by Lexi Blake
She went silent as we watched the king stand before the tallest of the demons. After a moment she crossed her arms over her chest. “It would take a truly brilliant witch to do something like that. Despite what others might tell you, changing something from its natural state is a difficult thing to do. Especially over a long period of time and distance. It makes me wonder.”
She turned and walked back to the kitchen.
The king seemed to be holding his own, but then it wasn’t like the demons were trying to fight. They seemed to be falling to the ground in utter exhaustion, so I turned and moved behind her. It looked like they had the ones out front taken care of, so I followed Erna. I had to ignore my instinct to pick up that book and run with it. “Wonder what?”
“If I’ve got a bunch of cons in my home,” Erna said. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to take advantage of my charges. Oh, look. They’re all down. I told you they couldn’t get through my barriers.”
“Yes, the walls are solid. And we’re not cons. We’re exactly who we say we are.” At least we were now. The king and queen had been legit thieves in their day. It was weird to be the only one without a criminal past. Beyond going crazy from time to time and trying to gut people, I had a pretty boring background when it came to bad girlness. Most of the bad things I’d done had only hurt myself. “Dean checked us. That’s one of his skills, isn’t it?”
Erna stared out at the numerous demon bodies littering the grounds right outside the magical wall. “Yes. I suppose it is. What do you think your king will do with these creatures? Should I make more tea?”
“I don’t think they’ll be up to tea.” I watched as the last one on this side fell and the backyard went quiet. “Though I wouldn’t mind talking to a few of them. We need to figure out why they’re coming here. The one in the barn talked about pure Fae magic. I could see that when Summer was here, but what’s he talking about now?”
“Summer has no power. Summer couldn’t handle the power,” Erna said.
“Then why are they coming here?”
“I suspect they can sense my magic,” Erna explained. “There are several spells on this area, and I use magic every day. This plane is filled with Fae creatures and their magic. It permeates the very land. It’s precisely why no one has settled here for long periods of time. It can be a bit unnerving. Rather like that. I assume your Green Man is responsible.”
The trees all around the yard were bending and stretching their branches. They reached out like living things to lift the bodies up and into the trees. Erna was right. It was creepy. “Yes, I suspect that’s Dev.”
“Have you considered he’s the one causing the problems?”
“He’s not causing the convergences. He’s only been here for a day and a half. How long have the convergences been happening?”
“Longer,” she allowed. “Shouldn’t that thing be with her Green Man?”
It was that moment I realized Arwyna was still with me. I could get a glimpse of her wings out of the corner of my eye. She clung to my hair right above my right ear. “I’m surprised you’re so freaked out by her. I would think having stayed on a faery plane for this long, you would be used to the creatures.”
“We’re only on this plane because of the protection it provides. Believe me. I would like to be anywhere else, but this is where Summer needs to be for now.”
As long as I was here, I might as well try to figure out why she would shove a thrall stone in Dean. “I thought this was all about training Dean.”
“Yes, of course. But that is where Summer feels she needs to be. Training Dean for his great destiny.”
There was something about the way she said the words, a tone that was slightly demeaning. “You don’t believe in Dean’s destiny.” I looked to the book that was lying on the table. I’d noticed Erna hadn’t let the book out of her sight. “Is that why you sent Summer after the book? To prove Dean is wrong?”
“Well, I can’t do much with it now, can I? The foolish boy had to touch it and infect it with his masculine power.”
“Watch it, Erna. You’re sounding a little hateful there.” I touched the book.
“Hey,” Erna started as she began to cross the space between us.
I managed to open the book and felt an immediate warmth flood my system. The book liked me. The book knew me.
It was starting, and I would be the first brick on the path. No. Summer had been the first. Summer had another destiny, but she played a part the same way her mother had before her. Now it was my turn. The book was the path and I would take my walk, would lead it to the next person who should hear her words. I could save the planes.
Confidence surged through me as I saw the pages begin to fill.
No man should fully know his destiny.
That was why Dean couldn’t read the book.
“I wish you hadn’t done that.”
I turned in time to see Erna raise her hands. Her face changed briefly, turning older and craggier, as though a mask had slipped slightly, giving me a glimpse of what was beneath. Something rough and evil.
I put a hand on my stomach as if I could protect the child growing there. Fear gripped me at the thought of this thing in front of me taking my boy from me.
I felt the start of my arm changing and then something tugged on my hair hard. Arwyna pulled my hair hard enough to get me to move. Power rushed by me, striking the wall behind.
But her second strike didn’t miss. Pain flashed through my left shoulder and I went down hard, cracking my head against the table. I saw stars, but mostly I saw the witch taking the book and holding it to her heart.
“I’ll find Summer myself. I don’t need that mewling boy anymore. I have everything I need now that you’ve primed the book again. Tell the king I’ll take his human life and ensure he cannot come back if any of you attempt to find me. Summer is mine now. She will stay that way.”
There was a flash of light and I heard a popping sound.
And the witch was gone.
And the book was gone.
Never leave The Path.
God, the book was gone and I’d let it slip through my fingers. I’d done it. I’d hesitated. I’d thought about my baby and I hadn’t been able to do what I should have.
