Chapter Twenty-Two
“You did what?”
I practically screamed the words. And I probably shouldn’t have because I was talking to the Queen of all Vampire, but she’d shocked the holy fuck out of me.
And explained why Eddie had to clean up a variety of household objects along with all those witches.
Zoey frowned, obviously surprised at my reaction to her news. “Well, I thought you would enjoy the irony. I blew up the fucker’s house on my way out. He might have gotten that grimoire back, but he’s going to be digging it out of the rubble for days.”
“Baby, maybe you should remember how you killed two thirds of the Profane and a whole bunch of other witches,” Trent pointed out. “I believe you called it great stress relief. I think the queen was pissed Myrddin’s spy had killed her son.”
It was four days later, and we’d finally made our way back to Frelsi after doing a little research and ensuring the Under was safe again. Evan seemed normal with the exception of her hair being streaked with black and her skin being paler than normal. She’d been trying to train her hellhound. She’d been quiet and withdrawn, insisting nothing was wrong.
I hoped she would talk to her mother.
Lee grinned from his place on the couch, showing off his newly earned fangs. “I’m happy to say my murder didn’t take. Although I would highly recommend not getting driven through by a sword.”
Evan huffed and rolled her eyes. “Such a baby. I impaled myself, and I’m not a latent vampire.”
She sat opposite her brother, Fen lying back with his head on her lap and Puff half asleep on his chest. Evan stroked a hand over both her pets’ heads, keeping them calm. Fenrir had been even more overly protective than normal since he’d held her as she’d died.
“I think I had it worse,” Lee complained. “It was really terrible, and then when I woke up Mom was all kinds of dramatic. She was all crying and offering to let me eat her.” He shuddered. “It was awful. But then I ate like ten witches and I felt better.”
“You did not have it worse,” Evan countered. “I had to shove my body on a sword. All you had to do was stand there and let the dude murder you.”
“Yes, Evan,” her papa said with a frown. “Lee was murdered. You did it to yourself.”
“See, Papa understands.” Evan stroked Puff’s back.
“Nope.” Fen didn’t open his eyes. “He’s horrified, and so are the rest of us.”
“I would have hoped someone would think it was brave,” Evan replied with a long-suffering sigh. “I bet if Rhys had done it everyone would be praising him for his sacrifice.”
Rhys touched his chest as though he couldn’t even consider it. “I would never do such a thing. I would have found another way. Of course I would have known that it was probably one of the gnomes the minute I walked into the gardens. I would have recognized the plants associated with the witches’ ointment. I should have gone.”
“Sure, kid. Next time you can go and solve the murder,” I offered. I was feeling for Evan. “And your sister was incredibly brave. We were surrounded and had no way out. Without Evan, we would have been taken into custody.” I looked over to the queen. “Have you thought about that? We were supposed to be in that building when you blew it up. If Liv had been successful, we would be dead.”
The queen gasped, paling. “No. No. I hadn’t thought of that.”
The king finally added his two cents. He stood near his partner, listening to everything that was said. “Kelsey, come on. You were never going to let Liv take you through one of those portals. Stop trying to make Z feel bad. If you had the knowledge and the tools, you would have done the same thing.”
Probably, but he was ignoring an important point. “Sarah left a map. How are we supposed to get to her if Zoey blew up the damn portal she left behind?”
Evan and I had been planning to give the royals and their general, Sasha Federov, a full debrief concerning everything Duffy had shown us in the vision. I’d planned on a whole professional presentation in whatever passed for a conference room in Frelsi. Instead, the queen had greeted us with a lovely buffet and a gleeful recounting of how she’d blown the shit out of the only way to find Mia Day.
Lee’s expression had lost its devil-may-care look, and he sat up straight. “You’re telling me Mia is out there and we no longer have a way to get to her.”
I took a long breath and caught control of my temper because this was beyond serious for Lee Donovan-Quinn. Lee and Mia had been connected since they were children. They’d been the best of friends, and I’d thought they might find that affection turning to romantic love as they’d grown. Now I knew it absolutely would have because Lee was a vampire and Mia a companion. The fact that his companion was out there and he couldn’t get to her would make the vampire in Lee crazy.
“I’m going to find a way,” I vowed.
“You really think Mia is the weapon the prophecy talked about?” Daniel asked.
We’d spent the last few days in the Under going over the prophecy with the primals. We’d all come to the same conclusion. “Mia Day is absolutely necessary to any battle Lee and Dean will have with Myrddin.”
“He wants to force her to marry him,” Evan said.
A low growl came from Lee’s throat, and his fangs weren’t just for show.