Chapter Five

 

“Did you want to make it to dinner?” Danny asked, staring at me. His fangs were lengthening as I smiled at him.

His eyes were on the heart-shaped bodice of my dress. It was strapless and left everything from the tops of my breasts up uncovered. The only jewelry I wore was my wedding ring and the Goddess Chain. I slipped into my four-and-a-half-inch heels. “You like?”

Daniel grinned, his dimples showing. “I hope you’re not hungry because you might not make it to the banquet looking that good.”

The way Daniel looked at me gave me just the boost of confidence I needed to make it through the night. I went up on tiptoes and planted a kiss on his perfectly sculpted lips. “I take that as a yes.”

“Oh, I like.” He leaned down to nuzzle my neck. I felt his tongue stroke the long line of my jugular vein. The last several weeks, Daniel had let his freak-flag fly high, and for me that meant dealing with his love affair with my neck. I dropped my head back and let him lick me, wondering if I was going to make it to our first state dinner. It would probably be rude to skip out on my reception because I was too busy in bed with husband number one.

“Damn, sweetheart,” husband number two said, coming up from behind. His big hands slid across the red silk covering my backside. “This is not the dress Declan picked. It’s so much sexier.” He cupped my rear and let his tongue trace the shell of my ear, eliciting a groan from me. “Goddess, you look gorgeous.”

Yep, if they didn’t stop soon I was going to miss everything.

“What made you change your mind about the dress?” Dev asked, rubbing his erection against my backside and letting me know how much he wanted me. Dev’s rubbing pressed me firmly into Daniel, who was in the same condition. I let my hands slip down Daniel’s trim waist to his rock-hard ass. “Not that I mind, lover.”

“I didn’t change my mind about the dress. Someone took it,” I admitted breathlessly.

Both men stopped and Daniel looked down at me, his blue eyes now serious. “What do you mean someone took the dress? Did they take it away because it didn’t fit you?”

I took a long breath to steady myself. If I had known they were going to get all freaked out and stop what they were doing, I would never have mentioned it. I was enjoying the whole “worshipping my body” part of the day, but I had to be honest. “No, I mean they took the dress Declan bought, unless you think he meant for me to wear that thing in the closet.”

The boys exchanged a look and Dev crossed to the closet. He held the awful dress up and shook his head. “My brother would never pick this dress. First, it’s hideous and completely out of fashion. Second, it covers your breasts. He likes your breasts, sweetheart. He talks about them all the time.”

“Remind me to thank him for that,” Daniel said sarcastically.

“I think they’ll leave me alone now.” I smoothed down my dress. It looked like I was going to make it to dinner now and I wanted to be wrinkle free. “I think the word is out that I don’t like people touching my stuff.” I said that with a pat to Dev’s behind. I turned to Daniel. “That goes for you too, mister. Some girl starts in on you and I will take her out.”

“Good to know, baby,” he said with a sexy smile. “And that thing we just started, don’t think we’re done.”

I was counting on it. This was my weird honeymoon. I’d married Dev only weeks before and Daniel and I had never been on a trip where we relaxed. We needed time together, time to bond.

“Mistress,” a small voice said from the back of the room. I looked over and realized I’d forgotten Bibi was here. I winced because I hadn’t meant to ignore the troll. I just forgot everything when my men walked in a room.

“Yes, Bibi,” I replied, hoping I hadn’t offended her. I doubted the foreplay would bother her, as trolls were open-minded, but I had yet to introduce her to Danny. She’d been introduced to Dev earlier. I made amends now and my vampire happily greeted the troll. Like me, he had a soft spot in his heart for the Huldrefolk. They were a part of our childhood.

