I woke up to the click of a door closing. It was a soft sound, but it still startled me awake. I rolled over and realized one of my men had left the room. Gray’s side of the bed was empty, though I could still feel the heat of his body there.

“Give him a little time.” Trent turned over on his side.

A glint of daylight from where we hadn’t completely closed the curtains allowed me to see his outline, and I rolled toward him but not before I’d seen the clock. It was a couple of minutes after one in the afternoon. We hadn’t gone to bed until well after dawn. Gray should have stayed asleep for hours, and that worried me. “I think I should talk to him.”

“I think you should let him have some space.” Trent’s hand found my hair, smoothing it back. “He gave us a lot tonight. This was hard on him. He needs to process. He hasn’t been planning this for a year the way I have.”

I couldn’t help but shake my head at that statement. “Yeah, Gray’s not the only one having trouble processing. I thought you couldn’t stand me.”

“I was disconcerted at first,” Trent admitted. “I think deep down in my soul I didn’t believe the myths.”

“The myths?”

“That there was one perfect mate out there in the world for me.”

It was a myth that wolf parents told their sons and daughters sometimes. And sometimes they told their sons and daughters that it was complete shit and they should simply attempt to find a mate they could procreate with as soon as possible. Since he’d brought it up, it gave me a really good reason to ask him a few questions. “You obviously didn’t believe it before since you were married.”

“I was.” He scooted closer to me, his hand running under the covers to stroke along my side. “I told you I didn’t marry my wife for the reasons you thought I did. Honestly, it still feels weird to call Lissa my wife.”

“Can you tell me the reasons or is it a big secret?” I didn’t want the day to start. I wanted to stay warm and safe and here in bed until someone dragged me out of it.

He pulled me into his arms. “It’s not a big deal.”

I laid my head on his chest, loving how I could hear his heart beating. “It’s a big deal to me. I would tell you about my prior relationships but they mostly involved tequila and one-night stands.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve had a few of those. Melissa wasn’t one of them. And I meant it’s not a big secret. I’m not ashamed of it. I just don’t talk about it much, but I meant what I said. You’re my true mate, Kelsey. Everything I have, whether it be a material possession or the story of my life, I’ll share it with you.”

I hoped he couldn’t see how his words made me tear up. I pressed forward because I did need to hear this particular story. Come to think of it, I wanted all of his stories. “She was your wife? You had to be young when you married her.”

“I was barely eighteen and we’d recently finished what our group considered high school. Melissa was my best friend.” Trent’s hands moved over my back, stroking me like it gave him comfort. “Her mother and mine were as close as sisters and they managed to get pregnant within months of one another. In the wolf world, that means something.”

Because fertility was a problem for the wolves. It certainly had been before Devinshea Quinn and the queen had started performing fertility rituals. Any child was seen as a blessing, but two friends having children close together would have been seen as something special. “You grew up together?”

“We did. Lissa and I were the only kids in our pack for a long time. I think the next child to come along was four years behind us. It made us close. Close enough that she was willing to tell me her secret.”

I could guess. There was only one truly scandalous secret in the wolf world. Wolves are shockingly tolerant. Drugs? That’s what kids do. Teen sex? Just hormones. Don’t bother with condoms. Criminal activity? Don’t get caught and everything’s cool, baby. But one thing will get a wolf parent twelve kinds of freaked out. “She liked girls. She was gay.”

Trent rested his head against mine. “She was. Lissa always knew it, but her parents were in denial. The trouble really started when we moved. I sometimes wonder if they knew and that’s why we all moved. You have to understand that some of the more rural packs are different from what you’ll find in the city. Lissa and I spent our first twelve years with the Boston pack. I had an uncle on my father’s side who was the beta. I loved him, but he and my father fought a lot and over the years my dad became more and more certain that any human interaction would harm the pack. But the Boston pack was a city pack, very mainstream, integrated with the other supernaturals. So our parents decided to move deep into the woods.”

