by Lexi Blake
“I am going to contact our best soothsayers.” Miria stood, her decision made, and shook out her strawberry-blonde hair. “It is what I should have done the minute the bean si began their song.” She turned to Padric. “I believe one of the women in the village has shown great potential as a medium. Perhaps we can ask the spirits to guide us.”
The royal guard nodded. “I shall go and fetch her myself, Your Highness. If you would have the temple prepared, we can hold a séance as soon as I get back and we can try to get to the bottom of this.”
Miria turned to Sarah, who looked pale and sat quietly holding Felix’s hand. “You are a witch, correct?”
“I am, Your Highness,” she replied.
“Would you mind overseeing the preparations? You will know which herbs to use and which candles to burn.”
Sarah stood and bowed her head. “It would be my honor to do this for you. I know exactly which herbs to use. We must cleanse the space before we begin.”
Everyone was up and moving about as there were preparations to be made. It was like a great weight had been lifted because we now had something to do. Dev kissed me and once again promised me things would be all right before joining his mother and brother. They began to plan what questions they should ask the hopefully non-corporeal dead. Sometimes these things went awry and the corporeal dead showed up and they tended to be pissed off and usually carrying weapons of some sort. Daniel pointed this out and they all began to argue the probability of their conversation with the dead beginning the zombie apocalypse.
I watched as they plotted and felt distant from all of them at that moment. I let my arms cross and rested against the wall, watching Dev and Daniel and wondering just how far I would go to protect them.
“You don’t believe this shit any more than I do, Your Grace,” the Hunter said quietly. His brown eyes regarded me seriously. His voice was quiet. As Neil was caught up in the undead argument and Zack was patrolling, I doubted anyone else could hear our conversation.
“I still think it’s Dev.” There was a knot of anxiety that told me this loss was mine, not all of Faery’s. It would hurt my heart the most.
“I agree.” He leaned casually against the wall next to me. To the rest of the party, it probably appeared to be a meaningless conversation. As the Hunter continued, I knew it was anything but. “I know more than I have said to this point. Celebrating your marriage is the least of my reasons for being here. It would do nothing to help if I bring up my information now. It would only confuse the issue and stop me from coming to his aid.”
“If you know something, you have to tell me,” I whispered back urgently.
“I will,” he promised. “I need your help. The bean si were right. You are the only one who can stop this war. If you want to know how, I will tell you in an hour. Be ready when I come for you.”
My heart skipped an anxious beat. “When you come for me? Are we going somewhere? I don’t think my husbands are going to let me go anywhere alone with you.”
“If you want to save Prince Dev, that is exactly what you will do,” he hissed my direction.
“How will my being alone with an Unseelie noble help my husband?” I shot back at him. “That sounds like an excellent way to start a war and perhaps to lead Devinshea into a trap.”
I watched as the Hunter receded and Herne took his place. I noticed that they tended to function like this. They traded places whenever one seemed to fumble. This time the Hunter couldn’t handle a touchy female, so he tagged out and brought in the charmer.
Herne was gracious. “I apologize again, Your Grace. The Hunter is anxious about certain events, and it does nothing for his already questionable manners. He very much wants to avoid war. It’s not that he minds bloodshed but rather that he fears no one will win this battle. He’s an old and venerable spirit, but he’s still dependent on us. It brings out the worst in him at times when he’s reminded of his flaws.”
I accepted all of that. It must be difficult to have such power yet be forced to deal with the limitations of a human host. The Hunter could strengthen his host, could give him amazing powers, but he was still limited. “Why does he want to meet with me?”
“We need you,” Herne said firmly, trying to convince me of his point. “You are the only one who can stop this war. If you will aid us, I believe we can have everything settled by morning.”
I sighed, wanting to believe him. I wanted to think that there was something I could do to fix this. I was just like the rest of them. I needed to feel like I was doing something useful, but holding hands in the dark and hoping someone from beyond would show up just wasn’t my thing. Herne was offering me another option. “Fine. My wolf and I will go with you.”
