Outcast (Hunter: A Thieves Series Book 4) Read online

  She was also her mama’s baby girl, and she’d started to come into her power. I would bet she’d been the one to get Lee through the wards. Those kids were already starting to team up on us, and I feared for the future.

  But I had no time to deal with his crush. “All right, buddy. Let’s go.”

  He looked up at me and a smile crossed his face. “Kelsey. Hey, Mia overheard Casey saying he was in love with Liv. And she also heard a rumor that Liv is scared to get serious with a vampire because she thinks he’ll leave her for a companion…”

  I hauled him up. I would deal with Mia Day’s eavesdropping another time. And damn but I should have thought about that. Having been involved with a vamp at one time, I’d known the same fear. Liv hadn’t mentioned it to me and I still wasn’t great at the whole empathy thing. I filed it away for another day. “We’re leaving. You can’t be here.”

  My heart raced in my chest. This was everything I’d been afraid of. I didn’t know if Myrddin would be able to see Lee the way Nemcox had. The wizard wasn’t a full demon, but he’d been smart enough to figure out my father was the one who could kill him. He wouldn’t like the fact that my dad hadn’t exactly left the building the way he thought he had.

  “What’s going on?” Trent had that suspicious look on his face he got when he started to figure out I was up to something.

  I didn’t have time to explain and I wasn’t sure it would be a good idea to. “This one is heading back to bed. You can be nocturnal later in life. Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

  “It’s spring break,” Lee complained as I started to haul him out. “Come on, Kelsey. It’s dumb that I don’t get to meet the wizard guy. Dad says he’s cool and he knew King Arthur. He’s coming in with the Lady of the Lake. The actual one. Her name is Nimue and I have a ton of questions. We learned about them in school. When you think about it, this is kind of like studying. I’ll do a bonus project on it and everything.”

  Oh, he was good, but I wasn’t about to fall for it. He would meet the wizard over my dead body.

  “Lee?” Queen Zoey suddenly stood beside me, frowning down at her son. The king was walking up behind her. “I told you this was an adults’ only party.”

  I nodded. “Yep, I’m taking him back to his room right now.”

  Zoey shook her head and put her hands on her hips. She was a vision of royal annoyance in a designer gown, her smaller crown in her auburn hair. “What am I going to do with you? And how did you get through those wards? Or did you sneak around to the front? I’m going to talk to the security guards, Trent. I warned them to be on the lookout for him.”

  Trent shook his head. “I don’t know if any security guards are prepared to deal with that one.”

  “Z, he wants to meet Myrddin.” The king reached out and tousled his son’s hair. “Come on. What could it hurt? Dev and I have been talking about him since we got the call. He’s a cool guy. Is it surprising our son wants to meet him?”

  “Nope, we can’t reward his misbehavior. I’m your sheriff. I’ll deal with the kid.” I had to get him out of here.

  Daniel was suddenly staring at me the same way Trent was. “What’s going on?”

  “I understand how important this meeting is. You haven’t seen your mentor in years. You’ve done a lot to make this into a big event.” Deep inside I was starting to panic, but I tried to keep a calm expression on my face. “I’ll deal with Lee. You and the queen can get ready to greet the wizard properly. You know what? I’ll stay outside Lee’s door tonight and make sure you don’t have this problem again.”

  But I would have the problem of tomorrow. I was leaving in the morning. I wouldn’t be able to keep Lee at my side. I was going to have to decide how to handle this because I had to go and deal with the stray. I’d promised. I couldn’t back out or send someone else. Could I?

  I needed to talk to Marcus. He would know what to do. Marcus was the only one who knew the whole story about the wizard. I’m not sure he totally believed me. He’d thought I was overreacting at the time, but he wouldn’t tell the king.

  I’d been told the wizard had a strange effect on King Daniel and even on Devinshea Quinn. When he was around, they were eager to please him. I couldn’t risk either of them asking Myrddin if he wanted to murder Lee.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” Even the queen had caught on.

  “Could you please trust me? I need to get Lee out of here.” I looked to the queen because in this case, she would be the weakest link.

