The Rebel Queen (Outlaw #1) - Lexi Blake Page 0,26

happy with news of my pregnancy. Except she had when she’d thought this child would be with Devinshea.

“You didn’t do anything at all.” My father settled back in his chair. “Evan hides her insecurities well most of the time, but I think you touched a sore spot. She’s always been closest to Daniel. I’m afraid even though you weren’t here, those divides still held. You loved Lee most.”

“That’s not true.”

“You all worried more about Lee, and in a child’s world that translates to love,” he explained. “You think back to how you felt about me and Danny after he turned. How I worried about him and took his side in most things. You were an adult and you were still wounded by it. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I did. In Evan’s mind you were Lee’s, Dev belonged to Rhys, and Daniel was hers. Now you’ve told her she’s got a rival. She lost twelve years with you because you were with Summer, Daniel’s child. Now you’re giving him a biological child who will likely replace her.”

“That’s not true.” Had I favored Lee? I hadn’t meant to. I loved them all.

“Of course it’s not, but it feels that way to her. Part of this is Shy talking. She’s close to Evan. We’re both worried about her. Not because of Fen. I know Evan will talk about how reckless Fenrir is and how she’s got to keep him in check, but she’s every bit as brash as he is. She’s not wrong about Rhys trying to take her father’s place. They’ve fallen into roles as they’ve gotten older. Rhys has gotten more serious. Lee is Devinshea’s near twin, from what I can tell, and Evan, well, Evan’s had to fight for her place. She’s the only girl here, and the boys are overly protective, to say the least. It was good when Shy showed up and she had someone to talk to.”

She should have had a mother figure with her. And a sister. “What happened to Sarah? I can’t believe she would leave my kids.”

Shy’s shoulder shrugged. “I don’t know. I wish I did. Like I said, I died and by the time I came back to consciousness, most of it was done. Sarah and Felix and Mia were gone, and Christine doesn’t know where they went. She believes they found a way to flee the plane. She thinks if Myrddin had killed them he would have made a show of it. I wish I had a better answer for you. Now ask me what you’ve been afraid to ask.”

Tears sprang to my eyes because he was right. I was afraid to ask, terrified at what I could have lost. “Is Neil dead?”

Neil, my best friend. He’d been at my side through everything. I didn’t think he would leave my kids.

My father stood and sat beside me. “No. He’s alive and well. He still works with us whenever we need him, but after the Council fell, some of the wolf packs went back to their old ways. The worst of the packs turned on what they considered weak members.”

Weak meaning any member who didn’t hold the reproduction line. With Dev gone, they would have spent years struggling with fertility again, and that meant attempting to force mating within their packs. “He’s really okay? Chad’s okay? What about Zack?”

Chad was Neil’s vampire husband. Zack had been a part of our family since almost the beginning. He was Daniel’s “servant” and had been for years. He was Kelsey’s uncle, and I trusted Zack with my life and my family.

“Chad is with Neil, and so is Zack and his family. They’re a few miles away in a small town on the coast. They welcome all wolves who’ve been abused by their packs. Neil and Chad have two children now. They adopted two wolves who’d been shunned by their families.”

My tears were for another reason now because all Neil had ever wanted in life was to have a family, to love and be loved without conditions. “I can see him.”

“Yes,” my father said. “You should go tomorrow because Zack needs to see Daniel. He’s…unwell.”

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

“He hasn’t had vampire blood in years. You remember how much weaker Neil was when he stopped taking Danny’s blood? Well, Zack was on it for far longer. He’s never gotten his strength back, and it’s gotten worse.”

“We can go now.” I started to stand.

Shy’s hand reached out and stopped me. “Tomorrow is