by Lexi Blake
I did not need to fight about battle tactics. “Everything that should be dead is dead, and now we’ve all shaken hands in each other’s heads so can we try to figure out what the hell is going on?”
“I would like to know, too,” Summer said. She’d sank down to the grass beside Dean and shifted his head onto her lap. She brushed back his blond hair. “I find it oddly coincidental that three people who know my parents show up twenty-eight years after they left…after I saw them last.”
“It hasn’t been twenty-eight years on our plane.” Quinn had dropped his scowl and was looking at Summer with paternal patience. “It’s only been thirteen, and you need to know we’ve looked for ways to find you. When we realized the truth of your birth… This was my fault. I should have understood. I knew a bit about transference boxes. I am the reason you were separated from them.”
That wasn’t exactly how I’d heard the story. Guilt is a funny thing. There was some family therapy in their future. Dang. Felix Day was getting a new client.
She looked up at Quinn, blinking in the sunlight. “They wouldn’t have left me on the Earth plane, the faeries, that is. They would have fought, and honestly, I know I needed to be in Tír na nÓg. You’re really Devinshea Quinn?”
“I am.”
Marcus seemed to remember his manners. “Devinshea, the sun is right in her eyes. Fix that, please.”
Quinn sighed. “You’re going to be so difficult.”
But he strode off toward the forest to do something. I didn’t know what. I didn’t really care. I wanted to know about that destiny thing. “Look, I think we might be here for a reason. One of the things being married to a prophet has taught me is the most coincidental crap can turn out to be incredibly consequential. What plane is Dean from?”
“The Earth plane,” she said, looking down at the young man. “His mother was brought over when she was pregnant with him. Do you know what a Planeswalker is?”
“Of course.” Marcus paced, a thing he almost never did. “They are the demons who walk the planes of existence, gathering energy from the doorways. They are secretive and don’t have much contact with the Council or anyone, from what I understand. Even the other demon clans talk about how they isolate themselves. Are you telling me Planeswalker demons are stealing women off the Earth plane?”
I could bet what kind of women they were taking. “Vampires here like companions, too, don’t they?”
Summer nodded. “They call us consorts here, and bondmates. There are some Fae here with psychic powers who need what you would call companions to fully use their powers. The kings of the Seelie in Tír na nÓg and the Unseelie princes all have bondmates to center them. And yes, women like me are quite popular on the Vampire plane.”
“Oh, I will be having a long discussion with your father when we return,” Marcus vowed. “They think to take our women and sell them on another plane?”
“Yes, you would rather sell them on your own,” Summer shot back.
“I told you, your father freed the companions when he took his crown,” Marcus replied, rather primly to my ears.
“It’s true.” It was one of the reasons I worked for the dude. Well, that and he probably would have killed me if I didn’t, but that actually wasn’t as awful as it sounds. Apparently sometimes women with wolves in their soul went a little psycho, and Donovan was trying to save me from that. And all the people I would have killed. All in all, I’d forgiven him for how we met. “King Daniel is trying to right many of the wrongs of the last couple of millennia. He won’t be happy that demons are stealing companions and taking them to other planes. So a Planeswalker stole Dean’s mom.”
Marcus was suddenly looking my way and he stopped pacing.
Summer looked down at the kid sleeping with his head on her lap. “Yes. She was pregnant at the time. From what I understand her marriage wasn’t a particularly happy one. She always said she chose poorly the first time, but fate found a way to let her choose again. Apparently the vampire she ended up marrying was the mirror to a man she cared for on the Earth plane. She was lucky. Most vampires wouldn’t have taken a human child into their family. It wasn’t easy for Dean. He never fit in, and then they discovered he had a way with magic. Vampires don’t particularly like magic. His family would have protected him, but he insisted on finding his destiny.”
We were getting to the good stuff. Quinn was back and he had something in his hand. He dropped what looked like an acorn a few feet away from where we stood and with a twist of his fingers, the ground vibrated beneath me and an oak tree sprang into being, its wide branches offering us shade against the afternoon light.
