Ryder was leading them, and I closed my eyes, knowing that my babes would safe now; their father was here for them.
Danu was with him, but it didn’t look like she was visible to him or his men. I watched as Ryder moved towards me, killing and impaling anything in his way. He dismembered bodies and severed heads as he cut a path, his magic reaching out to those who were out of his physical reach to crush them. He reached me quickly and removed the bolts and chains that held me in place, and then I was dragged into his arms carefully.
“Synthia,” he whispered as he placed his ear against my chest and then looked down into my eyes. He lifted his eyes to look around the room. His men awaited his orders, covered in the blood of the Mages.
I watched as Savlian reached down, hauled up Cailean, and moved his sword up, holding it against the soft column of Cailean’s throat. His deadly intent pulled a numb response from the man, as his eyes met mine in a silent plea.
“No,” I whispered. “He’s friend, not an enemy. He’s wounded because he beat you here to save me,” I whispered, doing my best to ignore the blood that covered my lips.
“Eliran, help us!” Ryder snarled as he shimmered back to his Fae form.
“Here…Oh, shit,” Eliran whispered as he moved closer to where Ryder stood with me in his arms.
I didn’t need him to say it out loud. I could feel death’s rattle working in my chest. “Take me home, and save my babies, Eliran. You have to save them,” I told him with tears slipping from my eyes.
“Fuck that; you save them! All of them!” Ryder demanded.
I watched as Eliran stepped back and away from Ryder, as we sifted as a group to the sterile rooms of Eliran’s medical ward. I was gently placed on a bed, and I watched as Eliran looked at me helplessly.
“Get them out,” I whispered in a pleading tone as Eliran moved to me to see what he could do to try and stop what was going to happen no matter what he did.
I knew I was dying; they didn’t have long to wait. I knew my fate was sealed, but I had to give my children a fighting chance. I felt myself fading away, slipping from consciousness. “Fairy, be good to our children. I love you, I’ve loved you since the moment you walked into my world, and always will,” I whispered as I held his eyes. “Tell them I loved them and how much I wanted to be here for them, Ryder, and how much I love you,” I pleaded as I lifted my hand but missed his.
*~*Ryder*~*
I watch helplessly as her eyes glaze over. My mark, our link snaps and I feel pain as it rips through my chest as surely as if someone has removed my heart physically.
“Save her!” I shout at Eliran, but he slumps his shoulders and shakes his head.
“Save the babies, Eliran, it’s what Synthia wanted,” Ristan pleads as he sifts behind Eliran. “You have to save her children.”
I feel cold and dead inside. I move towards Synthia, but my brothers hold me back. I growl in warning but they just hold me, feeling my pain as the bond of blood races through them. “Call for Danu!” I demand, but those around me just stand there, holding me away from the lifeless body of my woman.
I struggle against them to get to her, but I’m numb and even in my grief I know I can’t harm them for guarding the babes. The beast roars, and I shake with the emotions. My heart is bleeding for her; I don’t want to live without her. She’s my fucking everything!
“Save them now!” Ristan orders Eliran, and a moment later Eliran stumbles away from Synthia’s body. His head shakes as he looks from me to the Demon, as if weighing which of us will kill him first.
They’re blocking my view of the body, and Ristan is nowhere to be seen, and then I hear his torn, broken whisper. “I’m so sorry, Flower. I wish you could have held on for us.” I hear the sickening sound of flesh as it meets the sharp edge of a blade as it cuts through. I jump to stop him, but my men are there, holding me back. Zahruk’s mental voice is shouting in my mind, trying to reason with me and the beast. My mind struggles to find the bond I share with Syn but it’s gone. I feel my beast as he struggles to get loose, pushing and tearing at me to get to the surface to get out, to get to Ristan. He’s fighting for total control.
“I’ll fucking kill you, Demon!” I snap, and the room shakes from my anger. My power pulses and begs to be released. In the struggle, the room shifts and I’m able to see her, as Ristan cuts her from one side of her stomach to the other with a scalpel. As I watch them, Eliran moves into action and women come pouring into the room as it comes alive with movement.
