Page 81 of The Rebel Seer

“I have friends in another timeline who don’t believe that it is possible, though there might be a way to trick a soul into trapping itself.” When he’d become a vampire he’d stayed with an academic named Marcus Vorenus. Vorenus had been an excellent mentor and they spent many nights sitting around his luxurious Venetian townhouse arguing points of law or history, or in this case, philosophy. “The question is are the rules different here because we’re in another timeline. Myrddin can cross them. He might have come here to take advantage of the difference in how things work here.”

“I think some rules are immutable.” Neil sounded serious again. “It’s why Kelsey’s in Hell right now. No one believes Myrddin could destroy Liv’s soul, but he might be able to hold it somewhere. Or it might hide. What if he’s found a way to tempt the soul to go to a particular place?”

“Like the mountains that called to Shy.” It wasn’t a question. He knew they would have to deal with whatever Shy was here to do.

“The king believes he is eating souls and gaining power from it,” Bibi says quietly. “It might be a lie from the wizard, but he truly thinks he is the most powerful king in the history of the Seelie Fae. Why would the wizard lie?”

“Because he needs your king for something,” Sasha explained. “In our timeline the wizard has grown desperate. I would bet this is some long-term scheme of his that he’s suddenly kicked into high gear. The king wasn’t expecting him, was he?”

“The wizard returned to our palace a week ago, and from all reports there was no scheduled meeting. I was not in the room, but we had eyes and ears on them. The king’s personal dresser has become adept at a form of language that uses only the hands. He cannot write down the things he hears, but his hand language somehow gets around the spell.” She stopped and ran her hand along the wall. In a moment, the bricks receded, a small opening appearing. Sure enough, there was a throne chair and what appeared to be a two-way mirror.

“The room is spelled to be soundproof. The king enjoyed laughing and clapping but sometimes it unnerved the torturers, so he can turn it off or on. He also enjoyed giving orders. What he did not enjoy was getting his clothes bloody.”

Though he seemed to have gotten over it now. Sasha stopped at the sight in front of him. There were two Devinsheas in that dark chamber, though it was easy to tell them apart. One was dressed regally and the other one was wrapped in cold iron, his hands over his head, feet barely touching the floor. A high-stress position that would have Dev’s whole body screaming in moments and would most likely dislocate his shoulders soon.

“Damn it,” Neil breathed as he walked in behind Sasha. “This is why I convinced Danny to check in on Z. If he saw that…”

Devinshea was Daniel’s. Vampires were possessive creatures, and Dev and the queen were Daniel’s precious blood. He would lose his shit. Like Sasha wanted to lose his because Ostara was in the room, too. Her slender form was tied to a chair. She still wore the gossamer gown she’d selected for dinner but it was wrinkled, the hem covered in the mud they drug her through. Her golden hair hung limply around her torso, and she had been crying.

His heart threatened to break.

She was here.

She didn’t look like his Marta, but it was her all the same. If he hadn’t been a vampire, he likely wouldn’t have known, would have merely believed she was some woman he’d just met who touched him in some odd spiritual way.

How many times? How many times had he looked at her face and known they were meant to be?

This time…this fucking time would be forever. This he vowed.

“It’s honestly unnerving being in the same room with him,” the king said as he looked Devinshea up and down. “I think he’s thinner than me.”

“Well, I’m not feasting on the souls of my enemies, you whacked-out bastard,” Dev spat back.

“Please,” Ostara began.

Dev managed to turn his body slightly her way. “Shut up. Let me do the talking.”

It was said in a harsh grind, but Sasha knew the words beneath it. Right now Ostara was a side project. There seemed to be three guards in charge of the dungeons. One was stationed by the door, but the other two were behind Devinshea. It was obvious they were already at work since Sasha’s friend had several round burn marks on his torso. His previously white shirt was in tatters and now a muddy red brown, but he was healing right in front of them.

The king nodded, and one of the guards hauled a long poker out of the raging fire blazing in the furnace. He didn’t hesitate to shove it into Dev’s shoulder, steam rising where it sank in. Dev’s jaw went tight, teeth gritting, but only a low moan came from him.

The guard pulled the poker out and stepped back. In mere seconds it began to heal.

“What is this magic?” the king complained, looking utterly disgusted with the fact that his wounds wouldn’t stay.

A long sigh came from the doorway. Myrddin stood there. “I told you he’s on vampire blood.”

“The vampires here don’t heal others.”

“Because the vampires on this plane are baobhan sith. It’s not the same. They don’t share blood the way the vampires on the inner planes do,” Myrddin said. “Devinshea has been on it a long time, so it will take a lot of damage to get it out of his system. He’s Daniel’s lover, and that means Daniel shares blood with him. Daniel’s blood is powerful. I believe I told you this won’t work right away. Between the god inside him and that damn vamp blood, this could take a while.”

“Or I could drain all the vampire blood out of his body and then the problem is solved.” The king snapped his fingers. “Get me a blade. I’ll slit his throat and this can be over.”

Sasha felt Neil tense beside him and knew they were about to have to make a choice.

Even as the guards handed him a long cold iron blade, Myrddin was shaking his head. “I told you, Your Majesty, if you kill him immediately, the god will flee. You have to separate the god from the man in a very specific way. It’s the only way to take the god’s energy yourself and regain the power of your temple.”

“Bullshit.” Neil’s arms crossed over his chest. “Nothing can hold Bris. I don’t know what the hell he thinks he’s doing, but he’s absolutely conning that king.”

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