“Better?” Quinn looked down at Summer.
“Thank you,” she replied from her shady spot. “It’s much cooler now. That’s a handy gift you have there… I don’t know what to call you.”
“Your brothers and sister call me Papa, but I’ll understand if Dev is easier for you,” Quinn offered. “I’d like to talk to you a bit more about your parents. I won’t push myself at you. You’re Daniel and Zoey’s daughter. I hope you can at least come to see me as a friend.”
I needed to keep us on task, but I was suddenly worried because Quinn was firmly on Team Myrddin, and if I’d managed to find one of the two beings who could take the old goat down, I didn’t want to tip him off. But I really wanted to know what she’d meant by destiny.
“Devinshea, could I speak to you for a moment?” Marcus asked.
It was good to know he could still read my cues.
Dev’s jaw tightened but he nodded. “Yes, I think we should talk.”
The boys walked together toward the trees.
I sat down in front of Summer. “You said Dean had a destiny. What does that mean?”
She hesitated.
I gambled. “Is Dean supposed to save the Earth plane from a man named Myrddin?”
Her eyes widened. “The spawn. Satanspawn.”
I smiled, pure joy coursing through me. “Oh, Summer, we’re about to become such good friends.”
* * * *
Summer
Hearing the name Myrddin come out of Kelsey’s mouth sent a shiver through me. I glanced down at Dean and saw that his breathing was even and deep. He seemed to be sleeping. “Why would we be friends? I would assume you want to get back to your plane as soon as possible, and I need to get home. I need to protect Dean.”
The brunette was gorgeous when she smiled. It was easy to see why Marcus had cared for her. “Let me tell you, sister, protecting Dean just became my main mission in life. We need to get him on a training schedule. I don’t know a lot about the witchy parts of his skills, but the kid needs to know how to avoid losing his weaponry. I got that crossbow out of his hands pretty damn quick. So we’ll start there.”
I shook my head because she talked very quickly when she wanted to. Also, I wasn’t used to anyone who actually believed me about Dean having an important destiny. Even his mother had laughed at the thought. She and his stepfather were viewing this as an adventure before Dean would inevitably return to the comforts of the Vampire plane and take a position at the family company—Malone Oil and BioTech. “Why would you train Dean? Though if you could find a way to the Earth plane, we’ll need that someday.”
I likely wouldn’t. I would probably get my ass killed because Turi wasn’t going to stop following me and I wasn’t going to willingly become his “queen.” It sounds great and apparently queens run in the family, but for Turi’s people the term queen is simply how they refer to the unlucky woman the king rapes on a regular basis. I wasn’t going to let that happen, even if it meant going down in a blaze of glory. But Dean would need that ticket.
Kelsey nodded. “All right, I’m going to give you the lowdown, but we need to keep some of this between me and you. So, I’m what’s called a Hunter. Long story short, I’m a hybrid werewolf with some Amazon thrown in for good measure. Probably don’t have that mythology on this plane. Cool. We’ll watch Wonder Woman and you’ll get
how awesome that is. Now that I think of it, you’re kind of one of us. Your mom is the queen of more than Vampire on our plane. Anyway, we’re pretty much in charge of making sure the men of the plane don’t fuck shit up. I’m the warrior. Your mom is the queen. I fight for justice and to maintain balance on the Earth plane. Your mom…she’s really good with sarcasm and vodka, and she always has a burger waiting for me at the end of a battle. Don’t discount that. I’m usually pretty hungry.”
I was confused. “I thought my father protected the plane. He is the king.”
She snorted. “As if. I mean sure he’s the king, but there’s a lot of political crap that goes into wearing that crown. He can’t always make the right choice. That’s why he’s got me. I’m the Nex Apparatus. Do you know what that means?”