  She stared at me for a moment and then nodded. “Go ahead and take him back to his rooms. But, Kelsey, we need to have a talk after this is done.”

  I had no idea what I would say to her, but I had to take every advantage I could. I didn’t know when the wizard would show up.

  “You can take him out the back,” Daniel said with a frown. “It leads right into the kids’ wing, but once you’re there, you’ll have to reenter through the front. We’ve got it warded. Which begs the questions of how Lee got in. If he’d come in the front, the guards would have seen him.”

  “I’ll figure it out,” I promised, starting for the back of the ballroom.

  Dev Quinn stood in my way, his emerald eyes staring down at his son. “Lee, we talked about this.”

  Quinn looked stunningly sexy in a classic tux, his midnight dark hair slightly messy, though I was sure he’d spent time on that. He was simply one of the most attractive men I’d ever met, but then the man was an actual, honest-to-goodness sex god.

  “Papa, I want to meet Merlin…I mean Myrddin. He sounds cool,” Lee said, pleading his case.

  Quinn got down to one knee, his expression softening. “And you will. Tomorrow afternoon we’re going to introduce him to all the kids. We’ll have a nice breakfast with him and he can tell you the most amazing stories. Don’t worry. You won’t be left out.”

  Lee’s body stiffened. “He might not want to meet a human.”

  Oh, crap. I was not cut out for the emotional shit. I was bad at it and I didn’t like to do it. I was way better at killing things. And, in this case, trying to keep the people I loved alive. “See, you can meet him tomorrow. Let’s go.”

  Quinn ignored me, putting his hands on his son’s shoulders and looking him straight in the eyes. “Lee, I would never hide you. I’m proud of you. Never, ever forget it. You can stay and meet him tonight.”

  “No.” I shouted the word loud enough that everyone stopped and looked at me.

  Now I was the one Quinn was frowning at. “Excuse me?”

  Zoey moved in. “She’s taking Lee back to bed.”

  “Come on, sweetheart,” Quinn said to his wife. “He’s worried we’re not allowing him to meet Myrddin because he’s human. He needs to understand that Myrddin will see his value.”

  That wasn’t what I was afraid of the wizard seeing.

  “And you know damn well that if I had my way that asshole wouldn’t be coming into my house at all,” the queen replied, her voice tight and low.

  Did I mention I liked the queen?

  “I thought we talked about this,” Quinn began. “We’ve got serious negotiations coming up with the Hell plane. He can advise us in a way no one else can. He could potentially mediate for us.”

  Zoey stared at her husband, a frown on her face.

  And that was when a trumpet sounded and the whole ballroom turned to the grand front steps. Standing at the top was a handsome man dressed in a tux that couldn’t quite cover up his savage nature. There was something about the man that made me wary, something in his granite eyes as they looked around the room. His shoulders were back and he surveyed us like a king looking down on his kingdom.

  But this was Daniel’s kingdom.

  “Please welcome Myrddin Emrys, High Magician of the Sword, and the Lady Vivienne also known as the Goddess Nimue,” the deep voice of the courtier intoned.

  I tried to cover Lee, but he was peeking out from behind my waist.

  “Cool,” he said, his voice filled with aw
e.

  My heart was filled with terror because Myrddin was striding down the stairs, a slender dark-haired woman at his side. The Lady of the Lake wore a black sheath that emphasized her graceful figure. Even from here I could see her violet eyes searching the crowd.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  Zoey put a hand on my elbow and whispered my way. “I have no idea why you want to take Lee out of here, but it’s too late. You’ll make a scene that he will question if you drag Lee back to his room. Smile and pretend like everything is all right. Let me handle this and we’ll have baby boy out of here in no time at all. Then you go and wait in my office. We need to talk.”

  She moved back to her husbands, taking a place between them and plastering a smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes. Trent moved in next to me. He didn’t know why I was doing what I was doing, but he could sense my anxiety. He reached for my hand, threading our fingers together as the rest of the ballroom started to form a receiving line for the famous wizard and sorceress. Marcus moved to my other side, his eyes going down to where Lee stood, peeking from between me and Trent.

