Fae Chronicles 01 - Fighting Destiny (24 page)

"They're afraid of you," the child whispered as she pulled herself up to look down at me.

"What makes you say that?" I asked narrowing my eyes.

"You are the only one who can stop them," she replied before placing her silk hair back in my face as she held on as if I would disappear from beneath her at any moment.

"They won't get to me. I have the Dark Fae helping me find them. See that scary man standing there?" I asked her flicking my eyes to Ryder so she knew who I was referring to, "He's the Prince of the Dark Fae and do you know what that means?"

She sniffled and shook her head. "He's scary," she mumbled while sniffling more.

"Yes, but it means they have to get past him to get to me," I said hoping she would understand it. I held Ryder's eyes briefly, for the first time since signing his stupid contract I was glad I had. He was deadly and he was under contract to protect me as I was to serve him.

I heard Adrian cuss as he understood what I was saying. I was giving Ryder the right to protect me and my coven while telling him that I was his verbally. I couldn’t put this on the Guild, Alden was under lock and key and unless I wanted the same fate I had no choice but to truly give in and trust Ryder.

He was deadly, as were his men and I had just had a pretty red bull's-eye tatted on my rear end by some sort of supernatural Jack The Ripper serial killer or the Fae who killed my parents—or they were they one and the same? I had my coven to consider and the child who was now sobbing into the vinyl lace up top I wore. I met Adrian's eyes briefly and walked out of the club with the child in my arms.

The ride back to the mansion had been wrapped in uncomfortable silence. I could see the tension and anger riding inside Ryder's golden eyes. Adam and Larissa held onto each other as if at any moment the sky would fall. Adrian had demanded to come back with us but Ryder had stepped in and thankfully stopped it from happening.

I wasn’t processing it, my mind was shutting down and exhaustion was settling over me from the day's events. I stayed long enough to ensure the child had been put under by Ryder and whatever it was he did that made it so you could nothing else but pass out cold.

I needed to figure out what he said and what language it was so I could use that instead of the sleeping pills I'd been taking since I was a child to escape the nightmares. I made it all the way to my room and had enough time to change out of the skin tight vinyl outfit and into some boy-cut undies before the door was opened and Ryder walked in with his usual confidence firmly in place.

"We need to talk Synthia," he said closing the door and settling into the single chair.

"I'm tired. Can we do it in the morning?" I asked, hoping he would say yes.

"What are you?" He came straight to the point, ignoring the fact that I was in my undies and topless with only my arms shielding him from my naked breasts.

"I'm tired and mentally fried Ryder. And at the moment I'm half-naked, so either turn around, or get out of the room so I can get dressed."

His self-absorbed smile spread over his mouth. "I own you and I don’t mind at all."

I ignored him, spinning around so he couldn’t see anything as I slipped into the tank top and turned back around. "You don’t actually own me Ryder, and the contract didn’t include late night visits to my room. I have no idea what she was talking about, or what they think I am. As far as I know I'm a Witch, I can't do anything that I haven't read or learned from the Guild, or a book."

And I had read a lot, I loved books.

"Indeed," he mused as I walked over to the bed and plopped myself down in front of him folding my legs Indian style facing him.

"What else do you want to know?" I was giving him honest answers. He looked young and yet he was ageless because he was Fae. I knew he was older than our records said, they had him being only a few years older than me, but his eyes told another story with their endless depths of knowledge. I was pretty sure he had to know more than I had learned in my entire twenty one years.

"How old are you?" He continued.

"Twenty one years old. Going on one hundred."

He smiled but it was all teeth, "Funny girl."

"The child said
they
were coming for you. Any ideas on who it is, or why?" He asked watching my face for a reaction.

"They've never tried before. I don't see why they would now."

"Fair enough, I need to examine the brand on your neck Syn. May I?" He asked cautiously, as if he was afraid I would say no.

"Why?" I asked just as prudently as he had.

