Page 23
Sasha
Sasha breathed deeply, thanking the universe that he wasn’t afraid of small spaces. These “tunnels”
had obviously been created for brownies and trolls and gnomes. The small Fae creatures. They had not been created for a six-foot, three-inch muscular vampire. And yet he fit. He had to walk sideways, but he fit as long as he didn’t breathe too deeply.
“Are we almost there? This is terrible. And the smells…”
Neil had decided to come along. He also decided to complain. A lot. Sasha had shushed him several times, but Bibi had explained the walls were reenforced with magic. Lee had brought in witches to spell the tunnels so they were soundproof. Going out. Not coming in. They would be able to see and hear what was going on in the dungeons once they reached what Bibi called the king’s audience room.
It wasn’t a part of the tunnel system the rebels had managed to build over the last decade, but they had attached a tunnel to it.
“We are close to the audience room,”
Bibi promised. “It will not be so crowded.”
Neil sighed behind him, but Sasha kept moving. “How will we know the king won’t be watching tonight?”
“Because he hasn’t used it in years,”
Bibi replied. “Once he met the wizard he started participating in the torture sessions. I believe it is because the magic works better if he is in the room.”
“What do they say about the king’s new magic?”
Neil asked.
“That it is dark. We all fear it. They say when the king or the wizard has you, there is no coming back. Not even in death,”
Bibi said quietly, moving with ease. “They say he eats souls.”
“I have friends in another timeline who don’t believe that it is possible, though there might be a way to trick a soul into trapping itself.”
When he’d become a vampire he’d stayed with an academic named Marcus Vorenus. Vorenus had been an excellent mentor and they spent many nights sitting around his luxurious Venetian townhouse arguing points of law or history, or in this case, philosophy. “The question is are the rules different here because we’re in another timeline. Myrddin can cross them. He might have come here to take advantage of the difference in how things work here.”
“I think some rules are immutable.”
Neil sounded serious again. “It’s why Kelsey’s in Hell right now. No one believes Myrddin could destroy Liv’s soul, but he might be able to hold it somewhere. Or it might hide. What if he’s found a way to tempt the soul to go to a particular place?”
“Like the mountains that called to Shy.”
It wasn’t a question. He knew they would have to deal with whatever Shy was here to do.
“The king believes he is eating souls and gaining power from it,”
Bibi says quietly. “It might be a lie from the wizard, but he truly thinks he is the most powerful king in the history of the Seelie Fae. Why would the wizard lie?”
“Because he needs your king for something,”
Sasha explained. “In our timeline the wizard has grown desperate. I would bet this is some long-term scheme of his that he’s suddenly kicked into high gear. The king wasn’t expecting him, was he?”
“The wizard returned to our palace a week ago, and from all reports there was no scheduled meeting. I was not in the room, but we had eyes and ears on them. The king’s personal dresser has become adept at a form of language that uses only the hands. He cannot write down the things he hears, but his hand language somehow gets around the spell.”
She stopped and ran her hand along the wall. In a moment, the bricks receded, a small opening appearing. Sure enough, there was a throne chair and what appeared to be a two-way mirror.
“The room is spelled to be soundproof. The king enjoyed laughing and clapping but sometimes it unnerved the torturers, so he can turn it off or on. He also enjoyed giving orders. What he did not enjoy was getting his clothes bloody.”
Though he seemed to have gotten over it now. Sasha stopped at the sight in front of him. There were two Devinsheas in that dark chamber, though it was easy to tell them apart. One was dressed regally and the other one was wrapped in cold iron, his hands over his head, feet barely touching the floor. A high-stress position that would have Dev’s whole body screaming in moments and would most likely dislocate his shoulders soon.
“Damn it,”
Neil breathed as he walked in behind Sasha. “This is why I convinced Danny to check in on Z. If he saw that…”
Devinshea was Daniel’s. Vampires were possessive creatures, and Dev and the queen were Daniel’s precious blood. He would lose his shit. Like Sasha wanted to lose his because Ostara was in the room, too. Her slender form was tied to a chair. She still wore the gossamer gown she’d selected for dinner but it was wrinkled, the hem covered in the mud they drug her through. Her golden hair hung limply around her torso, and she had been crying.
His heart threatened to break.
She was here.
She didn’t look like his Marta, but it was her all the same. If he hadn’t been a vampire, he likely wouldn’t have known, would have merely believed she was some woman he’d just met who touched him in some odd spiritual way.
How many times? How many times had he looked at her face and known they were meant to be?
