Page 17
Zoey
I have to stay calm. Calm. Don’t let him see you panic.
It’s what I tell myself over and over again as Devilshea hauls me across the palace. That’s what I’m calling him now because he’s acting like the devil, and I’m going to have to take him down.
What is my Dev going through? Are they already torturing him?
Where is my son? Where is Shy? Are they even alive?
I can’t. I can’t lose my son. I lost Lee that day in the Council House, felt him die, and even though I knew he would turn, I felt the loss. The loss of his youth and what he could have had as a human. The loss of those years between us, years I should have spent protecting my vulnerable son.
So much fucking loss.
Danny. Where is he? What is Myrddin going to do to my son? To Shy?
I’m a rolling ball of emotion, but I remember this game well. Showing him the truth buys me nothing, and I need something from him. I need him to believe I can be with him. Not today. Not tomorrow, but someday. When the king sets me on my feet, I don’t do what I want to do. I don’t attack him. I simply stand and let the tears roll down my cheeks.
“Zan…goddess, I never could stand to see you cry. It always killed me. I remember the look on your face when my mother and brother refused to allow us to marry. You looked like this.”
He appears so much like my husband, the candlelight caressing his golden features, dark hair swaying against his shoulders. In true Fae fashion, the king’s hair is long and neatly kept. His hand reaches out and wipes away a tear. “Are you afraid of me?”
I’m fucking terrified of him. “I want to know if my son is alive or if your guards killed him.”
His expression softens. “You always were a good mother. I’ll give you another child.”
He is utterly mad, and I have to find a way around it. “Please, Devinshea. He is my son.”
“Lee has proven unworthy to be our heir,”
he pronounces.
“I am talking about Rhys. My son. The one I gave birth to on the Earth plane.”
I reach for his hand. “He is here with his goddess, Shahidi. They won’t cause any harm. Please. Let them return to the mountain and attempt to go home. He will do it. He will leave me to save Shy, and I want him to.”
Anywhere is better than here. Any time is better than this. I know I want them alive far more than I want them with me.
“You would have him leave?”
A brow cocks over emerald eyes.
Honesty is the only way to go here. “I would please you and still have my son and daughter-in-law alive. Yes, I would have him leave.”
“You do not wish for him to save you?”
Oh, how I hate this role I have to play, but I did it once before. I took Louis Marini down from the inside and I did it by using his ego and his desires against him. I wipe the tears from my eyes. “Do not think because I plead for my children that I will do the same for my husband. The truth is Devinshea is weak and Daniel lost my crown. I told him Myrddin would betray us and he refused to listen to me. Because of my loving husbands I lost twelve years with my children, and I lost my place in the world. So if you intend to give it back to me, I will certainly consider it. But don’t mistake my love of power as more than my love as a mother. I do not know how I would survive losing my son. I do not think I can survive it.”
He curses under his breath and walks to the massive doors that demark his wing of the palace.
We stood here mere hours before, all of us, and now I feel so damn alone.
So stupid. How could we end up here, tricked by Myrddin again?
I feel the brush of fur against my palm and look down. The C?n Annwn are here. All three dogs, looking up at me like they don’t understand what’s happening.
I wonder where they got the dogs from. Wonder if they’re spelled. If they’re dogs at all. Myrddin can work some crazy transmutations. The biggest one looks up at me with flaming red eyes that somehow seem to plead with me for affection.
I’m not in the mood.
Devilshea steps back into the outer room. “Well, I think it will please you to know your son got away with his goddess. I believe that asshole I sired is trying to get them to the temple where they’ll likely head to wherever the rebels go after they’re done fucking up my life.”
A bit of relief flows through me. Only a little. “But the guards will be after them? They aren’t safe?”
He reaches a hand out, brushing back a strand of my hair, and leans in. “I gave the order to allow them to make it to the temple. I will send word that if they leave quietly, I will not assign guards to follow. Will that do, my love?”
