Zoey

The White Palace is stunning, as always, and as I sit on the bed in what should be Miria’s bedroom, I’m still in shock. Shock that we’re in a weird alternative world. Shock that this Devinshea is apparently some kind of a monster.

Shock that my son is acting like an overly possessive caveman moron.

Shock that Shy is far more powerful than we imagined.

There’s a lot of shock running through me right now.

“She killed that vine with a mere thought,”

Devinshea says as he paces the marbled floors. “No one told me that was a power of hers. All I’ve heard up until now is that she’s a medium. What she showed me today goes far beyond a medium. Do you know the last time I met someone who could counter my power like that?”

When we entered the palace, Devinshea walked in like he owned the place, throwing his cloak at one of the brownies who greeted us. He didn’t seem to care that his cloak was far heavier than the servant, simply walked right on. Luckily I saw her fellow brownies heft the cloak off her.

We all followed him, hearing him yell out for rooms to be prepared and food and wine to be brought for his friends.

Every single servant was afraid of him.

The rest of our party is sitting in the outer rooms. Dev brought Danny and I back here for a private talk.

“She is not Myrddin,”

Daniel replies.

I shake my head because I can’t believe this is what Dev is contemplating. I really hope Shy’s hearing isn’t better than we think. Or Rhys’s. “You think that sweet young woman has anything to do with the wizard who murdered her family?”

Dev’s jaw goes tight. “Well, I certainly never dreamed Olivia Carey would join him and yet she’s tried to murder our children several times.”

Olivia is a problem Kelsey Owens is working on. We split our missions, with Kelsey taking my son and daughter with her to her husband’s home. On the Hell plane. Grayson Sloane is one of the thirteen princes of Hell, and he’s also known as the dark prophet. Olivia was once a dear friend and a teacher at our children’s school. They loved her. Then the fall came and Liv was left behind. As a witch, she was taken in by Myrddin, and she became one of his most trusted warriors. Kelsey thinks she can bring her back. I hope she can.

Grayson Sloane. Of course. That’s some firepower I bet my husband can’t counter.

“Gray witnessed Shy’s meeting with Rhys,”

I point out.

My Fae husband nods like I made his point. “Yes. He witnessed something important. Something dangerous. I happen to remember several times when Gray has shown up and things went to shit.”

Oh, how he forgets. “He always finds a way to help us. If he was worried about Shy, he would find a way to warn us.”

“He cost us twelve years,”

Dev practically roars back and then stops as Daniel steps in front of me. “I’m sorry. I…I am unsettled being here.”

It’s so much worse. He’s on the edge, and our circumstances are pushing him. Perhaps too fast. I need to show my husband some grace. I brush past Danny—who should know Dev would never hurt me—and wrap my arms around Devinshea. “Of course you are. I am, too. This whole situation is too close to what we just went through.”

“We have no idea how time passes here,”

Dev whispers. “None. We could be losing years.”

“I don’t think so,”

Danny says, moving around to Dev’s other side. He wraps Dev up, his hands going around Dev to sit on my waist. “I know this sounds odd, but there’s a feeling I get when I’m in Faery. It’s like a hum. I get used to it after a day or two. I feel it whenever I leave the Earth plane. Some planes it’s barely there. Some feel slow. Some fast. I’ve talked to the academics and they think vampires can sense the differences in time movement from their home plane. The hum here is identical to your mother’s sithein. I can’t be sure, but I think it’s the same. I think everything here is the same except the people. I suspect some of them are even the same, though you are not.”

Dev breathes a sigh of relief, and I know Danny’s gotten through to him. “Well, as I apparently murdered my way to a throne, I would tend to agree.”

He rubs his head against mine. “We should be careful.”

“No one’s here,”

I promise him. “Sasha checked for spells and bugs. Danny will tell us if he senses anyone sneaking around. We’re okay in this room, but we have to make sure we don’t tip the court off that Devinshea isn’t their Dev. And you have to stop being hard on Shy.”

“We don’t know her,”

Dev argues, but there’s no fire behind the words.

“But Sasha does. Gray does. Trent does and our children do. She’s one of them. Or at least she was until Rhys decided to be a butthead.”

I’m going to have such a talk with my son. “We need to figure out where this court keeps its amulet while we wait for Arawn to show up. I’m worried about his interest in Shy.”

Dev takes a step back. “Yes, I am, too. I am also worried that apparently I have a fiancée roaming the halls.”

Danny looks like he wants to haul Dev back to us, but he gives his partner some space. It’s odd because Dev looks perfectly at home in these posh rooms. Danny wears the same types of clothes—leather pants, tunic—and he still looks so very out of place. Like his body was simply built for the modern Earth plane. “Ostara. Why do I know that name?”

