“They’re quite bonded, but the inclusion of Harry makes things awkward. Harry thinks she’s ready for a relationship now, so he’s going to leave as soon as he knows his daughter is all right.” Trent reached up and ran his fingers through my hair. “He says there’s a light where he is, and it calls to him. I knew there was a Heaven plane. I guess I never thought it would be for us.”
I couldn’t even contemplate the idea that there was some sort of afterlife. I was too worried about this one. “So you think once Harry is gone, she’ll turn to Rhys?”
“I think she turns to him now, but the romantic aspect will likely be more comfortable for them both. I worry about Rhys. He’s a Green Man. He wasn’t meant to be a virgin at his age, but he refuses to take any woman who is not Shy, and she hasn’t been ready. He’s patient, but we’re all waiting for him to explode. Not literally.”
I couldn’t help but think about what Liv had said. “Magically. All that fertility power needs somewhere to go. Liv told me they have witches who look for big bursts of Fae magic because they want to use Rhys to locate the others.”
“Frelsi is protected, and so is the Under,” Trent assured me. “We also can take him to the Unseelie plane if he needs to let off some steam. I’ve spent the last couple of years balancing the sexual frustrations of teen supernaturals with trying to make sure Lee doesn’t get an STI. I wish I’d known about the whole latent vampire thing. I might have had less anxiety.”
I brushed my hand over his chest, loving the feel of his skin against mine, how warm he was. “You had a lot to deal with. You can’t imagine how amazing I think you are, how comfortable I am having this baby with you. I love Gray but his life is complex, and knowing you’re here…”
I let the words dangle because I didn’t want to say anything harsh against Gray, but I needed Trent to know how I felt about him.
He rolled on top of me, pressing me into the mattress. “No matter what happens with Gray, I’m here for life. I love you, Kelsey. I love him. But Gray and I agreed a long time ago that you are always our highest priority. Our children will be too. I need you to know he won’t allow our kids to descend. Ever.”
“I don’t know that we’ll have a choice.” I spread my legs so I could wrap them around Trent’s lean waist. “You have to understand how long the House of Sloane has waited for this child. Do we know if Gray’s father is still around?”
Trent lowered his head and kissed my neck, nuzzling me softly and starting a hum of arousal through my body. “I’m not sure. He won’t talk about it. That tends to make me think his father is hanging around somewhere. Death wouldn’t have been his punishment for what happened in Wyoming. Torture is something they take seriously on the Hell plane. And if he’s hanging around, then we have to be careful. I promise I’ll do anything for our kids.”
I knew he would. I never doubted it. I wrapped my arms around him and let him kiss me over and over, his hands starting to move across my skin while the events of the previous days played through my head.
I had to find that weapon, and the sooner the better. I was starting to believe the weapon was a person and that The Path was a little on the kinky side.
“So I’ve got two young men who are the only two who can prime the weapon,” I mused as Trent made his way down my body, licking and kissing and drawing my nipples into his mouth. I was feeling pretty primed for something, and I had to wonder if this wasn’t what The Path had meant. “What if the weapon is a woman? We’ve got a lot of sexual tension in the younger group. It feels like a theme. And the prophecy specifically mentions a her. I have to wonder if it’s Mia Day.”
Trent kissed his way down my belly. “I know her going missing has bothered Lee. I sometimes think he would be a different man if she was here. Now that we know he’s a latent, it makes sense that those two were always together. They were drawn together from childhood.”
Because even as a latent he would have been attracted to her light. He wouldn’t have been able to see it, but something inside him would need to be around her. “When you think about it, it kind of makes sense. It takes three to save three. Three of them save the three inner planes.”
“I’ve looked for the Days.” Trent’s mouth hovered over my pussy, his breath warming me. “Every plane we’ve been on, I’ve asked about them. I’ve never gotten even a thread to follow. All any of us know is the Days were in the Council building when Myrddin pulled his coup. No one saw them leave, and no one has seen them since. The most likely scenario is they died. That’s what we all believe.”
I shook my head. “If Myrddin killed Sarah Day, he would have paraded her head around. There’s no chance that he killed her and she died in the Council building. I’m not saying they couldn’t be dead, but it’s highly unlikely Myrddin wouldn’t have used her death in some way. Do we know where he holds prisoners?”
I felt something tickle across my arm and brushed it away.
I didn’t think he would keep the fact that he had the Days locked away in prison quiet. Holding the queen’s favorite witch hostage would be something that would make Myrddin look good. He might even try to turn her.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of something moving. Trent was teasing me with his tongue, so I let it go.
I needed to talk to the witches again. I needed specifically to talk to someone who’d spent time in the houses where Myrddin sent his prisoners.
Mia Day would make an excellent soldier in Myrddin’s army. If he could turn Mia Day, it would be a huge coup. She would be in her early twenties now, but she’d been a child that day twelve years ago. She was the daughter of a powerful witch and a fallen angel.
But why would he keep it a secret?
Unless he’d been waiting. Unless he’d been biding his time for that moment when he could spring his weapon on the royals, who would never think to question the daughter of some of their best friends.
Mia Day could be an excellent sleeper agent if Myrddin could turn her. If he could keep her identity secret, the royals wouldn’t know what hit them.
And then a ladybug landed, a bright red spot on my arm.
How had a ladybug gotten this far down? I hadn’t seen any bugs at all now that I thought about it. It was such an odd sight, that bit of sunshine down here.
And then I wasn’t thinking at all because Trent held every bit of my attention. His tongue played at my core and I laid back and let everything else go.
* * * *
A couple of hours later, I wandered into what Evan told me she liked to call the “downtown” of the Under. It was a bit like an underground town square, complete with a magical sky overhead. I didn’t worry about getting claustrophobic down here.