“Ryder, I said I was sorry.” Shit, I sounded weak! I strengthened my resolve and squared my shoulders.
“You are used to being able to depend on your coven, but, as Fae, you will have to depend on us for the foreseeable future. What happened today can’t happen again. I have to hear the words from you; that you understand what was so wrong about today. I need for you to promise me that you will not allow this to happen ever again,” he said gently.
“Ryder,” I murmured.
“No, Syn. Not this time. You need to learn some humility from this. Mistakes like this could have killed someone; as it is, but some of my men were hurt. I take responsibility for their injuries, as we could have sifted out at any time, but I took this opportunity to try and learn more about this enemy. You have to take responsibility for drawing them to us with your stubborn foolishness.”
“I said I was sorry. What do you want from me? If I could go back and undo it, I would in a heartbeat,” I whispered, before stepping closer to him and into the shadows. I knew what he wanted, and my hands shook with it. My eyes adjusted enough to see Ryder leaning against the far wall of the room, eyeing me like the predator he was. He was in his full Fae form, which I had only seen once before when I had been in Faery.
“I want you to fucking mean it! I want you to get over this anger or whatever the fuck has you staying away from my bed. I’ve given you room. I’ve stayed away from you so that you could adjust. I thought maybe you needed time, but it turns out you don’t need time. You’re too stubborn to fucking admit when you need to feed, or when your body is weak!” He snapped angrily, his eyes narrowed on me, his arms still lazily folded across his chest.
“You killed Adrian!” I cried, feeling the angry tears as they welled up in my eyes.
His face went cold and blank, instantly. “Who told you that?” He asked in a deadly tone.
“You did. I heard everything you and Adam said to each other. Why? That’s all I want to fucking know. Ryder, why would you do that to me!?”
“Because I wanted you,” he replied, dropping his arms to his sides and shaking his head as if in denial still.
“So you gave the order for him to be killed!? Do have any idea how crazy that sounds? We were just kids!”
“You keep expecting me to behave like a human. I’m not; I’m anything but human. I saw the way you looked at him, and I watched you for quite a while. Adrian wanted more power. He wanted to be stronger than you and Adam. In this, he is no different than a Fae man wanting to be the one that others look to for protection and strength. I knew if I got it, he’d be out of my way for a while. It was the perfect chance to get him out of the picture, and to get close to you. I did what any other Fae would have done. Only, I fucked up by thinking I would be done with you by the time he’d been fully changed over to my world. I fucked up by thinking that a short amount of time with you would be enough.”
My jaw dropped. “You killed one of my best friends and that is what you reply with?” I was floored, and a little pissed that he couldn’t even say sorry.
“I didn’t kill him. I made him stronger.”
“You had to kill him to turn him! And even if Vlad did the killing part, you gave the fucking orders. You ordered your competition to be killed! You didn’t even try to get me first. You just took him out because you could! You don’t even want me. You told Adam to stay out of the way, and when you were done he could have me!”
“Yes,” he said, stepping closer. “Who says I will ever be done with you, Synthia?”
“I do, because I’m going home. I can sift, and even if I do land at your feet every time, at least we know I won’t starve to death. I won’t be some play toy. I can’t do it. I won’t.”
He swallowed and nodded, and I felt my heart flutter to the floor. I closed my eyes as the tears dropped, angry and unabashed. He’d actually killed Adrian, and I’d blamed Adrian. I’d blamed him for not fighting harder to stay with us. Adrian always did have a chip on his shoulder about the amount of power he wielded compared to Adam and I; even though Adrian was extremely powerful in his own right. Offering Adrian more power would be the one thing that he would never refuse, no matter the cost. I guess Adrian had been telling the truth when he said he had no choice in the matter. I questioned how much truth there was to the rest of what Adrian said about the night he ‘died’.