Escaping Destiny (36 page)

“It is also what makes him the strongest
creature in Faery. Unfortunately, the beast can be unstable because
of it. This is not how I intended for it to be. I love the Horde.
All of the creatures of the Horde are…different and diverse. Some
are truly hideous and dangerous, others are beautiful, and you
underestimate the danger inherent with these creatures. I intended
for the Horde King to be their champion and also to keep them
within the boundaries of the Horde Kingdom. I also created many
others of the Fae, and they were always special to me, but nothing
like the Horde. Bilé fouled it all up.”

“Bilé?”

“He has many names that he is known by. Right
now, most of the ones I use for him are bad. He was my husband,”
she said with a small pout on her lips. “Consort, whatever…let’s
just say things didn’t go so well and during one of our spats, he
decided to curse the spirit of the beast of the Horde King. He did
this because he knew he was my favored creation in this world.
Considering I choose who receives the beast, it was one of the many
ways he had tried to screw with me.”

“So you’re talking about God wars here?” I
asked as a small shiver ran down my spine. Gods, when they got
pissy, destroyed shit. They corrupted minds, and could easily
destroy worlds.

“You have the idea. The curse was that the
Horde King would need a match to balance him or he would become
insane. Considering the strength of the spirit, there wasn’t any
one who could be considered a match for him, and that is why
Alazander became the tyrant that he did. Alazander was the
strongest of the Horde Fae at the time; the only one worthy of
being chosen. His beast could not find balance and Alazander wasn’t
strong enough, or steady of mind to control him. Bilé knows I can’t
undo the curse. He also knows I cannot directly interfere with my
creations.”

“So what does that have to do with me?”

“Bilé might have unbalanced my Horde King,
but I can influence, and I can create something new, so I made a
match for Ryder by making you, Synthia,” she said
conspiratorially.

“You said one of many ways he’s tried to
screw with you,” I replied, rubbing my temples from the
implications of everything she was saying.

“He and I have been at odds for a long time.
Everything that has been happening in Faery points to him. He is
the Hades to my Demeter, death to life. As I told you before, there
are something’s I can’t foresee, but I can see what will balance
and repair what he has done. Your children will be born with the
Four Royal Caste’s blood pulsing in their veins. They will help
stabilize this world until the others are put into play. By then,
you should have the relics needed to close this world off from the
Human world, Synthia. Which you will do. You will still be able to
travel between this world and theirs, but those not of pure blood
won’t be able to find a portal into this world. They won’t be able
to continue to poison it.”

“Wow,” I said from a lack of what to say to
all of that.

“I tell you that you are a Goddess and my
daughter, and all you can say is wow?” she asked with wide blue
eyes.

“It’s a lot to take in! I went from being
human, to being Fae, and now you tell me I am a Demi-goddess, so
you gotta give me a second here to absorb it all.”

“Being a Goddess isn’t everything it’s made
out to be. I can’t interfere with freewill. I also can’t do things
like make the Mages disappear. I could, but there are all sorts of
nasty repercussions for interfering that way. I could make things
much worse than they currently are, and I have faith in my
creations and know that in the end, they will prevail.”

“You can’t directly interfere, got it,” I
said, sitting up and throwing my legs over the side of the bed as I
glamoured on cotton bottoms, and a matching baby blue top. “It’s
best that he doesn’t know,” I breathed.

“He would give you everything you wanted if
he knew,” she said as she sifted to sit beside me. She lowered her
eyes to where my bump was obvious through the tight cotton. “He
would marry you without question.”

“Why should I tell him, and why should it
matter to him if I am a Demi-goddess? No thank you. If he marries
me, I want it to be because he wants it. Not because of what I am,”
I said quietly.

A lot had happened, but I’d felt the power of
what was inside of me. It was both exhilarating, and scary. But
with power, came a lot of problems. It was best no one knew just
how powerful I was right now.

“You are smart,” she said simply. “Smart and
beautiful, my daughter. I was afraid you might not wish to have
anything to do with me. I could respect it if you did not want me
around.”

