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My husbands. It was still weird to say since in my head we’d only been married a couple of weeks. They’d had twelve years without me. Twelve years to form a family.
I really hated Myrddin Emrys.
“She saved Sarah, you know.” I had put everything I’d learned from the angel known as Duffy in a report. I’d gotten a magical replay of what happened the day Myrddin took over. It had been my bestie who gave Sarah the chance to get her family out.
Duffy had been trying to show me the way to the portal Sarah had used. It would have been great because then we could have opened that sucker and popped her and Felix and Mia right back onto the Earth plane.
Yeah, that would have been awesome.
Except the queen blew up the building and the freaking portal along with it.
“We don’t know why she did what she did,” the queen replied. “And that was a long time ago. She’s changed. I do understand what she meant to you, but I don’t know if that woman exists anymore.”
I pointed a wing her way. “I’m telling you that she does. She’s in there. She’s angry with me for leaving her.”
“You didn’t leave her,” Dev protested. “Her boss had you sucked into a magical painting. He meant for that to happen.”
“So he could have more influence on the king,” I pointed out. “And that’s not what I’m talking about. After what happened in Wyoming, I kind of sank into my life and forgot about her.”
Another thing I’d thought a lot about lately. I could still remember seeing Liv’s body on the ground, knowing she was dead. Only Casey’s blood had been able to save her, and it had been a close thing. He’d moved her into his place, and I’d told myself he would take care of her, that they needed time.
It was much nicer to concentrate on my wedding and on keeping a pair of pants on Fenrir. When I went to visit Liv, the heavy weight of guilt sat between us. My guilt. She’d lost her magic because I’d taken her into those woods.
“This is not your fault,” Donovan said. “If that is the problem, then I absolve you. You did not push Liv into Myrddin’s arms. Liv had a good life and a ton of people to support her. Any one of us would have helped her if she’d asked.”
“But that’s why it’s hard for her to ask. She’s never been in this position.” I needed to make them understand. The truth of the matter was the queen, for all her troubles, had always had friends around her. She’d had a loving father, and she’d had Daniel almost all of her life. “She had a great childhood. She had a career she loved. She knew exactly who she was. She never questioned it when she was younger, and when she suddenly didn’t, she had no idea how to handle it. Maybe if I’d been here, I would have come back from my honeymoon and seen what was happening and been able to stop it, but I didn’t. So now I have really hard work to do.”
“Olivia still had friends,” Dev insisted. “Until she decided to kill them. Casey would have done anything for her.”
“And I believe she still loves him,” I replied. “She told me flat out she wasn’t trying to kill him. She was trying to catch him. She wanted to do creepy brainwashing stuff to him, too. It’s her love language now.”
“She could have reached out to anyone.” The queen wouldn’t move.
“I don’t know about that.” Sasha had been so quiet I’d almost forgotten he was there. Now there was a look in his eyes that let me know he was thinking about his human life. “I believe I can understand Olivia more than the rest of you since I once lost everything, and though I didn’t mean to, I became something of a villain. I didn’t lose my magic as the witch did. It was my memory they took, but I imagine it’s similar. It was something that grounded her, a piece of her that was necessary for her happiness. When I no longer had my memories, I did almost anything I had to in order to survive. The doctor who experimented on me made me do terrible things. Should I have said no and allowed her to torture me further? My king, there is a point at which people break. I found mine to my shame. Olivia Carey found hers. I was blessed with redemption because my death led me to this new life and I was able to see things in a different way.”
“You were tortured,” Daniel pointed out.
“And we don’t know what she went through.” I would totally share my wings with that Russian if he could eat. “I know you all think she chucked everything for power, but there is more to this story. You know what Myrddin’s capable of, what he’ll do to get what he wants. How he can manipulate a person. Can’t we give her the smallest amount of grace? In a few days we’re leaving for Camp Hell, and I promise I will take her with me. Gray’s got everything ready. Until then, I assure you I’ve got her under control. Lily tells me the wards will work, and she and the other witches bound her magic in a way that lets me move her around more easily.”
She’d been pissed about the large dog crate I’d shoved her in, but beggars can’t be choosers and all that. Lily Tucker promised me the spell she’d fashioned would bind Liv’s magic and allow her to move around. Within reason, of course. I wouldn’t let her roam all over Frelsi, gathering information she could take back to Myrddin, but I absolutely could let her roam around Gray’s cabin in Hell. I’ve been assured no one leaves unless the master wills it, and the master likes to get into my panties as often as he can.
Daniel sighed, a weary sound. “If Sasha is confident in the security protocols, then she can stay, but you have to figure this out, Kelsey. For her sake as much as mine. There are people in this camp who lost friends and family because of things she did. I won’t be able to keep them off her forever. A couple of them are my children.”
And mine, but I knew the one I worried about the most. “I’ll talk to Lee.”
“I’m more worried about Evan,” Dev said, his eyes trailing toward the door as if he expected her to appear. “I wish I knew more about what happened to her in the Under.”
Well, she’d pretty much died when she’d thrown her body on Gladys in order to prime her. My sword—technically it’s called the Sword of Light—was a gift to the Amazons long, long ago. She’s good at killing assholes, but her real talent is sucking in all the power of whoever she kills. Or doesn’t kill. All she really needs is a little blood. At the time we’d been surrounded by witches and things were pretty dire. Apparently at some point Myrddin had bled on her, and she’d been able to infuse me with his power.
It had been a heady experience, and a bloody one since in order for Gladys to work, a royal Amazon—now known as companions—had to sacrifice.
Evan was the one to sacrifice and I was in battle, unable to get her father’s blood to her in time. We had the king’s blood, but it was too far away for Fen to get it. So another vampire stepped in and offered his blood. A primal. Sometimes things go wrong when a primal shares blood.
We’re all still waiting to see what changes it would bring in Evan. I couldn’t deny the darkness that shrouded her now.
At first we thought she was simply getting over the trauma of what we’d gone through, but now I wondered if there wasn’t something more.
My son loves Evangeline Donovan-Quinn. He plans to marry her. I’ve seen how in synch they are, and now she flinches when he touches her. She tries not to, but it’s there, and I know it kills Fen.
