Embracing Destiny

by Hutchins, Amelia

  He loved me, but he’d lied to me. He could fucking lie this whole time! So what was the truth? What part of us was even real? I held secrets that Danu asked me to keep hidden from the man I loved. I thought I’d been protecting him, but I hadn’t. I’d been hurting him.

  Ryder was a fucking god! I’d unknowingly married a god, and I’d created children with him. My entire life was fabricated from the point of birth in lies. My whole world was crumbling around me, and I had nothing left.

  There was no one I could turn to and nowhere to go. Everything that had ever happened to me was by design, and not something I created. I was the product of a destiny Danu and Ryder had chosen for me.

  Now I was stuck in my worst nightmare, living in a world that I wasn’t sure would accept me while being removed from the only one I’d ever known. It was a violent rejection while being told everything was my fault.

  I wasn’t even very old by human standards, and everyone expected me to do shit that people centuries older than me were doing, and I hadn’t figured out how to accomplish it yet. My life had been one rejection after another, filled with death.

  Everyone I loved died, and it wasn’t just death, they died horribly! I’d been tossed from Faery, hidden in the human world, and then brought back here to save it. It wasn’t like anyone asked me what I wanted.

  The beast mounted me, and he’d fucking bred me like one. Not that the sex was bad, but he’d placed life into my womb without asking me if I wanted it. I hadn’t ever considered becoming a mother. Adrian and I had never even spoken about it because our careers had come first. In our line of work, it meant early retirement. So, I’d pushed off even thinking about it.

  I loved my children, but what kind of life were they living? I’d hidden them from angry gods and mages who literally murdered me to get to them. Since the first breath they’d taken, they’d been targets. I was their mother, and I wasn’t strong enough to protect them.

  Ryder hadn’t sent them away because he couldn’t protect them. No. He’d sent them away because I wasn’t able to protect them if we were attacked. I’d listened to him since, as their mother, my job was to do what’s best for them. Our enemies knew I was weak. I seriously hated it when Ryder was right.

  Sifting into the castle, I moved up the empty stairs to my bedroom, which had also been destroyed. I sat on the stone seat that had once been the windowsill. The inside of the castle was like a tomb, much as the dragon palace had been. I stood after some time had passed, staring at the rotting legs that stuck out from under the bed.

  Outside the room, I moved toward the tower we’d built here, finding it destroyed much as ours had been. Inside, there was blood everywhere. The blood of Liam’s own children covered the floor. He seemed so brave and untouchable. Scarred by Alazander, the old Horde King, he still stood fierce and proud in the face of the new one.

  Liam had protected my children, and I’d let him down. I hadn’t been back to our tower. I was unable to look at the stairs without seeing the blood that had covered them, or Dristan’s severed body outside the children’s playroom. I was weak with grief because I’d failed them, and deep down, I blamed myself.

  I turned, surveying the glyphs I’d placed, and then noted the old wards Lucian had placed before I’d overwritten them with my own. Lucian warned us they would weaken, so I’d replaced them. That was probably the cause of everyone dying because I was too weak to outdo a god in his own world.

  I sent a whisper of power rushing through the Blood Kingdom, righting the wrongs while burying the dead in nameless graves. I placed flowers over the dirt that covered their bodies, forcing them to sprout from seeds to blanket the mass graves in vibrant colors.

  Lifting my hand, I sent magic to the castle, raising it higher, making it stronger until it was once again a proud stronghold that could withstand a siege while offering a safe place for Liam to rule. I owed him that much.

  Soon his palace was just that: a vast, sprawling stronghold that spread as far as the eye could see. I placed beautiful, foreboding fountains of blood out front as a reminder of who owned it. Skulls lined the tops of the walls, a warning to anyone that thought the Blood Kingdom was weak. Large red flags the color of arterial blood lined the battlements, while smaller flags covered the outside grounds.

  I stepped back, tilting my head to take in my handiwork before I vanished. I visited the Dark Kingdom next, staring at the carnage that littered the courtyard and the once-proud walls of the palace. I pushed past it, reminding myself that this place had been my first excursion into Faery, other than being hunted by Ryder.

