Page 113 of The Rebel Seer

“It comes from her.” Dev speaks to his timeline twin, but his eyes are on me. “That’s what I found out. My magic always came from her. From loving her. From building a family with her and my Daniel. There is no magic without her, so it was an easy choice to make. My goddess, you are the center of my world. Never forget it. Know that if there is any way, we will find it. Bris will try to find a way to come back. I will try to wait. Know that I am somewhere in all the planes and all the timelines loving you, missing you, looking for you.”

I can’t. I put my hands on his cheeks. “Please don’t go.” I wrap my arms around him. “Please.”

“You have to save Shy,” he whispers. “She’s in the back. He’s going to either kill her or figure out how to use her. I would have added her in to my deal, but I thought she was with Rhys. Save our daughter-in-law, my goddess. I will do the rest.”

The rest being dying for Myrddin’s plot.

Myrddin’s hand grasps my arm, hauling me away from him. “I think that’s enough. It’s time for the king to make good on his deal. You see I had to find a way to keep the souls in the mountain. It’s sacred in this timeline. The Quinns have preserved it as a holding space for their great treasures and a way to honor their dead. The only way for me to work spells on this land is for the king to open the doors. I already tried using your husband’s blood but apparently the spells know he’s not the real king.”

“So sorry we couldn’t help you,” I say, turning to look around and trying to figure out where Shy is. Devinshea gave me a gift when he whispered in my ear. He gave me a mission.

Save Shy.

I see a figure on the floor. She’s slumped over. I want to scream at Myrddin, but I pretend I don’t notice.

The guards pull the king off the rack and start to lead him outside.

“Stay with them. Don’t take your eyes off her,” Myrddin orders as Eoin pushes his king out into the cold again. “I’ll be back for you, Devinshea. Do not forget our bargain.”

The minute the flap closes I run to Shy. Despite what Myrddin said, the guards don’t seem too interested in me.

I drop to my knees and pray my daughter-in-law is alive.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Shy

I come awake to the sound of a familiar voice pleading with me.

It’s hard. Myrddin hit me with some kind of spell. Something to make me sleep, and I can feel that I am bound, my arms and legs tied by his magic.

I am trussed up and ready for slaughter.

“Shy? Shy, please wake up.”

The queen? I open my eyes and realize it wasn’t merely horror that caused me to faint dead away. Nope it’s magic. I didn’t realize it at the time. I saw my father-in-law and nothing else mattered, but now I feel the remains of whatever spell he sent my way.

It makes things foggy, but I can clear it out.

“Are you okay, baby?” The queen puts a hand on my forehead like I’m a child and she’s checking for fever.

It’s been a long time since I had a mother to fuss over me. It feels nice.

That’s when I realize the queen is not alone.

The Drowning Woman stands over her, her hands moving in and out of the water with what feels like desperation.

She can follow me anywhere. I can change timelines. I can move off plane. I can get hit with a transportation spell and she can find me.

I stare at her. Why? Why would she follow me through time? Across the universe? To torment me? Or is it for another reason? Something the terrified child in me cannot see. What if I am exactly what Matilda said I am? Yr un sanctaidd.

Because you do not know death, either. You can see yourself as a cold, pointless thing, or as necessary and warm and loving as birth itself. Like all things, you decide how to see the world around you, and by choosing your vision, you form reality.

I choose the form of my reality.

What if the thing itself doesn’t change—always was, always will be the same—but how I see it makes the difference?

“Talk to me, Shy,” the queen begs, and I see the tears in her eyes. “Can you move? I don’t see rope but you’re not moving.”

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