He nodded, and smiled as I groaned inwardly. “That was not what I agreed to. I agreed to be your happy meal, not your prisoner. Locking me up to keep me safe is the same thing.”
“Someone is trying to kill you. They blew up your fucking house. Give me some time to look into it. Please, at least give me this. I need to know you are safe before I allow you to leave. Besides, where would you go?”
I wanted to say no, but that would just confirm how stubborn I was. Or worse, it would show him I was afraid to be close to him. People had almost gotten hurt because someone had tried to kill me. “Fine, you have a week. If you can't draw them out by then, you have to promise me that I get a try at it.”
“No—”
“Ryder, they are not just going to come out if I'm not used as bait. They came when I tapped the line. They knew where I'd be immediately after. These are the same people who killed my parents, or at least one is for sure. Don't ask me to stay idle through this, because I can already tell you, it won't happen. I want him dead. I want them all dead, in a real bad way.” I didn’t often want people dead, but when I did, I went all Goodfellas in the brain. I wanted them dead, I wanted their memory dead, and I wanted them to die in a real painful way.
“Blood thirsty wench. I think my dick just got hard.”
“I'm serious, Ryder, you have one week. Then, we do this my way without a single complaint from you, or anyone else. Agreed?”
His eyes narrowed, but I wasn’t backing down. Not on this, not with the ones who'd killed my parents. This was my fight and mine alone. People could get killed, and I'd carry the burden on my soul because it was how I was shaped. He was lucky I was giving him a shot at them without me being present at all, and he knew it.
“Pet,” he looked right at me and paused. He must have seen the determination in my eyes, because he changed the direction of his thoughts. “One full week, with the agreement that you try to learn your new Fae abilities, so that you are prepared for whatever happens. I want you ready for them, Pet. On this, I won’t bend,” he said, pulling me back into the bed, and leaning over me.
“Fine, one week. You train me on how to be a Fairy,” I whispered, swallowing as he lowered his mouth to mine and captured it passionately.
“One week,” he repeated, before kissing me again gently, with softness he didn't normally use with me. When he pulled away, he smirked wickedly as if he’d just won a huge prize. “It’s time to learn how to use magic to dress, Pet.”
~~~~~~~~*
We settled into a routine. He was gone at night—he wasn’t specific on where he was going or what he was doing, but I suspected it had to do with the Mages—and I'd learn how to use magic during the day. I was making progress, and could become clothed with a single thought—as long as I wanted to wear leather, which seemed to give Ryder some enjoyment.
He acted almost like he had a normal relationship with me, and was surprisingly gentle in the few days it had taken for us to settle into a routine. It was comfortable, and the atmosphere was amazing when he'd drag me to bed to feed me after draining my energy during my ‘Fairy’ training. He smiled more, and would become almost human until he'd go out at night, leaving me in his bed like the entire day had meant nothing to him at all.
Each night, one of the men would knock softly on the door, signaling him that they were ready to go, and his entire demeanor would promptly close off and become detached, cold, and distant as he left for the rest of the night. We would go back to normal when it was time to train. Nights, I used planning how to call out the person who wanted me dead. As time dwindled down, I was becoming more agitated.
“Pull the magic around you. Focus,” Ryder said from across the room.
We trained in the room where my entire existence had been altered by him, the same room where he’d asked Zahruk to replay my past, only his powers had made the room larger. “Ryder, this is pointless. How am I supposed to know the difference between Fae magic and the same magic I have been using all my life?”
“One is wild magic, the other is dark magic. Try not using the dark magic,” Ryder smirked as he once again leaned against the wall, and folded his arms across his chest. He continued to watch me fumble through the training. I was beginning to think I would never learn how to use Fae magic, and frustration at failing plain sucked. My confidence was already battered and still bruised from failing to save Larissa.
I grumbled, but tried again. The entire room grew thick with electrical current from the power radiating through me. Dark Arts…I cut it off and shook my head. Several more tries and I still couldn’t pull the power that Ryder thought would be inside of me, out. I was still trying to pull the correct magic from within when Ristan entered the room.
“Keep trying,” Ryder said while nodding to Ristan who walked to where he stood and leaned against the wall with him.