“The sword doesn’t like men touching her, and she had to put up with it for thousands of years,” I shot back.
“It’s a freaking…” Danny stopped and took a long breath. “Okay. When we get back, you and Kelsey can decide who gets to play with Gladys. Can we find Dev now?”
Our tension was building and I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able to hold my tongue now that Myrddin was back. He was creeping into all my relationships and I couldn’t allow it. Especially since I knew he would be coming after my son at some point.
That was the worst part. Because of the odd hold the wizard had on my husbands, I couldn’t even tell them how afraid I was for Lee. It didn’t escape my notice that Lee was on the Earth plane right now without me or Kelsey to watch over him.
Arwyna had made it to a clearing, and a vast lake came into view.
“He was here, too,” Daniel said. “Do you see the weird platform out there. Those are plants. They don’t naturally form docks like that. Something must have happened. He doesn’t usually leave things like this. Dev allows the plants to go back to their normally scheduled days after he’s done with them.” Daniel inhaled through his nose. “Something is definitely wrong. I can’t smell Dev. I can’t smell much of anything. My senses are dulled here. I don’t like it. I should be able to catch his scent.”
I glanced back and Arwyna was following the path. It was obvious Dev was definitely here. The spell was working, but my pixie friend wasn’t anymore. I watched as her wings drooped and she fell to the grass. She didn’t get back up.
I ran to her, dropping to my knees as I reached down and gently picked her up.
I brought her close to my face. “Hold on, Arwyna. We’ll find Devinshea and Bris might be able to help you.”
Her eyes were obsidian discs, flat and with no expression in them. She stared up at me, but she wasn’t there.
I watched as my sweet friend took her last breath and died.
* * * *
Kelsey
I ran, trying to keep up with Quinn, but I admit that he’s got some long legs. I didn’t know these woods so unleashing my wolf might be a problem. I opened my senses, though, and took in the sights and sounds and scents of this forest.
It teemed with life and most of it was Fae, though I scented a deer herd to my left. They were hiding in the trees. I could smell their fear and wondered if it was me they were afraid of. Or Marcus, perhaps. Marcus had been hunting and he was definitely a predator. There were all kinds of creatures, and some of them I didn’t even know how to classify. The forest was deep around me, and even it seemed to have something of a consciousness. I could feel it. I had to wonder if that was because of Bris. I’d never hung out in a faery forest with the ancient god before. It was a trip.
Dean kept up and I had high hopes that he wouldn’t die when I started his training schedule, which was absolutely going to include a whole lot of cardio. “I don’t see her.”
Quinn stopped at a clearing with a large tree stump. “The trail ends here. I don’t understand.”
He got to one knee and put his hand on the ground.
I glanced around the area and a shiver went over my skin. “They were here. Damn it. What is that?”
Something metallic gleamed in the grass. Dean leaned over and picked it up with a curse. “It’s a sed dart. It’s made on the Vampire plane. It’s used…”
I could take that one. “To sedate people. They used it to arrest Summer. But it shouldn’t have worked on Marcus. Drugs like that don’t work on vampires.”
“They don’t on the Earth plane, Kelsey,” Quinn said with a frown. “But that drug was formulated specifically for vampires, or at least they would make sure it worked on them. I know vampires are different here, but I would bet it worked on Marcus. But even if he’d been sedated, Marcus can still reach out. We should be looking at a couple of mercenaries who either gutted themselves or killed each other at Marcus’s command. Dean said vampires don’t have powers here. Marcus should have been