by Lexi Blake
“I don’t think they’re stories,” Charlotte explained, moving closer. “Or at least not entirely. I’m sure we muddle things up over the millennia. But there’s a point to each of them, some kernel of truth, and I think you might be one of those kernels, Summer.”
“Charlie, baby, I thought we agreed not to bring the puppies to work,” a deep voice said. “Adam here is allergic.”
“I am not, asshole.” The dark-haired man who’d been with Taggart strode in and got to one knee to give the wolf a pet. “You’re gorgeous, girl. You should bite Tag. Go on and take a big old chunk out of him.”
“She’s not going to bite me,” Taggart said, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “I know how to make all the females love me. I gave her a hunk of meat last night. Do you know how expensive it is to keep a carnivore as a pet on a plane where ninety percent of the population doesn’t eat solid food? I’ve promised to train her to go on runs with me and she can eat whatever she can hunt down. I mean whatever, girl.”
The wolf’s tail thumped, and she did a whirly twirl as though she understood what the big guy had said.
Odd wolf.
Charlotte frowned her husband’s way as she put the puppy on the floor. The tiny wolf immediately ran to where her mother was and started hopping around Adam, yipping in a supercute way.
“Thea and Aaron decided to follow the lead,” Tag said. “You know my sister has been looking to spend time with the new guy. He’s an asshole. I heartily approve. They’re going to check out that McDonald doctor I’m curious about. Now, tell me where everyone else is and why you’re here with two animals who aren’t supposed to be here, and you’re talking to my prisoner. Also, why’s she up and the vamp’s out? I kind of wanted to talk to him before the witches get here.”
“Me, too,” Adam said. He’d gotten down to the ground and was playing with the puppy while the mother wolf looked on indulgently. “I think he might be an earthbound vamp. How cool is that? A distant cousin of ours.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to Vampire plane crap.” She turned my way. “The vampires here are arrogant as hell, and many of them refuse to believe they came from the Earth plane. They like to make up shit stories about earthbound vamps being vamps who got lost when the old vampires would send out exploration teams. It’s not true, of course.”
“There’s no proof that we came from the Earth plane,” Adam countered.
“Yes, there is, but vampires are too vain to believe it,” Charlotte argued. “Everyone but Levi is out to lunch, and he’s in the conference room on a call. I wanted to talk to Summer because I think you’re wrong about her. And I brought the pups because they looked sad that I would leave them behind.”
Her husband stared at her for a moment. “Is this about the convergences? We had to fight through one on the way to bring her here. It was rough.”
“Really? You pick up Summer and suddenly find yourself in the middle of a convergence?” Charlotte asked in a tone of so not surprise. “Did you find any sick Planeswalker demons hanging around?”
“No,” Adam said, getting to his feet. It was obvious he’d decided to take this seriously. “Is this about the research you’ve been doing with your sister?”
“I can trace the line of where the convergences have happened.” Charlotte picked up a tablet from the desk nearest to her and in a few keystrokes a monitor appeared along with a number of planar dates and time stamps, each showing a convergence.
“There were two convergences on the same plane today, the one you found her on,” Charlotte began.
“I only experienced one,” Taggart replied, looking over his wife’s work.
I knew I probably should keep my mouth shut, but if Charlotte could shine some light on the mysterious happenings, I would like to know what was going on. “There were definitely two. One happened by the plains outside the lake, two hours walk outside the door that leads to Arete. I managed it in an hour and a half since I was running.”
Maybe if I hadn’t been through so much they wouldn’t have caught me off guard.
A sparkle hit Charlotte’s eyes and I knew this was something she was passionate about. “Yes. There were two. I have a friend who’s a witch. She’s sensitive to planar energies. Her name is Serena and I’ve been trying to set her up with Adam.”
Adam’s brows rose. “She’s married. Somehow I think her husband would have a problem with it.”
Charlotte shrugged. “Jake’s Fae. He’s well aware Serena’s powers could be doubled if she finds their perfect third, but anyway, Serena believes something went wild about six months ago.”
Half a year. Yes. I could understand that timeline. I felt a warmth flood my veins and a sense of deep peace fill me.
Marcus. He was awake. I could feel it all along my skin like Marcus was rubbing a hand across my body, letting me know he was here with me. Something eased inside me. Something that was always jagged and raw seemed quieter, stronger.
“That was when I first became aware of the convergences,” I explained. “I was on one of the outer planes and I felt it for the first time. Are you saying I was there for the first convergence?”
“I’m saying you’ve been there for every convergence,” Charlotte replied, and a chill went up my spine. “I’m saying the convergences seem to be following you.”
“Or she’s creating them,” Taggart said in a deep growl.
“Or she’s completely innocent in all of this and I’m going to find a way to rip you apart.” Marcus sat up and I could feel him sending out those nasty thoughts he could have from time to time.
I glanced his way and while he was pale, he looked healthy and he was here with me. Somehow I’d always thought when I got to this point that I would be alone. I fully intended to be alone when the witches came for me. I wouldn’t let them take Marcus, but having him beside me now gave me enormous strength.
