Chapter Twenty-Two

 

“I can’t believe he’s gone.” Daniel’s arms tightened around me hours later. It was deep in the night and I’d cried so much my chest hurt, but there was a feeling of peace, too.

My father was happy. My father had completed his journey and he could rest now. There was something good in that knowledge.

And I’d let go of my dreams of the past. I’d made the decision to live in the now, and that meant fighting for our future.

“I can’t believe he named our unborn child.” Dev held up the letter that had been written by my father. Shy had explained how he’d spent the whole afternoon writing his good-byes. There was one for all the children—including one who hadn’t been born. “To Harriet on her Eighteenth Birthday. I am not naming my sweet daughter Harriet. I learned my lesson with Evangeline. If we name our perfect baby girl Harriet, Daniel will inevitably call her Harry.”

“I think that was Harry’s point,” Danny said, rubbing his cheek against mine.

Dev set the letter down and joined us on the bed. “I was planning on convincing you to name her Rosalind. No one can make that name masculine.”

“I’m afraid she’s a Harriet.” It was a good name. It would always remind her that she had a grandfather who loved her, who fought for her even before she was born. “Did you read the letter he left you?”

“Yes, he told me to get a haircut, and there was a twenty dollar bill. What does he expect me to do with that? I can’t get my hair cut for that,” Dev said.

Danny laughed. “God, I’m going to miss that old man.”

“He also told me he loved me.” Dev sighed and leaned against me, surrounding me in their warmth and love. “I never imagined Harry would even think those words about me.”

“I think you grew on him.” Danny’s arm moved to encompass Dev. “I wish I could have talked to him.”

“He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I think he did that for Shy. She was pretty torn up. I think he wanted to make it as private for her as he could.” That young woman had become part of our family. Even if she never returned Rhys’s affection, she would be my daughter and I would watch out for her. I’d held her as we’d both cried, and my instinct to care for her had been overwhelming to say the least. She was alone again, her soul once more on its own, but she would find she had a home among us forever.

I’d settled her in her room before I went to find my boys and Dev and Danny. I’d given them their letters and held Evan and Fen’s for their return. Then I’d cried some more.

“You should know I’m giving Declan back the amulet,” I said quietly. I hadn’t announced my decision to the boys because I didn’t think Lee would believe me. And nothing should interrupt his grief tonight. Asta and Magnus were already at work. They would check out the Council building and make sure my bag was where I’d left it. Then we would make the meeting with Myrddin, and Lee and I would go in using the tunnels.

“I knew you would, baby. You just needed some time.” Danny sighed against the back of my neck.

“And you’re not giving it back. That amulet is powerful. We might need it.” Dev laid his head down on my lap.

“You want to consult with the ancients?” Danny asked.

“Perhaps.” Dev sighed against me. “Or it can be used as a small bomb if she needs it. I would like for her to have all the tools we can give her while she’s in the Council building.”

“A bomb? Declan mentioned something about it being destructive if not properly used.” It was around my neck. I didn’t think carrying a bomb around was good for the baby.

“It’s perfectly stable as long as it’s close to the Goddess Chain,” Dev explained. “If it’s not within a few yards of it, it dematerializes here and goes back to its base, which is my mother’s palace in the Seelie sithein. The transfer is a bit on the violent side. I’m not sure why, but when it opens the veil it tends to start fires or blow up whatever it happens to be sitting on. But it has to be apart from the chain for fifteen minutes or so before it will return home.”

“So she can’t just leave it on Myrddin’s pillow and hope it blows his head off?” Danny was a little bloodthirsty when it came to his old mentor.

“Not unless she managed to sneak in while he was sleeping,” Dev explained. “Otherwise all she would do is blow up his pillow”

I wasn’t interested in anything but getting my bag back. “Did you set up the meeting?”

“Yes, we’ll need to be in Dallas soon. We’re still negotiating the time. I’ve already been in contact with Jamie and Nate Atwood,” Dev explained.

“Kelsey’s brothers?” They were technically Kelsey’s half brothers, but she didn’t make the distinction. Nate and Daniel had been in the same game group for years, and Jamie worked with the Texas Rangers on their weirder cases. At least he had twelve years ago. “Are they still in the area?”

