I was staring absently at my tummy that was concealed nicely by the pretty, white sun dress, that Darynda had glamoured for me this morning, when I heard Ryder clear his throat. I looked up and found him looking over at me. His eyes were cold; his body seemed tense as he watched me.
He stood for a brief moment before he turned and walked away as if he didn’t know I had seen him. I sat up and looked after him, wondering why he was in the pavilion, since he usually didn’t want to talk to me until he was sure we were safe from outsiders. Had he changed his mind and decided to seek out another to feed from? Would he go back on his word, or was this a game?
I stood up and looked back towards where Zahruk had stationed himself outside of one of the sets of doors and then back at Ryder and set out following in the direction which he’d taken. I exited the sunroom and stood in the corridor, looking one way and then the other, and took in the sight of Ryder taking Claire in his arms. His eyes looked back at me over her fabulous hair. I watched in horror as his hand curved around her back as he pulled her closer to his body, and kissed her right in front of me.
I moved forward, pissed that he’d be so cruel, but as I moved, so did the two of them as they saw me coming. Someone was having crispy, Kentucky Fried Fairy tonight! I watched them turn a corner at the end of the hall, and as I rounded it, someone grabbed me from behind and as I looked, I could only see Claire, who was directly in front of me. She smiled coldly as she brought up both hands and shoved something through my shoulder, which I felt pop out the other side painfully.
I screamed and gasped for air as Ryder looked down, his lips curved cruelly as he and Claire both watched me. I couldn’t speak, my only fear for my unborn infants as I looked down to see a God bolt lodged in my shoulders. Ryder raised a second bolt and impaled my other shoulder, as I shrieked in pain.
These types of bolts had been designed to weaken or immobilize a God. Bolts which I had the horror of being pinned with once before—when I’d watched Larissa being murdered in front of my eyes.
“Good work, my lovely,” Ryder whispered lovingly to Claire. “Now go back before they notice you missing. We still need you inside; alert us if he finds anything amiss with her leaving. Remember the plan, and you will be rewarded richly,” Ryder said as I watched his face, and then his hand weaved in an intricate design, and a portal was opened.
He reached down, roughly grabbed my useless limbs, and pulled me up into his arms. He whispered a few words as his fingers began to glow; he reached for the necklace Ryder had given me, and removed it effortlessly from my neck. His features shimmered, and his eyes faded from cold, golden eyes to a lifeless dull shade of blue. His shoulder length hair was a light blonde, and he didn’t have brands, which made me wonder what kind of Fae he was. I felt a familiar pain shoot down my spine and ripple around my abdomen as a contraction ripped through me.
I tried the mental path I’d shared with Ryder, and found it gone. It was Joseph all over again. I felt myself start to panic, but reminded myself that it wouldn’t help me or the babes. Danu would feel my distress; she had to. Ryder would realize I was gone and he’d come for us.
I slowed my breathing as I was picked up and carried through the portal. Faolán was waiting for me on the other side.
“Hello, sister.” He smiled evilly. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue, bitch?”
I glared at him as another pain tightened my stomach. I tried to show no fear, but the man behind me pulled me back up from where I’d hunched down. He held me tightly against his frame, and Faolán produced a knife, and he ran the dull edge over my swollen stomach.
We were in what looked to be an abandoned temple, in a deep, dark crypt which was almost completely empty, other than a few stone slabs and candles, which sat on dingy, decrepit shelves that were placed high in the walls.
“My friends will be pleased now that we hold the King’s brats along with his whore in our grasp. You see; I knew going in as we did at his coronation was not worth trying again, but by taking you, we’ve now gained the upper hand. He’ll come for you, and when he does, we will kill him, and the rest will fall behind him,” Faolán spat; a little spittle hit my face as he grew excited.
Obviously, he hadn’t figured out who my mother was, or that Ryder could only be killed by his own heir. I winced as he continued to push the dull edge of the blade over my abdomen. Fear was playing hell on my mind, but I refused to allow it in, to seep into my soul.
The pain in my shoulders was to the point of unbearable, and he wouldn’t cut me open—not yet. Or so I hoped. I kept trying to make my mouth work, but nothing would come out. I was going to incinerate Claire as soon as I got free, and I knew I wouldn’t waste any time about doing it.