ways to find you. When we realized the truth of your birth… This was my fault. I should have understood. I knew a bit about transference boxes. I am the reason you were separated from them.”
That wasn’t exactly how I’d heard the story. Guilt is a funny thing. There was some family therapy in their future. Dang. Felix Day was getting a new client.
She looked up at Quinn, blinking in the sunlight. “They wouldn’t have left me on the Earth plane, the faeries, that is. They would have fought, and honestly, I know I needed to be in Tír na nÓg. You’re really Devinshea Quinn?”
“I am.”
Marcus seemed to remember his manners. “Devinshea, the sun is right in her eyes. Fix that, please.”
Quinn sighed. “You’re going to be so difficult.”
But he strode off toward the forest to do something. I didn’t know what. I didn’t really care. I wanted to know about that destiny thing. “Look, I think we might be here for a reason. One of the things being married to a prophet has taught me is the most coincidental crap can turn out to be incredibly consequential. What plane is Dean from?”
“The Earth plane,” she said, looking down at the young man. “His mother was brought over when she was pregnant with him. Do you know what a Planeswalker is?”
“Of course.” Marcus paced, a thing he almost never did. “They are the demons who walk the planes of existence, gathering energy from the doorways. They are secretive and don’t have much contact with the Council or anyone, from what I understand. Even the other demon clans talk about how they isolate themselves. Are you telling me Planeswalker demons are stealing women off the Earth plane?”
I could bet what kind of women they were taking. “Vampires here like companions, too, don’t they?”
Summer nodded. “They call us consorts here, and bondmates. There are some Fae here with psychic powers who need what you would call companions to fully use their powers. The kings of the Seelie in Tír na nÓg and the Unseelie princes all have bondmates to center them. And yes, women like me are quite popular on the Vampire plane.”
“Oh, I will be having a long discussion with your father when we return,” Marcus vowed. “They think to take our women and sell them on another plane?”
“Yes, you would rather sell them on your own,” Summer shot back.
“I told you, your father freed the companions when he took his crown,” Marcus replied, rather primly to my ears.
“It’s true.” It was one of the reasons I worked for the dude. Well, that and he probably would have killed me if I didn’t, but that actually wasn’t as awful as it sounds. Apparently sometimes women with wolves in their soul went a little psycho, and Donovan was trying to save me from that. And all the people I would have killed. All in all, I’d forgiven him for how we met. “King Daniel is trying to right many of the wrongs of the last couple of millennia. He won’t be happy that demons are stealing companions and taking them to other planes. So a Planeswalker stole Dean’s mom.”
Marcus was suddenly looking my way and he stopped pacing.
Summer looked down at the kid sleeping with his head on her lap. “Yes. She was pregnant at the time. From what I understand her marriage wasn’t a particularly happy one. She always said she chose poorly the first time, but fate found a way to let her choose again. Apparently the vampire she ended up marrying was the mirror to a man she cared for on the Earth plane. She was lucky. Most vampires wouldn’t have taken a human child into their family. It wasn’t easy for Dean. He never fit in, and then they discovered he had a way with magic. Vampires don’t particularly like magic. His family would have protected him, but he insisted on finding his destiny.”
We were getting to the good stuff. Quinn was back and he had something in his hand. He dropped what looked like an acorn a few feet away from where we stood and with a twist of his fingers, the ground vibrated beneath me and an oak tree sprang into being, its wide branches offering us shade against the afternoon light.
“Better?” Quinn looked down at Summer.
“Thank you,” she replied from her shady spot. “It’s much cooler now. That’s a handy gift you have there… I don’t know what to call you.”