If I can trust him, it will. Not that Rhys will leave his parents behind, but this will buy him time. I sniffle and nod, going into a deep curtsey. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
He takes my hand to lift me back. His lips curl up like he knows he has me now. “You’re welcome, Zand…”
He sighs. “Zoey. I was arrogant earlier and for that I apologize. You are Zoey but you are her as well. If there is one thing I’ve learned in my search for you it’s that these different versions of ourselves are all the same. Your Devinshea could have been me if not for a few factors. The same way I could be him if not for…
“My death.”
I don’t say what I really mean. My Dev picked me. My Dev stood strong on his own and told his brother he could bite his ass when he refused to give us permission to marry. He married me anyway. But I have to play to this side of Dev.
And suddenly I know I can. Because he’s right. He is the same man. My Devinshea can be selfish. He can be egotistical. He can be brutally stubborn.
Once Marcus and I sat in a park in Fort Worth and he told me I was the only reason Danny and Dev didn’t follow their darker impulses. At least with this version, he appears to be right.
Devilshea closes his eyes and takes in a long breath. “I will never forget finding the grave Deinny put you in. Finding the pieces of you they left behind. Monsters. My brother being the worst of them. I knew that day that I could kill or be killed. I could let the monsters take me down or I could become the biggest one of all.”
This Dev cares more about his station than mine.
When his eyes open and he offers me a hand, I take it. The C?n Annwn follow me to the plush sofa. “I have tea and wine being brought in. Your favorite. From the vineyards of your father. Well, the vineyards of her father. I hope it will please you.”
I settle myself in, fighting the deep urge to run as fast as I can. I sit down like it’s perfectly normal to relax while my children and friends are on the run. I don’t see any sign of Neil or Brendan or Cassie, so I have to believe they got out. Daniel will bide his time.
Devinshea will be tortured.
“How did you steal the C?n Annwn?”
I ask the question as though it doesn’t really make a difference. I idly pet them. “From what I understand they only live in Arawn’s domain.”
He shrugs. “They are native to here in this time. And the crone as well. She chose to live here when Arawn took on non-corporeal form. Our sithein is close to the death god’s domain. I suspect that is why. Though he does not visit here often. Myrddin claims it is because he prefers another timeline. I personally am fine with less gods walking my realm.”
“So Myrddin came here because he could set us up easily?”
I ask, hoping to find some reason for this. I know we are hard to catch, but it seems like a lot of work to go through.
“He wants something else of me,”
the king replies. “It is none of your concern. He has paid his debt and I will pay mine. I will have all the power I need to protect us. I will ensure you are happy and satisfied, Zoey. We will have the life we should have had. Now, I want to talk about you. Our wine should be here momentarily.”
I won’t touch it. “I would love to try it. So my father in this timeline was a winemaker? In mine he was a thief.”
The king’s lips quirk up. “So I have heard.”
“Myrddin has told you stories,”
I say in an unassuming tone. That is completely passive aggressive.
“He has told me you are formidable, and I should not underestimate you. But what I see is the most beautiful woman in the world, a woman my soul meshed with, who completed me in all ways.”
But you left her to die. You didn’t fight for her. Yeah, I don’t say those words out loud either. Instead I lean in. “I felt that way about my Devinshea. Once.”
He stares at me for a long moment. “He calls you his goddess. Do you love the god? What was his name?”
“Bris.”
At least he seems to want to talk. I want to put off the inevitable moment when he decides to take what is his. “Devinshea and I were married in a place called Colorado. Our ceremony attracted an old agricultural deity who matched with my husband.”
He winces. “I don’t like to hear you call him that.”
“But he is. At least until you murder him.”
He frowns, and I can see the man thinking. “Yes, well, it did seem like an excellent idea at the time.”
“An idea Myrddin planted,”
I muse. “He’s good at that. In my time, my other husband is the King of All Vampire, and Myrddin found a way to strip the crown from him and take over himself.”
What I need is some sweet, sweet paranoia. And to find a way to keep Myrddin from killing me just to shut me up.
Somewhere in the background I hear yelling and feel something shake the ground beneath my feet.
