Ever My Merlin (Book 3, My Merlin Series) (8 page)

“Am I?” said Vane.

Vane raised his hand. A green bubble formed around our rooftop. A wizard, leaping from an adjacent rooftop to ours, hit the bubble and was repelled backwards. I winced when he fell onto the concrete with a hard thud.

The access door blew open. I turned my head to see a line of armed men streaming through its shattered wood. I immediately recognized their leader. Leonidas. My hand tightened in a death grip on Excalibur. I ignored the urge to hurl the blade at him. We’d already spent the better part of a month hacking each other up. He brutally made sure I suffered through that time. I couldn’t look at him now without wanting to tear him apart.

The mermaids quickly surrounded us. On the island of Aegae, they wore uniforms that I’d only seen in pictures of ancient Spartans—metallic breastplates, red leather skirts, and helmets with red plumes. Now they wore military-style, black cargo pants and black T-shirts. But they couldn’t hide their green-tinted skin. In the dull light, it took on an eerie, ghostly pallor. Dark green gills were slashed across their throats. Vane’s throat also bore the gills, firmly establishing him as one of them.

I lifted Excalibur and held it in front of me. Beside me, the gargoyles changed to show their beast—their foreheads extended and fangs stuck out from the sides of their mouths. We all shared the same feeling. With the unforgiving gazes of savage mermaids penning us in, we knew we were well and truly trapped.

I turned back to face their king. “What do you want, Vane?”

“What I always want—more.” He looked at Matt. “Give me the snake, Merlin.”

Medusa’s snake
. The metallic snake held the blood spilt by Medusa on her death, twenty-five-hundred-year-old blood.

Matt gave him a long look. “It is tied to the past. It will not show you the future.”

“You will pardon me if I don’t take your word for it. Once again, you’ve missed the obvious—the Lady led you to it. It worked before, now that I have your power, this will work for me, too,” said Vane. “Where is it, Merlin? Or do I have to tear through you to get it?”

“You’ve done enough of that today, haven’t you, brother?” Matt said in a voice laced with bitterness.

Vane glanced at me with a smirk. I resisted the urge to wince.

“Yes, but there is little time for you to wallow. You will accept what has happened eventually. There is no other choice.” He raised the trident. “Give me the snake, Merlin. I will not ask again.”

Matt crossed his arms across his chest. “I. Don’t. Have. It.”

“Pity.” A shield of ice hooded Vane’s eyes. I had a moment of deep foreboding before Vane fired on Matt.

“Vane!” I moved to block the blast.

Matt instinctively put up a hand to shield himself, but no magic came out. Blake made it to Matt first. He held up a weak shield. Owing to the amount of energy the wizards had already used to protect the city from the tsunami, I knew it wouldn’t hold against Vane’s power. I jumped and caught the blast with the edge of Excalibur’s blade just before it hit the shield. The blast slammed into Excalibur’s unusual metal. It knocked me backwards to the ground and rebounded into Vane. Vane put out a hand and captured the stream of pure energy into his hand. Somehow, he compressed it so that it formed a tight green fireball and bounced it idly in his hand.

My bones jarred by hard concrete, I forced myself back on my feet and shouted, “What are you doing, Vane?”

Thoughtful eyes turned to me. “It seems as if I truly have stripped Merlin’s magic.”

“You knew that!” I said, seething. “You promised not to harm him.”

“I promised earlier. This is later.” Frost firmly obscuring any emotion in his eyes, Vane lifted the trident again at Matt. “I need that snake, Merlin. All our fates depend on it.”

I strode forward, putting myself between Matt and him, and taunted him. “You’ll have to go through me and I know you won’t. You still need Excalibur.”

“Are you so certain?”

He said it so quietly I felt a trickle of unease go down my spine. I raised my chin. I hadn’t given into him when he was being a jerk before and I wasn’t about to now… even if this was a way scarier jerk.

