“I did it as well. I never questioned anything until you,” I said guiltily. “How many innocents did I murder for them?”
“Don’t think of it like that,” he said as he moved my hair from my neck and placed a gentle kiss on the soft column. “There’s no undoing it, there’s only learning from it, becoming stronger because of it, and moving forward to better it.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
We stood with Alden in the room where we’d gathered the children of the Guild. His eyes watched them as they played with toys that Sinjinn had created from glamour. There were only a few who were up and moving, while the others watched from where they sat on a soft sofa that Eliran had created. The sofa was a soft creamy ivory, and had places to hold the medical IVs that held saline. Where he’d gotten the saline from was anyone’s guess. The man loved Human medical technology and was always incorporating it with traditional Fae healing at every chance he got.
Some of the children had been injured in some sort of an explosion that happened during the fall of the Guild and some were just dehydrated, as they had been in hiding for at least two days, without food or water from what we could tell. None of them would speak to us yet so it was hard to figure out exactly what happened to them.
“We failed them. I failed them,” Alden said through choked emotion.
“You did your best and no one can say you didn’t. The Guild, however, is trying to say just that. Savlian and Sevrin were at Vlad’s not too long ago, and saw a news station showing one of the Guild Elders offering a reward for your capture. They’re saying you’re a traitor. Of course they’d never admit to the loss of the Guild being an inside job. Instead, they are accusing us, and they have pictures they’ve been smearing all over the TV of us entering the Guild. Vlad and Adrian have been using some outside help, and they say that the Humans are also rising against the Fae in droves now. There are the females, and some males still thinking that the Fae are better than boy bands, but those ones have always been a little brainless concerning them. The others, however, are encouraging the Guild and backing them.”
“Are you serious about starting a new Guild; a better one where we can keep people safe while we do the right thing?” Alden asked as he took in the kids that looked scared as Ryder and his men walked in.
Like me, they’d been raised to fear the Fae. Fear keeps you alert, and it keeps you alive. It was one of the things I prided myself on. I knew I was terrified of the Fae, but I’d been taught to never show it. I’d used my mouth to show them I wasn’t afraid, while holding that fear in check internally.
“I am, and I still want you to run it,” I said, watching as the kids kept their eyes glued to the men, and cowered a little, but I couldn’t blame them for it. “They need to be taught the right things, and not a crap load of lies. You can teach them that, and together we will build something that no one else has ever been able to do before. We can build something that helps to protect any creature that needs it. I’ve talked to Ryder’s guys, as well as Adam. We are all willing to help you, and we will back you whether you decide to run it or not.”
“You’d do that for me?” Alden asked softly.
“I would,” Adam said as he sifted in to stand beside us. “In a heartbeat, Alden,” he continued with his eyes on me. “Besides, I need a place to stay at while I search out the Light Heir. I’d stay with Vlad and Adrian, but I think it would be counterproductive. It’s a party every night with them.”
“Okay, we can discuss the new Guild later. Right now we need to account for the charges the Guild is accusing us of. I think you should do the talking, and we’ll back you up if anything happens. Vlad has a friend who will also be there with a few of his people. It will add to the army we’ll be walking in with. I’d suggest we go without them, but I don’t trust the Guild not to attack us unless we show them force. So we go in with the backing to make them stop and think. Plus, we don’t know how many Mages have infiltrated or weaseled their way into the Seattle Guild,” I said with my business face on.
“And Olivia? What do we do if they ask for her?” Alden asked.
“We hope to God that they don’t ask. Ristan will either get the truth out of her, or not. I don’t know if she’s guilty of being a Mage or just trying to be a good little soldier, but we all know that you and she have been here too long for the Guild not to suspect that you’ve both been compromised. If we hand her over to them, she’ll most likely be retired. I can’t in good conscience do that to her. There’s a chance she could be innocent, or that she’d been drinking the Kool-Aid that we all were. The point is that we don’t know what happened. You were passed out and we weren’t there. Zahruk could possibly pull it from her mind, but he and Ryder have decided to honor Ristan’s request to get the information from her in his own way. I can, however, tell you this: If someone asks us for her directly, then that is who we should suspect of being a Mage. I believe her on that part; that she was told you were a traitor. We know that you were under suspicion by the Seattle Guild for a time, which is why they sent the other Elders to the Spokane Guild. I think she was used and fed lies by the Mages. It may not be true, but she wouldn’t have been able to say no if it had been an upper level command. We all know that. Her fate is out of our hands now, and Ristan isn’t quick to judge people or make hasty decisions. I trust him to do what he believes is right. I have to.”
“That’s what I think as well, and should she prove to be a traitor, Ristan will deliver what he sees as justice to her,” Ryder said, backing me.
“I’d like to believe she wasn’t guilty,” Alden said softly with his eyes on the children again. “Some of these kids don’t have parents to protect them,” he said offhandedly.
“Then keep those ones here, and they can be taught your ways at the new Guild. No child should be alone and I can think of no one else who will protect them better than you,” I said softly as I smiled. “Or kick their asses into shape and make fierce warriors of them.”
“Agreed,” Adam said as he smiled, remembering the crap we’d gone through together in training with Alden.