I’d heard rumors of packs that isolated themselves. They were more than a little cult-like. “You were Lupus Solum?”

It was what they called themselves. Wolves Alone. I’d never dealt with them but Marcus had told me they were rare, but troublesome to the Council. They attempted to free themselves of outside influences. No humans allowed. No other supernaturals. They kept to themselves and did as little business as possible with outsiders. I found it hard to believe that Trent had grown up in one of those backward, intolerant communities.

“My parents were. I never was. I hated it and so did Lissa. The other kids our age had grown up in the group. They were true believers and the first thing they believed was that female wolves started trying to get pregnant as soon as they could. Lupus Solum relies on female wolves having babies. Often the men of the group will take fertile females into their beds with or without their permission. There’s only one way to stop it once the female turns eighteen. Before that, they’re careful because no matter how isolated they try to be, there are always police or family services who will come and look around the community if they aren’t careful.”

“That’s horrible.” But I did understand. I’d grown up with a man who called himself my father and who would make sure his abuse of my person came in the form of denial and verbal abuse no one could arrest him for.

“There was one way out for me.”

“The Army.” He’d gone in at a young age. “That’s where you met my dad.”

His voice changed and I could hear his smile. “I met your dad years after he’d left the service. Your dad was a legend, but mostly for his deep desire to stick it to the man, as he would have put it. I did however serve under the same CO who commanded your father’s unit. That’s how I knew him. Our unit was close-knit and even after a wolf left, he could call on any of us and we would answer.”

“The all werewolf unit?”

“Yes. They would send in a senior officer to meet the new recruits and a few of us found ourselves pulled into specialty units,” he explained. “But I knew before I left that I couldn’t leave Lissa behind. We ran away under cover of night and when we made it to Boston, I married her. It was the only way I could get her out.”

Now I understood. “They would have found a way to keep her without your claim. They would have married her to one of the males, and she would have been treated like breeding stock.”

“Oh yes.” He kissed my nose and cheeks. “But the marriage license meant we had some cover from the traditional packs. Like I said, we snuck out one night, got married, and I swore my fealty to the head of the Boston pack. Because we were married, when Lissa’s parents came and tried to take her back, our alpha refused.”

It had been an act of kindness on Trent’s part. By marrying his best friend, he cut himself off from everything else. “Wolves don’t divorce. You must have loved her to be willing to give up the rest of your life.”

“She was the only person who knew me, the real me,” he whispered. “She was my sister in every way that counted. I couldn’t leave her there to be raped and used. This is what I meant, Kelsey. I know what normal means to some people and how destructive it can be. We weren’t born to conform. We were born to live, and for me that meant saving my friend. Even though in the end, I couldn’t.”

Because despite all of his efforts, she’d still died. “What happened to her?”

He was quiet for a moment, but I felt his hands on me, taking comfort from me. I moved against that touch, letting him know how each stroke warmed me, made me feel happy and comfortable in my own skin. This was what I’d missed. There was nothing inherently sexual in his touch. This was one wolf displaying his love and affection for another. “Lissa was reckless in those days. I went into the Army because I could support her that way. And honestly, I wanted to see something outside of Boston and the tiny town we grew up in. I wanted to see the world. I shouldn’t have left her.”

“She got into trouble?”

“A ton of it. She was all right when I was close, most of the time, but I got sent on my first deployment and she decided to try to save the younger girls. She would sneak back into the woods and meet with a few of the young girls to try to convince them to run away before they were married to whoever the alpha deemed worthy. On one of those trips, they were waiting for her.”

I wrapped myself around him, knowing this was hard for him to talk about. “Who is they?”

“Lupus Solum has packs across the country. Small, but they can be nasty when they want to be. Apparently Lissa and me successfully getting out caused trouble with some of the younger wolves. They wanted to leave, too, and the elders decided to send a message. One of the girls Lissa was trying to save betrayed her.”

I could only imagine what happened next. “They killed her?”

