The Rebel Queen (Outlaw 1)

That was what they called magical lines who’d chosen to ignore their talents in favor of living human lives. They allowed their magic to go unused and over time, they’d lost their power. Sometimes it flared again, but they usually quashed it wherever they could. “Okay. I think we should absolutely let him try. He needs to start testing the waters here.”

“I’m going to show him the ropes. I’ve asked him to follow me around when I go on calls. I serve as Frelsi’s healer.” Lily nodded Dean’s way. “He can start small and work on it. But I would like to see if he feels anything from Zack.”

Dean stepped up. “Your Highness?”

I held out a hand. “Thanks for coming, Dean. Did Lily fill you in?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I can feel the curse from here. It’s dark and it kind of makes me nauseous. It smells like rotten eggs.”

“Is it bothering you enough that you need to leave?” I wasn’t sensitive to magic the way Dean would be. Of course some people would just say I wasn’t sensitive at all. They’re usually the ones who would rather deal with Danny or Dev.

“No. I want to see if I can help. My old mentor was a terrible person, but she taught me a lot about curses.” Dean walked toward the door. “The myth is that a strong curse can only be reversed by the witch who cast it, but Erna taught me a few tricks. The witches of Arete really liked to curse men. Like a lot. Being able to reverse a curse was a necessary skill.”

“Erna was the one who had you in thrall, correct?” Lily asked.

Dean nodded. “She was from the witch plane, and one of her favorite things was apparently siphoning off other people’s magic. She used Summer’s for years, and I didn’t realize how much of mine she used until she accidently took the thrall stone out of my head. I’m finding more and more power deep inside.”

“You should have kept it. The stone, I mean. Like a souvenir.” Lee had planted himself on the sofa. “Like I kept my eye.”

He could still surprise me. “You did not keep your eye.”

“Oh, he did. He’s got it in a jar. He already showed it to me,” Dean admitted. “It’s well preserved.”

I shuddered. “You will get rid of that.”

Lee’s frown went mulish. “No way. Dean thinks he might be able spell it so I can carry it around and see with it. Like a spy cam. How cool would that be? I could leave it places and it could spy for us.”

I had been away for far too long. I would deal with the fact that my son wanted to be able to carry an eyeball around later. For now, I wanted to see if Dean could use his newfound power to help us out. “Let’s go in, if you’re willing.”

“Sorry about the eye thing. It probably won’t work,” Dean said under his breath.

“Come on. I miss peripheral vision.” Lee followed behind us. “Hey, do you think when I turn, the eye will turn, too? And then I’d have three?”

I sent him a look that would have had his eleven-year-old self shaking.

“Sorry, Mom.” Lee went serious, and when he walked through the door, he immediately went to his cousin and wrapped an arm around her. Courtney leaned into him with the ease of long familiarity.

My family had found a way to stick together even in the worst of circumstances. The love they had for each other was easy to see. I wasn’t sure if that made me happy they were so strong together or sad that I hadn’t been a part of it.

Lisa looked up from Zack’s bedside. She was holding his hand. “Zoey. Thank you for coming. He looks better, doesn’t he?”

He did. His color was back, and there was a brightness to his eyes that had been gone before. But then that had happened when Danny had given him blood yesterday, too. Still, I nodded and gave her a smile. “He does.”

“And I’ll look like shit again tomorrow.” Zack squeezed his wife’s hand. “Zoey, you always tell me the truth. I’m not going to lie to you now. I don’t think I come out of this. I think that it was a blessing that I have these last days with my family. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you all and how much comfort there is in knowing you’ll take care of them.”

Danny’s expression was grim, and I wondered how long Zack had been talking like this.

Lisa stood up and shook her head. “I need to go and find him some food. He has to keep up his strength so he can continue playing the martyr.”

“I’m not trying to be a martyr,” Zack argued. “I’m trying to be realistic. I’m trying to prepare you.”