticipation of getting my woman back safely. I search through this world and the next for the mark, letting the beast do it this time, to track her through the bond they share and the mark alike.

As we get ready to sift out, Ristan shakes himself out of a vision. Probably the first he has had in a month. “Ryder, I know where she is, and this is very bad,” he says grimly. His eyes fill with despair that I won’t accept.

I’ll find her, and I’ll save her.

Chapter Nine

*~*
Synthia
*~*

I was slammed roughly against the floor as the Mages entered the room. They looked like Humans; no brands, no markings, or anything identifying them as being even partly Fae. They reminded me of Joseph and his ability to hide what he was; Changelings. They spoke to each other in low voices, and in a strange dialect I couldn’t identify or understand.

“The babies come,” Faolán called to them with malice in his sickening tone. It scared me with the sheer volume of hatred in it. The pains were growing closer and stronger now. I knew it meant I was running out of time and soon I’d have to push or chance the babes dying inside of me. Right now I wasn’t sure I’d get a choice as the Mages continued to pour into the room.

“Place her on the stone; it’s time to finish this,” one said coldly. He produced a dagger from the sleeve of the black cloak he wore, and then whispered to the candles, which leapt to life and bathed the room in the gentle glow of candlelight. I hadn’t been able to make out much of the room before but now with it finally lit, I could.

They began to chant, and as I watched, the entire room transformed. The magic they were using was the same as I used before I discovered I was fully Fae. In the middle of the room was a stone slab, which looked like something out of a medieval era. I was roughly picked up and placed on it, and angry hands held me down as chains were slipped around my hands and legs.

I couldn’t move, and I felt the power draining from me from the bolts still lodged in my shoulders. I watched as the male who had posed as Ryder moved forward briefly, as if he was unsettled with what he had done, but then he sifted out, leaving me to a fate worse than death.

“Stop this, please!” I begged the Mages. “They’re just babies!” I hate that I’m begging these hateful beings for anything, but for the lives of my tiny unborn babes, I’d beg. To save them I’d give my own life, or anything I could to give them a chance for life.

The knife was brought closer as hands held my motionless limbs in place—as if they were afraid I would break through the chains and fight them. I was spread out like a sacrifice. Tears of helplessness fell freely, and when the chants began, so too did my anger. “I’ll gut you all! I’ll eat out your fucking hearts like a Demon! Pussies! You stupid useless waste of beings! Hiding behind your hoods; take these bolts out and fight me! Me! Not the helpless beings you plan to kill! Fight me! You murderous bastards,” I seethed.

They ignored me and continued on task as they chanted around the stone slab. The one closest to me watched me with wonder in his eyes. As if he found it amazing that I was willing to challenge them even bound and helpless.

I was about to challenge him directly when something exploded into the room. I lifted my head as best as I could with the bolts still in, and watched as the man who had saved me from Faolán at mine and Adam’s handfasting, fought singularly against the Mages. His eyes were wild as he took down as many as he could.

“Cailean?” Faolán growled and moved in his direction. I screamed out to Cailean, and he sifted, his hand pulling out one of the bolts which gave me a slight reprieve. He hadn’t removed both, which left me still unbearably weak and unable to do much. Instead of challenging the Mage closest to me, I reached out with my weakened power and tried to blast him, but it only seemed to shock him. I pushed more power into it, and watched as he exploded, but it drained me. I was about to try another one when I felt the bolt being shoved back into my chest violently.

Someone had stabbed it into my chest instead of my shoulder without taking into account the proximity to my heart. I screamed in agony and ceased struggling as I fell back against the unforgiving slab. I coughed violently and winced as blood from my lungs splattered across the closest Mage to me.

I searched the room and fray for Cailean, and watched as he was downed by Faolán. I coughed again, but just as hope was failing, something struck through Faolán’s shoulder, impaling him. He looked down at his shoulder, and then up into my savior’s unforgiving gold and obsidian eyes. Faolán screamed in anger and frustration at his attacker, and then he was gone, sifting out at the first sign of losing, as usual.

The Elite Guard was here, fighting against the Mages.

Ryder was leading them, and I closed my eyes, knowing that my babes would safe now; their father was here for them.

