“No, baby. We needed him. Gray saved our asses many times. His position was important. As the dark prophet, Myrddin can’t touch him.”
“Then he should have walked in and cut the fucker’s head off.”
“Yeah, I don’t think it works that way. Gray has some very specific rules surrounding him now. The same as Jacob, the Heaven plane’s prophet. He isn’t allowed to use his knowledge to specifically change things. All he can do is move pieces into place, and he’s done that for us. He’s the one who negotiated to get your brothers and mom protected status.”
“But not the children. Not you.”
“I wouldn’t have taken it,” Trent admitted. “Not that it would have been offered. No one would believe for a second that I would accept Myrddin taking the crown. You know that.”
Like my father. Lee Owens had been the queen’s guard when he’d been alive. When the old Council had taken the queen and Quinn into custody, they’d killed my father because he wouldn’t stop attempting to protect her. They’d known Lee Owens wouldn’t make the practical choice to allow their atrocities. He would fight and fight and fight.
Like Trent.
“I was always going to be on the rebel side of this war.”
But I would bet he hadn’t thought he would end up being dad to a whole group of kids. “Why didn’t you hand the kids over to Neil Roberts? You and Sasha could have led an army. Albert and Eddie would have taken care of the kids, and Neil would have watched over them. He’s practically their uncle.”
Trent’s brows came together. “Leave my son? Leave the children I’ve guarded since the day they were born? I was there when Lee and Rhys came into this world. The same for Evan, and I’d taken Fenrir into my home and my heart by that time. Leave them to someone else? Even someone I trusted? Never.”
Well, Gray had gotten it right when he’d described that unnamed wolf in his prophecy. Steadfast. “I was just wondering how the war went in those first days.”
“What you’re doing is questioning my decisions and why I didn’t murder Myrddin and install an academic at the head of the Council until the king got back.”
I wasn’t. But I kind of was. “Maybe.”
He growled, a sound that went straight to my pussy even though he’d satisfied me thoroughly mere moments before. “There are times I sat up and wondered what a pain in my ass you would have been had you been here with me. At least as bad as Lee.” He reached for my hand, his thumb tracing the lines of my palm. “It was pure chaos when Myrddin first took control. Gray insisted that we flee as quickly as possible. That was why Neil wasn’t with us. Or Sarah, for that matter. Gray basically shoved me into the penthouse along with Eddie and we took the kids and Albert and ran. He made it clear that the children could not fall into Myrddin’s hands. Not even for a second. He was particularly concerned with Lee. At the time I thought it was because Lee was human. Now I wonder.”
I could answer that question. “Lee is one of two beings in all the planes who can wield the weapon that can kill Myrddin. So no, I wasn’t truly asking you why you didn’t try to assassinate him. It wouldn’t have worked. I’m glad you didn’t.”
“You explained some of this last night, but I’m not sure I understand. I thought Lee was one of two who could kill him. What’s this about a weapon?”
I glanced over to where my backpack sat. I was sure Trent had thought it was weird that I wouldn’t be separated from the damn thing even when my mind should have been on sex. I’d made sure we hadn’t left that pack in the other room.
Never leave The Path.
It was another of Gray’s edicts, though I hadn’t understood it was a book at the time.
“I told you I brought a book back,” I began.
“Yes, the one with all the prophecies the witches have collected.”
I’d told him about the book during our call the night before, but I hadn’t gone into detail about what I’d found. “It contains the prophecies of the witches of Arete. That’s a whole plane where witches dominate.”
“We did not end up there,” Trent replied. “Though we did manage to find a wolf plane. Very cold. Harsh. They have a hard pack organization I found distasteful, but we stayed for a bit and allowed Fen to learn some of their fighting techniques. I suspect the witch plane would be more comfortable.”
“Not for you.” I hadn’t stepped onto the witch plane, but I’d heard enough about it. “It’s a matriarchal society. Men are viewed as labor and sperm, from what I can tell. Even the book doesn’t like men.”
Trent sat up. “So why do you think this prophecy you read has anything to do with Myrddin? If it’s like an Earth plane prophecy, I would assume it doesn’t make itself plain.”
It didn’t. Prophecy is the same everywhere, it seems to me. It’s overly pretentious and likes to fuck with a person’s mind. But I had my reasons. “I told you about Dean Malone.”
“Briefly.” His hand moved over my skin like he was petting me, like he couldn’t stand to not touch me.
I wanted that connection, too. I moved closer to him. I’d only had four days without his touch. He’d been starved for years. Wolves need touch, and the touch of a mate most of all. He’d been without, which was likely why he was thinner than he’d been. I intended to give him what he needed. Food and fucking. He would get a lot of both from me. “His mother was kidnapped and taken off plane by a Planeswalker demon.”
“Yes. We were told to stay away from them,” Trent explained. “When we decided to leave the Earth plane, Gray told us to avoid the Planeswalkers. Apparently if you ask them for a ride, your soul is the payment.”
“Yeah, well, they don’t mind kidnapping people either. They kidnapped Dean’s mom and dragged her to a vampire plane. She was pregnant at the time, and that child grew up and studied witchcraft. He’s quite good at it. The prophecy is about Dean, but I think it also refers to Lee and Myrddin. Myrddin believes that Lee and one other—a baby he sent off plane, according to Stewart—are the only beings in the universe who can kill him.”