“You should leave Ristan alone,” Ryder said softly.
“The fae don’t love. They don’t understand the emotion or what it means to care for someone. If they do, it’s only an act to lure their victims in as a ploy. Which is exactly why I wouldn’t have married you,” I pointed out, watching his eyes narrow at my words. “You could never love me. You, of all the fae, aren’t capable of loving anything because you’re the evilest of them all, Horde King.”
Silence met my declaration, and all eyes moved from me to Ryder. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and tapped his index finger a few times on the table, seeming deep in thought. “I believed that too, until someone worth loving knocked me on my ass and altered my way of thinking. She changed everything.”
“Sounds like she wasn’t all that successful if you’re still trying to eat me for dinner, Fairy,” I shrugged, eyeing the pie. I mean, I was already wearing my dinner. What would one piece of pie hurt?
“Hungry? You were starving earlier,” Ryder asked, a brow lifted in question.
“Actually, I lost my appetite.” Guess I wouldn’t be eating the pie, either. Asshole.
“Good, let’s go to bed.”
I almost swallowed my tongue trying to think of something that would stall being alone with him, but Alden stood as well, yawning, and nodded while admitting exhaustion. Adam rose as well, leaving me with Ryder and the other fae. Everyone in the room watched me until Ryder cleared his throat, and then they all vanished at once, leaving us alone.
Ryder stood, moving around the table to where I was standing, his hand extended, and he smiled as heat ignited in his golden eyes. “Come with me, Pet.”
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I know, but I promise not to bite, or make you dance for me.”
“People do that for you?” I asked, and when he grinned, I elaborated on what I’d meant. “Dance, I mean.”
“One girl did, and I lost myself with her in that moment.”
“Like forgot where you were?”
“No. I knew where I was and who I was, but the way she moved, and the taste of her lips, it made me feel drunk from the fire she created within me.”
“I have this bad feeling that you’re talking about me. I think I should get a restraining order or something.”
“Give me your hand.”
“I can’t sift, and you can’t sift me. You’ll make me heave my guts up or worse. I heard that one time this girl was grabbed by a fae, and he tried to sift her, but only part of her actually left. Boom, she was dead instantly.”
“We’ll walk then,” he shrugged. “Hand, now, woman.”
I lifted my hand to give it to him, but the air grew thicker, and then he moved. Instead of where he’d stood, feet from me, offering his hand, Ryder was pressed against my body, and his lips touched my forehead. It felt strangely familiar and comforting. My eyes lifted to his, and he watched me, touching me with the softest fingers as they skimmed over my arms.
“You have food all over you.”
“But none went through my lips or was consumed.” I smiled victoriously.
“You realize that eating food from here is safe since you’re the queen?”
“I don’t want to be a queen. I want to live a boring life in the boring guild and kill things.”
He held out his hand, and his lips twitched. “Of all the things I expected to be doing, wooing a fucking seventeen-year-old version of you wasn’t one of them, Synthia. I have to admit, though, you’re entertaining and utterly delicious in your innocence. I personally love it when you say balls. It makes mine tighten with anticipation.”
“Ew, you’re a pervert. You realize that, right?” I placed my hand into his, then instantly, everything changed, and we were standing in a large, beautifully decorated bedroom. “Oh, my sweet Jesus! You sifted me. You could have killed me!”
“You lived.”
“But I could have died!”
“You didn’t.” He watched me briefly before his eyes turned toward the bed. “There’s a shower in the bathroom. Use it or the bath, which you normally prefer. All of your things are in your closet. You should be set. Come to bed when you are finished.”
Chapter Four
I stared at my reflection, noting some subtle changes to my face. I wasn’t sure what was different, or when I changed, but I didn’t look like me. I looked older and exhausted. I still had my tattoos. The stars were on my shoulders, and the words written across the insides of my forearms were also there, but I was off. The closer I got to the mirror, the more it became clear that something was really wrong with the image.
Thoughts played out in my mind. Things like, had I been captured and turned FIZ for an extended period of time? It was plausible. Considering what the guild now knew about fae abilities, I could see something like that happening.
On the other hand, my breasts were off the hook and much larger than they had been. I kept grabbing them and testing their weight, wondering if they would stay like this once I escaped this hellish place. My stomach was flat, and I had muscles that were sleek, defined, and my ass still held the bubble shape that Adrian loved to grab.
Adrian…He was a hopeless cause. He’d been turned into an undead, and I couldn’t leave him here like that. He wouldn’t want to be left to feed on humans like some fucking fairy bloodsucker. My chest ached with the realization, but something tingled in the back of my mind the more I tried to figure out how to free him, and the more I poked at it, the more it hurt.
Adam was more than likely in some state of denial, and lord knew what else. He wasn’t FIZ. He would have been mindless, unable to speak or function. It terrified me that they may have been turned into fae-induced zombies. When my mother had turned FIZ, she became a killer and tried to murder me. It wasn’t unheard of to only be able to speak a few simple words when turned. I knew because of my mother.
The worst part of the entire ordeal had been the photos they’d shown me. There was no way the girl in those pictures could be Lari. I would know if my best friend were dead. I would feel it in my heart…unless the fae took that memory from me to make sure I was more compliant. But that didn’t explain why Adam had looked so sad. I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to get through this night with the Horde King and find a way to escape.