The Rebel Queen (Outlaw #1) - Lexi Blake Page 0,69

a hand. “Come on, Z. You know he’s right. So we’ll take Lee with us.”

Rhys snorted. “Or you’ll shop in a very public place while Shy and I go to the bank and Lee picks up supplies. We’re one block over from Laugavegur Street. There are lots of shops there. And if we take too long, there are cafés you can wait at. I’m serious, Mom. I need to know you’ll stay in public places. The bridges are on the outer edges of town. You can’t go there without a serious guard.”

We moved into the more human section of the store. A tall, lithe woman with long hair stood at the cash register, a book open in front of her. She glanced up and nodded Rhys’s way before going back to her book. If she was concerned at all with a bunch of people walking out of her back room, she didn’t show it.

Lee shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’m with Rhys on this one, Mom. I would probably let you do crazy shit, too. It’s been a long time since we did stupid things, and now that I know it’s okay to die, I’ll be even more reckless than I was before. Also, there are lots of Fae around those bridges, and some of them are not friendly, if you know what I mean.”

I certainly knew what it meant to have my comings and goings decided by someone other than myself. It looked like it was starting all over again, but this time I would be herded around by my sons. Having my sons guard me made it hard for me to ignore the bodyguards’ advice and do whatever I wanted. I had to set an example. “All right. Your Uncle Neil and I will go and do what I do best.”

Lee groaned. “Mom, don’t be mad. You don’t just shop and look pretty. I know what a badass you are, but you don’t understand this world yet. I promise when I get my fangs and claws, I’ll take you tons of crazy places. We can steal things for fun.”

“We’ll have a long talk about that,” Rhys promised. “And you’ll only be able to take her places after night falls, so remember that when you race into your vampiric life. Now walk Mom and Uncle Neil down to the shops and then check in with Sonja. She’s got our shipment. When you’ve checked it and approve, send them here and hike back to guard Mom. I’ll text you when Shy and I are heading your way.”

“Yes, sir, general sir.” Lee gave his twin a jaunty salute before starting for the front door. “Dean? You want to come with me or stay with my mom?”

Dean had his silvery hair pulled back in a queue and hidden under a knit cap. “I’ll go with you. You can tell me all about your escapades last night.”

That got Lee’s face falling fast. “Oh, that? That was nothing. I consider it a farewell to human sex. I’m going to hit the highlights.”

I groaned and looked to Neil. “He’s going to kill me.”

“You have no idea how happy I am that Brendan and Cassie are such angels,” Neil replied.

I heard Rhys cough, and when I turned Shy was slapping him on the back, a beatific look on her face. “Sorry. He got a throat tickle.”

Rhys nodded and coughed again. “Yep. Sure did.”

So Brendan and Cassie were normal, not-angelic teens. That was good to know since at least one of mine seemed to be trying to personify a couple of the deadly sins. Neil and I followed Lee and Dean out, and I felt the sun on my face for the first time in days. There was light in Frelsi, but it wasn’t the sun I was used to, and I tipped my face up to it.

“Enjoy it while you can.” Neil glanced down at his watch. “We’ve got three hours of this before it sets again. It’s winter here in the northern hemisphere, so there’s not a ton of daylight this close to the arctic.”

“It’s why we came here,” Lee explained. “We chase the night. That’s how Sasha puts it. We spend winter here, and then when the days get longer, we move to New Zealand as winter starts in the south. You’ll like our Kiwi base. It’s like the set of Lord of the Rings. But man, don’t call the dwarves there hobbits. They get offended and they are quick with the axe. Come this