“No, it must be the two of us alone,” he explained quietly and with compassion. “I’m sorry but that’s the way it must be.”
“You want me to lie to my husbands and ditch my guard to run away with you?” I said the words and they were improbable even to my own ears. The last time I’d done that I’d gotten into big trouble.
“It’s the only way to deal with the problem,” Herne insisted. He frowned and looked down at me. “Zoey, Devinshea is my friend. I’ll do anything I can to aid him. I promise that I intend no harm to you.”
I sighed because I knew what he was doing. Promises are important to the Fae. Bad things tended to happen when they broke their vows. If Herne lied to me, then I could call the Wild Hunt and they would aid me, even against their master. If he was willing to make an oath, then I had to consider his proposal. “I have your oath?”
“Yes, Your Grace, I give you my solemn oath that I mean for no harm to come to you,” he replied with all the sincerity he could muster.
“I want his, too.” I wasn’t taking any chances. I wasn’t sure how the rules worked concerning ascended gods and their hosts, but I was going to cover all the bases before I trusted these two.
Brown eyes blinked. “You have my oath. I intend you no harm.”
“Then I will go with you.” I looked at my party. Even with all the activity going on around them, Daniel and Neil were looking my way every couple of minutes, likely wondering exactly what I was saying to the Hunter. “How am I supposed to get away?” Daniel and Dev would be working on the whole Ghost Whisperer episode they were about to enact. It wouldn’t be so hard to get away from them, but Neil was an entirely different story.
“I do not know. That is your dilemma,” the Hunter said with no sympathy. “I will be at your windows in an hour. Be prepared for a walk in the woods.”
The Hunter made his good-byes and departed.
So, he was going to be helpful. I watched him close the door. I faked a yawn and let myself sink onto the couch. It was time to make the whole “knocked up” thing start working for me. I looked at Dev and smiled my tired soldier smile.
“Sweetheart, you look exhausted,” Dev said soothingly as he fell right into my trap.
“It’s been a long day.” I managed a nice yawn while gesturing at the activity in the living room. “How long do you think this will take?”
His mouth turned down in chagrin. “The better part of the night, my goddess. I’m afraid it isn’t a good place for you.”
“No pregnant ladies!” Sarah shouted from across the room. “Sometimes non-corporeal beings look for new bodies, and a tiny soul is just too tempting. Zoey needs to stay in the palace.”
“Oh,” I said, mustering my disappointment. “Really?”
“You heard her.” Daniel frowned. “They’ll have to make do without us. We can just go to bed and they can tell us all about it in the morning. You need your rest, baby. You’ve had an emotional night.”
“Danny, I’ll be fine.” I started to panic a little. There would be no way to get away from Daniel. None. He would be a brick wall, and there was a good chance he would behead the Hunter for even suggesting I leave with him.
“Actually, I need you, Daniel.” Sarah instructed Felix on which herbs to ask Albert for and th
en turned to complete her thought. “If things get bad, I have a spell to banish just about anything but it requires a certain type of magic. You’re the only one here with a plentitude of death magic.”
“And I wanted to be loved for my good looks,” Daniel muttered. “Fine. Lee hasn’t gotten back yet. I expected him back before now. How far could a kid get? Anyway, Neil can stay with you.”
“Of course,” Neil said, sitting down beside me. “We’ll pop some corn and watch some E. Oh, yeah, we’re in ‘medieval world’ where they don’t have TVs. Trust me. It will be so easy to watch Z since I don’t have anything else to do.”
“See that you do,” Daniel said, his voice a low rumble. Neil turned his eyes away, and I could see his mouth was tight. I decided that after I saved Dev, I was going to go to Felix and set up some family therapy because the cold war between Danny and Neil was starting to get to me.
