I wasn’t processing it, my mind was shutting down and exhaustion was settling over me from the day's events. I stayed long enough to ensure the child had been put under by Ryder and whatever it was he did that made it so you could nothing else but pass out cold.
I needed to figure out what he said and what language it was so I could use that instead of the sleeping pills I'd been taking since I was a child to escape the nightmares. I made it all the way to my room and had enough time to change out of the skin tight vinyl outfit and into some boy-cut undies before the door was opened and Ryder walked in with his usual confidence firmly in place.
"We need to talk Synthia," he said closing the door and settling into the single chair.
"I'm tired. Can we do it in the morning?" I asked, hoping he would say yes.
"What are you?" He came straight to the point, ignoring the fact that I was in my undies and topless with only my arms shielding him from my naked breasts.
"I'm tired and mentally fried Ryder. And at the moment I'm half-naked, so either turn around, or get out of the room so I can get dressed."
His self-absorbed smile spread over his mouth. "I own you and I don’t mind at all."
I ignored him, spinning around so he couldn’t see anything as I slipped into the tank top and turned back around. "You don’t actually own me Ryder, and the contract didn’t include late night visits to my room. I have no idea what she was talking about, or what they think I am. As far as I know I'm a Witch, I can't do anything that I haven't read or learned from the Guild, or a book."
And I had read a lot, I loved books.
"Indeed," he mused as I walked over to the bed and plopped myself down in front of him folding my legs Indian style facing him.
"What else do you want to know?" I was giving him honest answers. He looked young and yet he was ageless because he was Fae. I knew he was older than our records said, they had him being only a few years older than me, but his eyes told another story with their endless depths of knowledge. I was pretty sure he had to know more than I had learned in my entire twenty one years.
"How old are you?" He continued.
"Twenty one years old. Going on one hundred."
He smiled but it was all teeth, "Funny girl."
"The child said they were coming for you. Any ideas on who it is, or why?" He asked watching my face for a reaction.
"They've never tried before. I don't see why they would now."
"Fair enough, I need to examine the brand on your neck Syn. May I?" He asked cautiously, as if he was afraid I would say no.
"Why?" I asked just as prudently as he had.
"Because it doesn’t protect you from me fully and I am pretty sure if I had one of my men come in, it wouldn’t work against them either. You have a natural immunity to the Fae, but I want to test it to see how just resistant you are. I can make you feel things, but you don’t turn completely mindless from my touch."
"Fine, but no funny business," I swallowed. I was pretty sure I’d been both mindless and boneless in his room.
His lips quirked as he stood up and moved closer. "I need you to lie on your stomach and hit your on switch."
I hesitated as he got closer, my courage breaking away. I shook my head as I scooted further onto the bed to give him some room and lay down on my stomach slowly. "No funny business." I turned meeting his eyes briefly.
Those eyes filled with molten heat as they lowered to meet mine. I turned my head back around and dropped it to the bed wondering what the hell I’d just gotten myself into. I had gone from trained killer to blushing bumbler since meeting Ryder and it was pissing me off.
I felt the bed move under his weight and hissed as his fingers swept my hair away from the brand. I stretched my neck wondering why he would think it wasn't working. I'd never had any issue with the Fae, until him.
"When did you get this?" His voice resonated from above my head as his hot breath fanned my against my neck sending heat pooling between my thighs.
"Around thirteen."
"Any idea what it says?" His voice was hoarse and not helping the fight the damn butterflies were having inside my abdomen.
"No, only that it is supposed to protect against the influence of the Fae."
"I can’t read it," he said as though he was confounded.
"But?" I'd heard the 'but' in his tone.
"It's old, the branding is. This isn't from the Guild."
"Of course it is. I don’t let just anyone write brands on my skin Ryder. And every brand is supervised by Alden to ensure it is correct."
He didn't reply, instead his fingers traced over the invisible ink that he shouldn’t be able to see at all and he hadn't asked me to turn the ink on for color, which meant he could see it plainly. "You can read it as is."