He dropped his forehead to mine and groaned. “I’m not stupid, baby. You’re angry about Myrddin being here. I’ll ask him to leave.”
“What?”
He kissed my forehead and took a step back. “You think I didn’t hear what Gray said? Choose her. There are only two hers I’m able to choose. I don’t think he was talking about Evan. I will always choose you. You’re uncomfortable with Myrddin so I’ll find other accommodations for him.”
But he would still be around, still advising my husband. Of course I was planning on stealing his precious, so he might not have to move at all. If he caught me, he might kill me, and then I wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore. “I’ll get used to him.”
“You blame him for Lee’s death.”
I took a step back. “How can you know that?”
Had Kelsey talked to him? She’d been so sure we should keep it all quiet around the men.
“He feels it. He’s talked to me about it.” Daniel looked like he wanted to reach for me again, but he made the decision to give me some space. He moved to the desk, leaning against it. “He’s spent a long time contemplating what happened that day, and he doesn’t blame you for thinking ill of him. He was the one who sent us out that night. He convinced us I needed to be directly on the Earth plane to finish my healing. If he hadn’t, we likely would have stayed in the pocket universe for another couple of days. We might have avoided Marini. We might have been able to contact the Order, and you wouldn’t have suffered at all. You would have been safe.”
“I doubt that.” It was nice to know that Myrddin was busy cutting me off from any argument I could make. It was a good tactic. If he acknowledged everything I might be able to say about him and agreed with me, I looked petty for nursing the grudge. He was excellent at this kind of politics.
What if the grimoire held more than the secret of how Myrddin had managed to banish Dev, Marcus, and Kelsey? What if it explained his hold on Danny and how I could break that unnatural bond?
Now wasn’t the time to have this argument with Danny. Now wasn’t the time to point out to him that not only had Myrddin selected the time when we would leave, but he’d made sure Zack had the very item in his hand that would save Daniel from being taken into custody. He’d been the one to place the Mantle of Arthur into Zack’s hands. The Mantle was basically a cloak of invisibility, and it had been used that night to save Daniel.
It wasn’t the time to point out that Myrddin had spent the days before Lee died with the demon Nemcox—the same demon who somehow managed to tell Marini when and where we would emerge from shelter.
Until I knew whether or not his influence over Daniel was magical, I needed to keep this whole conversation at bay.
“I doubt it, too,” Daniel said quietly. “Marini would have found a way. I know what you went through, Z. You have to know I would have done anything to have spared you.”
Spared me from being assaulted by Marini, from being forced to act as my enemy’s companion, and all the nasty stuff that came with the job. God, I thought I’d left that behind, but somehow it was still here between us. I didn’t want it to be. I loved Danny with all of my heart. I moved to him and when I touched him, I made sure I was doing it to comfort my husband, not to distract him. There would be time enough for that later, but with Devinshea in danger, I needed to let Danny know how I felt. “I don’t blame you for that. Not in any way. We all did what we had to to survive, and I wouldn’t take it back for anything. We’re alive and our family is safe. Had it happened any other way, Marini would have had his advantage, and the loss of life would have been far greater. I miss Lee every single day, but I wouldn’t change a thing, and I know he wouldn’t either.”
Daniel’s blue eyes burned through me. “I miss you, Zoey.”
“I’m right here.”
“But you’re not. You’re far from me. You’re as far away from me as Dev is right now and I don’t understand it. I’ll do anything to fix it.”
I believed him in that moment. I had to believe that the hold Myrddin had on Danny could be broken. All I knew in that moment was that my husband needed me.
I moved into his space, letting my hands find his chest. Sometimes we got so mired in the everyday parts of life that we forgot we needed to be more than parents, more than a king and a queen. We needed to find a place to be Daniel and Zoey, too. “We’re both feeling helpless right now.”
His hands found my hips and he dropped his head to mine again. “I miss him. He hasn’t even been gone for a full day and I feel lonely without him. What the hell do we do if…”
I stopped him because I couldn’t stand the thought of going there. “Myrddin’s going to find him. Between Myrddin and Nimue, we can’t fail.”
I rather believed that but for different reasons than Daniel would understand. In this case I believed Myrddin had caused a problem so he could be the one to solve it, and I would have to agree that he was helpful. It served him in no way to kill Devinshea. Dev was on his side, but I would have to be grateful to him for snatching my husband from what was sure to be described as the jaws of death.
I was going to prove he’d been the one to endanger Devinshea in the first place.
I felt the moment Daniel’s intentions changed. He needed physical affection, needed to be close to me.
“Zoey, I don’t want to bother you, but I haven’t fed.”
I went up on my toes and brushed my lips against his. Maybe I needed some affection, too. It had been a long time since I’d practiced my trade, and longer still since I’d stolen anything close to this dangerous. If I got caught…
Daniel took over the kiss, his mouth mastering mine. No matter how many times he made love to me I was always overwhelmed by him. His fingers tangled in my hair and he tugged my head back, giving himself full access. His tongue invaded, sliding alongside mine.
The world seemed to recede as he pulled me up against his body, and I would have sworn I could practically feel Dev here with us. This was his space, where Daniel and I would often come to find him if he was working too late, and we would all end in a tangle of arms and legs and mouths. I loved it when all three of us were together, the love and sharing complete. Daniel shifted, turning around and setting me on top of the desk. He pushed my legs apart and made a place for himself even as he started to work the fastener on the slacks I wore.
I let my head fall back, giving him full access to my neck, though if he’d wanted to get to his knees and drink from the vein that ran up my thigh, I would have let him.
But that was the moment I heard the elevator doors open with a quiet whoosh. Danny’s head came up and I could see that his fangs were out and he practically growled.
“Your Highness,” an unwelcome voice said, “I am sorry to interrupt, but we need you to help us prepare. Nimue has decided to use death magic as the base for her spell. There is no one even close to your power in this.” Myrddin. The wizard still wore his dark cloak, but he’d pushed back the hood. “I would ask another vampire to stand in, but this is Devinshea we’re talking about. I thought you would want the most powerful spell possible.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened and I watched him gain control again. He stepped back, then leaned over and kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry, Z.”