Page 18
Shy
My slippered feet pound against the soft grass as Lee takes the lead and we race away from the west side of the palace.
Leaving the queen…leaving Zoey behind. And Daniel. And…sweet goddess…we’re leaving Devinshea in the hands of the man who killed my family.
It’s going to be okay. Lee will make sure of it. You know it’s nice in here. I thought it would be a tight fit, but it’s roomy.
And I’ve got someone new in my head now. Or my chest. I don’t really know where my soul space lies. I only know that it’s full again.
Rhys’s hand has a death grip on mine, and the only reason he isn’t still carrying me is he’s worried about arrows. So he’s in front of me and Sasha is protecting my back. The quiet of the night is shattered by gunfire because while Sasha is excellent at all weapons, he really prefers his SIG Sauer. Loaded with cold iron bullets.
Lee races ahead, and I see the temple in the distance.
An arrow thuds into the ground at my feet.
Rhys turns, holds up his hand, and suddenly there’s screaming behind us.
Sasha hurries me along. “Don’t look.”
But I do. I get a glimpse of Rhys’s magic. All I’ve seen my love do is grow things. His magic always seems so protective and soft. But those trees leaning down and skewering soldiers, hauling them back into the sky to hold them there, chests bleeding out…it’s not soft nor is this light magic.
Because no magic is inherently evil. Because the darkness is not evil and the light is not necessarily good. Because we are all somewhere in between.
I wish I could say I’m repulsed by his power.
You so are not repulsed. You are totally turned on. Say, I don’t know if I can handle that. He looks far too much like my nephew. It would be weird. But you could do the big hot vampire. I would enjoy that.
I have to figure out how to shield.
We make it to the temple without much contest. There’s no guard around the temple. No lights or grand gardens. Everything around it feels dead and lifeless.
Until Rhys makes it to the grounds.
Lee tries to shove me through the door, but I get a glimpse of Rhys, his hair mussed and blood on his shirt. As he moves onto the temple grounds, the whole place comes back to life.
Grass that was dull and brown is suddenly a vibrant green. The oaks and willows and rowan trees that appear to be stuck in winter are green and alive again. Flowers blossom in his wake, and the shrubs burst with life.
The door Lee had only managed to partially open swings fully for the god walking toward it. As if the temple knows who and what he is and welcomes him once more.
Lee and Sasha force me inside, and that’s when I realize we’re not alone. Cassie peels away from the shadows she clings to, and her brother growls her way.
“I’m going,”
she says with a huff as she walks in beside me. “It’s just really cool.”
It is really cool. As Rhys jogs up the steps, the torches light themselves and behind us I hear water running where it was not before.
The temple was dead, and it is alive again.
Rhys rushes up the steps, not looking back. His focus is wholly and completely on me.
Well, if you ever worried about whether he cares, the man didn’t even notice the world just woke up around him.
It’s weird. I had Harry in my head for a long time, but this version of Neil feels different. Like he’s slightly too big. My body feels uncomfortable, and I try to remember if I felt this with Harry.
“Everyone inside,”
Rhys orders. “Cassie, where is your father?”
“He went looking for Uncle Danny,”
Cassie explains. “He wants Brendan to stay in wolf form and watch over us, but he’s going back for our uncles and aunt.”
I would expect nothing less. So my other version had kiddos. I didn’t find a partner. I was too busy raising Lee. He was seven when she died. He was a handful. I’d like to talk to him before I go.
Go?
“We need to secure the doors,”
Rhys is saying. “Shy, I want you to go with Cassie and find the safest place you can and secure it however you need to. Brendan, watch them.”
“There’s no need. They can’t get in here.”
Lee sits on a window seat. The entryway to the temple is made of white marble, green vines with flowering plants climbing around the thick columns. There are four golden bowls that light with fire as Rhys walks by them. Above us the ceiling begins to glow with light as well. “I meant what I said. We’re safe. Look. They can’t even cross the yard.”
They can’t. We have spies, and I happen to know that Devinshea has tried everything he can to get back into his temple, and when that failed he attempted to destroy it. Neil’s voice is soothing. And I meant what I said. I’d like to talk to Lee before I go. I thank you so much for saving me. I know the wizard could take me because I was disoriented and confused, and I didn’t want to go. But it is my time.
Rhys looks out the window at the guards gathered round, but true to what Lee said they seem stopped at the edge of the yard surrounding the temple. Even from this distance, I can see they’re confused at the change. They look around in seeming wonder.
