by Lexi Blake
He frowned my way. Far too often Lee looked older than he really was, as though he knew how dangerous the world could be long before he should have faced that truth. But then, he’d been in danger since before he’d been born. “Papa’s in trouble, isn’t he?”
Now both Dad’s hands were on Lee’s shoulders as if he was trying to give his grandson strength. “He called me. Whatever you’re hiding from him, it’s not doing him any favors, love.”
I should have known I couldn’t keep it from him. Lee wasn’t the kind of kid who didn’t notice shit. He wasn’t the child I could distract with candy and video games, though he certainly liked both. Lee had learned at a young age that he had to know what was going on around him at all times because he was fragile in a world where strength was the greatest commodity. I couldn’t lie to him. “Maybe we should have this conversation behind closed doors.”
Neil stepped toward the elevators. “I’m going down to keep an eye on things. I’ll text you if anything at all changes. Unless you need me here.”
Unless I needed him to help me with the heist. I wasn’t going to put him in the line of fire if I didn’t have to. Besides, he was the only one I trusted to be my lookout. “Be careful.”
Sarah opened the door to her home but didn’t step inside. “Is Mia upstairs?”
Lee nodded. He almost always knew where Mia was. She was his best friend, the only one who could sometimes control my reckless son. “We all know something’s going on. Well, Rhys doesn’t really. He thinks I’m being a weirdo, and Evan is watching cartoons. But Mia believes me.”
“I’m going to talk to her.” Sarah turned my way. “Z, do whatever you need to do however you need to do it. I’ve got your back on this.”
I knew she did. I was also grateful to her for letting me have this moment alone with my father and son. We walked into the apartment and I sank down to the couch. I took a deep breath as Dad and Lee sat on either side of me.
“Your father has been missing since last night,” I explained because we were obviously past covering this thing up.
“Devinshea didn’t come home?” my father asked.
“We know he made it into the building.” I explained the situation to him and I could see my father’s brain working.
I was the queen of the supernatural world, but I felt better with my dad here. My dad had taught me everything I knew about stealing arcane objects and keeping my head attached to my body while I did it. Years had passed since my last heist, and it would be good to have Dad’s input.
Lee leaned toward me, his voice kept low. “You think the wizard did something to Papa? Kelsey doesn’t like him. She wants me to stay away from him. I thought maybe it was because he doesn’t like humans, but it’s more than that.”
It was so much more. “Yes, baby. There’s a reason you need to stay away from him.”
“I’d like to know that reason very much, but I understand you’re under a deadline.” My father’s intelligent eyes were on me. “I take it you’re going to try to steal the wizard’s grimoire so you can figure out why Danny turns into a bootlicking idiot whenever the man walks in the room?”
My father has always been observant, but I was a bit shocked because he often didn’t see Daniel’s flaws. He saw every single one of Dev’s, but Danny had always been his favorite. “Caught that, huh?”
“I did and that’s not natural. And before you tell me I shouldn’t be saying these things in front of the lad, you should know that he’s the one who pointed out the problem,” my dad admitted.
“Dad acts weird around the wizard.” Lee sat back and looked fairly comfortable for a kid discussing his father’s disappearance. Of course I knew why. He had something to do, even if it was merely plotting and planning. “What does Kelsey think?”
I hated that I had to tell him about Kelsey. Lee adores her. He lights up when the Nex Apparatus walks in a room. She’s Lee Owen’s daughter. My Lee’s soul recognizes her. “We sent her to search for Dev. She went missing, too. And Marcus.”
My father’s eyes flared, and he sent me a look that let me know he understood how important those three people were to Daniel.
I reached out and squeezed my son’s hand. “But we’re going to find him. I promise. I won’t stop until I do. There’s something weird about the building lately. Your Aunt Sarah says it feels off to her. Have you heard anything?”
As long as he was here, I was going to use his skills. He usually knew all the gossip.
“Mia hasn’t felt well since he moved in. She’s not sick, exactly. She told me she feels weird and she doesn’t feel it when we’re at school. It’s when she walks into the building. Don’t get mad at her for not telling her mom. She thought it might be something to do with…female stuff, and she says those conversations are always embarrassing. What kind of female stuff do you think she means?”
I was not going into that with him, but it was obvious Sarah shouldn’t have teased her daughter about becoming a woman as hardcore as she had. She’d had a mini period party complete with red confetti-filled balloons she’d popped and explained to Mia that was the way it would be for the rest of her life. Well, at least until she got old and her ovaries then tried to murder her.
“Christine said it was like she had to catch her breath,” my father offered. “I thought she would have to leave last night before the ceremony, but she got used to it. By the end of the party she didn’t notice it. I thought maybe someone had been working a spell that went wrong, but now I have to wonder.”
I nodded and stood up because I had to get to work. “Okay, we’ll talk to her about it, but I’ve got a short window of time and I need to get into Myrddin’s office. I don’t know where the Mantle of Arthur is.”
Lee frowned as he stared up at me. “If I tell you something bad but it turns out to be good for you, do I still get grounded?”
That could only mean one thing. “How long have you had it?”