This time…this fucking time would be forever. This he vowed.
“It’s honestly unnerving being in the same room with him,”
the king said as he looked Devinshea up and down. “I think he’s thinner than me.”
“Well, I’m not feasting on the souls of my enemies, you whacked-out bastard,”
Dev spat back.
“Please,”
Ostara began.
Dev managed to turn his body slightly her way. “Shut up. Let me do the talking.”
It was said in a harsh grind, but Sasha knew the words beneath it. Right now Ostara was a side project. There seemed to be three guards in charge of the dungeons. One was stationed by the door, but the other two were behind Devinshea. It was obvious they were already at work since Sasha’s friend had several round burn marks on his torso. His previously white shirt was in tatters and now a muddy red brown, but he was healing right in front of them.
The king nodded, and one of the guards hauled a long poker out of the raging fire blazing in the furnace. He didn’t hesitate to shove it into Dev’s shoulder, steam rising where it sank in. Dev’s jaw went tight, teeth gritting, but only a low moan came from him.
The guard pulled the poker out and stepped back. In mere seconds it began to heal.
“What is this magic?”
the king complained, looking utterly disgusted with the fact that his wounds wouldn’t stay.
A long sigh came from the doorway. Myrddin stood there. “I told you he’s on vampire blood.”
“The vampires here don’t heal others.”
“Because the vampires on this plane are baobhan sith. It’s not the same. They don’t share blood the way the vampires on the inner planes do,”
Myrddin said. “Devinshea has been on it a long time, so it will take a lot of damage to get it out of his system. He’s Daniel’s lover, and that means Daniel shares blood with him. Daniel’s blood is powerful. I believe I told you this won’t work right away. Between the god inside him and that damn vamp blood, this could take a while.”
“Or I could drain all the vampire blood out of his body and then the problem is solved.”
The king snapped his fingers. “Get me a blade. I’ll slit his throat and this can be over.”
Sasha felt Neil tense beside him and knew they were about to have to make a choice.
Even as the guards handed him a long cold iron blade, Myrddin was shaking his head. “I told you, Your Majesty, if you kill him immediately, the god will flee. You have to separate the god from the man in a very specific way. It’s the only way to take the god’s energy yourself and regain the power of your temple.”
“Bullshit.”
Neil’s arms crossed over his chest. “Nothing can hold Bris. I don’t know what the hell he thinks he’s doing, but he’s absolutely conning that king.”
The king sneered and moved in, dagger still in his hand. “Maybe I don’t care about the temple.”
Sasha would give it to the wizard. He was a cool customer.
“All right, but I’m not sure why you need a goddess if you won’t have a temple,”
Myrddin said.
“The temple will open to me when I have a proper goddess.”
He held the dagger under Devinshea’s chin. “Tell me something. Do you have a temple in your timeline? I suspect you do.”
“I have two,”
Dev replied. “In my time, I am the bridge between our tribes. Seelie and Unseelie claim me. My goddess can power any number of temples but only if the temple finds the god worthy.”
“The Unseelie are impure. They are the assassins of our world. Did you know my brother used Unseelie infestations to kill my beloved? And all because I would not take a bride. Do you have any idea what they did to her?”
The king sneered, showing his distaste.
“Probably a lot of what they tried to do to me. Did Mother send Declan to the Unseelie sithein? Did you follow?”
Dev asked.
“Of course not. We have no relations with the dark court,”
the king replied. “None except planning our wars.”
“Well, she did send my brother, and I went with him. It’s odd how time refines and shapes memory. For so long all I thought about was how they forced me. We were caught by a rogue group. My brother got away. I did not. I remember how awful it was, and that was all I thought about at the time. But now I remember how a group of trolls found me, lying there. Spent and aching, and they took care of me,”
Dev said. “The Unseelie has its monsters. And its kindness and beauty and love. The same way we do. The temple rejects you because you are the Seelie monster. Just because someone calls you light, doesn’t mean you are good. Because someone calls themselves clean does not mean they are worthy. It simply means they understand neither word.”
The king chuckles, a wholly unhumorous sound. “You are weak. When you’re dead and that god has fled in terror, I will show your goddess what we can truly be.”
Dev’s head shook. “You will be left with a dead sithein. It’s already in the process, isn’t it? Your kingdom is dying because there’s no such thing as an evil Green Man. Your magic was a gift and it’s gone now. You were unworthy.”
The knife moved to Devinshea’s throat, and a fine trickle of blood began. “You are the unworthy one. You allowed the wizard to take your kingdom. You were foolish enough to fall into our trap again. You don’t deserve her.”
