The Rebel Queen (Outlaw 1)

If the bag of holding was where I’d left it, it would be in my closet. I’d put it in a corner. Even if Myrddin had cleared out my closet to make room for his ceremonial robes, he wouldn’t have found my bag. So the question was how did Lee and I make our way to the closet without being detected. Neil offered us an easy way into the building, but getting up to the penthouse was a problem. And Lee wasn’t exactly tiny anymore. We both had to fit under the Mantle of Arthur in order to stay safe from anyone who happened to be walking around the building.

I felt someone move in behind me, and then there was a brushing of lips over my hair.

“Are you all right, my goddess? I’m sorry I missed dinner.”

He’d been talking to his brother. After he’d beaten the crap out of him, he and Daniel had decided they had a few questions for Declan and brought him into Frelsi. They’d been holed up in the conference room for hours. I’d spent the time going over plans and making notes and trying not to think about all the pain my children had gone through. “I’m okay. Just trying to wrap my head around this job. I wish I hadn’t left the bag in my closet now. Some paranoid asshole made it hard to get up to the penthouse.”

He chuckled. “Well, it turned out someone actually was after me.”

“Not according to Myrddin. You were a mistake.”

He frowned and sat down across from me. “I don’t like the sound of that. I can be dangerous. Far more dangerous than Marcus.”

“Not while you had that stone in your head. Myrddin didn’t see you as a threat. I think he still believes he could influence you and Danny if he could get physically near you. Unless he has some way to tell we got rid of the stone, he can’t know it’s not still there.”

“Well, if that happens, I’ll likely pretend. I worry though about Dan. He’s not good with pretending. And he’s cranky. He punched a wolf in the face during our meeting today. Lucky for him it was a Scottish wolf and now they’re friends.”

Wolves could be very tolerant. “You think he can work with the alpha?”

“Yes. It was a good meeting after we got the violence out of the way. The wolves want peace again. They’d forgotten what it was like without any kind of centralized government. And they definitely don’t want to deal with demons.”

“They know about Myrddin’s plans?”

“They have their own spies, so they’ve heard whisperings of what he’s trying to do.” He frowned down at the pictures of what used to be our family home. “I should kill him for those drapes alone.” He sat down next to me. “I’m sorry you had to face him alone today.”

I was glad I’d had the chance. If Dev had his way, he would have hustled me out, and then I wouldn’t know that Myrddin believed Sarah was alive. “I think I got some good intel.”

“Yes. I saw that you wrote it up for Sasha. Thank you for doing that.”

“Devinshea, I remember how to play this game. I know I’ve been depressed, but I’m not going to hide in here forever. I’ve got a job to do.”

He studied me for a moment. “I thought you wanted to find a way to get back.”

I shrugged. “I haven’t given up on that, but I have to help out where I can.”

“I don’t think you should go,” Dev said with a frown. “If Myrddin gets his hands on you…”

“Then you need to rescue me.” I’d thought a lot about this. “You have to know he won’t kill me. If he wants to use the energy in Gladys to close off the doors to the celestial planes, he needs me alive so my blood can activate the sword. I’m the queen of the companions. No one else will do. And since he hasn’t had his grimoire for years, I suspect he’ll need a moment before he’s ready. It won’t be the first time I had to survive in enemy territory, and hey, I was pregnant then, too. At least I don’t have to worry that Myrddin’s going to want me to put out.”

“Goddess,” he breathed. Dev’s jaw went tight, and I realized I’d touched a sore spot that had healed for me long ago. Dev, not so much.

I reached out and put a hand over his. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so cold. I’m only telling you that I can handle whatever he throws our way.”

Dev stood, pulling away from me physically. “You shouldn’t have had to do it the first time. I’ll be damned if you do it again. Maybe you’re right. Maybe we should put all of our efforts into getting out of this.”