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I can still feel that freak of nature Dean whispering around in my head, looking for anything he could use against me. Dean was a wizard baby Kelsey had brought back from one of the faery planes she’d been on. He had odd powers, though at the time they’d felt like familiar powers.
It all made sense once we figured out Dean is the son of Myrddin Emrys. Myrddin, who saved me. Myrddin, who carved out a piece of my soul in payment.
She still feels for Kelsey and Casey.
Dean had felt my emotions. I didn’t want to feel for anyone. I didn’t want to feel at all.
“Go away, Casey. Can’t I even get some peace in prison?” I turned away from him, not wanting even a glimpse of his face. “If you’re here to tell me you love me again, I get it. You love me. You’ve never gotten over me. You’re still writing songs about me.”
It hurts too much. I’d done everything I could to cut this vampire out of my heart, but he was a virus that still infected my blood. Still made me do stupid shit.
“I’ll stop that since it seems to bother you so much. Kelsey thought I might be able to get through to you, but the truth of the matter is the Liv I loved is gone, and you’re what took her place. I’m sure you would love to be alone. I’m sure at this point you’ve tried to poke through those wards in any way you can.” Casey sounded so different. He’d become an academic over the last twelve years. All vampires belong to a class, and they’re sorted by their powers. Casey’s real power is almost entirely intellectual. Oh, he’s still much stronger than a human, and he can hold his own in many a fight, but the things he can do with his brain…
He liked to call himself a technophage. He can fix anything, build anything. He can speak most languages and has become the group’s historian since Marcus Vorenus never came back.
When the war started, we were on opposite sides. I could not get him to see reason. I could not get him to choose me.
“The wards are great. I love Iceland. Why would I ever try to leave?” I wasn’t going to argue with the man. I sighed and sat up, my stomach starting to rumble.
“You should know I argued with Kelsey about bringing you here.” He stood near the door, which would happily open for him but remained stubbornly shut when I approached. Whoever did the wards was good. She was probably also the reason my team had never been able to find Frelsi, this rebel encampment I was currently housed in.
“What? Kelsey didn’t listen to the world’s smartest vampire? What a surprise. I know that somewhere in that brain of yours you’ve rewritten history and now Kelsey’s some kind of saint, but you forget how often we had to save her ass.”
“Now I have to save her ass from you. I know you’re going to try to play to her best nature. In her head, you changed overnight. She didn’t live these twelve years of watching you slowly turn into a monster.”
“Monster? That’s a bit of an overstatement. I’m a witch. We have a king. The same way you have a king, vampire. You’re going to tell me you don’t do Donovan’s will? He was gone for twelve years and you did everything you thought he would want you to do. You kept his crown polished while the demons bit and clawed at all of our heels. Do you know what would have happened if my king hadn’t taken control? Do you think the wolf council could have kept the demons in their place? How about that ridiculous Faery ambassador? Devinshea’s brother. Do you think he was going to save the Earth plane?”
Casey’s eyes rolled. He wore the academic uniform of slacks and a button down. When had he started to look like his mentors? When we’d been together he’d been a jeans and T-shirt guy, and he’d still been skateboarding. Unlike most vampires I knew, Casey was a baby. He’d died when he was in his early twenties, and in human terms he would roughly be thirty-two. I’m older than he is in so many ways.
And I suppose if I hate his new armor, then he likely loathes mine, too.
“Myrddin isn’t planning on saving the Earth plane. He’s going to hand it over to the demons,” Casey said, parroting what every rebel in the world wants us to believe.
Myrddin is evil. Myrddin hates all non-witches. Myrddin is power hungry.
The last one is probably true, but then the man has been the real authority behind the throne for thousands of years. And for thousands of years the supernatural world has been ruled by vampires. Wasn’t it time my people got a chance to lead?
“Keep it up with the propaganda, but you know the truth,” I replied. “The academics have been weaving a nice fiction in order to keep the other supernaturals from joining with us.”
Casey’s head shook, his arms crossing over what I happened to know was a pretty nice chest.
Sometimes I don’t fall into that terrible dream. Sometimes it’s worse and I dream that he’s still with me. I feel his arms around me and for a moment I am content. I wake up and reach for him.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, Liv. If you really believe that, then there might be hope,” he said, his eyes going grave. “But the more likely scenario is that you know what he’s doing and you simply don’t care.”
“There might be hope if you would pull your head out of your ass and talk to your king,” I explained with a patience I didn’t really feel. I was sick of going over this, sick of being made to feel like I’m the bad guy. “I’m not the person who followed his queen and left his kingdom behind for twelve years. Donovan made the choice to leave us without a leader, and Myrddin picked up the pieces. I’m not the one who had everything working on the knife’s edge. It fell apart without him. So talk to him and let him know that when he’s ready, my king will be happy to talk to him.”
“I bet he would.” Casey stepped back as I moved slightly toward him.
Like I’m something untouchable. “He stands ready. Giving me back would be an excellent move politically.”
His hand went to the door. “That won’t be happening. I came to tell you that Kelsey’s decided we’re going to the Hell plane for a couple of days. They’re setting up a space where you’ll be kept.”
“In Hell?”
“Yes, you should feel at home there,” he replied, opening the door. “It’s where Myrddin wants all of us. And Liv, I know you’re not the one who set up the trap that kept Donovan away all those years. You’re just the woman who sleeps with him.”
The door closed between us, and I felt every word like a knife to my gut.