One son is pulled out of her lifeless body and given to Eliran, who briefly checks the child before passing it to one of his helpers. The woman takes the babe and with her magic, she pulls, forcing the fluid from his lungs until he lets out a cry of shock and surprise. The other boy is pulled out next and passed to Eliran, and I want nothing to do with them. If I’d never gotten her pregnant, she’d still be alive. It isn’t until Ristan pulls out a third babe that my heart stops cold.
“She did it, fucking hell, she did it,” Ristan says it as he stumbles back from the body and hands off the silent, blue, lifeless child. “She gave you a daughter.”
I’m up before I know it and my men release their hold, as I move to the child. She’s not breathing, and Eliran looks down at the helpless child and then over to where her mother lays lifeless on the bed, gutted. Ristan gutted my world to save my daughter, and maybe he had known, maybe he hadn’t. In the end, nothing matters beyond her children living, all of them. I step back from Eliran, knowing my menacing presence isn’t helping. “Save her, please, save my daughter.”
He moves into action, asking for things I have never heard of, but one of Eliran’s helper’s moves forward to help him.
Adam sifts in, his hands pulling at his hair as he sees Synthia. He looks around at the men; every one of them was as helpless to save her as I was. He must have felt their familiar bond shatter as her life slipped away. Devastation is written on his features as he stands there, trying to come to grips with what he is seeing. He spins and sifts out, only to return minutes later with Alden and Adrian, who wisely doesn’t lip off. Instead, he stands and watches the proceedings, unable to look away from the train wreck scene unfolding before his horrified eyes.
We all watch, waiting for a sign that one of the three will live. I stare at Synthia; where has her spirit gone? Did she go with Larissa, or did she join with her Fae ancestors? Or did demi-Goddesses have a cherished place among their own dead that I couldn’t follow her to?
One of the Fae assisting Eliran walks over to us and in her arms is a screaming infant. I hold out my arms, numbly. I then stare into azure eyes with a dark crop of midnight hair. He’s strong for something so small; his little arms push against mine as he frowns up at me. He’s tiny, born too early, yet strong like his mother.
Our link joins and I can feel the small boy. My son. I feel tears as they slide down from my eyes. Everyone in the room stops and looks at me and I don’t fucking care.
I break.
I cry for the mother they will never know, the one who will never hold them. I cry for my mate as the beast howls with pain at the loss of his equal. I know my men can feel my pain. It’s raw and brutal. She should be here with me, seeing the tiny precious lives we created together.
Another healer comes forward, her arms holding yet another fighting bundle, which she places in the crook of my other arm. He has white blonde hair and deep violet eyes, much like Synthia and Lasair, have as one of the colors of their matching eyes. I look into the child’s eyes and our bond connects. I can feel his heartbeat as if it’s my own. I hand off the first boy to Adam, and Ristan watches me as he shakes his head. Visions can change, we all know it, but if he had told me this would be my future, I’d have fucking stopped it.
Next comes the girl; she doesn’t fight like her brothers, and is almost still. As I move the thin blanket f
rom her face, I’m filled with love as her golden eyes look up at me and I touch the wispy, fine platinum curls on the top of her head that’s so much like her mother’s. “Your brothers hid you and protected you,” I whisper into her ear as I kiss her tiny cheek. Her brothers had protected her, and kept her existence a well-guarded secret. Her mother never even got to know she existed. I feel the last bond connect, and my eyes lift to her mother’s lifeless ones.
“What now?” Ristan asks as he moves to the body.
“Don’t touch her,” I warn. I move, rushing to the body as I hand off my tiny daughter into Ristan’s arms.
“Ryder, she cannot be brought back. Danu has shown me what would happen if she intervened, and there was no world, no Humans, and no Fae left. She’s gone but your children are here, and they need you, brother, we all do.”
