couldn’t have him do that because Kelsey and I had decided keeping Erna in the dark was important. The witch was strong and powerful, and Devinshea was still recovering. Erna also knew where our weaknesses lay, and I knew she would go after Daniel first.
My worry for him had become a physical ache in my body.
I stepped in front of Dean. “Erna, don’t you think it’s important that we figure out why they’re coming? How about this? Dean will go with Devinshea and Kelsey and he’ll read their intentions for us. Some of these demons look like they’re in better shape than the last one. We might be able to simply talk to them. If we can’t, we’ll discuss what to do. Perhaps you can cast a spell to help.”
“I don’t like the fact that you people are manipulating Dean,” she said.
“They aren’t manipulating me,” Dean shot back.
I couldn’t have a throw down right then. It was obvious we weren’t going to be able to hide the fact that Dean was no longer under thrall for long. I doubted even explaining what had happened to him would slow the situation down. I got the feeling Dean would either not believe us and confront her, or believe us and get pissed off. He was so young. He hadn’t played the kinds of games the rest of us had been forced to play.
Kelsey and I had decided the best way to handle the situation was to split Dean off from Erna and decide how to move forward from afar.
But first we needed to deal with the current situation.
We couldn’t get to the door if it was blocked by demons.
“They’re coming from the other side, too.” Kelsey walked in from the kitchen. “So sneaking out the back isn’t going to work.”
“We have to talk to them, Erna,” I said. “It would be so much easier if we had Dean to help us.”
I didn’t like the bland expression on Erna’s face as she nodded.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I suppose you will have to speak with them and attempt to figure out why they keep coming here. After all, Summer doesn’t have any magic now. They should leave her alone. I’ll watch the back to ensure they don’t get in that way.”
“I’ll help you.” Kelsey stepped away from us.
“I scarcely need your help.” Erna walked back in the kitchen.
“Kelsey, I think we…”
Kelsey leaned over, her voice going low. “Gray told me to never leave the path. That book is named The Path. I can’t let her hide it. I can’t let her run with it. I can’t let her put a spell on it. I have to hope that book likes me because I need to steal it.”
“Keep an eye on her and we’ll talk about how to do it,” I whispered back. “And watch out for Danny. I’m going with Devinshea.”
“Even my human ears can hear you,” Daniel said, his hand on the door. “And she doesn’t have to protect me. Dev can do it.”
Daniel walked outside, Dev hard on his heels.
“I thought we discussed this,” Dev argued.
“Danny, you can’t go meet them.” We had discussed this, and Danny seemed to have forgotten why it was all a bad idea. “If they get back to Hell, they’ll know something’s wrong with you. It could give Myrddin an advantage.”
Daniel turned to face me. “I understand that you’re scared, baby, but I made a decision while we were waiting for Dev to wake up. I’m either the king or I’m not. I know if I stay human, I can’t lead the supernatural world. I will step down if I can’t turn again, but until then I am still in charge. I didn’t merely become king because I was tougher than everyone else. I made the right alliances. We made the right decisions. You all wanted me to deal with the demonic plane. Well, here we are. I’m going to talk to them, see if they can give me some guidance on how to help save the outer planes. You can come with me or you can stay behind.”
“Or I can ask Dev to ensure that you stay safe,” I countered.
“I think that’s a bad idea.” Dean reminded us that he was still here. “I think you’ll break something inside him if you make him sit on the sidelines.”
Dev stepped out beside Daniel and put a hand on his shoulder. “We shall face them together, Your Highness. You are always a king. You were before your turn, and