What would yesterday lead me to? Would I look back on Kelsey’s wedding day as the day it all unraveled and everything we’d worked for had been undone?
I gripped the bannister as I watched Dev’s assistant manager getting the team ready to open up for the night.
That should have been Dev, but he ran a polished ship. When Dev hadn’t shown up, the assistant had simply taken over. Sometimes Dev was so good at what he did no one noticed he wasn’t the one doing it.
The door behind me opened and since the only other way into the office was directly from our apartments, I knew Daniel had come looking for me.
“Hey, we’ve got about an hour before Myrddin does his ritual.” Big hands came down on my shoulders and Danny pulled me back against his chest. Years of travel and ruling the supernatural world had eroded some of his Texas twang, but it always showed right back up when we were alone. Dev often joked he didn’t need a Green Man’s powers to tell when Danny was horny. He only had to hear him revert to his natural accent.
He also sounded more Texan when he was emotional.
I loathed the distance that had opened between us. Since the wizard had joined our retinue, I spent less and less time with Daniel. He was always in a meeting, preparing for the negotiations to come. In a month or so we would host the demons and negotiate new contracts with them. I would have to smile and play the queen, but they would all know where the real power behind the king lay.
Another problem for another day. I leaned back, allowing Daniel to surround me. “Good. I’d like to get that over with.”
“I’m sure he can find Dev and we can get back to normal.”
I wasn’t about to start a fight with him. “Yes. He’ll find Dev.”
I felt Daniel’s body tense and then he was tugging on my hand, pulling me back into the office. The door closed behind us and the world was quiet again. Dev’s office was coated in soft light from the lamp he almost always kept on. His desk was covered in framed pictures of our family. This office was very much like our lives. It had changed over the years, but the comfort I found in it had always remained the same.
Daniel put his hands on my shoulders, his blue eyes staring down at me. “Please tell me what’s wrong. Beyond Dev being missing. You’re angry with me. I can feel it. Do you blame me for what’s happened with Dev? You have to know how torn up I am about this.”
It was the most vulnerable I’d heard him sound in years. We’d gotten so comfortable that we didn’t feel vulnerable anymore. We weren’t overly confident. We knew there were always factions plotting against us, but in our private lives, I’d come to take for granted that we were solid. It hadn’t been until Myrddin walked back in that I’d been reminded the world could change on a dime. I couldn’t tell my husband why I was angry. God, I hadn’t even thought I was angry, but I was. I shook my head and tried to reassure him. “I’m just worried about Dev.”
He dropped his forehead to mine and groaned. “I’m not stupid, baby. You’re angry about Myrddin being here. I’ll ask him to leave.”
“What?”
He kissed my forehead and took a step back. “You think I didn’t hear what Gray said? Choose her. There are only two hers I’m able to choose. I don’t think he was talking about Evan. I will always choose you. You’re uncomfortable with Myrddin so I’ll find other accommodations for him.”
But he would still be around, still advising my husband. Of course I was planning on stealing his precious, so he might not have to move at all. If he caught me, he might kill me, and then I wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore. “I’ll get used to him.”
“You blame him for Lee’s death.”
I took a step back. “How can you know that?”
Had Kelsey talked to him? She’d been so sure we should keep it all quiet around the men.
“He feels it. He’s talked to me about it.” Daniel looked like he wanted to reach for me again, but he made the decision to give me some space. He moved to the desk, leaning against it. “He’s spent a long time contemplating what happened that day,