A sob escaped my lips before I could stop it. I couldn’t promise him anything anymore. He was undead, he'd left me and even though it wasn’t maliciously done. It was done. I stepped further away and turned back towards the house. I couldn’t promise him anything, but I still loved him, just not in the way he needed me to and it hurt to not be able to say it.
"Syn!" He called but I was already moving, refusing to fold because if he caught me I'd lose this battle. And this relationship would be the death of me, literally. I was halfway to the house blinded by tears when I ran into something hard and unmoving.
"Did he hurt you?" Ryder's voice was angry and sharp.
I shook my head and tried to push past him, it was like pushing a concrete wall. I looked up with tears swimming in my eyes trying to make my tongue work but whatever he saw in my eyes must have showed him that I needed to be alone because he let me go and followed at a close distance behind me.
When I reached my room and moved to close the door, he held his hand up on the wood frame stopping me from closing it. "They found a few bodies, I need you ready to go Syn and I need to know what he did to make you cry. In that order. You're mine to protect and he overstepped, he said he wanted to explain why he had done it. You needed closure, you all did. But no one makes you cry, not on my watch."
"Ryder, this is none of your business. As I told him, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."
He bowed his head giving me a dark, dangerous smile. "Keep telling yourself that Syn and you might eventually believe it."
"I don’t need you to believe it, or myself for that matter. I have to protect, endure and live for my coven. In that order. I'll be ready to leave in five minutes. Let me just go grab my big girl panties," I said leaving him at the door.
"I'll be strong for you Syn, if you need it. You don’t always have to be the strong one, I'll be your glue if you want to crumble, I'll hold you together," he said lifting his eyes and meeting mine.
"And what if you're what's making me crumble Ryder, what then?"
His lips lifted into his sexy smirk. "Then I'll put you back together. I will never tear you down Syn. I will always protect you from anything and everything that would. I've yet to find anything in this world or any other who can take me on—keep that in mind," he said lifting his eyes to meet mine before he started to turn away.
I was startled by his words and what he had said earlier when we were dancing. He didn’t like me, did he? "That's what I'm afraid of."
Twenty Four
I quickly changed into jeans and a different shirt that covered my arms. The fact that the other bodies we'd examined had blown up had a lot to do with the long sleeve shirt, shrapnel hurt like hell. I put on leather boots which were not pretty, but would protect my feet and headed to the door hurriedly. I was just going into the fourth minute of the five I had told Ryder I needed to be ready.
He was in the hall when I came out. Leaning against the wall holding the vest that had saved me last time. "The other gear is in the car, we don’t know what to expect this time but there are five bodies. I'm taking no chances with your safety Syn, this one could go south in a hurry. I want you on the perimeter, not on scene until the dogs have finished."
My heart sank in my chest, hot tears stung my eyes as I felt the loss of the five people this crazy asshole had taken from the world. "We need to catch this killer Ryder, this has to end soon." He had bomb sniffing dogs? Why hadn't he brought them to the last crime scene I wondered as I turned to ask him just that.
"I just got them, so before you go yapping off and demanding to know why I didn’t think of it before…finding well trained dogs who can sniff through Otherworld creature's bullshit is harder than it should be."
Well that settled that! I narrowed my eyes wondering how he had figured out what I'd been about to ask him.
"You speak through those pretty blue eyes. Try to work on it if you don't want the world to know what's going on inside that brain of yours."
Fuck you Ryder I put it in my eyes with a smile lifting my lips even though I really didn’t feel like smiling while we went down the never ending stairway to the front doors where his men waited with my coven. This was going to be a long day.
The crime scene was like the others, half torn up bodies lingered in chairs while some sat in different positions up against the walls. The only difference at this scene was the sheer volume of bodies. Some looked no older than twenty. A few wore dresses, while others were in workout clothes. "They're all in shape," I mumbled more to myself trying to figure out what we were missing.
"What would that matter?" Zahruk questioned coming up with his face crumbled in disgust.