I patted Neil’s hand and tried to look pathetic. “I just want to go to bed, sweetie. I need some alone time. I need to process, if you know what I mean.”
“You need to cry,” Neil replied quietly. “You know my shoulder is always there for you. I’ll stay out here. Do you want to know a secret, Z? I smuggled in a battery operated DVD player. If you need something to take your mind off things, I brought along some movies.”
I wanted to kiss him because Neil being out here and involved in some flick watching was perfect. He would still be able to hear me if I yelled, but his senses weren’t what they used to be. Since he stopped taking Daniel’s blood, he’d become more of a regular wolf than the superpower he had been. I wondered if it hurt him. I knew he’d been proud to be so strong. Now Zack was the one taking the vampire blood and reaping the benefits. As for Lee, he was a freak of nature and didn’t need anything to help him out. I bet it bothered Neil to be the weakest in his pack.
Danny knelt down. “Sarah says she needs me. God, I hate the magic crap. Give me something to behead any day of the week. I love you, Z. I’m going to fix this. I’m not going to let Dev die on us. You get some rest. I’ll tell you what we find out in the morning.”
I nodded and let my arms wind around his broad shoulders while he kissed me soundly. Dev was right behind him. When Danny left to join Sarah, Dev scooped me up and started to carry me toward the bedroom. “I’ll be right with you,” he said to the group. “I want to tuck my goddess in and say good night.”
Declan snorted. “I will bet that is what you want to do. Take your time, brother. I will do your part while you say good night.”
Dev pushed through the door and carried me to the bed. He crawled in with me. His eyes practically ate me up. “I love you, Zoey. I will fight this. You know I will, don’t you?”
Those stupid tears were back, clouding my vision. “I know. I love you, too.”
“But if anything should go wrong…”
“Don’t.” I didn’t want to hear any of it.
He put a finger on my lips to silence me. “You should know this. If anything goes wrong, I have a will filed on our plane. Albert has all the information on the attorney. It leaves everything to you. Daniel knows where all the money is. He knows how to run the businesses or he knows who to call. He can handle everything, but you will be well provided for.”
“I just want you.” I didn’t care about the damn money or the club or any of it. It wouldn’t mean anything if he was gone.
He pushed me back onto the bed. “I know. But I want you to be happy, Zoey. I want you to go on with Daniel and I want the two of you to raise this baby if anything should happen to me. Now get some sleep and before you know it we will be crawling into your bed and begging you to do all manner of dirty things with us.”
He kissed me and pushed himself up. I was suddenly in the presence of Bris. His eyes and demeanor changed faster than I had ever seen it.
“Goddess, I have only a moment while my host is disoriented,” he explained. “I am not foolish. I know you plan something with the Hunter. I know him well and he would not have spoken with you had he not intended to use you. I won’t tell my host. I know you seek to help him, but be careful with the Hunter. He isn’t evil but he is a predator.”
“I have his oath that he won’t harm me,” I said.
Bris nodded. “Excellent. He won’t break an oath. Good luck, goddess.” He went still for a moment and then his smile was sweet. I knew that Dev was aware now. “I have no intention of leaving you either, goddess. I will do whatever I can to keep my host healthy. You have my vow.” He leaned over and kissed me, running his hands over my nipples and making me wish we had more time. “Sleep well,” he said before walking out.
I frowned after him. Every nerve ending in my body was ready for more of his touch and he told me to sleep well. I was suddenly glad I had somewhere to be because I would never be able to sleep now.
Lying back on the big bed, I waited for the sounds in the outer room to die down. After a long while I heard Sarah say good night to Neil and the outer doors close. When I was certain Neil had time to retrieve his bit of home, I climbed carefully out of the bed and made my way to the small backpack I’d stored in the closet. I pulled out my cut-off denims and black tank top and, more importantly, my Nikes. I’d brought along a couple of articles of clothing from home strictly for comfort. I knew the denim would be an odd sight in this world, but it was better than running around in a dress I’d already tripped in once tonight. I wasn’t going gallivanting through the woods looking like a refuge from Shakespeare in the Park.
