Ever My Merlin (Book 3, My Merlin Series) (13 page)

I turned to the boy. “It’s all right—”

The boy grabbed a fallen knife and hurled himself at me. I flexed my fingers and said, “
Zyayti
.” Nothing happened. I could have cried. Instead, I cold-cocked the kid. He crumpled to the floor. I caught him before he hit the ground and put him on the bed. Mustering up my energy, I grabbed a candle and went into the hidden room.

Light illuminated a room stacked neatly with shining coins and bejeweled artifacts. The amount of gold had me swallowing my own tongue. However, the true treasure stood in front, guarding the bounty. Flickers from the fireball glanced off the flaxen highlights in the hair of a small child, roughly four years of age. Garbed in a dress of fine purple, her tiny, piquant face held a bow with a notched arrow. My savior.

I mumbled, “Rescued by a little girl. I’ll never live this down.”

The pointed end of the notched arrow followed me as I approached her. It was her last arrow yet her big brown eyes, identical to Lady Aldith’s, watched with unworried defiance. Her nose wrinkling, she favored me with a truly adorable frown.

“I’m not a girl, Roman,” she spat at me. “I am a princess.”

I raised a brow. “Nor am I a Roman, princess. I am Briton.”

CHAPTER 6

GARDEN OF EDEN

A
violent downshift of wind caused the airplane to wobble from turbulence. Inside its airy cabin, my eyes snapped open.

“
Dorothy.
” Vane groaned in my head. “
That’s enough. I never wanted you to see that.
”

My fingers jerked open and the amulet fell from my hand back into the safety of my pocket. My body shook, but it wasn’t because of the cold, sterile air blasting from the vents above me. I dug fingernails deep into the hard bench of the divan. Never had I pictured such vivid brutality in a dream—no, memory. It was a memory. Just as I’d seen Matt’s when we shared a link, I had to be seeing Vane’s memories. The scenes coated my tongue, leaving a sharp and bitter taste. Their impressions in my mind ran deep, but I sensed they only scratched the surface of a staggering horror. How did he survive it?

How did he retain his sanity?

Well, admittedly, he walked close to the line. Until the trident, though, he was in control. Now, I had no idea what he was.

Dammit.
I shouldn’t have let him startle me into dropping the amulet. I wanted to know more… a lot more. Although, I wasn’t sure I could handle the knowledge.

The plane dipped and started descending. We had to be getting close to our destination. I pushed open the plastic shutter of a nearby window just a crack. Darkness with a hint of light colored the sky outside as dawn approached. It was a short flight. Under us, blue water stretched out and I wondered where we were.

Raj asked the question for me. He walked down the aisle, having descended from a visit to the cockpit, and stopped in front of Matt. “The pilot says it will be another twenty minutes. Will you tell me where we’re going? Or should I read the signs at the airport?”

Matt gave a small laugh. “Your friends tell me you know it well. We’ll land in Colombo and take a van to Ella.”

“Ella. Colombo,” Raj repeated. “We’re in Sri Lanka.”

Matt’s head bobbed.

Raj continued, “This week is the Vesak Poya festival. Buddha Day.”

“Rather opportune, wouldn’t you say? It’s the prefect time to visit the hidden caves.”

“That’s where you think the Healing Cup is?”

“It’s my best guess,” Matt replied.

“Good enough for me, Master Merlin,” Raj raised his hand, which glowed with red magic. “I will let you know how it turns out.”

“What?” Matt said.

I threw off the blanket and jumped up. “Matt!”

Raj’s attention shifted to me, eyes widening in surprise. “Sword-bearer. This is a surprise. I am not supposed to harm Merlin, but your death would be worth much.” He extended his hand, palm forward, and sent a stream of magic at me. “
Mrayati
!”

Matt threw himself in front of him. He absorbed the blast. It glanced off him. Matt tossed what looked like a glass vial at Raj. A puff of red dust exploded in Raj’s face. Raj screamed and clutched his throat before slumping to the floor.

