“She senses you?” Kelsey picked up the pace, starting to jog down the long hallway.
It had to be Nimue. She was certainly a queen, and I knew there had been times when she’d felt powerless. I was almost certain she also had a thrall stone in her head. It was the only thing that could explain the change in my once dear friend.
“She senses all of us,” Dean replied. “She’s stalking us. We’re her prey, and when she brings us all to her master, she will be able to take her proper place at his side. She knows I can sense her. She likes my fear. It makes her feel powerful. Wait. There was a moment. She felt one of you and she had a moment of weakness.”
“Nimue and I were close once,” I explained. Maybe I could get to her. The thrall stone should only influence her. It shouldn’t cause her to throw out all of her morality.
“She cares about one of you. She never thought she would see you again. God, she doesn’t want you to see her like this.” Dean put a hand on his heart, like it ached and he could ease it. “But she is resolved. She chose this path and she will see it through no matter what. She belongs to the darkness now.”
Kelsey had turned down the second hallway, the one that would lead to the stairwell we needed, and she stopped.
“Olivia?”
Standing there, blocking our path, was Kelsey’s best friend, Olivia Carey. Liv. Once she’d been one of the kindest souls I’d known. She’d been a witch who used earth magic to help her friends.
The woman who stood in front of us only vaguely resembled the woman we’d known. Now she was all witch, and she was going to kill us.
“Welcome home, Your Highnesses,” she said, the air crackling around her with power.
It was not the homecoming I’d been expecting.
Chapter Two
“Olivia, what the hell is going on? First off, what did you do to your hair?” Kelsey asked.
There were several physical changes to the woman we’d known, the one who used to teach English in the school our kids had attended. Her hair reached her waist, and it was a pitch black that didn’t look natural with her skin. She’d had a warm brown color before. There was something lovely and cold to her appearance now.
“Really? Twelve years and that’s what you say to me?” Liv rolled her brown eyes and for a second her lips started to tug up in a familiar grin.
“Dude, it’s been like four days tops for me. What’s going on with you, bestie? And when did you start to love the leather?” Kelsey took a step toward Liv. “It doesn’t matter. Can you help us get out of here?”
“Kelsey, stop,” Daniel ordered.
Kelsey turned slightly. “It’s Liv. She might look weird, but she’s still my best friend. What are you doing here? Are you spying for Trent?”
Daniel set me on my feet but kept a firm hold of my hand as though he expected me to take off on my own. I wasn’t planning on doing anything of the kind. I shoved my heartache to the side because we were in full-on survival mode now. Kelsey was wrong. I believed Dean. Something had happened to Liv in the years we’d been gone. I’d seen the beginnings of this change when she’d used Arwyna to prove her powers to Nimue and Myrddin.
I looked around, trying to figure out where the pixie queen had gone. I didn’t like the thought of her flying around a place that had been warded against Fae magic. Anything could happen to her.
“Of course,” Liv replied. “Trent knew you would return this very day. He sent me here to save you. The canvas that held the portal went blank years ago. The wizard thought he was safe. But Trent knew you would return. He sent me here after the wizard declared himself king.”
“She’s lying,” Dean whispered.
“And who might you be?” Liv’s eyes lasered in on Dean. “You’re new. And quite powerful.” She frowned. “Your magic…it’s familiar to me. Like a wine I tasted once and never again, but it lingered on the tongue.”
Kelsey stepped back, her eyes going wide. “Okay, who are you and what have you done with Liv? Because you were not this douchey before.”
“Where did you find him?” Liv asked, ignoring Kelsey, but then she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. We should go. I’ll take you out a back way and then we’ll call Trent.”
“You’re lying.” Dean sounded stronger now. “You’re going to try to trick us into a cage. You want to present us all to your master who will execute us. Can you do it? Can you watch him kill her? There’s still a spark of love in your heart, and it has to do with her. And one other. Casey. You still feel for Kelsey and Casey.”
Daniel squeezed my hand and I turned, seeing what he’d been wanting me to see. There was a group coming up behind us, blocking our path. Three men and a woman. The men all dropped to their knees and in seconds there were two wolves and a panther growling our way. I didn’t recognize any of the men, but the woman had been a witch in the Dallas coven.
“I feel nothing,” Liv snarled back. “I made my choice a long time ago, little boy, and nothing will take me off my path. Now that my friends are here, perhaps we should go upstairs and have a chat. Daniel Donovan, you are named outlaw by the true king of the supernatural world, King Myrddin. You and your consorts have been sentenced to death. Kelsey, your status has not yet been determined. There’s still time for you to accept your place in our court. As the king is not in residence, you will all be taken into custody to await his pleasure.”
“Liv, this is not you,” Kelsey said, but I noticed her arm had changed. Kelsey is a specialized supernatural creature known as a Hunter. When she’s in a fight she can change her dominant arm. Normally she would get a wolf claw, but circumstances had led her to developing something much stronger. Kelsey gets a handy, hard to hurt demon limb when she needs it. She’s got the strength and speed of a werewolf, but with none of the wolf’s normal weaknesses.
As Daniel proved.
He held out a hand, and I felt the power come off of him in a gentle, cool wave.
The wolves stopped snarling and sat back on their haunches, tilting their heads in that doggy way that always made them look all cute and curious.
“Let us go or I’ll have them attack.” Daniel’s eyes had lost their whites and were pure blue orbs now.
“I thought King Myrddin spelled the compound to dampen vampire strength,” the other witch said as she moved away from the wolves.
“There is only one king, and even if you take a portion of his strength, he’ll still win the day.” Dev was a good cheerleader. “Now, Olivia, if you allow us to leave, there might be a pardon for you at the end of this. Daniel will take back his throne. Make no mistake about it.”
“You’re really working with Myrddin?” Kelsey stood between us and Liv.
We still had to get through Liv, her witch friend, and the panther, who wouldn’t be affected by Daniel’s ability to call wolves to his side. Then there was the fact that we were in a building that could house five hundred or so people, and I would bet they hadn’t kept our allies in their homes. Everyone in this building would have sworn an oath to Myrddin, and that meant we had to view anyone who lived here as the enemy.