“Back to the task at hand,” I said, pulling us back to the here and now. “Are we ready?” I asked and watched as he started moving the children into groups. He was dedicated, and those children were terrified of us. Of me. It was weird to know that once upon a time, I’d been one of those scared kids.
“These ones have no parents,” he said, pulling seven from the group. “They were found on the steps of the Guild. Like Adam was,” he said calmly, in a tone that would soothe the fears of the scared little things. “I’ve raised them for the most part. From what you all told me, a lot more of these kids lost their parents when the Guild fell.” He nodded grimly at the other larger group of children. “We’re going to have to find out which ones still have parents that can take them back.”
I nodded, acknowledging the sad truth to Alden’s words and knelt down to eye level with one of the small girls. “What’s your name?” I asked, and watched as she recoiled from me. “You don’t have to be scared of me. I am a lot like you. I was raised by Alden after I lost my parents. I lived at the Guild, too.”
She glared at me.
“My name is Synthia, and you have nothing to fear from us. We plan on helping you.”
I watched as she turned what I had said over in her mind and processed it. Her eyes studied me, and sized me up. I smiled softly and shook my head. “We’re a lot alike. You’re wondering if you can run from me, or if you can escape. You don’t have to, because I’m not your enemy. I am your friend and I will never lie to you, no matter how ugly the truth is.”
*~*~*
We met at Vlad’s club, and I was shocked that we all fit, including a small group of men who walked in after we’d arrived with over one hundred and fifty of the Elite Guard and Shadow Warriors. I watched them as they worked their way through the crowd
easily. I was sitting with Ryder at the bar when one of the newcomers leaned over and spoke quietly to Vlad. They looked cold and lethal.
“Lucian,” Vlad said as he watched the newcomer.
“You called, we came. Consider this payment for what you did for me. My debt is repaid, Vampire,” Lucian said as I sized him up silently.
He was almost as tall as Vlad, with dark black hair that matched Ryder’s in his Horde King form. He turned his head and looked right at me, and then narrowed his eyes, which were a cyan blue that, in the shadows, almost looked black. He wore a crisp white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a black tie that looked out of place in this bar. Lucian’s arms were covered in tattoos, which were markings I couldn’t place or recognize. He was beautiful, and yet I felt his power as it leaked from his pores. He reminded me of the first time I’d laid eyes on Ryder. I knew I should run away, and yet all I could do was openly stare, uncaring that he returned the favor.
“Horde King,” he said as he finally tore his eyes from me and looked right at Ryder. His eyes came back to me and I felt the hair at the back of my neck stand up.
“Demon King,” Ryder acknowledged.
“Who the fuck is he?” I asked on our shared mental path.
“Lucifer’s right hand man,” Ryder grumbled. “If Lucifer didn’t run Hell, Lucian would, or at least that’s what they say. He owns and runs the sex clubs on the West Coast. He isn’t afraid of anything. Don’t piss him off; he has no morals and no fear, Synthia. He is death in raw form. No one knows what he actually is, or who his parents are. My father didn’t even deal with him or his people because of the rumors that surround him.”
“And Vlad called him in, why?”
“Because he owed him a favor, and if you have someone like Lucian in your corner, you use him.”
“You mentioned rumors?”
“He barters in souls. It made us think Demon, but he doesn’t drain or eat them like soul-seeking Demons do. He sells them.”
“How did I not know about him?” I asked with worry.
“Because I didn’t want your kind to,” Lucian rumbled as he continued to watch me. “Your soul is tinged with red, why? How many innocents have you slain?”
“That’s none of your concern,” I said with a glare. “My soul isn’t why you’re here, and it’s not your problem, now is it?” I was disturbed he could actually tell from my soul that I’d killed people.
“It is if I make it my problem,” he said with a harsh tone. “Lucky for you, I’m not interested. Now,” he said dismissing me as he turned back to Vlad. “You’re sure you want to call in that favor for them?”
“I am,” Vlad said as he pulled a bottle of fifty year old scotch off the top shelf. “You said you owed me, and I’m collecting. The Seattle Guild is accusing Synthia and her uncle of attacking and bombing the Spokane Guild.”
“And I should give a fuck, why?” Lucian asked as he took the glass and tipped the contents down his throat without blinking.
“You shouldn’t, but I do,” Vlad said as he refilled the glass.
“I don’t understand you, Vampire. That caring thing you do is a weakness. Kill it. If you can’t fuck it, eat it, or sell it, fucking destroy it.” I almost snorted with his version of the lyrics from the Carnivore song Sex and Violence.
“You sure he isn’t your long lost twin?” I asked Ryder.
“I’m sure,” Ryder said ignoring Lucian as he took a sip of his drink.
“Are we going to do this or just sit around stroking egos all day?” Lucian asked as he stood up and turned to the men who stood behind him. “Gear up, now.”
“Full metal jackets or armor piercing rounds?” his man asked, and I took him in slowly. He was taller than Vlad, easily reaching six feet and a couple of generous inches. His black hair was spiked and he had small gauges in his ears; his eyes were a lighter blue, and cold. It was the only way to describe him. Cold, and malignant; the entire group of them radiated death from their pores.
