Escaping Destiny (29 page)

“I had wondered why she was so willing to
become nothing more than food. She seems to have the rest of the
guys thinking she is the shit.”

“Well, she does have her uses.” He gave a
little snort. “She showed up shortly after the deal with her family
was made, as a gift from Cornelius. Claire said it was so that she
would be able to stay with her sister, and Alazander didn’t see any
reason to say no.” Ristan made a face. “I think that is a load of
crap, even though it is not a lie. Being a concubine to a monarch
is a very powerful place to be, even though you may not think so
now. Oftentimes a concubine can have more power, affection, and
attention than a wife can, and I am pretty sure Claire was trying
to get to the position of a second wife or a first concubine. The
one that you now occupy, even if it is unofficial,” he said against
my ear, as if he was trying to convince me I was important to
Ryder.

“So she wants to be the head whore; that’s
her deal?” I snapped. “That’s what Ryder wants me to be?”

“The Fae don’t have the same social morals
that humans do, so they do not view a concubine as a whore,” he
said patiently. “It is typically a place of honor, especially if
the monarch does not attend to any other females as often as he
does his favorite concubine.”

“It’s medieval and stupid,” I growled

“It is our way,” he said simply.

“I just don’t understand why he would think
it is ok to do this. I am a Princess. Doesn’t that count for
anything? You guys knew that I would eventually be the Heir because
of the prophecy. Doesn’t
that
count for anything?”

“Danu’s visions set events in motion. He
couldn’t offer for you in marriage because he was already promised,
so he had to offer for you as a concubine to fulfill what the
vision entailed. You have met her; you know she does not make these
things easy, which leads me to the next part—Ryder does not love
his bride, nor does he hold any affection for her, Flower. I
wouldn’t put too much stock in what he thinks of her. If she is
anything like Claire, she will go into the pavilion with the
others, and she will be granted rights to dally where she wishes.
He is obsessed with you; he might even me in love with you. Of
course, he is Fae so he doesn’t recognize it as such, but it is all
over him. We can all see it. He wants you and he will not let you
go. He can’t break this contract; we have been trying to find a
way. But I know something you don’t seem to have caught yet.”

“What; did your psycho Goddess give you
another vision?”

He gave me a huge knowing grin. “She dropped
a few clues in the maze. She called you the right choice for the
Queen of Faery and told you to find something worth fighting for
and your powers would come forth. Is he worth fighting for?” My
heart stopped as I shifted back and stared at his patterned eyes.
“You have to stop thinking like a Human, and start thinking like
the Fae, Flower. They always stack the cards in their favor.”

“And what if I want to play a different game?
Normally when the cards are stacked against you, it’s best to play
a different game,” I whispered.

“Could you walk away from him? You carry his
children, and I don’t foresee him allowing you to walk away.”

“I can’t just allow him to marry someone
else, and keep me as his toy. I’d be nothing more than his whore,
and I’m not stupid, Ristan. I know that a wife would be who he
shared his life with, and I would be his bedmate. I deserve better
than that, and even if it means walking away from him, I’d do it. I
can’t be the other woman, and I know what I want. I want him, and I
want to share his life; not just his bed.”

“Then fight for him,” he said.

“I can fight for love, Demon. I just won’t
compete for it. I shouldn’t have to.”

I was in that weird state between being awake
and asleep, when Ryder sifted back to the room. He was silent as he
sat on the bed across from me. He remained perfectly quiet until I
finally turned over and leveled him with a glare.

“We need to talk,” he stated the obvious.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Ryder. Unless
you went down there and figured out some miracle that ended with
you not being married, well then, we’d have a shit ton to talk
about,” I snapped angrily.

“Syn,” he warned.

“It fucking hurts! I can’t breathe, Ryder,
because of you! Before you I was fine. I was living. I could breath
and without you I can’t! When Adrian died it hurt like hell, but I
could breathe, damn it!”

He pulled me across the bed before I could
speak, and the tears that welled in my eyes ran freely down my
face. “Put me down!”

“No,” he whispered.