“Only after they tortured her. And because Lissa had been actively causing trouble, my uncle felt like he couldn’t help us. Politics, he said. We’d broken their laws and at that point in time no one cared about a small group of wolves that could basically be called a cult. If it happened now, I could go to the Council and petition for relief, but back then we were very insular.”

“What did you do?” He wouldn’t have let it pass.

“I came home and buried her. I tried to get the Boston pack to listen to me and when they wouldn’t, I decided to take care of it all on my own. One night right after the full moon, I snuck back in. On a new moon, adult Lupus Solum packs hold prayer rituals. They leave the children and gather together and pray for fertility. I burned the village down starting with their gathering space,” Trent admitted. “I probably killed my own parents, but I don’t know. It was chaos. I have no idea how many of them got out and I didn’t care. Still don’t. I spared the children. Everyone else was fair game. I couldn’t let it stand.”

“Of course you couldn’t.” I rubbed my cheek against his chest. It didn’t bother me at all that he’d gone back.

“So that’s the story of my marriage. My never consummated marriage. You’re the first woman I ever felt the spark with, likely the only one I’ll ever feel it with, so if you go to Hell, I want to go with you.”

That made me sit up. “Trent…”

The door came open and Gray was standing there. “Kelsey, the queen is here. She wants you to come upstairs with her. She says your father is lucid, but he won’t last long. He wants to say good-bye to you.”

I was up and out of bed in a heartbeat.

 

* * * *

 

“He begged Liv for five minutes,” Zoey explained as we walked into her condo. “I should have had Sarah do it, but she won’t leave Felix’s side.”

Because their happily ever after hadn’t lasted as long as it should have. I certainly got that. Felix Day had left Heaven to be with his wife. It made a girl wonder why he would give it all up to kill a couple of demons. “Liv used a spell to keep my dad awake and in control of his body?”

“I did.” Liv stood in the hallway. “But it’s white magic, Kelsey. It’s perfectly safe so it won’t last long, and I believe once it wears off the old soul will be resettled. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear.”

I hugged my bestie. “I want the best for both of them and that means allowing Lee to have the life Heaven wanted for him. My father lived his lone wolf life. This is his chance for something better. But I do thank you for letting me say good-bye to him.”

Liv sighed and hugged me back. “I’m so sorry you have to say good-bye at all.”

But I was feeling so much more optimistic. It’s surprising what hours of sex with two hot men followed by steak and potatoes and brownies can do to a girl’s outlook on life. “I’m happy to have met him.”

“Kelsey, Gray and Trent are here,” Liv whispered. “And they have that possessive caveman look but they’re not beating on each other. Should I be worried?”

I stepped back, a smile on my face. They really did have possessive caveman looks. “I tried to explain to them that I could walk to the condo on my own, but alas, they worry.”

“I would worry less if you didn’t run around promising to sign demon contracts,” Trent admitted.

Gray wasn’t about to let that go without some input. “Yeah, for me it’s all the fights that she manages to find. More and more I see the pros of having a partner who can help keep her out of trouble.”

“We are so talking later,” Liv promised as I moved down the hallway and into the room Lee shared with his brother. Lee was wrapped in a blanket on his bed. Donovan paced while Quinn sat with Lee.

“We’re trying to keep it from the other kids,” the queen explained. “I don’t know that they would understand. It’s best to tell them Lee’s sick and we’re watching over him.”

“They know.” Kids knew everything. “They know something’s wrong but kids are resilient. Once Lee is back to normal they’ll probably forget anything happened at all.”

“Well, I hope you’re right. I’m going to check in on the others. Mia’s here. Sarah didn’t want her to try to sleep in the hospital so I let the kids stay up. They don’t have school so I’m going to let them sleep.” The queen smiled at Lee. “Here she is, old friend.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I miss you.”

Lee looked up, his eyes so much older than normal. “Did I ever tell you how happy I am to be your son?”

