I hated that time moved differently here. Days had passed, and I hadn’t seen Ristan in that time, but then he’d been gone a lot trying to protect Alden from the Mages, and discovered trying to find more clues that would lead to relics. They’d been tortured for days, and we hadn’t even known.
“The Guild is going to want answers,” I continued.
“I bet, but I’m not sure which ones are under Mage influence anymore. I’ve been running ours under the assumption that they all are.”
“Then that’s how we will play it as well,” I said as I lifted my head as the Demon growled, and then screamed as Eliran reset bones that were healing incorrectly.
“They got him good, kid. They worked him over hoping he’d reach out to his King and brothers. That monster they work for knew things about him, and how he worked. They used it, and I watched as he did things I can never un-see again. He’s a better man than I, because not once did he cave. Not even when they used me against him. That’s why you found me on the upper level. They wanted the Demon to think I was dead and that it was his fault so they moved me figuring it wouldn’t take much more time before I died anyway.”
I swallowed the bile as I considered just how much had been done to poor Ristan. He hadn’t deserved it, and he’d done it to protect us. He’d been tortured brutally, and over a period of time which we’d been spending with our children, unaware that anything was amiss. We’d let him down, and that was my fault. He’d never let me down, and even when the others had suspected my Guild for bombing Ryder’s club, Ristan had believed in me.
“He’s immortal,” I whispered breathlessly. I was thankful for that more than anything else right now
“It’s a good thing too, kid. They took his body apart. That monster, he enjoyed it. Kept saying things about Danu, and Ristan refused to give an inch, which only made it worse,” he whispered and I turned to find Ryder watching me.
“Ristan’s been given a sedative,” he said quietly when I continued to watch him.
“Alden needs rest, and we will take him to the Seattle Guild when he’s better, and not before,” I warned as I leveled a don’t-argue-with-me look at Alden. “You can’t just run in and explain that a God who wanders between our worlds is assisting evil Mages who are using the Guild as cover, because chances are you’ll be telling evil Mages that you know they exist and what their own evil plan is. For now you stay here. Last time you refused to listen to reason and at that time I understood those reasons. That reason is now gone, and you’re my family, Alden. I protect my family, even when they are stubborn as you. Ryder, make it known that if anyone is approached and asked for a ride out of Faery, that the gates are closed and whoever tries to assist him will suffer for it.”
“Now see here, Synthia—” Alden hissed.
“No! I won’t see anything, Alden. That Demon almost died because you were too fucking stubborn. I understand you wanted to protect our Guild, but it’s gone. There’s nothing left of it because I burned it to the ground. All of our secrets are protected, all of our agents have fled, or died. You’re safe here, and it’s now you who needs to be protected. Don’t argue with me; you won’t win this one, Uncle, that much I can promise you. Right now I need to focus on unfreezing the Tree of Life, so that my children live. That needs to be my priority.”
“Synthia, I understand that, but you forget. I don’t belong in this world.”
“You do. You belong with me, Alden. You’ve done your job, now let us do ours. Let us save those who need it from the Mages, and maybe, when enough time has passed and this war over, we can start a new Guild, one that’s run by us and the Fae. One that will protect the Humans. Time moves slower here, but I promise we will help you,” I said softly.