Page 31

Sasha

Sasha held Ostara’s hand as he rushed through the too-tight tunnels and into the king’s viewing room. He expected to see Devinshea there, tied back up after a long night of healing.

Instead he saw Neil where Dev had been. He wasn’t tied to the post, however. He was upright, his head slumped forward, his body covered in blood and a long silver spear sticking out of his torso. The spear held him to the post. The shackles where Dev had been hung were empty, dangling over Neil’s still form.

There was blood everywhere.

Ostara gasped and started to rush for the door they found yesterday.

He held her back, fear flooding his system with adrenaline. “We don’t know who else is in there.”

“He needs help,”

she insisted.

“And we will give it to him, but we can’t help him if we’re immediately attacked.”

Neil’s body was moving slightly, breath entering and exiting his body. He was a tough kill, and whoever had tried hadn’t finished the job.

Sasha noticed the altar someone had placed in the middle of the dungeon. Myrddin had been hard at work, and he hadn’t waited until dark. What made him lose his patience?

“What happened?”

a deep voice asked.

He turned and Daniel was there, his face ashen. His shoulders were slumped like he was tired beyond measure. “My king, where have you been? You didn’t come to Bibi’s last night.”

Bibi had promised she took the king to the queen’s chamber and that he would be safe there until morning.

“It was a bit crowded. I stayed in another room until I took a meeting this morning. Where is Dev and what the fuck happened to Neil?”

The king stood in front of the mirror. “How do we get in? He’s alive but he won’t be for long. That’s silver, and we don’t know what kind of spells Myrddin worked. Something big from the looks of it.”

“I suspect Myrddin took Devinshea, and it looks like Neil tried to defend him. He was probably angry that Ostara got away,”

Sasha explained. He hadn’t seen anyone moving. He would be able to tell better if they were alone once he was in the room. The wall cut off his senses. It was time to get in, get that spear out of Neil, and figure out what the hell had happened. He pressed the door open. “Stay behind me.”

Ostara rushed past him. It was fitting. Marta never listened to him, either. If she thought she could help, she would risk everything.

She moved before the werewolf, looking at the place where the spear entered his body. “He could bleed if we take it out. He’s already lost a lot of blood.”

“Oh, he’ll bleed.”

Sasha looked back to Daniel, who was trying to get his sleeve rolled up. What had happened to the king? “But I’ll handle it. Vampire blood can heal a lot of damage, and he’s a werewolf. It’s only the silver that’s holding him back. Once we take it out, he’ll begin to heal.”

Unlike a custom bullet, which would leak silver into Neil’s bloodstream, the spear simply held him there, kept him in a state where he couldn’t heal. Myrddin hadn’t pierced the heart, so Neil was alive. Sasha would bet Myrddin thought he had. “Why don’t you see if you can help my king? Do you have any energy left?”

She stood and nodded. “Yes, after last night I have a bounty. It will not harm me or make me weak to share some with your king. The energy is still pulsing through, and I feel it out here even more.”

“We’re going to fix you, my friend.”

Daniel studied Neil as he spoke. “I got hit with something a few hours ago. Something new. I’ve felt weak the entire time I’ve been on this plane, but this… It had to be a spell of some kind, probably something to do with that wicked altar. I don’t think it was particularly meant for me, but it took all my energy. I wasn’t behind the wards. I was meeting with some of the guards. The ones who want to join the rebels now that they’re out from under the spells used on them. In the middle of the meeting, I felt this wave, and then I could barely move. I forced myself to go to the tunnels, to get back to base, but I saw you come in here.”

Neil’s eyes opened, weariness and pain plain in his expression. “It was Myrddin. He’s moving into end game. He said he can’t wait any longer because he thinks Zoey is going to screw everything up, and now he believes he can use her to get to Bris and avoid the whole soul-peeling thing. I don’t know how, but he believes it. He’s going after Shy, too. He thinks he can use her to put Arawn in a bad position and keep him and the other ascended gods out of the war. Daniel, I think he went to Hell last night and something happened.”

Daniel nodded. “Well, we knew he was meeting Lucifer. I would bet he went to get some advice. Lucifer might be interested in Shy as well if she’s as powerful as we think she is. Do we know where he took Dev?”

Tears slipped from Neil’s eyes. “I don’t know. Daniel…he took Dev but only after he… Goddess, I can’t even say it.”

There was so much blood. Could it all be Neil’s?

Daniel managed to lose more color. “What? What, Neil? What happened to Devinshea? We were supposed to have more time. After last night, Dev should be strong. He should have been able to fight Myrddin off after soaking in Rhys’s magic.”

