Page 61 of The Rebel Seer

Rhys goes stiff, and the whole room turns. Out of the corner of my eye I see Ostara and Bris being taken from the room, magical bindings holding them tight.

Myrddin stares for a moment, pinning me with those pitch black eyes of his. There’s a long moment where I swear he’s trying to look into my soul. “Fuck me. I missed one. How did you get away?”

“I wasn’t home that night.” I don’t pretend to misunderstand. We’re past that, Myrddin Emrys and I. “The night you torched my home, I was at a friend’s house.”

Myrddin’s head shakes. “It was a school night. You should have been… I will kill the dark prophet. I will eat his soul and that of his children. You. He saved you. Guards, take her into custody. I will speak with her in the dungeon. Devinshea, take the rest out and kill them. We need to find the King of All Vampire and his wolves. And then I want to talk to your witches. No one told me there was a seer in the group.”

The words threaten to turn my stomach.

He did it. He torched my mom, my sister, my aunts and uncles and cousins, and is mad he didn’t get us all.

Something dark opens inside me, and I feel power roll through me for the first time. Not a medium’s power. This is ancient. This power inside me is as old as the hills. As long lived as the oceans.

It feels right. Like waking after a long slumber.

The wizard turns, and his eyes widen. “No. No, it can’t be. Kill it. Kill it now.”

He’s pointing at me.

Six guards form, all male and sidhe, with long swords or bows.

Sasha takes his shot and jumps the one closest to me.

All of Lee’s guards begin to fight, and I hear the clash of swords and whips of crossbows.

The king hauls Zoey out, even as she screams Rhys’s and my names. He simply picks her up and walks out, leaving the rest of us behind.

I feel one of the rebels die, his soul lifting up from his body even before it falls to the ground under the guard’s sword. I see the spirit, shock on his ghostly face as he is pulled toward the wizard.

He doesn’t even have to try. He simply reaches out a hand and drags the soul into his body, light flashing as he is absorbed.

My body aches as I reach out, trying to drag him back, but I don’t know how. The impulse is there. It rushes under my skin, but the knowledge is far from me.

I should know. I did know. Once I was this magic and this magic was me.

Swords clang and I’m surrounded by the grunts and groans of battle. Rhys tackles me, taking me to the floor.

I feel his power trying to flare but it’s dampened. Myrddin is working some mojo, and I would bet they took out all of the rebel’s witches. Myrddin knew about Rhys and his powers, so they are ready for him.

What he isn’t ready for is me.

The trouble is I’m only now starting to figure out I have power at all. It’s right there. Right in my fingertips, but I can’t quite make it work. Terror thrums through me because I can’t watch this happen to him. Not to Rhys.

I held back for so long. So long, and now I’m here and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I lose him, I lose the best part of me. I lose the us we can be. I can’t.

“We have to go.” Lee is suddenly standing over us. “The wizard is held back by the wards, too, but he’s taking them down. It won’t be long before he’s at full power and can kill us all with a glance. I’ll take you to the temple. We’ll be safe there.”

Rhys hauls me up and barely avoids taking a sword to his shoulder. It comes down and hits the ground and Rhys whirls me away. By the time I can look over his shoulder, Lee is gutting the Fae with what I’m sure is cold iron. I see the man’s soul begin to leave his body and like the others, it’s drawn to the wizard, who doesn’t even look up from weaving whatever spell he’s working as the male’s immortal soul is sucked into his body. And that male was his ally. He doesn’t discriminate. He will take them all into his greedy soul.

Sasha makes his way to us, fighting them off with his bare hands. His fangs are out and there’s blood coating his tunic as he grabs Rhys’s arm. “We’re going now.”

Lee nods. “We take them to the temple. The king’s men can’t get in.”

I hear a cry and then it feels like the whole world goes still.

Neil. Fae Neil is in one of the last guard’s arms, and I watch as he drags a blade over his throat and bright red blood begins to flow.

“Uncle,” Lee shouts, but it’s far, far too late.

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