by Lexi Blake
“Do not look for long,” Miria instructed. “There are kelpies in these waters, and they will try to lure you down.”
I shuddered as we passed the water horse and its shining eyes. It whispered to me, but Miria’s hand was firm and she led me away.
I was thankful now for my “proper costume” because it included slippers. If I’d worn my normal formal stilettos, I would be going barefoot and I didn’t want to know if the black dogs had been playing in this field.
“Why three?” I asked to break our tense silence.
“They represent the three sides of the goddess.” Her strawberry-blonde hair looked lighter as we moved away from the palace. Her skin glowed as though the moonlight allowed her to shine. “They are the maid, the matron, and the crone. They rarely sing their songs together. When they do, it is usually an important death.”
On the Earth plane, it is said the banshee will only wail for the five most important families in Ireland. On the Faery planes, they wailed for the royals and the highest of nobles. I was hoping for a noble because the royal family was small and even Declan’s death would have horrible consequences for me. Declan’s death would place Dev closer to the throne, but more importantly, it would make the son growing in my belly a direct heir to the crown. I didn’t want that.
We stopped at a polite distance. Strangely their song seemed quieter here, as though proximity diluted the sound in an illogical fashion. I got my first real glimpse at the keeners. They looked to be the same woman but at different times of life. The young one was, perhaps, sixteen. She was lovely, with an unblemished face and a youthful body. The matron appeared to be in her early thirties, and she was ripe with child. The crone was wrinkled, but there was still an odd beauty to her countenance. Their eyes were the sliver of a full moon.
I heard my mother-in-law take a steadying breath beside me. I let go of her hand and stepped forward. Polite. Dev had told me to be polite, and I was determined to follow that particular edict.
“Hello,” I said with my most gracious voice. “First off, I would like to thank you very much for the evening’s entertainment. It wasn’t even pitchy.”
They all three stopped what they were doing and, in perfect synchronicity, turned toward me. Their heads cocked to the side, and I could tell they were surprised by our appearance.
“Good evening, Your Highness,” the matron said. Her voice was even and strong. It sounded nothing like her ethereal singing voice.
Miria gathered her courage and stepped forward with a regal bow of her head. “Good evening.”
The matron smiled, though there was no humor in her face. “I was not talking to you, Miria, Queen of the Seelie Fae, though you are certainly welcome. I was speaking to Zoey, Queen of all Vampire.”
Miria was startled and looked at me, her eyes wide with shock. “Daughter?”
“Well, I don’t exactly have a crown or anything.” I was deeply uncomfortable with the distinction. Daniel was the uncrowned King of Vampire. I was his wife and still unsure what my place was.
“You do not sit upon your throne, yet, Your Highness, and it is not certain that you ever will,” the crone intoned. Like the others, she wore a white dress, but it hung upon her frail frame. “It is up to you. You are a piece of the cloth that remains unknown.”
“You are a nexus point,” the maiden explained, her voice soft and lyrical. There was a garland of white flowers in her hair that marked her virginity.
Miria again seemed startled at the pronouncement, but I was just confused. “What’s a nexus point?”
“It means you are important.” Miria’s voice shook slightly. I could easily tell she was wondering what her son had gotten them all into. I was wondering the same thing.
“You are a person who holds her own fate,” the matron explained. “Because your fate is unwritten, the fate of all around you is dependent upon you.”
“Their fates flow through the decisions you make,” the crone continued. “The pathways you choose change the fate of those you love. I give you an example…”
“You changed the fate of Daniel Donovan by loving him,” the maiden said. “If you had not been in his life, he would have lived to be an old man and when he died, the Council would have aided him in walking into the light. Because he loved you, he found himself on the road at night. He turned early and all of Vampire was changed.”
Daniel died in a car accident while he was getting dinner for me. I’ve heard talk of latent vampires dying earlier because they were involved with women who were companions. I’ve heard it said that having a companion close makes the latent vampire more reckless.
“Devinshea Quinn should have died on the Earth plane when his business was robbed.” The matron moved toward me now, and it took everything I had to not back away. “Now he lives and Faery has a chance to thrive.”
On my first date with Dev, I’d uncovered a plot to rob his business. I’d made him aware that a group was coming to steal from him and he’d been ready. Had I really saved him that night? And I had been the one to cause Daniel’s death?
“All of this is interesting.” The thought gave me chills, filled me with fear. I didn’t want the responsibility, and I certainly didn’t want to think about how I had changed my husbands’ lives—killing one and saving the other. “I’m grateful to you for sharing these stories, but why are you here tonight? Why do you sing this evening?”
“We sing for him,” they said in chorus.
I was proud of myself because I didn’t roll my eyes. I hate the whole prophecy rigmarole. It would be one thing if said prophet ever did a girl a solid and just pointed and said that dude in the red shirt is going to die. They can’t do that. It goes against their union rules. They have to make their prophecies into a code you have to crack. I think it’s because an awful lot of prophecy comes after said prophet gets high. They often sounded like they had taken way too much peyote to me.
“It is a man who will die?” Miria asked, her voice thick with emotion.
“He is, indeed, male,” they said.
