this magic Myrddin worked on you changes nothing. I will always follow my king into any battle.”
Sometimes Dev is way better at the spouse thing than I am, but then he’s never seen Danny on a slab, a white sheet covering his body.
Daniel looked my way. “Zoey, I do understand. Please. Trust that I know what I’m doing. I cannot hide from this anymore than I intend to hide from the fight to save our daughter. There are some things worth risking everything for. Our world, our family—they’re worth the risk.”
I forced a deep breath in my lungs as I nodded. “All right.”
Daniel and Dev started down the steps, but a hand on my elbow stopped me. I turned and Dean was there.
“I want to know what happened and why you’re planning on stealing the spell book,” he said quietly under his breath. “Something happened to me and it’s not merely a headache. I feel different. I feel…angry.”
“I need you to stay calm. I promise we’ll talk about this, but I need you to read my intentions toward you right now. I need you to understand that I mean you no harm. I mean to take you home with us and give you everything you need to fulfill your destiny,” I replied.
I only winced a little when I felt him in my brain. It was like a tightening, like every muscle had contracted slightly. I breathed through it because I needed Dean to get with the program or we would have more than the Planeswalkers to deal with.
I sighed in relief when I felt him retreat after mere seconds.
“All right. I’ll trust you. For now.” He stepped down and I followed, racing to catch up to my husbands.
The tallest of the Planeswalkers was standing at the edge of the barrier, holding a skeletal hand out as though he could feel the barrier but not get through it.
Daniel had stopped just outside. He turned my way and held out his hand. I took my place on his right side and Dev shifted to his left. It was how we entered all formal functions. Together.
I felt his hand squeeze mine and we walked through the barrier and found ourselves standing in front of the demons.
The tallest of the group had to be over seven feet. He wore black robes that swallowed his thin body. He looked down at us, his face gaunt, eyes huge and dark as night. Still I could see a stamp of surprise there.
“Who are you? You look very much like the royals on the Earth plane. I am sorry. Perhaps my eyes are not functioning properly because you could not be him, human.”
Daniel stepped up to the demon, and my heart threatened to seize. “Or I am working on a problem and don’t need everyone on the outer planes to know who I am, Planeswalker. I am surrounded by power and magic. Don’t think I can’t mask myself when I need to.”
“Why would you do such a thing?” Suspicion had crept into his tone.
Daniel’s shoulders straightened and he seemed to grow an inch. “I do not explain myself to the Hell plane. Are we going to have a problem? Do you want my help, or would you like me to show you how heartily your senses have been fooled?”
The demon actually took a step back, and I realized Daniel could do this. “I apologize, Your Highness. You understand what is happening? Is that why the magic is here? Are you keeping it from us?”
“He hates demons,” another said, his voice shaky.
“He will kill us all.” A third started to lift his hand but dropped to his knees in obvious exhaustion.
“They would really like to kill you,” Dean said, looking at the demons. “It’s not about anger, though that’s in there. The chief emotion I’m getting is fear. I believe they think they’re going to die and you’re keeping the cure from them.”
“I am doing no such thing.” Daniel never took his eyes off the leader. “I’m attempting to figure out why the convergences are happening. We don’t have them on the Earth plane, but I think if the outer planes fall, we will be next.”
“The inner planes can close themselves off if they know how to do it, but chaos would surely come from that as well. The humans don’t know how much of their world is based off supernatural energy,” the Planeswalker explained. “How did you get here? None of our brethren brought you through.”