Page 112 of The Rebel Seer

“I think you broke her,” Eoin says. “Pretty funny.”

Myrddin turns the guard’s way. “Watch what you say. I might hate the bitch but she’s so far above you it’s ridiculous. She’s a damn nexus point. She literally makes fate. Her choices change the world. Which is why I have to get rid of her at some point. Unfortunately, it won’t be today. Come in, Your Highness. See what your choices have cost you this time.”

He steps back, and I suddenly don’t want to know. It’s an instinct. Something terrible has happened. I don’t purport to be psychic. Not even close. I’m also crap when it comes to magic. I am what Myrddin called me. A nexus point. It means I have no particular fate and affect the world around me with my choices. I know we all do, but for me it’s on a world-ending fate level. I’ve had angels betting on whether or not I could change the fate of the world, and here we are again and I don’t want to know. I don’t want to see what he’s brought back.

Is it evidence of my daughter’s fate?

My stomach is in knots as they pull me in. I shrink back, not wanting to allow Myrddin to touch me, but he stops and his hand grips my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“Do not think Daniel is coming for you,” he says with gravity. “I used a death magic spell earlier today in order to locate someone important. It is much like the one that nearly killed him all those years ago, though I wasn’t close enough to really do the deed. He would need Devinshea and the god attached to Devinshea’s magic in order to get any kind of strength back. I like to think he’s lying on the ground somewhere, half dead and thinking about all of his choices. He’ll know that’s where he was when his precious blood died. You’ll note that I made it impossible for Devinshea to ever do magic again. He’ll be grateful when I put him down.”

He turns my head and I take in what he wants me to witness. The king is in his shackles, his hands over his head, feet barely on the floor. But he’s not alone. At first my eyes… They don’t work because I can’t be seeing what I’m seeing. Devinshea. My faery prince. He’s bound to a pole, chains wrapped around his body, and he’s covered in blood. So much blood. His shirt is off but I can’t see a patch of clean skin.

And that’s when I realize something is wrong with his arms.

They stop in bloody stumps. His hands. Those hands that caressed me, that stroked over my skin and gave me comfort… His hands are gone.

“Do not look, Zoey,” the king says in an oddly tortured tone. Like he feels my husband’s torment. “He would not wish you to see him this way.”

It’s his words that spark me to movement. Because Devinshea would not want me here in danger, but he will not care if I see him. He did nothing wrong. The wrong was done to him and I promised. I fucking promised nothing would keep me from him. No sickness. No fucking wizard.

I shove at the guards and rush to my husband, tears making the world a watery mess.

“Devinshea?” Goddess, is he already dead? I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s already gone. And Evan is gone and Fen is…

His eyes open, and I can see the weariness there. “My goddess. How I wish you were not here.” But he manages a smile. “Have I told…how much I love you? How good it’s been to be your husband?”

Tears stream from my eyes because this sounds like good-bye. “Don’t you dare.”

“My love, I don’t have a choice. He brought you here to force Bris to leave me,” he whispers. “He knows Bris would stay until the end and give him nothing without some threat.”

In that moment, I don’t care. For all I know Danny’s dead and Neil’s gone. For all I know I’m the last one left and I don’t… I want to be with them. I want to go wherever they go. Please don’t leave me here alone. “Tell Bris to stay. No matter what he does to me. Stay and we can go together. All of us.”

It’s what we planned. To live together. To go into the next turn hand in hand. To spend as little time apart as possible.

Dev’s eyes are a dull green, and I realize how close he is to that next turn, to rounding the corner and fading into something new. “No, my love. You have to stay. On this Bris and I are in full accord. When the time comes, we will sacrifice for our goddess. And our daughter.” His eyes fill with tears. “You have to stay alive for Harriet.”

I shake my head. “He won’t let me live.”

“I will.” Myrddin stands mere feet away, and it’s all I can do to not attack him. I only don’t because it won’t do any good. “I made a deal with a Fae royal. Two, really, and Devinshea kept up his end of the first one. It was why he was sitting there waiting for me when I returned to this timeline this morning. After dealing with the situation on the Hell plane, I realized I’m hesitating because I want to meet my son. It’s selfish and all too human of me. No more. I have what I need and I’m going to do what I promised I would. Free us from the celestial planes.”

“What deal?” I demand, wondering exactly what Devinshea and Bris have offered in exchange for my life.

“If I don’t harm you, Bris will leave the body when I command,” Myrddin explains. “Once Devinshea is dead, you will be allowed to leave.”

“No.” Devilshea twists his body on the rack, turning to his counterpart. “You cannot trust him. When you are dead and she is dead, who will call the hunt on him?”

“It’s recorded in Hell,” Dev replies. “I am not a fool. I would not agree to the deal without a satan present. Myrddin is only half demon, but the rules apply. The satan will check on Zoey and if he cannot find her, he is empowered to call the hunt.”

“Were your hands part of the fucking deal?” Devilshea asks, his voice tortured.

“He took them before he brought us here,” my husband replies simply. “But I would have given them up. I would do anything, give anything to ensure my family survives. Zoey, no matter what he says Daniel is out there. Daniel and our children. You must get to them and be with them. They need you.”

“They need you, too,” I say, all of my emotion rising up like a damn wave. “Harriet needs to meet her father.”

“If only Devinshea was Harriet’s father,” Myrddin mutters.

“You would give everything for her?” King Dev asks, staring at my husband. “You gave your magic. You are not full Fae. You must use your hands. Why would you give up your magic?”

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