Fae Chronicles 01 - Fighting Destiny (45 page)

"Alden, that makes no sense. Ryder doesn’t even know which caste of Fae I am. I don't get it, why all this fucking mystery over me?"

"Syn, be careful. They killed to get to you before and whoever it was walked through these wards," his eyes swept to the door and mine followed.

"Ryder? You think they were hiding me from
him
?" I whispered fervently.

He shrugged his shoulders, but I could see the fear creeping into his eyes. He shook his head. "Let's hope not Syn, not when he currently has a contract on you and now Adam. I need to take some pictures of these wards and view them back at the Guild."

I nodded and while he took out a camera and started taking pictures. I peeked out the window to where Ristan and Ryder were arguing silently across the yard with their hands moving and eyes angry. I'd have liked to have been able to hear them but I still couldn’t tap into any magic and I wasn’t about to try to tap the leyline and see if whoever killed my parents came running to answer the call.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Adam had been in and out of the house for the last few days, coming and going without a single word. He was adjusting to life without the woman he loved. I was adjusting, or more to the point, I was trying to get Ryder out of my head and move myself back into a normal routine. It had been a little over a week since we moved in and things still made no sense. Adrian had been checking in us through the week, and nothing kept my mind off Ryder.

I was in the shower when Adam came in and hollered that he was back from where ever he had gone. I smiled sadly, but at least he’d said something. I was beginning to think he was going mute on me. He'd probably gone to the cemetery again. It was where I had gone when I needed to feel close to Adrian when I had thought he’d died. I grabbed the bar of soap and started to lather my body when I felt a slight twinge and then a burning sensation on the right side of my lower stomach near my hip.

I looked down and screamed, angry red flesh that felt as if it was on fire met my eyes and then turned black and crimson. Adam came in, throwing the shower curtains open even as I grabbed it to hide my nudity from him. "What are you doing!?" I screamed as he stood staring at me.

"Fuck you smell good, so fucking good Syn," he growled.

I met his eyes and flinched from the heat in them, emerald and lime green sparkled back at me, glowing. He was hungry. As in Fae fucking hungry. "Adam back up, now."

"I can't, fuck, I'm so hard Syn. Just need to taste you, just a little taste baby, please. I’m so fucking hungry!" He snarled just before he lunged at me.

I kicked him in the balls and ran to my bedroom throwing the door closed and locking it. He was pounding on it within seconds. "Shit, shit, shit! Go away Adam!" I shouted running for my phone and dialing Ryder's cell.

He was the only one who could help him, but he couldn’t even come inside the house. Zahruk answered the phone. "Syn, bad timing."

"Fuck the timing! Adam's chasing me around like I'm a fucking chicken," I shouted as more pounding erupted from the door.

"What do you mean he's
chasing
you?" Zahruk's voice grew tense.

"He said he needed to
taste
me, I don’t want to hurt him Z. I need help.
Now
and you owe me."

"Can you get out of the house?" He replied calmly.

"I'm standing in my bedroom wearing a freaking shower curtain."

"I'm sending Ristan now," Zahruk said before the line went dead.

The door splintered and Adam's arm came through it. He tried to find the handle from the gaping hole he'd just created. I hung up looking around the room I'd used as a child. I'd left my overnight bag inside the bathroom and everything else was still in boxes downstairs.

"I need you Syn, just a taste," he growled as he gave up on finding the knob and started kicking at the door in. Pieces of wood went flying as he pulverized it and gained entry.

"Adam stop, it's me. You don’t want to do this," I cried shaking my head.

"The fuck I don’t," he said already struggling to get his shirt off.

"Seriously, if I see you naked Adam we can't undo that—
ever
, I really don’t think you understand what you're doing," I stopped long enough to jump over my bed as he followed me with his head low, as if stalking prey. He worked the button his of his jeans, removing them quickly and efficiently. "This isn't you, pull it back.
Now
. Oh—and you're naked," I covered my eyes and ran around the bed again, only looking through a small crack in my fingers.

"Stop running baby, I'm so hungry. So fucking hard and hungry," he snapped as he grabbed the mattress frame of the bed and flipped it against the wall splintering the headboard into pieces.

"Adam stop. Please."

I didn’t have a chance to beg him. He lunged and took me to the floor hard enough that my teeth shook from the impact. I struggled to keep his mouth from me as he fought to get me subdued. His hands struggled to part my legs, he was no longer my Adam right now, he was hungry and he was one hundred percent Fae, "Part your legs now, I need in. I hurt. I need to be inside of you. I can make you feel so good, so fucking good."

He parted my legs by force and smiled coldly. I fought the scream as my nails dug into the flesh on his shoulders. This wasn’t fucking happening! I screamed as Ristan appeared from thin air and Adam went sailing across the room to hit the wall and slide down limply.

"Fucking hell Synthia," Ristan growled, "What the fuck are you wearing?"

"Why did Adam do this? And my shower curtain!" I ground out as I righted the curtain as if it was a dress and struggled to get on my feet with shaking legs.

