Chapter Thirty-Eight #2
“Yes, but I think that's a good thing. I think it will strengthen her.” I tapped the table. “We'll get back to her in a minute. First, let's finish with the King. He took the form of a Seelie Sidhe—the first king to prune himself. But that didn't last. He transformed into Tiernan.”
“Dear Goddess,” Raza whispered.
“His plan was to mimic me and take over the planet with Seren,” Tiernan said.
“Through our battles, he learned to protect himself from Seren's Light.
She hit him with it, and it did nothing.
I tried to stop him, but he knocked me aside with barely any effort.
Then he took Seren's emotions and put her under his thrall.”
“So how did you destroy him?” Killian asked.
I motioned at the scry phone. “Tiernan called upon the Shining Ones.”
“You called the Shining Ones?” Raza's dark face grew larger in the slice of crystal as he leaned closer. “How was it? It must have been magnificent?”
“It was,” Tiernan said softly. “I saw my father.”
“And your mother,” I said to Keir. “She was there with Marcan and Shane.”
My dad's eyes went wide. “My mother was there?” He blinked, his expression going soft. “I'm glad. I hope her soul is at peace.”
“She seemed peaceful. But it wasn't her or even Diocail who destroyed the King.”
“It was the old rulers of Seelie,” Tiernan took over. “They reclaimed their emotions, helped Seren and me reclaim ours, and the King ceased to exist.”
“Holy shit!” Killian slapped the table. “Well done, Seelie!”
“Well done, Tiernan,” I said. “He saved me.”
“They saved you.”
I turned the phone so I could see him. “You called upon them. I never would have thought of it.”
Tiernan smirked. “It was obvious. He was King of the Somber Ones. That was clearly a play on the title of the Shining Ones.”
I smirked back. “Obvious, eh? But not until you were watching me get drained.”
“There is that.” Tiernan went grim. “Turn me so I can tell them what my father said.”
“I think I'd better tell them what the King said first.” I turned the phone around again. “As he died, the King said, 'Danu is lost, and Fairy awakens. Without me, you won't survive.”
“Sounds like a bunch of bullshit spouted by a dying man trying to get one over on his enemies,” Killian said.
“Yes, except that my father confirmed it,” Tiernan said.
“He warned me that Fairy is reacting to Danu's absence.
The primal magic of this world has been unleashed.
It flowed into Seelie first. As much as the King wanted us to believe the Garden of Regret attacked us because we ignored it, it was the primal magic of Fairy that actually woke the Garden.
Destroying the Garden hasn't stopped the primal magic, only diverted it. Now, it will head for Twilight and Unseelie.”
“Great fuck,” Raza muttered. “As if we don't have enough to deal with.”
“All we can do is prepare,” my father said.
“Yes, I agree,” Tiernan said. “Look for paths it might take. Anything open to magical exploitation.”
“Uh, while you're all preparing, I need to go to Hell.” I looked around the table, meeting my husbands' stares.
“Is Daxon on a scry?” Raza demanded. “He should be a part of this conversation too.”
“Oh. Uh. No, I wanted to warn you and Dad first about the threat to your kingdoms.” I looked at my father. “Do you have your scry phone, Dad?”
“Yes.” King Keir pulled out his scry phone. “King Daxon Tromlaighe of the Fairy Undergrounds.”
As we waited for Daxon to answer, Raza glared at me.
I met his glare. “Don't look at me like that, Raza. It has to be done.”
“King Keir?” Daxon said, stopping Raza's reply.
“Hello, Son. We're in a meeting, and Seren wants to discuss going to Hell. I'm going to turn you to face everyone.”
“Oh, for Goddess' sake,” Daxon muttered as he was turned to face the center of the table. “Oh, hello, Your Majesties.” His stare lifted to me. “And my dear wife. Severriel? You're back in Fairy?”
“Yes, I'll scry you later and fill you in,” Sever said. “Thank you for your hospitality, King Daxon.”
“My pleasure.” Daxon slid his swirling eyes back to me.
“Dax, you know I've got to go.” I motioned at Raza, Kill, and Sever. “You all know this must be done.”
“What are you referring to, Seren?” Raza demanded. “Hell or its King?”
“Okay, I'm going to tell you what I told Tiernan.” I leaned forward, one hand propping up the scry phone.
“I'm done feeling bad about Astaroth. One good thing that came out of the blight was the clarity it gave me.
I saw how foolish I've been. I should have handled this shit at the start instead of letting all of you bully me into abandoning Astaroth.”
“Bully you?” Raza growled.
“Yes, Raza. You bully me with your love. You made me feel so guilty, over and over, that I ignored destiny for you. I even felt righteous doing it, as if I were proving my love to you by abandoning an entire planet. But why the fuck do I have to prove anything to you?!” I leaned closer to Raza.
“I certainly shouldn't have to prove how much I love you.”
Raza grimaced and sighed. “You don't. But that doesn't change the fact that none of us want you with Astaroth.”
“I don't want to be with Astaroth either.
And it wouldn't have been a problem if you had just been cool with me having Star as a friend.
But you didn't trust us, so I stayed away from him for you, for all of you, and in doing so, I stayed away from Hell.
I could have fulfilled the prophecy by now and been done with it.
Instead, this situation has dragged on until it has eaten away at my heart and mind.
It's turned me into someone I don't recognize.
I hide things from the people I love. I want things I shouldn't.
I see connections that aren't there. Well, I'm done being that woman.
I'm going to handle my shit whether you like it or not.
I'm going to Hell, and I'm going to help the Cavern Demons return to the surface.
Then I'm going to come back here, and we will get on with our lives.”
“I don't trust Astaroth with you,” Daxon said.
“Yes, I know. But do you trust me?” I held his stare.
Daxon stared back. “Yes, I trust you.”
I looked at the others.
“Fine. You do you, Twilight,” Kill said.
I looked at Sever. He nodded crisply.
I turned the scry phone to get Tiernan's answer.
“Yes, go. I trust you,” Tiernan said. “I just want this finished.”
Finally, I looked at Raza.
“I will accompany you,” Raza said.
“No, babe, you won't.”
“Excuse me?” He narrowed his golden eyes at me.
“I'm going to Hell alone because you're going to trust me to handle this by myself and not betray you. And when I get back, we can put this matter to bed for good.”
“Not the best choice of words, babe,” Killian drawled. “Come on, Beast Bro. You know we can always get Sever to laruk us to her.”
Raza cracked his neck, his wings rustling. “Very well. Go with my blessing, Seren. But you will scry me daily, and if I sense that anything is wrong, I will come after you. I will demolish that smug bastard and bring you home.”
“Agreed,” I said.
“And if we need you back here to fight whatever Fairy throws at us, you'll come back,” Kill added.
“Yes, of course,” I said.
My husbands nodded.
“One last thing, Seren.” Sever leaned toward me on an elbow. “Tell King Astaroth that if he tries to seduce you, I will remove Miri's suppression and let her deal with him.”
“Dear Goddess,” my father muttered.