“Yes. Both married. Jamie has two kids and Nate has one on the way. Kelsey’s already been in touch with her family,” Dev announced. “Nate finished college and he’s working with his brother. Since Gray left the Rangers, they haven’t had anyone to investigate the supernatural cases. The Atwood brothers are who they shift those to now. Jamie’s going to find us a safe house, though we’ll only use it if we have to. My intention is to leave as quickly as we can after the meeting with Myrddin.”

“Do we know what happened to my dad’s house?” Danny and I had spent our teen years in the house in North Dallas.

“He told me he left it to Christine,” Danny said.

“Good.” She’d lived there longer than I had. It was right that he had the place where she and my dad had been happy together.

“How long do you need us to distract Myrddin?” Dev’s hand moved over my leg, stroking and giving me comfort.

“I’m hoping Lee and I can do the whole job from start to finish in an hour. Hour and a half tops.” It was surreal to be sitting there talking about a job when my father was gone. The boys had taken the news hard. They’d gone off to the other side of the mountain where I was sure they would drink and mourn their grandfather.

I had to hope the loss brought us together. I worried that after we got the grimoire and the sword, my kids would relegate me to the royal role. Daniel and Dev would have so many political moves to make and I would be needed for some of those meetings, but I mostly wanted to stay here in Frelsi and get to know my kids again.

I needed time with them, but I feared I’d lost Lee. He would transition as soon as he could, and then he would involve himself in the vampire world. One day he would find a companion and we might see him every now and then.

Like I’d seen my dad.

“I’ll make sure you have at least three,” Danny promised. “Myrddin enjoys listening to himself speak. I’ll ask him some questions and let him give me a history lesson on demon politics or some shit.”

“You have to be careful. If he thinks for a second you’re covering for me, he’ll unleash the hounds.” Or the cats. I bet there were a lot of cats in the Council building now. Or the coven house.

There was a knock on the door and Dev sat up. “I’ll get it.”

Danny kissed my cheek and his hand went to my belly. “You will get that bag and nothing else. No matter how tempted you are.”

There were a couple of pairs of shoes I’d been thinking about nabbing. “If I see my crown I’m taking it.”

“I’ll get you another one,” Danny promised.

But I wanted that one. I wanted the one he’d placed on my head on the day of my coronation, the one that was rumored to have been worn by the first companion to marry a vampire millennia ago.

“Z, are you okay?”

I sniffled, trying not to lose it again. “As okay as I can be. I’m going to miss him.”

“Me, too,” Danny whispered. “I loved that old man.”

Tears pierced my eyes again. I thought I didn’t have any more tears left, but there they were. I might always cry when I think of those precious moments with my father. “He loved you, too. I’m sorry you didn’t get to see him.”

“He wanted time with you, baby. And he wanted to protect Shy. We’ve got to make sure she understands that she’s part of us no matter how any relationship with Rhys plays out.”

Oh, my vampire husband and I were so in synch. “I agree.”

“Zoey, the Hidden Ones are back.” Dev looked grave. “And they’ve brought a friend with them. Well, part of her.”

“Part?” I didn’t like the sound of that.

“They found a head.” Dev had seen a lot of crazy shit, but even he was a little pale now. “And she apparently wants to talk to you.”

It looked like I was going to have an interesting conversation.

 

* * * *

 

I stared at the head in the box and while the simple act of staring at a head in a box is weird, it is made infinitely weirder when the head stares back at you.

“Where the hell have you been, Zoey? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been in this fucking box? And I blame you. What the hell were you thinking? How could you not know what was happening? Do I look like a woman who hates a dude one day and the next is like hey, I think I’ll spend decades with an asshole who would love some revenge on me?”

The legendary Lady of the Lake had some issues she wanted to work through. And she wasn’t wrong, exactly. “I didn’t know what a thrall stone was back then. You know Danny and Dev had them, too, and I only recently managed to get them out of their heads. How did you get yours out? Is that when you got the…you know…axe?”

“I don’t know. That line is quite straight. I’m thinking guillotine.” Dev stood next to me.