“Death Machine.” I knew it because it was what my father had been when I was born. He’d been the Council’s Death Machine and it had weighed heavily on him. He’d hated the things he’d been forced to do to survive, to keep my mother safe. Now that I thought about it, my father had dealt with politics for a long time. “I’m surprised my father would appoint another one.”
Kelsey’s expression went serious. “It’s not the same. I’m going to admit, I wasn’t happy about it in the beginning, but King Daniel was right. I am needed, and I think part of my job just became protecting that kid because if he is who I think he is, the Earth plane needs him. You said something about a prophecy.”
I hesitated.
“Tell her,” Dean murmured with a low groan. “Damn vampire. He did a number on me. Is this really what it feels like when I take a trip through a person’s intentions?”
Thank the goddess. If he was complaining, he was alive. “Are you okay?”
Kelsey’s brown eyes had widened. “He’s more than okay. He’s freaking strong as hell. If Marcus said he should be out for an hour or so, he should be out for an hour. Maybe more. Marcus can downplay a situation.”
Dean put a hand to his head but made no move to sit up. “I had to fight my way out. I didn’t actually go to sleep. At least my brain didn’t. My body pretty much shut down, but I could hear everything you were saying. Don’t ever try to get between me and a sword again, but I do thank you in this case.”
Kelsey whistled. “Dayum. I got a couple of witches you need to meet on the Earth plane. They’re going to teach you so much because while you are strong, yes, what you did hurt like hell, and also you should probably veil your thoughts more when you’re playing around.”
Dean frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means if you were looking for our intentions, we kind of got a feel for yours, too,” Kelsey said. “Hence Marcus’s whammy on your old brain pan.”
Dean forced himself up, and he’d gone paler than usual. “My intentions were to find out if you were lying. But I take your meaning. I need to veil my thoughts better. You’re an odd female. I’ve only met one other werewolf. You’re different from her. Your wolf wasn’t always so integrated. Also, your wolf is scary. She growls inside your head. When you change is she coming after me? Because I would like to apologize to her profusely and maybe offer her some raw meat. I don’t have any but I’ll find some.”
The smile was back on Kelsey’s face. “I’m not that bad. And she-wolfy will be perfectly satisfied with something cooked. I don’t change my form. Except my hand, which is actually a demon hand. That’s your dad’s fault, too, Summer. So this prophecy, let’s talk about that.”
I looked at Dean to make sure. It wasn’t like we went around talking about the possibility of Dean killing an evil magician with random strangers. I’d only mentioned it to try to get Kelsey to convince Marcus to let Dean live.
“She’s solid,” Dean assured me. “None of them tried to get here. It was all a mistake, though I felt like Kelsey had purpose.”
“I was looking for Marcus and Dev,” Kelsey offered. “I was sent after them.”
Dean nodded. “Yes, that explains it. I can’t exactly read minds. It’s more like an overview of intentions. I can tell if someone wants to do harm. None of them wishes you ill. Kelsey is curious about you. The Green Man is genuinely worried about your welfare. And the vampire, well, you should know that vampire has plans for you, and they are not to take you to tea. He doesn’t want to hurt you, but he does want you.”
I glanced back where Marcus was talking to Dev. He was already overly possessive, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn’t interested in me. He was interested in my glow. It wasn’t the first time some vamp had found out I was single and started in on the “you’re mine” spiel. I wouldn’t take it too seriously.
Of course he was the first vamp I’d thought about playing around with. He was the first vamp I’d met with ridiculously dark hair that looked like it would be soft when I ran my hands through it, the only one with eyes that seemed to pierce through me.
Like I said, it had been a long time.
I turned back to Kelsey because if I could find an ally as strong as this one, perhaps the trip had been more successful than I’d thought. “When Dean was young, his parents took him to a fair.”
Dean’s lips curled up with the memory. “I wasn’t that young. I was thirteen, and it was one of the few times we went to Tír na nÓg. It was after Torin the Pretender was dethroned.”
“It’s always good to dethrone pretenders.” Kelsey obviously didn’t want a lesson in Tuatha Dé Danann history. “What happened at this fair?”
