Escaping Destiny (26 page)

“That’s harsh,” I said as we walked carefully
between massive stalactites and stalagmites that almost touched
each other. As we passed through the giant formations, the cave led
out to green pillars of shrubbery on both sides that veered sharply
to the left, indicating we were now in the maze. “So she wants you
as a boy toy then?”

“You could say that. She doesn’t allow me to
form attachments to women either. The moment it turns to anything
more than just feeding, they die. I can’t prove it’s her, but why
else would a fully Transitioned Fae woman just die without any
signs of sickness?”

“And you are sure you haven’t drained their
souls?” I asked. I had heard Demons fed from souls, and if they
fully fed and gorged on one, there would be no coming back from it.
There would also be no rebirth, either.

“I’m careful when I feed, Flower. I learned
that lesson long ago. The hard way. I also wasn’t feeding when
these women died. Danu has been forcing the issue a lot more
lately. I’m not sure why, or how to handle it. Not sure why I am
telling you this either,” he said, glancing at me sideways.

“Because we’re friends, Demon. It’s what
friends do; they listen to problems and help find a solution,” I
chimed in and threw him a cheeky smile.

“Hmm...Most people don’t like or trust
Demons,” he replied easily.

“I haven’t met any other Demons to form an
opinion, and you have to admit that Demons don’t exactly have a
good reputation. But you, you’ve grown on me like a fungus.” I
smiled when he snorted emphatically. “Most feed to kill. You don’t.
You’re different, and while I planned on hating you, I decided I
should pick my battles wisely. I’ve been wrong about a lot of
things. Like Ryder…I never planned to be here with his children
planted in my body…making me fat. And yet, here I am, walking
through a maze in Faery, pregnant with his twins, fighting for a
world I would have gladly helped destroy only a few months
ago.”

“Life is funny like that, I guess. One minute
you know what needs to be done, and the next you are fighting
against things you never saw coming,” Ristan said, and I had a
feeling he was referring to the visions he was given.

“Do you think she gives you the vision as a
gift, or as a curse?”

“A curse. Definitely a curse, because half
the time she feeds me visions that piss off the guard, and even
though they are accurate, I am sure those are just to fuck with me.
The other ones, however—I think those are honestly ones she gives
me to save Faery. She can’t help or interfere directly, so she
helps in other ways,” he replied. “Mostly by setting events in to
motion and letting freewill take over. The vision she sent me of
you handing Adam one of your children, set in motion Ryder
sacrificing you for Faery—yes, I noticed she mentioned that Ryder
had done that, so it was part of her scheme to show how much he was
willing to sacrifice his own wants for the needs of Faery. Let’s
see, what else? You being taken into the Blood Realm to be returned
to your parents to discover that you were the Blood Princess, and
then handed off to the Horde King. Do you know Ryder almost killed
me when I shared that vision? But that is pretty typical of how she
gets her way, fucks with my head and still abides by the rules,” he
grumbled.

“I couldn’t imagine seeing what you do, and
remaining sane.”

“Who says I’m sane?” he quipped with a wicked
smile.

“Okay, mostly sane,” I amended.

“Shit,” Ristan said, coming to a dead stop at
the first directional divide. The path was a three way divide, and
there was a thin piece of vellum on the lush green grass that had a
few words scrawled on it. He picked it up gingerly. “Riddles, I
hate fucking riddles,” Ristan growled and shook his dark head. “Why
couldn’t she have sent a minotaur, or maybe David Bowie and a bunch
of Muppets to mess with us?”

“Probably because that’s what you would be
expecting?” I ventured as he nodded absently.

“The left is but a vision of pleasure. The
right is just a vision of horror. The third is the easiest of the
three. Choose wisely, for only one will take you in the direction
of which you seek to go,” he read from the vellum.

“It’s written on spell paper?” I asked as my
fingers itched to touch the vellum.

“Yes, it’s written on spell paper because
even now your fingers twitch to touch it.” He pointed at my hands,
and sure enough, they were itching to grab the magical paper.

“Sneaky bastard,” I griped.

“Sneaky Goddess is more like it,” he replied
as he placed the paper back on the ground. “So, pleasure, horror,
or the easy way?” he asked.

“Horror,” I replied after a moment of
hesitation.

