Seducing Destiny(81)

                “We can handle him,” I whispered as I helped Alden as he tried to get up and failed. Asrian was right behind him and scooped him up as if he weighed nothing.

                “Leave me here and go save the Demon,” he whispered brokenly.

                “Never,” I answered and looked up at Alden.

                We waited for them to sift out before I stood and looked at Ryder and his men. I knew that if Ristan had screamed, something had been horribly wrong. He was a born fighter, as were all of these men. They didn’t show weakness to an enemy, ever.

                “They’ve got God bolts. That’s the only way—” I announced, and then I felt power, immense power unchecked in shielding itself. I turned and watched as Danu shimmered in, and then the feel of power was gone.

                “It’s a trap,” she announced and I noticed she was dressed for war.

                “We kinda figured as much,” I said, and then tilted my head. Well, I had figured it was. Why else bring Alden upstairs where we would find him and keep him separated from Ristan?

                “No, Synthia, Bilé is here. Not even Ryder can stand against him. He’s helping the Mages, and he’s close. I can feel him.”

                “We’re not backing down, period. Ristan is alive, and down in the catacombs. I won’t believe otherwise unless I see his corpse,” I seethed. I was serious; I wasn’t leaving without him or his bloody heap of remains. I owed him that much.

                “I can’t challenge the Mages, but I can help with Bilé. He’s crossed the line, and he’ll pay for what he’s done. That I can do without repercussions,” she said, and I turned to find the entire Elite Guard staring at me like I was insane, except Ryder.

                “Mother, show yourself, at least enough that they can see you,” I groaned.

                “You think it wise?” she asked Ryder, instead of me.

                “Yes,” he said. “My brothers know her secret already. I trust them with my very life.”

                I heard them gasp, and knew the moment she revealed herself.

                “Shit,” Aodhan whispered and then kneeled at her feet, as did the rest of them.

                “Get up, fight now, worship later,” I said and turned back to Danu. “If Bilé is here, that changes everything. Zahruk fashioned some of the bolts that Joseph used on me into daggers, he showed them to me the other day. Will they work on him?” I asked, and then almost groaned as her eyes grew wide with pleasure.

                “Yes, they should. He created them to use on me. He and his men tested them on another God who had displeased him first. We can’t touch them though,” she admitted.

                “Actually, we can. The guard, grip and pommel of the daggers are bronze wrapped with leather. He’s pretty bad ass with knives and daggers, and I should know, he stabbed me once.” Zahruk rolled his eyes as he glamoured the sheathed daggers and gave them to us.

                “Then let’s go take their God, and see how tough they are without him fighting at their side,” Danu said with a little bit too much enthusiasm for my taste.





                                      Chapter Twenty-Three

                We were back in the main hall, deciding what would be the smartest route. Ryder had dispatched part of our group to search for the living and the dead in the upper and central areas, keeping the main body of Fae with us. I had showed them to one of the many hidden ways into the catacombs that lay just beneath us in the Guild’s lower levels. We couldn’t hear anything, and Danu couldn’t sense Ristan, or feel him either.