“What do you mean no world?” I snap.
“Nothing, nothing would be left of either world if you break the balance. This was supposed to happen, and you can’t break the balance by changing it. Synthia would never forgive you if you did, and you know it.”
“She’s my fucking world,” I say through the pain I know they can feel. I hate this weakness, and yet I don’t fucking care. She was my mate, and I was too afraid to admit it even to myself because of this, this useless pain. It eats at me, and consumes the beast with an anger that can easily overtake us all.
“Then tell her goodbye, brother, and let her go in peace,” Ristan says and I feel my brothers at my back, feeding me their strength. All of them await me, to see my choice. They’d kill this world if I ordered it, I know they would. Ristan is right, though. If I bring her back and kill the world to do so, I lose her anyway.
“Get out,” I whisper to everyone in the room. I scream the moment the room has emptied, and fall to my knees beside the bed where her body lays. I should have given her more; I should have given her everything she’d asked for in life. Now I was left with nothing, no warmth filled my body, nothing but regret and emptiness was left in my soul which could never again be filled.
*~*~*
I stand in the room, staring down at her lifeless body. Her hand is in mine, and it has since grown cold. The others had left the room at my command; Adam, Ristan, and Zahruk stood just beyond the door. I could hear them discussing a funeral. The babes had been taken up to the nursery, which had been created in my chambers, where I could protect and watch over them.
I look down at her face and close her eyes. I place my hand over her midriff where Ristan had removed our babes and healed up as much as he could of the damage he’d been forced to do. I was a father now, but the joy of it is diminished without Synthia to enjoy it with me. It felt empty without her, and I felt like I didn’t deserve the beautiful gifts she had left me; not without her by my side to watch them grow.
Soon, it will be time to take them to the Tree, and offer them for Danu and the land to accept. I place my hand on her ice cold cheek and stifle the emotion that tries to lay me low. “This is your love; it has to be. I can’t breathe. I can’t fucking breathe without you, Synthia Raine. You weren’t supposed to leave me, Pet; that wasn’t the deal. I told you I would find you, damn you. How could you run from me in death where I cannot follow you? This isn’t right, but I get it now, you taught me. I know what love is, and it hurts. It’s tearing me apart, and I find I don’t enjoy it at all. Had you told me of this kind of pain, I’d have denied wanting it. I’d have lied if I could have. But if not feeling this pain meant never knowing you, I’d feel it again and again—just for you. I’d do it all again for one more moment with you.”
I reach down and place a long, gentle kiss on her lips, then walk out of the room. I’m leaving her there for burial. My world is gone, and every Mage left should be worried. I plan to kill every single fucking one of them, and by killing my world they’ve left me one thing…Revenge. It will guarantee that they all will die—violently. I’ve failed her, but I won’t ever make the mistake of failing the children she has left me to protect. Ever.
Chapter Ten
*~*Synthia*~*
I was behind him as he walked out of the room. His shoulders were slumped in defeat and I stood there, helpless to stop him from leaving. I turned and stared in horror at my body. I was dead? He loved me and I was freaking dead! That shit wasn’t fair!
I moved out of the room, oblivious to everything going on in the corridors. It wasn’t until something or someone grabbed me and pulled me back to my corpse.
“You can’t go to him yet,” Danu said softly. “You’re not ready and the others won’t be able to see you for about five or ten minutes as you complete the transition to your new form.”
“I’m dead?” I whispered, choking on the words as if they were sawdust.
“No daughter; you’ve been reborn. It was the only way I could save you without interfering. If I had saved that body, it would have broken the laws of the Gods and the natural order of the universe. If I had done so, the world of Faery would have crumbled, killing them all. Those who escaped would have killed the Human world as they tried to take it over. There’s not enough Witches left to protect them, and I knew if it was up to you, you would have wanted me to let your Fae body die. So I allowed it.”
“So I am dead?” I croaked and looked down at my body and the delicate white dress I wore. Everything seemed to be there except my baby bump, and I looked back at her trying to understand what was going on.
