frowned, though there was no anger in the expression. “I am Devinshea and he is me. He ascended twelve years ago, a few years after your birth. You are beautiful, daughter. I cannot tell you what finding you means to us. Your father and mother…they did not understand that you were truly their child. Even Devinshea didn’t understand everything about the transference box you were born from. You have to know our family has had a hole in it for years.”
“Wait, what?” Kelsey was lending Marcus a hand. “She’s the queen’s kid? I thought you guys only had the three.”
“She is Summer Donovan.” Marcus straightened his shirt and frowned the Green Man’s way. He was angry. That was easy to see. His tanned skin had flushed, and he didn’t try to hide his fangs. “She is the king’s daughter and my fated companion. You should let Devinshea know that I will not allow him to come between us.”
Kelsey’s eyes had gone wide and her jaw dropped. “No shit! Dude, that’s awesome. High-five, man.”
“Not now, Kelsey.” Marcus didn’t look her way. His stare was on me and the man who might actually be Dev Quinn.
An ascension would explain why he felt different to me. His soul would have been changed by the ancient god he’d bonded with, and it made sense that the god would be a fertility god. Quinn had been a Green Man, though only partially. When I’d met him, I’d felt his sorrow at not fitting in either of his worlds.
Did they truly know my parents? Or was this another trick?
Marcus stalked our way. “Tell your host that if he ever tries to keep her from me, I will kill him.”
And we were right back in I own you mode. He was like the rest only more savvy about how to handle me. I shook my head. “He doesn’t have to keep me from you. I can do that fine on my own.”
“Oh, girl, you tell him,” Kelsey encouraged.
Marcus sent her a stare that could have frozen fire.
Kelsey shrugged. “You’ve had it easy. I would be disappointed if she just fell into your arms. You do that mind thing. It makes it easy for a chick to drop her panties. I should know. Hey, do people wear panties here? Because if I’m stuck, I’m going to need a couple of fresh pairs. I know there are lots of werewolves who don’t mind if their clothes are on the stinky side, but I am not that girl.”
The ancient god among us kept his eyes on me. “Summer, no one will force you to do anything. This I vow. Let’s go back to the field. We need to stay close to where we came from.”
I shook my head and it was time to see if this man meant what he said. “I have to get home. I have people there. Besides, the field is dangerous. The only reason I ran through was the men chasing me.”
“We must stay close,” Bris said. “We fell through an open doorway and it’s our only way home. Home is where your parents wait for you. Do you know how long they’ve looked for a way to pierce the veil and get to you?”
Apparently they should have simply fallen through some open door, since now it seemed I had three Earth plane beings to deal with. “You can’t stay in the field. In a few hours it will be filled with an army of wights.”
“I can deal with the undead,” Bris promised.
Well, of course he could. He was an ancient god who could make the trees do his dirty work. “You can’t kill the undead. I get that you can pull them into the ground, but they’ll fight their way out, and they’ll try to take a few of us with them. If they can lay hands on me, they can potentially kill me, and we all know how that goes. Perhaps they can’t turn you or the vampire there, but I assure you they can make me one of them, and likely Kelsey, too.” I turned to the female. “Are you a demon? I sense that you’re alive in a human way.”
If asking what she was bothered her, she didn’t show it. If anything, she seemed deeply amused with the whole situation. “I’m a Hunter. Like with a capital H. You’ll find if you’re weird and strangely important, they capitalize you. Think of me as a mix of werewolf and demon hunter. I’m pretty