"He's hit Transition, he's becoming immortal. And from the smell of it my little blossoming Flower, you're getting close to blooming as well. Damn! You didn’t smell like this last week. Ryder will want you close to him now. Imagine an animal going into heat. Every fucking alley cat is gonna come sniffing for a taste of you. He wants you with him when it happens."

"That's not his fucking choice," I snapped. I spared a quick look at Adam who was just waking up, he'd almost raped me. Knowing that would kill him, "Ristan, I need him not to know what happened here. He would never forgive himself, he's been through enough."

"You care too much Syn. I'll take him home, where he can feed. You did right last week by letting go of him, but consider this. Females in heat bring any Fae male with a nose right to their doorsteps and Adam was weak. He isn't immortal yet Synthia, if you're alone when you go into Transition," he shook his head as his silver and black eyes met mine, "God have mercy on the poor fucker who tries to get to you, because Ryder won't."

"Synthia," Vlad smiled as he sifted in eyeing the shower curtain I held like a lifeline, "Smashing get up, who knew a shower curtain could be so sexy?"

I shook my head and left the room before Adam could see me. I listened as Ristan and Vlad who had sifted in behind Ristan were now helping Adam up. I had yet to stop shaking from how close I'd come to being raped by my best friend. My
only
friend.

I looked down at my lower stomach. The brand had grown while I'd been running from Adam. It was about the size of a silver dollar, the background looked like a silver disc inlaid with a design similar to a Celtic cross and had three red marks the color of rubies running down the center. Resting on the top of the disc were two red dragons facing one another with their wings spread and almost looked as if they were about to fight or worse—mate.

Ryder hadn't just claimed me, he'd fucking branded me. On top of everything, this was the last straw. He'd allowed Adam to sign a contract, after having me sign one in order to keep the others safe, once again leaving me no choice. He'd been overbearing, pigheaded and stubborn since day one.

It was too much, just when I was finally getting my life back to normal. I had been slipping back into a routine, and even though I’d been in mourning, I was dealing with it and moving on. And now this. Branding me, like cattle!

But branding me was unforgivable. My life was not perfect right now, but it was
my
life. I'd been offered an income if I decided to take the Guild's jobs and Ryder was also paying me to work for him. I had a roof over my head and I had Adam.

I didn’t need some egotistical maniac ruling what was left of my coven—even if it wasn’t considered that anymore. I didn’t want Ryder ruling any more of my life than he already did. He had enough of that in the last month. I didn’t want to be immortal and I sure as hell didn't want to go into heat like some freaking animal. But then life wasn’t asking me what I wanted.

I dressed in jeans and a shirt, flinching as I pulled it over my stomach that felt raw around the site of the mark. I pulled my hair into a loose ponytail and threw on a pair of flip flops and grabbed the keys to Adam’s car off the kitchen table and headed to confront Ryder.

I got no further than his front gate before I noticed something was wrong. The metal gate hung open as if it was expecting someone, so I drove through and parked in the back. Everything on the grounds was eerily silent—no movement and there was always activity of some kind around Ryder's mansion.

I walked across the grass and decided to sneak a peek through the window, since curiosity got the better of me. What I saw was not what I had expected, or anything I could have mentally prepared for. Ryder’s men were inside the room, along with humans and Fae set in a line on their knees. Some of them looked battered if not a little bruised. As I watched, a figure with a hood and cloak stepped up to a male who was already screaming for mercy.

I felt chills run down my backbone, and my heart accelerated. A golden haze came from the hooded figures hands, and the man on his knees began to screaming louder the instant it did, a blood curdling howl that had me covering my ears with my hands.

It had no effect on the one using magic. He had no qualms about using his magic on the poor guy. I scanned the room watching as Dristan came into view. He kicked the screaming man onto the floor and moved to the next male in line. I moved my eyes to the next male, and my blood turned to ice, it was a member of the Guild. There were several other men on their knees, all lined up with Ryder’s crew standing close behind them. I exhaled a long shaky breath and scanned the room more.

Dristan smiled wickedly, enjoying the cries from the Warlock. The fucking
Warlock
, what the hell were they doing to them, and why did they have members from the Guild inside the mansion? I watched as he too screamed with pain as the gold curled around him. I couldn’t tell if they were killing them, or if it was some sick and twisted type of torture.

Mathew moved into view as Savlian shoved him from the line, I knew him from around the Guild, but had no idea why Ryder would allow this to happen. I pushed back bile as he began to scream as the others had, begging for forgiveness and finding none. I watched his eyes roll back in his head as blood poured from his nose as the gold haze from the magic wielders’ hand touched him. I covered my mouth to stifle the cry that tried to rip from my throat. This wasn’t fucking happening, I stepped back and my foot crunched over the brush littered on the ground. I looked up and watched as the head of the hooded male came up.

"Oh shit," I whispered, covering my mouth with my hand. The hooded male turned his head, as if he'd heard me and looked right at me—with beautiful glowing golden eyes.

*~*~*~*~*~The End~*~*~*~*~*

*~For Now~*