Seven.
We finally pulled off the highway a little over thirty minutes later. The road wasn"t well traveled, but it was paved. More trees separated us from the world. Good. I needed them right now. My oxygen level hadn"t gone back to normal since his mouth was on mine. My legs still trembled with need. I hated it. Hate him. Hate this day.
Wished it was over.
I could tell it was far from it.
"Why am I here again?" I asked testing my weight on my legs and smiling when they proved to work once more.
"To sign a contract," he replied with disinterest, mocking me, "If you embarra.s.s me inside, you will regret it. Try to act...like a lady."
My jaw dropped. I was a lady! "I can act like a lady."
His eyes mocked me as if he was saying prove it. He stopped me briefly and with a flick of his hand righted my appearance to the way it was before our little roadside stand-off.
I had no sooner grasped what he had done before he was moving again without a single word. I hurried to catch up with him but by the time I reached him, the doors to the club were opened by two giant Fae. Both dressed in dark s.h.i.+rts and low hung jeans, both brunettes with shoulder length hair and dark green eyes. Twins?
"Ryder, good to see you brother," The one on the left said, followed by a nod from the one on the right.
"Savlian, Sevrin are they here yet?" Ryder asked already walking away without waiting for an answer from the twins.
I tried to follow him, but was body checked by both men. Today was not my day. I was going to need a donut pillow by the time I got home for my behind! I came back up onto my feet like a firecracker. "I"m with him!" I growled fiercely.
"New pet Ryder?" The one called Sevrin asked over his shoulder to where Ryder had turned to watch us. The guy"s green eyes looking me over, making me sweat from the intensity inside them.
I looked to where Ryder stood, his eyes raking over me as well with his c.o.c.ky grin locked into place. "She is, let her through."
"Anything else?" The tall Fae asked, his eyes telling me he enjoyed this job entirely too much.
"a.s.semble the team. We"ll be in the third room, the warded one," Ryder said sweeping his hand in the direction of a staircase.
The club was huge inside and unlike the non-descriptive wood of the outside, the inside was lavishly decorated. Beams stood out prominently from the ceiling every few feet, going from one side of the room to the other. The high ceilings had chandeliers made with spiky coral hung from each beam. The tables had similar ones, much smaller that hung from chains from the same beams lighting up the tables and others dimly illuminated a more private setting in the back.
Celtic designs were highlighted on the walls, light s.h.i.+ning through them from behind the frosted gla.s.s paneling. Brighter blue lights lit up the bar area from more frosted gla.s.s. The stage was set up for a performance, guitars and other instruments laid out as if the band had just stepped out for a smoke.
The stairway he was walking to lit up before his foot could even touch the first step, as if it was aware he was on it before he actually was. I watched each step he climbed, change to a different color before I attempted to step on it myself. My eyes bulged as I stepped on it and a siren went off across the room.
My eyes went up to meet Ryder"s golden stare. He turned and kept walking as if nothing had happened, so I continued to follow him watching each step he took, change from the beautiful rainbow colors to crimson red as I stepped onto them. It was an alarm system, as if the stairs could tell the difference between my steps and Ryder"s.
When we reached the top, a long winding hallway stretched out before us. Ryder"s long strides were difficult to keep up with but I managed-just barely. While I wasn"t short, I was compared to his long legs. I had to jog to catch up, just to fall behind as soon as I did.
"Why are we really here?" I asked looking behind me as I felt something slither over my skin. I shook my head and brought my eyes forward just in time to collide against Ryder"s chest. I jumped back as if he was on fire.
"Consider it another part of your interview."
I rolled my eyes and rubbed my arm where I had felt something touch my skin. There was nothing there, but the feeling had yet to leave my skin. I stood s.h.i.+fting from foot to foot wondering what he would make me do now. I didn"t have long to wait before ten well-built Fae dressed in dark colored clothing walked up behind us blocking my exit.
I stepped back away from them. The odds of fighting them all were slim if they decided they wanted a fight. Hot breath touched the side of my neck and I instantly realized I"d stepped towards Ryder for protection. He"d probably help them beat the s.h.i.+t out of me.
"Behave, or I will make you," Ryder growled low and huskily into my ear, quiet enough that those striding towards us wouldn"t be able to hear him.
I watched the men get closer, their features hidden in the shadows by the hallways dim lighting. As they all got closer to where I stood, motionless on high alert, my hands itched for weapons I"d left at home. I hated that I was defenseless except for my spells.
They nodded dark heads in Ryder"s direction before he opened the door beside us and walked through, the others waiting for me to follow his lead. I did, but the moment I pa.s.sed over the threshold I felt it again, the slithering. And then a violent pain rocked me and nausea fought to get out from my throat.
"What the f.u.c.k!" I shouted even as I tried to keep the bile at bay.
"It is magic proof," someone behind me said, pus.h.i.+ng past me into the room. "Well at least from your kind of magic," he snorted.
