"It's coming to me," I whispered to Ryder. The intense feeling of power that the Tree fed to me was both scary and intoxicating.

"Breathe," Adam said softly.

"Can you feel it through me?" I asked as the power continually entered my system. I was unsure of how much I could handle, or if, as a Goddess, I even had limits. Adam shouldn't have been able to feel what I was feeling anymore. That bond severed with the death of my old body.

"No, but if you don't breathe and release the monster grip you have on my fingers, they'll break."

"Oh," I said and loosened my hold on his hand.

I heard gasps from the crowd, and then whispered excitement as the Fae got their first look of Danu. It had to have been a choice on her end to allow them to see her. I smiled as whispered words about what she looked like started through the crowd. Every one of them was wrong, which caused a smile to flitter over my lips.

She kneeled down and dug her fingers into the earth, pulling off a chunk of moss, which she used to cover Kahleena. Danu's words were layered, her voice barely above a whispered thought, but it played in my mind because she wanted me to hear it.

"My littlest warrior, you must be strong," she said as she placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before bringing fingers covered in what looked like gold paint over Kahleena's cheeks, and then her forehead. "Blood of my blood, heed me now, for I bless this little one," she said in a hushed tone. "Blood of my blood, I call you now, I bless this child of Faery and beg you to heed my call!" she shouted, which scared Kahleena, and the small babe began to cry. "I bless thee, Kahleena Larissa, daughter of mine. I bless you for all time," she said before she picked her up and held her beneath the Tree, then lifted the small babe in her hands up to the Tree as if in a supplication or benediction.

As we watched, the Tree gave off a shimmering ray of light, which looked like the Fairy dust from Peter Pan. I felt it, and knew it was the land of Faery's blessing, as well as the trees. The land had accepted her.

"Oh, thank God," I said breathlessly.

"Strange choice," Elijah said from right behind me. "Considering the facts and all," he amended wryly as I turned and looked at him without releasing Adam or Ryder's hands.

"I believe in him," I whispered. "I told you where I was raised," I finished, turning back as Danu continued the ceremony with the boys. When it was finished, all three had been blessed. It didn't mean they'd live, or that they were safe from death, but the Fae children that had made it to Transition over the last thirty or so years all had Danu's blessing and the acceptance of the land.

I looked around as the Fae released the hands of the others as the ceremony ended, and Danu disappeared from their view. Ryder and I made our way to where she stood, once again invisible to the others. I kneeled on the ground and looked up at her and the ancient Tree behind her.

"You created this Tree before you created any of the races before us, why?"

"I needed a focal point, and people need something to believe in. The Tree is filled with my power, which is why, when I brought you over to this form, I was depleted in power. This world feeds me, and I in return, feed it. The Mages knew this because of my ex-husband. He told them where to strike us, and how best to remove me from the fight. Without his guidance, you should easily be able to strike against them. But I have to ask you to wait; you cannot rise against them yet, Synthia. You need time for the children to become stronger, and when that time comes, I'll take them to the Hall of the Gods. They will be protected while you wage war among the Mages. Use this time to calm the disturbance with the Humans, and then bring war to the Mages. That is the only way that you can ensure that no other Gods intervene. Elijah knows that the other God is watching us, and he knows that we must wait. When he tells you this, believe him. No war can happen until the Humans are safe, for my children are killing them. If he wages war against us, we will lose."

"So then we go to the Guild, and what? Help them?" I asked.

"No, you do as you said and create a new one. Create a better one. Protect the Humans, and bring some semblance of normalcy to the outcast Fae; they have none right now. This is what you had planned, you just have to do it sooner rather than later. You can do this; place Alden in the leadership role as you had planned. Allow Humans in, instead of just Witches. The Angels will come, and they will help too. I know this because I've seen it. Elijah will become an asset. Give him time to adjust and then offer him a role. I have to go attend to my ex-husband. He's currently in a place where he can do no damage, nor assist the Mages. I have him handled, and until I decide to remove the God bolts, he's stuck. Be safe, daughter of mine."