“And I to be your mom.” Tears dripped from the queen’s eyes. “Rest well. I’ll take care of you.”

He nodded her way and then looked around the room. “Can I have a moment alone with my daughter?”

Quinn took his wife’s hand. “Of course. Thank you, Lee. For everything.”

Lee winked up at him. “Go easy on the kid. It can be hard to be the only human in the family.”

Donovan held out a hand as Quinn and the queen walked out. “Good-bye, Lee.”

Lee held the king’s hand between both of his small ones. “Don’t forget.”

“Never.” It sounded like a promise. “You’re my son. I will never forget.”

He walked out the door, his eyes suspiciously bright.

“What is he not supposed to forget?” I had to ask.

My dad shook his head. “It’s a problem for another day. Don’t worry about it. Let me look at you. You’re the single most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You should be glad you take after your momma.”

There were those tears again. “I’m glad I got to meet you.”

“Oh, darlin’, I wish I’d been with you all those years.”

But now I realized in some ways he had. “Did I ever tell you about the dreams I had when I was a kid?”

He shook his head. “No. I can’t imagine how great they were given the father you did have. I looked him up in the Council records. He was a true monster, Kelsey. I can’t believe I left you with him.”

I didn’t want to spend our last few moments wrapped in guilt. “You didn’t know. I don’t blame you and honestly, I’ve started to think that these things happen for a reason. If I’d had you for a dad, I’d probably be all soft and mushy.”

“You would not,” he grumbled. “But you would have been loved.”

And that’s where I had him. “When I was young, well, even through about a year ago, I had these dreams and in them I was running. It was always night, but there was nothing scary about the darkness. It was like I knew that forest was where I belonged. Even on the darkest night, I could see. I could see the forest and hear the harmony there. I would run and I was so free in those dreams. There were times when I felt so bad about my real life that I prayed for bedtime because I knew I could be free in my dreams.”

“That was your wolf, darlin’,” my father said. “She was with you even back then. Long before you felt her manifest, she was there.”

“But so were you because I never ran alone. I ran with this huge brown wolf. I don’t remember a time he wasn’t in my dreams. He would run beside me and I knew I was safe. He would show me all the beauty of the forest and all the best places to see. I knew he was my father. My real father.”

Lee reached out for my hand, squeezing it. “Don’t sign that contract. Baby girl, you have to know that I don’t care what happens to me. I don’t fully understand what went on between you and that demon, but you can’t go with him. I’ll figure something out.”

“Daddy, you’re nine.” It was probably the strangest sentence I would ever say, but it was true. “You can barely put yourself to bed. Have some faith. I’ll find a way to make this work. Somehow I always do.”

He twitched, his body shuddering, and he put a hand to his head.

“It’s wearing off. Come here and let me hold you.” He opened his arms.

I sat beside him and wrapped my arms around him. This time with him had been brief and possibly the most precious of my life. I’d gotten to meet my dad and he’d loved me. Now I got to protect him. I got to ensure that he grew up and had a happy life.

“I don’t want to leave you.” His head rested on my shoulder.

“You’ll still be here.” I would know he was somewhere deep inside his new body. I would know my father loved me. It was something no one could ever take from me.

“But I won’t be able to protect you.”

I had to laugh a bit at that statement. “Then it’s a damn good thing that you made it so I can protect myself. Dad, I’m strong because your blood runs through my veins. I’m a warrior because I’m your daughter. Not his. Never his. Always yours. Even when I didn’t know you existed.”

“Love you, baby girl,” he said, his voice oddly rough. “Tell those men if they don’t take care of you I’ll kick their asses. Yeah, I know about Sloane. Tell him to get along with Trent and take care of you.”

“I love you, Dad.” I wasn’t going to let something silly like embarrassment hold me back. And when I thought about it, I wasn’t embarrassed about my new ménage.

“Kelsey?”

“Yes?”

He hesitated for a moment. “If something happens to me, promise me one thing.”

