Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
My heart threatened to stop. Lee had turned? Lee had died? “What happened?”
“Well, Lee was killed, apparently by Alexander Sharpe,” Gray explained.
I knew that son of a bitch was evil. “I will murder him. I will feed that asshole his own balls.”
“Did Mom get him?” Evan was far calmer than I was.
“She did. He’s gone, and Lee has become what I saw all those years ago,” Gray said with pure satisfaction in his tone.
“He’s okay?” Lee was a latent vampire. His mother was a companion. Vampires always killed when they rose, and boy would they drain a companion if they could. He wouldn’t have meant to. He wouldn’t have been able to help himself. “How many people did he kill? How did Zoey get away from him?”
Gray’s lips quirked up. “She didn’t have to. Kings are not led by impulse.”
“I am never going to hear the end of this,” Evan said with a shake of her head. “He’ll be impossible to live with now.”
Lee was a king. I remembered the words Gray had said so long ago. Don’t believe the myth that there can be only one. At the time I’d thought he was talking about Fenrir being a wolf king, but now I could see how important Lee would be. A vampire king and the son of Myrddin Emrys himself. Lee and Dean both had powerful parents.
I believed now more than ever that Mia Day—daughter of a brilliant witch and a fallen angel—was the weapon I was looking for. Fate or the universe or that elusive God who’d set things in motion liked balance, and this was balance. Heaven and Hell and Earth were represented in those children. Well, they weren’t children anymore. They were the keys to defeating the greatest threat the inner planes had ever known, and one of them was missing.
And I wouldn’t find her if I was stuck under Myrddin’s spell.
“Your brother is fine, as is your mother, and I’m sure at this point they’ve reunited with your dads,” Gray continued. “Zoey lost the grimoire, but she brought us this gift.”
I reached into the bag that did not look like it should be able to hold Gladys, but when I opened it, there she was. Something that had been tight inside me eased as I felt her weight in my hand, brought her out of the darkness she’d been left in all these years. “Hello, friend.”
“That is a bag of holding. They’re very rare,” Tix was saying. “But of course the sword is much rarer. I can feel the power coming off her. She does have magic. She has his magic. I can feel it. Why would she have Myrddin’s magic?”
“According to my brother, the gossip is Myrddin nicked his fingers on her when he was experimenting before the royals were lost. King Daniel allowed Myrddin to study the sword. When the queen decided to steal the grimoire, she took Gladys, too. How can you feel it?” I didn’t like Tix knowing so much about Gladys.
“I’m descended from the same line of angels that created her,” Tix explained. “I’m a cousin of the prophet Jacob, though I was born in Hell, my mother descending long, long ago. So I can hear some of her whisperings. She can defend you, Lady Sloane. She can use Myrddin’s own magic to fight the witch. All you need is to prime her.”
“I can handle it without priming Gladys. Unless you want to pop over to Dallas and bring the queen and king back, since she pretty much has to die in order to prime Gladys.” I wasn’t about to shove a sword through Evan.
“We can handle it,” Gray corrected. “Evan, you should hide and don’t come out until either Kelsey or I come for you. Do you want me to pop over to Trent and see if Eddie can bring him back?”
“I’ve been promised all teleporters are locked out for the time being,” I explained. “You really can’t bring anyone with you?”
“I’m sorry. I could bring Jacob if he needed a lift for some reason, but I’ve tried on others and it doesn’t work,” Gray explained. “Tix could teleport you, but we would have to leave Evan behind. He can only teleport those who belong to the house he serves.”
“I can stay behind.” Evan’s chin had come up in a stubborn expression. “If they manage to catch me, you have to know they won’t kill me. They need me alive when they get the sword back. Kelsey can take the sword with her and then we’re safe. That way Kelsey and the baby get out okay, and my parents have some time to come up with a plan to free me. Could someone take Puff?”
“Of course,” Tix assured her.
“No,” I said at the same time. Evan wasn’t thinking. No, they wouldn’t kill Evan, but they could torture her in ways she couldn’t imagine. Her body would be alive, but they could take her soul, and that wasn’t happening on my watch. I wouldn’t be able to look the queen in the eye again if I lost her daughter.