He shrugged. “Only a little while. I wanted to test it out and Sean told me I couldn’t steal it. He was wrong. I stole it pretty easy. It’s just like the book. All three of us fit under there.”
I should never have let him read Harry Potter. Not when he actually had access to some crazy shit. Still. It did help me out. I didn’t have to dig through the armory to find it and risk someone noticing. Also, he was always an asset. “I won’t tell on you if you don’t mention this incident to your dad. Please understand I don’t want to keep things from your father.”
He stood up beside me and reached for my hand. “There’s something wrong with Dad. And Papa. They like the wizard too much. They can’t see him for what he is. I think the wizard is doing something to them and I don’t like it. I think he’s doing bad things and we should stop him.”
I didn’t have to get on my knees anymore to wrap my arms around him. He was getting so tall, like his papa. He would be taller than me soon. But he was still my baby boy. I hugged him and promised I would do everything I could to bring his papa home.
Chapter Eight
Summer
I felt something change inside me with the first brush of the vampire’s lips against mine. His mouth was velvety soft and contrasted to the hardness of his body. His eyes were dark, and he was staring directly into mine. Such darkness, but they weren’t cold. There was warmth in his eyes as he lowered his head.
How long had it been since I’d had lips on mine? Forever, it seemed. I’d gotten so caught up in finding Dean a path to where he needed to go, to helping Erna find her cure, to simply surviving that I’d forgotten what it meant to give over to my instincts and allow myself to feel. I shouldn’t have in this case since I didn’t actually know the man whose body pressed mine into the forest floor, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. It felt right to soften beneath him.
Of course that was probably exactly what he wanted me to feel. I didn’t care in that moment. I only knew he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
I should have told you that I
am yours, bella.
Mine. Nothing was mine. It had been exactly the right thing to say to me. I belonged to others. It was kind of the central tenant of my being. I’d been born of high faery magic, an old creation magic used to bind tribes and clans together. Had things gone the way they should have gone, the tribe I was gifted to would have focused their will on the magics that made me and I would be a purring cat or a glorious tree. I was supposed to be a pretty decoration, an affectionate pet.
But it had been Daniel Donovan’s will that created me. He’d made a child from his deepest wants and wishes. If I’d been a cat or a tree, I wouldn’t have felt this longing, this deep need inside of me to fit somewhere.
Marcus’s lips were gentle on mine, tender. “You fit, Summer. You fit with me. There’s nothing wrong with you. Sei un miracolo.”
I felt him sigh against me as though he’d come so far and finally found his place.
He was good.
I knew then and there I might be feeding this guy because he knew exactly how to make me relax. He made my brain foggy with wanting, and it felt so good to not think for a moment.
“That’s right, bella,” he whispered against my lips. “Let me in. There’s no need to keep me out. I am the man who will defend you, protect you. Let me in. Let me tell you my story and you will understand.”
He wanted into my mouth, into my mind, into my soul. He definitely wanted into my body, and I could maybe get on board with the last part. Like I said, it had been a long time for me.
His tongue teased against my lower lip and I gave him what he wanted, what I was starting to want.
I could feel his satisfaction when his tongue surged in to play against mine. He no longer needed to hold my hands down. The minute I thought about how much I wanted to touch him, he released me. He kissed me and I could feel how much he wanted my hands on him, stroking him like the big predatory cat he was.
My body heated up, skin going sensitive, and I thought seriously about letting him have me right then and there.
And then I was alone on the forest floor.
One moment Marcus’s weight was pressing me into the grass and the next he was lifted bodily off me. It took me a second to realize he hadn’t jumped off me. He’d been hauled off by a tree branch. It was slender but strong, wrapping around his waist and hauling him high above me.
“Get your hands off my daughter, Vorenus,” a deep voice said.
The Green Man stood roughly fifteen feet away. He wore all white, though his suit seemed to have seen better days. There was dirt on his pants and a tear across his right arm. He held that hand up, guiding the branch he’d pulled from the mighty oak to do his bidding.
I forced myself off the ground. I obviously didn’t understand the connection between these people. And why had that man called me daughter? I was right back to thinking they were here to confuse me.
Kelsey ran in behind the Green Man. “Hey, what the hell are you doing? Let him go, Dev.”
My libido had gotten me into serious trouble. This was probably exactly why I didn’t run around searching for lovers. It seemed like these newcomers were in some kind of argument. I got to my feet and wondered if I could get away.
“Please don’t run, bella. I’ll only find you again.” Marcus pushed at the branch holding him off the ground, his feet kicking. His fangs were on display.
They did not make him less attractive.
“You won’t be able to find her if you’re in two pieces,” the man who looked like Devinshea Quinn said. He was angry. I could feel it rolling off of him.
“Hey, Bris, you in there?” Kelsey stood in front of the men, her hands on her hips. I couldn’t see her face, but irritation flavored her every word. “Don’t you have orders to take over the body when Quinn does something stupid? He’s being really fucking stupid right now and I’m going to have to force him to stop if he doesn’t let Marcus go.”
I started to take a step back because it was looking like they were going to fight among themselves, and I could use that.