“Sounds lovely,” he said.

“Pleasure is a given. If we took it, it would
probably be hell. The easiest way is what you would think to take,
but since were dealing with Danu I’m going to take a gander and say
we’d kill someone for taking it. Horror is the one most people
wouldn’t take, so we go with it.”

“Blades out, and stay behind me. But stay
close, Flower. I like my balls just the way they are.”

“Deal,” I said, and giggled at my own inner
thought process.

“What’s so funny?” he asked after a moment
had passed.

“I was thinking that I don’t have to run fast
if we get in trouble. I just have to run faster than you.”

“Funny girl.” He smiled, but didn’t take his
eyes off the path of the maze row we had taken.

It all changed as we got further into the
maze. It was worse than a fun house. Grey clouds rolled in above
us, as thunder clapped so loudly in the sky, it rattled our teeth.
The tall maze shrubbery changed into wicked looking thorn bushes,
which twisted and tangled around us.

Ristan hissed and cut through thick tendrils
of thorns that threatened the path. “Horror may have been the wrong
choice,” he said after a few more branches pushed in front of us,
blocking our way.

“It was the only one that didn’t sound
tempting. I’ve learned never to take the easy way out of anything;
it always ends up with people dying. Pleasure, don’t get me wrong,
I like it, but I’m not taking any path that leads to pleasure with
you or the Goddess.”

“Good point,” he said with a short laugh
before he started whacking at another vine.

We followed the path for what felt like hours
before we finally came to another fork, and another piece of
vellum. We stayed there for a little bit, and I was pretty sure it
was Ristan’s way of making sure I rested. He took his time before
he read the slip of vellum.

“To find the goal, you must concentrate, for
within these walls there is one at stake. Which path would you
prefer to take? Death, or life, the choice is yours, but keep in
mind, even immortals can make mistakes.”

“I say we cut a path right down the fucking
middle and kill anything that moves,” I growled.

Ristan raised a brow and whistled. “Damn,
Flower. That almost made me hard. Shock me with that blood thirsty
little inner vixen.” He smiled and helped me to my feet.

“You choose, Demon. There is no right path on
this one.” I sighed. Life or death? I chose life, but I had a
feeling it was a wrong choice.

“Life,” Ristan said. “We choose life,
Synthia. Some things are worth fighting our way through.”

The moment we stepped foot on the path to
Life, everything turned dead. Shit. I felt sick, and instantly bent
over and started retching my guts out onto the path. Ristan grabbed
me quickly and stepped back into the fork for the paths.

“You’re okay, I got you.”

I felt Ristan’s hands touching me, but
Ryder’s comfort filling me as I emptied my stomach until nothing
was left. “Death,” I said and sat back against the Demon, who had
sat behind me to comfort me as I spewed my guts up.

“Death,” he agreed. “Let me know when you are
ready.”

“I’m ready, Demon. Let’s show this bitch who
is boss.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, and helped get me
back to my feet once more.

Death was lit from within, and beautiful.
Roses had grown on the vines, and the sun had taken place of the
clouded skies. “From death comes new life,” I whispered as I
watched birds fly together, and butterflies as big as my head
fluttered around us.

“No more easy ways. From here on out, you
choose.”

“We choose together,” I said, and palmed the
blades at my sides.

“Together,” he agreed.

“Ryder is trying to help us,” I said after
we’d been walking for a while.

“No, he’s helping you. He’s freaking out and
can feel your unease. He is connected to you, and he feels
everything you do right now. Trust me, he’s only cussing me out and
threatening to geld my boys every time you feel afraid, or
pain.”

“Good to know,” I muttered as something shot
past my head.

“Fuck!” Ristan shouted, and took me to the
ground.

“Don’t move,” Ristan muttered as his immense
body held me against the ground. “Someone just tried to blow your
head off,” he growled from deep in his chest.

“No shit, Sherlock,” I mouthed, and felt pain
throbbing in my shoulder. I kept it to myself, but had a feeling
Ryder would be cussing up a storm soon. Sure enough, within a
second, Ristan stiffened up.

“Dammit, Synthia! You’re hit,” he snarled as
he rolled off me, and looked at my shoulder.