And then the doors blow open and my greatest enemy strides through like he owns the place. That’s saying something because I once had a real Hell lord as a nemesis.
I killed his ass, and I’m going to take this fucking wizard down, too.
Maybe what he needs is a little poking.
“Well, I hope you’re happy, Devinshea,”
he begins. “They are locked in the temple, and we know the rebels have some way to get in and out of there. I have the wards back up since now there’s a damn fertility god in the temple, and we all know how that can go. We need to stay in the palace proper. I got the uncle, but Lee got away with Sasha and Rhys and whatever the fuck that girl is.”
He turns on me. “Did you know? Did you know what she is?”
Devilshea stands, and so do I, placing a hand on his arm and glaring at the wizard, who really should know better. “It’s Your Majesty.”
He frowns my way, shaking his head as though to clear it. “What?”
“You should call him by his title. Your Majesty,”
I say and know I’ve gotten a direct hit when Devilshea puffs up a bit. “He is the King of the Seelie Fae and is owed your respect.”
“It is rather rude of you to burst in unannounced,”
the king agrees.
For a moment Myrddin looks like he’s going to shred us all, but then his head bows and he proves he’s learned a lot over the millennia. “I apologize, Your Majesty. The night has not gone as well as I hoped. I am worried that we did not catch Daniel.”
Devilshea simply waves that off and gestures for the servants at the entrance to enter with their trays of offerings. “I was telling my future bride that we’re always the same. I assure you I know Deiniol, though he might have a different form. He was a sad sack in this time, and he will prove to be in yours as well. After all, Zoey was explaining how he allowed you to steal his crown.”
He sits down, tugging me beside him as the servants begin to pour the wine. He offers Myrddin a seat across from us. “It makes one think.”
Oh, I really want him to think.
Myrddin looks my way and I can see the hate on his face, but he accepts a glass of wine from the servant and turns his attention back to the king. “My relationship with Daniel is complex. I assure you I didn’t intend to steal anything from him. He was my student, and I cared for him. However, when Devinshea and Zoey foolishly allowed themselves to fall into an enchanted painting, he followed. He left his kingdom behind, and someone had to fill in.”
“Which is why you had an entire army ready to murder all the vampires in a few hours,”
I interject.
“How would you know, Zoey? You weren’t there,”
Myrddin says smoothly. “Now, Your Majesty, could we please speak alone?”
Devilshea huffs. “I just got her back. Years and years I’ve spent without her. You can’t imagine I am going to leave her. She is afraid, and I will not have her think me negligent when it comes to my future bride. I have a certain reputation, and she must come to learn that it is not true when she is involved. So if you must speak, you can do so around my future queen.”
I can hear Myrddin’s inner growl but to his credit he merely sits back. “All I want to say is she is not safe as long as that vampire prowls around. My question is why wasn’t Daniel at dinner?”
Dangerous territory. “He doesn’t eat. Your Majesty, how much do you know about vampires?”
“Well, I’ve been to a whole plane of nothing but vampires,”
he replies, his hand finding my knee as though he can’t help but touch me. “I happen to know they only drink blood and tend to eschew things like dinner parties, though their consorts are often Fae or human.”
“And the wolves?”
Myrddin asks, his tone begging me to come up with an explanation. “I assure you the wolves will eat you out of house and home if you allow them to.”
“The wolves are guards. I do not dine with my employees.”
I’m betting heavily on the fact that this version of Dev doesn’t. “And I honestly felt safe here. Sasha is a guard as well. Which is why he was patrolling. I believe the wolves had their dinner in the kitchens. As they would in our own home.”
I can feel the approval coming off of Devilshea. He smiles my way. “You know that is the only thing we ever fought about. You…Zandra believed in a world without class or boundaries. It was na?ve at best. This proves she would have gotten over it had my brother not killed her. You understand that society needs structure.”
Myrddin’s expression goes twenty kinds of frustrated. “She is lying. She is playing you. The wolf is her closest friend. He is always at her side. And in our timeline, she is beloved by all manner of lesser creatures. She is constantly feeding the brownies whatever creams her demon butler purchases at Costco.”
