It was another of Gray’s edicts, though I hadn’t understood it was a book at the time.
“I told you I brought a book back,” I began.
“Yes, the one with all the prophecies the witches have collected.”
I’d told him about the book during our call the night before, but I hadn’t gone into detail about what I’d found. “It contains the prophecies of the witches of Arete. That’s a whole plane where witches dominate.”
“We did not end up there,” Trent replied. “Though we did manage to find a wolf plane. Very cold. Harsh. They have a hard pack organization I found distasteful, but we stayed for a bit and allowed Fen to learn some of their fighting techniques. I suspect the witch plane would be more comfortable.”
“Not for you.” I hadn’t stepped onto the witch plane, but I’d heard enough about it. “It’s a matriarchal society. Men are viewed as labor and sperm, from what I can tell. Even the book doesn’t like men.”
Trent sat up. “So why do you think this prophecy you read has anything to do with Myrddin? If it’s like an Earth plane prophecy, I would assume it doesn’t make itself plain.”
It didn’t. Prophecy is the same everywhere, it seems to me. It’s overly pretentious and likes to fuck with a person’s mind. But I had my reasons. “I told you about Dean Malone.”
“Briefly.” His hand moved over my skin like he was petting me, like he couldn’t stand to not touch me.
I wanted that connection, too. I moved closer to him. I’d only had four days without his touch. He’d been starved for years. Wolves need touch, and the touch of a mate most of all. He’d been without, which was likely why he was thinner than he’d been. I intended to give him what he needed. Food and fucking. He would get a lot of both from me. “His mother was kidnapped and taken off plane by a Planeswalker demon.”
“Yes. We were told to stay away from them,” Trent explained. “When we decided to leave the Earth plane, Gray told us to avoid the Planeswalkers. Apparently if you ask them for a ride, your soul is the payment.”
“Yeah, well, they don’t mind kidnapping people either. They kidnapped Dean’s mom and dragged her to a vampire plane. She was pregnant at the time, and that child grew up and studied witchcraft. He’s quite good at it. The prophecy is about Dean, but I think it also refers to Lee and Myrddin. Myrddin believes that Lee and one other—a baby he sent off plane, according to Stewart—are the only beings in the universe who can kill him.”
“I assure you if I get close enough, I can kill him,” Trent replied.
“Don’t even try. I’m not joking. I lived through a prophecy, and there was no getting around it. I firmly believe Myrddin’s wrong about his interpretation. Probably because he used that fucker Stewart as his focal point.” The magic Myrddin had worked wasn’t so much prophecy as seeing into the future. It was a form of clairvoyance that became prophecy once it was spoken aloud. And Myrddin was interpreting what he’d seen all kinds of wrong. “The prophecy concerning Dean and Lee talks about a weapon.”
“That’s what you want the primals to help with,” Trent deduced.
“I’ve already given the prophecy to Henri and Hugo.” I’d met with the academics the night before, and we’d talked about Marcus and everything that had happened. They would give me their thoughts when I returned to Frelsi. “I need the primals to look at it and see if they can figure out what this weapon is and where I should look for it. Now tell me what’s wrong with Gray.”
Trent growled but he turned toward me, laying his head down on my lap. He took a long breath through his nose as though surrounding himself with my scent, our mingled scents. They would form a blanket of comfort around him. “After we ran, he needed to stay away in order to avoid leading Myrddin’s forces to us. Like I said, he could protect your brothers. Both Nate and Jamie were willing to state they would stay out of the war.”
“We should bring them to Frelsi. Once Myrddin knows for sure we’re here, he’ll use my brothers as a way to draw me out.”
“No, he won’t. He can’t use them against you at all,” Trent said, his tone going grave.
“Why wouldn’t he…” The answer became crystal clear. “Tell me they didn’t sign a contract.”
“They didn’t.” The “they” portion was emphasized heavily.
The enormity of what had happened hit me. “Gray did.”
“It was already signed by the time I spoke to him again. Sasha had moved us to New Zealand, and we’d been there a couple of months before Gray returned to us. We had a pretty big fight, and one that I regret now. I didn’t realize how long it would be, how much this war would cost us. Deep down he did, though I understand he can’t see everything. He was playing a bit fast and loose by protecting your family, but I suppose putting himself on the line made it acceptable to whoever judges these things.”
Heaven. I was pretty sure it was Heaven who decided what a prophet—dark or light—got to do. No matter how much Hell likes to think of itself as this mighty, independent thing, I often wonder if they’re not merely a recalcitrant child who serves their father’s purpose. I wonder if Hell isn’t a necessary thing because all beings must find a balance between their light and dark, and sometimes that means punishment.
I often think if Heaven chose, Hell would cease to be.
Unless someone took that choice away. Unless someone wanted to cut out the dominant plane. To tell Mommy and Daddy we’re on our own now. That’s what Myrddin was attempting to do. He planned to close off the Earth and Hell planes from the Heavenly planes, and then no interference could harm his plans.
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I wasn’t about to test the theory.
I got the feeling I hadn’t heard the worst of it. I needed to know everything. “What all was part of this contract?”
Trent sighed and hugged me closer.
“Who is he working for?” I knew when one of my men didn’t want to talk about a specific thing, it was probably bad news.
The grim look on Trent’s face had me bracing myself for whatever he said next. “In order to protect your family, he has to descend at least once a month for a week of Earth plane time, and he must work as a focal point for Lucifer Morningstar. Sometimes it’s more than once a month, but never for more than a week.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Yep. It was bad.
“Don’t get upset with me. I didn’t sign that contract, Kelsey.”
“No, Gray did, and now he’s fucking working for Lucifer? Who thought that would go well?” I rolled out of bed and started looking for whatever clothes I had left.
Trent sat up, his gaze going stony. “Nicole was pregnant. Jamie had gotten her pregnant, and they’d just found out.”
“Well then Jamie should have protected her. He should have wrapped Nicole up and figured out where you were and hidden with you.” All I could think about was how nice and safe and happy Frelsi seemed to be.
“Kelsey, I couldn’t have handled them. And I wouldn’t even have known what to do with a bunch of humans on some of those planes we found ourselves on. Keeping Lee alive was hard enough. We didn’t have a home most of the time. I have no idea what we would have done with a human infant. Gray did the best he could. I know we think he knows everything, but he was as lost as I was when you were gone. He was trying to protect your family the best he could. And me. He knew if Myrddin put Jamie or Nate up for public execution, I would have come running. I would have done it for you. Gray made sure that didn’t happen. He made sure I could do the job I needed to do without worrying that I was letting you down.”