It took me at least twenty minutes in the shower to get the feel of Ryder off my skin, and it still wasn’t one hundred percent gone. I had managed once again rub my skin to a bright shade of red over that man. The last thing I needed to do was get any closer to that egocentric tyrant. I wasn’t built for hanging around like a good little doggie until he wanted me. His words, “who says I wanted more,” flashed through my mind again, like a splinter I couldn’t get out. Frustrating Fae, and his stupid secrets. I tried to find a bit of distraction for my running mind by puttering around the kitchen and living room at first. Then I watched a little TV, walked on the treadmill, then gave up, and jogged, which only managed to kill about an hour.
I was so used to having my coven around that without them, I was lost. I missed Larissa, but I was a mess without Adam. I didn’t have a chance to ask Ryder what his being my Familiar meant. Ryder had that effect on my brain. I sat staring at the TV for a while, before I broke down and stretched out on the couch. It wasn’t long until my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?” I answered cautiously.
“Synthia?” Alden asked back. I relaxed a bit.
“Is it secure?” I asked calmly, wanting to talk to him about what had gone down at Ryder's without an audience.
“It's secure. Everything okay?” Alden asked carefully.
“Know why Ryder would have Guild members at his mansion? And what the hell was that on the Guild steps?” I asked, listening for his tone to change.
“Syn, stay out of it.”
There it was. I groaned. “He will kill them, you know that, right?”
“And for a very good reason. You're smarter than that. I gave him those Warlocks. That's all you need to know for now.”
“Seriously, have you been taking lessons on how to deflect from Ryder?” I snapped, completely pissed that I was being kept in the dark about what was going on by both men.
“I have a job for you. If you’re interested that is,” he countered.
“I'm alone. Adam went into Transition.”
“I'm aware, it’s not a mark, it's a tactical one, but you’d have a team standing by ready for your call.” Mark was what the Guild referred to as marked for death; within sanction law we could kill anyone who had been marked.
“Job? I thought since I was Fae, I was no longer welcome?”
“The Guild will still subcontract out to Otherworld creatures, if the job requires it. I want you to get over it, Syn, there’s more going on here than you know. I need you to take this job, for me. There's a new vampire in town. He's been seen frequenting Vlad's bar. We can't get inside, but you probably can.”
“You know that Vlad is Dracula right?” I asked carefully.
“Yes, of course I know who he is, Synthia. What is happening takes precedence over who he is, though. We found four bodies drained. One of them was a thirteen year old runaway. Seattle Guild is calling for blood, as this went down in their jurisdiction, and they feel he is targeting those that typically wouldn’t be missed. They think this Marcus might be here in Spokane now. I need you to find out if he's here, and tail him.”
“I have no magic, Alden,” I reminded him.
“Syn, you're good, even without your magic. I trained you myself.”
“If he is here, and I find him, what are my instructions?”
“You call in. Don’t try to take him down. Call me and I'll call in a strike team. If he leaves before we get there, tail him.”
I hung up after getting a description and a rough time of when they thought he would be there. I only had fifteen, or so, hours to kill. I eyed the wards, and then the door. Letting out a huff, I got up and headed for bed. It took a bit of time to clean up the mess from Adam's destruction of my room and bed earlier. When I was finished cleaning, I had most of my bed left, minus the shattered headboard that I hadn’t been able to save.
I tossed and turned in my bed. Golden eyes flashed at me every time I closed mine. I must have lain in bed for hours, before I finally succumbed to sleep—where he was waiting for me.
He was there the minute I closed my eyes, waiting for me in my dream. I looked around the room we were in. It was completely white, with the exception of the male standing there. His dark black button up shirt was unbuttoned to mid chest, and his jeans clung low and seductive against his tapered hips. Sex incarnate was staring at me. He smiled slowly, his eyes consuming me from where he stood. “Can't I get a break? You’re even in my fucking dreams!” I growled, thinking how crazy it was that he was here.