After getting comfy, I opened the chest at the end of the bed. It was stuffed full of Dev’s two favorite things—sex toys and weapons. I ignored the vibrators despite the awful state that mean old fertility god left me in and went straight for the guns. After I retrieved my Ruger, I found the cold iron rounds and loaded up, shoving an extra clip in my pocket. I didn’t care who knew I was carrying here since they didn’t exactly have a concealed handgun law, so I slipped a shoulder holster over my tank top. Never one to rely on merely one weapon, I strapped on two thigh sheaths for the knives I selected. One was cold iron because it worked like magic on faeries and the other silver because that worked on just about anything else. Once I pulled my hair into a ponytail, I was ready to go.
I was pulling the curtains shut in case Neil looked in on me when Barghest and Shuck popped their heads over the window sill. I put a hand to my lips and the dogs stayed silent. As quietly as I could, I threw a leg over the opening and suddenly found myself in Herne’s strong arms. He lifted me to the ground and had a smile on his face as he steadied me. “This is an interesting costume. It will make it much easier to move than your dress. Are you ready then, Your Grace?”
I took a deep breath and nodded because I was as ready as I was going to get.
Herne the Hunter took my hand and we ran off into the night.
Chapter Twelve
“Where exactly are we going?” I asked once we got past the palace walls. We had to be quiet as the whole palace was guarded. We’d waited in some bushes while the guards made their rounds. The minute they went past us, we leapt over the high white walls that separated the queen’s abode from the valley. Well, Herne leapt. I kind of tried to rock climb. Finally Shuck took pity on me and let me climb on his back and then over the high wall. If Herne had wanted Spider Girl then he’d come to the wrong place.
He motioned to the woods in the distance. “There. We’re going to a place deep in that forest.”
“And what, exactly, are we looking for?” I probably didn’t want to know, but I asked the question anyway.
“An ogre.”
Nope, I didn’t want to know. An ogre is a big, nasty creature that likes to gnaw on human flesh. Oh, it would pretty much eat any flesh it came across, but it was particularly attracted to flesh that talked back to it. Its pet peeves included anyone walking into its territory and anyone thinking about walking into its territory. The ogre’s likes included eviscerating those foolish enough to walk into its territory. It’s impor
tant to stay out of the big dude’s space or he will polish you off with a nice side salad.
I’m joking about that last part. He would never eat salad.
“Are you insane?” I stopped my forward progress since every step brought me closer to the No Trespassing sign.
Herne turned and the dogs sat back on their haunches. “Look, Your Grace…”
“Call me Zoey.” I wanted to be on a first name basis with the last person I would probably see.
“All right then, Zoey,” he said with a satisfied smile before continuing his explanation. “As far as I can tell, to this point the ogre has remained undetected. It has probably eaten anyone who might have reported its presence. The ogre shouldn’t be in these woods. It’s not a Seelie creature.”
“So, there are a lot of non-Seelies in this sithein.”
Herne nodded. “But they have the queen’s permission to live here. For the most part, they’re fairly helpful creatures. The ogre is neither helpful nor would it be welcome.”
I got that. Creatures who liked to eat people were not welcome. “So Miria doesn’t know there’s an ogre currently laying down roots in her forest?”
“No, and I intend to make it so she never knows.” Herne seemed to think that was enough of an explanation so he and the dogs started back up the hill.
I rolled my eyes and gathered my patience. I had to run to catch up. “So how did Shrek get here?”
He looked at me curiously.
My extensive pop culture knowledge was lost on these people. “The ogre. How did he get here?”
“Oh,” he said, finally understanding. He nodded and began walking again. “That remains a mystery.”
Yeah, I bet it was. I was pretty damn sure there was more to the story. “I doubt it just popped into existence in the middle of a Seelie sithein.”