“Nothing is going to happen to you.” I was going to make sure of it.

“But if it does, I need you to promise me,” he said insistently.

“What?”

He was quiet for a moment and I worried he was gone. Finally he spoke, his voice a low whisper. “Don’t leave my body behind. No matter what. No matter where it is. If I die, bring my body home.”

A chill went through me, like I’d heard some prophecy I didn’t want to acknowledge. “Dad, that is not going to happen.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.” I fought back the urge to shudder as I had a vision of my father’s body still and broken. Would it be the wizard who killed him? Because I hadn’t been strong enough to go through with the contract? Or because Nemcox would find a way to have his cake and kill my father, too?

He laid his head back down and was quiet for a moment. When he looked back up, it was with confused eyes. “Kelsey? What’s going on?”

Not my dad. That voice was young and tremulous. My heart ached, but it was all right. This was how it was supposed to be. “Hey, buddy. You’ve been fighting a fever. You feeling okay now? Should I get your mom?”

He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room. “I had a weird dream.”

I sat up. “It must have been the fever, but it seems to have broken so you’ll be fine.”

The queen must have been hovering outside the door, not that I blamed her. She stepped inside, an anxious look on her face. “Lee?”

He perked up. “I’m totally feeling better, Mom, but I could use a Dr Pepper.”

Zoey rushed over to him, wrapping her baby boy up in a hug as Quinn strode into the room. “You know what, screw the sugar rule. Tomorrow you can have Dr Pepper and we’ll have Albert make cupcakes.”

Quinn stood over them both. “Chocolate, your favorite.”

I stood up, my heart both heavy and light. Heavy because I knew I wouldn’t see my dad again and light because he was happy. So happy. He was happy and loved and unburdened with the weight of his previous responsibilities.

Donovan was waiting outside the door. “Kelsey, thank you for everything you’re doing for him.”

“He’s my dad.” I sniffled and swore to myself I wasn’t going to blubber all over the king.

“Lee is special.”

“I know.”

Donovan shook his head. “You can’t know. I’m struggling. I don’t want to allow you to sign that damn contract. I talked to Nemcox, offered him other options, but he will only take you.”

He’d talked to Nemcox? As far as I knew he hadn’t said a word to the demon in years before today. Now he was negotiating with him. “I don’t want anyone else to take my place.”

“I understand that you have your reasons for not talking to me about this and I’m not going to force you. I trust you, Kelsey. Lee cannot fall into anyone else’s hands.” Donovan seemed to be speaking carefully, as though he was worried to say too much. “It’s very important.”

“I don’t intend to allow it to happen.”

He scrubbed a hand over his head, a weary gesture. “I’m trying to figure out how to deal with Nemcox. He’s a full blood, Kelsey. If I thought I could kill him, I would, but he’s immortal. I would only hasten a war. I would ask one of the angels, but they aren’t known for assassination attempts. Well, most of them aren’t. I don’t even understand what’s happening with Felix.”

I held up a hand. The king needed to stay out of this. “I’ll handle it. Gray is working on the problem. In the meantime, I need you to help Henri find any way at all to get Felix Day awake and talking. The angels are going to figure out we have that sword soon. Have you tried your blood?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. I’ve been too busy with Lee, but I promise I will. I can’t believe that Felix would do this. He gave up Heaven for Sarah. He wouldn’t risk it. Felix is the least violent being I’ve ever met. Someone was controlling him.”

“Well, we need to figure out who it was because the demons are going to find out that Felix was there and they’ll want blood. Unless you intend to make sure our young demon friend doesn’t talk.”

“I can’t. I’m flanked on all sides and I’m not sure how to wiggle out of this trap.”

“That’s what you’ve got me for. I’m a wiggler. Buy me some time.” I saw Liv move in the living room. I needed to talk to her. “Now go and be with your son.”