“Sorry, I fixed the cell to completely dampen telepathy and magic. You’re not the first gifted criminal we’ve had in here.” Taggart came to move in front of the cell but there was no arrogance in his stance. He almost seemed respectful. “There’s no real reason for you to be in custody. I’ve checked and you’re on no one’s radar, but I am not going to separate you from her. I’m going to honor your relationship, but I cannot allow you to harm my consort either.”
“Companion,” Marcus corrected. He stood and frowned down at his clothes as though the wrinkles there bothered him. He was a fastidious man. I had already figured that much out. I could have told him he looked gorgeous no matter what he wore, that I preferred him in no clothes at all. His lips quirked up and I rather thought he’d heard me loud and clear. I could think at him, and my words seemed to have given him confidence. “On my plane, she would be called my companion. I take it I am speaking to a vampire from the Vampire plane. You will have to excuse me. I do not know your customs.”
Taggart’s expression turned distinctly curious. “You’re really from the Earth plane? A vamp from the original plane? How old are you?”
Marcus’s hand slid against mine, tangling our fingers together. “In my plane’s time I am roughly two thousand years old.”
Adam whistled, joining his boss. “Seriously? You look like you’re in the prime of your life. I would have said you were maybe a hundred. Our life spans are two hundred for a royal, but it falls apart right around one seventy-five.”
“Vampires on the Earth plane do not age. We die and remain at the age we were when we perished and the genetic abnormality that reanimates the flesh takes over. I believe some of our scientists would be fascinated to know how the gene evolved here,” Marcus explained.
Adam paced, seeming to study him. “I would be interested in how that happened, too. And we don’t have your psychic powers. I wonder when we lost them.”
Marcus smiled, but his fangs were out. It is not to my credit that I found them entirely sexy. “You should meet our king. He can fly. He can call those wolves at your side. He can
take you apart with his bare hands.”
Taggart’s smile faded. “Then I’m glad I won’t be meeting the king.”
It was good to have family sometimes. “Don’t count on it. He’s my dad. I’ve been told by several people who know him that he’ll probably come looking for me, and he won’t be in a good mood.”
“How do you have a dad?” Adam looked to Charlotte. “I thought you told me she was some sort of magic Fae thing.”
“Do not call her a thing,” Marcus said on a growl.
Taggart reached out and slapped the back of Adam’s head. “Asshole. Let’s try not to piss off the incredibly powerful vampire and his well-connected companion. Charlie, I believe what Adam meant to say is that we don’t understand how the very nice Summer came to have parents who are on the Earth plane. Also, I thought Earth plane vampires couldn’t procreate. Doesn’t that freak the humans out?”
“I wasn’t born the way humans are or even most Fae.” I briefly explained how I’d emerged from the transference box. “So yes, I am made of Fae magic, but I have human form.”
Charlotte had stepped up, her eyes wide with wonder. “I thought that might be the case. And it explains everything. If I’m right, we’re in trouble. Big trouble, but you can fix everything.”
“How could I do that? I’m confused. I thought you brought me here to sell me to the witches.” It was the only thing that made sense since Taggart made a lot of his money off bounties, and I was sure there was a big one on my head.
Taggart groaned, his head falling back. “Fuck. I didn’t actually think Charlie had anything but…what did you say about a Night King? He looks pretty much like night to her day.”
Adam shook his head. “I thought it was just a story. I don’t like how this day is going. It’s challenging my world view and that sucks.”
Charlotte clapped her hands together. “I told you I was right. The only question now is how to fix things. I haven’t gotten that solution yet. I’m good at myth. Not so great at figuring out the science behind it. Ian, you know you can’t turn her over. If the witches find a way to kill her, I think we could all go down.”
Marcus’s hand tightened on mine, and I knew what he was thinking. I had chosen to bind my powers. I wouldn’t be hard to kill. But I was still confused. “How am I causing the convergences? I don’t have any power.”
Charlotte’s expression went blank for a moment as though she was trying to process those words. “I don’t understand.”
I touched the charm at my throat. “I bound my powers after I proved I wasn’t good at handling them.”
“Well, unbind them,” Charlotte said, her hands going to her hips. “Look, the universe, God, the great Goddess or whatever you want to call the spark that lights our worlds has mysterious ways. What we think of as science could also be seen as magic, and sometimes in order for us to understand that science it is told as a story. Think of it like mythology.”
“On the Earth plane, we used to tell stories of gods to explain natural phenomena,” Marcus said, taking a scholarly tone. “Like the gods were angry and that was why thunder was so loud. Or weeping to explain rain.”
Charlotte nodded. “Yes, although in this case, I think the story is true. I firmly believe that you were created out of need. You showed up in the world right at the time when the veil began to thin on the outer planes. It became easier to access many of them. Some people saw it as a good thing. Mostly warmongering barbarians.”
“Like Turi,” I whispered.
Charlotte nodded. “His people have something to do with this, too. I believe his species, while humanoid, evolved from a group of Unseelie on the Earth plane. Over the millennia, they’ve lost their Fae magic but maintained their strength and unusual abilities at war. They also have several myths that play into this.”
I hoped she could illuminate me. “He’s told me he believes himself to be the Night King. I’m supposed to be his queen, but he’s given me no explanation as to why he would think that.”