I didn’t want to go. I knew it was the smart thing, but I didn’t like the idea of not seeing him again. I wasn’t going to give in to it though. My attraction to the vampire was a perverse instinct that I didn’t have to give in to. I had people to protect. I didn’t need to get worked up over a male.
“Don’t you dare run.” Kelsey had turned my way. “Look, I don’t know why you’re here or who the hell you are, although it seems like Dev does, but you aren’t going anywhere until I get some answers.”
Marcus’s body hit the ground as the branch receded and suddenly the Green Man was walking toward me.
“I apologize for my host, daughter,” the Green Man said, a welcoming smile on his face. He twisted his hand and marigolds popped up around me. They formed a perfect semicircle around my feet, and the blooms were bright and glossy with life. “My name is Bris. Search your mind. You have knowledge of me.”
It didn’t work that way anymore. When I’d first met Dev Quinn, I’d been able to access all the knowledge of those around me. My fingers went to the collar around my throat. “I’m not who you think I am. And you aren’t Devinshea Quinn.”
He frowned, though there was no anger in the expression. “I am Devinshea and he is me. He ascended twelve years ago, a few years after your birth. You are beautiful, daughter. I cannot tell you what finding you means to us. Your father and mother…they did not understand that you were truly their child. Even Devinshea didn’t understand everything about the transference box you were born from. You have to know our family has had a hole in it for years.”
“Wait, what?” Kelsey was lending Marcus a hand. “She’s the queen’s kid? I thought you guys only had the three.”
“She is Summer Donovan.” Marcus straightened his shirt and frowned the Green Man’s way. He was angry. That was easy to see. His tanned skin had flushed, and he didn’t try to hide his fangs. “She is the king’s daughter and my fated companion. You should let Devinshea know that I will not allow him to come between us.”
Kelsey’s eyes had gone wide and her jaw dropped. “No shit! Dude, that’s awesome. High-five, man.”
“Not now, Kelsey.” Marcus didn’t look her way. His stare was on me and the man who might actually be Dev Quinn.
An ascension would explain why he felt different to me. His soul would have been changed by the ancient god he’d bonded with, and it made sense that the god would be a fertility god. Quinn had been a Green Man, though only partially. When I’d met him, I’d felt his sorrow at not fitting in either of his worlds.
Did they truly know my parents? Or was this another trick?
Marcus stalked our way. “Tell your host that if he ever tries to keep her from me, I will kill him.”
And we were right back in I own you mode. He was like the rest only more savvy about how to handle me. I shook my head. “He doesn’t have to keep me from you. I can do that fine on my own.”
“Oh, girl, you tell him,” Kelsey encouraged.
Marcus sent her a stare that could have frozen fire.
Kelsey shrugged. “You’ve had it easy. I would be disappointed if she just fell into your arms. You do that mind thing. It makes it easy for a chick to drop her panties. I should know. Hey, do people wear panties here? Because if I’m stuck, I’m going to need a couple of fresh pairs. I know there are lots of werewolves who don’t mind if their clothes are on the stinky side, but I am not that girl.”
The ancient god among us kept his eyes on me. “Summer, no one will force you to do anything. This I vow. Let’s go back to the field. We need to stay close to where we came from.”
I shook my head and it was time to see if this man meant what he said. “I have to get home. I have people there. Besides, the field is dangerous. The only reason I ran through was the men chasing me.”
“We must stay close,” Bris said. “We fell through an open doorway and it’s our only way home. Home is where your parents wait for you. Do you know how long t
hey’ve looked for a way to pierce the veil and get to you?”
Apparently they should have simply fallen through some open door, since now it seemed I had three Earth plane beings to deal with. “You can’t stay in the field. In a few hours it will be filled with an army of wights.”
“I can deal with the undead,” Bris promised.
Well, of course he could. He was an ancient god who could make the trees do his dirty work. “You can’t kill the undead. I get that you can pull them into the ground, but they’ll fight their way out, and they’ll try to take a few of us with them. If they can lay hands on me, they can potentially kill me, and we all know how that goes. Perhaps they can’t turn you or the vampire there, but I assure you they can make me one of them, and likely Kelsey, too.” I turned to the female. “Are you a demon? I sense that you’re alive in a human way.”
If asking what she was bothered her, she didn’t show it. If anything, she seemed deeply amused with the whole situation. “I’m a Hunter. Like with a capital H. You’ll find if you’re weird and strangely important, they capitalize you. Think of me as a mix of werewolf and demon hunter. I’m pretty sure I can die, so that means I can come back as some crazy creepy thing. We should pass on that. But also, I’m pretty good at not dying. Your dad has often told me that’s my primary job. Well, that and keeping your brother alive. He’s a hoot, by the way, and he’s totally going to love you.”
The words nearly made me stop breathing. I had a brother?
“If there are truly wights in this space, we have to move,” Bris said. “They will come for Kelsey and they won’t stop.”
“What? I already have a reputation here?” Kelsey complained. “I haven’t even done anything. Sure, I killed like five dudes, but who can know that? It’s not like there’s social media here.”
Bris turned to her, his face going grave. “No, you don’t have a reputation. What you have is an unborn child.”