"Because it doesn’t protect you from me fully and I am pretty sure if I had one of my men come in, it wouldn’t work against them either. You have a natural immunity to the Fae, but I want to test it to see how just resistant you are. I can make you feel things, but you don’t turn completely mindless from my touch."

"Fine, but no funny business," I swallowed. I was pretty sure I’d been both mindless and boneless in his room.

His lips quirked as he stood up and moved closer. "I need you to lie on your stomach and hit your on switch."

I hesitated as he got closer, my courage breaking away. I shook my head as I scooted further onto the bed to give him some room and lay down on my stomach slowly. "No funny business." I turned meeting his eyes briefly.

Those eyes filled with molten heat as they lowered to meet mine. I turned my head back around and dropped it to the bed wondering what the hell I’d just gotten myself into. I had gone from trained killer to blushing bumbler since meeting Ryder and it was pissing me off.

I felt the bed move under his weight and hissed as his fingers swept my hair away from the brand. I stretched my neck wondering why he would think it wasn't working. I'd never had any issue with the Fae, until him.

"When did you get this?" His voice resonated from above my head as his hot breath fanned my against my neck sending heat pooling between my thighs.

"Around thirteen."

"Any idea what it says?" His voice was hoarse and not helping the fight the damn butterflies were having inside my abdomen.

"No, only that it is supposed to protect against the influence of the Fae."

"I can’t read it," he said as though he was confounded.

"But?" I'd heard the '
but
' in his tone.

"It's old, the branding is. This isn't from the Guild."

"Of course it is. I don’t let just anyone write brands on my skin Ryder. And every brand is supervised by Alden to ensure it is correct."

He didn't reply, instead his fingers traced over the invisible ink that he shouldn’t be able to see at all and he hadn't asked me to turn the ink on for color, which meant he could see it plainly. "You can read it as is."

"Only this one, the others are undetectable unless you allow them to be seen. I'm going to take a gander that it was intended to be that way deliberately."

I turned over until I was lying on my back and looking up into his eyes. He didn’t push the answer out. Instead he waited for me to decide how much I wanted to tell him about it. I inhaled his scent and let it rush through me relaxing the tension the day had caused on my nerves. "The brands with the exception of the one on my neck were placed on me with ink designed by Alden. It's enchanted to react with our powers. It's supposed to keep us grounded from the lure of the Dark Arts. Since we only just started messing with them a few years ago he decided to use us."

I watched his mind run through the implications, the knowledge sinking in that I hadn't been branded by normal ink ever. He lifted his eyes and scanned my face before saying anything. "You didn’t have ink before thirteen? I thought all the Witches receive ink before then…So you had nothing but the stars?"

I flinched remembering why I had them. They were for my parents, one for each with traditional black ink defining the burns into the true stars on the front of my shoulders. "Correct, I didn’t need any ink at first and then we received the white ink."

"Can I try something without you freaking out Synthia?" He asked watching my face.

"Do I have to be naked for it?" I countered narrowing my eyes watching his mouth turn up into a beautiful mischievous smile.

"No, but I have to touch you. I want to see if the brands protect you from me when activated. Or if it affects me at all."

I swallowed past the uneasiness that flared to life inside my stomach with his words. "You want me to invoke my powers while you try to use yours on me. What if we end up forgetting who we are like we did last time?"

"I didn’t forget who I was Syn. I knew exactly who I was and who I was with when I lost control."

My body responded to his words, even as my breathing grew labored. "I can't be with you Ryder, it's not allowed while I work for the Guild."

"To have sex?" He asked narrowing his eyes again.

"No, I can have sex. Lots of sex, with lots of people. Just not of the Fae variety. I'm not sure I could ever be with any Fae. Besides, what if something happened and I got pregnant? I mean, the Guild has us on mandatory contraceptives designed for us, but something could always happen and none of the Fae accepts Changelings not to mention—I wouldn’t wish me as a mother for any child." I was rambling so I stopped when he noticed.

