Fae Chronicles; Fighting Destiny Part 30

"You're in pain."

"I'm fine."

"Who is stubborn?" He said moving closer to me.

"I am. Never said I wasn't."

"You should be healed by now," he whispered as his eyes met and held mine.

"Nope, not yet. I need to finish this and get home. I need to find the puppet master. He needs to die. Like yesterday."

"You won't be going home this time. You will be staying with me. Indefinitely."

"No, I won't. I was stupid last time to sign before reading every detail. I came here because you forced me back. You knew I'd come," I watched his eyes sparkle in answer, "Well I'm here, you didn't protect me, you got me stabbed. You broke our contract, Alden thought it was a temporary clause, but it wasn't. If you failed to protect me from harm you forfeit your claim on me. That's why I'm here, because you don't like to lose."

He smiled and tipped his head, "It won't happen again and I didn't lose Syn. You're here and I told you. I always win."

"Ahh, but remember Ryder, you're as stubborn as I. We're both hot headed. Where there's a flame, someone's bound to get burned and this time it won't be me."

"You burn pretty hot Syn, I haven't forgotten," he whispered smiling softly.

"Not gonna happen, I'll be making my own contract. It goes both ways. Watch what you wish for, you just might get it."

"You're going to need to feed sooner or later Syn," he warned as his eyes turned hard.

"Then I guess we better get to negotiating Ryder," I challenged him back.

"Is your body changing?"

"Nope, I'm still me."

He smiled, "Your eyes are Fae Syn, unique as well. I have never seen a mix of blue and purple before. I'm curious as to how Adam became your familiar."

"He's not my familiar, he's my family."

"No, he calmed you. He grounded your power with his own. Most Fae spend eternity looking for a familiar who can ground their powers. Yet you, a newborn walked in with one in your pocket. Explain."

"Explain?" I laughed, "Okay, last week? I was a Witch. I knew where the h.e.l.l I belonged Ryder, this week? This week I'm a f.u.c.king Fairy Ryder. A f.u.c.king Fairy, my entire life has been a huge f.u.c.king lie. I got people who loved me killed because I can't think of another reason for those Fae to be inside my house that day. No one can, but now that I know I'm Fae-or turning Fae, I know they were there for me. So explain? I have no f.u.c.king idea, Ryder...I don't even know who my actual parents are, or why they hid me. Adam is only getting pieces of what he thinks we are -h.e.l.l! He doesn't even know why he is drawn to me, but he is. When I get p.i.s.sed or upset-he feels it! Nothing in my life makes any sense now. The only thing I do know is that I don't want any of this."

"I need to know what the mark is on the back of your neck is," he growled.

I threw up my hands and stood there, waiting for Ryder to invite me in so we could get this over with. When he didn't say anything I tapped my foot impatiently waiting. I looked around us at the smiles and smirks from his men. Ristan was there, a guarded look in his eyes, a sad expression on his face. Maybe he felt bad for everything that had ensued after he'd asked me to investigate the Light Heir.

"Come, we will go inside," he said crisply.

I started forward but it hurt, I'd done too much today already and I had yet to fully heal. I flinched as I stepped forward and felt my knees try to give away under the weight. Ryder was instantly there, catching me by the waist to steady me on my feet. "Let go of me, I can manage on my own," I growled at him.

"I think thank you are the words you're looking for Syn. If you're not healing, we need to figure out why," he said letting me go and heading back inside, awarding me with a view of his firm a.s.s in his low hung jeans.

"Did you go broke and couldn't afford s.h.i.+rts in the budget this month?" I grumbled having to look at his exposed skin.

"You liked my brands inside Faery. You interrupted a training regimen Syn," he said smiling over his shoulder. "If I remember correctly, inside Faery you tried to taste every one of my brands-"

"With my tongue," I snapped back as his men fought the urge to smile.

"Don't tempt me Syn. I've decided to only keep one source of food inside my house."

