He took his hand off the book and turned my way. “She says you can curse her all you like. You have no real magic. That’s why you need your sword.”
Yeah. Gladys was good at defending me, though I tended to need some of the queen’s blood to prime her. Of course I would need to steal her back from fucking Myrddin first, but I’d heard the queen had plans to do exactly that.
Was that what this weapon would need? The blood of a companion?
“Kelsey mine, do you remember what I told you in the woods?” Gray moved closer to me, his hands going to my shoulders. “When we were in Wyoming, back when we first met Fenrir?”
He’d told me a lot of things, but I thought I knew what he was talking about. He was getting around his rules. “Something about Fenrir helping the two if he was raised with her love.”
I thought he’d been talking about my love at the time. Now I knew it was Evan’s that truly could make or break Fen.
Gray leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “Yes. Follow your instincts, my love. They will never lead you wrong. You knew to bring him back with us. Even without you he was raised with love. You were born to do this job. I know I annoy you with the protective thing, but never doubt that there is no one in all the planes of existence I would trust more than you with this job.”
“Wait, but that means I’m like backup?” Fen asked with a frown. “I’m supposed to be a whole ass wolf king. Like the only one in the world. There are shit tons of vampires and witches. How am I the sidekick?”
“Don’t you have enough to worry about with all the wolves?” Evan asked. “You don’t need to be responsible for saving the planes. Though I also don’t think my brother should be. Has Fate met my brother? Rhys is much more responsible. Now let’s talk about repeating some of those… Where did the book go?”
I gasped, turning around. The table was completely empty. The Path had disappeared. Fuck.
“She’s returned to Arete. She’s done her job here and has gone to be with the witches,” Gray explained. “Like Jacob and I, she feels best on her home plane. They need her there, and now that she has connected with me, she can go home. She’s been gone a long time, and they need her.”
“Okay. Evan, did you write down the important one? You know the one I kind of gave up twelve freaking years of my life to find?” I’d left a copy with the academics back in Frelsi, but I wanted one for myself.
“Of course, and Casey has a copy of it saved to his laptop,” Evan promised. “But I wanted to study the book itself.”
“She didn’t want to be studied, but she liked you, too, Evan,” Gray said. “She enjoyed the hours you spent together and said when the time comes, you’ll know what to do. Don’t hesitate, even though the situation might seem dire. The crown is twofold.”
“No.” I was not taking this. “We have been through this. The crown is twofold refers to Lee.”
“Why would you think that?” Trent had moved into the room now that The Path was gone and all his hot masculine wolfiness wouldn’t offend her. “Dean isn’t a witch king, is he? Is there such thing as a witch king?”
“Not that I’ve ever heard of, and it would be Myrddin if there was.” Casey stood in the doorway. He held a hand out. “Don’t murder me. I was processing my grief, and it wasn’t simply about losing Liv. You were…you were the sister I never had, the friend I always wanted. I missed you and you might think it’s stupid, but I felt better after writing those songs.” He sniffled and straightened up. “And I did write songs about Liv. You can find them all on streaming services around the globe. It’s a whole album.”
“It’s so good,” Evan encouraged. “‘Her Magic is in My Heart’ is one of my favorite songs.”
Fen sighed but probably smartly didn’t say a thing.
Okay, it was how he processed. I wasn’t going to tear him up over it. But I was also banning all the songs about me from being played in a one-mile radius. I might listen to the ones about Liv, though. “So if it’s not referring to Lee potentially being a vampire king, then what does it refer to?”
“I mean it still could,” Casey hedged. “But it could also refer to the idea that there can be a vampire king and a wolf king at the same time. That the way to move forward is to have both kings work together. Or it could be talking about someone else entirely. I think there was something about mothers and fathers giving blood. It could mean Evan’s a queen like her mother. You know you’ve left her out of all of this.”
Evan crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “Which kind of seems rude. I personally would like a couple of prophecies about me. Fen has prophecies. Lee has prophecies. The Fae worship Rhys to the point they try to kidnap him. I’m sure there are prophecies about him on that plane. What about me? And what does the whole other door thing mean? Will we not find the first?” She sighed. “I’m feeling a white board extravaganza coming on.”
“You know I love a good white boarding.” Casey seemed excited at the prospect. “Did you write down the new prophecy? The one Gray just announced?”
“Oddly, I suspect I can give it to you again,” Gray promised.
“Good. While Trent and I talk to some of the people who saw Alvis last, you can sit here like a good prophet and repeat stuff while Evan and Casey write on white boards,” I explained.
“Oh, I should go with my mom and dad.” Fen looked slightly horrified to be left behind with the brains of the outfit.
Evan frowned his way. “I thought you were going to spend time with your pops.”
A brow rose over Gray’s eyes. “Pops?” He shrugged. “I’m going with it. You know we can play some video games. Eddie’s got a nice setup down here. I can do the prophecy thing in my sleep, much less while trashing my own kid in Halo.”
Fen’s lips curled up. He would obviously choose fun over any kind of actual work. “That sounds like a deal.”
“And I will make some snacks.” Eddie looked perfectly satisfied with how the afternoon was going.