Stealing Summer, Hunter

by Lexi Blake

  “I scarcely need your help.” Erna walked back in the kitchen.

  “Kelsey, I think we…”

  Kelsey leaned over, her voice going low. “Gray told me to never leave the path. That book is named The Path. I can’t let her hide it. I can’t let her run with it. I can’t let her put a spell on it. I have to hope that book likes me because I need to steal it.”

  “Keep an eye on her and we’ll talk about how to do it,” I whispered back. “And watch out for Danny. I’m going with Devinshea.”

  “Even my human ears can hear you,” Daniel said, his hand on the door. “And she doesn’t have to protect me. Dev can do it.”

  Daniel walked outside, Dev hard on his heels.

  “I thought we discussed this,” Dev argued.

  “Danny, you can’t go meet them.” We had discussed this, and Danny seemed to have forgotten why it was all a bad idea. “If they get back to Hell, they’ll know something’s wrong with you. It could give Myrddin an advantage.”

  Daniel turned to face me. “I understand that you’re scared, baby, but I made a decision while we were waiting for Dev to wake up. I’m either the king or I’m not. I know if I stay human, I can’t lead the supernatural world. I will step down if I can’t turn again, but until then I am still in charge. I didn’t merely become king because I was tougher than everyone else. I made the right alliances. We made the right decisions. You all wanted me to deal with the demonic plane. Well, here we are. I’m going to talk to them, see if they can give me some guidance on how to help save the outer planes. You can come with me or you can stay behind.”

  “Or I can ask Dev to ensure that you stay safe,” I countered.

  “I think that’s a bad idea.” Dean reminded us that he was still here. “I think you’ll break something inside him if you make him sit on the sidelines.”

  Dev stepped out beside Daniel and put a hand on his shoulder. “We shall face them together, Your Highness. You are always a king. You were before your turn, and this magic Myrddin worked on you changes nothing. I will always follow my king into any battle.”

  Sometimes Dev is way better at the spouse thing than I am, but then he’s never seen Danny on a slab, a white sheet covering his body.

  Daniel looked my way. “Zoey, I do understand. Please. Trust that I know what I’m doing. I cannot hide from this anymore than I intend to hide from the fight to save our daughter. There are some things worth risking everything for. Our world, our family—they’re worth the risk.”

  I forced a deep breath in my lungs as I nodded. “All right.”

  Daniel and Dev started down the steps, but a hand on my elbow stopped me. I turned and Dean was there.

  “I want to know what happened and why you’re planning on stealing the spell book,” he said quietly under his breath. “Something happened to me and it’s not merely a headache. I feel different. I feel…angry.”

  “I need you to stay calm. I promise we’ll talk about this, but I need you to read my intentions toward you right now. I need you to understand that I mean you no harm. I mean to take you home with us and give you everything you need to fulfill your destiny,” I replied.

  I only winced a little when I felt him in my brain. It was like a tightening, like every muscle had contracted slightly. I breathed through it because I needed Dean to get with the program or we would have more than the Planeswalkers to deal with.

  I sighed in relief when I felt him retreat after mere seconds.

  “All right. I’ll trust you. For now.” He stepped down and I followed, racing to catch up to my husbands.

  The tallest of the Planeswalkers was standing at the edge of the barrier, holding a skeletal hand out as though he could feel the barrier but not get through it.

  Daniel had stopped just outside. He turned my way and held out his hand. I took my place on his right side and Dev shifted to his left. It was how we entered all formal functions. Together.

  I felt his hand squeeze mine and we walked through the barrier and found ourselves standing in front of the demons.

  The tallest of the group had to be over seven feet. He wore black robes that swallowed his thin body. He looked down at us, his face gaunt, eyes huge and dark as night. Still I could see a stamp of surprise there.

  “Who are you? You look very much like the royals on the Earth plane. I am sorry. Perhaps my eyes are not functioning properly because you could not be him, human.”