“They cannot get us in here,”
Lee reiterates, his expression haggard. “But they certainly took out my men. And my uncle.”
His eyes close.
Can you speak for me? One last boon from you and I will go, Shahidi, and leave you the prince. With the god.
“Shy,”
Cassie begins.
I shake my head. “Rhys, we’re fine. We can stay here and figure out our next move, but first my guest would like to talk to his nephew.”
Lee’s head comes up, eyes flaring. “What do you mean? My uncle? The fucking wizard took him.”
Rhys stands in front of the man who looks so much like his twin. “No. My goddess saved him. It is what she was doing when time seemed to slow. She fought with the wizard for his soul and she won.”
He looks back at me with a wry twist to his lips. “Though this is a new power you didn’t tell me about.”
His complete faith that I saved Neil fills me with warmth. He couldn’t see what was happening. It probably looked to everyone else like Myrddin and I were simply pointing at a space. But Rhys knew what I was doing.
I need to stop thinking he doesn’t see me. I need to let him show me what he sees.
I smile back at him, proud that he’s calm even though our world upended. Again. “I didn’t know about it until tonight. But I will say there’s probably more to come. I felt something I never have before. A power. However, right now Neil wants to talk to his nephew before he goes.”
Lee stands, tears on his face. “He wasn’t destroyed.”
It isn’t a question. It’s an affirmation. It’s a settling inside of him. I let Neil’s words flow through me.
“I remember the day you were born. I held your mother’s hand and Deinny held the other, and then we were a family. Zandra slept, but I stayed up watching you. In awe of how something so perfect could come from your father. He wasn’t horrible then, but he was young and arrogant and selfish. You did what he couldn’t. You lost everything and stayed true to who you want to be. I adore you, Lee Quinn, and we will meet again. Stay with these people. I don’t know why but things are clearer here. They were sent for a reason.”
“Yes, so Myrddin can kill them, uncle,”
Lee argues, but he holds my hands like he’s holding Neil’s.
My head shakes. “That was the intent, but it will not be the outcome. The wizard falls into traps, too. I love you, Lee, but your mother and true father are calling me. I hear them. He was, you know. Deinny might never have convinced your mother in this last life, but no matter biology, he was your father.”
“And you. I didn’t fall into selfish pity because I had you.”
Tears flow freely down Lee’s face. “You’ll be okay?”
I feel so much love from this Fae. It flows through me, and hopefully Lee can feel it, too. I am merely a watcher in this farewell, but I feel it so keenly. The love, the life that was Neil’s. The hope. The odd joy he feels at moving on. “I am more than okay, nephew. I am blessed by the goddess, and you are as well. Stay with them. Take what is yours. Do not be afraid. The time has come. I know you wish for a simple life, but you will be king. Do not shrink away from the power you must take to free them all.”
He nods. “I love you. I will be okay. We will be okay.”
I feel Neil shift out of me, leaving my body like a whisper, a sweet but cool breeze. He stands in front of me, the proud Fae warrior he was in life. And I swear I can see a glow from a foot behind him. I can see the light.
I have never seen the light before.
There is only peace on Neil’s face now. “I know we’ve only just met, but honestly sharing space like that, you get to know a person. Would you like to know what I see in you, Shahidi? Bravery. Love. So much love. But also fear. You have no need to fear. Death is nothing to fear. You are nothing to fear. When you realize you are the light we are all looking for at the end of our days, you will see things as they truly are. Say his name when you’re ready. He will not ignore your call.”
He smiles and turns and walks into that light.
“He’s gone,”
I tell Lee and wonder who he was talking about. Who will answer my call?
Lee shudders and nods, obviously trying to control himself. “To be with them again. Thank you.”
He squeezes my hands. “Thank you. Anything I have is yours.”
“And we will aid you in any way we can,”
Rhys says solemnly. “But first we need to regroup. My goddess needs rest, and we need to figure out how to get my parents back. Bris will keep my father alive for as long as he can. He is very strong. My dad will be working from wherever he is. Uncle Neil will find him. I am worried about Mother.”
“And Ostara.”
For the first time since we came into the temple, Sasha speaks. He looks grim standing in the firelight. Like it cost him to leave the palace. “I must go to the dungeons and free her. I’ve told you about my wife.”