"Claire?" I asked glaring at him.

"You."

I tripped over my feet and ran into his back, it made the wound scream in pain and before I knew it I was falling. Once again he was faster the gravity was. He caught me with a worried look in golden depths. "You need to rest. You're not healing fast enough."

"Sucks to be me then. Contract."

He smiled coldly, "You drive me crazy and I think you do it on purpose. I had to watch you almost die Syn, do you have idea how f.u.c.king hard that was for me? I had to watch them cut you open to stop the bleeding and I watched you bleed out three f.u.c.king times before Eliran could stop it. And then I had to watch as your f.u.c.king coven came in and took you away from me while citing breach of contract bulls.h.i.+t and I couldn't f.u.c.king kill them because if by some f.u.c.king miracle you woke up and I had, you would never forgive me. I saved you Syn, not them. You'd be dead if I hadn't of been Fae. You'd have died in the arms of your coven."

I swallowed slowly and reached up against my will to caress his face gently, "Thank you for saving me, next time-try not letting me get stabbed first."

He smiled and searched my face before setting me back on my feet. His hands steadying me before he released me, "I meant what I said Syn, I plan on punis.h.i.+ng you. Soon."

"Yeah, you like to say that, but you're going to have to get in line. I'm waiting for a visit from the puppet master at the moment so we need to hurry this along."

Thirty Six

It took three hours to finish signing the contract. Once again I was his property. At least for a while, but I'd stood my ground and refused to back down on some things. I was back in the Guild car and heading to my shared apartment when Larissa called to check up.

"Local morgue, you stab them, we slab them," I said smiling impishly knowing she'd hear it in my voice.

"Syn, how'd it go?" Larissa replied with nervousness inside her tone.

"It went okay," I said turning onto the highway and frowning, "Everything okay?" I asked noting she lacked her normal pizzazz tonight.

"It's fine, are you on your way home?" I didn't miss the hopeful note in her voice as she asked.

"Yup, need something from the store?" I asked wondering if that was the hope I'd heard since I was already out.

"No, I was just checking," she replied.

"You and Adam need me to stay gone for a while?" I crinkled my forehead and made a mental note to set them a schedule, or have them go to his place from here on out.

"Just come home please Syn, I need you here." She said and hung up on me.

I held the phone out, looking at it before shoving it back into the purse between the seats. What the h.e.l.l had that been about? She'd sounded upset and I really hoped it had nothing to do with Adam. No way in h.e.l.l was I playing a go between with their relations.h.i.+p. I shook my head and headed home.

I hit the b.u.t.ton for the second time glaring at the doors of the elevator. I'd tried to call her again but she'd either hit ignore call or had turned off her phone completely which had made me ignore most of the speed limit signs from the highway all the way home.

The elevator doors beeped as they slid open. I rolled my eyes and stepped in, pressing the third floor and waiting. When the doors opened on our floor, I felt a twinge of fear, but it wasn't my own fear that I felt. I groaned, hoping it had nothing to do with Larissa's fear that Adam was now Fae.

It wasn't as if we had chosen it. We couldn't change it either, the best we could do was ignore it until it became more dominant and then Ryder would help us as had been agreed upon earlier tonight. I exhaled and shook my head as I twisted the k.n.o.b and found it locked.

I lifted my knee and groaned as the pain came back as I dug through my purse for the keys. I almost found them when the door opened and a man who wasn't Adam stood in front of me. "You must be Synthia."

I blinked and narrowed my eyes, "And you would be?"

"Oh, how rude of me. I'm Joseph," he held out his hand which I didn't take as I looked over his shoulder to see inside my own apartment. "Do come in Syn, Larissa and I have been waiting for you."

He looked harmless enough. Maybe we had a new neighbor? He knew my name so obviously Larissa trusted him enough to allow him inside our apartment, why she'd allowed him to answer the door was beyond me though. I could see no brands exposed from the white s.h.i.+rt and faded jeans he wore that would mark him Fae, or from the Guild. It wasn't until I met his eyes that I found something off about him.

