Taunting Destiny(145)

My sister watched with her own tears streaking down her face while my brothers looked on uncomfortably as any male would with a crying female on hand. When Madisyn pulled away, she smiled. “Thank you. I’d thought to never hold you against me again.”

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Tears were choking down any words that tried to come up as my throat grew tight with emotion. She smiled and brought her hand up to touch my cheek. “If you need to cry, daughter, I will hold you.”

“Crying will change nothing. In the end, they can only be used against you. You’d do well to remember it tomorrow, for if he sees a kink in our armor, he will use it.”

“You sure she doesn’t have balls?” Liam said, stepping closer to me.

“Liam!” My mother cried.

“Oh, I got big balls. I beat every male in my class just to prove how big they were,” I said, smirking at him.

“We need sleep, and to prepare our defenses for when the Horde King comes tomorrow,” my father said with pride shining in his eyes.





Chapter Forty Two





I was dreaming. I knew it, because I felt weightless and the day’s events no longer seemed as overwhelming as they really were. I was dressed in a soft, pastel-pink baby doll nightgown that showed way too much to be considered appropriate. I closed my eyes and inhaled the intoxicating scent of Ryder. I made a sound that was half need, half hunger deep in my throat, before I turned from the bed to look at the door.

He stood there in a midnight colored cloak. His face was hidden by the shadows, until he pushed the hood off, and revealed his face. “It’s about time, Pet. I was beginning to think you’d never sleep.”

“I knew you would come for me,” I said, slipping off of the bed and standing up. I was ready to go, but then the weightless feeling came back. “You’re not here; this is a dream,” I whispered and lifted my eyes to his as my smile fell.

“I need to know where you are and how badly you are hurt,” he said, stepping closer to me.

“I’m with my parents, and I wasn’t hurt too bad. It was easily healed.”

“Funny girl,” he retorted, “Tell me where you are being held, Synthia.”

“I’m with the Blood King and Queen,” I said and smiled as his eyes widened with shock as my words sank in.

“Why are you with the Blood King?” he asked carefully, placing his hands on my shoulders and pulling me close against his body.

“Because, he is my father,” I whispered as I pressed myself against him, and lifted my arms around his neck.

“Synthia, this is serious,” he growled throatily as he lowered his mouth to the tender flesh behind my ear and nuzzled it with his nose softly. It sent heat pulsing to one particular spot between my thighs. “I need you to tell me why you think they are your parents, when you wouldn’t believe the Light Fae were.”

“Ryder, they knew about the tattoo that suppressed my powers, as well with the wards on the walls of my house. They did it to hide me, so you were right, they didn’t abandon me. They did it to protect me, and when I met my father something inside of me clicked into place. As if the final pieces to my life were meeting and connecting. I felt him inside of me. They said they took me to the Harvest Festival, and they also told me that they buried a child in a tomb that was marked for me. They did it all because they agreed to some sort of contract with the Horde and my father to get my brother back and stop the fighting between the Horde and the Blood Fae. Now that I’m back, they said they have to give me over to him, or this stupid war they have going will never end with him.”

He pulled back from me and shook his head in wonder. “That means you really aren’t the Light Heir. Shit.”

“Does this mean I don’t have to marry Adam now?”

He hesitated, but when I tried to pull away from him as the pain lashed through me with his unspoken words, he pulled me back. “No, you don’t have to marry Adam. The contract is void if you are not the Light Heir. This puts a new spin on things, though, and we still need to get you out of the Blood Court.”

“Well, then there’s also the part where I’m to be given to the Horde King tomorrow.” I mumbled it, because saying it out loud just tasted dirty.

“They are planning on giving you to the Horde? Are you sure?” he asked as everything in his face, emotion wise, shut down.

“That’s their plan, and, of course, I’m once again unable to sift because of a stupid necklace,” I showed him the torque that Liam had magically wielded around my neck.

“At least, for now you are safe, and I know they won’t harm you,” he said hesitantly as he walked me with his body backward, his hard muscles pressed against mine until my legs folded as they connected with the bed.