“I put her in the dungeon until you heal,” I answered him and then ran to him and threw my arms around him. He didn’t hug me back. Instead, he tensed and gently pushed away from me which Ryder noticed.
“She isn’t a part of this, and she’s shown the girl no mercy, Ristan. She told the guard to hold her in in a cell, without water and food, as you yourself instructed.”
“No one has fed her?” he asked as his demeanor took on a coldness I didn’t recognize.
“She’s yours to kill,” I whispered even as I felt a little part of me die inside. “That is, if that’s what you think she deserves.”
“Oh, I have no plans of killing her, Synthia. Not any time soon,” he seethed, his skin turning red as he allowed his Demon to take over. “I want to find out everything she knows and she will suffer for what she has done, but she won’t die anytime soon.”
I took a step backwards, away from him. “Alden lives,” I said and then watched his eyes move to mine.
“And I care, why?” he asked blandly.
I swallowed my retort and watched as he turned and left me standing in the doorway. “He isn’t Ristan.”
“That is Ristan, the one Zahruk and I knew for many years. That’s the Ristan my father created. It will take some time to get him back to the one you know.”
I turned and looked at Ryder, but screaming in the nursery made me run. Asrian and Sevrin burst into the nursery from the other door at the same moment we entered it. Ristan was there, and Meriel was on the floor, her eyes vacant as she stared up at the ceiling. I could still hear her pulse, but that wasn’t what worried me.
Ristan had Kahleena in his arms, and was slowly rocking her in the rocking chair. I could have sworn I could hear the soft strains of Owl City’s Vanilla Twilight. He must have sifted into the nursery directly and thought Meriel was a threat. I held my breath as he held my daughter.
I watched him, and then I saw it. Vulnerability. He was hiding behind his Demon mask to hide the pain and helplessness that he must have felt at being used for bait for his King. They’d taken away his control and from all of our talks, I knew that was the one thing he hated most. Thinking to what Ryder had said a few moments ago, it was probably how he felt as Alazander took his wings after Transition.
I placed my hand on Ryder’s as he moved forward. Ristan would never hurt our daughter. He loved her. I motioned for Sevrin and Asrian to stay back. They eyed their brother warily as Asrian moved slowly to pick up Meriel. As he slipped out of the room, I could see Zahruk slowly move into the room, joining Sevrin.
“Names are important, Synthia,” Ristan growled as he gently stroked the blonde curls atop her small, delicate head with his red hand.
“She’s been named, Ristan; Kahleena,” I said as softly as I could so that Kahleena didn’t respond to my voice and remained still in his arms.
He looked up at me and then down at the baby. He’d missed her being named, and as I watched him, I caught flickers of the old Ristan in there, buried deep, but fighting to come back to the surface. I exhaled a shuddering breath and moved to the crib with the boys in it.
“This one is Zander, and this one is Cade,” I announced as I picked Cade up and held him in my arms. “Do you like the names?” I asked trying to get him talking.
“Kahleena is a beautiful name, for a beautiful girl,” he whispered and raised his eyes to meet mine. “She’s my favorite thing in the world.”
I swallowed.
Ryder growled, but luckily, it was only inside my head that he did so.
“She likes you too,” I said as I took the chair beside him.
“Ryder, his mind is partly broken, but he would never hurt our children. He’s felt too much, and the pain is still too much, feel it. It’s so overwhelming that it could feed an army of Fae.”
“He’s got my daughter in his arms, and you tell me he’s broken. She’s too frail for this; she can’t be his cure.”
“Fuck you all,” Ristan growled as he stood and walked to the crib. Crap, he must have tapped himself into our conversation.
He waited there, as if we’d ask him to relinquish our daughter. Instead, I placed Cade back in his crib, and placed a gentle hand silently on Ristan’s shoulder. His back tensed up at my touch. “When you’re ready, we are here. Please, make sure she’s fed before she goes back to sleep.”
I gripped Ryder’s hand in warning and together we left our sickly daughter in the hands of the Demon. I gave a meaningful look at Zahruk and Sevrin who nodded their understanding and reluctantly followed us from the room. When we were safely out of earshot, Ryder spun around and glared at me.