Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(101)

I didn’t like the sound of that. “So he’s doing some kind of mind control on Danny?”

“Nothing of the sort. He’s simply very charismatic. Daniel has free will. I think you’ll simply find Myrddin is very influential and there’s nothing wrong with that. He knows more about power and ruling a kingdom than anyone walking the planes. He doesn’t abuse the power.”

She hadn’t seen the whole fight. “I have to disagree with you on that one.”

“Zoey, you might not always like his methods, but he does have to very quickly figure out the relationships within the group,” Nim explained. “I fear the fact that Dev is an ascended god threw him for a loop. You’ll see as time passes that Daniel will get used to having a mentor. After a while Arthur stopped taking Myrddin’s counsel and that was when things went bad.”

“I don’t like a bit of this.”

“It’s necessary, Your Highness,” Nim said in all seriousness. “I can promise you that if it comes to it, I will handle the situation. I truly will. I believe that once Myrddin settles down, you’ll see that everything is fine.”

“I’ll handle the f*cker if I have to.”

Nim’s smile was vibrant. “I don’t doubt it. You’re right. I think you will be an entirely different queen. You’re going to give Myrddin hell, aren’t you?”

“It depends on how he treats me and Dev and Danny,” I replied.

“Then I shall have to treat you well, my queen.” Myrddin entered the room, stopping to greet me with a small bow. “I find myself apologizing to everyone today. I just spent some time with Devinshea making certain he understood I was only attempting to feel out the relationship between Daniel and the god living inside him.”

I seriously doubted that. “Yes, that’s what you were doing. You weren’t testing Daniel in any way.”

I could see in Myrddin’s eyes that he was taking my measure. “Your Highness, if I’ve offended you, I apologize. I need to understand this world. It seems to have changed so much since the last time I was a meaningful part of something. Women have a different place than they did before. I’m far behind the times, and I must ask you to make allowances.”

“Z, come on, baby,” Daniel said as he walked in behind Myrddin. “I really want the two of you to get along.”

It took everything I had not to roll my eyes at Daniel’s eager statement. He really did want us to get along and that bothered me. He didn’t know this guy. My husband should have been much more wary. I had to hope that Nim was right and Daniel wouldn’t always feel Myrddin’s influence.

“Zoey, he comes from an entirely different time,” Daniel explained. “You can’t expect him to understand how a modern marriage works. He’ll get used to treating you as a woman expects to be treated these days.”

“Yes, we’ll have to make sure the wizard properly integrates into modern times,” Dev said, a set to his lips.

Daniel didn’t seem to notice how stiff Dev seemed. “We’ve already made plans. Dev is going to make sure he has a proper place to stay and that will help him integrate into this time. There’s no place quite like Ether to introduce Myrddin to the modern supernatural world.”

“Bris didn’t have any trouble.” No matter what that wizard said, I still counted Bris as one of the good guys. He wasn’t going to change my mind so easily.

The rest of the group crowded into the small room.

“Bris has all of Dev’s memories to call upon,” Daniel pointed out.

“I am alone in the world,” Myrddin said and again I felt the need to stop my eyes from rolling.

I wanted to argue. I wanted to point out that maybe we should listen to Bris, despite the fact that he may have hidden certain key facts from me. I had to go by his actions and they were above reproach. He defended me at every opportunity. He’d given up his host to save Daniel. If he was just trying to get to me, it would have been easier to do if he just let Daniel die. I wouldn’t have known he could help. I would have let him comfort me while I mourned. I would have drowned myself in his love and sympathy. He hurt his own cause by helping my husband. I had to believe he had our best interests at heart in this case as well. If he told me to think twice before trusting the wizard then I would. But it was obvious Daniel wasn’t willing to listen to me now.

“I’m sure you’ll find living in Dallas very amusing,” I murmured.

The wizard’s smile was infectious. “I’m looking forward to it. It sounds like a very interesting place, and I look forward to getting to know our little court. But first, we should fix your husband’s heart trouble. Nimue, have you finished the purgative?”

“Everything is ready,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I have all the before and after elixirs prepared. I also prepared the bed for Daniel and a recovery room, though he’ll be much more comfortable if we get him back to civilization as soon as possible.”

“Why? Daniel heals very quickly.” The idea of Danny struggling physically startled me. It wasn’t something I’d had to worry about since his turn. He’d never had so much as a cold. He’d been weak during my first pregnancy due to our connection, but other than that, anytime he was injured all he had required was blood to be back to fighting strength very quickly.