Taunting Destiny(18)

Ryder was behind me with a towel wrapped around his hips. I didn’t need to turn around to know it. I could smell his intoxicating masculine scent, and I wanted to turn around and take his stupid towel…just to touch him, to feel his skin against mine. Uhg! How was I supposed to think with that much sexual Fae standing practically naked behind me!?

“Need some help dressing, Syn?” he purred silkily.

“Not on your life, Fairy,” I quipped, and pulled on one of his t-shirts that flowed to my knees.

“In my shower and wearing my clothes, all in the same day?” He laughed and dropped his towel. I watched as he used his magic to glamour clothing on with nothing more than a thought. Go figure.

“Are you two done flirting yet? People are really dying,” Ristan said impatiently as he walked to the bedroom door.

“People are always dying when I'm around,” I mumbled, tearing my eyes from Ryder.

“Not like this. Never seen anything like what the healers are dealing with right now, Flower.”

I swallowed and felt the blood drain from my face. “Pieces?” I barely managed to get the words past the lump in my throat.

“No, but just as bad. I'll meet you two down there.” Ristan sifted out without waiting to see if we followed.

I turned and eyed Ryder's brands. Thick intricate Celtic brands that were black in color and beautiful against his dark skin were beginning to pulse with his immense power. “Before we go, please tell me why you were torturing those people?” Ryder was quiet for a few moments, as though he were mulling through options.

“I did not want to involve you in this. There is so much that you don’t know, that you are not ready for, and so much that we are still learning.” He shook his head and continued, “I didn’t kill anyone, Synthia. Not yet, anyways. Those men inside my house? They fucked with you. They not only gave Joseph the information needed to find you, they also told him what would probably break you. They signed Larissa’s death warrant. I don’t allow anyone to hurt someone under my protection. They got to you. I won’t let that go, and neither will Alden.”

I felt my heart rise to my throat. I closed my eyes and shook my head in denial. “Was it someone high in the Guild ranks?”

“From what we have been able to find out, more like a group of someone’s who didn’t like you or what you are becoming. We have been putting pieces together for a few days now, and we are still trying to confirm the information we are getting. Joseph didn’t torture it out of anyone, Syn…they willingly gave you up.”

I flinched and nodded, wanting to discuss anything but this. Someone had betrayed me, had betrayed the Guild. “We should get down there.”

“I told you that I would protect you. Even if you don’t need me to,” he whispered, moving closer and pulling me against him. “Some things are worth protecting.”

He reached his arms around me, and pulled me close, before he sifted us together, effortlessly, just like he did everything else. I still couldn’t believe I'd sifted to him. I moved away from him the moment we popped into the medical ward, and gasped. There were around thirty or more Fae in the room, and every one of them looked close to death.

“Oh…my God.” I uttered, alarmed and shocked by the sight that met my eyes. As fast as I could blink, most of Ryder’s men, healers, and several Fae I didn’t recognize, were sifting in to try and help.

“We're going to need God, Danu, and Hecate to fix this,” Ristan growled shaking his head as the woman he was helping quaked and cried out. “Ryder, they are dying. Eliran can't figure out what the hell is killing them.”

I kneeled down, even though I wanted to run from the stench of death in the room. I scanned the woman's skin and then focused on seeing past the normal human sight while tapping into my second sight. She was a sickly white color. “Where did you find her?”

“They were found dropped off in a field, like fucking trash. Asrian felt their pain and called me to him,” Ristan answered. “As best as I can tell, all the victims are from the compound that was attacked a few days ago. They used a mortar-like weapon full of powdered iron, so it became like an aerosol, and the Fae breathed it in. It made a lot of them sick, and quite a few were reported missing from the compound afterwards. Our healers cured the ones we found left behind, but these ones might be the missing Fae. It looks like they were caught and held for further torment by their attackers.”

“Here,” I said finding a discoloration on her skin. “Looks like silver was added maybe?”

“Silver my ass. That’s full iron. Someone is injecting fucking iron into Fae creatures,” Ryder said from beside me. I turned and met his gaze. “Someone is trying to figure out a natural way to kill us.”