I barely contained the hiss I felt when he picked it up and tossed it carelessly to the floor. I couldn’t tap the leyline, because there wasn’t one here. I pulled my magic to me and smiled as it slithered through my mind. I cracked my neck as the tanginess of electrical power filtered through me. It came without having to think about it; just the fact that I’d needed it had brought it to my palms. I pulled the energy to me and allowed it to light up my brands.
He turned those lifeless eyes toward me as I launched a powerful ball of blue-white energy right at him, but he was faster. The fireplace exploded as the ball of blue magic shattered the bricks and mortar. He moved out of the way in time to miss getting hit by the debris. He was up and moving toward me quickly, but I was prepared for it and fired another wave of magic at him. It connected, and sent him crashing against the wall. I sent one ball of energy after another at him.
He snarled and sent his own flying at me, but I easily dodged it and threw another back at him. Blood spattered the wall behind him, but he didn’t stop fighting. I felt my magic as it began to wane and at the same time, something inside of me was pushing to get free, as if something stronger was buried there. I showed no weakness, keeping the energy balls in both palms locked and ready as I allowed him to pull himself away from where I had pinned him against the wall.
“You shouldn’t have come here. Now I’m going to kill you, bastard.”
He smiled coldly, and looked me up and down slowly in a way that made my skin crawl. He wiped the blood from his lips and spat it onto the floor as his eyes continued to take me in. I wanted to throw up as I remembered him giving my mother the same look before he raped her. “So, finally we meet,” he growled and tilted his head to watch me as he pulled his own magic around him.
“You killed my parents. I want to know why,” I said, never removing my eyes from him or my magic from my hands as I stalked him, precisely and effortlessly.
“They were expendable,” he shrugged as if it didn’t matter what he’d done. “Although your mother was a sweet meal.” He smiled, but it was a diversion. I knew the moment he planned to attack, and I sifted, easily avoiding it, shocked that I had managed to do so. He smiled wider, revealing perfect white teeth with pointy baby fangs, just like mine. “You discovered what you are,” he said as he stepped closer.
“Why them?” It was the only thing I needed to know before I took him out.
“Because you—” His eyes looked over my shoulder, then he immediately sifted out mid-sentence.
I turned my head and locked eyes with Ryder and his men, who had sifted in behind me. I didn’t drop my magic. I didn’t know who to trust anymore. I stepped back and turned toward Ryder with my hands glowing from my magic, as I’d seen Ryder’s do before; bright, beautiful, and deadly magic. My magic.
“Syn, drop the magic,” Zahruk said as he stepped in front of Ryder slowly, protecting him from me as if he needed to be.
“I didn’t invite you in,” I snapped, angry that I’d been seconds away from discovering the one answer I’d needed since that grisly day so long ago; only to have it ripped away when they’d sifted in.
“I didn’t ask,” Ryder said, pushing Zahruk out of the way.
“You have no right to be here. Not after what you did,” I seethed, but dropped the magic since it was taking too much strength to keep it up. I wasn’t suicidal. Ryder was king of badass, and I was a daisy next to him.
“I do if you are in trouble, Synthia. You are still mine to protect.”
“I think you’ve done enough protecting me, Ryder. I seem to get hurt more around you than I do on my own. If I’m not mistaken, your second in command stabbed me. You stalked me, and killed my boyfriend, and then bit me…stop me if I’m off here.”
He just stood there, staring at me with no emotion on his beautiful face. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit him, but in the end I just wanted to hold him. And I think that part pissed me off the most. His eyes held caution, as if it was taking everything he had to stand still.
“You need new wards on the walls. Yours didn’t keep him out. He was the one who—the one who attacked your mother,” Ryder said quietly as his eyes turned gentle.
“Raped my mother; he turned her FIZ, which should be easy for you to say.” I watched his expression shift. He smiled coldly, and I felt my pulse quicken. I was such a fucking masochist.
“So he did. You tapped a leyline?” he asked, distant and cold. I wanted to scream at him. Why wasn’t he trying to pull me to him and check for wounds? Anything would be better than this cold asshole that was suddenly treating me like a fucking stranger.