The Rebel Queen (Outlaw #1) - Lexi Blake Page 0,27

soon enough. I assure you they’ve been informed that the royals have returned. They’ll be here in the morning. You need to stay in Frelsi. It’s safe. You need to work on your relationship with the kids. Now that you’re back, things will heat up, and we’ll have that all-out war I’ve feared for so long. You know what we need to do, right?”

“Yes, I need to find someone who can get me back to the day we went missing.”

“Why would you do that?” my father asked.

“This is wrong. This whole place is wrong, and we can fix it.” I already knew who I needed to talk to. “Summer can help. She’s so powerful, and she can find a way to get me back to that moment. I’ll change everything. I’ll save you.”

My father stared at me. “I don’t think that’s possible, and even if it was, it wouldn’t turn out the way you want.”

“I’m the nexus point. I make reality.” I’d learned long ago that I was different. I am the odd being who has no written fate. I can change the fate of the people around me. I intended to change all of our fates.

“No. You don’t make reality.” My father’s tone had gone harsh. “You make choices, and this one could have hard consequences. You don’t know that you wouldn’t fuck things up more.”

“I’m willing to take that chance. Can’t you see that the kids shouldn’t have had to go through this? I have to try.”

“No. What you have to do is find a way into the Council building and take what we stole all those years ago,” my father said. “Myrddin’s grimoire is still missing, but he comes closer to finding it every single day. When he does, he’ll have more power than you can imagine. He’ll have his book of spells and he’ll have the Sword of Light, and he’ll be able to do what he’s been planning for over a decade, maybe longer.”

“And what is that?”

“He’s going to permanently close all doors between the Earth plane and all Heavenly planes. He’s going to give Earth to Hell.”

Well, it looked like I had a job to do.

Chapter Seven

I sat at the big table in the house my children had lived in for the last several years, Devinshea at my side, while Daniel had taken the seat at the head of the table. Sasha sat at the other end, the king and his loyal general leading the discussion.

Kelsey had joined us, though she’d explained Dean was sleeping. Apparently fighting off a bunch of witches had tired him out. Fen sat next to his mom, practically glowing when he looked at her, while Evan had chosen the place next to Fen and would barely look at me.

Kelsey talked with Casey and ate at least fifteen sandwiches. Eddie kept bringing them one after another.

I’d barely touched the stew Albert had brought me. There were kind-eyed trolls serving the food this evening and making sure glasses were kept full. The home was warm thanks to the fire in the hearth. It was a cozy place to be, and I still felt numb.

Kelsey was doing so much better than I was, and I had no idea how she was holding it together when she didn’t even know where Gray was.

Or maybe she was doing it for Fen, who was smiling like he’d won the lottery. My kids were treating me like I would break if they touched me. Probably because I’d acted that way. I’d noted they were all laughing with Daniel and Dev as I’d walked in, though Evan was still standoffish. She’d kept close to Fen.

I didn’t belong here. None of us did. But I had to pull it together because if I couldn’t find a way out of this mess, I would be stuck here, and my kids needed me. Devinshea had been right when he’d told me to shove my pain down and be the queen. Or in this case, be the mom.

“Before we get to the heart of the matter, I’d like to know what happened to Faery,” Dev said. Dinner was winding down, and we’d promised to talk business after. “I always assumed if anything happened to all three of us that Declan would come for the children, or Albert would take them to my mother. That was the plan we had in place.”

Devinshea always had a plan, though in this case it was one we’d all agreed on. If something happened to all