“Hey, I’ve had three different mothers and a
mother in-law in less than two months. I thought Syrina was my
mother, and then Tatiana. Thankfully that one only lasted a minute
and half. Then I was given to Adam as the Light Heir, so I
inherited a mother in-law who had been planning to hate me. Then I
met Madisyn, and knew I had a connection with her. I’m glad to know
you are my mother, Danu, but I don’t plan on you being all maternal
on me. I also think it would crush the woman who thinks I am her
daughter. She has mourned for me for a very long time. With time,
maybe the secret can come out, but now isn’t the time.”

“You have an old soul for someone so young,
daughter. Most would be singing their Goddess parentage from the
rafters.”

“Most are power hungry saps who would abuse
it. I just want to save this world and make it someplace I want to
raise my babies in.”

“That will be a long journey, child; one that
won’t be only yours to take. It will take all of the Heirs to solve
the problems with Faery. The damage is deep, and many will die
before the cure is established. Ryder is fighting an enormous
battle. It’s one that needs time to heal, and all of the Castes to
come together and work for it. This world will not be healed when
the babes come. I will be here if I can, but I am needed elsewhere
as well.”

“Can you tell me…?” I couldn’t finish it; the
thought of even one of them not living sent emotions storming
through me.

“No; I wish I could. I can’t see those
connected to me as well as I’d like to. If they are meant to live,
Synthia, they will. It’s one of the downsides of being powerful.
Even I have rules that must be followed, and if I refuse to follow
those rules, I pay dearly for it.”

“So being a Goddess isn’t all its chalked up
to be?” I joked.

“Hardly, but there are some perks. Synthia,
Ristan will get a vision soon. Heed it. Prepare for it, and be
careful of what choices you make. Do nothing in haste, and do not
go after Faolán.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Another time…but I mean it, child. Do
nothing in anger or haste. Your beast comes.” She leaned over and
kissed my forehead. I felt her lips as she sifted out.
“Revenge
is not worth the lives you will change. Some things must be let go
to move on,”
floated through my mind as softly as a gentle
caress.

“Pet,” Ryder said, coming into the room with
a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. “I didn’t wish to wake you,
yet. I figured you’d be tired from last night.”

I extended my arms and accepted the steaming
cup with a smile. He was sniffing the room; I could see it in the
way his nostrils flared and his eyes scanned the room. He didn’t
ask if anyone had been here, but his eyes were burning with
curiosity.

“It smells like ambrosia in here,” he said as
he sat beside me.

“Mmm, did you bring some in after I fell
asleep?” I asked innocently. I was getting way better at playing
with words.

“Minx. The men want to know how you feel,” he
said as he reached over and set the cup of bliss I’d just sipped
from onto the small oak table beside the bed.

“Just the men?” I asked with a saucy smirk.
“I’m perfectly fine.” I smiled as he leaned over and kissed me
gently. “Now I am more than fine. Maybe breakfast is in order?” I
whispered as he laughed against my lips.

“Wanton little thing in the mornings,” he
growled hungrily.

“I had a great Transition teacher. He assured
me I would be ravenous for the first few months after it. Add
pregnancy to it, and man did he hit the target spot on,” I replied
as my hands slid over his wide back.

“Mmm, he must have been a smart creature,” he
assured me.

“Why do the men want to know if I’m okay?” I
asked, remembering he’d asked.

“They want to throw a party. The coronation
was…disturbed. My brothers want to use it as an excuse to get wild
and obnoxious.”

“Brothers…all of them are your brothers?” I
asked.

“Vlad is my uncle’s son; he is born from
Blood and Horde. My uncle took a fancy to her, but she was actually
married to a human at the time. It’s a long story. The others are
from different mothers. Only Dristan, I, and Ciara have the same
mother. Ciara was the last to be born, Dristan right before her. My
father visited the pavilion frequently, and fed from several women
a day.”

“That’s a lot of siblings,” I said.