It’s true. They love Yule because the peppermint comes out. And eggnog flavor. “The brownies clean better when they are happy with their cream. It is a minor consideration.”
“Demon? You have a demon butler?”
the king asks.
I feel the need to tread carefully here. There’s an expectation to his tone. A certain prejudice I have to manage. “Your counterpart does. He purchased him at auction. Albert is excellent at cooking and scaring the crap out of anyone his master doesn’t want near. He’s half demon. You have to be careful but if you get the right one, there’s no better servant. Do you have a problem with the Hell plane, Your Majesty? Because you should know Myrddin is in open negotiations with them.”
“Yes, I know he’s working to cut us off from the celestial planes so we can finally do as we please with no interference,”
Devilshea murmurs. “But I suppose I didn’t think about the implications.”
“The implications are power, Your Majesty,”
Myrddin points out. “The power for the inner planes to be free. The power for your planes to be free of celestial influence. If you had no celestial influence, you would be in your temple right now. You wouldn’t have rebels holed up in there.”
“The celestial planes don’t control the temples. Fae magic does,” I say.
Devilshea turns my way and gives me a placating smile. “My love, you don’t understand the way things work.”
“I understand how he works,” I reply.
“And I understand the burden you carry, Zoey,”
Myrddin says, his eyes narrowing. “Shall we discuss that?”
My baby. He knows I’m pregnant. Goddess, the last time I played this game, Louis Marini tried to beat my babies out of my body.
I’m saved from responding by the door coming open and the head of the guard requesting a talk with his monarch. The king studies me for a long moment and then leans over and kisses my cheek. “I will want to know about all of your burdens. I will take them from you and they will burden you no more. I’ll be back.”
Yes, that is everything I am afraid of.
When the king is gone, Myrddin leans forward, his eyes black as night. “You understand what will happen when I tell that man you’re pregnant.”
I’m shocked he hasn’t already. “I think it would be an excellent way to murder me. You wouldn’t even have to get your hands dirty.”
“Oh, if I thought he would kill you, I would tell him in a heartbeat, but he is obsessed with you. He’s hunted the planes for you,”
Myrddin whispers. “And I think he’ll do what he did last time if you die. He’ll lose his fucking mind. Tell me what you do to him, Zoey, that he cannot be whole without you.”
“I’m his soul mate and his goddess, and don’t think Daniel doesn’t play his part. This Devinshea was doomed when he wouldn’t accept this version of Danny. We all were. What the hell is your endgame here? You could murder the king and take whatever you want from this timeline.”
It’s beyond clear that this is our Myrddin and he can jump timelines. “Or you could find yourself in this timeline and literally fuck yourself. You should do that.”
“Such a mouth on you,”
he sneers back. “And there is no other me. I am unique in the universe. As is that god hiding in your faerie prince and the sad spring goddess. The gods and the most powerful of us are unique in all the planes. The only unique thing about you is that you are always a nexus point. Sometimes that works in your favor. Sometimes it means you die young. But there are many yous. You will find no other version of your daughter Summer, but there are many Evangelines I can get to. She’s on the Hell plane, or so I have heard. You sent her with the Hunter. Maybe I’ll pay her a visit.”
I sent her to Gray’s kingdom to keep her away from Myrddin. “If you do, be prepared to deal with Fenrir. And Kelsey. And Gray and Trent and…”
He holds up a hand. “Yes, I will deal with them all at some point. I will certainly deal with the dark prophet. He’s the one who foiled my attempts to deal with the seer.”
I remember what he said in the dining room earlier. “You killed her family to get to her. You were looking for someone specific. You found some prophecy that talked about Shy.”
“I was told the Davis family could be detrimental to my plans,”
he says. “Any of the major psychics, really, but the Davis family in particular. I thought they were talking about the mother, not the daughter. I didn’t realize the daughter possessed any power at all. It should have worked. I planned it carefully. I did it on a night when everyone should have been home.”