He briefly touched my shoulder and disappeared into Lee’s room. I moved down the hallway. Liv was the answer to at least one of my problems. I needed Neil Roberts to remember his past. If he remembered his past, pulled the veil aside on his memory, he might know something about who had been controlling him. He could tell me once and for all whether it was Felix Day or if the fallen angel had been nothing but one more pawn in a game I didn’t know the rules to. Now that Neil was more willing to remember, a white spell could work.

I just needed to make sure Lee was far, far away.

I started walking down the hall, thinking about my plans for the day. I noticed someone had left the game room door open and realized those kids were not asleep.

I got a brief glimpse of Rhys before he slipped back into the room.

“They’re all in my room. I think Lee’s okay,” he whispered.

The rest of the house was quiet so when I went still and concentrated, I could hear him.

“I don’t think he was sick,” Rhys was saying. “I think it was something magical. He wasn’t himself. He told me I needed to change my underwear or I would get crotch rot. Why would he say that? Like he remembers to shower.”

“Do you think it’s the same thing as my dad?” A young girl’s voice broke through the silence.

I saw Liv stop her pacing at the end of the hallway. She stared at me, but I held up a hand. I wanted to know what the kids were thinking. Unlike the queen, I knew damn well they weren’t fooled by some story of a cold.

“Maybe,” Rhys replied. “Be quieter. You’ll wake up Evan and she can cry real loud.”

I had to lean in to hear the rest.

“Do you really think your friend is the one who hurt your dad?”

A chill went up my spine.

“Mom told me he was imaginary, but I saw him, Rhys. He glowed super bright and he called me his cousin.”

“Tell me again what he told you to do,” Rhys said. “I won’t tell if you don’t want me to, but once Lee is Lee again, we’ll figure this out. I promise.”

“Lee is good at figuring stuff out,” another voice said. Sean Quinn. He was Dev Quinn’s nephew and the son of the future king of the Fae. A bit on the arrogant side, but he was more open than his father and hyper loyal to the small group of kids he was growing up with. “I believe you. Your mother is wrong and this person exists. Once we find out who he is, I will take him down with my bow.”

But again, arrogant like his father Declan Quinn.

Mia sniffled. Mia Day was the daughter of Felix and Sarah and I’d been told she was quite a bright companion. Bright enough to compare to Zoey and Evan, but in my mind she was simply a little girl who wanted her father to be well again. “I know you would try, but I think he’s dangerous. I didn’t at first. I thought he was my friend. He glowed so beautifully and he only wanted to talk. But then he asked me to go into my dad’s office and break something.”

What? That was the question I wanted to ask. Still, I stood there, unwilling to give them a reason to stop talking amongst themselves.

“I thought he told you to steal something,” Rhys said.

“I was supposed to steal it and then break it,” Mia acknowledged. “He said he couldn’t help me until I broke the seal. He said my dad was afraid of him but he shouldn’t be. I think I killed my dad.”

I heard her start to weep and I couldn’t hold back. It didn’t matter that they might clam up. It didn’t matter that they weren’t my kids. I was the Nex Apparatus. Sure some people will say that’s a term for the warrior who protects the king, but I tend to make things my own. I worked for the king as long as he worked and fought for what was right. If he stopped, then he would find his death machine turning on his ass. But I knew one thing. Those babies were innocent and I wasn’t about to let sweet Mia Day, who was all of nine and three quarters years old, believe that she’d willfully hurt her father.

And if I let it go, my dad in his nine-year-old body would try to solve the case and we’d all be in trouble.

Oh, god. I shook my head as I stood outside that door and realized what it meant to love me. I vowed to go a bit easier on Gray and Trent and my brothers and Liv. Even Casey, since he had to deal with me. I was stubborn and difficult and I wasn’t changing any time soon.

I opened the door and was faced with three shocked preteens and a peacefully sleeping four-year-old who might grow up to be the woman who took my place with Marcus. For now she was a sweet baby, sleeping in a My Little Pony sleeping bag and looking as cherubic as her ancestry would have her be.

