“If that’s what you call it.” A numbness descended over me. I was so overcome, I couldn’t handle the emotions. The horror. The pain. The shame. The guilt.
The fear.
I shut down and went into survival mode, though I’d started to worry I wouldn’t survive. Not at all.
An almost sympathetic expression crossed the witch’s face. “Then it’s over for his human life. That’s your human son, right? Not the faery? If you brought the faery son along then I’m sorry. He’s gone, and I’m going to have to spin that with the Fae in some way. Tell me that idiot didn’t kill the Green Man?”
“Why would you care?”
“Because I don’t need the Fae involved,” Myrddin admitted. “But I don’t think you brought him. You brought the other one.”
“His name is Lee.”
“The latent vampire.” The witch Myrddin spoke through sighed. “Well, that could get messy. Come along then, Zoey. There’s nothing that can be done for him. My witches will take you to a secure location. I promise you’ll be treated well. We’ll deal with…well, we’ll handle what happens next.”
I knew exactly how he would handle my son. They would wait for him to come out and then he would turn to ash alongside Alexander. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“He will not care that you’re his mother,” Myrddin said. “He’ll see your light and rip you apart.”
And then maybe he would have a chance at the long life that should have been his. I knew I should think about the baby I was carrying, but Myrddin wouldn’t care about her. I knew what he would do to us. That safe place he offered was a prison he would keep me in until he killed me. “He doesn’t have to remember that I am his mother to make it true.”
The witch stopped for a moment as though Myrddin was shocked at the turn of events. “Zoey, come out. I know you feel for the child. Come out and perhaps we’ll negotiate with Daniel for his release.”
“You would let Lee go?”
Pure calculation lit the witch’s expression, and I could see Myrddin thought he could get even more out of this situation. “In exchange for the boy you brought back.”
He was a greedy bastard. “In exchange for your son.”
“Figured that out, did you? See, I have emotions, too. His conception was the result of my indulgence of Nimue. She has particular fantasies. I should have killed his mother when I learned of the prophecy concerning him, but I felt something when I realized he was my flesh and blood. I’ve never had a child before. I hate that I have to destroy him. I might try to turn the boy first.”
He wouldn’t be able to. Dean had been raised to do the right thing. He believed in his destiny. So I would be exchanging Lee for Dean, and I couldn’t believe a word this man said. “And me?”
“Well, Zoey, I need you.” He managed to say the words like they were something good he was offering me. “You know I need both you and Kelsey. My witches felt no power surge this evening. The ritual wasn’t done, so the Sword of Light still contains the angel’s power. And now the vampire’s, though his is not important for my purposes.”
He was forgetting something. “I have to die to prime that sword.”
A single shoulder shrugged off that worry. “You didn’t the first time.”
“But you’re not going to have Daniel there to save me.”
He stared at me through the witch’s eyes. “No. I will not. Sacrifices must be made.”
I chuckled, a bitter sound. “Just not by you.”
“Well, dear, that is why I’m the true king. I’ve hidden behind puppets for too long. It’s my turn to wear the crown.”
I took a step back, my hand on the door. “I think I’ll stay here.”
“The wards won’t hold forever.”
“They’ll hold long enough. I’ll give my son a chance. You’re right. Sacrifices must be made, but if I’m going to die, it won’t be for you. I think I’ll keep the sword.” As long as it was safe behind the wards, so was Kelsey. He would come for her, too. That might be what Liv was doing as we spoke.
The witch’s lips formed a flat line. “Damn it, Zoey. This is preposterous. You know what he will do to you when he rises. He will feed on anyone, much less a companion. You’re going to be a bright light calling him in. You think Daniel will show up. You think he’ll feel the rising and he’ll save you, but those wards will shield everything that happens inside them.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I’d already thought of that. My mind had run through every possible scenario.
They all led to one place.
“What about the child you carry?” Myrddin proved his spies liked to talk, too.
I had to wonder if it had been Alexander who’d heard that rumor and passed it on or if there were others in our group. I put my free hand on my belly. “She was going to die with me one way or another.”