“Obviously, I weighed the outcome, and decided, while you are a distraction, you are also a part of this mess. I’m not sure how I know, but I do.”
“I’m not sure why you think I have some sort of an important part to play in why you came to this world.”
“I’m not sure either, but somehow you do play a part in this,” Ristan replied as he smiled impishly.
“So much shit is happening. Everything is changing, so fast that it’s hard to take it all in. I’m not sure where I stand anymore. I’m not even sure of whom I should stand by.” For some reason, I had always found it easy to talk to the Demon, even if he was a huge demented pervert.
“The Guild? So he told you then,” Ristan said as he eyed me cautiously.
“That’s why he treated me the way he did when we first met, isn’t it?” I probed.
“Yes and no. He wanted you; still does. It pisses him off, Synthia. He’s been through hell, and I think you are something he knows he won’t be able to let go of, but he also knows he needs to. He has set his goal on finishing this mission and getting home since day one. Now, you walk in all sexy as fuck and throw a monkey wrench in the whole thing. You’re this beautiful fucking mess, and it draws us to you. You have so much emotion pouring through you that we could feast off it alone, endlessly. You are unlike the Fae in Faery, because of the way you were raised. Ryder won’t erase your memories, but I don’t think this will work out as either of you hope it will either. I am afraid you both will be fucked up when it ends, and I don’t see it ending well, either…not that I actually saw this, it’s just my opinion.”
I didn’t need to turn around and look at him to know he was there; I felt him. I felt him as I felt my own legs connected to my body. As if he was a part of me. The air grew thick with the electrical tanginess he created when he entered a room. The rich scent that was unique to him filled my senses; intoxicating me. I could sense him anywhere, but inside a room this small, he took it over. Where it had been a kitchen minutes before, it was now filled up with his presence.
“Ristan,” he said from directly behind me. His voice wrapped around me, like a silken caress.
“Any luck?” Ristan responded.
“No and yes. We need to find more information on the items, and someone who can easily pass through so as and not disturb them.”
“What for?” I asked Ristan, since he was more likely to answer my question. He didn’t, of course—not with Ryder standing directly behind me.
“I told you this wasn’t your fight. You have enough shit trying to kill you right now. The Guild has closed ranks, and, from the sounds of it, they are weeding out those opposed to turning on us. My guess is they are going to make it very public, very soon as to which side they are choosing.”
“That’s shit! They don’t have the right to do that. Alden would never…oh shit. We have to get him out of there, now!”
“He chose to go back inside, Syn. If you go in to get him out, they will know for sure which side he is on. Right now, they have no idea he’s our inside man,” Ryder said gently.
“No, screw that. I can’t lose him too,” I said as my heart dropped to my feet. My hands gripped the coffee mug hard enough that it cracked.
“He chose this,” Ristan said softly “He’s a good man. He’s strong and very capable. He raised you to be strong. Have some faith in him.”
“Fine, but I want in on whatever you have going on then. I’m not just going to sit around idly while there’s a potential war hanging over our heads,” I snapped angrily.
“This isn’t your problem,” Ryder growled.
“No? Then whose is it? The Fae? The Guild? I’m kinda of ‘all of the above’ at the moment. I was part of that Guild, and I still have friends inside of it. I’m also Fae, in case the three day sexual marathon we had slipped your mind!”
He growled beside my ear, so close that it tickled my flesh. “Hard to forget that, Pet, still, my answer stays the same. You need to stay where I can keep you safe.”
“Ryder, I’m not the type to sit around when I can help. I can help you. I’m trained to get into places and get out of them. You’ve seen me do it. I can help you.”
“And I said no,” he warned.
“And I said I’m doing it, Fairy!” I growled at him.
His lips pressed against my ear as he whispered softly into it. “Come upstairs, Pet, and I’ll show you how much of a fucking Fairy, I am.”
I turned, catching his lips and biting his lower one, sucking it into my mouth before releasing it. “Not now, Ryder. We’re fighting,” I said, pausing as a smile crossed my face, “and I’m winning.”
“No, you are not,” he growled.
“You two done fucking? You’re making my cock hard just watching this shit.” Ristan laughed boyishly.