knew exactly what she wanted. “I’ll protect the king as well as I can. I have to take care of Dean, too.”
Because we needed him.
Taggart shouted that it was time to move. Dean and I would be riding with Adam. I had to admit I was eager to try the thing out. It looked incredibly cool, and I did like a little speed.
“If the bullets start flying, I’ll try to convince Danny I need to be out of the line of fire,” she said, putting a hand on her stomach. I hadn’t thought about it, but now I knew why that magic had been so strong. I got a feeling the queen had taken advantage of the king having working sperm and I would have a pregnancy buddy. The queen seemed to realize something. “Oh, Kelsey. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that you’re pregnant.”
And it was all I’d thought about. It was good to be content. “I can’t sit out of a fight, Your Highness. If I do, we lose. I’ll be okay. I have faith and shit.”
“Do you have any idea how far you’ve come?”
Sometimes the queen felt like the big sister I’d never had. “Yeah. But I’m never going to admit to the king that he helped me down that road. I get too much mileage out of his guilt.”
The queen laughed and we started walking toward the bikes. “Yes, guilt is a big thing with Danny. Let’s get going. Hopefully the palace will have good kitchens.”
Now that was enough to get me going.
I was sitting behind Dean as our caravan took off ten minutes later.
We traveled most of the morning and into the afternoon, coming to our first gate of the day. Taggart’s timing was perfect. We approached it as it shimmered into place, showing a different world. We were going from plains to mountains.
From here it would be another hour to Tír na nÓg.
Or so we thought because mountains weren’t the only thing waiting for us.
Erna was there and she’d brought an army.
Chapter Thirty-One
Zoey
I caught my breath as the bike screeched to a halt in front of the massive army lined up in front of us. There was a long line of men on horseback and only one word came to mind—barbarian. They looked savage, and each of them held up either a sword or a bow and shouted their joy at the upcoming battle.
Against the ten of us. There were only ten of us, and I didn’t think even all that sweet vampire tech was going to save us now. Maybe if Daniel had been at full strength—at any strength—but we couldn’t take on an entire army.
I watched as a feminine figure moved to the front of the line. She looked like she had before, her hair and face familiar, but it didn’t trick me now. I knew there was something wicked beneath her everyday appearance. Erna stared out across the field and I knew she was looking for my daughter.
She would try to take my daughter, to steal her power and her life. My heart pounded with fear. Anger played around in there, but it was the fear that threatened to overtake me. I’d just gotten my baby girl back. I couldn’t lose her.
“Can we turn around?” I heard Kelsey ask the question through the small earbuds we’d all been given.
I wanted to do nothing more than go back through that door, and then we would simply run until we found a way back to the Earth plane. My daughter would be safe. It wasn’t her responsibility to save the outer planes.
But a voice inside me whispered that it was. That she was special and she’d been chosen. That I would have to sacrifice again.
“I timed it specifically so the door would close after we entered.” Taggart’s voice was calm, but there was a tightness to the tone. “I was more worried about the witches following us. I didn’t realize this plane was occupied. All my data told me there are only primitive life-forms here. Who the hell are these assholes?”
“I fear my two greatest enemies are in league with each other.” My daughter’s voice came across the line. “At least I now know where Erna got the thrall stones. The big guy on the horse is named Turi. The thousand or so men behind him are magically bound to do his will. They won’t hesitate to kill us all. If we can try to make our way around them, we should.