“Nah, I could totally do that with an axe. Or a sword,” Danny mused. “Hey, Nim, do you have any idea where my sword is? I know Z’s all up in arms about getting Gladys back, but I think I’d like Excalibur back as well. Is that what he used?”

“He’s a witch. He used a damn spell, and this box keeps my body from growing back.” Nimue’s violet eyes flashed with irritation. “As to how I got rid of the thrall stone, my body eventually rejected it. Oh, it took fifteen years, but it finally came out, and I was pissed.”

“How long have you been in there? Also, how are you talking without vocal cords? Don’t look at me like that. I have questions.” I got that she was upset, and I would be, too. But I definitely had questions.

I did some quick math in my head. Myrddin had placed the thrall stone in her head when he’d healed Danny’s heart—the same time he’d placed the stones in Danny and Dev. After that, Nimue had announced she would stay with Myrddin while he traveled the plane, learning about this new age. They’d been gone for roughly ten years and then they’d started showing up at the Council house. So the thrall stone had come out of Nim’s head years after we’d fallen through the painting.

Nim’s eyes narrowed, and then she somehow managed to sigh. “I’m not human, Zoey. I never was. I’m made of magic, so you can’t expect me to follow the rules of the physical world. As to how long I’ve been here, I think it’s been at least eight years. My body processed the thrall stone sometime after you fell through the painting. And yes, I knew about it. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure at the time it seemed like a reasonable thing to do,” Daniel allowed. “Nim, I know what it feels like to be in thrall. You do things you wouldn’t normally do.”

“Yeah, well, at least you didn’t sleep with him.”

I sobered because I knew what that felt like. “No one blames you. I’m glad you’re alive. Is Myrddin going to miss you?”

I had to consider the fact that she might have to go back. If something important went missing, it might tip the wizard off that I had plans.

“I don’t think so. He hasn’t opened this box in a very long time. I can’t be certain, but the last time has to have been years. I can sometimes hear people talking. I know seasons have changed many times since the last time I saw the light,” Nim said. “I think he feels like I’m a failed experiment, and he can’t bear to look at his failures.”

“The box was deep inside the closet.” Asta stood back as though being too close to corporeal beings was odd for her even when she was in her solid form. The Hidden One had been busy this evening. She’d managed to make her way to Dallas and back here in the course of a day. She was planning on having a debrief with Sasha when she finished with us. “I went there looking for the bag, but this is what I found.”

A pit threatened to open deep in my gut. “The bag wasn’t there?”

Asta was slightly translucent. I could see the outline of the bookcase behind her. I’d been told that the Hidden Ones hadn’t been prepared for the fact that there was a door to the Hell plane in the building, and it had made them sick. They’d done their job, but Asta was still weak and Magnus was back in their field recovering. They would not be able to go in a second time. “It was not in the place you told me I would find it. There were many shoes though.”

At least my shoes were still there. Myrddin probably didn’t need much closet space for his robes.

“Bag? What kind of bag are you talking about?” Nim asked.

Frustration welled inside me, but the truth was I couldn’t have the Hidden Ones take Nim back. I couldn’t sentence her to more time in Myrddin’s care. Not even to get the bag. “I had a bag of holding. It was in the closet when I left.”

Nim’s eyes went wide and a smile lit her face. “You did it. You stole his grimoire. Oh, sweetie, you should have seen his face when he realized it was gone. He was in a rage for days. It was lovely.”

All I felt was sheer panic. And arrogance. I’d really thought my plan would work. “I left it in my closet in the penthouse. No one could have moved it.”

“That’s why the witch showed up that morning,” Nim said, her gaze seeming to go inward. “When Myrddin realized he’d lost the king, he panicked. We went to the dark temple to confer with our demonic allies and that was when he decided to take over the crown himself. When we came out, it was morning and he had to put his plans in motion. He started by taking out as many vampires as he could. The academics were too fast. They got away, and so Myrddin went after the wolves. While he was trying to take out your allies, Sarah Day was in the penthouse. The children were gone by then.”

“And my father was dead.” His body had died that morning, and I’d said good-bye to his soul mere hours before.