“I defied my brother and Mother for her,”
Dev declared. “I didn’t treat her like a dirty secret. When she had our babies, I was there. She didn’t labor alone and suffer without my aid. I held them in my hands. Two. I was gifted two children, and then another beautiful girl. Your son hates you. You are the king of a dead sithein, barely holding on to a populace that hates you, too. They loathe you, Devinshea. They see down to your cowardly soul. The only reason they haven’t risen up is you found borrowed magic, and when Myrddin gets what he wants from you, that will be gone and your head will be on a rebel pike. You killed it all. All of this death and horror because you were a coward.”
“Is he trying to get murdered?”
Bibi asked with a shudder.
“He knows exactly what the man is afraid of, who he is because deep down Devinshea is honest with himself. Even when he’s wrong,”
Neil said with a sniffle. “Goddess, how will I tell Zoey if he dies?”
“He won’t.”
Sasha saw Myrddin’s hand come up, his fingers twisting slightly. “You see that? He’s having to be subtle about it, but I would bet he’s working some kind of calming spell. You said the wards weren’t up here, right?”
Bibi nodded. “The king likes to use magic against his enemies, and it’s hard with the wards because he’s never been good with it. He thinks he’s some kind of magic wielder now that the wizard has taught him some things, but he is still a bit inept. The guards had to take down the wards because the king’s own magic couldn’t overcome them even after they were trained to. That’s not what they told him, of course, but they had to do something. Myrddin himself has had to come in to strengthen the spells holding us from time to time.”
Sure enough the king took a step back, sneering at the version of himself currently in chains. “I will have my temple back. When I take the god, the temple won’t be able to keep me out. And I will take my bride in our sacred space, and all will be right with the world again.”
He turned and stormed out.
One of the guards started sneering Ostara’s way, an unholy light in his eyes. “I don’t think he cares about you, pretty girl. Didn’t look at you even once. I don’t think he’ll care what I do to you.”
Dev found the strength to kick out and send the fucker stumbling and falling forward.
So all the guards were on him again.
Sasha breathed a sigh of relief. He owed Devinshea.
Myrddin tsked as the guards punched and kicked Dev. “Prince, you never learn. She’s of absolutely no value. She’s weak. Her goddess was trapped for too long without form, and it will take years and years for her to recover. I brought her over because I needed to show the king how to separate a god from a host. Well, I need to make sure I do it properly. Practice does make perfect and all. Poor thing really thought she was saving her plane. Women are easily led. Promise them a few baubles, a tiny bit of power. Saving their people from hunger and they just go right along with it. Gentlemen, give me a moment.”
The guards stepped back, retreating to a part of the dungeon where Sasha’s gaze couldn’t track them.
“Yes, I’m sure my wife is going along with all of this because that asshole version of me offered her a new shoe collection.”
Dev spat some blood from his mouth, barely missing the wizard.
Myrddin frowned at Dev. “She’s being perfectly obnoxious. I would have given him anything else, but he would take no other prize. I know it’s a mistake, but if I don’t sit down here and talk with you, I’ll have to deal with…well, the other you, and strangely I like you more. Or perhaps not strangely. You’re a likable chap, Devinshea. I found you quite a nice lad to talk to when you weren’t fighting me.”
“I didn’t fight you because you put a thrall stone in my head,”
Dev bit off. “But please continue. I would love to know why we’re in this specific position.”
“Like Lucifer, I often attempt divination. I use a demon or witch as a focus so I can calculate which paths to take. Imagine my surprise when that idiot Olivia had so much power, she could show me not only different outcomes on our plane but how the timelines would fracture in any given scenario. By the way, you not returning at all actually went quite poorly for me. At some point your human security team would have went looking for you when their contracts were up, and that shockingly led to my untimely death at a rather large blond man’s hands. Working with Olivia’s power taught me how to jump into a different timeline. Such an odd place. People were happy and thriving and working together to heal the world. It was unnerving. I didn’t like it so I tried again. Eventually, I found this place that has, shall we say, some unique properties. I don’t know if your mother’s sithein would work the same way since it’s technically on the Earth plane. These Fae lands form one of a thousand different Fae planes. I suppose this timeline broke off when your grandfather chose to leave the Earth plane entirely and found a home. Either way, I doubt your mother would have given me what I need.”