  “You are still worried, bella?” Marcus asked under his breath.

  “More than ever,” I assured him.

  He nodded as the wizard held a hand out to King Daniel. “Stay calm and I will aid you.”

  “Daniel, it’s been far too long.” The wizard’s words were warm and he took the king’s hand between both of his. The rest of the room had gone quiet as though the crowd knew it was witnessing history and didn’t want to miss a single word that was said. “You’ve done so well, my king. Don’t think because I’ve been traveling that I didn’t keep up with you and your council. You’ve done remarkable things here. I can’t wait to hear about your plans for the future. I’m eager to begin preparing for the negotiations between the lower planes.”

  Daniel stood up taller. “Thank you, teacher. I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for your return. We appreciate all the gifts you’ve sent, but having you here makes me proud in a way you can’t imagine. There’s much I have to tell you, to ask you.” He shook his head like he couldn’t quite believe he was seeing the man in front of him. “Tomorrow is soon enough. Tonight, please enjoy our home. You are a most welcome guest.”

  I had never in my life seen the king blush, never seen him fawn over another human being. Oh, he took care of his family, but this was something different. This worried the hell out of me.

  I glanced up at Trent, who was frowning, and then Marcus, who had the same look on his face. They could feel that something was wrong.

  “I’ve never met the wizard. I wasn’t aware of how much our king admires him,” Marcus said quietly.

  “I’m here for a while now, Daniel. Don’t worry. I’ll help you with all your problems. We will get these issues with the demons settled and we can move on to more interesting projects,” the wizard assured him. He turned those dark eyes on the queen. “Queen Zoey, you are looking more radiant than ever.”

  She held out a hand. “Three kids will do that to you.”

  The wizard leaned over her hand, kissing it with the grace of a courtier of old. “Yes, fulfilling your duties I’m sure has made you very happy. I can see the king is satisfied. I told you you would be happy when you accepted your place.”

  “My place?” the queen asked, her eyes narrowing.

  The wizard didn’t miss a beat. “I’m sorry. I meant your crown, of course. Your place at Daniel’s side. You’ll have to forgive me, Your Highness. I’m still a man of my time. I fumble with new world politics.”

  Sure he did. He was an expert at gaslighting, it appeared.

  “I’ve found taking my crown changed me very little. However, having my children made me infinitely more aware of how to protect the people I love. Family will do that to you,” the queen said, but she made it sound like a promise. And a threat.

  “Yes, family is the most important thing.” Devinshea reached a hand out, obviously attempting to smooth over the situation. “I’m pleased to have you visit ours and to stay for a while.”

  “Ah, Devinshea.” The wizard turned from the queen, which I think was Quinn’s point. “I’m happy to see you again. You’ve obviously been giving Daniel sage advice. I always knew you would be good for him. I can’t wait to see everything you’ve done.”

  Just like the king, the Faery prince seemed to be enamored of the wizard. He practically stammered. “Yes, of course. I’ll have a presentation for you as soon as possible. And we need to hear about all the magnificent things you learned from your travels.”

  “I will tell you everything,” the wizard assured him. His gaze moved down. “And who is this? As if I have to ask. You, son, look exactly like your father.”

  Lee shoved his way between me and Trent to stand before Myrddin. “I’m Lee Donovan-Quinn. Pleasure to meet you.” He held out his small hand.

  It took everything I had to not yank that kid away. The queen was looking at me, basically begging me to be cool. I couldn’t let the wizard stare too long at Lee. That was what had happened with Nemcox. He’d been fascinated by Lee and some instinct inside the demon had recognized him for his recycled soul. And something else. Something I hadn’t figured out yet. Something I was almost certain the king knew. Lee was a puzzle, and we each had a piece but were too afraid to show it to the other. I had to hope it didn’t bite us all in the ass.

  “Lee, is it?” the wizard asked, his face turning curious as he looked down at the boy. “I remember a werewolf named Lee. He was your mother’s guard.”