Albert had been true to his word and now we were all happily ensconced in the east wing of the palace. Once we’d gotten rid of Mara, we’d had plenty of help moving into Dev’s part of the palace. I had a whole room for nothing but getting dressed and primping. Sarah, Neil, and I had spent the afternoon getting settled in and talking to Bibi about palace life. Neil had been right about the troll. She knew an awful lot about the nobles. She knew who was sleeping with whom and who was cheating. She knew who was feuding and she liked to gossip. Once we got her talking, she had gone on for an hour as Sarah, Neil, and I had all gotten ready.

“It’s time for you to depart,” Bibi reminded me. She had a notebook and a clock to tell time. Though her voice was quiet, I knew she was trying to take her job seriously. “You and His Highness and Master Daniel are supposed to enter last. It’s a great honor. All of the nobles want to see Prince Dev’s first meeting with his mother after so long a time.”

“You mean they want to gawk at a train wreck,” Dev complained. He was nervous. Dev was dressed in traditional Seelie clothes, the emerald color of his tunic making his eyes even more green than normal. I smoothed back the midnight fall of his long hair. It was just past his shoulders. Normally he pulled it back, but now he left it long for the more formal occasion.

Danny had gone the same route I had. Modern. Contemporary. He was in a Hugo Boss suit that had been custom fit at Neiman Marcus. His sandy blond hair was slicked back. He looked hot and dangerous. He glanced at Dev and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be all right. What’s the worst she could do?”

Dev blanched at the thought but took my arm anyway. Danny took my left side and we began to walk toward the formal dining room where the nobles awaited our arrival. Our friends had gone in earlier and Lee and Zack had chosen to skip the formalities in exchange for taking guard duties.

“I don’t even want to think about that.” Dev shook his head as if to clear it from his dark thoughts. “Are you feeling better?”

It was said to Daniel, who as a vampire should only feel crappy when he was low on blood.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, startled at the thought of him being ill.

“It was nothing.” Danny shook it off. “Just earlier today, I felt weird. I got weak. Maybe I’m coming down with the flu.”

“You can’t get the flu, baby.” I touched his forehead with my hand, seeking any sign of illness. Not surprisingly it was cool. Vampires don’t do sick.

“He was in that hot coffin for two hours,” Dev pointed out.

That shouldn’t make a difference. It might have made Daniel uncomfortable, but from what I understood, it shouldn’t have made him ill.

As we approached the uniformed guard who would announce us to the party, Danny shrugged away his earlier discomfort. “I’m sure that’s what it was. I feel great now. It was actually kind of cool. It made me feel almost human. If it comes up again I’ll be sure to tell Z because she likes to baby sick people.”

“Well, I had to,” I admitted. “When you were alive you turned into the biggest baby the minute you got a stuffy nose.”

Dev nodded that we were ready to be announced and then we walked down a magnificent marble staircase. Twenty steps led us into a huge ballroom that had been set for the royal banquet.

I held on firmly to both their arms because the last thing I needed was to tumble down the stairs and break a limb. I looked out over the crowd and realized Dev had been right. Everyone was hoping for a big scene. They were whispering behind their hands and gawking. They moved their attention between the three of us and the woman at the end of the hall.

I glanced around the room and got my first glimpse of my mother-in-law.

Miria, Queen of Faery, sat upon her throne before me. There was a raised platform with three chairs. Miria sat on the largest of the three in between two slightly smaller thrones. All three were carved from oak and elaborate in their design. Declan sat in one to her right, a look of aloof superiority on his face. I’d been told the seat to her left was the one Dev used. There were several people standing around the queen, and I suspected they were counselors and high nobles. Padric stood closest to the queen. It was fitting as he was both the head of security for the royal family and the queen’s lover.

Miria, Queen of Faery, was gloriously lovely. I was surprised to find she had long strawberry-blonde hair. I guessed the twins got their dark good looks from their father. Miria was fair but by no means bland. Her face was delicately sculpted, with high cheek bones and a lush mouth. Her eyes marked her as the twins’ relative. They were emerald green and sparkled with the same intelligence Dev had.