“Stop touching me! I can’t think with you
close. I wasn’t raised like this and you can’t expect me to just
jump in line and figure it out. I can’t. I can’t erase what I was
raised to believe in overnight.”

“I am not trying to force it, Syn. I’m trying
to figure a way out of this contract. It just takes time. Just give
it to me and I will figure it out.”

“Like the harem?” I barked, fed up with the
lines. I didn’t trust that he would find a way out and it hurt. It
really hurt.

“That’s not up for discussion,” he replied on
a sigh.

“Why? Why isn’t it up for discussion? It’s
off limit’s, that’s all you say. Explain it, and then maybe, just
maybe I can understand why it’s off limits.”

“Because…Fuck! They are not just Alazander’s
concubines! Synthia, think about it; what the fuck could make me
keep women my father had?” he snapped.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered, taking in
his defensive posture.

“My mother is in there, along with many
others my father hurt. I can’t just release them; it’s not that
simple. Some of those women have been crushed and are just starting
to come out of the shells my father beat them into. My mother is
lost. She is trapped in her own body and becomes hysterical when
she is around groups of people. He finally broke her the day I
killed him. Yes, some are mine, Synthia, but I don’t fuck them. I
only want one woman in my bed. You.”

“Why didn’t you just say that to begin with,
Ryder? I’m human, or I was raised as one anyway; I have helped save
women from Fae like your father, as a Witch. That? What you just
told me? I understand and can accept it. I don’t know why it’s so
hard for you to trust me, but if you could just give me the benefit
of the doubt and trust me, I might just surprise you,” I replied.
Ristan tried to tell me about the pavilion. Hearing it from Ryder’s
lips helped me to understand that the Demon wouldn’t lie for him
just to make me feel better.

He ran his hands through his thick midnight
hair and smiled. “You amaze me every day, Pet. I gave you to
another man, and you should hate me for that, but you don’t. You
haven’t even screamed at me for it yet. I went fucking crazy, Syn.
I held it together by a thin thread to maintain the peace, but on
the inside I was as crazy as the beast. So I get it. The thought of
you fucking Adam drove me insane. That he would touch you like I
had, or that he would kiss those sweet lips that I’d become
obsessed with. The only fucking thing that kept that thread from
breaking was knowledge that I was sacrificing my desires for Faery.
I thought I deserved it, for everything I had done. And even though
I was prepared to give you to him, I was plotting how to take you
back.”

“This is different, though, Ryder. There
isn’t a chance that it’s a mistaken identity. Your father made this
contract, and if it was written by him, I don’t see a chance of you
getting out of it.”

“That’s where you need to trust me. My father
always had a way out of everything. I just have to find it. I’m
only asking you to give me enough time to find it.”

“We both need time. You’ve put me through
hell, and no, you’re right. I haven’t freaked out, but then again,
I’m not that type of girl. I was taught to be a good man in a
storm. I don’t explode without thinking shit through. You need time
to get out of this mess, and I need time to think. You knew this
was coming, and yet you never told me anything. It’s a betrayal;
maybe not to you, but to me it is. You got me pregnant. It may have
been the beast that got the job accomplished, but it’s your
children growing inside of me. Now, I get this dropped in my lap
because you decided not to trust me, and that I see as a betrayal.
I haven’t asked for much from you. So give me time. I realize I
need to feed, but you also promised to show me other ways to feed
as well, and have yet to deliver on your words. Teach me so that I
can have the time to think without you mucking it all up.”

“Mucking it all up?” he asked pointedly.

“Yes, Ryder. When you’re this close, I can’t
think. You come in all tall, dark, and deadly and my lady parts go
all cuckoo for cocoa puffs and shit.”

“Is that so?” he asked silkily.

“Not even, Fairy.” I stood my ground,
watching him.

“Fine, but that time is going to be here. You
will be in danger if you leave this place without me. Here, I can
guard you and the babes. I have enemies everywhere, and you would
be their best tool to use against me while you are pregnant. I
can’t show too much emotional attachment in front of anyone in this
castle, outside of my elite guard. It’s dangerous, as I have
enemies here as well.”

