Page 97 of The Rebel Seer

“You bring hope,” Lee replies at the same time. “You are a rallying cry. You are a pause in the misery that allows my people to remember who we are, what we can do when we are together. This temple is the heart of the Seelie Fae. Not simply of our sithein. The Green Man is a reflection of who we are as a people, and when he becomes corrupt it is up to us to fix the problem. You are revolution, Your Graces, and that is why I know you will cut this short and come with me to the village.”

Rhys growls and frowns my way. “I don’t like him.”

But he knows he’s right. I know how to calm my irritated sex god. I look to Lee. “Go and get everything ready. We will join you in half an hour.”

Rhys growls.

“An hour,” I say with a sigh.

In moments we’re alone with the exception of Benny, who is still staring at the sun.

“Do you see a light?” I ask.

His head tilts down, long white beard against his chest. “Of course. I see several. You are the strongest.”

I give him a smile because I’m absolutely certain he’s flirting with me. As I’m a naked, newly married woman, I can’t blame him. “That’s sweet. I’m talking about a light you can move through.”

“Yes,” he says with a nod of his head. “You’re talking about a door. You’re talking about the first door, the oldest one.”

A pretty way to put it. “If you go through, you begin again in some way.”

“Is it hard, goddess?” he asks, and he’s staring at me with wonder.

I feel Rhys’s hands on my shoulders, but he doesn’t do anything. Merely lets me know he’s with me. “Hard?”

“To be the door and never know what’s behind it? You do, you know. You know. It’s in your heart. You’re confused because it’s been so long.”

The way he’s looking at me… “Since what?”

“Since you were born the first time. Since he had to hide you,” Benny whispers. “I was there. I served him, un sanctaidd. She belongs to the world. Mae hi y llwybr i dragwyddoldeb.”

“She said that to me. What does it mean? It’s Welsh, right? I thought you spoke Gaelic.” The words unnerve me, cause those tears to pulse behind my eyes because I know I’m close to understanding. But I’m also close to knowing something hidden. Something lost. Something that might need to stay lost.

He stands and his expression gentles. “All of his followers speak his language, sacred one. You are the path to eternity. She’s coming. She’s fought so hard to get here. Do not be afraid. Call his name when you need him. He will always come for you.”

And then he dives toward me. I put up a hand, though I know he can’t hurt me. He’s non-corporeal. But instinct has me backing up against Rhys and holding a hand out.

He falls against it, and a gold light shines and he is gone.

What the hell just happened?

“Are you okay?” Rhys asks.

I hear the sound of rushing water that is not from this stream. That sound is soothing and this one…so familiar and yet so deeply frightening.

The Drowning Woman is here. She floats ten feet away.

I turn to my husband, wrapping myself around him and trying not to cry.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Zoey

I sit in the middle of a lush park and thank the goddess for all of Dev’s lessons on protocol when it comes to dealing with the high Fae, and in particular the Seelies. It makes it less awkward for me to know how to sit on this grand quilt beneath me and still look very much the lady. I circled my skirts around my bent knees and made sure my ankles are covered. My boobs are on serious display. Such a weird culture, but I know how to move through it. I keep my eyes downcast for the most part. As they would say in my time, I am all kinds of demure and mindful.

I wonder what my younger self would have done in this situation. Probably taken the knife in Devilshea’s hand and attempted to murder him with it.

“It’s odd.” The king took off his formal coat when he declared this the perfect picnic spot. He’s in a snowy white tunic that’s been unbuttoned to show off his golden, muscular chest. “According to the head of my guard, some of the servants were affected by whatever happened in the temple last night. I use certain spells to make it easier for them to work, and the magic seems to have lessened the hold.”

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