Arwyna landed on my nose, her wings fluttering like a warning signal. Get up. Get up.
She’d saved me. That first blast of power would have taken out my head, or at the very least scrambled it.
I forced myself up. I could smell something—ozone maybe. Erna had disappeared in a snap, crackle, and pop, and taken my book with her.
I had to tell the queen how I’d fucked up.
I raced out the door.
I started across the lawn when I realized the royals and Dean were already looking my way. “She’s gone. And so is the book.”
Zoey met me halfway to where the barricade should have been, Dean hard on her heels. “Are you all right?”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Dean asked.
“I mean she threw some lightning bolts or something my way and then disappeared,” I told him. “And she grabbed the book and took it with her, but not before I figured out how to make it work again. I touched it and it told me I was supposed to have it. The words started coming back, but the witch had figured out something was wrong. She’s going after Summer. She said she would get Summer herself and then she pulled the disappearing act.”
Daniel and Dev had joined us.
“She teleported somewhere?” Dev asked.
I nodded. “I think so. I don’t know what spell she used.” I looked to Dean. “She’s been teaching you, right? Is there any way to follow her?”
Dean looked so young, and I hated the fact that I was putting this on him, but I didn’t know who else to ask. “I can try a locator spell. I’ll need something of hers. I’ll go get it.”
Zoey put a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t want you to risk that. We know where she’s going. We’ll get our packs and head out.
We need to make it to that door.”
“I’ve got something else I can try,” Dean said, standing up straighter. “I’ve got my tablet. I can make a call and ask my parents to put us in touch with Taggart-Lodge. They’re a rival corporation but they might listen.”
I nodded. “Go and do it. We’ll use all the help we can get.”
Dean took off for the house.
Arwyna had taken up perch on Dev’s shoulder. I looked to her. “Thank you. I know what you did. My scalp hurts but my whole soul thanks you, little queen.”
Arwyna climbed toward her priest’s ear, and he seemed to listen to her for a moment.
Dev frowned. “She’s telling me the magic left with the witch. She was attracted to that magic. It called to her. Somehow Erna was pulling from Fae magic. It might explain why the Planeswalkers were attracted to this place.”
“No,” I insisted because I had heard what the first Planeswalker had told Dean. “They were talking about pure Fae magic.”
“They were talking about my daughter,” the queen insisted, and she’d gotten that steely look in her eyes that told me she was getting irritated. When the queen got irritated, she liked to kick a little ass. “Somehow that witch is stealing her power.”
“She said her power was bound. It’s why she wears that charm around her neck,” Dev explained.
The king stood beside his wife. “What if the charm doesn’t bind the magic? What if it siphons the magic off? What if that woman’s been feeding off Summer for years?”
“To what end?” I had to ask the question because we were standing in the middle of nowhere. “She hasn’t exactly accumulated power. There’s something else. When she tried to kill me, I saw that she had two faces. It was only for a second, but there was definitely something nasty under her everyday face.”
“Like a glamour?” Dev asked.
I shook my head. A glamour was either on or off. “No. It was like something slipped for a moment, or something shifted. I got the feeling both were the real Erna. And neither. Like she’s caught in some transition.”
“I’ll give it some thought, but now I feel a desperate need to get to Summer.” Dev looked up to the sky. “I don’t sense any eddy clouds. I was hoping Dean was wrong. If I could find us one, we could be at the gate in no time.”
“But Erna might already be there,” Zoey replied.
Daniel put his hands on his wife’s shoulders. “She won’t kill her. She can’t. There’s a reason she hasn’t simply taken the magic and done away with her. We have to trust that Marcus will do anything to keep Summer safe.”
I looked Dev’s way. “Who’s happy the vampire who is still a vampire and has all his superpowers is with her now?”
Dev wrinkled his nose. “I will admit if I can’t be with her, I’m glad Marcus is.”
Dean came running out of the brugh, the tablet in his hands. “Guys, Summer escaped. Dad says it’s all over the DLs. Something bad happened at the Lodge building and they’ve got at least one vampire dead and a bunch of angry witches complaining about unlawful confinement. But he said he’s heard rumors from one of his spies that a female and male prisoner broke out.”
“Spies?” I asked, though I was deeply relieved that Marcus and Summer had escaped.
“Everyone has spies on the Vampire plane.” Dean let Daniel take the tablet. “They’ll try to get back here. But the good news is Erna doesn’t know exactly where she’s going.”
Somehow I thought the witch would be able to track her. Good thing we had a witch of our own. “I think we’re going to need that spell, Dean.”
He nodded but he’d paled considerably. “Sure thing. I’m good with those. Well, I tracked the cow once. She hadn’t gone far. Also, she smells bad, so that might have helped. But I can do it.”
The good news was my team was pretty much made up of the dudes the king didn’t want to work with, so I was used to making do. “You can handle this. Find her for us.”
I had to find her. After all, it was my fault the book was gone, and it would be my fault if the planes fell. I’d done the one thing Gray had told me not to do. I’d left The Path.
