Neil let out a loud laugh. “Danny’s gotten that good, huh?”
It was easy to fall back into old patterns with Neil. Good patterns. “I’m just saying they weren’t ever going to fall into the parameters of normal, and I’m okay with that. Though like I said, I’m worried about Rhys and Evan. If I’m worried about Lee, it’s not about his sexual escapades. Those will probably get worse when he turns, but at least I won’t have to worry about him getting a disease.”
“He doesn’t come into contact with humans often,” Neil offered. “From what I can tell most of his exploits have been with Fae who understand he’s not serious. Though I heard there was a barmaid.”
“Yes, I heard that as well. Do you spend much time with them?” Somehow the thought that my kids had Neil in their lives helped ease my pain.
“Fen stays with us on full moons, so I spend time with him, and Evan usually comes with him. I see Rhys and Lee often. I know we should have moved in here, but for some of our wolves, it’s better to be outside.”
I had figured this out earlier. There had been a reason Neil wanted to come alone. He’d intended to find a way to take Danny to his pack home until Myrddin had screwed everything up. “You mean it was better for Zack.”
“Yes. We tried staying in Frelsi as a pack, but it weakened him not being connected to the Earth plane. I checked on him earlier and the king’s blood seems to be working,” Neil explained. “His color is back and he was sleeping peacefully. He even looks younger already.”
Zack had been Daniel’s servant for such a long time. His need for king’s blood seemed to have become an addiction, and one he couldn’t come back from. That wouldn’t be a problem normally since Danny was more than happy to give Zack blood. “I’d like to know what was in that spell of Myrddin’s.”
“I think it was supposed to be a killing blow.”
“But Daniel’s blood saved him initially.” I’d thought about it, too. It made sense. “Myrddin’s power packs a punch, though. Have you tried to clear it from his system?”
Neil huffed. “Honey, we’ve tried everything. Lily nearly killed herself trying to leach that poison from his system. Myrddin’s magic is very different from hers. Most witches are Earth plane witches. They manipulate the forces of this plane to cast their magic. Some, like Sarah and her sister, are more closely attuned to the demonic.”
Because Sarah and Lily had once been legacies. Like Gray Sloane, their births had been orchestrated to bring power to a coven, and their souls had been pledged to Hell. Sarah and Lily had been raised from Hell by Felix, who’d been a celestial angel at the time. He’d redeemed their souls before allowing himself to fall.
Gray’s father had broken the contract and Gray had been released.
If what Myrddin had set on Zack was a spell or a curse, a caster of similar magic might be able to reverse the effects. He or she would certainly have an easier time figuring out how to deal with the effects.
“But Lily couldn’t make a dent?”
Neil shook his head. “She got sick even trying.”
“Myrddin is a weird mix of Hell and Earth, with a little Heaven plane thrown in. I don’t know that there’s a witch on all the planes with his kind of magic.”
Neil seemed to think about that for a moment. “Maybe not on this plane. Dean seems to have picked up a lot from the outer planes.”
“But he was conceived here,” I countered. “He’s from the Earth plane and his magic should reflect that. One of the things I want to do is look into his mom’s family. I don’t think they’re known to the supernatural world. I’d like to know if he’s got any magical relations. I’ll make sure Dean takes a look at Zack in the morning. I would love for you to stay here with us. I know you’ll want to go into the forest for the full moon, but I’ll worry about you out there. Especially now that we’re back and Myrddin’s looking for you.”
“It’s been quiet the last few years. I think he got complacent,” Neil admitted. “We had to be on the run in the beginning, but he hasn’t been on the offensive for a while. Now that you’re back he’ll be scared again. He’ll also think you might have his grimoire. He’ll be looking, so I have to hope either Daniel’s blood fixes Zack or the new wizardling can. You think Dean’s the baby Myrddin sent off plane?”
“From what we can tell. We have a whole bunch of prophecies on several planes that say yes. From what I’ve seen him do here on this plane, I’m a believer.” We’d talked endlessly about this during the days we’d spent with Summer. She’d believed Dean had a destiny, too. “It’s kind of confusing, but this is what we’ve been able to piece together. Kelsey believes that Dean and Lee are at the heart of the prophecy about taking down Myrddin. And when I say Lee, I mean Lee’s soul. Originally it would have been Lee Owens and Dean, who would have been thirty plus years younger than Lee.”