“I might have a way to get you out,”
Lee explains. “I’ll try to make the arrangements.”
I remember how the goddess found the strength to point Sasha’s way and call him by another name. “Who is Oleg Federov?”
“That was his name when he was alive,”
Rhys explains. “Before he became Sasha. He had a wife and a child.”
“Natasha.”
I know that part. We keep up with her for him. We follow her socials and have some people in Dallas who watch in case she ever needs her father.
“I suppose I stopped talking so much by the time you came around,”
Sasha admits. “I was a spy for my government. My government became corrupt, and I objected. I knew they might kill me, but what they did was worse. They sold me to a woman who was experimenting with drugs that took a person’s memories. She was trying to create small armies of men who had no loyalty to anyone but her. The drugs took my life but not my skills.”
“He could fight, remember how to shoot and do everyday things, but he couldn’t remember who he was,”
Rhys says softly, and I wonder how many times they sat together and talked. Of all the kids, Sasha seems closest to Rhys.
Likely because Rhys was forced to mature so quickly. Because despite the fact that his powers were desired by many, they were also troublesome when he couldn’t control them. Sasha wasn’t affected by his fertility powers so he could stay close.
“I’m so sorry. How does Ostara know your name?”
I realize we misunderstood her. “She asked about the vampire. We thought she was talking about Daniel. She was talking about you. She said she could feel something stirring in her host’s soul. Or something like that. Meadow has bad dreams about what happen in her prior life.”
Tears pool in the vampire’s eyes. I have never once seen this male cry. “Because she was murdered by the same people who sold me. I did not remember her for many years, though she was always in my soul. My wife. My love. I am not proud of who I became when she was no longer a strong voice in my head. When I did not remember her, I was not good. I wasn’t as terrible as your father, Lee, but I was selfish and mean at times. And then I remembered. Sometimes it would happen. A flash like someone briefly turned on a light. I would see a baby in my hands and feel…worthy and good. Like I was where I was supposed to be when I held this girl in my hands. I knew I loved her mother with all my heart. That feeling is why I jumped in front of a bullet to save my brother. It was the first time after I lost my memories that I heard her. I heard something telling me she would find me again.”
“Then you were a vampire.”
Rhys takes over when Sasha seems too overwhelmed. “And you had us. You were patient. You knew she was out there, and these last few years you felt her across time. Across the planes of existence. Across multiple timelines. Sasha, this is why we’re here.”
Sasha straightens up. “It is one of the reasons. Shy is the main one. This time needs her. Our time needs her.”
He turns my way. “You must see that you are important and not in a you-will-strengthen-Rhys way. Myrddin is playing with death magic to strengthen himself. You stole from him. One soul. What if you could steal them all? What if you could set them free and he could not use them again?”
“Use them again?” I ask.
“He eats them.”
Lee settles back on the bench beside Cassie. Brendan is prowling, sniffing and taking stock of the temple. “He uses them for sure, but then they’re gone.”
“This is not what the world teaches us.”
Sasha’s arms cross over his big chest. “And finding my wife again proves this to me. Nothing is wasted. It is merely transformed. Myrddin is obsessed with Gladys. The Sword of Light. It is the traditional weapon of what we call the Nex Apparatus, but it was given many millennia ago to a group of warrior women called the Amazons. I won’t launch into a history of how my people ended up subjugating the warrior women…”
“Patriarchy,”
Cassie says under a cough.
She’s not wrong.
“But the sword absorbs the powers of anyone it cuts. What if that is what Myrddin is trying to achieve? Or a variation of it. What if he thinks he can take those souls and use them when the time is right? When he has enough power?”
Sasha posits.
“He can’t absorb powers. If he could, he would go around murdering any creature with supernatural powers and take them as his own,”
I reply. “The Sword of Light is unique. It doesn’t have to kill to give Kelsey access to power. If Myrddin could do that, he would have shown us before now.”
“But he studied the sword for years while Kelsey was trapped.”
Rhys seems to pick up on Sasha’s thoughts. “He wouldn’t be able to do exactly what the sword does, but he knows the sword can lock the door between the planes. It stores energy and that energy is what he needs. What if he’s storing souls?”
“I’m sorry, what? That wizard who has been fucking with my home wants to close the doors to the planes? That’s what my father is helping him with?”
