Seducing Destiny(13)

                The doll that had been discarded on the bed chose that moment to squawk. Adam’s eyes flew to it as if it was an unknown threat. Oh yeah; he was going to take being an uncle just great! I looked to Ristan, and smiled as he winked at me. As I watched him, his face fell as if he heard something we couldn’t.

                “Flower, have Adam escort you to the hall. I need to go help Alden, he’s in trouble,” Ristan as he sifted without waiting for an answer.

                “Demon,” I growled, feeling as if the rug had been pulled from beneath my feet. “You can’t just say something like that and sift out!”

                “Alden is smart, Syn. If he has the Demon on his side, he’ll be fine,” Adam supplied as he offered me his hand and then tucked mine into his elbow. Together we made our way through the halls discussing his new role, and mine as well.

                Darynda was silently brooding behind us, but had refused to speak of why she was brooding. I knew it had to do with something that had gone down between her and Zahruk, but I also knew she’d tell me when she was ready to. I wasn’t the prying type, and being a friend meant waiting until she was ready to talk about it.

                “So, has he said the big L word to you, yet?” Adam continued talking, unaware of the woman moping right behind us.

                “Labor?” I asked with a serious face even though it was hard to keep it straight.

                “Smart ass, you know that’s not the word.”

                “Nope, but he’s Fae and stubborn as fuck,” I whispered with a soft frown on my lips. “I hope it’s not serious with Alden. He should have come here with us, where it’s safe.”

                “It’s Alden; did you actually expect him to come here after he’d been sending kids to their death unknowingly?”

                “It wasn’t his fault, he’s been sending us out on missions forever, and it wasn’t like he knew the last few assignments had been like sending sheep to the slaughter. He couldn’t have known that many of those times he was following orders from Mages. He has nothing to prove to us. We know it was the Mages, and so does everyone who matters,” I argued.

                “Synthia, had it been you who’d sent those Witches off to the slaughter, you’d hunt everyone responsible down, and you wouldn’t show them a single grain of mercy. I’d be the crazy best friend right beside you, holding them down.”

                “I get that, but it’s…it’s just not realistic. He can’t do it alone, and I can’t go to him and help him!”

                “And that’s the real problem isn’t? You can’t protect him and it’s driving you insane knowing he’s out there alone.”

                “Yes!”

                “But he isn’t alone. He’s been working with Ryder’s guards by his side, and he has Adrian as well. He’s not out there alone. Not even when he’s inside the Guild; he has your Demon then, and he’s got a connection to the Demon which tells him when he’s in danger.”

                I rolled my eyes, because I knew he was trying to stop me from worrying, but I was done losing people I loved. “I—” I paused as I entered the empty throne room. “What the hell?”

                I looked around, and it wasn’t until I turned back the way we had come in that I saw what was out of place. “Ryder, I need you.”

                I sent out the distress call immediately at the sight of Adam lying in the corridor, bleeding on the floor, with Darynda lying next to him. The entire room had looked normal, right up until I’d stepped through the entryway to the chamber. It was then that I noticed the crystals that formed a ring on the floor around me and locked me into a small area. The crystals that locked me in must have been what knocked Adam and Darynda back. From where I stood, I couldn’t tell if they were badly hurt or just had been rendered unconscious from the power of the crystals and the spell.