“Dude,” Daniel said as we approached the throne. “That’s your mom?”

She didn’t look old enough to be his mom, but that was the way it was with the Fae. They reached their prime and just stopped aging. Miria looked to be about twenty-five. Dev was twenty-seven now and would look older than his mother or brother had he not been taking Daniel’s blood regularly. Daniel’s blood stopped the aging process in humans when taken on a regular basis. I’d begun noticing that for Dev, it seemed to actually reverse aging a little. The fine lines around his eyes he got when he laughed had disappeared.

Miria tried to maintain her cool composure but the closer we got the more her eyes ate up the sight of her son. I saw her eyes get glossy with unshed tears, and she reached out to Declan. He patted his mother’s hand and for a moment looked less like a brat prince.

“Good evening, Mother,” Dev said formally as we reached the throne. He bowed deeply.

I could see her son’s formal tone was not what the queen had been hoping for. “Devinshea, it is good to see you.”

Dev didn’t give her anything. He nodded but chose to introduce us rather than reply. “Mother, this is my goddess, Zoey. And this is my partner, Daniel Donovan. I assume Declan brought you up to speed on my living arrangements.”

That last was said coolly and with just a hint of challenge. He was just begging for his mother to say something disparaging about his lifestyle.

Miria had none of that. She smiled broadly and stood, causing Declan to quickly get his butt up as well. She wore a lovely white gown and a crown that sparkled in the candlelight. “Yes, of course. Declan and Padric both spoke highly of your wife and partner.”

Declan snorted at that. He didn’t like Danny. It probably had something to do with the fact that Daniel had kicked his ass the first time they met. “I certainly did not. I spoke poorly of him.”

Miria ignored her elder son. She stepped off the platform and walked to us. “It is so good to meet you, daughter,” she said with what seemed like complete sincerity. The queen kissed my cheek and gave me a long look before turning to Dev and laughing brightly. “Well, Devinshea, you certainly brought a beauty home. You are lovely, dear.”

“She is beautiful but not obedient,” Declan noted. “That is not the dress I told her to wear.”

“Hush,” she admonished. “The dress is stunning and suits her far more than anything in our style. Our styles would swallow her beautiful body. Declan, you were right about her breasts. They are delicious looking.”

The last bit was said with a slight breathless appreciation. I felt Danny tense beside me as he tried hard not to laugh at my sudden discomfort. My mother-in-law was looking me over with a sensual smile.

“I told you,” Declan said with a lecherous grin.

Dev leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Mother swings both ways. Sorry I didn’t mention that before.”

I gave him a “what the hell” look but Miria was moving on to Daniel.

“I should be upset with your presence, Mr. Donovan,” Miria said, looking him over. “Devinshea was supposed to keep you under control until I decided if you were dangerous or not.”

Dev started to argue but Daniel stepped up to the plate.

“I assure you, Your Highness, I am perfectly harmless,” he said with more charm than I’d heard him use on any woman but me. Dev was rubbing off on my vampire. Daniel was imitating his smooth tones.

Miria looked Daniel up and down, from his Ferragamo loafers to his perfectly cropped blond hair. “I doubt that, Mr. Donovan. I think you could do some serious damage.”

I saw Padric roll his eyes and mutter, “Not again.”

“How about I promise to be a good boy?” Daniel offered, his voice a dark seduction. I stopped myself from giggling because Danny was getting good at this.

“Please don’t.” Miria’s lips curled up. “Where would be the fun in that?”

“Mother!” Dev said sounding completely prudish for the first time in my relationship with him.

Declan snickered beside his brother.

Miria turned her attention back to her son. “Well, Devinshea, when you bring such lovely partners home, what do you expect? They are exotic and look like they would be excellent bedmates. It would be rude not to admire them.”

Yes, she was definitely Declan’s mom.

“The Earth plane has changed my brother,” Declan complained. “It has turned him into a squeamish old woman. He refuses to even think about sharing Zoey with me. He pulled a gun on me just for cuddling with her.”