“Kelsey?” Rhys stood up, obviously taking the leadership role. “We were about to go to sleep.”

“No, you weren’t. You were about to tell me what’s going on so I can take out the bad guy.” I moved into the room and sat down with them, getting on their level. “Mia, what’s been happening?”

Even in the low light, I could see the way she paled. “It wasn’t my dad.”

My every instinct told me she was right and that she had the answers I needed, but I had to be gentle with her. The key to successfully interrogating anyone is knowing what they want and how to properly give or withhold the desired outcome. Mia felt guilty, likely terrified that she’d done something wrong. I needed to be on her side. “I know that, but I have to figure out how to prove it. That’s my job. I figure out who the bad guys are and I save the good guys.”

It was a gross oversimplification of what I did, but it would serve for now.

Mia hesitated and I realized how scared she was.

“You haven’t told your mother what happened, did you?”

Tears rolled from her eyes and she shook her head.

Rhys moved, sitting down beside her. “I think we should tell Kelsey. You know how she always helps Lee and she never tells on us.”

Oh, I would have to break that promise because this wasn’t catching them sneaking sodas from behind the bar or feeding visiting hellhounds under the table. “Mia, your father’s life is at stake. He’s being accused of something serious.”

“Of killing demons,” she said quietly. “My father would never kill anyone.”

“You know that and I know that, but there are witnesses who saw him at the scene. And Mia, he did nearly kill Trent. The question is was he in control of his body when he did it or was something else controlling him.” It made me wonder when he’d made those wards. Felicity had seemed so shocked that he had them. How recent was his distrust of his former family? “Do you remember your father acting weird recently?”

Mia’s mouth closed.

“Mia, you can trust her.”

I turned and Lee was standing in the doorway. I caught a brief glimpse of the queen but when I shook my head she seemed to understand and she moved out of the line of sight. I was sure the whole royal triad was listening but they were allowing me to control the encounter.

Lee walked in and sat down beside Mia.

She turned toward him, her eyes wide. “Are you better?”

He nodded and opened his arms. Mia practically fell on him, sobbing as though she’d lost everything, and when I thought about it, she nearly had. For Mia, that loss was mere moments away. This was the first time the perfection of her world had been challenged, and I couldn’t help but tear up because she was a lucky girl. She had no siblings of her own, but she had this group. Watching Rhys and even Sean move in and surround her reminded me that I hadn’t been alone. When John Atwood would make me feel like less than dirt, my brothers would sneak into my room and poke and prod me until I felt better.

And now I had two men who loved me, two men who I could count on, and I had Marcus to thank for that.

I glanced over at Evangeline, promising myself I would shield that child as fiercely as I would Lee because she could be the key to Marcus’s happiness.

I let Mia cry, allowed her all the time she needed because I knew where she was. I hadn’t been the kid to cry, again a gift Marcus had given me. I’d been the kid who shoved it all down and pretended it wasn’t there. Mia didn’t need that.

She finally looked up at me and leaned into Lee as though she found some comfort from merely being close to him. “A couple of weeks ago I met someone. Something, really. I thought it was all a dream at first, but it wasn’t.”

“What did it look like?” I asked.

“Light,” she replied quietly. “It was this beautiful light and I felt good. I’d had a bad day at school and I thought I was stupid, but the light made me feel better. It wasn’t very big. It fit under my bed and it whispered to me.”

A shiver went up my spine because I was going to have to deal with that light. “What did it say?”

She hesitated again, but Lee reached for her hand. She nodded and turned back to me. “At first it just wanted to know how my day was and it told me that it was a secret, a present from my cousins. It didn’t feel wrong.”

“Of course it didn’t, sweetheart.” If “it” was who I thought it was, he was supposed to be all that was right and good in the world. “This isn’t your fault. It tricked you, but I’m here to make sure it can’t trick anyone else. Tell me what happened. You’re not going to get into trouble. I promise.”