"Where is she?" I asked as my stomach dropped.

"She's inside," he said with a smile that didn't fit right on his pinched features, his hair was a dull brown and looked as if he had been running his hands through it all day. He had eyes that held a keen interest in a shade of grey that was creepy.

I pushed past him and screamed as I felt the sudden white-hot pain in my back. It was too late. Something was pushed into one of my shoulder blades and I fell to the floor unable to move a single muscle. Tears burst into my eyes as I realized I couldn't move. I could see Larissa though.

She was tied to a chair and blood was pouring from her face in several places. He'd come while I'd been out signing the contract. The puppet master had gotten to Larissa and I'd failed to feel anything from her from our connection. Worse, she must have been tortured this entire time by a killer I had provoked. I fought to pull any magic around or to me while his malicious laughter pulled my eyes to him. He stood over me looking down with a twisted smile.

"It won't help. Those rods were created to hold the G.o.ds, the more you struggle, the more they lock down and drain you," he snickered, enjoying the pain that was now palpable inside the room.

"I challenged you, let her go," I said trying to get Larissa away from danger.

"No, she's too beautiful. She has great skin and her eyes...magical."

I felt bile push at the back of my throat, everything inside of me screaming that this wasn't happening. Not again, I couldn't watch this, I couldn't breathe. "Mine are better, I'm Fae."

"You, I plan on keeping, you killed my masterpiece. You will get to keep your friend, well," he crouched down and moved a few stray pieces of hair from my face, "You will get to keep pieces of her."

"No, please," I whispered meeting Larissa's terrified eyes as she tried to speak through the gag tied over her mouth.

"Let's get you up. You need a better seat for the show!" He chirped as he easily picked me up and held me pressed against the wall. He had more small thin rods in his hands. He used one hand to press my head against the wall as the rest of my body obeyed him. His free hand slid the pins in one by one, as his eyes lit up. I fought the urge to scream as fire ignited and muscle gave way, tearing as each one was pressed through.

He was enjoying it, with a calmness that was unsettling. I fought nausea as I helplessly allowed it. He was going to kill us both and I couldn't do a single thing but watch. I was going to have to relive my past again. There had to be a way to stop this, I tried to pull up a s.h.i.+eld that would protect us but nothing happened but a tightening inside my chest.

Tears of hopelessness ran down my face as he snickered and backed up with his head tipped low as madness lit inside his eyes. "You took him away from me. I could have brought down the entire Fae race. You ruined it!" He lost his composure and screamed showing just how unhinged he was, "No, you will suffer and you will take her place."

He turned and picked up a knife, his other hand trailing over Larissa's bare leg where he'd cut her pants open. I screamed, shaking everything inside the room until he was forced to turn back to me. He walked back slowly, his eyes lighting up around the edges to reveal the fact that he was half Fae, Changeling. "That's it baby, scream," he screamed with me, his piercing the room until he started laughing. "No one can hear you. No one will save you."

I stopped and shook inside, my palm itching with a slight tingle and then a burn as if it was trying to work blood magic again. I swallowed and begged him to cut me, to use me. But he refused and when he walked back over to Larissa all I could do was watch as my voice, hoa.r.s.e and tired refused to work.

He removed the gag from Larissa's b.l.o.o.d.y mouth and my heart dropped, everything inside of me screamed in denial. "No, oh G.o.d nooooo! Lari....oh G.o.d," he'd cut her beautiful face up in several places. He snickered as he sank his blade in and watched her come back, aware of what was happening, she sobbed and shook her head trying to move it away from his merciless abuse.

I met her eyes and I sobbed along with her as I fought the hold of the pins. He was cutting her open and once again I couldn't help, I wasn't strong enough to do anything with the pins holding me securely to the wall. I screamed and fought the horror of what he was doing. He whistled, while he cut my best friend open. He was f.u.c.king insane!