“I would have done worse.” Daniel looked at Declan and his fangs were long suddenly. “And I don’t need a gun.”

The rest of the room was startled and seemed to take a big step back, but Miria stood her ground. She went toe to toe with Daniel. She was definitely interested in those fangs.

She spoke to her son but her eyes were on Daniel. “Declan, you should know vampires are possessive creatures. It is impressive that Devinshea was able to forge a ménage with such a powerful creature and his companion. It makes a statement about his prowess. I am proud of you, son. You have done well. Tell me, Mr. Donovan, do you bite my son?”

“As often as possible,” Daniel replied with no hint of self-consciousness. “I find faery blood to be quite the treat.”

“Yes,” she returned with regret. “Unfortunately, it is why I was forced to close the mounds to your kind. Your kind likes our blood, and we tend to like your bite, Mr. Donovan. I found it to be a combustible mix.”

“Please call me Daniel,” my vampire offered smoothly.

“I will,” Miria promised. “And you and your companion may refer to me as Miria or Mother if you like. I am your mother-in-law. Formally, of course, for Zoey, but I completely recognize your relationship and approve. I am pleased to welcome you. You will be treated as a member of this family, Daniel.”

“Good,” Dev said between clenched teeth. “Then you can stop hitting on him. And for the record, while I feed my partner, we are not lovers beyond the fact that we share Zoey.”

Miria looked startled. “Whyever not, son? He is attractive. I did not raise you to be so close-minded. You should …what is that human term you told me about, Declan?”

“Hit that,” Declan supplied helpfully.

“Yes, Devinshea, you should hit that,” Miria said seriously.

Daniel finally lost it, and there were tears in his eyes as he laughed. He leaned over, whispering to Dev. “Shit, man, we should have come here earlier. This is awesome.”

Dev turned to me. “My goddess, what are the chances of the floor opening up and swallowing me whole, sending me to a blissful oblivion?”

“Not so good. Sorry.” Miria made me feel better about my dad.

“I think we should begin dinner now,” Padric said sourly, looking at Daniel with a shake of his head. He took Miria’s arm and started to lead her to the head table. Already servants were rushing to action.

Danny just couldn’t help it. “Dev, your mom’s a total cougar, man.”

I grinned as Dev blushed for the first time in…ever. “My mother is five hundred thirty-two years old. Cougar does not apply.”

“Sabertooth, then.” Daniel just had to rub it in.

Yes, it was time for dinner since we’d already put on a show.

 

* * * *

 

Two hours later, I walked up and down the gallery halls of the palace, enjoying the quiet. I glanced up every now and then at the paintings that lined the walls. They were mostly portraits, likely of past kings and queens. The whole place was lit with soft candlelight, and the moonlight seemed to flow in from every open space. There was still a low murmur that came from the great hall, but I could finally think again.

Dinner had been an event. We’d been seated at the royal table, Dev on one side of me and Daniel on the other. Both of my men had been almost immediately engaged in political talk—Dev by his brother and mother and Daniel by a duke. I’d sat there eating some sort of salad and wishing that vodka was a staple in the Fae diet. It’s not. I hadn’t even been offered a glass of wine, not that I could have enjoyed it. I had found myself pushing food around on my plate since my appetite was gone again. The rest of the meal was a lot of me looking out over the banquet hall at people staring. I was surprised I wasn’t feeling light-headed since I tended to crash when I ate as little as I had today.

When the meal ended and the dancing began, I found myself answering many somewhat invasive questions. There’s no such thing as shame in the Fae world. They will ask all sorts of things you wouldn’t expect to be asked about your private life.

The hardest part had been speaking with Braden, Gilliana’s father. He was a duke or something and had apologized for his daughter’s behavior. There was nothing at all sincere about it and he made sure both my husband and the queen heard him do it. There was something I didn’t like about the duke.

