He was trying to be strong. Lee’s scars were on the outside, but it was obvious to me that Rhys had been through a lot, too. Rhys was fully Fae. Any wounds he’d taken would heal, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t feel them all in his soul.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
He looked into my eyes and nodded slightly. “We should get inside.” He seemed to shake off his emotion and he lowered Eddie to the ground. The small demon appeared to be recuperating quickly. “But first, who is this? Why is he traveling with you?”
Dean. He was talking about Dean. And Rhys didn’t seem to feel the cold the way I was. Dean’s shoulders straightened as he realized all eyes were on him.
“My name is Dean Malone. I’m here to kill the wizard Myrddin.”
Lee’s laughter seemed to bounce off the mountains.
Evan slapped her brother’s arm. “Lee, manners.”
“He has none, sister.” Rhys’s lips had quirked up, the first sign he was anything but serious. “And you have to admit it’s pretty funny. Thank the goddess. Dean Malone is here. We are saved. Who the fuck is Dean Malone?”
Fen moved around Dean as a light snow began to fall. “He smells like a witch.”
That pronouncement had Rhys and Lee both going predatory.
“You brought a witch?” Rhys asked. “You do understand we’re at war with the witches. I know you haven’t been back long, but I assumed Olivia Carey had brought the point home.”
“Dean isn’t from this plane,” Kelsey explained.
I had to stop this argument. It seemed my boys had turned dangerous. “He’s a friend.”
My teeth were starting to chatter.
“He’s the baby Myrddin sent off world.” Kelsey didn’t feel the cold the way I did. “Trent has to have explained this to you.”
A brow cocked over Rhys’s eyes, an expression so like his father’s that it made my heart clench. “The one with the power to kill Myrddin?”
“It’s more complicated than that,” Kelsey replied. “But the important thing is Dean is trustworthy. If he’s the reason you’ve brought us here instead of to your home base, then he and I will make our way to the nearest village. We’ll find a way to Atlanta ourselves.”
Eddie’s black eyes looked endless as he stared up at Kelsey. “No, my mistress. You can’t do that. It is too far.”
There was nothing that Eddie feared more than one of his charges being uncomfortable. It kind of made me wish Albert was here since he likely would have made me a coat by now. He would have hunted down some furry creature and I would feel guilty but warm. I was okay with that in the moment.
Dean was pointing to the base of the mountain. “No, we’re here, Kelsey. There’s some kind of doorway, right there. It’s good magic. Is it Fae?”
“It’s supposed to be undetectable is what it is,” Rhys complained. “I’m going to have a long talk with our guardians.”
Dev had stopped staring down Fenrir and had me cuddled against him. Arwyna had burrowed under Dev’s shirt. I wished I could do that, too.
“Is it warmer inside?” Dev asked. “Or do you plan to freeze your mother? We need to get in out of the elements. We have much to talk about.”
And we had to plan how to get out of this timeline.
“Rhys’s putting off the moment when he has to face the music.” Evan shook her head and strode forward, waving her hand.
The air around us shimmered and the entrance to what appeared to be a cave was suddenly in front of us. I could see torches lighting the way inside.
Rhys frowned. “Or I’m making sure we don’t invite the enemy into what’s supposed to be a secret base of operations.”
Evan tossed her braid over her shoulder. “Momma wouldn’t bring the enemy with her, and you know all about the prophecy concerning Lee. If they’ve found the other half to that prophecy, then good for them. It means we have two chances instead of one. It might make the years we’ve lost worthwhile. You’re afraid of what Sasha is going to do when he finds out where we’ve been, and he should be awake by now. Come along, brother. He’ll be less likely to murder us when he realizes we were right.”
“I doubt that.” Rhys stepped up to the doorway. “He was clear about us not going today, but damn it, I was right. And hey, Dad’s back. Dad, don’t let Sasha kill me. Dad is Sasha’s king no matter what Myrddin says. Goddess, it’s good to be the son of a king again.”
“A king without a crown,” Lee said as he gestured for us to move through the doorway. “We’re outlaws. It’s a bit more fun, don’t you think?” He stopped Dean before he could enter. “You should know that if you betray my family, I will kill you. I don’t care what kind of magic you have. I have rage and hate, and they will win every time.”
Dean stopped and stared at him. “You aren’t full of hate, Lee Donovan-Quinn. You should be. You should be a ball of misery, but you still have light. You’re everything I dreamed you would be. It is good to meet you.”
Despite the fact that I could feel the warmth coming from inside, I stopped and watched because this felt…important.
Lee had lost that devil-may-care look on his face, and he stared down at the hand Dean was offering him.
“We truly believe he’s the child Nemcox talked about. Did Trent ever tell you about the two people on the Earth plane who could kill Myrddin?” I didn’t want Lee to turn down that hand. Since the moment I’d realized what Dean might be able to do, I’d wanted him to take Lee’s place, to be the one with the burden. But it felt wrong. It felt like they should be in this together. Against all odds, against every machination of the world’s wickedest wizard, they were here together. They were the same age, seeming opposites of each other. Lee’s looks were dark like his father’s, while Dean was white as the snow that fell around us.
They seemed like pieces of a puzzle finally falling into place.
Dev’s hand slipped into mine, as though he felt the moment, too.
“He told us what Kelsey learned from the demon known as Nemcox.” Evan was watching Dean now.
Lee finally reached out and took Dean’s hand. “If you are who they think you are, then we can work together. But you need to understand that I will kill that wizard.”
Dean’s lips curled up as he took in my baby boy. Turned up in a way that made me wonder just what had been in those dreams he’d been having. “Then I shall help you, Prince Lee.”
Lee shook his head and took his hand back. “Just Lee. I was never a prince. But I would be glad for someone with magic who doesn’t attempt to kill me. Come inside and I’ll buy you a beer. No one makes ale quite like trolls can.”
The electricity between the two was palpable. They had chemistry, those two men.
Like Danny and Dev had from the moment they’d met.
It was odd because I’d always thought he would end up with Mia. As children, Lee and Sarah’s daughter had clung to each other, been the best of friends. I’d worried because Lee was human and Mia both a witch and a companion. She’d gotten her magic from her mother and that glow that vampires loved from her fallen-angel father. “Where is Mia? Is she still with you?”