  Lifting my arm, I looked at my wrist before dropping it to stare up at the twin suns. If Ryder was the holier than thou god of the land, the asshole needed to pick a sun so I could tell when my time was running out. I flicked my wrist, righting the damage to the courtyard before frowning at the castle.

  It was huge and screamed Castle of Doom to the rafters. I smiled. It had terrified me to come here. I’d put on a brave face while my heart shattered into a million pieces at the idea of leaving Ryder. I’d fallen in love with the enemy, and fuck if I hadn’t fallen fast and hard for him.

  Inside the castle were mages, lounging about, oblivious to the fact that it wasn’t their palace. I flicked my wrist the moment they moved, freezing them in place.

  “It’s so rude and just plain disrespectful to pillage and plunder the dead. You are mages, right? I mean, you come from the same world that I do, and yet here you are, plundering this tomb as if you have the right. You don’t. This is my best friend’s home, and you are not welcome. But since you are here, let’s chat. How did you decide on which team to go with? What made you want to be welcomed into this deadly, honest-to-gods horror story of a world? I mean, even the flowers will fucking kill you here.”

  They stared up at me, frozen where they sat or stood. When no one spoke, I frowned.

  “It isn’t a trick question.” I strolled in between the mages frozen on the floor. “I was born to believe I was human, so I adopted their rules and laws. I was then brought here and told I was of Faery.” Pointing an accusing finger at one of the mages against the wall, I smiled. “Then you motherfuckers killed me, and whoops, I became a goddess.” Shrugging, I continued walking. “Now, I have to pick between the human world or Faery.”

  “And you’re not sure which world’s side you want to fight for?” one of the mages asked, cocking his head to the side.

  “Oh, no, I totally want to slaughter all of you. That’s a given; you killed me. You hunt my babes, and for what? Because some stuck-up courts decided you weren’t good enough? You should have accepted the horde. They’re ruthless, but considering what you guys have done to us, you’d have fit right in. All the other courts, they were okay, but I mean, if you were planning to join one that would have your back, Ryder would be the one you’d want. My problem is that I have to choose my humanity or Faery. I’m afraid that if I can figure out how to eradicate it from my soul, I’ll lose everything that makes me who I am. Following?” I asked, noting his wide eyes.

  “Are you having some kind of mental breakdown?” another one asked.

  Turning toward the mage that spoke, I considered his question, then shook my head. “No, I think I’m losing everything, and I don’t know how to stop it. I also don’t know how one is expected to just get rid of a sliver of humanity. I mean, how am I supposed to know how to cut it out?” I sighed.

  “I have a knife,” one offered.

  “I don’t think I’m expected to literally cut it out, idiot. It’s more of a metaphor, I think, or actually hope.”

  “Just trying to help,” he shrugged. “You could ask our god how you get rid of it,” he smiled, exposing his blackened teeth.

  “Dude, you seriously need to see a dentist. And you guys know that Bilé is the God of Death and the Dead. I mean, who willingly says, ‘let’s
go follow Death,’ because that screams brilliant. Why am I asking you guys?” I muttered, and when black-teeth started to respond, I snapped my fingers, watching him explode all over his friends.

  One by one, the mages exploded the moment they spoke until silence filled the palace. I tilted my head, snapping my fingers again to slaughter the ones that were hidden out of sight. Looting was utter bullshit and just plain trashy. You had to be a pretty shitty person to loot the dead.

  I didn’t bother walking any deeper into the palace. I decided to sit beside the corpses while I rearranged Adam’s fortress to fit his personality: dark and oh, so beautifully broody. I’d also checked every closet he owned for that body we were missing. If he had it here, it wasn’t in his home.

  I placed skulls all over the tables as centerpieces and hung pictures of naked chicks all over the walls to fuck with him. I added the guild’s new symbol on the ceiling, and then some penis-shaped pillows on the round sofas. I wouldn’t go to the Palace of Lights, not because I didn’t like Asher, but because Faery suns were beginning to set when I had finally finished putting shit in random places to drive Adam mad.

