“Negotiating one-oh-one, fuck-head, never negotiate without a visual of that in which your adversary holds as leverage,” I clarified since he looked a bit confused by all my big words. “I don’t know you from Adam, but I’ve met plenty of fucktards who simply enjoy pretending they have the big-D energy. Maybe your momma didn’t spank your ass enough growing up, so you continue looking for attention in all the wrong ways.” I chuckled as his teeth ground together in anger. “Either produce Kahleena or send me back so I can prepare for war against you and your little crew of rejects from the Ren Faire. Then we can settle this on a field of battle like real fucking leaders do.”
“Does that mouth of yours ever get tired of running?” he asked in an icy tone.
“Does yours?” I crossed my arms over my breasts, staring him down as my power exploded around me. Silver-blue and purple brands kindled against my tanned flesh, pulsing with staggering intensity. My hair drifted around me, lit by the brilliant radiance of my skin as I let my inner goddess out to play. My glowing lavender-and-electric-blue eyes reflected in his while he took in the transformation.
“Dick-swinging-Neanderthal?” He smiled. “Do you talk to your king with that filthy, insubordinate mouth of yours?”
“My king doesn’t suffer from the same . . . unfortunate insecurity you do, and it’s obvious.”
One man charged at me, and I lifted my palm in his direction, sending him back so hard the wall trembled and fractured when he hit it. Rocks peppered the floor, and the cave rocked from the collision, threatening to cave in on our skulls.
“The next motherfucker who thinks to jump into this parley will be rendered to fucking particles,” I threatened. “If you don’t have her, we’re finished here.” I glided my scrutiny to the wall, which continued rumbling until it crashed to the floor, allowing light to flood in and giving me a view of the outside world.
The music of rushing water floated to me, and the sweet undertones of wild flowers and citrus swept away the heavy scent of mildew and rot. Birds whistled, chirping without concern at being devoured by larger prey. Everything was awash with vivid greenery, and the warmth of the sun blended with the chill in the shady alcove.
The picturesque nature of the scene painted for me in and of itself told me it was an illusion. One which the seelie across from me was projecting.
That confirmed Erie’s theory as to why I was unable to locate this place. Scanning the cave, I discovered what looked like writing, but it was old and not anything I could decipher. On the other wall, exposed by the sunlight, was a symbol that captured my attention and increased my heart rate.
Hope flared and then withered just as swiftly when the bastard chuckled and snapped his fingers. As I watched, the symbol transformed into my name, which had been carved into the wall. He was altering the scene without a single hint of magic fluttering in the air.
“It won’t be that easy, I’m afraid. I’m inside your world now, and I’ve been here since before you failed to protect Kahleena from me. Kahleena has been within your grasp this entire time, and yet, you still fail to locate her. She cries for you at night, pleading and begging for you to find her and bring her home. Your daughter really is gorgeous—a temptation in its purest form. But she’s innocent in ways I hadn’t expected, which means she’ll be easy to manipulate and claim. You should be fearful of me claiming her as my own.”
“Is that why I’m here? You need her to feel rejected by us so she runs into your arms. You think she’s young, which she is, but you won’t get what you want out of this. Let me take her home with me. If you want a fight, then we’ll give you one, but she doesn’t deserve this.”
“You think I care what she deserves or what you want? I am not here to indulge you or Kahleena in any fashion. You’ll do as I say, or I’ll show you that I don’t make idle threats.”
Chapter Sixteen
He tilted his head, sliding his focus to the guys, who were deliberately scooting closer to me. The prick issued orders in an unfamiliar language, causing the hair on my nape to rise. His squad fired enraged glowers toward me, but then they slipped through the doorway I’d made in the wall, vanishing out of sight before they’d fully stepped into the sunlight.
“You have not presented me with your name,” I probed, hoping that would give me a hint as to who I was actually dealing with.
“I never offered you a name,” he returned sharply, but his eyes carried a dangerous gleam of amusement as they flickered with silver before settling onto a cobalt-blue coloring. “Even if I did, few could tell you of me or my people. All proof we existed was wiped out before your people were given control of the Etherlands. You don’t crave a name, though. No, you wish to learn what I plan to do to you and your people, and that, at least, has a straightforward answer. I aim to crush you all and recover what’s rightfully mine.”
“That’s not ominous as shit, right?” I grunted, sliding the hair from my face and tucking it behind my ear. Then I smiled viciously. “We ended the lives of two gods, who didn’t willingly go to their infinite slumber. What makes you think you’re capable of doing what they could not?”
His mouth twisted into a mischievous grin, and he casually strode closer. The hand he lifted sent warmth drifting through my skin, but his touch shot ice charging through my veins.
“I know you feel my power. I guarantee the Etherlands do as well. It is singing me a song of home, beckoning me to return. Does it sing to you?”
Blinking slowly, I wrestled with the gravity of the complications if the world was indeed calling him home. The world hummed to me, but it also wasn’t thriving under the power Ryder or I fed it.
“Didn’t think so,” he said. “You’re not indigenous to the land, Synthia Raine. None of you are, and it is seeking the true source of power needed for it to thrive and flourish once more.”
“Do you think the world will enjoy you turning it into a wasteland? It thrives because of the people who are dependent on it for life. If you eradicate the fae, then you will have an unstable realm that will starve because there aren’t enough people residing in it to sustain its power.”
“I have enough power to feed the land what it craves until the end of time. I don’t necessarily care how you and your people end, only that you do. I am the seasons and the core of that world, Synthia Raine. I am absolute in the power grid of the entire realm. When I was little, I was revered by the ancient elders who spoke of the realm and rejoiced in what my part within it was to be. I am the Etherlands.”
“It doesn’t matter if you are the land itself,” I stated firmly, shaking my head. “You’re willing to slaughter innocent lives to take back what was stolen from you? That actually makes you the villain you stated you weren’t.” He postured against me, but I didn’t back down. “Faery and the Etherlands are the same place now. You can’t separate one from the other. It isn’t how it works. We could find a way to work together and come to an agreement on how to dwell in the realm side-by-side. It doesn’t need to be like this.”
“You expect me to compromise and accept a swath of land when the entire realm was meant to be mine?” His hardened gaze lowered to my swollen abdomen and a dark smile played on his lips. “There are other ways we can keep your race inside the realm, though.”