  Daniel stepped up to the demon, and my heart threatened to seize. “Or I am working on a problem and don’t need everyone on the outer planes to know who I am, Planeswalker. I am surrounded by power and magic. Don’t think I can’t mask myself when I need to.”

  “Why would you do such a thing?” Suspicion had crept into his tone.

  Daniel’s shoulders straightened and he seemed to grow an inch. “I do not explain myself to the Hell plane. Are we going to have a problem? Do you want my help, or would you like me to show you how heartily your senses have been fooled?”

  The demon actually took a step back, and I realized Daniel could do this. “I apologize, Your Highness. You understand what is happening? Is that why the magic is here? Are you keeping it from us?”

  “He hates demons,” another said, his voice shaky.

  “He will kill us all.” A third started to lift his hand but dropped to his knees in obvious exhaustion.

  “They would really like to kill you,” Dean said, looking at the demons. “It’s not about anger, though that’s in there. The chief emotion I’m getting is fear. I believe they think they’re going to die and you’re keeping the cure from them.”

  “I am doing no such thing.” Daniel never took his eyes off the leader. “I’m attempting to figure out why the convergences are happening. We don’t have them on the Earth plane, but I think if the outer planes fall, we will be next.”

  “The inner planes can close themselves off if they know how to do it, but chaos would surely come from that as well. The humans don’t know how much of their world is based off supernatural energy,” the Planeswalker explained. “How did you get here? None of our brethren brought you through.”

  Daniel’s shoulder’s straightened. “Myrddin sent me. He understands how dangerous the convergences could be to all of us. You know the great wizard has strong ties to the Hell plane. He has convinced me how valuable you all can be when we work together.”

  I swear if that demon had working tear ducts he would have been crying.

  “Merlin Satanspawn does not forget us?”

  I wanted to tell them that Merlin Satanspawn was an ass, but I understood what Daniel was doing. If any of these demons made it back to the Hell plane, all the lords there would hear was that the king was helping demons and loved Myrddin. So if we got back, he wouldn’t be waiting to kill us all. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

  “The Council does not forget you,” Dev corrected. “The king himself is here risking his life to try to fix the problem.”

  More and more of the Planeswalkers were dropping to the ground as though they simply couldn’t find the energy to stand a single second longer.

  “Why are you attracted to this spot?” Daniel asked. “We made an ally when we first got to this plane. He brought us here.”

  “Then he knows about the energy,” the demon said.

  “You’re attracted to the energy on this plane?” I stepped in because I didn’t like hiding in the background. I stayed close to Dean. He was the unknown quantity here, but according to Kelsey he might be able to save the Earth plane, and that meant watching out for the kid.

  “If you need faery magic, I might be able to help with that,” Dev said, his accent deepening and changing as Bris took the baton. “I can funnel energy into you if you need it. It shall not cost my host a thing.”

  The Planeswalker shook his head as another of his brethren sank to the ground. Some looked like they were unconscious now. “No, My Lord. I thank you for the offer, but it is not the same magic. You do not understand ho
w the doors work. It started so long ago that not even my clan quite remembers everything, but we know that there is balance and we play our part. The magic we get from the doors is different, and we carry that magic with us when we walk the outer planes.”

  “You pollinate the planes and that keeps the walls up,” Dean said. “That’s what I got from the other demon. But he was confused. He came looking for a specific magic—Fae magic. My magic isn’t Fae, and neither is Erna’s. She’s a witch from Arete. How does the Fae magic bring balance if mine cannot?”

  “It is not precisely Fae magic. This magic gave birth to Fae magic.” The demon was starting to struggle to breathe.

  “Celestial magic. I think he’s talking about celestial magic. The Fae are closer to our angelic ancestors than other supernatural creatures,” Daniel explained. “Fae magic—even Unseelie magic—is closer to celestial than demonic. Most witch magic comes from the earth around them, so it’s almost considered a neutral energy. Planeswalker, where do you sense this magic coming from?”

  He managed to hold up a reedy hand and point a finger toward the cottage, the one I couldn’t see from this side of the barrier. “She is there.”

