Trent took a long breath. “No, we married her because she’s the baddest, most gorgeous bitch in town, and she won’t ever let us down.”
“And that is what we tell our son,” Gray concluded. “Your Highness, I need to go speak to your butler, if I might.”
He’d directed the question my way. “You need to talk to Albert?”
“I do,” Gray replied in a way that made me think this was serious for him.
Albert was watching Fen. It was probably a good thing if he kept doing it while Gray and Trent worked out how they would talk to him about the problem. “Of course. Trent can take you up. He’s got all the codes.”
The door opened and I saw Daniel stand up straighter.
“Good evening, Your Highness.” Myrddin stepped into the room. He’d changed at some point and wore all black, including a rich, velvety cape around his shoulders. He nodded my way. “Your Highness. Mr. Wilcox.” He bowed slightly. “Dark prophet. It is an honor to be in your presence. The Hell plane hasn’t had a prophet in thousands of years.”
Gray’s shoulders went rigid as though he’d detected a threat. “Merlin Satanspawn.”
Myrddin had many names.
Myrddin’s face remained pleasant, but his eyes had gone cold. “I don’t go by that name here, Mr. Sloane.”
“No, but that is what my father’s people call you,” Gray said, his voice deep. “I understand you spent much of your time since awakening on the Hell plane.”
“He recently descended in order to find a replacement ambassador,” Daniel explained.
We’d needed that ambassador because the former one had been Gray’s dad, and Kelsey had made sure that asshole had gotten fired. It’s never good when Hell fires you, by the way. They tend to have severe penalties.
“I’m not talking about his recent foray,” Gray corrected, never taking his eyes off Myrddin. “According to my sources, you spent quite a bit of time on the Hell plane before you came back to the Council headquarters.”
That was news to me. “He went to Hell? I thought he spent the last decade learning the Earth plane.”
“I spent the last ten years learning how the worlds have changed while I slept,” Myrddin explained.
“Even Hell changes, as Mr. Sloane should know.” Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, strode in the door and she was dressed much as Myrddin. There was a cool confidence about the woman that seemed new. When I’d spent time with Nim, she’d been funny and girly about everything but her magic. It seemed as though that Nim was gone and all that was left was the Lady of the Lake. “After all, didn’t his father recently get demoted? No one thought a legacy contract like his could be voided, and yet the dark prophet no longer fears his descent.”
“Because he won’t descend at all,” Trent said, standing next to his partner.
A wisp of a smile came over Myrddin’s face. “Never say never, Mr. Wilcox.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Trent’s canines suddenly seemed longer than they’d been before, and I could feel the testosterone level in the room pumping up by the second.
Gray stepped in front of him. “It means he knows how to get to you, Trent. Don’t let him.”
“I apologize,” Myrddin said, putting a hand over his heart as though it hurt him to be so accused. “I only meant that everyone I spoke with on the Hell plane is impressed with their dark prophet. If I’m not wrong, you have to spend a bit of time down there to recharge yourself. That was all I meant. Did I not understand how it works?”
Myrddin tended to know how everything works.
“What does he mean?” Trent asked, turning his gaze to Gray.
“Nothing we have to worry about now,” Gray insisted.
“Oh, you hadn’t told him about that?” Myrddin sighed. “Again, apologies. I assumed you would have told your partner everything about your new status. I’m far too used to the way Daniel and Devinshea work. They share everything. Perhaps your…partnership doesn’t work in the same manner.”
This was definitely how Myrddin worked. He sowed dissent. He somehow always found the weak spot and shoved the knife in, then managed to make the person he’d stabbed believe they’d walked into the blade. It was his true supertalent.
Gray’s hand went to the back of Trent’s neck and he looked him right in the eyes. “Hey, don’t let him do this to us. You know what he is. My power has to be recharged from time to time, and when I say that I’m not talking about going to Hell once a week. We’re talking once every twenty-five years, and I won’t be going as my father’s son. I’ll be going as someone no demon will fuck with. I haven’t told you because it’s not a problem, and honestly, I’m going to see if there’s a way around it.”
“There isn’t,” Myrddin supplied helpfully.
“Then we will go together,” Gray said. “You and me and our wife.”
“You promise?” Trent asked.
“I do. I won’t allow us to be apart. I know I insisted on it in the beginning, but I’m a different man now. Going to the Hell plane won’t be like descending,” Gray insisted. “I will do anything I have to in order to keep our family strong and together.”
“We have to get her back first.” Trent was calm again and it was clear Gray knew how to handle Myrddin’s ratfink poking better than Daniel.
Did Gray see Myrddin for who he truly was?
“I hope to be able to help with that.” Myrddin held a hand out and Nimue stepped forward to take it. “Along with my lady.”
Nim bowed her head slightly, as though acknowledging his claim.
What the hell had happened between those two? The last time I’d seen them, Nimue had been missing her lover, Arawn, the Welsh god of the dead. I’d kind of expected her to forgive him at some point. I certainly hadn’t expected her to become her old nemesis’s lover. After all, she’d been the one to trap Myrddin in his crystal prison for centuries.
“I am going to use some ancient magics in order to track Devinshea in particular. Your butler was kind enough to get me some of his hair,” Nim explained. “I need to do it at an in-between time. Midnight is best, though I will spend the rest of the evening preparing myself.”
So we had hours to wait until we might be able to find my husband.
“I’m taking Nimue to the temple for her preparations,” Myrddin said. “King Daniel, if we could have your blessing to use it.”
Daniel nodded. “Please use it with my blessings, teacher. I hope the space is to your satisfaction. I appreciate everything you’re doing to help locate my partner.”
“I would not have the three of you be apart for all the worlds, Your Highness,” Myrddin replied.
“I’ll come down and open the temple for you.” Daniel stopped in front of me, leaning over to brush his mouth across mine. “I’ll be back soon.”
“He’s using Dev’s temple?” I didn’t like the thought of Myrddin being in that sacred place.
“No, we’re going to use the dark space, Your Highness,” Nimue explained.
“We have a dark space? I wasn’t aware we had a demonic church here on Council grounds.” No one had bothered to mention that to me. It was a big building, but I’d explored pretty much every inch of it over the years. I would remember a Satanic church.