He smiled forlornly, "The Horde does," he answered flashing his smile back to full force.

"Yeah but their King is missing and unless I'm mistaken the Vampires are changing sides already.
Your
side to be precise, which means he's either gone or he's in play."

I watched his face shut down going completely emotionless. "You watch too many conspiracy movies Synthia."

"Be that as it may, Vlad called you Sire tonight Ryder."

"I’m a Prince, besides, I'm higher on the food chain than he is and I’ve earned their respect."

I tilted my head and considered it. It could have been, or it could have been that Vlad was leaderless and seeking out a new alliance and Ryder being Dark Fae would be the closest to the Horde. Unlike the Light Fae, the Dark Fae got along with the Horde. "Could have been, yes."

"I have no plans of making any new alliances."

I nodded and then shrank back as his hand came out to rub against my palm sending a tremble through my entire body. His thumb traced over the small scar on the palm of my hand softly.

"How easily can you summon your powers Synthia?" He inquired never taking his eyes from mine. I should be running from him instead of indulging him.

I didn’t answer him, instead I invoked them and watched the white glow light up in his eyes. His smile faltered as he moved closer, lying down lengthwise beside me until our faces were inches apart. He was the most sexual male I had ever encountered in my life. He oozed power from his pores. I shouldn’t trust him. And yet I trusted him more than I thought I did.

"Your eyes don't match when they light up," he whispered resting his head in his hand while his elbow sat on the bed.

"So I've been told," I whispered fighting to keep my voice from trembling. His close proximity was playing hell on my hormones. My hand shook where his thumb still played over the sensitive flesh, which was weakening my willpower with every slow stroke.

"You ready Pet?" He inquired looking a little too eager.

"For your little science project?" I asked making sure we were on the same page.

He grinned wolfishly before he leaned over close enough that I could smell the mint on his breath, as if he had come here planning on kissing me. "Something like that, I need to see how this thing works. I know it doesn’t work against me completely, but we need to test it."

If I'd been using my brain I might have asked why, but Mister Sex Incarnate was inches from my lips and the only thing I could think of was what he had been doing to Claire in his office and how I had wanted to trade places with her,
which was crazy
.

When his mouth found mine it wasn’t a crushing kiss, or hard. Instead it was tender and firm as he tested me. When he touched me it was electrical, like standing next to a live wire while sparks flew from it to land on you and yet you were trapped in place by its beauty. That was the only way to describe his touch and kiss. It scared me. It was intense—more than I had ever felt with Adrian.

I knew the instant he pushed his Fae powers on me. Everything else faded away and my only need was to take him. "Ryder," I said with my voice filled of need.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked pulling further away as he pulled the magic with him.

I swallowed but pulled him back down. "Did you get what you needed, for the science thing?"

His eyes lit up and he shook his head as more Fae magic pushed into my mind. It was painful at first but gone instantly when his lips caressed mine. I moaned and pushed against his mouth with need for him, hot and fierce, that I was afraid I'd be left in a pile of ash if he didn’t continue and give me more of him. When he pulled away I cried from the loss. "Ryder."

"What's your name?" He demanded in fiery voice filled with lust.

"Syn. Now shut up and kiss me Ryder."

His lips tugged in the corner before he kissed me again, more demanding this time, his hand cradling my neck as he moved over the top of me and ground his erection against my pelvis. More power filtered in and he kept asking my name or other questions as I answered and demanded more of him.

My body was an inferno, my center saturated with the proof of his sexual allure and power he held inside of himself. My body willing, my mind was still intact enough that I knew who I was and where I was. I shook with it, my hands found his head and pulled him back down as his knee slid between my legs and pressed against my core.

"Do you want me to stop? I need to know, because if we go too much further Pet, I’m going to bury myself deep inside of you." He asked pulling away from the kiss.

"I…" I didn’t know, for the first time in my life I wanted to tell a Fae
yes
, that I wanted
him
. And
only
him.