“And what is that?” Dev asked
“Energy, of course. I’ve always known my plans to use the Sword of Light to close the door to the Heaven plane might not work out, so I’ve looked for other sources of energy,”
the wizard admitted. “This particular plane has mountains that amplify a specific resonance. But the land is attached to the king. I need his help, so that meant I needed to find a way to give him something he wants.”
“Zoey.”
The wizard’s eyes rolled. “She must have a magical pussy. Too bad it’s attached to her personality. I truly hate that woman. However, you’re correct. He would only take his lost love. He intends to spend his immortal life with her. I’m supposed to be working on how to make her immortal, by the way. I’ll be long gone before then, and she can deal with him.”
“Oh, none of us are truly immortal.”
Dev rolled his head as though trying to work the kinks out. His body was already healed, but he had to be in pain. “You should know I intend to bury that fucker, and then I’ll deal with you.”
“I’m sure you’ll try, and I don’t know about that. Immortality, that is. I recently ran up against some magic I haven’t felt in millennia. Magic I was certain had been destroyed,”
Myrddin said with a low growl.
“Good for you. I hope it swallows you whole,”
Dev replied with a shit-eating grin.
At least one of them knew what to do. Ostara sat quietly. She was being sweet and patient and allowing Dev to take the risks.
And then he noticed her shoulder move slightly.
Damn it. She had a knife, and she was trying to cut her way out. They would hurt her. He felt a growl start deep in his chest.
And a thrill of pride run through him. His Marta hadn’t been some simpering thing. She’d been fierce. When he went missing she went up against a corrupt system to find him, and when that system came for her she ensured their daughter survived.
She was always a warrior.
“She’s trying to escape.”
Though he knew Myrddin couldn’t hear him, his voice went to a whisper.
“But where would she go?”
Bibi asked, her eyes wide with worry.
Myrddin only had eyes for Devinshea. “I was talking about my plans and how you fit into them. My point is I will keep you and that bitch wife of yours alive as long as I need to in order to get the king to do my bidding. Or I can kill you all now and try to find some backwoods version of her who will likely last all of two days before he realizes no goddess can power a god who gave up his magic. It’s your choice. As long as he’s torturing you, he’s likely not raping her.”
“Told you it’s all a con,”
Neil whispered.
“You can’t pull Bris off me,”
Dev said boldly.
“I can,”
the wizard assured him, “but unfortunately I can’t make him do the new and insane Devinshea’s bidding. Even if you tell him, he won’t believe you. So if you want to survive, you won’t try that psychological shit when I’m not around to calm him.”
“Why don’t you kill him and take whatever the fuck you want?”
Dev’s eyes narrowed. “It’s attached to him. You need him. Is it DNA? Because if it is, you could use me. Get my wife and partner out of here, give my people safe passage back to our timeline, and I’ll do it.”
“I almost believe you.”
Myrddin looked him over as if trying to decide what to do. “I might be willing except Daniel is out there. I really hoped he would die or get caught. I have certain spells going that will weaken him, but he is still the king. It would have made things so much easier if he simply died. Now I didn’t tell you all of this simply to entertain you. I am well aware how resilient Daniel can be. But your group is split now, and the kiddos are locked in the temple. I’ve already got soldiers looking for those tunnels. I’m not a complete fool. They’re also looking for Daniel. I could flee and give up my plans and leave you here. It might be the easiest thing to do.”
Dev let a moment go by. “Or?”
“I could get what I need. I can only do that if you allow your wife to pull the king under her spell. I will tell you that woman is already working her magic on him. I need a day or two.”
Dev’s head shook. “So I get tortured and you leave us here to deal with the fallout.”
“Or I get what I need, take care of the king, and you and yours have a new kingdom to rule over,”
Myrddin offered. “Think about it. It’s not bad. I can find a way to ship the rest of your clan over and then we all get what we want.”
“Like I would trust you,”
Dev replied.
“If you distract him, I will keep my word.”
Myrddin’s gaze was securely on Devinshea. “If you don’t escape and allow the queen to play her part, I will destroy the king and leave you be. I will send my witches to tell your children and your people how to join you here. If you are still here in the morning and do not attempt escape, we will make this bargain. If you are still here in the morning, we will make it official. It will be a promise to a Fae king on Fae land.”
“Fuck.”
Neil let out a long huff. “He’s serious. Dev has to take him seriously because if he doesn’t follow through, Dev can call Herne down on him.”
“Only if he stands in the same space and calls him out.”
Bibi obviously knew the rules. “He’s betting Devinshea won’t be able to find his way back.”
“Any Quinn would be able to call the Wild Hunt.”