Not good-bye. I’d hugged him like he was going on a long trip, one I would take someday, and he would be waiting to welcome me.

“Yes. Zoey, I’m so sorry…” Nim began. “I promise I wasn’t involved in that. He could make me think things were more normal than they were, but he couldn’t force me to do something that ran counter to my true soul. I have never killed for him.”

I shook my head because my emotional state was far too fragile, and we couldn’t lose time to my grief. “I can’t right now. Just tell me what happened. The kids were gone and my father was dead. I thought Sarah tried to get away, too.”

“Myrddin told me to get upstairs to ward the penthouse as quickly as possible,” Nim recalled. “He didn’t want any of your allies to get in and possibly lock him out. It was important to secure the cash he knew Devinshea kept. Though I believe he thought he would have access to the bank accounts, too. He was so angry that Albert had secured them before he left. He had to find different sources of income.”

“I’m sure the Fae gold I kept helped him out,” Dev said bitterly. “He knew the combination to my safe because I thought it was a good idea in case he ever needed anything from it. Goddess, those stones can do a number on your brain.”

“You’re telling me.” Nim was every bit as bitter. “Anyway, Olivia and I went up to do Myrddin’s bidding, and once we got there, I realized we weren’t alone. Sarah Day was in the penthouse and she was holding something. A small tote bag. It looked like she’d gotten some blood on it. It was weird because later on I realized there were little drops of blood all over the closet. Now it makes sense. Was the bag primed by you?”

I nodded. “Yes. Only me or my father could see it. Sarah could use my blood to make it visible in this world. So she figured out something had gone terribly wrong and she went to find the bag. What happened to her?”

“I don’t know. She knocked Liv out, and Myrddin hadn’t told me to specifically hurt Sarah. When I wasn’t directly under his influence, I could still think for myself. Sarah was a friend. She told me she had to get out, and I didn’t know what was in the bag so I let her go. I stood there and watched her run away. About ten minutes later something happened. The whole building shook, and there was this blinding light. When we went down to the floor she lived on, that was when we discovered she’d locked her apartment away. Myrddin’s tried to get in but nothing’s worked. He’s tried to physically knock the door down. Nothing. He tried to go up through the floor below or down through the ceiling, but he hasn’t been able to get through. There’s an utterly impenetrable ward on that apartment.”

I looked to Daniel, my heart beating faster.

“How would she survive all this time in that apartment?” Danny knew exactly what had gone through my head. “She has to eat.”

I wasn’t sure, but I knew my friend. “She’s a powerful witch. If someone can figure a way around it, she could.”

“Or she got trapped,” Dev offered. “We don’t know what we’ll find in there. Zoey, maybe you shouldn’t go into that apartment.”

“She has to. It’s where the bag is,” Asta explained. “The head is right. That space is sealed off tight even to me, which means the wards hold on an interdimensional level. But I can feel the energy coming from the pocket universe inside the bag. The Hidden Ones can always sense the interdimensional energies from pocket worlds. The bag is in there, and there’s something else, something old. A remanent of energy. Like something ripped a hole in the veil. It’s closed now, but it was powerful enough to leave a scar in the physical world.”

So she could have gotten out. “She could have opened an interdimensional doorway. She could still be alive. I need to get into that apartment.”

If the door was still open, we might find a way to get Sarah, Felix, and Mia back. She might have left me instructions.

“You can’t, Zoey. She warded it with her heart’s blood. It’s the only explanation. Her heart’s blood and something else. Wasn’t her husband an angel once?” Nim asked.

“Felix. Yes, he fell and took a human body to be with her.”

“She used his heart’s blood, too,” Nim explained. “It doesn’t matter that his body was human. A fallen angel still has celestial blood running through his veins. No wonder Myrddin couldn’t find a way in.”

“Why wouldn’t she take the bag of holding with her? Why leave it in the apartment?” I was trying to make sense of her actions.