I held my hand out in front of me. The scars normally hidden by the faint glamour I usually generated to hide them, now showed vividly. Whatever they had inside this room stripped all magic from me, all glamour. I was officially one hundred percent f.u.c.ked. They watched me, seeing me.
A Witch was normally covered in spells. Most ran out of room and would be forced to use their faces or necks to complete their spells. Most were ruined of flesh by the time they had hit my age. I had one spell, to bar Fae from using me for s.e.x and that had been done at the base of my neck. Two stars sat on my shoulders, marking the two deaths that had touched my soul. And another on my hip to always remember what had happened. The rest were not visible unless I chose them to be, or unless I stepped under a black light.
"f.u.c.k me, she isn"t all fuglied out." The Fae who Ryder had referred to as Savlian said as he came around with his eyes narrowed slightly as he took in my features more carefully.
I glared at him, and then closed my eyes briefly as I felt nausea rolling deep inside of me, removing power that quickly was dangerous and it was taking everything I had to stay upright on my feet. Ryder was watching me, intently. It took a very powerful Witch not to succ.u.mb to the loss of their powers. Most would be flopping on the floor at his feet like a fish out of water.
I flicked my gaze to the walls, white walls to the naked eye. Sanction spells were written upon them, rendering anyone not of the Fae defenseless inside the room. "Cool trick," I growled righting myself and squaring my shoulders firmly.
"You have no visible ink, explain." Ryder said in disdain.
I smiled coldly, unwilling to share my secrets with him.
"Want another example of why you don"t want to f.u.c.k with me?"
"I don"t need ink," I whispered narrowing my eyes at Ryder.
"Explain."
"I can"t explain it, not here."
"Try," he barked angrily.
"I can"t! Not without having a f.u.c.king target, so unless you want give me one...?" I let the question trail off leaving it for him to figure out. I was bluffing, of course, if I stepped out of the room I could call up the power to light up my spells, but he wasn"t on my need to know list as far as I was concerned.
"Sinjinn, bring me the contract. Zahruk, get to it."
I wanted to leave like this instant. The slithering feeling had yet to go away, as if something was literally crawling over my skin. I hated being unarmed, felt weak and the worst part was they knew I was. I knew how to fight better than most, but the odds were seriously not in my favor.
"On your knees," the one called Zahruk growled with a thick accent I tried to place.
"On my knees?" I exhaled slowly. I was in severe need of a stiff drink.
"Zahruk, give her some options first," Ryder said moving to lean his shoulder against a barren wall. There was nothing else I could immediately see inside this room other than white walls and marble flooring, also white. It looked sterile and that just made me want to run away.
"Choices are overrated, she won"t tell us anyways," the one called Zahruk said. He was dressed in a white a.s.sa.s.sins Creed looking robe, his face was hidden before he turned and looked directly at me. "Tell us why you hate the Fae. Marie couldn"t explain it since it was not her story to tell us." I watched him push his hood back revealing yet another Fae, beautiful and yet deadly. His eyes lit up in an electric blue color, which only made him more beautiful with his dark, shoulder length, wavy blonde hair and perfect bronze skin.
"f.u.c.k. You." I snarled tearing my eyes from him and leveling Ryder with a murderous glare. They had no f.u.c.king right! "You want me to work for you? Fine, but that doesn"t give you the right to ask stupid questions!"
"Told you, she"s got stubborn written on her forehead Ryder," Zahruk laughed harshly.
My knees were kicked out from behind me violently. The same as had been done the day before inside his safe. I kept my eyes leveled on the Dark Prince. "I came with your f.u.c.king mark on me, because you said it would protect me!"
I flinched as a knife blade was brought to my throat as my hair was grabbed hard from behind, "You will address him with respect b.i.t.c.h," the words were cold, calculated and filled with promise of death dripping from each syllable.
"I said no other Fae could touch you without my permission Synthia. Do it Zahruk, no more f.u.c.king around, if she won"t tell us-we will take it." Ryder"s voice trailed off sending s.h.i.+vers racing down my spine. The knife was removed from my throat and the slithering on my skin intensified.
The room"s air grew thick and tainted, dark magic running through my skin and searching inside my mind. My lips quivered and my hands shook where they were still balled up at my sides. "Ryder, don"t...please." It took every ounce of pride inside of me to say it. I could feel something searching my memories.
Too little.
Too late.
I was no longer in the room with the Fae.
I was in a worse place than the Fae club now, one I hadn"t been to since that ill-fated day. Tears swam in my eyes, but I refused to allow them to fall. I knew what was coming, knew it like the back of my hand. Voices I"d thought to never hear again laughed in front of me echoing around the walls.
"Darling, she"s too young. She needs time," my mother"s gentle voice sang with laughter as her ocean blue eyes lit up with her smile.
"Nonsense, she"s old enough to dance with me Syrina," my father"s deep baritone came seconds before his features smoothed out enough that I could see him motioning for the child who looked on with uncertainty. My father"s dark brown hair framed his face perfectly, as his eyes smiled with their perfect navy blue depths.
