I wanted to come back here and erase her from my memory, and me from hers. Easier said than done. To not hear her say my name in desire would be the same as death. I hate that I want her, that I can’t get her out of my system. It scares me to feel his need for her. He’s a fucking monster, one she’s made purr. But he’s temperamental, like his owner. Deadly.
I growl as I feel Ristan’s presence before the door opens. “What?” I snap, because the beast doesn’t like anyone close to his sleeping treasure.
“You can’t erase her memories. You could end up changing her destiny, or, worse, yours,” he says.
“I can do anything I want. If I do it then the only one who would remember it is the beast. Then, it will be easy to walk away from her,” I bark, trying to do so quietly.
“Will it be that easy, Ryder? Do you think the beast will let you?” Ristan asks, with his eyes glowing red as they begin to swirl.
“Fuck. This isn’t the time to be having a fucking future walk, Ristan!” I scream at him with the mental link we share.
The room fades away until we are standing inside Faery. The dead litter the ground. Mostly children and infants that the land has rejected; it’s starting to reject even more as times goes on. Ristan is just as floored as I by what we are shown by Danu. Faery is nothing more than a fucking cemetery.
“When is this, Ristan?” I ask, making his eyes focus on me.
“Soon, too fucking soon. We have to stop this. Look at the ground,” he says with his true language coming out in layers just like mine.
Blood covers the ground. Faery is drinking it; trying to fix itself. Hundreds of corpses litter the ground. Adults cry from across the field, mourning their loss as the Deadlands claim them for their own.
“Does it present a cure to you, Ristan?”
“The Heirs, always the fucking Heirs of the four houses and the four relics. It’s the only way. We need those fucking relics, and the Heirs like yesterday.” He finishes his words, and once again we are inside the bedroom where she sleeps.
“We will complete mapping out and retrieving the relics. At least one of the Heirs we need has surfaced. The others have to be somewhere we can find them as well. No more fucking around. It’s time to finish what we came here to do. Do you have any idea how far off that vision was?”
“No, but it could be next week for all we know, Ryder. The land is growing weaker, and more and more children die because it can’t accept them.”
“Go to the club and bring me back the maps of the relic’s locations. Sinjinn and Zahruk can start reconnaissance in the morning on the ones we have located, but have yet to retrieve. Keep the others searching for ones that we haven’t located yet. Wake me up if you see anything else. I can’t leave her alone. If that asshole comes back, I am going to kill him without the answers she seeks. I can’t chance him getting to her.”
He silently sifts out of the house, and I pull her body closer. Time isn’t on our side. Soon, she might not even remember me. Erasing her memory is the last thing I will do, and only if there is no other option. I want her too fucking much to let her go, and the beast will not allow it.
She moans against me, but my body doesn’t rise, nor does the beast. For now, he is content just being close to her. The lifeless eyes of the dead children in my world drift through my mind and the disturbing images Ristan showed me tonight play over and over. I have to stop it, no matter what the cost; even if it means giving up everything I want, and my own life for theirs.
Chapter Twenty One
The next morning was surprising, and unlike any morning I had ever had before in my life. I woke up wrapped in Ryder’s arms with my head nuzzled against his chest. I smiled against him as his warmth melted me. His chest rose and fell in sleep. I didn’t want to move, or disturb his sleep. I felt safe in this moment, cherished, even if it was just an illusion.
I placed my hand on his heart, listening to his even breathing. In sleep, he almost looked human—if you ignored the pulsing brands on his beautifully bronzed flesh, and the electrical zing that was in the air around the bed. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and tried to hide the smile it brought to my face.
He was every inch the Dark Prince, and he was sleeping in my bed, holding me. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. I heard him growl, and my eyes shot open and darted to look up into his eyes that were still half lidded from sleep.
“Molesting me while I sleep, Pet?” he asked, with a tired, sexy smirk lifting his lips.
“There was no molesting going on,” I retorted.
“You just smelled me, your face is rubbing against my chest, and I’m pretty sure you just made my nipples hard.”
I considered it for a moment, before I smiled guiltily. “Okay, I’m guilty of those things. What’s my punishment?” I asked, shocked the words had come out of my mouth. I was supposed to be mad, and I was failing miserably. My brain was once again high on Fae.