I ran down the narrow aisle to Matt. Grabbing his shoulder, I pulled him down a bit and rose up on tiptoes to peer over him. “Is he dead? Are you all right?” I yanked Matt around to face me and started patting his chest. Raj’s blast had hit him dead-on. I demanded, “What was that?”

Matt caught my hands and held them still. A chain dangled from his neck. The topaz gemstone inside it was shattered. “Just because I have no magic, Ryan, doesn’t mean I’m no longer a wizard.”

I relaxed. “A charm.”

“Better than armor, but only good for one use.” Matt yanked off the chain with one hand and tossed it aside.

“You killed him,” said a mild voice from behind Matt.

He jerked sideways. The flight attendant, a slim man with closely cropped hair and a hooked nose, knelt down to Raj. Wearing a simple navy suit and white dress shirt, he held a handgun in a casual grip.

Matt’s fingers tightened on my arm. “Who are you?”

“SIS. Secret Intelligence Service,” Hooked-Nose said. “I was assigned to watch you.”

“Assigned by who? The Queen—” I started to say.

“Don’t tell him anything, Ryan.” Matt stopped me. I blinked when he held up another vial that seemed to come out of nowhere. He demanded, “What do you know of us, Regular?”

“I know that you have about half-a-million pounds worth of magical amulets and potions in that bag.” Hooked-Nose pointed to a black duffel bag tucked under Matt’s seat.

“Half-a-million,” I repeated. I knew that selling magic was lucrative. Grey’s family had gotten rich off that commodity for centuries. Having never bought the stuff, though, I never knew how much. I frowned. “Did you buy it here? How did Raj not know?”

“The local wizards don’t have enough. Magic may have originated here, but the wizard population is still very low. Every ounce is sold as soon they can make it. I didn’t want to take their supply. I took this from Sylvia in Greece as backup.”

Sylvia. Grey’s mom. My adoptive mother. I muttered, “You brought it this whole way without telling us. More secrets, Merlin?”

“Sometimes discretion is necessary.” Hooked-Nose stood up. “I think introductions are in order. My name is Robin Chaucer. I work under the Foreign Secretary. Her Majesty has contacted the prime minister. The MP was called in regards to the threat we now face.”

“It’s James Bond,” I whispered to Matt.

“Who? Never mind,” Matt replied. “He’s a Regular. We can’t trust him.”

I rolled my eyes. “You sound like Vane. I’m a Regular. Anyway, just call the First Member and we can confirm everything.”

Robin said, “You could, but before you do, you should consider Raj—a wizard of position in this region, difficult to corrupt, yet he was corrupted. The question remains by whom? Who do you trust, Merlin?”

Matt threw a red vial in his face. “Not you.”

Robin’s eyes widened with a surprised look just before the vial exploded in his face. Red powder puffed in the air. He slumped down next to Raj. I gaped at Matt. “What the hell, Merlin?”

“They’re not dead, just asleep,” Matt said.

With a frown, I crossed to Robin and leaned down to check his pulse. It pounded strongly against his neck. I checked Raj’s. His skin, although still warm, felt different. I checked his neck. I couldn’t feel a pulse.

“It’s just a sleeping potion. I threw a little bit too much at Raj.” Matt moved my fingers directly on Raj’s chest and pressed deep. Under the skin, life thrummed.

I sighed in relief and sat back on my haunches. “Why would Raj attack you?”

“Vane—”

“Not everything goes back to him,” I exclaimed.

“He convinced the wizards to follow him once before.”

I stared at him. “Why are you so bent on hating him? Do you know what happened to him after he was forced to leave you?”

“There was no force. He left,” he retorted. Then, his eyes narrowed. “You’re seeing his memories.”

I nodded. “They’re pretty gruesome. He fought in Carthage—”

“You can’t allow the past to affect you. He had a difficult childhood. It happens. So did I. It’s what he’s chosen to do now that terrifies me. He’s bent on power, Ryan. He always will be. His past has made him so, but his current actions can’t be excused because of it.”

“I know that—” I stumbled when the plane sunk, beginning its final descent.