Danu was with him, but it didn’t look like she was visible to him or his men. I watched as Ryder moved towards me, killing and impaling anything in his way. He dismembered bodies and severed heads as he cut a path, his magic reaching out to those who were out of his physical reach to crush them. He reached me quickly and removed the bolts and chains that held me in place, and then I was dragged into his arms carefully.

“Synthia,” he whispered as he placed his ear against my chest and then looked down into my eyes. He lifted his eyes to look around the room. His men awaited his orders, covered in the blood of the Mages.

I watched as Savlian reached down, hauled up Cailean, and moved his sword up, holding it against the soft column of Cailean’s throat. His deadly intent pulled a numb response from the man, as his eyes met mine in a silent plea.

“No,” I whispered. “He’s friend, not an enemy. He’s wounded because he beat you here to save me,” I whispered, doing my best to ignore the blood that covered my lips.

“Eliran, help us!” Ryder snarled as he shimmered back to his Fae form.

“Here…Oh, shit,” Eliran whispered as he moved closer to where Ryder stood with me in his arms.

I didn’t need him to say it out loud. I could feel death’s rattle working in my chest. “Take me home, and save my babies, Eliran. You have to save them,” I told him with tears slipping from my eyes.

“Fuck that; you save them! All of them!” Ryder demanded.

I watched as Eliran stepped back and away from Ryder, as we sifted as a group to the sterile rooms of Eliran’s medical ward. I was gently placed on a bed, and I watched as Eliran looked at me helplessly.

“Get them out,” I whispered in a pleading tone as Eliran moved to me to see what he could do to try and stop what was going to happen no matter what he did.

I knew I was dying; they didn’t have long to wait. I knew my fate was sealed, but I had to give my children a fighting chance. I felt myself fading away, slipping from consciousness. “Fairy, be good to our children. I love you, I’ve loved you since the moment you walked into my world, and always will,” I whispered as I held his eyes. “Tell them I loved them and how much I wanted to be here for them, Ryder, and how much I love you,” I pleaded as I lifted my hand but missed his.

*~*
Ryder
*~*

I watch helplessly as her eyes glaze over. My mark, our link snaps and I feel pain as it rips through my chest as surely as if someone has removed my heart physically.

“Save her!” I shout at Eliran, but he slumps his shoulders and shakes his head.

“Save the babies, Eliran, it’s what Synthia wanted,” Ristan pleads as he sifts behind Eliran. “You have to save her children.”

I feel cold and dead inside. I move towards Synthia, but my brothers hold me back. I growl in warning but they just hold me, feeling my pain as the bond of blood races through them. “Call for Danu!” I demand, but those around me just stand there, holding me away from the lifeless body of my woman.

I struggle against them to get to her, but I’m numb and even in my grief I know I can’t harm them for guarding the babes. The beast roars, and I shake with the emotions. My heart is bleeding for her; I don’t want to live without her. She’s my fucking everything!

“Save them now!” Ristan orders Eliran, and a moment later Eliran stumbles away from Synthia’s body. His head shakes as he looks from me to the Demon, as if weighing which of us will kill him first.

They’re blocking my view of the body, and Ristan is nowhere to be seen, and then I hear his torn, broken whisper. “I’m so sorry, Flower. I wish you could have held on for us.” I hear the sickening sound of flesh as it meets the sharp edge of a blade as it cuts through. I jump to stop him, but my men are there, holding me back. Zahruk’s mental voice is shouting in my mind, trying to reason with me and the beast. My mind struggles to find the bond I share with Syn but it’s gone. I feel my beast as he struggles to get loose, pushing and tearing at me to get to the surface to get out, to get to Ristan. He’s fighting for total control.

“I’ll fucking kill you, Demon!” I snap, and the room shakes from my anger. My power pulses and begs to be released. In the struggle, the room shifts and I’m able to see her, as Ristan cuts her from one side of her stomach to the other with a scalpel. As I watch them, Eliran moves into action and women come pouring into the room as it comes alive with movement.

One son is pulled out of her lifeless body and given to Eliran, who briefly checks the child before passing it to one of his helpers. The woman takes the babe and with her magic, she pulls, forcing the fluid from his lungs until he lets out a cry of shock and surprise. The other boy is pulled out next and passed to Eliran, and I want nothing to do with them. If I’d never gotten her pregnant, she’d still be alive. It isn’t until Ristan pulls out a third babe that my heart stops cold.