  “She?” I asked. “Is he talking about Erna? I thought you said it couldn’t be her.”

  “The goddess. She must accept her place,” the Planeswalker said as he fell to his knees, the last of his clan to begin to fade. “Please. If she does not accept the invitation, if the Summerlands are lost, we are all lost. We will devolve into chaos and only the inner planes will be left, cut off from our unique lives. Tell the wizard thank you. Hell will not care. Hell will love the chaos. We thought ourselves abandoned.”

  “King Daniel did not abandon you.” Dev was back in control now. He knelt down beside the Planeswalker. “We will save the Summerlands. Sleep and know that you are protected. The royals of the Earthplane will aid the Planeswalker clans.”

  “She must take her place,” the demon said as his eyes closed.

  The world around us was quiet again, and we were left with a field of dormant demons.

  “Is he talking about Summer?” I asked, already dreading the answer to my question.

  Daniel glanced around the field, his hands on his hips. “I have to think there’s some kind of connection. But Dev said she didn’t have any magic.”

  “It’s bound,” Dev replied, turning to Dean. “You put the other in the barn? Is there room enough for these?”

  Dean’s eyes went wide. “You want to store all of them?”

  “Well, I wasn’t going to leave them here to bake in the sun,” Dev replied. “They might not have much meat on their bones, but I assure you something will try to eat them. According to everything we’ve learned they are necessary to keeping the balance of the outer planes. We have to solve the problem anyway. We might as well get some allies out of it.”

  “Yes,” Daniel agreed. “I would like to have any ally on the Hell plane since now I have to wonder if Myrddin hasn’t been looking out for his own interests while he was there. He spent a good amount of the last decade on the Hell plane. I’m sure he’s made his own allies. And we have to consider that he knew something like this was going to happen and he wants the outer planes lost for some reason. I do not like being the fool.”

  Dev stood and moved into Danny’s space. “You were not a fool, my king.”

  Danny’s lips kicked up in an affectionate grin, and he reached to grip the back of Dev’s neck the way I’d seen him do a thousand times right before he brought their bodies together. “You only say that because you were the fool standing beside me.”

  Dev’s head rested against Danny’s, his eyes closing and his whole body relaxing. “I would rather be a fool and be beside you than be wise and not with you.”

  I watched as Danny kissed Dev, a brief brushing of lips that even in the midst of all our stress got my heart racing.

  “Well, I wasn’t a fool and I was all alone, so yay for me,” I said because it hadn’t been a blast. It had been several months of wondering if my husbands had lost their damn minds.

  Or if they were really choosing someone else over me.

  “Come here, Z.” Danny held out a hand and I was pulled in between them.

  It was my favorite place to be.

  “You did good. You can do this without superpowers,” I whispered. “We can save our daughter.”

  “We can and we will,” he whispered back before straightening up. “Devinshea, let’s protect our new friends and go join Kelsey. We need to move out soon. Dean, I’m going to ask you to stay quiet and calm around Erna. I’ll explain when we’re on the road.”

  Dean’s jaw had tightened. “I had a stone in my head, didn’t I? It came out when she took yours. It’s why I always obeyed her. I am not known for my obedient nature. Ask my parents. Why? Why would she do that to me? I asked them to help me.”

  “I don’t know.” Daniel sent Dean the same earnest look he gave our kids when he wasn’t sure what to tell them. “But I promise you I will find out and I will ensure that she cannot do it again. We will come up with a plan of action while we make our way to the door, but it’s imperative that you do nothing to tip her off.”

  “So I can’t drill into her head the way she did mine?” The question came out of Dean’s mouth with pure bitterness.

  “Absolutely not,” Dev replied. “As someone who’s been probed by you before, you do not know the meaning of the word gentle. And before anyone makes a joke, both of you know that I indeed understand the meaning of a gentle probing. It’s an art.”

  Even Dean snorted at that one. “All right. I’ll keep my cool. But seriously it’s going to take forever to get all these guys in the barn. They’re heavier than they look, and I still have a headache.”

