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“Oh, no. They were confused.” Fenrir ran a hand over Hercules’s back. “Still are. I don’t think they liked the collars. It’s not normal for them. And I get the sense they don’t leave their home plane often. This one doesn’t understand why it’s dark outside. It worries him. He’s the smartest of the three, the leader. He can get some imagery into my head. Perseus is a beta, and that one over there wants someone petting her all the time. Oh, and I think they might be hungry. And no, that’s not me reading minds. His belly’s gurgling.”
Hercules looked up to him and whined.
“All right, then. I will feed them before I take them back to Mother,” Tix agreed. “Lord Sloane, do I have permission to contact her?”
Gray looked my way. “This is an investigation, baby. I’ve been out of the game for too long. I’ll defer to you.”
My men used to help me with all my cases when I worked as the sheriff of the supernatural world. Which was a couple of weeks ago for me, and twelve years for them. Gray had once worked for the Texas Rangers, solving the weird, supernatural crap the regular rangers didn’t want to deal with, but he’d been a dark prophet for much longer now. The dark prophet didn’t solve murders. He was the cause of me wanting to murder people, though.
I was definitely in charge of this case. “Of course you can let her know where they are. I’m sure she’s worried. If she wants to come and get them, I would love to meet her.”
Tix clapped his hands. “And I will bathe the hounds before. I can’t send them back to Mother scruffy.”
He seemed to expect the hounds to fall in line. They stayed right where they were.
“Go with Tix.” Fenrir stood, holding Puff against his chest. “You could use a bath, too.”
All three hounds followed him out.
And I started to wonder what questions I could ask Lilith.
* * * *
Liv
I knew I was dreaming, knew I was likely in the bed they’d selected for me, Casey having carried me there. They would have tried to figure out if I was okay.
I don’t know why I was thinking that as I stood in the Coven House, waiting for my turn. I wasn’t used to conscious dreaming. I so often felt stuck in the time I was dreaming about. But this was different.
I had to wonder if it was different because of the white-haired young man who stood at my side.
“That’s him, right?”
Dean. Dean was here with me. “Are you asking if that’s Myrddin Emrys?”
It was an odd question because everyone in my world knew exactly who that male was. Shouldn’t his own son?
“I am. I’ve seen him before but it was briefly, and he looks different.” He stared across the space where Myrddin was holding court with the closest members of his coven.
I knew what day this was. Oh, not the specific day. I couldn’t tell if it was Tuesday five years before. But I knew it was a sacred day. Myrddin was preparing to give his Profane unholy communion. There was the altar in the center of the temple. It was always warm in here, proof that we had a backdoor to the Hell plane built in.
“That’s your father,” I told him. At this point I wasn’t questioning why I could stand to the side and watch myself.
“My father is JT Malone. He lives on the Vampire plane. That man is nothing but a sperm donor,” Dean said bluntly. He looked a lot better in the dream than he did in real life. In reality he was slowly wasting away, and his color and sunken cheeks proved it. Here he was in the bloom of health. Likely because he still saw himself that way.
“I don’t know why you would deny the king of witches,” I replied. I had the feeling this was one of his powers, and it made me wonder if this was the first time he’d snuck into my dreams.
“Because there should be no witch king. Our society doesn’t and shouldn’t work in such a way,” he replied, his jaw firming.
“But you’re cool with Donovan leading the supernatural world?” It felt a bit hypocritical to me.
“From what I’ve learned, Donovan was a nominal head of government, not the autocrat Myrddin is. There was a duly elected council, and he only voted to break a tie. He didn’t rule over the supernatural world with an iron fist.” Dean turned those crystal eyes my way. “He certainly didn’t do what Myrddin’s about to do. Tell me something, Olivia. How much of the memories in your head do you honestly believe are real?”
I didn’t like the fact that he was here. I felt vulnerable, and there was nothing I could do about it. “Have you been playing around in my head?”
He shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything better to do. I suppose I could have chosen someone else, but I fear Lee’s head is full of sex and violence. I want a relationship with him. I wouldn’t violate him in that way. Same with the others.”
“But I’m fair game?”