Lee is on his feet again. “Just when I’m certain he’s at his lowest, he reaches for the stars. Well, I know what Myrddin wants with my father. He’s been learning how to gain power through taking in souls. He can’t keep them in his body, so he has certain crystals that absorb the soul and lock it into place. From there I have heard he has spells to ingest the soul, to destroy it and use the energy for himself.”
“I am almost certain Myrddin is lying to your father. From what I know, no one can trap a soul. You can trick one, but you can’t trap it,”
I explain. “And yet it seems to be what he’s doing. It goes against everything I’ve been taught. I only know that Myrddin needs an enormous amount of energy to close the gates.”
“So Myrddin thinks he can close the gate a different way?”
Cassie’s hands are in her lap, a worried look on her face. “If he thought he could seal the gate with celestial magic, could he think death magic will work just as well?”
I sigh as it hits me. “He figured out something, or at least he’s got a theory. A door swings both ways. What if he thinks he can only use the sword to seal the door from the celestial side given where it’s magic comes from?”
“I don’t think anyone gets to walk those particular planes. Not unless you’re invited,”
Rhys says. “Which is why Mother is looking for the amulet. Shy, please don’t tell me you think he’s trying to close it from Hell’s side because death magic is not evil.”
I sigh but don’t argue with him because honestly, up until now, it’s exactly what I would have been thinking. My witchy sisters always say I need to do some shadow work. Well, I’m doing it in the field and in real time. “No, babe, he wouldn’t want that at all. That would close off Hell. The Earth plane is in the middle, and death magic is absolutely Earth magic. It is neither evil nor good. It simply is. It is required.”
“Tell me how what you just did wasn’t good,”
Lee says, staring at me with somber eyes. “You saved my uncle.”
I’m not certain that was death magic. It felt so lovely, so simple and pure. It felt like home. “All I’m saying is what if death magic or something like it works to close the door from the Earth plane’s side. What if he realized closing it from the celestial side means he can’t control the lock?”
“He would need so many souls.”
There’s no lack of horror in Cassie’s tone.
“He would have to hoard them. I don’t know that he can do that on the Earth plane. Too many supernatural creatures, and even the humans would notice if he had millions of souls hanging around waiting to be used,”
Rhys says with a shake of his head. “It would cause all kinds of trouble. Human souls don’t cling together. They prefer to be solitary.”
“But the sluagh don’t.”
I know why I am here.
Rhys’s eyes close, and he pales. “There would have to be millions.”
“He keeps them in the mountains. No one is allowed to go there,”
Lee explains. “The mountains themselves are considered sacred to the Quinn family. No one can go there, but recently even the villages around them were evacuated. They told us it’s because it’s dangerous. Right before the last harvest, the king moved them all out. Simply took his soldiers through with the help of the duke and tossed them all into the forest. They weren’t even allowed to pack.”
“Was that around the time Myrddin began showing up?”
Sasha asks.
Lee nods. “That was when the dead began to disappear. I have a friend with a bit of medium in her magic. She was worried when she could no longer hear their whispers, and she definitely believes there are more sluagh in those mountains than our sithein has ever held. There was always a small colony of them, but she fears they have grown in a way that is not natural. She has been worried because at some point they will not be contained. Now I know why the king thinks he can handle it.”
Because he intends to give them to Myrddin, who will take all that energy and close the Earth plane off.
Rhys nods Lee’s way, and suddenly his hand is in mine. “When can we leave? You said there was a way out? How do we know your father doesn’t have troops waiting for us?”
“Because they’ve never found the tunnels we dug to get here,”
Lee replies with an arrogant grin. “The gnomes who used to serve the temple helped us. When we realized the king isn’t allowed in his own temple, we knew we had a way in.”
“And how did you get the chimera in?”
Sasha asks with a frown. “I do not believe the chimera is native to a Seelie sithein.”
He frowns. “Damn it. I didn’t even think about that. I sicced the chimera on you when I thought you were coming back with my dad. He was brought in by the Unseelie from an outer plane. I have been working with them not only to get certain Fae creatures to safety, but also as a part of the rebellion. They would prefer I was on the throne. I planned on telling them no, but now I have a promise to my uncle. I’m sorry about the chimera.”
Cassie waves him off. “The chimera was no big deal. I took him out midair with a machete.”
“Really? He was kind of my friend,” Lee says.
Cassie winces. “Uh, sorry?”
“How many more assassins do you have hiding? Will they mistake Rhys for your father? He looks much like him. Like you,”
Sasha points out.
