“I was after you,” he sneered and leapt with his sword drawn. I expected it, and dodged his blade easily.
“Why? What did I ever do to you?”
“You were born; that’s enough of a reason,” he shouted before he pulled magic around him, intending to use it on me.
I pulled my own magic around me, and smiled coldly as the ink Alden used pushed past the brands to light them up, and the delicate Celtic knots on my shoulders followed suit. The stars, one for each of my parents, were the last to light up. He was the cause of them, but if I allowed the anger take hold of my emotions, I could lose this, and that was just not an option.
“I watched you,” I said softly, making him strain to hear me.
“Impossible!”
“You’re weak; you missed me. I was there the entire time. Sloppy,” I taunted as I moved closer. His eyes scanned over the beheaded Fae. “You should have searched the house better, because now I plan to kill you for what you did.”
“You have yet to even tap into your powers little girl! You can’t kill me, but I plan to kill you, and take everything that should have been mine! That stupid old man has no idea what he has done. And that whimpering bitch of a mother we share is a waste of fucking space!”
I stopped cold and stared at him in shock. “What?”
“Oh, that’s right; you have no fucking idea what you are. Pathetic, really. They should have killed you when you were born. I should be the heir. It’s supposed to be me!” He lunged, and I barely avoided being maimed by his sword, because I was trembling from his words. Sloppy, Syn, really sloppy.
“I’m going to cut you open, and watch you die a slow death, little sister!” He shrieked, but as he did, he noticed the crowd gathered outside the shield that had all drawn their weapons waiting for a chance to strike at him. Shit! Ryder must have dropped the veil that was hiding them so he could attack. “I’ll find you, Bitch, there is nowhere you can hide that I won’t!”
“No!” I screamed and lunged, but he’d already sifted out.
“I’m so sorry, Syn. I tried to keep him inside the shield, but I couldn’t,” Larissa whispered resting her hand on my shoulder.
“I just needed to get close to him! I should have done this alone, and then it would be over dammit! Dammit!” I shouted, angry at myself for thinking he wouldn’t be able to see the others this time. If I’d come by myself, he wouldn’t have sifted out. He’d be dead by my blade. Finally, after all these years, my parents would have had peace.
“Z, collect the dead and transport them to Faery. If there are any that can regenerate, I want them in chains. Dristan, any brands you can read?” Ryder asked as he strode across the graveyard, every inch the leader.
“On it,” Z said as he and a few other men moved to get the bloody bodies ready to be sifted to Faery. It gave me a little satisfaction that the two that could regenerate were going to have a very miserable existence in the capable hands of Ryder’s men.
“You,” Ryder said, lifting his eyes to meet, and hold, mine.
“I failed.” I felt it to my very soul. I’d failed the kill him yet again. Tears burned in my eyes as the reality of this being the last real shot that I would have at avenging my parents sank in.
“You need your ass spanked. But you did not fail; you were outnumbered, and all but two of the men from your parents slaughter, are here. They have peace now; you need to get over this before it consumes you,” Ryder said as Ristan came up to whisper in his ear.
“I didn’t kill him, though. I had him, Ryder, he was right in front of me.” I cried, frustrated with failing to do what I came here for, all because he had sent my mind into shock with his cryptic words.
“You didn’t come here to kill them. You came here to show them that you could. You came here for answers. You talked to him. What did he tell you?”
“He told me he wanted me dead,” I replied, chewing my lip wondering over his words.
“He said more than that, Syn,” he growled as his eyes locked with mine.
“He told me how he planned to do it in graphic detail! He said he was my brother, and something about how my parents should have killed me when I was born,” I shouted at him. The tears that had been threatening broke loose, and I shook with everything that was in me. Shock from my supposed brother’s words, adrenaline from the fight, anger at losing my chance at him—it all had me falling apart in front of Ryder and everyone else present.
Ryder reached out and pulled me in, wrapping his arms around me holding me, tight against his body. For a few minutes, we just stood there with him holding me close and making soothing sounds against my ear. When I finally stopped shaking, he murmured in my ear. “Syn, I’ll find him and bring his bloody corpse to you. I promise he won’t live for much longer. We will find him.” I knew Ryder would do it too. I could let this go, for now.