Another figure came out of the door. This one made my stomach clench. He also held a sword. It was the gargoyle king’s traitorous son—Oliver, who’d once been my friend. I’d hoped to never see him again. I wasn’t so lucky.

Oliver mocked, “Am I late?”

He lined up with Leonidas and the mermaids. Disbelief filled me. I’d lost count of how many times the gargoyle had tried to kill me. I turned to Vane. “You’re working with
him
?”

Vane said steadily, “I needed a backup.”

“
You sicken me
,” I thought to him.

The Minotaur inside stirred and awoke. Green eyes intensified.

Oliver smiled at me. “I will happily take the sword.”

I spat, “Try me.”

Oliver took a step forward. A barrier of magic blocked his way. Vane said, “We’re not here for that today.”

“Let’s give you a choice, love. Merlin or your friend. Which one will you defend?” Vane’s voice said, except it sounded oddly hollow.

A stream of magic sent Gia flying backwards across the roof. She landed on a ledge. Her head and back collided with the wall in a loud “
crack!
” Her head slumped forward as she passed out in a sitting position. Instinctively, I took a step toward her.

Vane raised a brow. “Which one will you choose?”

I hesitated.

Vane barked, “Leonidas, take the red-haired witch.”

Sword in hand, Leonidas leapt toward Gia with a feral noise. Grey ran to Gia to intercept him. Everything happened quickly after that. Too quickly.

“No!” Blake yelled. “
Aayat
!”

A knife extended into a sword in Grey’s hands. Blake managed to conjure a weak fireball, which he lobbed at Leonidas. He and Grey charged the mermaid prince with a sword. Oliver stepped in against them. Close to the edge of the rooftop, the two clashed. I knew Leonidas too well. Blake and Grey didn’t stand a chance.

I ran across the roof to help them. Matt ran beside me.

Out of the corner of my eye, across the long length of the rooftop, I saw Hari, Raj, and about ten other wizards surround Vane and the remaining mermaids. They held swords and fireballs in their hands, with which they bombarded Vane.  The small, explosive balls, although magic, lacked strength. Vane deflected the fireballs easily, then imbued them with more strength as he sent them rebounding back. A fast, blazing fireball flew straight back at Hari, hitting him squarely in the chest. With barely a cry, the young wizard sailed backwards. His body collapsed on the rooftop. The sword, now useless in his hand, clattered to the ground beside him.

“No!” Sangeetha, her black braids flying behind her, ran to her husband.

Matt halted midway to Grey. Hari, the young wizard, who was so alive only a few minutes ago, now lay as still as a marble statue. Sangeetha dropped to her knees, letting out loud, harsh sobs. Raj went to her and put an arm around the girl’s shaking shoulders.

“Fall back,” Raj shouted.

The other wizards backed away from Vane. He let them go. Leonidas grabbed Grey. He slammed his head against the ledge. I turned to go to him.

A few feet away, Blake, black hair wild and wiry in the blowing wind, lunged at Oliver. Oliver struck back at him.

“Blake!” I screamed.

The thick blade connected with Blake’s neck with deadly force. Blake never had the chance to make another sound. His head fell to the ground.

CHAPTER 4

COLD SUMMER

“
N
o!” Matt’s cry rung with grief.

I stopped midstride, pole axed and frozen in place. The rest of the world buzzed around me yet it was an indecipherable sound. All I could hear was the stop and start of my heart pounding against my eardrums.

Oliver didn’t slow down. With the practiced ease of a trained candidate, he turned and ran at me.I lifted Excalibur in return.

“Enough,” Vane roared.

In a flash of green light (Vane’s magic), Oliver went flying backwards. But Vane didn’t glance at us. His gaze remained fixed on Blake’s severed form. Real emotion stirred. For the first time since I’d seen him assume the mantle of the monster, it receded. The green cracked and a glimmer of Vane’s hazel irises peered through. Then, Leonidas walked to his side. Shields dropped over Vane’s expression and all emotion was buried. The mask of indifference slid firmly back into place.

Oliver got up quickly. “I can bring her down.”