“Because she was going to a place she might not be able to come back from,” Nim said quietly. “Because she worried if she took it with her, you would never get it back. She was too worried to leave it close to Myrddin. And with good cause. That book contains a piece of his soul. You couldn’t hide it from him forever. No matter how powerful the bag was. He would have found the bag and would have found a way to open it. The book itself wants to be with him. Sarah built a safe around it with her family’s blood. She sealed it off so it was waiting for you when you returned. I’m going to assume you can get in. It was your blood in the closet. She had a supply for spells?”

“Sarah was our healer.” Dev sat on the edge of the bed, his hands on his knees.

“Then she could have spelled that locked down ward to drop when you show up. It’s what I would have done,” Nim admitted. “Zoey, you can’t let Myrddin near that book. Or the sword. You know what he wants to do, right?”

“He wants to close the door to the celestial planes. No more heavenly interference, and then he’ll let the demons in.” It was good to remind myself what was at stake. “He thinks he can do it by using the energy stored in Gladys from the fight with the angel Jude.”

“The power in that sword is immense,” Nim agreed.

Nim didn’t need to tell me that. I’d been pierced by that sword. “He can’t wield it.”

“No. It takes someone with companion blood, but that’s easy enough to find,” Nim replied.

She hadn’t been in the arena that day. “And it takes me. That weapon has to be primed, and not with some little drop of my blood. I’m the queen of the companions. I have to basically die for that sword to work.”

“That would serve his goals well enough.” Nim’s eyes closed briefly, and when she opened them again they had gone a deeper shade of purple. “No matter how well Sarah protected that door, the wards require updating. They will eventually erode, and he will get in. I don’t think she understood how long you would be gone. She was trying to protect it, but she never dreamed the wards would have to hold for over a decade. He’ll get in. It might not be tomorrow or even this year, but he won’t stop trying.”

“They still felt strong to me,” Asta said. “But I didn’t test it. If he can poke even a small hole in those walls, he can bring them down. I suspect the bag is visible, so he won’t have any trouble seeing it.”

The situation was worse than that. “If Sarah used my blood, it’s also likely open. He’ll be able to immediately extract everything he needs.”

“No, he won’t be able to get his hands on you if we don’t send you in.” Dev frowned my way. “Zoey, this changes things. If anyone can see the bag, we don’t need you.”

“But no one else can get through the door.” He wasn’t thinking properly. It was getting very real for my husbands, and that meant I had to keep up the pressure until they came around. “And I still need Lee in case something happens and the book falls out. He could see it as a child. I have to hope he still can.”

“Humans can see the book,” Nim explained. “It takes too much energy to ward the book from human eyes. The particular spell he uses takes into account how many eyes could potentially see. So he keeps the grimoire in the supernatural world and wards against other supernatural creatures. He has other ways to keep humans away. If your son could see it, it’s because he’s human. Myrddin is careful with his book. Other witches can’t see it either. I couldn’t see it. The only human he specifically warded it against was your father, and you know why he did that.”

Because my father was an excellent thief. He would be the single human Myrddin worried about. So Lee was our only hope if something went wrong.

“I don’t know, Zoey. Dev has a point.” Daniel had started pacing. “I don’t like the idea of all three pieces he needs being in one place at one time.”

“If Myrddin gets the sword and the grimoire, he might not need Zoey. He’s brilliant. He’ll find a way to release the power and Hell will reign on the Earth plane,” Nim said, her tone grim. “Everything changes if demons are allowed to roam freely. All the rules will be gone, and this plane will never be the same. Once they take this plane, they’ll look to take others, and Myrddin will be the bridge.”

“We’re not going to have a better time than this meeting. We’ll know where he is. If we give him longer, he’ll figure out Nim is gone, and he’ll likely find a way to blame me. He’ll definitely know we have a way in, and he’ll plug that hole in his security. He’ll also take a closer look at everyone around him, and that means we could lose our spies. If we wait too long, the wards could fail.” I wanted to get this job done and fast. I didn’t want to give him a single extra second to find a way out of Sarah’s trap.

And I wanted to get in that apartment to see if I could find her. I wanted to see if she’d left me anything more than the bag. If she’d had any time at all, she would have left clues, a note, anything that would help me find her.

