The Rebel Queen (Outlaw 1)

My heart ached with every word she spoke. “Why didn’t he go with you?”

“Because Myrddin showed up before we were ready,” my daughter explained. “He rushed in and we were in our rooms. Granddad held him off. Held all of them off. He bought us time with his life. He’ll have to tell you that part. He doesn’t talk about it past that. Anyway, Eddie managed to get us out of the penthouse. He can only teleport to places he’s been to before, so we ended up in Italy on the island of Poveglia. From there we made our way to Venice and Marcus Vorenus’s townhouse there. Sasha was in residence, and he and Trent took control. For the first several years, we moved around a lot. Even from plane to plane when they found someone who could teach us.”

They’d gone from pampered kids to fugitives overnight. “Teach you how to fight?”

“Yes, and some magic. I’m not that great with it, but Rhys has been able to funnel some of his Fae magic into powerful Earth magics,” Evan explained. “Sasha was insistent that we all train to our capabilities. We found a ridiculously cold plane where Fenrir was taught by a werewolf mentor. There was some discussion about leaving him there while the rest of us learned our own skills, but we rebelled. The kids, that is. We wouldn’t let ourselves be broken up, so we all learned new skills.”

How hard had it been for them to stand up to their leaders and keep themselves together? Even I could see the benefits of breaking them up and placing them with mentors and guardians who matched their talents. Rhys needed to be around other Fae, and Fenrir was a wolf king. He would long for others of his kind, but it seemed he wanted his family more. “I’m glad you stayed together. Lee mentioned that you didn’t meet Shy until a few years ago.”

“Yes, after we settled in here in Frelsi.” By the firelight my daughter’s skin was warm toned, her eyes flashing with intelligence. “We came back to the Earth plane often, and this last time we met with Ingrid and Halle, and they’d found this place for us.”

My godparents. Ingrid and Halle were trolls who’d lived under the bridges of Dallas for all of my life. I’d spent most of the summers of my youth with them. Daniel and I would get out of school and head for the bridges, searching until we found them and then walking with them all summer long. “They’re okay?”

It was terrible, but I would have to make a list of everyone I knew to find out if they were alive or dead or had been taken to the other side.

“Yes,” Evan replied. “They prefer the bridges to the mountains. There are lots of bridges around here. I can help you find them when you’re ready. We’ve hidden here in Frelsi for years now. It’s good to have a home. We still run raids and prepare for the time when Dad will lead us into war, but it’s given us some normalcy.”

I was smart enough to not say what I wanted to say—that her father wouldn’t be leading her into anything like a battle because we would find a way to erase this timeline. I would give her normalcy again. I would give her the childhood she’d been denied.

I sat up and glanced around. There was a small window, and it looked like darkness had fallen. Though shouldn’t it always be dark since we were under a mountain? “Are we in a sithein?”

A sithein was a piece of Faery, a bubble attached to the Earth plane with its own sun and moon and time. There were two attached to the Earth plane—the Seelie and the Unseelie. Devinshea was the High Priest of both. His children were the grandchildren of the Seelie Fae queen. It made sense that they might be granted a piece of Faery for their own.

“No,” Evan replied. “It’s a pocket world the Huldrefólk have used for centuries. We came here eight years ago.”

“Why aren’t you in Faery with your grandmother?” Devinshea’s brother, Declan, should have come for his nephews and niece. Rhys was a powerful Green Man. The idea that Prince Declan wouldn’t protect him was ludicrous. With Devinshea gone, Rhys would have been needed. Even as a child, his power would have helped the Fae. “Your uncle should have taken you straight to the sithein. Come to think of it, Albert should have taken you there himself. You shouldn’t have been dragged across the planes.”

Evan stood, her expression shuttering once more. “You’ll do much better if you somehow manage to not sound outraged at every decision that was made, Mother. I understand from Papa that it has only been a few days for you, but we have dreamed of this reunion for years. I’m willing to make allowances for the shock you’ve had, but so far I have to think that the stories my brothers told me of you have been exaggerated.”