“No,” Vane commanded.

Oliver lunged at me.

Vane knocked him a few feet away.

“I won’t tolerate disobedience.” He stood on the other side of the roof. “I’m afraid this association will not work out after all. Leonidas, take the traitor gargoyle prisoner.”

Blake’s head stared at me from the ground.

My fingers tightened on Excalibur. “No, he’s not getting off that easily.” 

Leonidas blocked my way. The mermaid prince faced me without lifting his sword. I moved to attack him. More green magic blew at me, knocking me backwards. Hard concrete collided with my tailbone. Vane zapped Oliver too. He slumped to the floor, felled by a sleep spell. Leonidas grabbed Oliver and thrust him at the other mermaids.

I jumped up and shouted at Vane, “Did you ever care about anyone? How can you protect him?”

“I may need him,” he replied.

While his expression wasn’t apologetic, the mere fact that he bothered to explain surprised me. I stared at him through a haze of tears. I didn’t move.

Matt knelt beside Blake. He picked up Blake’s head and set it against his body. Two young wizards left Sangeetha’s and Raj’s side and rushed over to us. In a glow of yellow, the young wizards sealed Blake’s head back on his body and closed the lifeless, unseeing eyes. They bowed their heads.

The wizards on the other rooftops gathered just outside the green bubble that held us captive. Eyes fixed on the body of their fallen leader, they watched, but could do nothing to help. Ignoring the pain in my own worn out muscles, I stumbled over to Grey. A cut bled at the hairline across Grey’s forehead, and I put my fingers to his neck. His pulse was strong.

“He will be fine,” Vane said. “His gargoyle blood will heal him.”

I ignored him. Wiping at my wet face, I checked Gia next. She lay on Grey’s other side. At my prodding, she sat up slowly. She saw me and frowned. By my face, she knew something was wrong. She looked past me and spotted Blake. As realization hit her, I felt its vicious blow again. Gia made a shrieking sound of horror that pierced the air. Loud sobs wracked her body. I tried to pull her into a hug, but she threw me off and crawled toward Blake. She lifted his limp hand and started weeping.

My insides twisted at the sound of her pain. It echoed mine.

Matt got up and walked to me. He said harshly, “This shouldn’t have happened.”

I reached out a hand to him, needing his touch, but dropped it halfway when those amber-brown eyes fixed on me. Something profound flickered in those depths. Something hard.

Vane leaned on the trident and watched the scene from a safe distance. Leonidas stood at his right. At a nod from Vane, their king, the other mermaids moved to protectively surround him. Grey stirred and sat up. The gargoyles moved to band together at his side. Beyond the bubble, the wizards on the other rooftops also gathered. All eyes were fixed on the bodies of their fallen brethren, but there was nothing they could do to help.

Vane played with the trident. “Tell me, Merlin, how many more are you willing to sacrifice today before you give me what I want?”

“No one else is going to die here today, Vane.” Matt stood up. To my shock, he grabbed Excalibur from my hand. Heaving the blade like a lance at Vane, he shouted, “
Zikara!
”

“
Zikara!
” The other wizards on our rooftop shouted in unison.

Excalibur flew straight and true across the rooftop.

“
Zikara!
” The wizards on the other rooftops echoed. One-by-one, the cry spread out like a wave.

It hit Vane just above his heart. With a yelp, he sailed backwards as the blade impaled his shoulder.

In a rainbow of multi-colored magic, a mist, spreading rapidly from the ocean behind us, attacked Vane’s bubble. With Vane now on the ground, the bubble dissipated without much of a fight. Dewy mist solidified into fog as it took over the rooftop. I could barely see the sky above, or the ocean ahead of me. Under its thick blanket, Vane lay still on the ground.

“Vane!” Leonidas said. He knelt down at Vane’s side just before the fog obscured my view.

I couldn’t help it. I took a step toward him. Matt grabbed my arm and stopped me.

“We have to go,” Matt said into my ear.

“No.” I shook my head. “Vane. Excalibur.”