“She did it, fucking hell, she did it,” Ristan says it as he stumbles back from the body and hands off the silent, blue, lifeless child. “She gave you a daughter.”

I’m up before I know it and my men release their hold, as I move to the child. She’s not breathing, and Eliran looks down at the helpless child and then over to where her mother lays lifeless on the bed, gutted. Ristan gutted my world to save my daughter, and maybe he had known, maybe he hadn’t. In the end, nothing matters beyond her children living, all of them. I step back from Eliran, knowing my menacing presence isn’t helping. “Save her, please, save my daughter.”

He moves into action, asking for things I have never heard of, but one of Eliran’s helper’s moves forward to help him.

Adam sifts in, his hands pulling at his hair as he sees Synthia. He looks around at the men; every one of them was as helpless to save her as I was. He must have felt their familiar bond shatter as her life slipped away. Devastation is written on his features as he stands there, trying to come to grips with what he is seeing. He spins and sifts out, only to return minutes later with Alden and Adrian, who wisely doesn’t lip off. Instead, he stands and watches the proceedings, unable to look away from the train wreck scene unfolding before his horrified eyes.

We all watch, waiting for a sign that one of the three will live. I stare at Synthia; where has her spirit gone? Did she go with Larissa, or did she join with her Fae ancestors? Or did demi-Goddesses have a cherished place among their own dead that I couldn’t follow her to?

One of the Fae assisting Eliran walks over to us and in her arms is a screaming infant. I hold out my arms, numbly. I then stare into azure eyes with a dark crop of midnight hair. He’s strong for something so small; his little arms push against mine as he frowns up at me. He’s tiny, born too early, yet strong like his mother.

Our link joins and I can feel the small boy.
My son.
I feel tears as they slide down from my eyes. Everyone in the room stops and looks at me and I don’t fucking care.

I break.

I cry for the mother they will never know, the one who will never hold them. I cry for my mate as the beast howls with pain at the loss of his equal. I know my men can feel my pain. It’s raw and brutal. She should be here with me, seeing the tiny precious lives we created together.

Another healer comes forward, her arms holding yet another fighting bundle, which she places in the crook of my other arm. He has white blonde hair and deep violet eyes, much like Synthia and Lasair, have as one of the colors of their matching eyes. I look into the child’s eyes and our bond connects. I can feel his heartbeat as if it’s my own. I hand off the first boy to Adam, and Ristan watches me as he shakes his head. Visions can change, we all know it, but if he had told me this would be my future, I’d have fucking stopped it.

Next comes the girl; she doesn’t fight like her brothers, and is almost still. As I move the thin blanket from her face, I’m filled with love as her golden eyes look up at me and I touch the wispy, fine platinum curls on the top of her head that’s so much like her mother’s. “Your brothers hid you and protected you,” I whisper into her ear as I kiss her tiny cheek. Her brothers had protected her, and kept her existence a well-guarded secret. Her mother never even got to know she existed. I feel the last bond connect, and my eyes lift to her mother’s lifeless ones.

“What now?” Ristan asks as he moves to the body.

“Don’t touch her,” I warn. I move, rushing to the body as I hand off my tiny daughter into Ristan’s arms.

“Ryder, she cannot be brought back. Danu has shown me what would happen if she intervened, and there was no world, no Humans, and no Fae left. She’s gone but your children are here, and they need you, brother, we all do.”

“What do you mean no world?” I snap.

“Nothing, nothing would be left of either world if you break the balance. This was supposed to happen, and you can’t break the balance by changing it. Synthia would never forgive you if you did, and you know it.”

“She’s my fucking world,” I say through the pain I know they can feel. I hate this weakness, and yet I don’t fucking care. She was my mate, and I was too afraid to admit it even to myself because of this, this useless pain. It eats at me, and consumes the beast with an anger that can easily overtake us all.

“Then tell her goodbye, brother, and let her go in peace,” Ristan says and I feel my brothers at my back, feeding me their strength. All of them await me, to see my choice. They’d kill this world if I ordered it, I know they would. Ristan is right, though. If I bring her back and kill the world to do so, I lose her anyway.

“Get out,” I whisper to everyone in the room. I scream the moment the room has emptied, and fall to my knees beside the bed where her body lays. I should have given her more; I should have given her everything she’d asked for in life. Now I was left with nothing, no warmth filled my body, nothing but regret and emptiness was left in my soul which could never again be filled.