  And I knew how to shift the focus. “And my father. He died. Oddly enough, I think you were one of the last people to speak to him.”

  Those ageless eyes were on me now. He dropped Lee’s hand and turned his whole focus my way. “The Loner had a child?”

  “Lee Owens had a daughter,” Trent said, a smirk on his handsome face. “Bet you didn’t count on that.”

  “I was named for him,” Little Lee said, his gaze shifting between me and the wizard.

  “But that would mean…” He studied me for a moment. When he spoke again his voice was perfectly even, but I could sense the wariness in him. “Daniel, you didn’t tell me you had a Hunter in Council headquarters.”

  “I told you I’d found a Nex Apparatus,” the king replied before turning back to Nimue, who was shaking his hand and smiling. “I hope you’ll have time to get to know her. She’s quite good at her job.”

  “Yes, Kelsey is a trusted friend of the council.” There was a wealth of satisfaction in the queen’s voice. “She handles all of our trickiest problems. We’ve found her to be excellent at taking care of the worst of the worst.”

  The smooth smile was off Myrddin’s face for the briefest of moments and I could see I disturbed him. He did not like me. He knew exactly what I’d been born to do—hunt and kill demons, to protect the Earth plane from his kind.

  “Don’t worry,” I said with a cocky grin. “I’ll make sure your time here is pleasant.” And brief. “I have to go take care of a problem in Wyoming, but when I’m back I would love to hear your stories of my father. I think it would be interesting to piece that time of his life together.”

  “And I would love to speak to you about several matters.” Marcus inserted himself into the conversation, actually bodily moving in front of me. “I’m an academic and Daniel’s former patron. I have many questions about your time in Avalon. I’m preparing a historical text concerning the sword Excalibur.”

  Trent took my hand, tugging on it. It was my cue to leave, to get the hell out.

  “Time to go, buddy,” I said, using my free hand to take Lee’s. Marcus was talking to Myrddin and Devinshea was saying something to Nimue. The queen glanced back, nodding my way.

  “But he didn’t really talk to me,” Lee complained.

  I would drag his ass out if I had to. “Doesn’t matter. You got to meet him. Now you have to let your dads do their thing.”

  He hustled to keep up
with me and I was thankful that I didn’t have to carry him out. “I thought it would be different. I thought he would be different.”

  Trent made it to the door at the back of the ballroom and it opened. This was the part of the penthouse I knew best. I’d spent many an hour in the game room playing video games with the kiddos. I have to admit, I prefer babysitting duty to going to cocktail parties. Even when I’m at cocktail parties, I end up back here, hanging with the kids.

  I walked through and felt myself breathe for the first time since I’d realized the wizard was coming. I turned and knelt down in front of Lee as the door closed behind us. “I want you to be careful around that man.”

  Lee stared at me for a moment. “He didn’t like you, Kelsey. I could see it in his eyes.”

  Well, no one said he was a dummy. “He doesn’t like me because I’m a Hunter. Do you know why they call him Merlin Satanspawn?”

  “Because he’s part demon. But Gray is, too, and he likes you,” Lee reasoned.

  “Gray’s different,” Trent said. “Gray doesn’t take after his demonic side. I don’t know enough about the wizard guy to say the same.”

  “My dad likes him. So does Papa. But Mama had her mad face on,” Lee said, shaking his head. “She smiles but it’s a smile that scares me. How can he not like you, Kelsey? You’re awesome.”

  I shrugged before pulling him into my arms for a hug. I’d loved this kid long before I knew his soul used to be my biological father’s. “I guess I’m not for everyone. Now go to bed or at least go play games or something. You can’t go back into the ballroom. I’ll deal with the Liv situation. You tell Mia to keep her nose out of adult business.”

  “I wouldn’t have to put my nose in it if adults wouldn’t keep screwing it up.” Mia Day had her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at us.

  “Liv is supposed to be with Casey.” Rhys had joined us. He wore pajamas but had a serious look on his face. “Like you were supposed to be with Trent and Gray. You weren’t meant to be with Marcus. Liv is making a mistake.”