“Well, the name is from a Germanic goddess of spring. You might know her by one of her other names. ēostre. Early pagans celebrated the spring equinox in her name,”

Dev explains. “Over the years the celebration evolved into what Christians call Easter. But much like Bris, she was an actual goddess of hearth and home. So this woman I’m supposed to marry is named after her. She’ll be a high-ranking Fae. I suspect this is not a love match.”

“We need information.”

Danny moves to the windows, touching the glass. “This is different.”

Miria’s chambers were open to the air. Oh, there was magic that kept the rain out and wards that kept out everything else, but the Faery queen wouldn’t have something like glass in her private rooms.

Danny taps on the pane. “This is thick.”

Dev nods, his eyes rolling. “I am probably trying to avoid being assassinated. Eoin mentioned something about rebels. So not only am I worried about being murdered for not being Evil Dev, I have to worry about being murdered because the rebels think I am Evil Dev.”

“You should grow a goatee. It’s how you know you’re evil,”

Danny says with a perfectly straight face. Nerd.

Dev frowns. “Why would facial hair be evil? I think I look quite charming with one.”

A groan goes through me because even here in the midst of another crisis, Danny’s teasing him. “It’s a Star Trek thing. The ‘Dark Mirror’ episode. They go through a worm hole and meet their bad selves. It doesn’t matter. We need to figure out how much Danny and I can move around. I need to know more. Would this you allow his lovers free rein? Or does he have an iron fist? Who is this Eoin guy? I don’t remember him, but you seem to.”

“He’s been around court since we were both children. When he reached his majority, he became one of my mother’s guards, serving under Padric. Who I assume I killed as well.”

Dev paces, his eyes looking around and taking in the changes in the room. While the structure of the palace is basically the same, there’s some serious masculine energy to the place now. The whole place is decadent and dark and slightly sinister. I fear what we’ll find in the temple. I’m also surprised by the lack of plants. Everywhere my Devinshea goes, things bloom and grow. This palace is devoid of vegetation. “He is not someone I suspect has ambitions to lead. The Eoin I know is funny and kind. He’s married with a daughter.”

“Well, I don’t trust him. In this timeline he obviously has ties to you, and he didn’t like the way you handled him,”

Danny points out. “Though he also didn’t seem entirely surprised. You should play him like a somewhat trusted advisor when he shows up. I think we should modify why I’m here. I can be a lover, of course, unless we suspect your evil counterpart isn’t as open minded as you are.”

“I would certainly prefer to keep you close,”

Dev insists.

“A bodyguard has to stay close. If these windows are an indication, your counterpart has a security problem. Sasha, the wolves, and I can be your solution,”

Danny offers. “It could give me some access I wouldn’t have as your plaything.”

I don’t like the sound of that. “I can be security, too.”

It’s Danny’s turn to groan. “Baby, I need you to do that thing where you show your boobs and no one thinks you can blow up the world. And then you blow up the world.”

I can’t exactly argue with him. “And Rhys is your bastard child you found out on the planes?”

Dev shrugs. “I have no other explanation. He is damn near my twin. Unfortunately, the women of the group must be attached to a male. I doubt I’m a feminist on this plane, and I happen to know a lot of Fae think they know where a woman’s place is. It’s likely why I easily took down my own mother.”

Miria faces misogyny even with a crown on her head. “All right, so you picked me up at a rave on another plane and hired some security. Shy is Rhys’s wife or girlfriend or whatever, and Cassie is my sister. All of that is fine. But why would you completely ditch your guard and what are we going to do if Evil Dev has some way to communicate with home? We don’t have a witch with us.”

“I’ll have to figure out if there’s a mirror network,”

Dev says with a sigh. “I wish we could trust someone. Anyone.”

There’s a knock on the door and Sasha opens it. “They’ve sent the tea and wine you requested, Dev…King Devinshea.”

Dev nods. “Of course. Send them in.”

I sit on the bed and try to look bored and idle as the three small servants walk in carrying trays that look bigger than their bodies. This Dev seems to have an obsession with “lesser”

Fae as servants. I saw the brownies cleaning the palace, and now a duo of small trolls from the kitchens. They wear a version of a uniform complete with their spindly tails poking out of their skirts.

I sigh as they place their trays on the tables in the corner of the room. I lean back, looking to Devinshea. “When are we going to be done with all the security stuff, Your Majesty? You didn’t bring me here to sit in on boring talks with your bodyguards.”

I notice one of the troll’s ears perks up. She’s turned away from me so I can’t see her face, but her body has gone slightly stiff as she opens the wine.

“Well, lover, I was hoping you didn’t get killed.”

Dev’s tone has gone all smooth and silky. “At least not until I’m bored with you.”

