Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
I won’t touch it. “I would love to try it. So my father in this timeline was a winemaker? In mine he was a thief.”
The king’s lips quirk up. “So I have heard.”
“Myrddin has told you stories,” I say in an unassuming tone. That is completely passive aggressive.
“He has told me you are formidable, and I should not underestimate you. But what I see is the most beautiful woman in the world, a woman my soul meshed with, who completed me in all ways.”
But you left her to die. You didn’t fight for her. Yeah, I don’t say those words out loud either. Instead I lean in. “I felt that way about my Devinshea. Once.”
He stares at me for a long moment. “He calls you his goddess. Do you love the god? What was his name?”
“Bris.” At least he seems to want to talk. I want to put off the inevitable moment when he decides to take what is his. “Devinshea and I were married in a place called Colorado. Our ceremony attracted an old agricultural deity who matched with my husband.”
He winces. “I don’t like to hear you call him that.”
“But he is. At least until you murder him.”
He frowns, and I can see the man thinking. “Yes, well, it did seem like an excellent idea at the time.”
“An idea Myrddin planted,” I muse. “He’s good at that. In my time, my other husband is the King of All Vampire, and Myrddin found a way to strip the crown from him and take over himself.”
What I need is some sweet, sweet paranoia. And to find a way to keep Myrddin from killing me just to shut me up.
Somewhere in the background I hear yelling and feel something shake the ground beneath my feet.
And then the doors blow open and my greatest enemy strides through like he owns the place. That’s saying something because I once had a real Hell lord as a nemesis.
I killed his ass, and I’m going to take this fucking wizard down, too.
Maybe what he needs is a little poking.
“Well, I hope you’re happy, Devinshea,” he begins. “They are locked in the temple, and we know the rebels have some way to get in and out of there. I have the wards back up since now there’s a damn fertility god in the temple, and we all know how that can go. We need to stay in the palace proper. I got the uncle, but Lee got away with Sasha and Rhys and whatever the fuck that girl is.” He turns on me. “Did you know? Did you know what she is?”
Devilshea stands, and so do I, placing a hand on his arm and glaring at the wizard, who really should know better. “It’s Your Majesty.”
He frowns my way, shaking his head as though to clear it. “What?”
“You should call him by his title. Your Majesty,” I say and know I’ve gotten a direct hit when Devilshea puffs up a bit. “He is the King of the Seelie Fae and is owed your respect.”
“It is rather rude of you to burst in unannounced,” the king agrees.
For a moment Myrddin looks like he’s going to shred us all, but then his head bows and he proves he’s learned a lot over the millennia. “I apologize, Your Majesty. The night has not gone as well as I hoped. I am worried that we did not catch Daniel.”
Devilshea simply waves that off and gestures for the servants at the entrance to enter with their trays of offerings. “I was telling my future bride that we’re always the same. I assure you I know Deiniol, though he might have a different form. He was a sad sack in this time, and he will prove to be in yours as well. After all, Zoey was explaining how he allowed you to steal his crown.” He sits down, tugging me beside him as the servants begin to pour the wine. He offers Myrddin a seat across from us. “It makes one think.”
Oh, I really want him to think.
Myrddin looks my way and I can see the hate on his face, but he accepts a glass of wine from the servant and turns his attention back to the king. “My relationship with Daniel is complex. I assure you I didn’t intend to steal anything from him. He was my student, and I cared for him. However, when Devinshea and Zoey foolishly allowed themselves to fall into an enchanted painting, he followed. He left his kingdom behind, and someone had to fill in.”
“Which is why you had an entire army ready to murder all the vampires in a few hours,” I interject.
“How would you know, Zoey? You weren’t there,” Myrddin says smoothly. “Now, Your Majesty, could we please speak alone?”
Devilshea huffs. “I just got her back. Years and years I’ve spent without her. You can’t imagine I am going to leave her. She is afraid, and I will not have her think me negligent when it comes to my future bride. I have a certain reputation, and she must come to learn that it is not true when she is involved. So if you must speak, you can do so around my future queen.”