“But my mom will be so mad at me.” Her tears started again.

“She won’t. I know your mom and all she wants is for you to be safe.” I would have to be careful because Sarah Day would want her child to be safe, but she would want some serious vengeance, too. Unlike her husband, the former dark arts witch wasn’t a pacifist. “She won’t be angry. She’ll be thrilled that you’re brave enough to save your dad.”

That seemed to mean something to her. Her spine straightened and she took a deep breath. “It wanted me to hide something in our house.”

I could guess. “Was it a sword?”

Mia nodded. “Yes, a big one. It was heavy, but I managed to get it inside the closet where we keep our Christmas decorations. No one goes in there.”

He’d used a child because she was a companion and she could touch the sword without burning herself. Son of a bitch. Well, not literally, since angels weren’t born in that fashion. Maybe if the fucker had a mom he wouldn’t have turned into an evil piece of shit. “Did you see your dad with the sword?”

Mia leaned against Lee. “Only once. It was a couple of days ago. I saw him putting it back but his eyes were weird. He told me never to mention it again and he went to his office.”

“Did the light ask you to do anything else?”

She nodded slowly and sighed. “It asked me to find Daddy’s necklace and showed me how to scratch off a piece of it.”

The ward. Felix had made a ward and his daughter had rendered it useless. A ward had to be intact for the magic to work. I was sure she’d scratched off some tiny piece that Felix wouldn’t have noticed. He thought it was still working.

I stood up and put a hand on Mia’s head. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to fix this. Get some sleep because everything is going to be back to normal soon and you’ll have schoolwork to do. Don’t you ever think you’re stupid, baby girl. And if someone says that to you, you remind them that you’re friends with the Nex Apparatus and she doesn’t take kindly to anyone saying nasty things to her friends. You tell them I’ll be on their doorstep if they mess with you. Any of you.”

Donovan was grinning as I walked out of the room. “You’re going to make a whole bunch of school bullies shit themselves, you know.”

“Hey, what’s the point of being the boogeyman if I can’t help out my friends.” I looked to the queen. “You heard?”

She nodded, her mouth tight with worry. “I did and I think we all know who it is.”

“Yes, so I need Hugo to figure out how I deal with this legally.” I walked out into the living room where Gray, Trent, and Liv were waiting for me. Albert stood in the background as though waiting to be of service. “Okay, here’s what I need. Gray, I need to talk to your brother because he knows something about this he’s not telling me. See if you can get him here sometime this afternoon. Liv, I need you to work that spell on Neil Roberts. I need an eyewitness because there’s no way Lester’s family doesn’t want some justice. Your Highness, keep that sword under wraps. We can’t lose it. Trent, I need you to get the chick who runs the tattoo and piercing parlor on five. I’m going to need some ink.”

Calliope House was a white witch who specialized in healing “ornamentation,” as she called it. I needed a ward no one could easily scratch off.

Trent nodded my way. “Are we warding against below or above?”

“Let’s go for broke and do both.” I walked up to Gray and slid an arm around his waist. “If I go to the Hell plane, getting rid of my ward can be my first fun bit of torture.”

He frowned. “I don’t even want to joke about that.”

“Then you should have picked another girl, buddy. I’ve got a dark sense of humor.” I went on my toes and kissed him before the next part. “And I need you to call Jacob. I need to know everything he can tell me about the Sword of Light.”

“Gladys?” Quinn asked. “Your sword? Why do you need it if we keep hold of the Sword of Justice?”

Donovan shook his head. “She won’t be allowed to use the Sword of Justice in battle, but Gladys is hers.”

“Battle?” Gray asked.

Yep. I was going into the ring again, and this time I would have to take down an immortal angel. Never let it be said I don’t like a challenge.

I sent Albert a smile. “You have the most important job of all.”

The big demon bowed, but not before I saw his grin. “I have already begun breakfast. I made all the bacon we have.”

He was a lifesaver.

And I had a plane to save.