The Rebel Queen (Outlaw 1)

“I’m sure the Fae gold I kept helped him out,” Dev said bitterly. “He knew the combination to my safe because I thought it was a good idea in case he ever needed anything from it. Goddess, those stones can do a number on your brain.”

“You’re telling me.” Nim was every bit as bitter. “Anyway, Olivia and I went up to do Myrddin’s bidding, and once we got there, I realized we weren’t alone. Sarah Day was in the penthouse and she was holding something. A small tote bag. It looked like she’d gotten some blood on it. It was weird because later on I realized there were little drops of blood all over the closet. Now it makes sense. Was the bag primed by you?”

I nodded. “Yes. Only me or my father could see it. Sarah could use my blood to make it visible in this world. So she figured out something had gone terribly wrong and she went to find the bag. What happened to her?”

“I don’t know. She knocked Liv out, and Myrddin hadn’t told me to specifically hurt Sarah. When I wasn’t directly under his influence, I could still think for myself. Sarah was a friend. She told me she had to get out, and I didn’t know what was in the bag so I let her go. I stood there and watched her run away. About ten minutes later something happened. The whole building shook, and there was this blinding light. When we went down to the floor she lived on, that was when we discovered she’d locked her apartment away. Myrddin’s tried to get in but nothing’s worked. He’s tried to physically knock the door down. Nothing. He tried to go up through the floor below or down through the ceiling, but he hasn’t been able to get through. There’s an utterly impenetrable ward on that apartment.”

I looked to Daniel, my heart beating faster.

“How would she survive all this time in that apartment?” Danny knew exactly what had gone through my head. “She has to eat.”

I wasn’t sure, but I knew my friend. “She’s a powerful witch. If someone can figure a way around it, she could.”

“Or she got trapped,” Dev offered. “We don’t know what we’ll find in there. Zoey, maybe you shouldn’t go into that apartment.”

“She has to. It’s where the bag is,” Asta explained. “The head is right. That space is sealed off tight even to me, which means the wards hold on an interdimensional level. But I can feel the energy coming from the pocket universe inside the bag. The Hidden Ones can always sense the interdimensional energies from pocket worlds. The bag is in there, and there’s something else, something old. A remanent of energy. Like something ripped a hole in the veil. It’s closed now, but it was powerful enough to leave a scar in the physical world.”

So she could have gotten out. “She could have opened an interdimensional doorway. She could still be alive. I need to get into that apartment.”

If the door was still open, we might find a way to get Sarah, Felix, and Mia back. She might have left me instructions.

“You can’t, Zoey. She warded it with her heart’s blood. It’s the only explanation. Her heart’s blood and something else. Wasn’t her husband an angel once?” Nim asked.

“Felix. Yes, he fell and took a human body to be with her.”

“She used his heart’s blood, too,” Nim explained. “It doesn’t matter that his body was human. A fallen angel still has celestial blood running through his veins. No wonder Myrddin couldn’t find a way in.”

“Why wouldn’t she take the bag of holding with her? Why leave it in the apartment?” I was trying to make sense of her actions.

“Because she was going to a place she might not be able to come back from,” Nim said quietly. “Because she worried if she took it with her, you would never get it back. She was too worried to leave it close to Myrddin. And with good cause. That book contains a piece of his soul. You couldn’t hide it from him forever. No matter how powerful the bag was. He would have found the bag and would have found a way to open it. The book itself wants to be with him. Sarah built a safe around it with her family’s blood. She sealed it off so it was waiting for you when you returned. I’m going to assume you can get in. It was your blood in the closet. She had a supply for spells?”

“Sarah was our healer.” Dev sat on the edge of the bed, his hands on his knees.

“Then she could have spelled that locked down ward to drop when you show up. It’s what I would have done,” Nim admitted. “Zoey, you can’t let Myrddin near that book. Or the sword. You know what he wants to do, right?”