“Could you cough up a name, maybe?” I asked.
The three heads tilted, and Miria gave me a look that told me to behave. I had to try.
“He is important,” the maiden said.
“He is the second child of his mother, though she carried only once,” the matron continued.
“He will not be,” the crone finished.
Miria had fallen to her knees, and I heard her sob. “Devinshea.”
I felt my own tears because he was the second son of a mother who had only ever carried the twins. I reached out and felt her grab my hand. I faced the banshee even as the tears started to fall. I couldn’t fall apart. I had to figure out how to save him. “Is it my husband? How does it happen? Is someone going to try to kill him?” I used the word “try” because I couldn’t face anything else.
The matron stepped forward and looked at me not unkindly. “We have said what we can. I only know that Faery will mourn but in the spring life will come again.”
“The baby,” Miria said tearfully.
My baby. She was talking about my baby, who might be down one dad soon. I couldn’t let that happen. If I was this nexus point thing, then I had some say in this. They said my choices changed things. I was definitely choosing to not lose Dev. “What do I have to do to stop it?”
The matron, who was definitely in charge now, reached out to take my hand. Her flesh was cold against mine but her strength was steady. “There is nothing you can do this time. It is written.”
“Then why are you here?” I asked bitterly. Inside I was raging against the thought that it was written somewhere that Dev was going to die. I was going to find that damn book and do a rewrite. “Why bother with this show? Is it just to torture me, to make my last days with him hell? I’ll spend every minute waiting for him to die. How is that helpful?”
The crone and the maiden took steps forward, their faces darkening. The matron held one hand out while keeping min
e in the other. “She loves. It is powerful and we should make allowances. After all, she is the only one in many years to brave our presence. She is a warrior. She will fight this battle no matter what we say.”
The crone looked sad as she watched me cry. “And she will lose.”
The tears were burning my eyes. “Why?” I asked more politely now. “If I can’t save him, why tell me he’s going to die?”
“You cannot save the one who will die,” the matron said, looking deeply into my eyes. “But you can stop the war his death will begin.”
“You are the only one who can stop it,” said the crone.
“You are the only one who can save both sides of Faery,” the maiden finished. “The sun and moon will meet in battle, and it will be the last one.”
“If you fail, something precious will fade from this plane forever,” the matron explained. “Find the Blood Stone. It will lead you to the truth. It will lead you back to yourself.”
“The Blood Stone?” Miria asked. “What does that have to do with anything?”
But the matron released me, taking a step back to join the others. “You must go now. We have work to do. You will figure it out, Your Highness, and you will make your own fate.”
“Wait,” I called out because I couldn’t leave it.
Miria was on her feet, using her strength to drag me away. “No, daughter, they are done. You will not help Devinshea by angering them. Think of your child.”
But I wasn’t thinking of my child. I turned from the river where the women took up their washing once more, and their mournful song could be heard through the valley. I turned from my mother-in-law and I ran. I ran up the hill, holding that dress up so I didn’t fall because I had one thing I needed to do. I had to hold him. I had to know that he was alive. The banshees were wrong about me. I wouldn’t give a crap about Faery if Dev died. They could fight all they liked if he died here. They could take their war and shove it because I would be gone.
I tripped halfway up the hill and the sobbing started. I let loose, my grief making the banshee wails seem a weak thing. Daniel got to me first. He pulled me up and looked me in the eyes. His blue ones registered my loss, and he pulled me close.
“Tell me it’s not Dev.” I could feel him shake. “Zoey, tell me it’s not Dev.”
“She can’t, Daniel,” Dev said quietly from behind. “Everyone stay calm. It will be all right.”
Padric ran up and Miria threw herself into his arms, sobbing her grief as well. Declan looked pale and shaken as he fell to his knees. He looked even worse than he had when he thought it was him.
I pushed away from Daniel and he let me go because I needed Dev in that moment. He wrapped his big arms around me and held me so tightly, I could feel his heartbeat against mine. I wept into his chest. I held onto him with such force I was sure I would leave marks.
“You’ll be all right, Zoey,” Dev said, stroking my hair. “I love you so much, my wife. Daniel will take good care of you.”
“Screw that,” Daniel said. “You aren’t dead. Just because some weird women say it doesn’t make it so.”
“History disagrees with you, Dan,” Dev said quietly, the only calm one on the lawn.
“Fuck history,” Daniel shot back. “We fight this. You lay down and accept this, Dev, and I will never forgive you.”
“All right,” Dev agreed. “Tell me what you wish me to do and I will do it.”
Daniel nodded, though he had no idea what he wanted Dev to do. He only knew we had to do something. It was not in Daniel Donovan’s nature to calmly accept fate. “We’ll figure something out.”
Dev nodded but his hand strayed to that tiny heart that was beating deep in my body. He covered it with his hand and laid his head against mine, and I knew deep in his heart that he didn’t believe it.
Chapter Eleven
“Oh, thank the goddess. That could be anyone, Zoey,” Dev said with a relieved sigh.