“It’s a myth,” Charlotte explained. “It’s actually a myth that goes across a lot of the planes.”
“What kind of myth?” Marcus asked.
“Creation,” Charlotte replied. “It has to do with the great migration—the time when most supernatural creatures left the Earth plane and found their own home planes. Something had to create the new planes and something—or rather someone—had to maintain their separate natures.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Think of the worlds as all existing in one place but slightly out of phase,” Charlotte explained. “And that phase is what we call the veil, what the Planeswalkers call their doors. These occur in a place where the walls between the worlds are thinnest. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they serve some sort of purpose. Like a release valve for energy or something. Something has to keep the balance and it would be energy of some kind. It would take an enormous amount of energy to keep those planes apart. In Fae myth, she would be called the Day Queen. She would be millennia old. I think the original Day Queen is dying and Summer is here to take her place.”
I had a million other questions, but that was the moment a red light flashed and Taggart cursed. A blaring sound came from overhead.
“I swear Thea can’t remember the office code to save her life.” Adam moved to a computer. “I’ll buzz her…Ian, we’ve got problems.”
He turned the monitor around and I saw a group of women in dark capes moving easily past what should have been a locked door. One reached a hand up and the feed was cut.
The witches were here.
* * * *
Kelsey
I ran back across the yard toward the cottage, but I could already see the problem. It was kind of my worst nightmare.
Donovan had his hands wrapped around the queen’s throat and he didn’t seem interested in letting go.
“Come quickly!” Erna was standing to the side, shaking her head like she was watching two toddlers fighting, not a dude who was trying to kill his wife.
Luckily the queen could take a lot of damage, though she was starting to turn blue. The real problem I had was the fact that Quinn wasn’t doing anything. He was standing there staring at the sight in front of him.
Dean set his feet and whispered something I couldn’t quite hear before bringing his hands together and then apart.
Donovan flew one way and the queen the other.
I stopped as Zoey started to cough and Donovan sat back on his ass. I looked to Erna. “You couldn’t have done that yourself?”
The witch shrugged. “I don’t waste my energy on mortal tussles. I told you what happens when you mess with thrall stones. They tend to get cozy in a brain and fight back. It’s precisely why I would need to bind the men. They won’t allow me to take it out of them willingly. Perhaps you should kill the person who placed the stone and then you won’t have any more trouble. Let me know when you make your decision. I have things to do.”
Dean’s eyes rolled. “I’m sorry she’s being difficult, but I swear she can fix this.”
“What the hell, Danny?” The queen had gotten to her feet and was staring down the king. “You want to know why I’m getting that thing out of your head? You nearly killed me. Wouldn’t Myrddin be happy with that? You know what I’m going to do after I get that fucking stone out of your head?”
Had she listened to anything the witch had said? “Maybe we should talk nice to the stone. Good stone. Why would we ever take you out?”
Dean nodded. “Yeah, we love the stone.”
Zoey didn’t pay any attention to us and showed exactly why she used to get her ass in serious trouble when she was younger. “I’m going after that fucking wizard and I’ll take his balls off myself. I’ll twist them off super slow and I’ll stuff those gnarly things right down his throat.”
The vamp blood in her system was obviously working because the words sounded way less croaky than they had before and her coloring was already back to normal. And the
queen was pissed. So pissed she didn’t notice the vines trailing her way.
“Devinshea!” I shouted his way. “You do not want to do this. She’s your wife.”
His eyes were unfocused and I knew the stone was working its magic.
I could handle Donovan now that he was human. I walked right up to the man and did something I’d kind of wanted to do since I’d met him. We were friends and all, but he’d been an asshole in the beginning. So I punched him in the face.
See, the reason I never had before was because he would have told me it tickles, and I take deep pride in how hard I can shove my fist through a dude’s face.
Now he just passed out.
One down. A Fae god to go.
I looked to Erna. “He’s not exactly mortal. You want to help me out here?”
Erna sighed and her hands came up as though ready to put the whammy on the fertility god. Normally I would take issue. Now I would cheer her on.
“Dea meam audiunt…” She’d barely started her incantation when a big vine shot up and tossed her across the yard. Her body flew past the place I knew the invisible barrier was and the witch was still.
Damn, I hoped he hadn’t killed her.
“Hey, I’m trying here.” Dean was holding off four vines, but he was losing. And he didn’t notice the one snaking its way toward him. The grass was growing around the queen’s feet. “Erna’s strong. She’ll be okay. We have to stop him before Zoey gets dragged down. Is he really trying to pull her into the ground? She won’t be able to breathe.”
It was one of Dev’s go-to moves. That grass would take her under, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to get her back. I wasn’t sure how long she could survive, and we didn’t have vampire blood to save her. For the first time in a long time I felt some panic threaten because Devinshea—for all his male model looks and posh ways—was a badass, and I wasn’t sure I could take him down without killing him.
Or hurting myself.
This was what it meant to be pregnant. I was hesitating and I couldn’t. I had to have some faith in my abilities or we would lose the queen. If I lost the queen, I lost the king and Dev because they could never live with the guilt.