“Alden, I’m always here if you need me,” I said numbly.
“I know, Synthia. I also know they had me train some of you to become Druids. I didn’t know it at the time, but if it comes down to a fight, you and what is left of your coven have all been trained for this. If it comes down to it, you could fight against the Guild.”
“How is that even possible? Wouldn’t we have known it?” Even as the words came out of my mouth, my jaw dropped to the floor as it dawned on me. “…Oh shit!” Ink.
“I trained you, Adam, and Adrian in the Dark Arts. I injected ink that made it stronger inside of you, intensified it. You three have the ability to prevent the Mages from harming more innocent people. You also know how the Guild works, and functions. I can’t allow them to hurt, or kill anyone; I won’t allow that to happen again.”
“So…I’m a Druid Fae?” I almost laughed, but the implications of it were just straight up messed up.
“Technically, your Fae DNA cancels it out. The ink only increases the magic you use. Sorry, but you’re still only Fae. I need to know something, since you can’t lie now. Did you ever think of me as a father?”
“In a way, yes, but I’ve always kept my father in my heart, and your sister, my mother. I love you, Alden, and you’ve made me into what I am today…minus the Fae part.”
I thought about things for a few moments, reeling over the information that Alden had dropped on me. If the Guild was being infiltrated by the Mages and they had ordered Alden to send me to the Dark Prince…
“Alden, given my past history with the Fae, do you think that the Guild was hoping I would snap on the assignment and assassinate Ryder?” I asked softly, afraid to hear him answer what my mind had already processed.
Alden nodded sadly, confirming my suspicions. So, his being there, close by that day, was to save me from myself if need be.
“Do you think the Guild killed Marie for being close with the Fae?”
Once again, Alden nodded. Yep, shit soup was being stirred and it was simmering now, and getting ready to be served with a side of crunchy crackers. Once the soup hit boil, this was going to get ugly.
He sat back down, and we talked for over an hour about what else was going on inside the Guild. He’d explained a lot that he wouldn’t have under normal circumstances. When he’d left, it was hard, because it felt as if we were saying goodbye for the last time.
Chapter Eighteen
It had only been about five minutes since Alden left, and I was still sitting at the table, unable to make my mind work past the idea of the Guild being the enemy. How could this even be possible? My Guild—which I’d loved, grown up inside, and given my faith to—was the enemy. They had thrown me out because I’d been Fae, and, even though I wasn’t a part of it anymore. I still felt the need to defend them. And I still had yet to get up from where Ryder had knocked me down with his word games and trickery. I must have had a sticker on my forehead that said, ‘Please dump info here’, because I was getting it by the truck-loads today.
I had been trained, unknowingly, by Alden to massacre Fae. I looked at the cell phone in front of me on the table. What the hell was I supposed to tell Ryder? Oh, hey, by the way…I am the enemy! Or I was. Oh, and by the way—the Guild was hoping you would trigger me to have a massive freak out, which would result in your untimely demise at my hands. Yeah, that would go over like a truckload of Goblins in a daycare center. I glared at the phone and played out the conversation in my head several times, and it never ended well.
I eventually picked up the phone, deciding I needed to get it over with, but a noise in the front room stopped me cold. I shook my head, and started towards the front room, wondering what Alden had forgotten and come back here for. That was when I saw him.
He was exactly as I’d remembered him. He was tall, reaching a little over six feet, with long muted blonde hair and dead black and gray eyes. He wore no human clothes, but there was nothing human about him to stave off the fear of what he was. He was cold, and everything I hated in the Fae. He was the entire reason I’d started hating them. I stepped back, realizing he hadn’t seen me yet. Fear stuck in my throat, making it impossible to speak or cry out. It was probably a good thing, considering this was the leader of the Fae who’d killed my parents.
He was dressed in a dark, blood red cloak, and a black tunic, and pants, but he’d already removed the hood of the cloak before I’d discovered him inside the house. He must not have gotten the memo that he’d blend in better wearing Dolce or Armani. I looked at the wards, realizing that they were not going off with his arrival. I stepped back so I could watch him for a moment more. He was looking for something. He growled gutturally and stepped closer to the picture of my family.