"Daddy, play our song!" The soft voice sent chills down my spine. That child was weak, pathetic.
I hated her.
I wanted to bury her.
And I had.
Long ago.
Journey"s Faithfully came on, his hand never touching the stereo. Magic, he"d been the Head Master for the Spokane Coven. He"d been my hero and my teacher. I turn my head to the left and watch as the child decides if she should go, unsure of her place.
"Come darling," he said with so much love in his voice that a single tear drops from mine and the child"s eyes in sync.
My mother laughed and slowly walked over to the five year old I had been, her hand coming up to catch the tear and wipe it away with a smile. I was such a crybaby as a child, unsure of my place in the world, unsure of so many things that I shouldn"t have been.
The child moved closer, a small smile on her face. My father smiled warmly, welcoming her into his arms before allowing her to step upon his feet and dance with him. I watched them from where I sat on the thick blue carpet of my family home"s floor, my stomach flipping over with horror, regret and fear of what was to come.
I hated Ryder more for this, more than I did for his Fae f.u.c.king me on the highway.
My mother laughed, as she sat on the wooden chair she had always despised even though my father loved it. Her radiant smile is like a knife through my heart, I want to scream, to warn them but I know nothing I do now would change what is coming. I"ve relived this nightmare until I know every detail intimately.
The song ends and the child stays, she"s mesmerized by him-my father. He"s her everything. Always kissing sc.r.a.pes and scaring the fears away. He"d always been there, always. Until they took him from me.
I look towards the door, I know what is coming. It always does.
The door shook from the impact of a heavy fist pounding on it, they both go stiff. The wards in the house pulse and flared with angry red lettering, warning them of evil intent. They knew. Every time I see this, they knew what was coming, what was happening and every time they are still helpless with what is in store for them. I want to scream, I need to. I don"t. I settle for shaking my head, it too is useless.
"Synthia, come with Mommy. I need you to be big for me, can you do that?" Her voice was low, and trembled.
Every. f.u.c.king. Time.
I want it to end. I search wildly with my eyes for a way out. I hate this part. I don"t want to see it. "Stop this!" I cry to no avail.
"I can Mommy, I promise."
I want to slap the child, make her blind. Make her not see it and then maybe, just maybe I"d have lived a normal life. One not haunted by this dream.
My mother opened the hidden door behind the fire grate. She stopped long enough to kiss the child on her cheek. She wanted to say something, but the door was splintering and cras.h.i.+ng into the house as it was kicked in. "Go," she whispered pus.h.i.+ng the child through and closing it.
Five men swarmed the room, death in their eyes. Their strides. f.u.c.king Fae. All of them, Dark and Light. Working together. f.u.c.king Fae. One swung what looked like an oversized bat to my five year old mind, threatening my father. Now I knew it was called a cudgel, or a club.
"Where is the Gift?" The tallest one screamed, his voice shrill as it came out in layers.
"Gone," my father said standing up tall, undeterred by that wooden club, or the deadly creatures he was facing. Pride swelled inside of me, inside of the child me. He was so brave.
"I can smell the Gift, show us or the pretty blonde gets to entertain us until you do," the dark haired one growled his voice multilayered. His eyes were black and grey, marking him Fae, even at five, I could tell that they were evil.
I turn looking at where my child-self had been hidden, she should"ve turned away. She should have done something, fight, scream, give them something to use besides her parents. She but she just stood there behind the grate, watching with horrified terror. I glare at her, as if it would make her do something, this happened so long ago. Nothing changes, ever.
My mother screamed as they descended upon her, one held the ropes and attacked my father. I was their weakness, they knew it. They couldn"t fight, to use magic would have disrupted the house and to keep me safe they"d had it balanced far enough away from the leyline they needed to use for casting. In the end cost them their lives.
More screaming followed as my father was tied to the wooden chair and left helpless to do anything but watch as they tore into my mother. He tried fighting them to get to my mother. This was when it turned ugly. The sound of wood breaking bone is hard to forget, sickening, the crunch audible and unforgettable.
Blood was everywhere.
The sound he made when he tried to call for my mother took my breath away. I want this memory to stop. I don"t want to watch this. I sink the rest of the way to the floor. It"s too much.
Eight.
The child didn"t know what was going on, only that the bad creatures were hurting her parents. Not that four of the Fae were raping her mother, stealing her mind and killing her soul. She couldn"t know that the grunts and grinding were torture to make her father talk. That her mother"s cries were from pain and pleasure alike.
Her father"s outrage covered some of the screams, but not all. Shock kept her eyes locked on the horror that was befalling them. The club smas.h.i.+ng into her father over and over again, her mother screaming and moaning until it was nothing more than moans leaving her lips.
When the last one climbed off my mother I could finally see her beautiful face. She was beyond pain, her mind fractured. She begged for more, wanted more of what they had done to her. Bile rises in my throat, the child I was is just now figuring out what has happened.