“You have to stop thinking like a Human now, Synthia. You’re a deity; I give you the title of Goddess of Faery to protect her at my side,” she said as she smiled softly. “I’m the Goddess of the Fae, and you’re the Goddess of the lands.”
“I’m a Goddess?” I asked, unbelievingly.
“You are overthinking everything right now,” she said as she sat on the bed next to my corpse and started filing her nails. “There are rules to being a Goddess, and we will go over the big rules later, but for now all you need to know is while you can help the Fae, you can’t interfere directly and change the future. You have an advantage over me, as I sense you can physically help in the fight against the Mages. Your powers will come online soon and we will see exactly what you can do,” she said with a hint of excitement.
“Did—did my children…” I couldn’t ask, because if the answer was no it would be too painful.
“All three of them are alive for now, but I must warn you, Synthia. I used a lot of my power to save you and bring you back. I will need as much help from the Fae people as I can get in order to draw enough magic to accept them and to feed the lands, as well.”
“Three?” I asked, confused. “I was carrying twins.”
“You gave birth to the first set of triplets in Fae history. And before you ask, none of them came from me, and I had nothing to do with it. It was all you and your beast. All yours! And as luck would have it, turns out that beast of yours gave you a litter of little fighters,” she chuckled gleefully.
“Okay, I love that you saved me but…” I eyed the door eagerly.
“Go, but be aware that your beast is in for the shock of his life.”
I ran for the door, since I’d tried to sift but couldn’t seem to figure it out and in my hurry, I was too busy to care about figuring out how to use my magic. I ran up through the crowded corridors and no one seemed to be able to see me. I ran to Ryder’s bedroom clumsily, as I felt weightless, and yet I hadn’t sifted. I pushed open his bedroom door and found Darynda sitting next to the crib crying softly, patting one of the babes on their tiny back. .
She gasped and screamed as she saw me, and sifted out.
I ignored her reaction to my presence as I leaned over the crib to look at the tiny little boy. He had beautiful azure eyes and deep, dark hair with midnight highlights in it, like his father’s. I moved to the next crib and found another boy with violet eyes and blonde hair who l
ooked much like Liam. I guessed the rules of them taking after their mother didn’t apply with my mixed DNA. I heard a tiny cry, which tore at my heartstrings and moved on to the next crib.
I gasped; she was beautiful. Her golden eyes looked up at me as if she knew me; her whitish blonde hair was curly and beautiful. I reached down and pulled her up against my chest as I placed a kiss on her tiny little cheek and then her nose.
“No—she’s fucking dead. Get the fuck away from my daughter,” Ryder’s voice growled as he entered the nursery. I felt the moment his men sifted in, sensing me as a threat. I didn’t turn around right away. Instead, I placed another kiss on my daughter’s cheek and placed her back in her crib.
“Step away from—” Ryder continued as I turned to look at him.
“Sweet Jesus,” Adam swore as his eyes took me in.
I looked back at Ryder, who had gone silent, as if he was afraid to believe his eyes. I watched as a single tear slid down his cheek as he replaced his sword in its sheath. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded.
“I’ve only been dead for a little while, I seriously hope you haven’t forgotten me that quickly,” I whispered as I watched him.
“You’re dead. I just came from your body a few moments ago,” he seethed as he watched me closely; as if I’d go for one of the babies.
“Yes, my body is,” I said. “Danu made me a Goddess.”
“Impossible,” he said.
I moved to him and raised my hand but dropped it when he flinched. “Fairy, it’s me. I’m here, just in a new body.”
“You died.”
“I did.”
“You look a little different,” he growled as he tried to puzzle it out. “I felt you die; the mark is gone.”
I hadn’t even considered how I looked, but then I’d been in a hurry to get to my babies. “I was reborn, and I don’t know the hows of it, only that I was.” It was so quiet in the room you could have heard a pin drop.