Dev tensed in front of me, and I held my breath.
That was when I noticed Dean. He was standing to the side, his hands up and head down. There was a bluish tint to the air around his hands, a sign of the power he was funneling through them. After a moment, his head came up.
“There was a male coming down the hallway. He’s coming this way. I can easily get in his brain. He’s remembered something he forgot,” Dean explained. “Or rather, he thinks he did. He’s going back to his apartment.” He stared down at his hands. “I’m more powerful here.”
“And I have no power at all,” Dev complained. “Something is blocking me. I can feel the plants beneath the ground, but I can’t call them.”
Dean looked around, moving like he could see something the rest of us couldn’t. “The whole place is warded against certain magic. Fae is one of them, and very likely it is warded against you in particular, Your Grace. There’s also some dampening magic. It’s against death magic.” Dean frowned. “I would bet it dampens the power of vampires.”
Kelsey moved beside her new ward. “How can you tell? I don’t see any wards.”
Dean placed a hand on the wall. “It’s not a simple ward. It’s the building. It’s in the paint, I think. It feels like it’s everywhere.”
“You can use your magic,” Daniel pointed out.
Dean shrugged. “My magic is based on witchcraft. I don’t feel anything that would dampen spellcraft from a witch. If anything, I would bet there’s something in the building that magnifies our power.”
“Myrddin had a dark temple built,” Daniel explained. “It’s a direct portal to the Hell plane, and it does magnify the darker magic. It feeds that side of his nature and anyone practicing black magics. Dean, I’m going to need you to be ready to do whatever it takes to get us out of here.”
That temple had been built shortly before we’d disappeared through the painting. I had known nothing about a portal to Hell being built in my home until it was already completed. It only struck me now how much Myrddin had prepared for his moment. He’d done it behind my back and with my husbands’ help, since Daniel had known exactly what was going on. I would assume Dev had as well. He’d likely helped pick out what curtains went best with the Hellscape and never once mentioned it to me.
I couldn’t even yell at them because now I knew it was the thrall stones that had influenced them. I was sure that under the influence of those stones, Myrddin had convinced them a dark temple would be a lovely surprise for me.
I grabbed the painting. Well, the canvas. It wasn’t a painting now, but I couldn’t leave it behind. It had been a portal once, and perhaps it could be again. Perhaps it could take us where we needed to go because I didn’t intend to lose twelve years with my children.
“Zoey, you can’t take that.” Kelsey was frowning my way. “It’s too big. We’re going to have to try to make our way up to the street level and then over to the eastern wall of the building. There’s a window we can use. That canvas is too wide to fit. I’m honestly afraid the king is too wide.”
Daniel’s brow arched. “You want us to try to make it out of the laundry room? Is that how you got out of the building that first time?”
When Kelsey had first come to live in the Council building, she’d gotten good at evading any attempt at Daniel monitoring her. I’d long thought she’d had help in the form of the only other person who was as good as Kelsey at dodging security.
Lee. My son had a deep connection to Kelsey, and they’d both felt it even before they’d known Lee’s soul was recycled. Lee Owens had been Kelsey’s father. His soul—despite the fact that it was now housed in my son’s body—still reached out for his daughter.
“Yes,” Kelsey replied. “There’s a window we should be able to get through. It leads us to the street outside, and from there we run until we get to a safe place. I’ll find a phone and call Trent.”
“Kelsey, it’s been twelve years,” Dev pointed out.
Kelsey shook her head. “He won’t have given up his phone. He might not keep it on him, but it will be someplace where he can access it. He’ll have a way for me to reach him. He’ll have a plan. We just have to get out of this building for it to work.”
Because her wolf was faithful. “I do believe that Trent would have a plan in place. If he thought there was a chance for us to come back, he’ll have prepared a way. And we have to know that Myrddin will likely have a way to block him as long as we’re in this building. He’ll have it on lockdown.”
“He might even have a way to know we’re in the building.” Dev looked around as though still praying for a weapon.
Daniel nodded. “Which is precisely why we should get out of here as soon as possible. If Myrddin’s had years in this building, he’ll have all sorts of alarms and security. Zoey, that canvas won’t fit through the window Kelsey’s talking about.”
I held on to it like it was a lifeline. “Then I’ll find another way out.”
Dean stepped in front of me. “Your Highness, there is no magic left in this object. It’s served its purpose and it’s dead now. There is no reason to bring it with us.”
I couldn’t believe that. The idea made my gut churn and my heart threaten to seize. “It has to work. There has to be some way. It brought us here. It has to be able to take us back.”
“No.” Dean’s tone was not without sympathy. “It was a tool that’s burned out. I’ve studied magic for years. There is no more magic left here. We can leave it behind and try to find another way. I’ll look for you, Your Highness, but for now, we must run. I sense a dark presence coming toward us. I sense anger and hate and so much rage.”
That got Daniel’s attention. He pulled the canvas from my hands and picked me up before I could protest. “Kelsey, take the lead. Dean, can you persuade whatever is coming to go another way?”
“No. I won’t be able to influence this one.” Dean had gone even whiter than normal. The kid was fair skinned but usually had an odd luminous quality to him. Now he turned the slightest bit sallow.
“Are you all right?” I didn’t fight Danny. He could overpower me, and honestly, in that moment I was so overwhelmed I wasn’t sure I could move on my own anyway. All I could think about was getting through that painting, making it come back to life so it could return me to mine. But something about the way Dean had paled broke through that need.
Kelsey eased through the doorway.
Dean seemed to try to shake something off. “Her presence is quite overwhelming. It’s unlike anything I’ve felt before. I don’t even need to get into her head to read her intent.”
“Her?” Daniel asked as he approached the door.
“The hallway’s clear,” Kelsey said quietly.
Dev took our back, with Dean behind him. “Turn to the left and we can skirt around the edge of Ether to get to the stairwell.”
“Yes, I sense a female witch.” Dean’s eyes had gone a bit glassy, though he continued to move with us. “She’s filled with dark energy. She’s given up much to gain her power, and she won’t let anyone take it back. She’s been powerless before, and now she’s a queen. She’s projecting quite loudly. I think she wants me to know she’s here.”