Page 5 of The Rebel Seer

“Ah, the should I stay or should I go now discussion. You should listen to her, Josie. She knows what she’s talking about. If you were Fae, I would be worried you’ll turn sluagh, and that is not pretty.” Rhys Donovan-Quinn is six and a half feet tall, with dark as midnight hair and the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. Those eyes draw me in every time. They shift with the light or his mood. Sometimes they’re emeralds. Other times I see the evergreen of the forest there. Sometimes they’re almost hazel, warm with gold tones. He’s got a foot on me, and when he stares down at me, my stupid heart flutters. My heart doesn’t care that I’m not in his league.

Josie sighs. “Tell me again why you haven’t hopped into bed with him? He’s so hot, and unlike his brother, he seems ready to settle down.”

I do not need to have this conversation right now. “Are you sure you don’t want to walk into the light?”

There are so many reasons I haven’t jumped all over that man. He’s a prince of two realms. He’s the son of the King of All Vampire—though right now his father doesn’t wear the crown. And he’s the son of the High Priest of Faery. Both the Seelie and the Unseelie recognize his father and Rhys as fertility gods.

I’m an orphan who’s one skill in the world is to see and talk to the dead. I don’t think that will help us much in the war that is coming. Although sometimes the dead are bitter and willing to give up some secrets. I tried to convince Sasha to let me hang around the Council building and see who talks to me, but Rhys lost his shit.

Josie’s head shakes. “I don’t know what’s in that light. You don’t know. Sure they say it’s all warmth and sunshine, but I’m more of a shadows girl. I want to hang around until I figure out if that vampire is going to get his fangs in Lily. He’s trying hard.”

I look to Rhys. “She’s literally risking her eternal soul because she likes gossip.”

“We do pretty good gossip here,” he says, his hand coming up to cup my other cheek. “Did you hear that Benedict has been leaving Lily flowers? Night blooms, of course, since he’s dead during the day. I’ve also heard there’s a small war going on with the gnomes. Colin hid Fergus’s hat, and now they are pranking each other like mad. No one pranks like a gnome.”

“See, all good reasons to not risk that light.” Josie takes a seat on the bench in the pretty gazebo Rhys and Lee built for us a few years back.

“She’s hopeless,” I tell Rhys and my eyes stray back to that horrifying slash of water that disturbs the peace of my space.

Rhys’s hand tilts my head up, gently bringing my focus back on him. “Do you think you’ll get a break in Faery? Can souls follow you off plane? What if we get to Faery and it’s all quiet. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Somehow I doubt it.” I wish I didn’t feel so warm when I’m with him, so deeply connected to a man I cannot have. “You know I see dead of all kinds, and I bet there are many on the Faery plane.”

A brow rises. “Yes, I suppose so. Was it easier when it was all humans? At least you might have understood humans.”

I have to laugh at the thought. Everyone thinks they know what it would be like to see the dead. It’s scary until you get used to it. Except you never get used to it. “It was never all human. I was in a foster home and there was a dead dog who haunted the backyard. He was still tied up in the heat. His body was gone but his soul never stopped being tortured. That dog terrified me. Then I went to the hospital, and let me tell you, you don’t get more haunted than a psych ward. I was in the hospital until Harry taught me how to manipulate the system. You know adulting is a lot easier with an old Irish guy in your head.”

Rhys groans and then pulls me close, his arms going around me as the rose shrinks back to its place. “You’re missing my grandfather. I do, too. Even though he spoke through you the last couple of years, it was like we had him around. So are supernatural dead creatures worse?”

I breathe him in. I love the way this man smells, how warm I am with his arms around me. “I wouldn’t say worse. Though there aren’t many. A lot of them are immortal or hard to kill, or they simply walk into the light with more ease than some humans. There’s a small troll who strolls the streets here from time to time. No idea why. He’s never approached me. I saw a witch in the bookstore in Reykjavík a few months ago. She’s waiting for her sister so they can go through together. Her sister’s ninety-two but still going strong, so she hangs in the bookstore and judges people’s purchases. She is very judgey about crystals. Told me the amethyst I was about to buy was a piece of crap.”

He smiles, an expression that can light up the darkest night. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Because I don’t like to talk about the things I see with him. I talk to his sister, Evan. She’s become my closest friend. I talk to Lily and some of the witches. I’ve talked about it with Sasha and Trent, but only when I’ve learned something that could possibly help in the war effort.

I don’t like to remind my sunshine god of an almost lover that I live in the shadows.

“You were off plane when I met the witch. I think you were meeting with someone on one of the alternative planes. You got back and then you saw that little pig and started planning your own mission to retrieve your parents. You know the one you didn’t tell me about. You avoided me for weeks, so I didn’t mention my new dead friend.”

“I wasn’t avoiding you. I was avoiding my grandfather. I couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t decide it was too dangerous and get Trent and Sasha involved. We didn’t tell anyone,” he says softly. “Not even Uncle Neil.”

“Well, Uncle Neil can’t keep a secret to save his life, but we both know I can.” I keep so many of them. I understand why they didn’t let me in on the plan to rescue their parents. They fell through a trapped painting and ended up on another plane. Even when they found their way back, they were stuck in stasis for twelve years. What seemed like a few days for the royals and Kelsey Owens was in reality years. From the moment I was allowed inside this rebel encampment, the witches of the group were trying to find a way to contact their lost leaders. After a lot of chanting and manifesting and taking some really good-looking drugs/religious herbs, they came to the conclusion that the royals would return to the place from whence they left on one of four dates. While Sasha and Trent decided to focus all their energy on one date, Rhys had an encounter with Arkan Sonney and decided to change plans.

There are still omens and prophecies and wee creatures that bring both. You simply have to have your eyes focused in the right way to see them.

Rhys’s fingertips brush along my jaw. “Are you still angry about it? You should know I won’t ever keep anything from you again. Now that you’re…”

“Alone.” I step back because I feel it again. Harry chose to leave after seeing his daughter safely returned. He said it’s time for me to be on my own, that I’m strong enough now. That’s what I told everyone.

What he actually said to me in the quiet of our shared soul was something more.

You were always strong enough, Shy. You never really needed me, but oh how I needed you. You are more than you think you are, but I can’t tell you. You have to discover it for yourself. Remember this. Death is a doorway not an end. It’s one more step on the path we all take, and you help them along. One day you’ll understand the gift you are to this world and the next.

The words are imprinted on me, though I think he was being optimistic.

I only know I miss him. I mourn him.

Rhys goes still. “I’m sorry. You know I miss my grandfather, too. But there is a part of me that is relieved to finally have you to myself.” He takes a long breath and steps back as well, the space between us plain. “However, maybe we should rethink the trip to Faery. My parents can handle the situation.”

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