Such an ass. And he can’t ever get bored with me. I sigh. “Well, at least I’ll go out happy.”

He winks my way. “Serve my mistress, troll. She’s from an outer plane and has never tried faery wine before.”

The troll who brought in the fruit and cheese is already walking out. Like she can’t wait to put some distance between her and the royal apartments.

The one who brought the wine turns, and her eyes are wide. “You do not want wine yourself, Your Majesty?”

Those eyes are super familiar. Bibi. I met her the first time I went to Faery. She was a gardener, and the palace mean girls decided to play a joke on me by making her my social secretary. The joke was on them. I quite like a little troll. I grew up around the huldrefólk. She became my friend. When I visit Faery, Bibi is always there to welcome me and make my trip easier.

Dev frowns, remembering his part. “Did I say I wanted wine, servant? My mistress is waiting.”

Bibi bites her bottom lip and holds the wine goblet with trembling hands. “But this is the royal wine. It was made for you.”

What is happening?

Bibi is one of the sweetest souls I’ve ever met. She’s also brave when she finds the right leader.

Dev sighs. “I do not want wine right now, but my mistress does. I am attempting to be patient with you.”

Bibi nods and starts bringing the wine toward me. And then she trips. Or rather pretends to trip, and the wine goes everywhere. She gasps and curls into a ball. “I am so sorry, Your Majesty. So sorry. I will go and bring more wine.”

She starts to crawl back.

Dev’s head shakes, and it’s clear to me he doesn’t know what to do with her. Maybe if she was any other servant he could yell and threaten, but Dev loves Bibi, too. She is part of our Fae family. This whole mission is going to be hard on him. “There’s half a bottle, troll. Just clean this up and I’ll serve her myself, Bibi.”

She stops and with tearful eyes turns his way. “You know my name?”

Dev stiffens and pulls his arrogance around him. “Your name does not matter, but of course I know it.”

Big, dark eyes narrow. “You recently made a decree that my kind are below even the lesser Fae and do not need names. We are to be called Troll or Servant because that is our place.”

I don’t like this version of Dev, but I’m starting to see some serious doors cracking open when it comes to Bibi.

Dev pales and takes a step back. He’s saved from having to say something by the door opening and Rhys walking in.

“Pa…Your Majesty, I’m taking Shy to…”

He stops when Shy clears her throat and sends him a pointed stare, which makes Rhys sigh. “I would request Your Majesty’s leave to take my wife to our rooms, please. It’s been a long day traveling, and she needs to rest.”

Shy snorts. “Oh, there won’t be any resting.”

There would be some serious ass kicking in my son’s future, and I’m here for it.

That’s when I notice Bibi staring at my son. Her jaw drops. She knows him.

I think she might be scared for him.

Oh, we’re in trouble.

But Eoin didn’t seem to know Rhys. He also didn’t seem surprised the king would find a bastard kid and drag him into his seemingly never-ending party.

Danny leans over, staring down at the stain on the floor. Red wine looks too much like blood on the white marble floors.

Dev waves his hand dismissingly. “Feel free to do whatever you like. We’ll have dinner late. I expect you to entertain me, son.”

Rhys turns and walks out, and I notice Bibi trying to sneak out as well.

“Bibi, I don’t think you should leave yet,”

I say, my tone gentle because it’s time to start feeling her out.

My Bibi is an excellent spy. No one pays attention to her. No one knows she’s coming.

“Neil,”

Daniel calls out.

Bibi nods and pulls a rag from her belt. “Of course, mistress. I will clean the mess.”

I get to my knees in front of her. “My name is Zoey, Bibi.”

Her big eyes glance at Dev, and she shakes her head. “I have no name. I am a troll and a servant. I serve the sidhe.”

Dev groans and turns away, staring out the window.

“Don’t touch anything, Bibi.”

Daniel stands over us as Neil walks in. He points to the wine. “Smell that.”

My bestie frowns. “Polite much?”

“Smell that, please.”

Danny gives Neil a nod. “Is that what I think it is?”

Neil takes a long smell.

“It’s metallic.”

Cassie is next to her brother, standing by the door. She might not be able to change easily, but she has a wolf’s sense of smell.

Brendan nods, his mouth full of whatever the trolls left in the outer rooms. I note he’s got an apple in one hand and some cheese in the other. Wolves. I have no idea how Neil managed to feed two teenaged wolves.

Grief strikes. It hits in waves. Sometimes I think I’m fine and then I realize I didn’t feed my teenaged kids. I didn’t get to complain about them being human garbage dumpsters. I didn’t watch Albert cook for my babies and call him a kitchen god because he never complained.

I take a long breath. I can’t now. I have to push it aside and cry later when Danny and Dev can hold me. Now I have to keep moving. “Why would the wine smell metallic?”

