The Rebel Queen (Outlaw 1)

“Well, he’s way better at keeping secrets than you are.” It wasn’t fair, but I was still pissed about how much they’d talked to Myrddin. And done dumbass things like giving him the combo to our safe. I’d customized that sucker myself, and Dev had handed over the keys to the kingdom. “I think Nim’s right. I’ve always wondered why he would make it a point to put Lee in a situation where he died, but he sent Dean’s mother off plane when he could easily have done the same. He could have ensured Dean was never born in the first place. I don’t think it’s his soft heart about kiddos that did it.”

“They don’t look much alike.” Danny’s whole body was tense, and nothing I said seemed to ease his anxiety.

“We can’t be certain we’ve ever seen his true form.” Lee looked more serious now. “I mean he’s like Nim in that way. He doesn’t look as old as he is. We have to think he might have looked different at one point. Or we might consider that Dean is an aspect of Myrddin. DNA isn’t always a through line. We know Myrddin’s DNA includes at the very least incubus demon. The legend has always been that he was the product of a virtuous woman and an incubus. However, we can’t possibly know if that virtuous woman didn’t have, say, companion blood or a hint of Fae. Dean looks a little Fae to me.”

When Lee wanted to show his smarty-pants side, he could bring it. Dean’s hair alone made me think Fae. Faeries—sidhe especially—sometimes came in extreme colors. Raven dark, like Devinshea and our twins. I’d seen some with hair the color of the purest snow as well, with crystal eyes to match. Like Dean’s.

If that was true then Dean, like Myrddin himself, was a child of all three of the inner planes. His DNA came from Heaven, Hell, and he was conceived here on the Earth plane.

Rather like my Lee. Lee should have been like his brother—the genetic product of a companion and a Fae. Both are closer to celestial beings. Being conceived and born on the Earth plane centered him here.

But Danny’s vampire DNA had taken root in his body. Lee was truly a child of all three planes.

“Not all children are carbon copies of their parents. I think I’m right about this. I saw the shock in his eyes when he caught sight of Dean at the café.” Myrddin had been genuinely taken aback. “And I think Liv recognized Dean’s magic. She said something about it being familiar.”

“It would also explain why he was able to clear the curse Myrddin placed on Zack when no other witch could.” Dev sipped one of the martinis he’d made for us. Naturally the plane came with a full bar.

We were set to land in Dallas two hours before Danny and Dev’s meeting with Myrddin at Klyde Warren Park. It would be daylight out so we could be sure Myrddin wasn’t bringing vampires with him. On our side it would only be Danny and Dev and the shifter guards we’d been allowed. I had to pray Danny could handle everything.

He had express orders to fly he and Dev away if anything started to go wrong.

The park wasn’t far from Ether. Or whatever they were calling it these days. The Coven house, I assumed. I have to admit that the idea someone else was living in the home Dev had built for us rankled. Would I ever feel safe there again? This was the place where I’d given birth to our children, and I worried even if we got it back, it would feel wrong to me.

“Dean told me he dreams about Myrddin,” Lee revealed. “And a woman. I think he might be dreaming about Mia. I don’t know. He says she’s blonde. I don’t know how I feel about him dreaming of her. I get the feeling these are not merely friendly dreams.”

“You don’t know it’s Mia. Lee, you have to be careful.” Danny leaned toward our son. “I know you’re hoping you’ll open that door and Mia will be standing there waiting for you, but that’s not the likeliest outcome.”

“You think she’s dead,” Lee said softly.

Danny nodded. “I think that’s a definite possibility. I think she died or she’s gone. If she’s on another plane, we’ll likely never see her again, or she could have aged or not, given how time works on the plane she’s been on.”

“If she’s much younger, then it’s good I’m a vampire.” Lee’s gaze was steady on his father, as though challenging him to continue. “I mean if a two-thousand-year-old was good enough for Evan, then me waiting for Mia to grow up shouldn’t be a problem.”

“And if she’s much older?” Danny never shied away from a challenge. I could have told him he wasn’t going to win this one, but he wouldn’t have listened to me anyway. “If she’s in her eighties?”