“But Myrddin manipulated things so Lee died,” Neil mused. “And then he was given the choice to have his soul rebooted, so to speak.”
I nodded. “Yes. And honestly, his plan might have worked if he hadn’t tried to use that stupid painting. Time moves differently on the outer planes. When we met Dean he was in his early twenties and Lee was here on the Earth plane.”
“So if Dean had managed to somehow find his way here, there would still have been an age difference between them.” Neil chuckled. “If Myrddin hadn’t interfered, they wouldn’t be the same age.”
“Yes, and that seems to mean something. According to Kelsey, for Lee and Dean to be effective they have to be equals.”
Of course she also thought that there was some magical third component to Dean and Lee’s destiny. Some weapon we hadn’t found yet. A weapon only the two of them could wield. Prime. That was the word she’d used. Only they could prime this mysterious weapon.
If the weapon needed youth and sexual chemistry, they were ready.
“It’s certainly an interesting thought. He killed Lee. I guess he thought a fully grown werewolf was more dangerous than an unborn child,” Neil mused. “It’s kind of surprising he would leave that to chance though. He’s ruthless, and he hasn’t minded killing our children when it suits him.”
“I don’t know. He’s ruthless, but he’s also the kind of man who hedges his bets. If he thought there was any way he could use Dean down the line, turn him in some way, he would risk it. It certainly wasn’t done out of kindness. I think a lot about the fact that Nimue could have put him back in his crystal coffin if I hadn’t let him put those thrall stones in. I should have been more careful.”
“Don’t take that on yourself. You were up against a powerful supernatural being who had several thousand years on you. No one could have solved that problem. But you’re the nexus point, so you have been placed right in the middle of the situation, and your decisions will make all the difference. You were so smart to steal that book. Do you have any idea what could have happened if you hadn’t?”
I’d made the choice to steal the book that day, and I’d stolen Gladys on impulse. Not stolen. Taken her back. She was ours, mine and Kelsey’s. She belonged to the companions. The Sword of Light had been given to us. It was a celestial battle weapon that soaked up the strength and power of whoever’s blood it drew in. It then could unleash that power to the one who wielded it. The right one.
“Oh, shit. I know why he was studying Gladys.”
Neil gave me his “duh” look. “He wants to close off the Heaven plane. I assumed he was studying Gladys’s heavenly properties.”
But he wasn’t thinking of what had happened recently. Well, recently for me. “Neil, Gladys soaks up the power of those she kills. It was how Kelsey won her last battle in the arena. You know, the one against Jude.”
Neil’s eyes went wide. “Gladys soaked up the power of an angel. She’s got celestial power inside her right now. That could work. He might actually be able to do it if he has the right spell. But he can’t wield that sword. It never worked for Daniel.”
“Myrddin’s had years to solve that problem. Though he’ll need a queen to call her.” I’d had to bleed for that sword to work. Gladys required a sacrifice and it was my blood, my life if Daniel wasn’t around to save me. “He needs me. He needs me and that sword. I don’t know if he needs Kelsey to wield it or if anyone with companion blood will do. There were a lot of people who saw what we did that night.”
“I hadn’t thought about that,” Neil mused. “We’ll need to take this to the academics. They can sit down with our witches and try to figure out exactly what he can do if he gets his hands on Gladys.”
I hated it when I figured out how much worse things could get. “They should be out of their meeting soon. I’ll tell Danny and he can deal with the rest of it.”
We sat there for a moment, the night soft around us.
“When are you going to break, Z?” He asked the question quietly, as though he knew he was opening up a door that might be better left closed.
“What do you mean?”
“You lost years with them. You’re going to do one of two things. You’re either going to break or you’re going to try to do something stupid to get those years back.”
I went quiet.
Neil’s arm went around me, hugging me close. “So we’re going the stupid route. You know if you do that, I won’t meet Cassie or Brendan.”