Chapter Twenty-Two
I awoke to Ryder whispering in my ear, and opened my eyes to see everyone around us dismounting. I yawned and turned my face to his. “Are we there yet?” I asked, knowing we weren’t.
“No; we need to water the horses, and rest them for a little while. You slept for a couple of hours straight,” he informed me with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
“That’s what happens when you keep me up all night,” I shot back, barely concealing a smile and slight blush. He dismounted and held his arms out for me, so I slid from the horse and was instantly pressed between his body and that of his huge war horse.
“I enjoyed last night. Didn’t you?” he asked, and my heart melted right into my feet. I had. I’d enjoyed being with him and his beast. It had felt right, as if this was where I was supposed to be, and I was his. Right about the time I was going to reply, Claire came strolling up to where we stood.
“Darynda is looking for you, Synthia,” she said sweetly, as she batted her almond shaped eyes at Ryder. “Is there anything you desire from me, Sire?”
“Not at the moment, Claire,” Ryder replied, and I felt my claws extend. I pulled away from Ryder and took off without asking where Darynda was, only when a hand landed on my arm, did I notice that I’d started walking without asking where she was.
“Princess,” Silas said, as he stopped me from entering the wooded area. “It’s not safe to wander around unprotected.”
“Who says I’m unprotected?” I asked, lifting a brow at him. I may have wandered off, but I was never unprotected.
“I wouldn’t wander too far, Princess, you might get eaten by the big bad wolf,” he continued.
“Is that so? I have an army behind me, and I assure you that I am never defenseless,” I dropped my voice a few octaves to make sure he understood what I was saying.
“You’re pregnant,” he replied, as if that alone meant I was a defenseless female.
“I am, but I’m also a trained assassin of the Guild. I enforced the laws inside the human world, and I was damn good at it. I may be pregnant, but I can still kick ass.”
He smiled, his eyes lighting up with something akin to pride. “You will be a worthy queen to our king.” He bowed his head, causing his shoulder length blonde hair to brush against his shoulders. “I’ll escort you back all the same. I’d feel much better knowing you were safe within camp.”
I didn’t argue with him, since I hadn’t meant to come in this direction, anyway. I didn’t stand around to see if he followed, as I headed back in the direction I had come from. I made it five feet before I was surrounded by Ryder’s posse, and Ryder himself. He and the Shifter stared at one another for a moment with tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.
“Don’t get all pissy with him, Ryder. He only told me to turn my ass around and come back to where it was safe.” I wasn’t sure why I stuck up for the guy, other than, I knew he hadn’t done anything wrong and didn’t deserve to be throttled by the crew currently standing around us with their hands on their weapons.
“Silas?” Ryder growled his name, as though it was a vile thing on his tongue.
“I caught the scent of the Mage, who has been trailing us for the last mile. I didn’t think it wise that she go toward it in her current condition,” he explained.
“Z, Sinjinn, Aodhan, go scout. Synthia, come to me, now.”
“You guys do know that pregnancy isn’t a condition, right?” I mumbled, even though I had stopped worrying about it. I was more worried that Mages were on our trail. The fact that they were in Faery meant they had followed us, but why? I knew they wanted to ruin Faery, but this shit was getting personal really quick.
“Why the hell did you wander off?” Ryder demanded as soon as the men all hurried off in different directions. “I told you to stay close!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I figured you would want me to make myself scarce so you could service Claire!” I’d spun around on him with my hands fisted at my sides. Great way to hide the fact that I was jealous of that tramp! Ninny!
“You sound jealous,” he purred.
“Suck it, Fairy!”
“I don’t plan to suck anything. I plan to lick it until it flows down my face. Now answer the question; are you jealous?” he continued.
I wanted to scream no, but being that I was now Fae, I couldn’t lie. This sucked! I narrowed my eyes while watching his smile break across his lips. “And if I was?”
“Are you?”
“If I was?”
“Are you?”