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“Because your energy is sex magic,” Lee shot back.
“You don’t have any problem with sex on any level,” Evan snarked. “All of the planes know this.”
“He’s my brother,” Lee pointed out. “I’m not going to let him put a hand on me and give me some weird orgasm. That’s…ick. It’s fine. I can handle it. Also, I can sit outside Mom and the Dads’ place and soak it up since they don’t scrimp on the sex rituals.”
Such a weird family. “So we have to put sunlight back on the board. If a hyper-focused ball of sunlight hit someone, what could it potentially do to him?”
“Well, it could absolutely kill a vampire. It would likely cause him to burst into flames. For a human I would say it could cook him from the inside.” Lily shuddered at the thought. “That’s what could be happening inside Dean. His magic would try to counter the effect, but I don’t know if it can win. I don’t know what the spell was so it’s hard for me to counter it.”
“Do you remember any of the words?” I’d come to care for Dean. I’d promised him I’d look out for him. He had a whole life on another plane, but he’d come here to try to save mine.
I rather thought he was getting close to Lee, and it would kill Lee to lose him. Lee might be free with his body, but not his heart, and Dean was working his way in there.
Lee closed his eyes as though trying to concentrate. “Something Latin. Latin something.” His eyes opened. “I’m sorry. I was freaked out at the time. Something was wrong with Rhys, and then Dean was shouting and what looked like a damn fireball was coming my way.”
“What color was it?” Lily asked.
“I don’t know. It was fiery,” Lee replied, an almost helpless tone to his voice.
“It wasn’t simply one color. It was everything associated with fire. Red and orange and that blue that shades around a flame.” Rhys sat back on the sofa, a weariness to his expression. “It definitely felt like dark magic. Have you consulted with the other witches we know?”
Lily nodded. “Of course. I had some of the smartest I know on the mirror network while I was examining Dean. It’s how we got him stabilized, but if I’m right, I’ve only postponed the inevitable. At some point the spell will flare again and he will be torched from the inside. All I can do for now is keep him sedated so he doesn’t feel any pain.”
Shy gasped, and there were tears in her eyes as Rhys wrapped her up in his arms.
Dean had been here a short time, but he’d made an impression on these young people. He’d become one of them.
“And if there is a witch we could call on? Someone who might know what spell was used?” It made my gut clench, but I didn’t know what else to suggest.
Donovan’s arms crossed over his chest. “We cannot allow Olivia her freedom. She knows too much about us.”
“And if Dean dies, then we lose our best chance at beating Myrddin. Maybe our only chance,” I pointed out. “He’s one of two.”
“According to prophecy,” Donovan countered. “And sometimes we don’t understand those. I’ve learned that pretty much any way I go, if I’m fucked I’m fucked. I know damn well if Olivia gets out of here, she’ll find a way back. She’s likely heard about our plans to move to the southern sanctuary. If she gets out, we’ll have to spread to the four corners of the Earth plane, and years of mobilization will be down the drain. No.”
“Dad, he’s dying.” There was desperation in Lee’s voice.
“And we will find another way,” the king promised. “He’s stable for now. Honestly, we can’t trust a thing Liv says anyway. She could kill him simply because she knows it would hurt us.”
“I want to talk to her.” I wasn’t willing to let this go, and the situation had far more nuance than Donovan was giving it. “You try to find your experts, and I’ll work on her.”
“You don’t have much time,” Donovan advised. “This attack pushes our timeline up. I want everyone out of Frelsi by the end of tomorrow. We can’t know how close he’s getting, and no one leaves the village via portal until we’re all ready to go. Kelsey, call Gray. I want you and your crew, including Olivia, out of here tonight, if possible. If you don’t want to take her…”
“I’ll take her.” I didn’t want to know what the king would do if I didn’t. My bestie was on a knife’s edge, and I needed to find a way to get her off.
“Your Highness, I can’t move Dean,” Lily said.
“I’ll find a way,” I promised.
It looked like it was time for another talk with my best friend.
* * * *
Liv
I wished the one fucking window in this prison of mine was facing the other direction.
I didn’t know much about this village since it was hard to take in the sights from an extra-large dog crate. Yeah, I was going to pay Kelsey back for that one. I stared out the window I did have, hoping and praying to see fire begin to ravage the stupidly charming land around me. I guess it’s not hard to keep the place green and bountiful when there are two Green Men running around.
