The Rebel Queen (Outlaw #1) - Lexi Blake Page 0,156
was a greedy bastard. “In exchange for your son.”
“Figured that out, did you? See, I have emotions, too. His conception was the result of my indulgence of Nimue. She has particular fantasies. I should have killed his mother when I learned of the prophecy concerning him, but I felt something when I realized he was my flesh and blood. I’ve never had a child before. I hate that I have to destroy him. I might try to turn the boy first.”
He wouldn’t be able to. Dean had been raised to do the right thing. He believed in his destiny. So I would be exchanging Lee for Dean, and I couldn’t believe a word this man said. “And me?”
“Well, Zoey, I need you.” He managed to say the words like they were something good he was offering me. “You know I need both you and Kelsey. My witches felt no power surge this evening. The ritual wasn’t done, so the Sword of Light still contains the angel’s power. And now the vampire’s, though his is not important for my purposes.”
He was forgetting something. “I have to die to prime that sword.”
A single shoulder shrugged off that worry. “You didn’t the first time.”
“But you’re not going to have Daniel there to save me.”
He stared at me through the witch’s eyes. “No. I will not. Sacrifices must be made.”
I chuckled, a bitter sound. “Just not by you.”
“Well, dear, that is why I’m the true king. I’ve hidden behind puppets for too long. It’s my turn to wear the crown.”
I took a step back, my hand on the door. “I think I’ll stay here.”
“The wards won’t hold forever.”
“They’ll hold long enough. I’ll give my son a chance. You’re right. Sacrifices must be made, but if I’m going to die, it won’t be for you. I think I’ll keep the sword.” As long as it was safe behind the wards, so was Kelsey. He would come for her, too. That might be what Liv was doing as we spoke.
The witch’s lips formed a flat line. “Damn it, Zoey. This is preposterous. You know what he will do to you when he rises. He will feed on anyone, much less a companion. You’re going to be a bright light calling him in. You think Daniel will show up. You think he’ll feel the rising and he’ll save you, but those wards will shield everything that happens inside them.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I’d already thought of that. My mind had run through every possible scenario.
They all led to one place.
“What about the child you carry?” Myrddin proved his spies liked to talk, too.
I had to wonder if it had been Alexander who’d heard that rumor and passed it on or if there were others in our group. I put my free hand on my belly. “She was going to die with me one way or another.”
“She could be another Fae goddess, Zoey.” He obviously wasn’t going to admit he would kill us both, and likely very soon. “I could be persuaded to wait until she’s born. I could give her to her Fae relatives. All you have to do is come out.”
At least I could shake him up a bit. Any Fae healer would be able to tell I was carrying a human child. “You think she’s Devinshea’s? One of the gifts we received from you sending us across the planes was Daniel turning human for a few days. Just long enough for me to carry his child.”
And she would die with me.
The witch standing in for Myrddin went silent and then her eyes grew wide. “Tell me you are joking, Zoey.”
“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. It doesn’t matter, does it?”
“If you are telling me the truth then you carry a child who is the product of a latent vampire king and companion queen. The first in thousands and thousands of years.”
“You going to try to sell her off to someone?”
The witch had paled considerably. “No. I will kill her the first chance I get. She is an abomination and cannot be allowed breath. She will be able to destroy worlds. Close the door, companion. Lock yourself away with your son and let him save the planes from that thing in your belly.”
A chill went through me. He seemed to want to kill all of my children. Or he was testing me. “You’ll have neither the sword nor me. The plane will be safe.”
The witch’s hands curled over the book I couldn’t see. She’d stepped back as