Sasha had heard the stories. The Wild Hunt was a way to enforce promises both to and from royal Fae. Led by Herne the Hunter, the Wild Hunt could be called down on anyone who lied to a royal or a royal who lied to them. They were something of a check and balance in a world that had few of them. “All we would need to do is find a way to get word to Lee or Evan. Even to Devinshea’s brother. If Myrddin can find the right magic, so can we. But he’s trying to buy time.”
“And we have to as well,”
Neil replied. “We have to buy time for Rhys to get Shy out of here. To get my kids out of here. Then we can figure out how to force Myrddin to take us home. If nothing else we take the stones and go back to the mountain and find another door. At least one of us does. But it would be better if we simply forced Myrddin to take us.”
Myrddin stopped, his head tilting up as though he was scenting the air. A long frown came over his face and then Devinshea sighed and smiled.
“I think that temple is going to come to life tonight, and it won’t be for your boy, asshole,”
Dev said with a grin.
Myrddin cursed and was turning to the door when the guards prowled back in the room.
“Do you feel that?”
Neil asked. “It’s faint because I’ve got a charm.”
Sasha watched the guards because he definitely felt it. Faintly. He had a tat on his body that protected him from Rhys’s unique magic. As one of Rhys’s foster fathers, he’d been forced to find a way to counteract the fact that sometimes a young fertility god’s power went a little weird. He’d been the lucky one. He could get a tat. Trent Wilcox was a werewolf and had to depend on charms and wards like Neil.
“I think I need to…”
Bibi put a hand on her chest. “I cannot be here… I must get back behind the wards before I lose control.”
The troll ran back to the tunnels.
Because Rhys’s magic was thrumming through the air.
“If you let them hurt her, I’ll give you nothing,”
Dev was saying.
That was the moment Sasha realized the guards were circling Ostara. They were under the influence of all that magic, and she was the only woman close to them.
“I have to find a way in.”
He couldn’t leave her there. Couldn’t watch what they would put her through.
Myrddin’s gaze went greedy. “They’re so full of lust they can’t help themselves. They’ll fuck her over and over again.”
“It’s rape,”
Dev pointed out.
“It doesn’t have to be,”
Myrddin replied and held a hand up. The guards stopped, seemingly frozen in place. Myrddin turned to Dev. “I’ll make it easy. All you have to do is be here in the morning and we’ll negotiate the rest then. Let’s make this promise a simple one. I will not go and kill your wife if you promise to stay until morning when we negotiate further.”
He was putting Dev in a position where he could wiggle his way out of staying.
“I told you I would think about it and give you my answer in the morning.”
“Yes, that was before your son decided to screw everything up. I’m not a fool. Daniel will use this time to free you,”
Myrddin countered.
Dev’s jaw went tight. “He won’t. He won’t save me because he knows it puts our wife in more danger. He won’t come for me until he’s freed her.”
One of the guards put a hand on Ostara’s shoulder.
Sasha felt a low growl start in the back of his throat.
“Myrddin will kill us all,”
Neil said, holding him back. “I’ve watched him kill twenty wolves with a twist of his hand. Please wait. Dev is trying, and they are both feeding off this energy. She might surprise you.”
“Give me until tomorrow,”
Myrddin offered. “I cannot simply leave you without guards, but no one I send here will be prepared for that magic your son is putting out. Even I feel the effects. A deal from a royal Fae. You will stay here until tomorrow and I will send them away.”
Devinshea nodded. “Until tomorrow, and then all bets are off.”
Myrddin turned toward the guards and twisted his hand, the guards stopping in an instant. “Find your satisfaction elsewhere.”
The guards ran out.
“I suppose you’ll feed on this magic,”
Myrddin said, his gaze tight. “I have to get back to the palace and pray the wards hold. You should hope so, too, or it’s your wife who will bear the brunt of it. Think about what I said, Devinshea. We will make our true deal tomorrow. I want it properly witnessed.”
Sasha took a long breath and put a hand to the mirror. She was so small, seemingly frail. That body housed his soul’s mate.
“Are you okay?”
Dev asked. “Take a deep breath and let the magic in. My son’s energy can help heal you.”
Ostara’s shoulders moved again and then her hands were free. She stood and her eyes were wholly emerald, with no hint of white. “Thank you, Green Man. And I will thank your son as well because he is giving me energy I haven’t felt in hundreds of years.”
She turned toward the mirror. “Well, are you coming to save us or not, Oleg Federov?”
Table of Contents
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- Page 23 (Reading here)
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