I looked up at him, surprised at his reaction. It was an hour after my talk with The Three. We were safely ensconced in our private rooms, having fled the shocked scene in the ballroom. The Seelie nobles were having a distinct “rats on a sinking ship” reaction to the news that the newly ascended god had been elected to be fate’s bitch.
There had been a lot of crying and yelling. There was also some irrational blame being tossed about. Many of the nobles were certain the Unseelie had something to do with Devinshea’s impending death. It was the reason Dev asked the Hunter to return to our apartments with us.
When Dev had finally gotten me to calm down, he’d requested the full story of my episode with the banshees. I was sure I was red-faced and puffy, but I recounted everything I could remember about my conversation with The Three, hoping it would help Daniel figure a way out of this. Dev had been unimpressed with my tale. He’d taken an academic view of the entire quandary.
“Well, it couldn’t be me,” Declan offered. “I am a first born.”
“Fine, it couldn’t be you, but it certainly could be Braden,” Dev pointed out.
Daniel’s head came up. “How could it be Braden?”
Dev turned to me, ignoring his partner for the moment. “Please repeat what the bean si said, sweetheart. It’s important you get the wording right. If they’re anything like the other prophets I have dealt with, then the words will be precise, though they can have multiple meanings.”
“How many prophets have you dealt with?” Daniel asked curiously. Danny and I have dealt with many an odd creature, but they were usually the fangs and claws kind, not the irritating psychic kind.
Dev shrugged a little. “Oh, it’s a typical business start-up expense. If I hadn’t listened to a prophet, I would have built Ether right under a site where the city council is now building a train station. Can you imagine the noise? It did take Albert and me a while to decipher the prophecy though. It was something about great steel horses and the multitude of humanity stomping across the plains. It sounded bad so I changed locations and I’m happy to have done so. That’s the way these things go.”
“This was fairly simple, Devinshea,” Miria said from her place on the settee. She was still pale. “They stated that the victim was to be a male. He was a second born, though his mother had carried only once.”
Dev nodded. “Yes, that’s what I thought. Like I said, it could be any number of Fae nobles. We rarely have more than one child so most of our women have only had one pregnancy.”
Declan slapped himself on the head. “Of course. That makes much more sense.”
Even Miria looked hopeful now. She reached up and grabbed Padric’s hand. He squeezed it reassuringly. “Well, I do not think it means it is not Devinshea, but it does open up other possibilities.”
“Someone explain this to me before I scream,” I announced, frustrated at being out of the loop.
“It’s why I mentioned Braden,” Dev explained calmly. “He’s the second child of a mother who bore only him. He’s the child of a relationship similar to ours. His father took two wives. His first wife bore a daughter and the second gave birth to Braden. As Daniel and I will be fathers to the child in your belly, so the wives shared their children. Braden’s mother claims his older sister as her own though she isn’t the biological mother.”
It made sense but there was something inside me that was still wary. “They said this man was important.”
Declan relaxed back against the sofa. “Oh, I assure you, the Duke of Ain is important, indeed. He’s responsible for vast acres in the north. His armies patrol the gate between the Seelie and Unseelie sitheins. His lands provide much of our trade with the Unseelie. His death would leave a huge power vacuum.” That last brought the slightest smile to Declan’s face, as though he highly anticipated a chance to fill that power vacuum.
“Could it start a war?” Neil stopped pacing briefly to ask the question.
“It would depend on the circumstances of his death,” Miria replied, warming to the idea. Her eyes had a calculating l
ook in them and I wondered briefly if she was thinking what I was. I was wondering if killing the Duke of Ain would fulfill the banshee prophecy and protect Dev. I didn’t like the bastard anyway.
The Hunter, who had been staring out into the night, now turned. His face was serious as he contemplated the room. “We’re on the brink of war anyway, Your Highness. It wouldn’t take much to push us over that line. The nobles on my side wish for Seelie blood and I can see it’s the same here.”
Dev had a big smile on his face as he pulled me off my chair and into his arms. “You see, my wife, it could be any of a number of people. They didn’t use my name so we have to consider the fact that they were talking about someone else.” He tipped my chin up so I was looking him in the eye. “So you and Daniel should wipe the morose looks off your faces. I have no intention of dying. I just got married and we’re having a baby. I promise I won’t die before I get a chance to be a horrible influence on our son. I have to live or Daniel will turn him into a comic book geek.”
Daniel grinned, obviously buoyed by the possibility that it wasn’t Dev. “I’d like to see you stop me.”
I let Dev pull me close, but I thought he was wrong. There had been something personal about that prophecy. Why had the matron touched me and spoken directly to me, as though we had a connection? They had been much more interested in me than in the Queen of the Seelie, whose territory they were in. She’d been more of a distraction than anything else. They had spoken to me and I knew deep down that their prophecy would have a direct impact. I wouldn’t weep for the Duke of Ain. I wouldn’t fight for him.
I turned my head and saw that Daniel was still wary as well. I knew what his first instinct would be. He would want to take me and Dev and get the hell out of Dodge. He would prefer to take us all back to Ether where he felt more in control. But the prophecy would follow us wherever we went. We needed to figure this out here. I just wished I knew how long we had before whatever was going to happen came to pass.