war. They also have several myths that play into this.”
I hoped she could illuminate me. “He’s told me he believes himself to be the Night King. I’m supposed to be his queen, but he’s given me no explanation as to why he would think that.”
“It’s a myth,” Charlotte explained. “It’s actually a myth that goes across a lot of the planes.”
“What kind of myth?” Marcus asked.
“Creation,” Charlotte replied. “It has to do with the great migration—the time when most supernatural creatures left the Earth plane and found their own home planes. Something had to create the new planes and something—or rather someone—had to maintain their separate natures.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Think of the worlds as all existing in one place but slightly out of phase,” Charlotte explained. “And that phase is what we call the veil, what the Planeswalkers call their doors. These occur in a place where the walls between the worlds are thinnest. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they serve some sort of purpose. Like a release valve for energy or something. Something has to keep the balance and it would be energy of some kind. It would take an enormous amount of energy to keep those planes apart. In Fae myth, she would be called the Day Queen. She would be millennia old. I think the original Day Queen is dying and Summer is here to take her place.”
I had a million other questions, but that was the moment a red light flashed and Taggart cursed. A blaring sound came from overhead.
“I swear Thea can’t remember the office code to save her life.” Adam moved to a computer. “I’ll buzz her…Ian, we’ve got problems.”
He turned the monitor around and I saw a group of women in dark capes moving easily past what should have been a locked door. One reached a hand up and the feed was cut.
The witches were here.
* * * *
Kelsey
I ran back across the yard toward the cottage, but I could already see the problem. It was kind of my worst nightmare.
Donovan had his hands wrapped around the queen’s throat and he didn’t seem interested in letting go.
“Come quickly!” Erna was standing to the side, shaking her head like she was watching two toddlers fighting, not a dude who was trying to kill his wife.
Luckily the queen could take a lot of damage, though she was starting to turn blue. The real problem I had was the fact that Quinn wasn’t doing anything. He was standing there staring at the sight in front of him.
Dean set his feet and whispered something I couldn’t quite hear before bringing his hands together and then apart.
Donovan flew one way and the queen the other.
I stopped as Zoey started to cough and Donovan sat back on his ass. I looked to Erna. “You couldn’t have done that yourself?”
The witch shrugged. “I don’t waste my energy on mortal tussles. I told you what happens when you mess with thrall stones. They tend to get cozy in a brain and fight back. It’s precisely why I would need to bind the men. They won’t allow me to take it out of them willingly. Perhaps you should kill the person who placed the stone and then you won’t have any more trouble. Let me know when you make your decision. I have things to do.”
Dean’s eyes rolled. “I’m sorry she’s being difficult, but I swear she can fix this.”
“What the hell, Danny?” The queen had gotten to her feet and was staring down the king. “You want to know why I’m getting that thing out of your head? You nearly killed me. Wouldn’t Myrddin be happy with that? You know what I’m going to do after I get that fucking stone out of your head?”
Had she listened to anything the witch had said? “Maybe we should talk nice to the stone. Good stone. Why would we ever take you out?”
Dean nodded. “Yeah, we love the stone.”
Zoey didn’t pay any attention to us and showed exactly why she used to get her ass in serious trouble when she was younger. “I’m going after that fucking wizard and I’ll take his balls off myself. I’ll twist them off super slow and I’ll stuff those gnarly things right down his throat.”
The vamp blood in her system was obviously working because the words sounded way less croaky than they had before and her coloring was already back to normal. And the queen was pissed. So pissed she didn’t notice the vines trailing