I heard a sound at the end of the hall and turned. I wasn’t alone, but then I never had been. Lee had followed me the whole time. Lee nodded at me as he leaned against the wall. He wasn’t going to intrude but neither would he allow me to be alone.

“That is my father,” Miria, who was going to intrude, said quietly. She stared up at the portrait we were standing under. The man in the portrait looked every bit the royal, but the artist had caught the slightest hint of mischief in his eyes.

I turned to my mother-in-law, who had Padric in tow.

“Yes, I see where Dev gets his looks.” I measured my words carefully. This was what I’d been dreading. The time had come to decide how to deal with Dev’s mother. It was obvious she loved her son, but she had also been behind the plot to force him into marriage with Gilliana. I didn’t know whether to condemn her or thank her because it was that betrayal that sent Dev to my plane. If Miria hadn’t tried that desperate ploy, I would never have met him.

“Yes, the twins look much like my father,” she murmured, her eyes on the portrait. “Devinshea is the one who took after him in temperament, however. My father was a stubborn man and not so quick to forgive.”

I turned to face her, not quite able to stop the words from coming out of my mouth. “Well, I’ve been with Dev for several years now and I find him forgiving when one deserves it.”

“Zoey,” Padric warned sharply.

Miria shook her head. “Stay out of this, Padric. I want the girl to speak her mind. She is my only conduit to Devinshea. She is my only hope for repairing the relationship.”

“Do you want to make up with Dev because he ascended?” I wondered if that was the case. She hadn’t invited us back to Faery until after his ascension.

“I want my son back because I love him,” she spat back at me, her mouth tightening. It must be frustrating for a queen to deal with not getting what she wanted. She’d had hundreds of years of pure obedience from her subjects.

I wasn’t her subject.

“You should have thought of that, Your Highness, when you chose to betray him.” There was nothing for it now. I’d started this. I should just go all in. “I would warn you not to try it again. I wouldn’t take kindly to those types of manipulations. Ask Gilliana. You try some witchcraft on my husband and you’ll get the same treatment.”

Miria’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me, and I heard Lee move in behind me. He wouldn’t care that she was a queen. He would pounce if he thought she was coming after me. “I could have you thrown in the dungeons for even threatening me.”

“You could try. You might get me in your dungeons, but I doubt you could keep me there. Execution is your only choice, and I don’t think that would win you points with your son.” I had a sudden thought. “Unless you chose assassination. I did have an attempt on my life earlier today. You could have me killed and throw the suspicion on some poor scapegoat. I’m sure you have subjects who would throw themselves on the fire for you.”

“Zoey, you go too far.” Just as my bodyguard had moved in close, Padric staked his place now. He stood to Miria’s side, towering over me. “You cannot accuse the queen.”

Lee growled Padric’s way, and his hand was on my arm, ready to yank me back at the merest hint of aggression.

Miria sighed and the anger left her body. “Stand down, Padric. If you could please have your guard do the same, daughter?”

I nodded at Lee, who took a step back. I was more than willing to allow the tension to dissolve now that I’d made a stand.

“You aren’t like the others,” Miria said, regarding me seriously.

“So I’ve been told.” It was far better for her to understand that now.

“I was not behind the archer this morning,” the queen stated. “The men seem to think Gilliana is, but I doubt it. It is not her way.” She gave me a sly smile. “And after this day’s events, I doubt she will try anything again. No, I rather think this is a plot of the Unseelies to attempt to create chaos. Our relations are not good. It is one of the things Devinshea can help us with. He always got along better than the rest of us with the dark court.”

I wasn’t so sure, but I wanted to stay out of politics if I could. If the Unseelie liked Devinshea, I doubted they would come after his goddess. The Unseelie had problems with fertility. It would be foolish of them to assassinate their only hope, but then I didn’t have the Seelie prejudices. “I’m sure that once Daniel gets through with our guest we’ll know something more. He plans on interrogating the prisoner tomorrow. My vampire can be persuasive.”