I’d once saved her from the Hell plane. I wasn’t about to let a little thing like her disappearing into time and space stop me, and she would know that.

I’d lost my father, but I had a chance to save my friend and her family, to bring back the girl my son had always loved.

I wasn’t going to fuck it up.

“So how do we grow that body of yours back?” It would be weird to have her head hang around. A fully limbed Nimue would likely be more effective an ally. If we couldn’t grow it back for some reason, I would have to find a nice mannequin body for her. I could dress her up.

“So you’ll go get the bag?” Nim asked. I nodded and a sigh of relief huffed from her lips. “Thank the goddess. I don’t want to see what a bunch of demons would do with my head. They like to bowl, you know. Now let’s talk about getting me to a nice chilly lake. I need it isolated and deep because I do not want someone coming across my body while it’s growing back and starting some true crime documentary. Toss me in the deepest part, and in a few months I should be ready to fight.”

“First, you can answer a couple of questions for me.” I had been thinking about this since the moment Myrddin had stared out of the window in the café. He’d looked at Dean with…some unnamed emotion. It wasn’t fear, but I thought fear was in there. “What do you know about Myrddin sending a pregnant woman off the plane?”

Before Nim could answer, Lee strode in, Dean at his side.

“Mom, I know you’re in… Whoa.” Lee stopped in front of Nim. “That is a head in a box.”

“You look exactly like your father.” Nim’s face had lit up. “Well, except the eye. You must be the little human one. Lee, right?”

Lee’s eye widened and it stayed on Nim. “Mom, why is the head talking to me?”

It was good to know something could still freak my boy out. “The Hidden Ones brought me back a present. Meet Nimue.”

Lee took a step back as if the head might attack. “But she’s with Myrddin.”

“Nope. She was being controlled like your dads, and when she got out of thrall, he cut her head off and put it in this box.” I gave Nim a sympathetic shrug. “It’s a nice box.”

“Is it?” Nim asked. “I didn’t see it. I kind of woke up here. It’s very plain on the inside. Tell me he didn’t just shove me in a basic brown box.”

It was pretty ornate and painted a nice midnight blue. “Nah, it’s got some bling. And a bunch of ancient writing that’s done in a very elegant hand. It’s quite tasteful.”

“Zoey, focus,” Daniel said.

Lee was studying the box. “This says it keeps magic from…I think the word is growing. Is this somehow keeping your body from growing back?”

“Yes, and that is a complete crime because my boobs are truly fabulous.” Nim’s lips had curled up. “You grew up really well, honey.”

“Nim, that is my son.” I should have known. She was right. It was my fault. The minute she’d gotten all serious and shit I should have pointed and done that Donald Sutherland scream thing because horny Nim had definitely been replaced with a pod person.

“Yes, and he’s very adult now. And don’t tell me I should find someone my own age. I’m ten thousand five hundred and fifty something years old. The last dude even close to my age gave me a magical roofie and then cut my head off, so you’ll have to forgive me for wanting some youth,” Nim shot back.

“I’ve never…” Lee began.

“No. Absolutely not. Do not complete that sentence.” I pointed a finger my son’s way because I wasn’t about to listen to him talk about how he’d never done a bodyless head before. Boundaries. We needed some, my son and I. “What did you need, baby?”

“Lee asked about my biological dad.” Dean managed to stop staring at the head. “I told him what my mother told me. I was conceived during a summer ritual here on the Earth plane. I believe that is why I have the power I have.”

“You were conceived at a midsummer ritual?” Dev asked. We’d gone to many of those because fertility rituals were powerful when held within those rites.

Lee shook his head. “Nope.”

“I was conceived at the ritual known as Burning Man,” Dean said with absolutely not an ounce of irony. “My mother was into spiritualism at the time.”

His mom had likely been into pot and the festival circuit.

“Oh, shit.” That had come from Nim and answered a whole lot of my questions. “Was your mom a cute brunette with a nice rack?”

“What is this about?” Dean looked to me, seeming to know Nim couldn’t be too serious.

“I wanted to get the ‘Luke, I am your father’ moment out of the way,” I admitted. “Dean, I’m pretty sure Myrddin’s your dad.”