Sasha braced himself. If Devinshea was dead, the king would never forgive himself. Sasha would never forgive himself. He’d left Dev here.

“He couldn’t do magic. Myrddin blindsided him with a spell. I didn’t see all of it. I just know by the time I was aware, Dev was immobile and… I can’t. I’ll never get the sight out of my head. He worked a dark spell. He wanted to locate where Shy was. He pulled death magic. It’s what you felt, but he needed dead magical flesh to do it. Daniel, he cut off Dev’s hands,”

Neil managed, though he was having trouble breathing.

Sasha felt his gut turn. He’d done this. He’d left the high priest, and he was in bed with his wife while Dev had been…

“So he can’t do magic.”

Daniel looked like he was going to be sick. “Dev isn’t fully Fae. He’s half human. He can’t control magic with his mind. Not even with Bris. He doesn’t need much more than a few finger movements, but he has to use them. Myrddin took his magic. He might have cut him off from Bris. Goddess, he’s alone and completely at Myrddin’s mercy.”

“He saved me, King Daniel. Please allow me to give something back to you.”

Ostara was in control of the body, and she was obviously going to stay calm. “I suspect the spell the wizard used to find Shy sucked up all the death magic in the area.”

Daniel put a hand on his heart. “I think you’re right. I’ve felt this way once before when Arawn fed off me. He did it in small doses, and then all at once when he was in danger.”

Ostara nodded. “I can feel the remanent. The wizard figured out a way to take your magic, too, though I think he was probably trying for someone else. He was likely trying to drain Shahidi. It won’t work. Shahidi isn’t death magic, per se, though he might be able to find her by using it.”

“She’s in the temple,”

Daniel said with a sigh. “She’s safe. Let’s get Neil healed up first, and then we’ll make our way there. Or rather you will. I’m going to extract my wife. If Dev isn’t down here, there’s zero reason to keep her in play.”

“It’s not going to work.”

Sasha stood beside Neil and put a hand on the spear. He couldn’t heal with that silver splitting his body. “Shy and Rhys were going to allow this plane’s version of Lee to take them up to the mountains. She should be either in the tunnels or at Lee’s village by now. I’m sorry, Neil. This is going to hurt.”

Neil’s head shook. “Nothing can hurt more than watching Dev… Nothing. I tried to stop it.”

Of course he did. “It’s not your fault. This is Myrddin’s.”

And so was what he did next. He pulled the silver spear from Neil’s body, watching blood spurt from the wound as he caught the werewolf with his free hand. He tossed the spear away and bit into his own wrist and put it to Neil’s mouth, cradling him. It had been a long time since the wolf had any blood. His husband’s and Daniel’s would have been best, but the king was in a bad way. The only reason Sasha wasn’t was because he’d been inside the wards when the wizard unleashed his powerful magic.

Neil drank for a full minute, and Sasha heard the sizzle of Ostara’s magic as she gave Daniel some of her unique energy. It was very close to Rhys’s, which came straight from his father. Daniel had fed on Devinshea’s magic for years. This was what he needed. This would give him a major boost, though he would need to feed from his companion to be back at any kind of power.

“The fucker used Dev to create the spell. I wasn’t expecting it. I was asleep in the watch room.”

Guilt coated Neil’s confession. “I was planning to wake up and get Dev back in his torture gear before they showed up, but they returned long before dawn.”

How long had Neil been hanging there?

Daniel took a long breath and his fangs were out, eyes glowing blue as he inclined his head to Ostara. “I thank you, goddess.”

“He stayed so he could spare me.”

Meadow’s eyes stared up at him, shining with tears. “He could have run but he made a deal with that wizard so I didn’t…”

He knew exactly what Devinshea saved her from and what he owed the male. “We will find him. We will figure out how to help him. We need to find his hands if we’re to have any chance at giving him back his magic.”

King’s blood could work miracles. They would find a way to get Dev’s hands back. They had to. Devinshea couldn’t lose his magic. His family depended on him.

“He destroyed them,”

Neil said dully. His side was already healing, and he looked so much better color wise, but there was a hollow look to his eyes. “Myrddin burned them for the spell. He wanted to make sure Devinshea can’t work any kind of magic ever again. He’s going to pull Bris off his soul and send him into the mountain. He thinks he can do it. All he needs is the king and Zoey. I think he realized how much power he held when Dev made that deal with him last night. He thinks Dev will make another deal to spare Zoey’s life, and because we’re in Faery it can be enforced through Dev’s line.”

“Yes, that will work on Dev and Bris alike,”

Daniel agreed. “They’ll do whatever he wants to save our wife, and they won’t play around if they think for a second the Wild Hunt could tear apart our children. But he didn’t work a spell to make a deal. He did that to find Shy. Why the fuck would he need Shy? Does he want her to talk to his victims?”