Miria’s smile was just the slightest bit bloodthirsty. “Yes, Padric informed me that the vampire would be questioning the prisoner tomorrow. I believe I will make myself available to witness that.”

I just bet she would. Danny was going to give Dev the hardest time.

“I apologize for not forcing Gilliana to return to the country,” Miria continued. “Padric advised me to do it, but she cried and promised to behave. I felt so bad for involving her in my plotting that I am afraid I went against my better judgment. She is on her way home now.”

“So the duke told me.” He’d complained about how he’d had to restructure his staff to escort her home. I took a long breath and decided to air out all the dirty laundry. “Why exactly did you trick Dev into sleeping with her?”

She stared at me for long enough that I thought she would walk away. Finally she nodded and began to speak. “I don’t expect you to understand, but I will tell you anyway. You are important to my son, which makes you important to me. I am not human, obviously. Fae can die, as proven by the death of my father, but we don’t tend to think of our loved ones dying. I fought for hundreds of years to have a child. Even with my father’s fertility powers, Padric and I were never able to conceive a child. It was why I had to try with others, why we’ve never married. I can’t tell you the joy I felt when I gave birth to my babies. It rapidly became clear to me Devinshea was the sweet one. Declan was strong and always took the lead but Devinshea…you could not see his smile and keep your heart intact. When I realized he was mortal…”

Miria faltered and Padric took over, his hand reaching out to slide over hers. Their fingers tangled together with the ease of long intimacy. “Devinshea was young, only three years old, when he took a tumble down the palace stairs. He and his brother were always running through the palace at neck or nothing speeds. We would laugh and praise the princes because it had been so long since we had that kind of energy in the palace. And then Devinshea fell down the stairs and broke his arm. It was nothing new. Many Fae have such injuries. The trouble was he would not stop bleeding. We nearly lost him. A healer got it under control but it took him weeks to recover. We knew then that he was mortal. It broke his mother’s heart.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy on Dev, either,” I said. “I heard the nobles wanted him banished.”

Miria nodded. “He was considered unlucky. If I had not had such good control of the royal army, I would have been ousted and beheaded. They considered me weak where he was concerned. It got a bit better when his powers as a Green Man surfaced. He was trained to be a priest and he was a good one. He took his duties seriously.”

As his duties included screwing every girl in Faeryland, I wasn’t surprised to discover he was a devoted priest. I still hadn’t met those priestesses, yet. I wondered if they had heard the tale of Gilliana.

Lee had moved back to his wall now but I could see he was listening as Miria continued.

“As he grew, he became more reckless. He and Declan would leave the sithein for weeks at a time pursuing the pleasures of the human world. That plane is dangerous. I just knew he would die there someday. I wanted something, Zoey. I wanted something to hold on to when my son died. Can’t you understand that? I know I went about it the wrong way, but I did it because I love him. Gilliana was fertile and there was the chance he could produce a full Fae child. I tried to convince Devinshea that it was his responsibility, which it is. We cannot survive without a Green Man. He would not listen. I took the chance and I lost. Now all I can do is ask you to plead my case.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you know Devinshea misses his home,” she said. “You know he misses his family. I am willing to welcome you and Daniel into our lives. Someday you and Devinshea will have children. Would you cut them off from half of their culture? There is much Faery has to offer even its mortal children. I have so few years with him. Even now I only have fifty or so years left before mortality takes him from me. I do not wish to spend them completely apart.”

“It is a bit longer than that, Mother,” Dev said, and I turned to see he had heard much of our conversation. His eyes were serious, and he walked over to slip his hand into mine.

Miria lit up with understanding. “Of course, you feed Daniel and he gives you his blood. It elongates your life. I told you vampires weren’t all bad, Padric.”

“Perhaps Daniel is not but I did not like the other one,” Padric said forbiddingly.