“Then why fight so hard for it?” I asked.

“Because I need to fix what I helped my
father perpetuate. I need to save this world, and if it means
sacrificing my own needs, I wouldn’t hesitate, you already know
that. Destiny didn’t fight this hard to bring us together just to
tear us apart, Pet. She has a plan.”

“I’ve met Destiny. She’s a mind freak who
loves a game twister, seriously,” I mumbled.

“Ristan said she was interested in you. She
didn’t bring you here just to torment you. Danu has a plan, and
even though she can’t intervene directly. She will throw us some
sort of a lifeline. We just need to figure out what it is.”

He scooted off the bed, and held out his hand
for mine. “I want to take you somewhere. Think you have enough
energy to go, or shall I feed you first?” he smirked wickedly.

I took his hand and stood up, as he glamoured
a soft blue baby doll dress over my skin. It went to just above my
knees, and stopped with a soft length of lace. He pulled me to him
and I flinched as his hands came up, but then I realized he was
reaching for my hair.

“What are you doing?” I asked quietly.

“I’m putting your hair up.” He pulled it up
gently and placed a rubber band at the base of my neck
efficiently.

“I can do my own hair,” I said as he looked
at the ponytail that was situated too high on my head, like a late
80’s hair-do. All it was missing was a scrunchie.

He pulled me toward the door, and when he
opened it, I narrowed my eyes at the entire Elite Guard that stood
ready for war behind the door. “You did my hair to
off me
?”
I asked jokingly.

“No, it’s just a precautionary measure for
your safety. I figured it might be good for you to get out of the
castle for a short trip, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it
without measures for you and the babes safety.”

As I moved closer into the full Elite Guard’s
path, I caught sight of Adam. “Where are we going?” I asked,
wondering where in the world we were heading that he needed to take
such measures as to enlist the entire guard of thirteen men, plus
Adam.

“It’s a secret,” he whispered as he turned me
into his arms and smiled.

I hated surprises, but the thought of getting
out of this place was tempting. I melted against his body as he
wrapped his arms around me protectively. It felt nice to be secure
in his arms, cherished even. He sifted us out of Faery and to a
busy industrial area in California; if the palm trees and license
plates were anything to go off of.

It wasn’t home, but it was close. I looked
around the area and noticed a few things. One: it was a factory in
the industrial park and the smell coming from it was horrible. Two:
there was a woman waiting for our group at the front of the
business.

Great, he’d brought me back to my world just
to remind me how much it could stink here? I watched as the woman
approached us and noticed she had pointy ears. Her eyes were large
in her oval face, and sparkled like fresh dew in the morning after
a storm. Fae? I hadn’t seen any with ears like that yet.

“Elven,” Ryder said with a small smile that
twisted his lips up. “Arista, this is Synthia. She’s here for what
I ordered,” Ryder spoke to the woman softly.

Jealousy reared her ugly head, but it was
more to do with the way the woman laid her hand on Ryder’s chest,
and leaned in to kiss his lips. “Good to see you, my King,” she
said sweetly.

I lifted an irritated brow at Ryder. Great
surprise! He’d brought me here to watch another woman swoon at his
feet. This was just what I needed.

“If you will follow me, Princess,” she said
and smiled softly.

At the front doors of the cement building she
inserted her key card and pushed a few buttons into a code panel.
She fluffed her short blonde curls and opened the door, which the
men quickly took for her and held it open.

I shook my head because of the look she gave
them in thanks. It was more of a
see yourself to my bedroom
look. Inside, the smell grew worse, but the sign that hung over the
front desk made all of the stink in the world fade away. It read
simply OPI Headquarters.

I felt hot tears push behind my eyes.

Holy fairy farting buckets!

“This way please,” Arista said, and I
followed her silently.

Inside the hallway, we were guarded on both
sides by the men. The entire building was silent as we made our way
through it. I was trying to swallow past the thickness that was
clogging my throat. It wasn’t until she stopped at a door and
clicked numbers into another panel that the tears welled up,
dropped.