  I sifted again, standing in the bushes where I looked down at the Fairy Pools where Ryder stood, gazing into the glowing water. Power radiated from him, and I knew without him peering in my direction that he’d felt me entering the clearing. He turned his head slowly, staring up at me as I watched him.

  “Time’s up,” he warned. Cracking his neck, he rolled his shoulders as fire ignited in his amber depths.

  “Is it? Didn’t notice the time, Fairy,” I muttered, watching as he prepared to hunt me down like a dog.

  “I’m not going to lie and say I won’t enjoy this,” he growled, donning his armor. “I enjoyed hunting you down and claiming you as mine last time. If I wasn’t mistaken by the way you screamed my name as I fucked you, you liked it, too. Not to mention, you didn’t run too hard. I give it an hour before I have you beneath me, woman.”

  “The difference is, Ryder, last time you promised me passion. This time, you promise me pain. This time, I plan to run,” I smirked, feeling the air displacing as he gave chase and sifted. “Catch me if you can,” I whispered through the fabric of the world as I appeared in another place, sailing straight for jagged rocks. He appeared above me, watching me fall.

  “Synthia,” he snapped, and I vanished seconds before I would have landed on the rocks. “Naughty girl, this should be interesting.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I appeared inside the Winter Court, shivering as icy cold air bit at my skin. Glamouring on a white snowsuit to stave off the chill, I hid against the snowcaps within the Icelandic mountaintops. Ryder sifted in less than ten feet from me, staring down at the snow before he searched the white, well, everything. His nose lifted in the air, and he turned. I hesitated a moment too long, watching him.

  He was a predator hunting down his prey. Obsidian eyes burned with the ambers of fiery flecks as they settled directly on my location. A dangerously wicked smile curved his lips as he tilted his head, growling huskily. The sound of crunching snow made my eyes dip to his dark boots, and I smirked as snow began to fall around us.

  “You planning to get fucked in the snow, pretty girl?” he rasped, his heated gaze sliding over the tight suit I wore. His mouth twisted into a grin as if he assumed I was giving up and accepting the inevitable.

  “Not at all,” I murmured. I held up my hand while he watched, snapping my fingers as snow slid from the mountains above me. He disappeared, and I vanished the moment he hit the snowbank I’d been leaning against. I pictured water in my mind and smiled as I dropped through the air, freefalling.

  I fell into a pool of water, pulling myself out as I looked around the area. Heads turned from creatures I couldn’t identify, all staring at me. I winced as I took in their three eyes and the pale, pasty color of their skin. I sifted again the moment the air grew heavy with power. Ryder could get his jollies off with those things, not me. My body slammed against something squishy as I reappeared. I let out a snort of breath before I pushed off from whatever I had landed on, peering sheepishly down at a very dead redcap, now covered in blood.

  “Oops,” I said, turning as Ryder appeared, noting the blood that covered my dress.

  “Sloppy.”

  “Accidental death by Goddess?” I shrugged, disappearing again. Sloppy was right. I glamoured on a new dress mid-sift and tossed the one old one off the edge of a cliff. I sifted, only to appear a few feet from where I’d dropped the blood-soaked dress.

  Ryder sifted in, sniffing the air, then he crouched, staring down the cliff’s impressive drop. I sifted in behind him as he spun around and pushed him off before I followed him over the edge. I sifted the moment he reached for me, but not before I caught the horrified look on his face. He wasn’t happy I’d gotten the jump on him. I, on the other hand, was pleased as punch.

  I reappeared in the Fearless Forest and started running through the thick brush. I realized that if I continued to sift after expelling so much magic to rebuild kingdoms, I’d fizzle out quickly. Howling erupted behind me, which caused the hair on my neck to rise with warning as the Hounds of the Wild Hunt snarled loudly. I turned back in the direction I’d come, staring into the darkened forest.

  “Cheater,” I growled, turning to run the moment Ryder came into view. He walked through the woods, stalking me as he watched me through narrowed eyes.

