Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(110)

“I’m not ashamed of you, teacher,” Daniel said with far too much emotion.

“And that makes me happy, Daniel,” Myrddin replied. “You can’t understand how that makes me feel. But Daniel, if you trust me, then you must trust me even when my wisdom runs counter to your own wants. You need to do this on your own. I swear I won’t steer you wrong.”

I felt Daniel squeeze my hand and he slowly let out a deep breath. “All right, teacher. I hope you’re right.”

“You’re sure?” Nim asked, flustered by the turn of events.

“I am, Nim.” Myrddin sounded tired of the argument. “I don’t know how many times I have to say it. If you no longer believe in my magic then please feel free to find another tutor. I need to learn this plane as it is today. The king needs to claim his crown. It’s not the end of his trouble, not even close. When he needs me, I’ll find him.”

Nim bowed her head in acquiescence. “All right, then. I will be your teacher in this. I know this world a little. I’ll go with you and we’ll learn what you need to learn.”

“Nimue?” The word came out as a breathless question, and I could see the remnants of whatever feelings the wizard had once had spark back to life.

Nim flashed a brief smile. “I promise you nothing but companionship, Myrddin. I want to watch over you and make sure you cause no trouble. Devinshea, can you arrange to have the contents of the castle moved to a secure location? Now that the veil has been opened, any decent witch should be able to find it.”

“I’ll have it all moved to Ether,” Dev promised. “Your rooms will be kept ready for you at any time and if you require money, I’ll provide it.”

“Are we leaving then?” Stewart walked into the room. He’d been conspicuously absent for the last two days. Zack had told me Stewart had acted as a focal point for the wizard’s divination.

The wizard stood and regarded the demon with a certain affection. “It’s time we all did our jobs, Nemcox. I’m sure there will be a reward awaiting you on the other side of this mess.”

Stewart’s smile was sure and slick. “I’m certain of it as well, My Lord.”

Myrddin crossed over to a large table and picked up a box. “This is for you, Daniel. When I was exiled here, Nimue was kind enough to pack away certain important items she knew would be helpful to my next student. Among them are the thirteen treasures of Britain. They will be moved to this club of Devinshea’s along with my other possessions, but you will need this one, I’m certain. This is the Mantle of Arthur and now it’s yours.”

Daniel let go of my hand and opened the box on his lap. He pulled out a long dark cloak. He looked at the wizard, confusion plain on his handsome face.

“Devinshea, if you will permit me?” Myrddin gestured for Dev to stand.

I started to protest because the last time the wizard experimented on my faery prince it had almost cost him his life, but before I could get a word out, he tossed the cloak over Dev’s shoulder and everything from his neck down completely disappeared.

“Holy Harry Potter, it’s an invisibility cloak,” Daniel said with a look of wonder.

Myrddin shook his head. “I don’t know this Potter boy, but he must be important. Your retinue references him often. Perhaps I shall seek him out. Anyway, it’s indeed an invisibility cloak. Keep it close to you. You’re still very weak and it may come in handy.”

“Do I look like a dancing head?” Dev grinned as he moved around.

“Yes, it’s creepy.” I shuddered. We were on British soil, planning a coup. I didn’t need to see my husband’s head without his body. It was too close to what could happen if we got caught. “Take it off.”

Dev drew the cloak off, but he was still smiling. “Halloween is going to be so much fun this year.”

Daniel put the lid back on the box after Dev folded the cloak up. His lips turned down. “I should get back to the real world, then. Nim said I would heal better there.”

“You will, Daniel,” she said sagely. “It’s your home plane. The energy of it will be more soothing to your body. You’ll be feeling much more like yourself in a week or two. For now, you will go through periods of great weakness and you just have to get through them. No training for at least a week. Devinshea might need longer.”

Dev shook his head. “I’m feeling much better. My body feels fine though when I attempted to use Bris’s powers, they were a bit sluggish.”

“The magic I used threw off his, I would think,” Myrddin explained. “Can the fertility god take over?”

Dev’s eyes bled to a full emerald green. “I am still here, wizard. If your thought was to get rid of me, you have failed.”

Myrddin sighed. “Always thinking the worst of me. I merely wanted to make sure you could still come out. Devinshea says your powers are weak.”

Bris nodded. “Yes, but I believe you’re correct. The magic of the stasis chamber drained us both. We feel a bit better every day. We’ll be in fighting form in a week or two. We need rest and sex.”

Dev came back, giving me the most delicious grin. “Damn straight.”

Daniel stood suddenly. “Right. We’ll leave now. I need to get Z to the Order’s HQ. I’m not the only one who needs to rest. She needs better than what we can provide her with here.”