The Rebel Queen (Outlaw 1)

My sons were out there, sitting around the bonfire and drinking with their friends. Likely finding someone to bed down with for the night. Perhaps not Rhys. He seemed to tiptoe around Shy, his eyes on her when he thought she wasn’t looking. There was a connection between them that couldn’t be denied, but I understood it must be hard to be interested in someone who could turn into your grandfather at any given moment.

Lee, on the other hand, flirted with everyone who came into his space. I thought I’d seen an odd connection with Dean earlier, but Lee seemed to have forgotten him and moved on to trying to seduce a pretty sidhe.

“Do you want to join them, my goddess?” Big hands found my shoulders, drawing me back against a muscular chest.

I sighed and leaned against Devinshea. “I think my presence would put a damper on the celebrations.”

Though the party was supposedly to celebrate the rescue of the royals, I felt the awkwardness any time I talked to one of the participants. The younger ones, at least. I’d had a lovely talk with Kim Jacobs and the academics, who were old friends. They hadn’t seemed to have changed, but everyone else had. Especially my children.

Dev’s arms went around me. “I decided the same thing. Daniel said he had to speak to the children before he joins us. It’s been a long day.”

It had been a day that lasted twelve years.

Sure enough, I saw Daniel walking back toward the house we were in. He had a grim look on his face, and I realized he hadn’t fed.

“I’ll take care of him.” Dev always could read my mind about some things. Or perhaps it was simply that we’d been together for so long, and worrying about Daniel had given us connected minds in some ways. “Why don’t you take a bath? Albert said the bathrooms here have tubs, and I assure you he won’t mind heating water for you.”

I shook my head and moved out of his arms. “No, I think we should talk.”

“I think we should do more than talk.” Dev was gorgeous by firelight. The shadows played over his features, sharpening some and softening others. His eyes were green jewels in that low light. “We had a terrible day. And a good day.”

“What was good about it?”

“Our children are alive,” Dev said firmly. “Our children seem genuinely all right, despite the fact that my family failed them entirely.”

The door came open and Daniel walked in. “Oh, I disagree. Parts of your family might have failed, but Albert did a wonderful job. Albert saved them. He didn’t hesitate. Harry did everything he could, and even held on after death to protect his grandchildren. Trent and Sasha raised them well. The family we put together functioned beautifully. They’re good kids.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t good. It’s just not fair. They shouldn’t have had to flee their home,” I argued. “They shouldn’t have had to become a paramilitary unit. They should have had their parents with them. Instead of worrying about setting this place right, shouldn’t we be trying to find a way back?”

“Back to where?” Daniel stared at me like I’d said something crazy.

Shouldn’t he have thought about this, too? I couldn’t be the only one who wouldn’t accept this loss. “Back to the night we fell through that painting. Back to where we belong.”

“And do what?” Daniel sat down on the big bed and pulled his boots off. “Not fall through the painting? Not save Devinshea?”

“Fine, then we go back and we don’t let Dev fall through.” My frustration was building.

“So we leave Marcus alone?” Daniel asked. “If Dev doesn’t go through, Marcus might never meet Summer. We definitely don’t meet Dean and bring him back to the Earth plane. Kelsey doesn’t get the book. The outer planes fall, and then the inner planes contract in on themselves.”

I was sick of all the ifs. We could fix this if we tried. “Fine. We go back to a time before and I’ll leave a note about what has to happen, but Daniel, they’re our children. We lost twelve years with them. We can’t allow this to stand.”

Daniel looked to Dev. “And what do you think, Devinshea? Should we sneak out of here and go searching for a magical spell that will correct all the injustice we’ve recently suffered?”

“She needs time. She hasn’t been through the things we have. This is a tragedy, and she needs time to process it,” Dev said quietly.

“Tragedy means something else to me.” Daniel reached for his boots again. “Maybe I should go.”

“Maybe you should if you’re willing to give up twelve years with our children so you can play the rebel again.” It wasn’t fair, but it irritated me that Daniel didn’t seem to need time. Daniel was handling everything beautifully and with a grace I didn’t feel.