“Ask the Vampire. I’m just here to kill shit,” Lucian said as he turned his eyes back on me.
“You’re not Fae,” he said but it wasn’t directed as a question. “That body is new, but that soul isn’t. Goddess?” he asked, and this time it was for me.
“Would it change your mind in helping us?” I asked as I lifted one brow in question.
“I like to know what the fuck I’m walking into. I am never behind my enemies, always ten steps ahead,” he said smoothly, his eyes watching me with keen knowledge. He was in full control and he knew it.
I refused to answer him, because when it came down to it, we were going in blind for the most part. “We won’t lose,” I said after a moment had past. “We go in and we do it as diplomatically as we can. If they refuse to do the same, we handle it. That’s all I can tell you, but remember this. I don’t want a war with the Humans. I used to be one.”
He smirked, and I felt my skin as gooseflesh rose on it. “Fine, we can play it your way,” he said as he turned and started to leave the club with his men.
I felt the tension before I knew what it was. Elijah, Silas, and some of their men walked in, and instantly, he and Lucian were eye-fucking each other. I was willing to bet they knew each other, and in everything I’d ever read, Demons and Angels didn’t get along. Of course, rumors went along the lines of another breed of Demons that were in fact Fallen Angels.
“Lucian,” Elijah growled and shook his head.
“Angel, I see you lost your wings. Momma get mad at you and take them back?” One of Lucian’s men taunted.
“I lost them a long time ago, when I started killing your kind for fun,” Elijah snapped and then turned his back on them.
“Pretty girl,” Vlad crooned, pulling my attention away from the men and the pissing contest. “Don’t fuck with Lucian; we want him on our side.”
“You think I care? I have Ryder and I’d bet the bank on him any day of the week. We have almost two hundred of the meanest warriors watching our backs. We could have handled this without you calling in a favor. And how the hell did he hear our conversation?” I asked Ryder.
“It’s Lucian,” Vlad answered. “I don’t question how he does shit; I only know that when I want bad shit done, he is the person I think of. You want someone to disappear? He is the person you call to get the job done.”
“I don’t want anyone to disappear,” I said with a wrinkled brow. “You basically called in the Devil. Should I be worried?” I asked as I took a sip of the forgotten glass of wine he’d poured earlier.
“Only if he takes interest in you; other than that, I wouldn’t. He is a lot like Ryder, but where Ryder wants to fix things; Lucian seeks to destroy and doesn’t give a fuck about anything. He’s a good person to have on your side. Not an ideal one to have against you. I sure as hell don’t want him as an enemy,” Vlad said as he refilled his own glass and downed it in a single swallow. “Now, let’s go kick the Guild in the balls, and then I’ll make you a real drink.”
“We got a problem,” Adrian interrupted as he walked in and turned on the news. “They’re going to execute some of the Fae they’ve captured, the ones who supposedly killed Humans.”
“Are they guilty?” I asked as I stared at the seductive faces on the flat screen TV that Vlad had muted.
“As far as I can tell, they’re Light Fae. They’ve been the worst of the offenders we’ve encountered lately,” Vlad said as he poured more drinks for Adrian and his crew that had just returned. The substance was thick, crimson and smelled coppery. Eww. “Those who were faithful to their King and Queen followed them here. Tatiana basically declared open season on the Human race. I think she’s trying to start this war singlehandedly. I expected something like this from Dresden. He, however, has seems to have gone missing. In his absence, Tatiana is using her mal
e admirers as pawns.”
“Then if they are guilty, we won’t stop them from executing them,” I said worriedly as I turned to Ryder to judge his response.
“If they broke the laws, then you’re right. We can’t save them, not without jeopardizing the peace we are trying for,” Ryder agreed with hesitancy in his voice. “But they don’t just have an execution planned, Pet, they will plan on torturing them to make a point.”
“Then we’d better do something about it,” I said softly as I wrapped my fingers around his. “I won’t allow them to suffer, but I won’t allow them to start a war either.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
We stood in the crowd, cloaked by invisibility. Snipers lined the roofs, and I watched silently as Lucian and his men removed the threat. They didn’t just remove them though. I was certain he’d taken them someplace else and I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know where, or what he was doing to them. I also didn’t care, which surprised me. I didn’t care as long as no one ever found the corpses, or proof that they’d been taken out.
The Guild members lined the steps of the Seattle Guild. They were preaching to the Humans who listened as if they were God himself. Fanatics, people who would hang on each word they said, and every lie they whispered.
“We will not take it, not anymore. We can rise up against them, and stop them from feeding on our race. If we work together, we can push them from our world and ensure that no other suffers the fate that these innocent women have at the hands of our enemies. Make no mistake, we are at war!” Harold, one of the Guild Elders continued. He was one we all knew, because he was the top dog at the Seattle Guild. He was also the one who fed orders to the Spokane Guild, or had before they’d lost it.
The crowd erupted into angry cries and I shook my head. I was stuck in the middle. I understood their fears and the reasoning behind it. They were part of the favored food group for most Fae, unfortunately, the Fae doing it didn’t stop at FIZ state, they continued until death was the outcome.