“I’m fine; it’s a flesh wound.” I turned and
glared at him. “Tell that fucking Fairy to shut it. It hurts and
burns like the fires of Hades, but I’ll live.”

“Let me see,” he said and moved to sit
up.

“Stay down! Someone is still shooting at us,”
I whispered vehemently.

“Good point,” he said, and lifted his head
over my chest to look across the twisted vines of blood red roses.
“Stay put, Flower. I’m going hunting.”

“You’re leaving me here?” I complained.

“Well yes. You are shot, and I have a very
angry Horde King in my head telling me to gut the mother fucker who
did it.”

“Fine. I’ll be here, in the bushes, on the
ground. Just laying here, waiting for you to come back with your
big manly self.”

He snorted and shook his thick mane of hair.
“Promises, promises.” He kissed my cheek and left me on the ground.
“Stay put, Princess, while I go slay the beast.”

“Now who is making promises?” I teased to
take off the edge of being planted on the ground with a painful
shoulder. The bullet had only grazed me, though, and I was more
worried about being left on the ground than I was anything
else.

I brought my hand up and ran it over the area
which had been grazed and applied pressure. Whoever shot at me had
crappy aim. I heard a scuffle, and then Ristan was back and ripping
part of his cloak to make a field dressing.

“He’s dead, but I think he was dead for a
while before I got to him. Danu brought those who got lost in this
place back to life to fuck with us.”

“Peachy.” I ground my teeth together tightly,
as he pressed the black coarse material to my arm and then tied it
there. “Wait, if she is bringing those that got lost and died in
the maze back to life, where they hell did they get the gun? I
mean, if this place was shut down when Kier took his throne, that
was centuries ago; way before firearms would have been around.”

“Fuck if I know. Bermuda Triangle, perhaps?
The one I killed—again—looked like a Spanish privateer. Can you
walk?”

“He grazed my shoulder, Demon, not my
ass.”

He laughed and the light caught his eyes and
twinkled with humor. “Oh the things I could say to that,” he
whispered as he helped me to my feet.

I was barely upright when the next attack
came. There were several men who looked just like Ristan had said
my shooter looked. Their clothing was from the 1600s; cutlasses,
old flintlock pistols, and decomposing faces. “Ristan,” I warned,
as I looked at those coming closer to where we stood. “Are those
Zombie pirates?” I asked, trying not to sound crazy.

“What the hell?” Ristan asked as he reached
for me, only to stop as a loud explosion sounded.

We both ducked as what looked like a ghost
cannon sent a round black ball sailing over our heads. “They’re
firing cannons at us?” I asked in shock as guns were drawn from the
sickly looking men who were growling, and making strange gurgling
sounds.

“Shit,” Ristan said, half laughing, half
shock. “Syn, there’s too many of them. Get behind me.”

I didn’t have time to reply as one of the
Spanish pirates rushed at us. On instinct, I dropped and brought my
foot out to trip him. When he was on the ground, Ristan brought out
his wicked looking sword, and severed his head.

Another rushed in, this one with his gun
pointing at my head. I dodged it easily, maneuvering around its
sluggish gait. “They’re slow,” I blurted as I used the dagger to
pierce its heart. “Ristan, they’re slow.”

“No shit, but so are you!” he shouted as the
cannon’s booming noise sounded again.

“I’m not slow!” I growled as I took a second
to level him with a killing glare.

“Synthia!” he shouted as a zombie sifted in
beside me. I turned quickly; avoiding the rusty sword it aimed at
me, and made quick work of it. “You are pregnant, which makes you
slow. Get behind me,” Ristan continued as he took out another
zombie.

I swung the short sword Ristan had given me
at the beginning of the maze and decapitated another zombie. “Just
because I’m pregnant, doesn’t make me slow, Demon!”

He took out another zombie, and turned to
give me a disgruntled look of irritation. “I like my head on my
shoulders. If you so much as get a scratch on your delicate flesh,
Ryder will remove it!”

I rounded on him, and glared. I didn’t have
time to argue, and the look on Ristan’s face confirmed it as I
turned back around and swung the sword, taking two heads off with
one swing. I was relieved that the zombies did not get back up once
they had been dispatched. “Ryder knows I can take care of myself.
You really think I’d let him remove your head?”