  He sifted in front of me, and I sifted away, vanishing into a different kingdom altogether. This one had a blazing sun, and I couldn’t see anything past the searing of my eyeballs. I used my arm to shield the light and took in the white sandy beaches and turquoise waves that crashed against the shore. The heavy scent of coconuts floated through the air, and I inhaled the heady scent with vigor.

  “You’re weakening, little queen.” Ryder stood directly in front of the sun, blocking out his features, concealing them in the shadows. “Either that or you want to be caught.” I vanished to the sound of his husky laughter echoing in my ears.

  The meadows broke my fall, connecting with my face as I landed in the flowers. I sat up, staring down at my pollen covered hands, then lifted my head, finding Ryder protected in his armor, slowly walking through them toward where I sat on the ground.

  “Come touch me,” I begged huskily. Standing, I stripped off the dress, holding it in my hand as Ryder closed the distance between us. His eyes lowered to my body as his armor vanished. A cocky smile lifted his lips, and victory sparkled in his eyes. The moment he got close, I kicked him in the balls. “That’s for lying to me!” I sifted, tossing my dress in the next location I landed before sifting out immediately. I hit the next spot, turning to wait for him, but arms wrapped around me, and a low, angry growl vibrated through me.

  “You want to play rough?” he asked, grabbing my hair as he twisted my head, nipping against my neck.

  I slammed my head back against his face and disappeared, falling into the grass of a new area as my head spun in circles. I struggled to get up from the ground, drained of magic. Glamouring on a skirt and tight top, I stared out over the greenery and saw the hounds baring their teeth at me. They closed in on me, surrounding the area I stood in as he watched.

  “That’s cheating.”

  “It isn’t a fucking game, woman.” Ryder hissed, and I jumped to a new place, waiting for him.

  I couldn’t outrun him. This was his playground. Ryder was too powerful, and I was exhausting my power trying to stay ahead of him. I repeatedly sifted, rubbing my scent all over random things in each place I visited before moving on to the next.

  When I’d jumped to over twenty locations, and figured I’d sent him on a merry little search, I ran into the Forest of Flurries and didn’t stop until I was out of breath. I studied the landscape, watching everything I passed until I found the entrance to a dark cave. Normally, it wo
uld have seemed like a foolish thing to walk into. Today, however, I was already on a roll, and the cave beckoned to me.

  Slowly, I entered, hearing my blood pumping in my ears and feeling my heart thundering against my chest. I shivered. The sound of dripping water echoed off the walls, warring against the thumping of the blood rushing through my veins as I moved deeper.

  Turning toward the sound of the water, I frowned. My eyes locked on to writing that covered both sides of the cave as light began to flood the cave. I scrunched up my face, reminding myself that this was the perfect setup for a horror movie where the blonde rushed headfirst into the serial killer’s arms and got her ass murdered.

  It wasn’t a cave, after all. It was a tunnel with a light at the end that continued to call me forward. Once I was through the opening, I peered out at vast greenery that looked like something out of a fantasy movie. Waterfalls covered high cliffs, pooling into lazy creeks that ran through the meadow in which I lazily walked across.

  In the distance sat an eerie-looking castle that reflected the sun’s last light as the red sunset splashed across the sky. The angle of the palace made it look as if it had been bathed in blood, and the closer I got, the more I realized it might be.

  Bodies lay strewn all over the meadow in varying stages of decay. Tilting my head, I knelt down, studying the silverish white hair of a corpse before touching it. Seelie? My gaze slowly moved over the remains of the dead to the large, elegantly built palace, and I smirked.

  “Asher, you naughty boy,” I whispered, heading in the path the bodies seemed to have come. I reached a trail that led beside the fortress and deeper into the city I could see beyond it. At the end of the trail was a large, round pit that sat dead in the middle of town. It looked as if it went on forever into the earth. Something called me to it, something I couldn’t understand, and yet everything inside of me said to take a leap of faith. “Bottoms up,” I said, dropping into the pit.