Page 59 of The Rebel Seer

This is Myrddin Emrys. The man who killed my family. He’s standing right there, and the desperate urge to reach for a blade and tear out his throat is almost overwhelming.

“Don’t,” Rhys whispers. “He’s not alone. Can you feel them?”

His hand slides against mine and he moves slightly in front of me, shielding me with his own body. He’s right. I do feel something. There’s something here. Something we cannot see.

“My uncle could do it. He kept a hidden guard with him,” Rhys whispers. “Be careful. You won’t see them until they slit your throat.”

One of the rebels hoists his bow up, aiming at the king, but the space around him twists and turns and he’s pulled into…nowhere.

“I’ve never seen my uncle do that before,” Rhys whispers.

“Would anyone else like to try me?” the king asks, his lips turned up in a cruel approximation of a smile.

“Z?” Neil stares at his queen, his best friend, but he has to be thinking of Cassie and Brendan. His children. There’s a tortured look in his eyes.

Go, Zoey mouths, and in an instant, he’s a wolf again, running past the guards at breakneck speed.

“Leave him. He’s incidental. We’ll take him out later. Everyone important is here with one exception. I told you it would work,” the wizard says, putting a hand on the king’s shoulder like they’re old friends. “I told you I could return her to you. Though you’ll have to take care of him first. I suspect he will object to you taking his wife.”

Devinshea already moved to stand in front of Zoey, his clothes tattered and bloody. “You will not take my goddess.”

“Your goddess?” The king looks her over, his gaze stopping on her neck. “Is that the Goddess Chain? Then you are exactly what Myrddin says.”

“Devinshea, they are no threat to us.” Ostara stands, her gentle voice tremulous. She puts a hand to her chest as though speaking from the heart or trying to work her will. “They are not here to harm us. They simply want to get back to their own time.”

“Oh, they won’t allow that, golden one.” Sasha stares at her with an intensity I rarely see on his face. “They are the ones who sent us here, and that means they will know who we are and how to kill us.”

The Fae guard who had come with Lee all stand at attention, their bodies tense and weapons out. It’s obvious they’re not sure what to do. It would seem like Myrddin and King Devinshea are outnumbered, but we can all feel the wrongness of this room, the unseen threat.

Lee, however, stands and stares his father’s way. “She is not my mother. Not the Zandra you knew.”

The king of this land cannot seem to take his eyes off her. “She will do, son. She is the payment I required from the wizard for aiding him with his plans. And for being an excellent teacher. Shall I show you what he taught me?”

The wizard holds out a hand. “Not yet. I told you we must find the vampire king. He is more dangerous than you can imagine. This is why I insisted on the wards and spells we placed on the palace. They will weaken him. He should already be feeling their power. The Deiniol you knew was weak and gentle. This is a version of him unlike any other. Do not underestimate him.”

“I can handle any Deinny who comes my way,” the Fae king promises. “And any weakling version of myself. I wish to be done with this. I don’t like seeing his hands on my concubine. I want to kill him.”

“I told you we can’t kill him so easily.” A tinge of irritation seeps into Myrddin’s tone. “Like your fiancée, he is an ascended god. We must separate the god from the vessel and then we can feed from both. Their mortal souls are nothing compared to the gods inside.”

And now I know why there are no dead here.

The king of this Seelie sithein has turned into a soul eater. It’s something I’ve heard of but never believed in. A soul is sacrosanct. However, if anyone could figure out a way to do it, it is Myrddin.

It makes my stomach roll.

“Rhys, we have to get away. We have to get everyone out of here,” I whisper.

I don’t know what he’s doing with the souls, but we can’t risk it. If he’s found a way to truly destroy a soul, they won’t merely kill us. They will harness our souls to feed their magic. I’m not sure if he wants to destroy the soul or shackle it, tormenting it for power. Either way, I want to avoid it.

Did he do that to my family?

“Fine,” the king of the Seelies says, command in his voice. “Guards, take…myself, I guess. Take this thing with my face to the dungeons.”

“He will find me hard to separate, my goddess.” Bris has taken over the body, his eyes fully emerald. “It will take days. Daniel will find you. We will stay alive. We will survive.”

“Well, he’s not wrong about the days of torture part,” Evil Dev agrees as two guard wind their way out of space and time. One minute there’s a whooshing sound and the next there are two large Fae guards, reaching out to bind Bris’s hands behind his back. “But I will break him, and I will take his power as my own. It is time I am allowed in my own bloody temple again.”

Lee looks my way. Or rather our way. I think his words are truly meant for Rhys. “Yes, my father’s temple is alive. It stopped allowing him in when he started eating souls.”

---