“But Gray nudged her.”
I love that prophet. They aren’t supposed to fix things but the two I know sometimes take things in hand. If they aren’t supposed to do it, then they won’t be allowed to.
My children are alive because Grayson Sloane told my butler to get the kids out if anything happened. Just a nudge. Albert listened, and they made it out by the skin of their teeth. It appears Gray’s the reason Shy is alive, too.
“And he will pay,”
Myrddin vows. “Zoey, I need you to understand that I require something specific from the king of this land. You are payment. If you cease to please him, then there’s no reason for me to keep you alive. If you turn him against me, then there’s no reason for me to not tell him of your pregnancy.”
“And if I’m a good girl and simply hate you from afar?”
A shoulder shrugs. “Then I suspect there’s little reason for me to kill any of you. You somehow managed to save that idiot son of yours. Now tell me about the seer.”
“Shy? I barely know her. She’s not powerful. My son kind of has a crush on her, but it’s not serious.”
I will lie and lie and lie to this man.
“Either you are lying or you don’t know what she is. Likely a bit of both. I don’t think she understands what she is, and I was a bloody fool to use Arawn’s name to get you here.”
He stands and paces. “I should have found another way. If he knows…”
“Knows what?”
He gives me a nasty smirk. “Nothing since she’s not powerful and you shouldn’t care because the relationship isn’t at all serious.”
Asshole. I hate this man with every fiber of my being. “Daniel’s going to kill you.”
“I’m sure he’s going to try, but the question is can I get what I need out of your erstwhile suitor before Daniel comes calling. You see even if I don’t kill you all, I can leave you stranded here. I got you here with the blue dolerite, but it won’t work for the return trip,”
Myrddin taunts. “You use that door again and you’ll simply find yourself on the Earth plane in this timeline. It’s interesting. You’ll get to see Marini again, dear. Since you were Fae in this time, you weren’t around to fuck things up for him. He has more power than you can imagine, and you will be the sweetest treat for him. So you see, I don’t have to kill you. I simply have to leave you here.”
My rage threatens to boil to the surface. “Then I’ll steal whatever key you have.”
His smile becomes brilliant, and he holds his arms wide. “I am the key, darling girl. Didn’t anyone tell you? I’m part Planeswalker, too. I can walk any plane I like, and I walk through all the times.”
“Except the celestial ones.”
Somehow I don’t see him walking those or he would have found Sarah.
The tightening of his jaw lets me know I hit on the truth.
“And if you can’t go there no one should. Have you considered the dead in this ridiculous plan of yours? If you cut off the doors to the celestial planes, millions of dead will be trapped. Any who aren’t on their way to Hell will be stuck. From what I understand reincarnation happens on the heavenly planes. How do you intend to deal with millions of souls with nowhere to go?”
And then the truth hits me with the force of a runaway train. He has considered them. He is counting on them. “You’ll force them to Hell.”
His eyes practically glow as he contemplates his plans. “Yes, that is the deal I’ve made with the Hell plane. And there is a unique energy formed when souls cross the barrier. I can use it. I will feast when I close those gates. You think I’m na?ve and will allow the demons to overrun the planes, but here’s what you don’t understand. I don’t intend to allow the demons to take the Earth plane. By the time I’m done, I’ll take over Hell, too. I’ll be more powerful than the Morningstar, and I’ll pick my teeth with his bones.”
I feel a chill go over my skin. So many souls. Practically endless.
He might be able to do it.
“Now, it appears your vampire husband has fled the grounds so we can have some dinner. I’ll have the hounds escorted back to the royal kennels. They’ve done their jobs,”
the king says, walking back in. “Teacher, if you don’t mind. I would like some time alone with my…with Zoey. We will talk about the mountain in the morning.”
The mountain. Shy wanted to go to the mountain. She was drawn to it. I stand and allow Devilshea to lead me away.
The whole time I feel Myrddin’s eyes on me and know this is far from over.
Table of Contents
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- Page 17 (Reading here)
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