His body moved blocking my view for a few seconds and then silence reigned as he cut whatever it was from Larissa's insides, the noise sickening. When he turned around, I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see, didn't want to know what he had done.

"Beautiful," he whispered and then I felt his blood coated hands on my s.h.i.+rt as he cut it up the middle.

I opened my eyes and met his, "I'm going to get loose and when I do I am going to cut the flesh from your bones and every organ out slowly, starting with the ones you can live without!"

He snickered again and groped my chest. I couldn't see Larissa, I felt the rage pulsing inside of me and yet no magic came from it, the connection we shared was now completely gone. Severed.

"You will scream for me, I promise you. When I am done with you, you will do anything I want you to. I will control your body and mind. Are you ready to scream?" He smiled coldly as his blade came up to touch my skin.

I felt the knife cut through my chest and he was right. I screamed, I'd thought I couldn't anymore-I was wrong, the blade sliced through my skin like freshly melted b.u.t.ter. I looked down to watch his blade covered with my own blood now.

He snickered, enjoying the sound of my screams as he pulled the blade out and licked it. He opened his mouth, to say something and before he could, he was gone from where he had stood in front of me. I turned my head and watched as a hooded figure in an onyx colored cloak attacked him, cutting and slicing him with a wicked looking silver blade.

Blood spurted up with every angry slice the hooded figure took. I moved my eyes to Larissa but before I could finish making them move to her mutilated body, Ristan was there blocking the way. "Move," I cried, but he ignored me as he placed his hand on my chest and dropped his magic to seal the wound.

His skin turned bright red, his eyes matching crimson as he spoke strange words that caused his hand to glow as he pressed it against my chest as he applied more pressure. "Ryder, she needs more help than I can give her here."

"Not...me, heal...heal her, Please, I need her, fix her. You can do it, please. I'll do anything Ryder, anything. She my family!" I sobbed uncontrollably.

His eyes met and held mine with sorrow in their ancient depths, "She's already gone Syn."

"No! You're wrong, fix her...oh G.o.d...no, no just fix her. I need you to just fix her. Please, oh G.o.d, you have to!" I sobbed sagging as Ristan started pulling each pin out of my skin and then Ryder was there.

"Syn, look at me," Ryder took in the pins still protruding from my skin and pulled them free before he caught me and pulled me close against his body, "She can't be fixed Pet and you don't want to see her, not like this Syn." I sobbed, my body shaking with each one as what they were telling me sunk in. I couldn't do this, I wasn't strong enough. I buried my face against Ryder as I screamed with everything I had, my body shook hard enough that Ryder had to hold me with both hands to keep upright.

"Ristan, stay with the body and clean it up, bring her back to the mansion when you finish. I need to take Syn back to Eliran," Ryder whispered but I pushed away from him.

"Where's Adam, he was here. He was with her! Oh G.o.d," I fought nausea and lost. I bent over and threw up until nothing else would come out. I felt comforting hands pulling my hair away from my face and as I looked up I saw Larissa's lifeless eyes staring at me. Her chest had been torn open and her heart was gone.

Everything inside of me closed down. Something broke inside of me and just stopped and I stopped with it. Sightless I sat down at Ryder's feet as his eyes filled with grief. "Make me not feel it. I don't want to feel it. Make it stop."

He reached down and picked me up until I was cradled in his arms, "Find the boy and make sure you remove the body first Ristan, no one else needs to see her like this. She deserves better."

Ryder sifted us into the medical ward again. He said nothing as he placed me down on the sterile table. "Eliran, she needs you."

"Again?" Eliran said as his eyes scanned the damage, "Ristan did well sire," his eyes met mine and grew round in surprise to find them glowing.

I felt my life draining away. Everything inside of me just wanted it to stop. The pain. The death. I'd given too much, I just needed to sleep.

Thirty Seven