me Papa, but I’ll understand if Dev is easier for you,” Quinn offered. “I’d like to talk to you a bit more about your parents. I won’t push myself at you. You’re Daniel and Zoey’s daughter. I hope you can at least come to see me as a friend.”
I needed to keep us on task, but I was suddenly worried because Quinn was firmly on Team Myrddin, and if I’d managed to find one of the two beings who could take the old goat down, I didn’t want to tip him off. But I really wanted to know what she’d meant by destiny.
“Devinshea, could I speak to you for a moment?” Marcus asked.
It was good to know he could still read my cues.
Dev’s jaw tightened but he nodded. “Yes, I think we should talk.”
The boys walked together toward the trees.
I sat down in front of Summer. “You said Dean had a destiny. What does that mean?”
She hesitated.
I gambled. “Is Dean supposed to save the Earth plane from a man named Myrddin?”
Her eyes widened. “The spawn. Satanspawn.”
I smiled, pure joy coursing through me. “Oh, Summer, we’re about to become such good friends.”
* * * *
Summer
Hearing the name Myrddin come out of Kelsey’s mouth sent a shiver through me. I glanced down at Dean and saw that his breathing was even and deep. He seemed to be sleeping. “Why would we be friends? I would assume you want to get back to your plane as soon as possible, and I need to get home. I need to protect Dean.”
The brunette was gorgeous when she smiled. It was easy to see why Marcus had cared for her. “Let me tell you, sister, protecting Dean just became my main mission in life. We need to get him on a training schedule. I don’t know a lot about the witchy parts of his skills, but the kid needs to know how to avoid losing his weaponry. I got that crossbow out of his hands pretty damn quick. So we’ll start there.”
I shook my head because she talked very quickly when she wanted to. Also, I wasn’t used to anyone who actually believed me about Dean having an important destiny. Even his mother had laughed at the thought. She and his stepfather were viewing this as an adventure before Dean would inevitably return to the comforts of the Vampire plane and take a position at the family company—Malone Oil and BioTech. “Why would you train Dean? Though if you could find a way to the Earth plane, we’ll need that someday.”
I likely wouldn’t. I would probably get my ass killed because Turi wasn’t going to stop following me and I wasn’t going to willingly become his “queen.” It sounds great and apparently queens run in the family, but for Turi’s people the term queen is simply how they refer to the unlucky woman the king rapes on a regular basis. I wasn’t going to let that happen, even if it meant going down in a blaze of glory. But Dean would need that ticket.
Kelsey nodded. “All right, I’m going to give you the lowdown, but we need to keep some of this between me and you. So, I’m what’s called a Hunter. Long story short, I’m a hybrid werewolf with some Amazon thrown in for good measure. Probably don’t have that mythology on this plane. Cool. We’ll watch Wonder Woman and you’ll get how awesome that is. Now that I think of it, you’re kind of one of us. Your mom is the queen of more than Vampire on our plane. Anyway, we’re pretty much in charge of making sure the men of the plane don’t fuck shit up. I’m the warrior. Your mom is the queen. I fight for justice and to maintain balance on the Earth plane. Your mom…she’s really good with sarcasm and vodka, and she always has a burger waiting for me at the end of a battle. Don’t discount that. I’m usually pretty hungry.”
I was confused. “I thought my father protected the plane. He is the king.”
She snorted. “As if. I mean sure he’s the king, but there’s a lot of political crap that goes into wearing that crown. He can’t always make the right choice. That’s why he’s got me. I’m the Nex Apparatus. Do you know what that means?”
“Death Machine.” I knew it because it was what my father had been when I was born. He’d been the Council’s Death Machine and it had weighed heavily on him. He’d