Page 23 of The Rebel Seer

Danny stands, too. “We’re ready to go. Dev, did you pack enough Scotch?”

My Fae hubby sends my vampire hubby a smile. “Oh, Your Highness. We are packing light, but I assure you we can find something in the palace to get in trouble with.”

See, that makes me perk up. I love it when my guys go at it.

“I’m not letting Shy get anywhere close to this male,” Rhys announces. “Mother, I understand that you need to go. You need to find the Days. You need good relations with the Fae. But Shy and I are staying here. I will ensure our safe transfer to New Zealand.”

“Rhys…” Dev begins.

But Shy is standing up, pulling her hand from Rhys’s. “You are not my master, Rhys Donovan-Quinn.”

Rhys’s eyes narrow. “No. I am your commanding officer, however.”

“And I am yours,” Sasha says, his voice deep. “Or do you forget your place?”

“I think things have changed, General.” Rhys stands, his shoulders back like the good soldier he is. “I think our little army unit has shifted since my parents returned, and I know my powers have grown. I know Faery better than you.”

“You know it from your childhood and you fear it from your adolescence,” I say, trying to reason with him. “Rhys, we all need to go. Shy most of all because if Arawn knows something about her power that we don’t, we have to explore it.”

The hounds take up positions around Shy, and I feel the minute this could go poorly.

Rhys doesn’t seem to feel the shift. His hand slaps on the table. “She is my goddess, and I will not have her in danger.”

Not the way he should have gone.

I hear thunder in the distance.

“And this is how I know she is not your true goddess,” Dev says with a frown. “Not yet. If she was you wouldn’t be about to bring a storm down on our heads in the middle of a pocket world. Do we even have drainage? Are we about to flood?”

Shy looks my way, a frown on her face. “If I have sex with your son, will he be easier to control?”

There’s only one answer to that. Though it’s not a question I thought I would ever be asked. I should have known better. “Infinitely. And you’ll be the only woman he’s ever had so you won’t even have to compete with faulty memory.”

“Excellent,” she declares as she stands. “Then we’ll be ready to go when it’s time. Let us know, but you should probably knock, Your Highness.”

She takes Rhys’s hand and my stunned son follows her out. Along with two of the hounds. The third finds his way back to me and sits, obviously asking for a treat. I give the good boy some of Albert’s bacon.

I know how to deal with a hellhound.

And it feels like Shy is about to figure out how to deal with my son.

“It really should be…” Dev begins.

Danny picks up an orange and fast balls it at Dev’s head.

“Oww.” Dev’s hand goes to his head as he frowns Danny’s way. “Fine. I’ll stay out of it.”

Words we should all follow.

Chapter Seven

Shy

There’s a light rain falling as I hold Rhys’s hand and lead him out of the big house his parents call home in Frelsi. Earlier in the day, the sun was shining, but now there’s a distinct gloom. So Rhys’s magic can override the magic of the pocket world. Even in a world made of magic, Rhys’s can hold sway.

“Shy,” Rhys begins.

I’m not in the mood. Honestly, it’s been a day, and I’m sick of feeling like I’m not doing what I should be doing. Even when the what I should be doing is offering my virginity up to a Green Man. I knew when Harry left I would have a choice to make. I’ve been putting it off because there’s a part of me that knows giving myself to Rhys will make it so much harder to leave him.

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