I missed him so much in that moment. I had some friends around me, but I didn’t have Gray to call me Kelsey Mine. Trent wasn’t here to rub his head against mine and remind me I was his mate. My little Fen wasn’t rushing by looking for trouble he could get into.
It was me and an unborn member of our pack, and his existence was all on me.
“Kelsey?”
I looked up at Dev and realized the others had joined Dean back in the brugh. It was just me and Dev out here in the sun. It was odd because only moments before the place had been covered in demons. Now there was no sign of them.
“Would you like me to check?” Dev asked, his voice soft.
I blinked to clear the tears from my eyes. I’d taken some of that power Erna had thrown my way. I’d fallen and my body had knocked around. I was afraid.
Arwyna landed on me and I swear that pixie was trying to comfort me, trying to let me know I wasn’t alone.
I nodded.
Dev put one hand low on my belly and I felt a warmth pulse through me. “Your son is fine. He is healthy and growing. He is going to be okay, Kelsey. He knows who his mother is and he is with you. He will be a fighter.”
“You can talk to him?”
Dev stepped back. “No. I don’t need to. I know his mother.”
I sniffled at the words and put my hand on my belly. I prayed there would be a world left to one day give birth in.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Summer
“Where are you taking us?” I couldn’t ignore the sirens that filled the air around us as Dante eased the hovercar into traffic. It wasn’t my first time in one of these vehicles. When Dean had chosen to come with us, we’d had to spend some time with his parents. JT and Dana Malone had driven us around and showed us a bit of Dean’s world while they’d basically promised to murder me if I got their baby into trouble. I hadn’t liked the driving experience then either, and it hadn’t merely been about the uncomfortable company.
It was odd to be surrounded by other vehicles so far up in the air. I didn’t like the feeling of steel around me, but I couldn’t exactly complain since my other option had been facing a coven of witches out for my blood.
It seemed to be the theme of the last few days. I had to pray Dean had taken Kelsey and Dev Quinn back to Erna, who would help protect them.
“We need to get to Tír na nÓg,” he explained, his hold on the steering apparatus tightening. “The kings of the Seelie Fae sent me to find you.”
The idea of going home held even less appeal for me than facing the witches.
Marcus’s hand was suddenly in mine.
Do not worry, bella. No one will make you do anything you don’t wish to do. But perhaps we should find out what they know. After all, Mrs. Taggart has brought up some interesting questions.
I took a deep breath, finding comfort in his hand in mine, his mind in mine. I’d found it unnerving at first, but now it meant I wasn’t alone. I was learning to trust this male more than I had anyone else.
Somehow those hours we’d spent together in our minds had been more like days. We’d rolled around in his big bed, making love and talking. He’d had food delivered, food that hadn’t fed my body but had filled my soul with him. He’d held me while I slept, and he’d been there when I’d woke.
Those days hadn’t been real in the sense of it existing in true time, but it was real to me. It was real to him. Somehow he’d found a way to give us the one thing we didn’t have—time together. Memories I could pull from if we were forced apart.
“What exactly do the kings of the Seelie Fae want with my comp…consort?” Marcus seemed to understand language and its importance. He was adapting quickly and proving adept at navigating the worlds he found himself in.
Once my lover had properly fed, he’d settled in to being the kind of man I hadn’t even thought to drea
m of. One who took care of me, who showered me with his affection.
One who I was going to have to take care of because I wasn’t sure Marcus was capable of taking care of himself while we were in danger. He seemed to think only of me.
“My cousins think that your consort is at the heart of these odd happenings. Or rather Cian has a theory and Beck is along for the ride. Truly, Ci got all the brains,” Dante said with a long sigh. “I always said traffic would get us killed. I’m not going to make it to the door. The door that leads directly to Tír na nÓg closes in an hour. I’m at least two away, and if Taggart can think through his sarcasm, he’s going to have access to it blocked as soon as he can sort through all that chaos.”
“I would think he definitely would close down access to the plane I came from. He knows an awful lot about me,” I said and had a sudden thought. “Could I use one of your tablets to contact my people?”
If I could let Dean know where we were, he might be able to arrange something for us. As grateful as I was, I didn’t know the Dellacourts. I didn’t know what their intentions were, and I’d grown used to counting on Dean to read people for me.
Marcus sat up a bit straighter. “Yes, I hadn’t thought of that. It will work across the planes?”
Kaja barked. She and Daniela had stayed in their wolf forms, the puppy curling up against her mother. Her little mouth came open in the cutest yawn. Her mother, however, wasn’t tired at all.
Dante seemed to understand his wife’s wolfy language. “Yes, my love. I worry about that, too. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I have to assume at some point my Kaj changed into her superhot human form and talked to you. Though I also think she’s the most gorgeous wolf to ever need a belly rub, she lacks opposable thumbs in this form.”
Kaja shifted and suddenly there was the lovely woman who’d killed a man right in front of us. She was completely naked, but if it bothered her, she didn’t show it. “I had to take care of a few things. I told you that bastard Levi Green was a traitor, and I feared he would kill Charlotte. He didn’t. He only made her sleep, but I have had someone shoot me with those terrible drugs and I did not like it, Dante.”