The Rebel Queen (Outlaw 1)

“Yes, because you would have taken my human son under your wing. He would have been so safe with you.” The meringue cookies were delicious, and I was starting to have a suspicion that we were safer than I thought. The more I watched Myrddin, the more I thought something was wrong.

Myrddin’s eyes narrowed. “He’s not human though, is he? He’s something more.”

I set the cookie down because it suddenly tasted like ashes in my mouth. I’d only discovered the truth about Lee the day before. “How would you know that?”

“Because Daniel told me, of course.” A sympathetic look hit the wizard’s eyes, and he looked like he knew he was in control again. “You know how close we were. Daniel told me long ago that he had suspicions about Lee, but he couldn’t be sure. Apparently the latency of a vampire is more easy for Daniel to discern after puberty. But I knew he was right. I knew Lee was a special child. I assure you I would have protected Lee until he came of age to make the decision to transition. I would have protected all the children.”

He would have used them. They would have been chess pieces to this man, and if he’d known about the prophecy concerning Lee, he would have killed him immediately.

Daniel had told Myrddin what he hadn’t bothered to tell me. Oh, I’d gotten the whole explanation that he hadn’t been sure and didn’t want to worry me, that he hadn’t wanted to force me to keep the secret from Lee until he was able to process it. I’d heard all of that, but the fact that he’d shared something so private made me angry.

“Zoey, if he didn’t tell you until recently it’s certainly because he was trying to protect you,” Myrddin said in a soothing voice.

He went silent as the server brought our tea. She set cups in front of me and Neil and settled the pretty pot in between us. She ignored the fact that we had a third person at the table.

I poured us two cups with a practiced hand. Because pouring tea and making small talk were things I was supposed to be good at now. They were my “place.” Bitterness rose up like an old snake threatening to strike again. I had to remember that it was the thrall stone that had influenced Danny, and he didn’t have it anymore.

I also needed to remember that Myrddin didn’t know those stones had been discarded on another plane. I needed to save that so Danny and Dev could use it if they ever needed to.

“He tries to protect me from a lot of things I don’t need protection from.” I needed to get off this subject or I could screw things up. And the truth of the matter was I had some questions for the wizard. “Did you mean to get rid of me, too?”

Myrddin sighed. “No. Marcus was my target, and then I realized I could get rid of the Hunter, too. I stand by both decisions. Marcus wasn’t going to be reasonable about our contracts with the demons. And the Hunter was a walking nightmare. She was going to be trouble for everyone, you know. You can’t control her.”

I didn’t need to control Kelsey. I trusted her. If she ever came for us, it would be because we deserved it.

“But after the Hunter went through, I had to leave the painting where it was,” Myrddin continued. “To take it down would have been suspicious. I’ll be honest, I never thought Olivia could spell the pixie the way she did. Even then she was stronger than I believed. Once that was put into place, well, the rest is history. Perhaps it was over before that. Once Devinshea was gone, Daniel would never be persuaded to stop looking for him. I never meant to lose Devinshea. He wasn’t a problem.”

Because he’d been under Myrddin’s spells, too. “Well, you certainly used it all to your advantage. I hear you told the world that Marcus and the academics had turned against us.”

He shrugged slightly. “The academics have a long history of unseating rulers they don’t like. It was a useful tale. There has to be a villain, you know. That’s what I’ve found. Talk of unity for unity’s sake is all good and well, but nothing brings people together like giving them someone to hate, someone to blame all their problems on.”

“Yes, it’s always good to have someone to beat up on,” Neil said, his bitterness obvious because he’d been that punching bag before. “Find someone different and point their way and you can be the hero.”

I glanced around and saw a few people looking at us, but they seemed to focus on me and Neil. Like we were acting odd. There was something we were missing. “And now you plan on handing the plane over to demonkind. I guess you’re going for the prize for ultimate villain, aren’t you?”