We were back at the castle, and already Kahleena looked better. Her cheeks had a red hue from the chilled the air, but Ryder had seen to the fire which crackled in the hearth, and as I stood watching over her, he silently crept up and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You did good, Synthia," he said.

"I had no idea what I was doing," I admitted.

He smiled against my neck. "I meant with our children. They're truly beautiful. Just like their mother."

"They are, aren't they?" I whispered with a smirk on my mouth that he couldn't see. "I think they have a touch of the devil in their eyes, though. That's all you."

He laughed, and I enjoyed the rumble of it as his arms tightened around me.

We'd placed them all in the same crib, since they seemed to prefer it anyway. Their birth had been filled with turmoil, but I had no worries that it would affect them in the long run anymore. I wouldn't allow it to. I wouldn't allow the war we would soon wage to touch them either.

"If they go to the Hall of the Gods, they'll age faster. We'll miss it, the time that they are there. Two days there is almost a month here. I've considered what Danu said, and while I hate the idea of sending them away, it would be the safest place for them with Bile locked down wherever Danu has him. We need to be focused on the fight, and not on questions about our children's safety."

"Then we better prepare and have it planned out so where they are only there for a few hours. I agree though; I'd prefer the safety for them and the peace of mind of knowing they are protected so that we can focus on the fight at hand. I have my eyes and ears watching for the Mages. If they so much as come up for air, we will know about it. They can't hide from us forever," he said as his breath fanned against the sensitive skin of my ear.

"They're regrouping," I said as I considered the silence from them since the attack that ended my life. "They'll want us to fight on their terms, but I think we should prepare for an all-out attack on them. We should send out more scouts," I said.

"You think they are here?" he asked as he considered it.

"I do," I replied honestly. "I think Faolan has them somewhere in Faery, and they're searching out the relics hidden here. We have the majority of the relics, but some are still unaccounted for. I think they plan on fighting us right here. If I didn't, I wouldn't send my children away. I know we can protect them, but I would rather be smart about this. I have a bad feeling that they will be targets in the war. Better that we be prepared for them when they come. And Danu can have them gone from here quickly enough that, should the Mages show up, we wouldn't have to worry about it."

I hoped I was doing the right thing. The Mages were licking their wounds, but they wouldn't be for long. They'd framed us and expected the Humans to keep us busy, and yet we now had their ace in the hole. We'd taken the man who'd been fueling this war. He was Danu's prisoner, and Bile could no longer give them information to use against us.

That was a huge gain for us and a huge loss for them. It wouldn't stop them though and we knew it. They were dead set on the path they had chosen to walk, and when they finally showed up, we'd fight them. I only hoped that now with the babes born, that it would be soon. I wanted this over with and I wanted them safe from the lunacy of it all.

"Did Ristan say anything to you after the blessing?" I asked softly after a few moments had passed. Ryder grimaced briefly.

"He told me that he wouldn't be coming with us to the Guild. He also isn't willing to allow Olivia to go back, either. I'm not even sure what to think about it, but I do know if we force the issue, he won't forgive us for it anytime soon. He is still trying to figure out what her involvement with the Mages was. I offered to interrogate her and so did Zahruk, but he feels that if he can't read her, that we probably can't and he wants a little more time to find out on his own. He did say that if he gets nowhere with her, he will bring her to me."

"I know things looked bad based on what Alden and Ristan told us, but what if she turns out to be innocent? Do you think Ristan will allow her to leave?" I asked thoughtfully, and Ryder snorted with a smirk.

"You are about to get a front row seat to how Fae and Demons feel about betrayal; more so, how he feels about it. No matter what happened, she betrayed Ristan and Alden and he won't let her leave until he has exacted his revenge. Ristan will get the truth from her, and until he does, none of us will really know what happened at the Guild. I will not interfere and I hope you don't plan on it," he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hell no. If she turns out to be a Mage and was helping them, I'll put her down like a rabid dog myself, just like I did to Chandra. I've been thinking about that as well," I said softly as I replayed the time I'd murdered the girl right in front of Ryder. "Looking back, so much of what the Guild told us was basically a lie. It's too much," I whispered.

"They've been fed lies, yes, but they chose to blindly follow what they'd been told."

"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.