The Rebel Queen (Outlaw #1) - Lexi Blake Page 0,72
your return could complicate my plans.”
Neil moved in, putting a tray of sweets on the table. “I wish you would stop doing that. I’m supposed to be guarding you. Do not make me choose between this cake and your life.” He sat down beside me. “The tea is on its way.” He gave Myrddin the stink eye. “No wizards allowed. Buy your own cake.”
Myrddin chuckled and sat back, his body leaning away from the table. “I should have known nothing would faze Zoey Donovan-Quinn.”
“Oh, I assure you losing twelve years had an effect.” I pulled my gloves off and set them aside. “Now what are you doing here? I won’t ask how you found me because you would only lie.”
“I’ve always known there was a base somewhere here in Iceland. I assume you have a network of portals,” Myrddin mused. “It’s what I would do, and your ties to the earthly Fae are legendary. I think it’s somewhere up north in the mountains, but it’s well shielded. I almost found it the other day.”
“Yeah, fuck you very much,” Neil said.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t at the coven house when you returned.” Myrddin studied me carefully. “I’d love to know how a painting that should have been on the Hell plane managed to end up in one of the offices. I’ve already had a long talk with the witch who runs that particular office.”
I wasn’t about to tell him about Christine. I hoped whoever we’d screwed over hadn’t been one of our own. “Don’t look at me for information, buddy. I just got here.”
“And yet you’ve already caused much chaos. It will take weeks to get the wards back at full strength. That bomb your spawn set off was quite effective.” Myrddin chuckled. “I should have known it wouldn’t take Daniel long to find his group of loyal friends. That was my true trouble with Daniel. My other charges tended to be lonely and isolated. I should have gotten to this king earlier. I might have been able to save him.”
I’d been Danny’s best friend even when we were children. “You mean you might have been able to control him better than you have.”
“Oh, I controlled Daniel perfectly well. You were the problem, and now I find your children very difficult,” Myrddin admitted. “If I’d been allowed to influence them, they would be living happily in the safety of the coven. Poor…Lee, I believe his name is…he would still be whole. It was a terrible thing the Fae did to the boy. And with a magical weapon so the big Russian couldn’t fix him. That certainly wouldn’t have happened if he’d been in my care.”
“Yes, because you would have taken my human son under your wing. He would have been so safe with you.” The meringue cookies were delicious, and I was starting to have a suspicion that we were safer than I thought. The more I watched Myrddin, the more I thought something was wrong.
Myrddin’s eyes narrowed. “He’s not human though, is he? He’s something more.”
I set the cookie down because it suddenly tasted like ashes in my mouth. I’d only discovered the truth about Lee the day before. “How would you know that?”
“Because Daniel told me, of course.” A sympathetic look hit the wizard’s eyes, and he looked like he knew he was in control again. “You know how close we were. Daniel told me long ago that he had suspicions about Lee, but he couldn’t be sure. Apparently the latency of a vampire is more easy for Daniel to discern after puberty. But I knew he was right. I knew Lee was a special child. I assure you I would have protected Lee until he came of age to make the decision to transition. I would have protected all the children.”
He would have used them. They would have been chess pieces to this man, and if he’d known about the prophecy concerning Lee, he would have killed him immediately.
Daniel had told Myrddin what he hadn’t bothered to tell me. Oh, I’d gotten the whole explanation that he hadn’t been sure and didn’t want to worry me, that he hadn’t wanted to force me to keep the secret from Lee until he was able to process it. I’d heard all of that, but the fact that he’d shared something so private made me angry.
“Zoey, if he didn’t tell you until recently it’s certainly because he was trying to protect you,” Myrddin said in a soothing voice.