“I’m Fae; we can have thousands. Alazander
was abusive to his concubines and wives. He didn’t care who birthed
his bastards either. There are many more that we may not even know
about out there.”

“Special,” I said as I felt sorrow for those
who had been under Alazander’s rule. “I understand the need to keep
the pavilion. I only ask that you don’t use it. I’m not into
sharing you, Fairy. If you want me to be faithful to you, then you
have to give me the same respect.”

He smiled and brought my forehead to his.
“Good God, woman; you drive me crazy.”

“I plan to drive you crazy for a long time to
come.”

“Good,” he said and placed his hand on my leg
and noticed I was clothed. “I am sorry the torque prevented you
from casting. It was necessary when you first arrived. There are
many with the Horde that are easily antagonized, and until you
learned our ways, I didn’t want you to use magic that might get you
into trouble. It is one of the reasons you have always had a guard
present.”

“I understand why you did it, but now if you
put it on me, you better make sure you put it on me because it’s
pretty and it carries your mark and not because you want to control
me, or I’ll remove it. It’s time for you to trust me, and trust my
choices. I was taught to make smart choices. The only one
questionable was signing your contract,” I whispered.

“I made sure you had no other choice,” he
rumbled as he leaned over and nuzzled my neck.

“I had choices; I just couldn’t think with
you around. Still can’t,” I said wickedly.

“If you keep smiling with that damn grin on
your lips, I’m going to fuck you.”

“That’s a bad thing, how?”

Several hours later, we bathed in the tub
together. He hadn’t promised marriage, but I had a plan to wear him
down and make him so in love with me that he couldn’t live without
me. Danu’s words played in my head as we headed to one of the
smaller meeting halls which the men had set up recently.

Being in the human world for as long as they
were, they had begun to appreciate the gathering and meeting places
that had been set up for them there, like
Sidhe Darklands
and
Nightshade
.

The room was decked out with nightclub
lights, and the men were gathered around a small bar where, of
course, Vlad stood behind it laughing at something Adam had said. I
smiled and took in those in the bar. They’d all become important to
me. I wasn’t sure when it had happened, but these men were my
family.

“Flower,” Ristan said as he sifted in beside
us.

“Demon,” I replied with a subtle nod of
acknowledgment.

“How are my nephews?” Savlian asked with
twinkling eyes and a wicked grin.

“Your nieces are growing,” I countered, “and
planning on how to drive you all insane for messing with their
mother. You have been warned,” I replied with a brilliant grin of
my own. I was going to curse them all, and give them girls that
would drive them insane while trying to keep up with them. My kids
would be awesome, and sassy.

“Twin girls,” Savlian said with a look that
teetered on panic.

“Yes, so that Uncle Savlian…and the rest of
you can chase them. Just think about it, when they start dating…” I
stopped abruptly. If I did have girls, they’d have all these men
guarding them, and dating was going to be crazy for them. Poor
darlings.

“Yes, you just think about that thought,”
Savlian said, victorious.

“Well, shit,” I said after a moment of
picturing it inside my head.
Poor girls!

“Vlad,” I nodded at him as we sat at the bar
and he poured me a glass of sparkling water.

“Hey you, long time no see,” he joked.

“Yeah, you gotta get out more,” I chimed
back. “They all make you serve drinks, makes a boy boring.”

“Boring is good,” he replied. “Besides, they
start manifesting their own drinks and it just gets weird. Not to
mention, I enjoy it. Good spot to see what’s going on around
you.”

I looked around the bar and noticed he was
right. He could see everyone, and watch everything going on without
anyone noticing that he was doing so. “Adrian?” I asked.

“Chasing Alden,” Vlad replied and hurriedly
supplied the answer to the question burning on my tongue. “Got word
he had info for us, and Adrian offered to go and get him. It’s too
dangerous for him to stay inside the Guild now. Ristan got in with
one of the librarians there. She seems to become tongue tied with
him around, and gives it up easily.”

“I hope you are talking info, and not
something else,” I said, placing my hand absently against my
abdomen.