Dev moves in, looking over Daniel’s shoulder. “Cold iron?”

Good for Bibi. A genuine smile lights my face. “Bibi, are you trying to assassinate the king?”

Bibi pales and takes a step back, running straight into Neil, who has the biggest grin on his face as she tilts her head and looks up at him.

“Well, aren’t you a little rebel, Bibi,”

Neil says and holds a hand out. “High five, girlie.”

Neil adores my Bibi. And she’s got the biggest crush on him because as I have pointed out on many an occasion, trolls have no gaydar.

Bibi gasps and turns to run, but Sasha catches her, drawing her up and looking my way. “You know this troll, Your Highness?”

“I do.”

I think it’s worth the risk.

Daniel moves in. “Bibi, is it cold iron in the wine?”

Tears run down her face. “My master will take you all down, and you will not see it coming. You will not know him. You can kill me but I will never give you his name.”

Neil looks at me, grinning. “You need to give Bibi a raise or she might assassinate you.”

“How do you all know my name?”

Bibi shrinks back from me, and it hurts my heart.

I look to Danny. “Can we be honest with her? We need an ally. She can give us history we don’t have.”

“And it will allow our Devinshea to feel more confident in his conversations with this court of his.”

Sasha stares down at the troll. “Your Highness, I recommend this course of action. You should know I use many Earth plane Fae as spies. They are some of my best sources of information. It’s precisely why Myrddin banned them from the Council House. Well, he did before the queen blew it up.”

I’m never living that down. You cause one building to explode…

Danny nods my way, his decision made.

I hope Bibi doesn’t, like, have a cold iron tooth her spy master gave her to chomp down on in case of capture. “Bibi, I know this is going to sound odd, but we know each other. Or rather there’s a version of you I know on another plane of existence.”

Danny clears his throat. “Timeline. Technically this is absolutely the same plane.”

I bite back a growl. First I had to deal with other planes. Now all the planes have different timelines. If I ever meet the maker of this whole existence, we will have such a talk… But for now I’m talking to a troll. “Fine. Timeline. Bibi, my name is Zoey Donovan-Quinn.”

The troll gasps and tries to step back, but Neil is right there. “But the king has no wife. He is supposed to marry Ostara and gain all of her power.”

Yep, that’s something I would like to have a chat about. We need to know if Evil Dev’s chosen bride is going to aid us or be a real problem. “And yet I am married to the Devinshea you see here.”

I pull out the necklace that lay under the bodice of my dress. The Goddess Chain. “I am his goddess.”

Bibi bites her bottom lip. “I do not understand. That is supposed to be for Ostara, but my master...”

“It’s okay, Bibi. You can talk to us. The real King Devinshea is off plane partying it up somewhere. The Devinshea you see before you is not a king. He is the High Priest of Fae. Seelie and Unseelie alike.”

She looks up at him. “Unseelie?”

Yeah, it was a good bet Evil Dev probably did the purity thing. Which my Dev has zero time for. “We spend as much time with the Unseelie as we do his mother, Queen Miria, who in our timeline is probably pissed that we’re late.”

“And just so we’re clear, my brother is perfectly alive and annoying even though there are times when I think seriously about how much easier my life would be without him,”

Dev says with a sigh.

A look of hope crosses Bibi’s small face, but I see the minute she tamps it down. She nods as though she knows she must survive the next few moments. “Of course. Well, if you want to get back to your home, I fear I don’t know how.”

It’s going to take more. “Bibi, is your king an ascended god?”

“Like Ostara?”

Bibi asks. “No. King Devinshea would never share his body with a god. He would never give up control.”

“Then look into my eyes, Little One, and know the truth.”

Bris has control of the body, and he bends to one knee in front of Bibi, holding out his hand. “Devinshea and I bonded many years ago, and my host is one of the best men I have met in my long existence. He shares his body and soul with me, and he shares his love. We share a goddess and a partner and several children, including the one who just walked out. Seeing him frightened you. Not Devinshea, but our son, Rhys. Why were you frightened of our boy? I assure you he means no harm.”

Bibi stares for a moment and then places her hand in Bris’s, tears beginning to fall. “You are truly not our cruel king.”

“I am your friend, sweet Bibi,”

Bris says. “We will help you. But we’re going to need some help from you as well. Why were you afraid of Rhys?”

“I wasn’t afraid of him, My Lord,”

Bibi says, her voice tremulous. “I was afraid for him. I was afraid he is here to steal something and will get caught.”

Danny huffs. “Well at least we know who’s leading the rebellion.”

“You know Master Lee?”

Bibi asks.

Oh, I know him well. I thought sending him to Hell with Kelsey would save him. Apparently his counterpart here is going to be every bit as troublesome.