  “Well, I’m not going to carry them,” Dev explained. “And I have a better idea than the barn.” His eyes turned emerald green as Bris returned. “I need help, my friends.”

  Dean sighed. “I knew I would have to lug something around.”

  “He’s not talking to you.” Daniel’s hand slid into mine and he stepped back.

  “Oh,” I said, following him as the trees around us reached out their branches like mighty, gentle arms that began to scoop up the demons.

  Dean was suddenly behind us, proving there was still a boy inside his almost-grown body. “That’s freaky. I knew he could make things grow, but not that he could make the trees do manual labor for him.”

  “Devinshea can do anything with plants. They love him,” Daniel said, watching his partner. “We’re lucky he is so strong here.”

  I squeezed Danny’s hand as Dev made sure each demon was taken up safely into the oak’s embrace. “We’re lucky you’re so brave here, Your Highness.”

  He brought my hand up and kissed it before holding it to his heart. “Yes, well, I think you’ll discover I haven’t been that scared in a while. My human heart felt like it was going to explode. It’s odd to feel it beating like it is. And have I thanked you for being so patient with me? About the crap with Myrddin?”

  Dev turned and he was in control once more. “Yes, my goddess. Now I understand how difficult it must have been for you. At the time it seemed like you were being unreasonable.”

  We had talked a bit about how Myrddin had used the thrall stones to influence them as we’d lain in that tiny bed while Dev got back some of his strength. But I’d been careful not to throw blame around.

  “I don’t even like tea.” Dean’s nose wrinkled. “My mother would make tea and I would tell her it was for snooty consorts. My dad would joke that milk was for real men. Not that he would drink it since he was a vamp and all. But I drink tea all the time now. That’s not right. When Summer makes it, I refuse. Does that mean Summer doesn’t know what Erna did?”

  I needed to make this clear to our new friend. “I believe Erna is using you and Summer, and I intend to put a stop to it. I also intend to find out why she’s been doing it. There’s something about that woman I
don’t like.” I looked to my faery prince. “Devinshea, I think Erna should meet some of your plant friends. We need to find Summer, but I want that witch waiting here for us when we return. I have questions.”

  His expression turned distinctly feral. “I can do that.”

  He started to bring up his hands and I felt the ground beneath me tremble.

  That was the moment when I looked behind me and I could see the brugh. I wasn’t supposed to be able to see the brugh.

  “What happened to the barricade?” Daniel asked, moving in front of me.

  “It’s down.” Dean stepped up, too. “Why would she take the barriers down? The whole time we’ve been here they’ve been up. She said it was easier to hold them in place here. It’s precisely the reason we stayed.”

  The door opened and Kelsey appeared, her head bleeding and her eyes wild.

  “She’s gone,” Kelsey yelled. “And so is the book.”

  * * * *

  Kelsey

  I watched as the queen, Donovan, Dev, and Dean walked out to meet the Planeswalkers, but I never lost track of where the witch was.

  She stood beside me, a disapproving look on her face. It seemed to be her go-to expression, but then I didn’t blame her for that. I’ve been accused of resting bitch face.

  What I did blame her for was shoving a thrall stone into a young man’s head and using it to manipulate him.

  “The Planeswalkers are seldom violent,” she said quietly. “But if they decide your people are a threat, I assure you they can effectively kill. You’re risking a lot to talk to them when they can’t possibly get through my barriers.”

  “I don’t think the king wants to hide from them,” I replied. “I think the king wants to figure out why they’re here. You yourself said they aren’t behaving normally.”

  “And that’s his business? I also take the title king with a grain of salt. I don’t care what he says. The king of vampires should probably be a vampire.”

  “He explained that. He’s under some kind of spell.” Or something had happened when he went through that painting. I’d been thinking about it the whole time we’d been here. Had it been a spell to strip the king of his power? Why hadn’t it done the same to Marcus? My ex-honey still had all his power. I still had my wolf.