“But our soul scents are different. I had to go with that for our beast friends because they aren’t good with faces,”
Lee admits. “I guess your father and mine share a soul scent.”
“I will not even ask how one trains on a soul scent,”
Cassie says with a grimace.
Lee eyes her. “It’s a spell.”
He turns back to Rhys and me. “We can’t leave until morning. The forest the tunnels dump into is full of predators. They’re nocturnal, and it’s only a half day’s hike to my village, and from there we will march to the mountains. At least Shy and I will. I know Rhys must help rescue his parents. I promise, I will take care of her.”
I feel my love go stiff and know there’s about to be some plants up in here. Probably with vicious thorns he intends to shove up his brother’s backside. “Rhys will escort me. I would not go without him. His dad will take care of his mother and Papa, along with Neil and Sasha. I’m afraid our missions have become separate things.”
“He won’t kill your mother.”
Lee resettles his pack over his shoulder. “If it helps, I believe he will try to seduce her. Bibi has been watching him. He still talks about her, and when he does it’s always about making things right this time.”
“You believe that?”
Rhys asks.
“I believe eventually he’ll do what he does and take what he thinks is his, but he’ll want her to want him. He’s trying to replay their relationship. She didn’t fall into bed with him. He had to work for it,”
Lee explains. “At least that’s what my uncle told me. We also have some pixie spies. I’ll let them know to report to the vampires.”
I notice a small butterfly peel off the temple wall and fly to Lee’s outstretched hand. He whispers to the pixie and she flies off, pausing in front of Sasha. The pixie stops for a moment as though memorizing his face and then it’s gone.
“I have faith that my dad will save them,”
Rhys says and sighs. “And my mother will likely bring down the palace and end up leading a revolution of pixies and trolls and brownies. We must get Shy to the mountain. We can’t allow Myrddin to take the sluagh souls.”
At least I won’t have to fight him. “Cassie, will you come with us? I could use an extra guard.”
Lee sends a wink her way. “You are more than welcome, gorgeous.”
“Ewww,”
Cassie says. “You’re like a cousin.”
Lee shrugs. “Baby, I don’t know you here. And you look good.”
Brendan steps in front of his sister and growls, the hair on his back standing up. “Sir Wolf, I shall keep my hands to myself.”
“You do not change. Also, she is fifteen. I will cut off your balls, brother or no.”
Rhys sniffs and turns back to me. “I can guard you.”
I give him a saucy smile. “You wrap me up in itchy vines. She would throw me her second-best machete, and Brendan is good at tracking in case you lose me.”
Brendan gives a bark, and his sister throws him a treat before giving me a thumbs-up. “We got you, and also I do look more like I’m a young twenty.”
“I mean she kind of does,”
Lee attempts.
“She does not, and everyone needs to understand that I am in charge. This is Shy’s mission, but I am the commanding officer here.”
Rhys’s eyes narrow, and I swear I can see a storm there as he puts his hands on my shoulders. “I will not lose you, and if you run there would be no place I could not find you.”
My poor baby god is overstimulated. It’s been a rough day for him. For all of us, but this is his worst nightmare. He always has to be in control, and he is simply not now. This is my mission, and losing me is everything he has tried to avoid since the moment we met.
It’s funny how I worried about this before and now it seems so simple. We’re stuck here for the night, in a version of the temple where he would be married.
Where we will be married.
Maybe I should think more, but I don’t want to. I know we’re on the run and should focus on what’s going to happen tomorrow, but we need something sweet tonight. We’re as safe as we can be and have no idea what dawn will bring.
Our fears are often silly in the face of our love. I worried the temple would reject me somehow or that I would feel uncomfortable in it. It all goes back to my greatest fear. That I will not ever belong.
The marble hums beneath my feet. A soft wind caresses my cheek. Like a kiss of welcome. Like a hug from family long unseen.
I do belong here in the temple. This temple is our home. Part of it. We will always go back to the Earth plane. Rhys is the priest of those the Fae left behind. One day—when the war is done and peace lay like a blanket over the plane—we will build our temple there and offer what we are. Life. Death. The beginning of souls turning. Love. We will offer ourselves and our gifts, our magic and our work to our people.
But tonight I have something else to offer him.
“I would never run from you.”
I go up on my toes and kiss his lush lips. “Show me our temple.”
This is my wedding night.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18 (Reading here)
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38