Dean put a hand to his head but he continued. “Mom and Dad went to see a play the Fae were doing about how peace came to the plane, but I went with my Uncle Mike. He’s cool. He’s a royal but he went into the military despite his wealth. He wanted to play some of the games. There were lots of vendors there that day and they came from many different planes. We met a woman who read palms. When she touched me, her eyes rolled back and she said I was out of time and space and to beware the spawn. Uncle Mike told me she was obviously drunk and he hustled me out. I didn’t think she was drunk.”
“What color were her eyes when they rolled back?” Kelsey asked. “Did they change at all?”
“They were white, but not like when eyes rolled. They kind of glowed,” he said. “And her voice got deeper and she said a bunch of weird stuff.”
“So she was a true prophet, or she was channeling one,” Kelsey said. “I don’t suppose you wrote it all down.”
If only he had, but then of course he’d been thirteen. I was surprised he remembered as much as he had. “I’ve spent the last two years trying to track the woman down. I finally managed to figure out her name and that she was a witch, the daughter of a powerful coven mistress on a plane the locals call Arete.”
“Is it like the Vampire plane? Did witches evolve there?” Kelsey’s eyes were lit with curiosity.
“Yes, and they’re quite fierce.” I could still remember how they’d almost caught me and what they would likely do if they did. “They’re Dianic witches.”
“Which means they view men as nothing more than manual labor and sperm,” Dean grumbled. “They’re not friendly at all to my gender. It’s why Summer had to go find the book. I couldn’t have gotten close to that library because on that plane, men don’t read. They like men doing magic even less.”
There had been plenty of reasons I’d gone instead of Dean, partly because of the self-defense training he needed. Kelsey was right about that. I got to my feet because I’d left the satchel where Dev had laid it after retrieving it from the lake. I had to pray it wasn’t ruined by the water. It wasn’t like the book had been typeset and laminated. If the ink on the pages had run, I was going to throw myself back in the lake. “I discovered the witches have several books where they document the words of their prophets. They’re imbued with magic so every time there’s a prophecy, no matter how far away the prophet happens to be, it shows up in the book. But you should understand their prophecy isn’t like some other planes.”
“I know a thing or two a
bout prophecy,” Kelsey replied, her gaze following me. “Like I said, I’m married to one. He’s a dark prophet, but he’s not evil or anything. Quite the opposite.”
“Prophecy among the witches isn’t exclusive to one or two of them,” Dean explained. “Any witch with a hint of the talent can receive a prophecy if she comes in contact with someone or something important. It’s why this particular witch had so much trouble with it. Apparently it was a powerful seeing, and she hadn’t dealt with the second sight before. I assure you those witches didn’t keep records like that only to make them susceptible to water. It’s intact.”
I had to hope so. I needed to know when and how to send Dean to the Earth plane. I reached down to grab my satchel and when I came up, Dean was standing right there, crowding me.
“Do you want me to dry you off?”
I was still soaking wet. And I knew the vampire had been thinking about the sun in my eyes, but the shade from the tree had also made it hard to dry out. “Sure.”
He waved a hand and I was suddenly dry and warm again. Though not as warm as I’d been in Marcus’s arms, in that lovely house my parents lived in. I didn’t think I would ever feel that warmth for myself again.
“What did you do to her?” Marcus was suddenly back and I wondered if he hadn’t been watching me the whole time. The male moved fast.
“Nothing I’m going to do to you,” Dean replied. “Stay wet, old man.”
I sighed because the last thing I needed was a couple of bulls butting heads. “Why don’t you two try to stay away from each other. Marcus, I appreciate you helping me out, but if you ever…”
He put a hand up and turned to Dean. “I deeply apologize for what I almost did. I have to thank Kelsey for thinking so quickly, though I do wish she hadn’t put Summer in danger. I’m not handling myself well. My only excuse is I hadn’t fed in days and the blood of the each-uisge did not sit well.”