“We should strap in.” Matt grabbed me by the arm and hauled me into a nearby seat. He threw himself into the seat opposite me. His face was tight with a tinge of a sickly glaze to it. He grabbed the sick bag from a side pocket built into the seat and clutched the paper bag like a lifeline. “You shouldn’t have stowed along.”

“You shouldn’t have tried to sneak off.” Wisps of hair hung over my eyes. I blew at them. “We’re in this together. No matter how upset you are at me.”

“I thought we were in it together,” Matt retorted. “You’re incapable of listening, aren’t you? Is it really so hard to understand why I don’t want you along for this? You are tied to Vane. I don’t want him to know what I am doing.”

“Good plan, Merlin.” I stuck out a thumb at the prostrate Robin and Raj. “Seems like the whole keeping it secret thing worked really well.”

Matt’s expression turned grumpy. “Secrets never seem to work well in this century.”

“You might consider updating your philosophy.”

The amber in Matt’s eyes flashed. “Thanks to you, it’s all I have left.”

His words punched me somewhere low. “Not all.”

Matt didn’t reply. After we touched down on a secluded airstrip in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Matt threw more sleeping potions at the two pilots upon landing. We pushed the plane’s aft door open and extended the stowed air stairs. They slid forward on rails and unfolded outward. We avoided the waiting pit crew fairly easily. After a quick exchange of immigration cards and previously completed forms (from the date Matt filled out on the form, I realized he’d been planning this trip since Greece), we exited the airport. Gloomy clouds hovered over the horizon, yet the sight of them finally eased the tension in my shoulders. With some magical inducement, the men in white customs uniforms inspected the questionable items in his bag. I wasn’t keen to be detained in a country where a singular conviction of smuggling resulted in hanging.

Matt pulled me toward a waiting line of taxis. I watched a man in a business suit negotiate a fare with the taxi before accepting the ride, and did the same. I made Matt squeeze into the narrow backseat of a yellow-black, three-wheeled tuk tuk, barely big enough for two. It may have not been the best choice to pick a three-wheeler in the dust and smog of the city, but I’d always wanted to ride one. In the front, where the driver sat on a seat that looked more like a stool, there were no doors. In the backseat, the windows were cutouts without any glass. An unused mileage counter shuddered in the wind as the taxi flew down an open highway.

We sped past white-sand beaches. Hard bits of salty rain peppered us like miniscule bullets. Deep blue ocean and an abundant sprinkling of greenery stretched as far as the eye could see on one side of the taxi (my side). The swaying palm trees attested to the fact that we were traveling the outskirts of a huge island. On the other side (Matt’s side), exhaust fumes and clouds of smog that went hand-in-hand with emerging industrialization were his only view. We passed beachfront hotels. Many appeared recently renovated, still bearing the marks of the 2004 tsunami that devastated the region. People streamed through the streets. Street vendors reopened their shuttered shops as the latest threat of a tsunami abated.

The three-wheeler tuk tuk turned off towards the city center and crossed a small lake in the middle. Men in paddleboats rowed casually along it. Huge Buddhist statues hugged the bridges. However, the soothing sounds of the ocean quickly disappeared under a layer of diesel-induced smog and billboards with squiggly writing. Renovated Colonial forts interspersed with glass high-rise buildings. In a cacophony of honking horns and fast-talking locals, the three-wheeler squeezed into a narrow street and through the heart of a bazaar. Shops and department stores advertised various clothing and crafts in rupee amounts. Then, the smell of rice and colored curries hit my nostrils.

My stomach rumbled. Loudly. “Matt—”

He groaned. “We might miss the train.”

“We’ll get another one.” I lowered my voice. “Anyway, I need to get supplies—”

“We’ll get them later.”

I raised a brow. “In the middle of nowhere? Do you really want to watch me wash my undies every day?”

Matt turned red in the face. I almost laughed, not surprised he was the sort that any mention of the unmentionables would send him into a dither. He scowled at me as if to say he knew what I was pulling, but despite a downpour of rain, he tapped the driver’s shoulder.