“She’s more than a medium,”

Sasha said, looking around. The dungeon was quiet, but he could smell blood. He caught a glimpse of bodies in the background. Neil had defended the high priest well, but Myrddin’s magic likely swayed the outcome.

“She is so much more than a medium.”

Meadow stood beside him, her small hand finding his and giving him a squeeze. “Ostara knows her. Well, she knows what she is, what she was. She contains the best parts of Arawn’s magic. She is both death and life magic. At one point in time, she was the Cauldron of Rebirth. She could feed armies, revive the dead, turn the wheel of time. She was…is the power of life reborn.”

“But she doesn’t understand her own power.”

It was the reason he’d jumped out of bed, though he wanted to stay with his wife. Shy was in danger, and Shy was a danger. If what Ostara said was true, she had immense power and no ability to use it. “If Myrddin knows what she is, he could potentially use her to send Bris where he wants him to go. I don’t know how it works, but I have to think Bris might not have a choice if Myrddin can tap into Shy’s power. Or he’s going to do exactly what Neil said and use her against Arawn.”

“I have to find Zoey.”

While Daniel looked better, there was still a slump to his shoulders.

“Myrddin will need the king,”

Meadow pointed out. “From what I understand, the mountains where he’s holding the souls is keyed to the king’s family. They keep certain treasures there and have for centuries. It’s a sacred mountain, and the entrance is guarded by wards that can only be opened with the king’s blood.”

“Would Dev’s work?”

Daniel asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. While they might look exactly alike, the king is fully Fae and your Devinshea is not. I think one of the reasons the mountain worked for the wizard as a holding place is the fact that those wards are keyed to only one man. The only other with a possible chance of opening it is his son. Lee might be able to because he is a son of the royal family, but I cannot be sure.”

“So he will have to get the king to open the mountains to him,”

Sasha mused. “I doubt this version of Devinshea does anything he doesn’t want to.”

He winced as he realized what was going to happen, might be happening right now. “Zoey will work as leverage to make the king do his will. She works for both Devinsheas. Damn it. Do we know where she is? Is she still in the palace?”

Neil stretched, his eyes dark as he looked around the room and then took a deep breath through his nose. “She hasn’t been down here. I need to change and then I’ll be able to track her.”

“She was in her room when I left her.”

Daniel looked sick again. “I shouldn’t have left her. I shouldn’t have fucking allowed Myrddin to have Dev. I shouldn’t…”

The king was normally a calm presence, but Sasha understood. His partner was injured—possibly irrevocably—and in the hands of their greatest enemy, and his wife could be next. He couldn’t think like a king at this point. He was a terrified husband, and he wasn’t anywhere close to full power. He hadn’t been since they walked through the doors to this plane. There was something about the sun on this plane that took more out of Daniel. Sasha felt it, too. But he spent less time outside, and he had a full dose of companion blood and Ostara’s magic. “Neil, change and help us find the queen. Can you track the other Devinshea?”

Neil nodded, getting to his feet. “I can track anyone, and if you get me close to the wizard, I promise I’ll kill him this time.”

Daniel’s head shook. “No, you won’t. You’ll get Z and Shy out of there, and I’ll save Devinshea. You know the prophecy. I want to kill him, too, but the dark prophet is never wrong. Our only goal at this point has to be to get our people out of here and stop whatever Myrddin plans. You taking a shot at him likely means we lose you.”

Neil nodded tightly. “I’ll get her out. I’ll get Shy out. We’ll run for the door. It doesn’t matter where we go. We’ll find a way.”

“You leave us if you have to,”

Daniel insisted.

“Or I can lead you to my home plane,”

Meadow offered. “The safest way off this plane is a door not far from the mountains. You cannot use the door you took without access to the blue dolerite, but my plane is accessible through a stable door. We have to pass through the Earth plane, but the door to mine is in a city called Los Angeles. My timeline’s Earth plane is a place of peace and harmony. It is not dangerous to travel through.”

“Well, that’s a change from ours,”

Daniel said with a touch of bitterness. “We will need to hide our powers.”

Ostara’s head shook. “Not at all. The Earth plane residents know about the other planes and are very accepting. Like President Taggart says, horns and tails don’t make you an asshole. Your attitude does. He encourages tourism, too.”

Daniel ran a hand over his hair, pushing it back. His claws were out. “We start in the palace. Sasha, kill anyone who tries to stop us.”

Sasha nodded as Neil changed and a large snowy white wolf was suddenly in the room.

Neil took off.

Sasha took his wife’s hand.

The chase was on.