Page 103 of The Rebel Seer

“You definitely understand that,” Cassie replies. She moves behind Rhys, with Brendan prowling after them. He’s back in wolf form. “I would bet you’ve never had a serious girlfriend. Or boyfriend.”

Lee shrugs negligently as we reach one of what he calls the resting points. They’re slightly larger spaces in the tunnels where the rebels store food and water and weapons. “I try to keep things light.”

“I saw you hitting on the priestesses last night,” Cassie accused. “Like five of them.”

Lee’s lips kick up in a salacious grin. “I didn’t merely hit on them, sweetheart. I had some fun with three of them after the kiddos were all put to bed. That lust magic might not make the priestesses insane, but it does something for them.”

“Eww,” Cassie replies with a shake of her head.

Rhys reaches for his canteen and refills it. He huddles to one side, keeping me close. “Do you need anything, my goddess?”

“Just to be out of here. How much longer?” I ask. When we’re out in the sunshine, I’ll be able to breathe again.

“About an hour more. Sorry. We’re taking the longest route because that’s the one that dumps out close to our village,” Lee explains, tearing off a piece of what looks like jerky and tossing it Brendan’s way.

The werewolf bounces up and catches it, swallowing it in one big gulp, and then he stops and turns, beginning to growl.

Rhys immediately steps in front of me, a long blade in his hand.

I have to admit, my husband looks superhot when he’s defending me.

But then I hear a familiar bark and the Cwn Annwn are running in. I note they avoid the Drowning Woman as though they know she’s there. They seemed to have been running toward us at breakneck pace, but they slow and carefully avoid her.

They don’t bark or growl. They don’t seem to see her as a threat.

Brendan growls again as the biggest hound tries to sniff his butt. He definitely sees that as an affront to his dignity.

Cassie giggles as they edge past her. “I think they’re just being friendly. I wondered where they went.”

The big hounds make their way to their target. Me. All three crowd in, trying to get near me. There’s nothing unfriendly about them. They’re big dogs looking for cuddles and treats. It’s hard to remember they’re supposed to be hellhounds.

“The king had them held in the royal kennels,” Lee replies, looking down at them with a vague smile on his face. “I’m pretty sure he was going to…” He draws a hand across his throat in the universal sign for get rid of in the meanest way. “My father’s not a pet person. Hey, guys. Did you seriously think these were real Cwn Annwn?”

“How were we supposed to know?” Rhys asks with a huff.

“Well, you’re Fae for one thing. I suspect you have some in your home sithein. These are kind of runts.”

Then I would fear seeing the real thing.

“I didn’t spend a lot of time there except when I was a child,” Rhys admits. “There weren’t a lot of hellhounds on the planes where we hid out. But there were dinosaurs.”

“What is a dinosaur?” Lee asks, absently petting one of the hounds.

I shake my head because we are not going there. “They’re extinct in every plane that counts now. So these aren’t Arawn’s hounds? Your father said something about them being from this plane. Would the crone have been, too?”

“If it’s the same crone I’m thinking of, she used to be one of the King of the Dead’s councils. At least on this plane,” Lee replies. “From all accounts she’s the real thing. I know many Fae visit her for her wisdom.”

“So she would have been working for Myrddin, but she could also have told the truth about some things.” Rhys seems to know where my head is at. He’s asking the same questions I have.

“Very likely, though I’m not sure when she was last in Annwn. No one has been in a long time.”

“How would you know?” I ask.

He seems to think about the question. “I guess I wouldn’t. No one’s come back. Which since it’s a land of the dead makes sense. What I do know is every soul that has died on this plane in the last year hasn’t gone. Our witches tracked the energy.”

I can guess. “They’re going to the mountains in the north. But there has to be a cutoff point because I met some spirits in the forests where we came out.”

“But that forest is connected to the tunnels we found on Snowdonia.” Rhys has put on his thinking cap, and his big brain is working. He might have been forced to flee traditional education at the age of eleven, but Sasha taught all the kids how to think critically. Well, he taught Rhys and Evan at least. Fenrir is more of an emotional thinker, and Lee thinks with his dick. “The legends place Snowdonia atop Annwn, the Welsh version of Hell.”

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