“You are never going to forgive me, are you?” she asked with an indulgent grin. She turned to Dev and me. “I will tell you a secret, children of mine. I once had an affair with a vampire.”

Dev sighed. “Well, I hope your foray was better than mine, Mother. My first vampire was frightening.”

Dev had tried on a female vampire for size. They’re rare and pretty much creepy.

Miria smiled with the memory. “It was several hundred years ago. I was a young girl and he was…lovely. He was always giving me gifts. Such a gentleman he was. It was odd though. He seemed to think my name was cara.”

I couldn’t stop the startled burst of laughter that came from my throat. There was only one vampire she could possibly be talking about.

Dev frowned beside me. “You slept with Marcus Vorenus?”

Miria smiled brilliantly. “Yes. That was his name, I believe. He was a beautiful man from Rome, if I recall. So gallant. He knew how to treat a lady.”

“Well, you and Zoey should swap stories,” Dev said with a pout.

Marcus Vorenus was Daniel’s patron, and he had zero problems with flirting with me. He’d let me know that he was more than willing to accommodate me in any way I needed. Daniel tended to roll his eyes and wave it off. Dev pretty much hated the guy.

“I’ve never slept with Marcus,” I protested. Dev and Marcus were polite to one another, but Dev still hadn’t forgiven Marcus for trying to kill him. He also didn’t like the fact that Marcus referred to him as Lancelot.

“Not for lack of trying on his part,” Dev replied shortly. “He is always trying to get into my wife’s pants.”

“I never liked that vampire.” Padric clasped a hand on Dev’s shoulder in sympathy. “Vampires shouldn’t be able to walk about in the daytime.”

“It makes it harder to stake them,” Dev replied with a nod.

Miria leaned toward me, ignoring the men. “You should have him give you gifts. He gave me the loveliest jewels. Once he gave me a ruby the size of my fist. He said it brought out my eyes.”

There was more talk but I didn’t notice. A ruby the size of her fist. Yeah, that pretty much summed up the Blood Stone. Inside I was shaking my head. I should have known Marcus would be behind everything. I was being forced to work for Louis Marini because Marcus needed to steal jewelry for his mistress.

Or was there something else behind it? If that jewel was important enough, he might have stolen it to get it away from Marini. I still wasn’t sure that the jewel didn’t have some sort of magical property. What better place to hide something than another plane? Miria later closing the mounds would only be a problem if he planned on using the gem himself. Marcus and I would be having a long talk the minute I hit the Earth plane and got cell phone coverage again. He had some explaining to do.

“I’d love to see the jewels Marcus gave you sometime,” I heard myself saying. I’d been told my mother-in-law might know something about the jewel. If she could just hand it over, my job would be so much easier.

Dev stiffened slightly beside me as he followed my logic. He’d read the file from Marini as well. “Yes, that is an excellent idea. Zoey loves fashion and jewels. You should show her your collection.”

Miria nodded. “Of course, though Padric forced me to give the Blood Stone away. It was my favorite. He pouted until I relented. I gave it to a woman in town. She had done me a service.”

Well, that answered one thing. The Blood Stone was here in Faery. I could do the job.

“Zoey,” Lee said, suddenly stirring. He started down the hall back toward the ballroom. “Something’s wrong. Come on.”

Dev took my hand and we ran in behind Lee. Dev didn’t question him. There was no way I would ask him what was happening. If Lee told me something was wrong, I would follow him. His instincts were that good.

We reached the archway that connected the gallery to the ballroom and I saw the problem. There was a huge crowd standing to the side of the dance floor. The band had stopped playing, and every single person was trying to get a good look. Dev forced his way in, and I realized the crowd was surrounding a single body.

I watched as Zack picked up the unconscious man.

“Daniel!” I yelled even as someone was calling for a healer.

My heart took a nose dive, and Dev ran for his partner.