Ever My Merlin (Book 3, My Merlin Series) (22 page)

Matt tried to fit the cross on the center head, but the circles didn’t match. “I don’t understand. This should be the key.”

Another whisper of wind whistled past me, tickling my ears. An intangible memory, fuzzy and unclear in my mind, nagged at me. “There’s something really familiar about this—”

Behind me, Matt muttered, “Rawana held the nectar of immortality
inside
his navel. I wonder if that’s the answer.”

I whipped around just in time to see Matt press the cross vertically down the center head. “Wait, Matt. Don’t touch—”

The stone depressed into the slab and swallowed the cross. Matt looked at me smugly, “It worked.”

The island trembled. Around us, the stalagmites moved. Not in a good way. They started sinking into the water. The awning began to lower. We were going to get squished.

Matt cursed and jumped up on the casket, sliding over to me. “Run!”

We sprinted toward the edge of the island. We didn’t even get close to getting off the rock. A neat row of stalactites fell off the awning and straight down into the moat to form an impassable barrier. We were trapped inside the tightening jaws of death.

“Matt—”

“I’m on it.” He drew out the
Dragon’s Eye
and unwrapped the handkerchief around it. The sapphire amulet shone dully under the orb’s artificial light. Matt frowned. “I don’t sense any magic.”

Above us, the awning slipped another few inches. More stalactites fell down around us. Matt handed the amulet to me. I took it, but the gemstone had never felt so cold and dead.

“It’s not working,” I cried.

“The rock must be interfering somehow.” As if he couldn’t help it, he added snidely, “You won’t be able to run to him to be rescued for once.”

The remark broke the last thread of my already battered composure. In jerky movements, I stuffed the unresponsive amulet into the pocket of my pants and turned on him with a vengeance. “Have you completely lost your mind? I know you don’t trust him, but ever since you lost your power, you act as if you hate him. You say you care about me, but this whole trip, all you’ve done is to tell me over and over again how much I’ve screwed up. If you really cared, you could at least try to be forgiving. Being with you shouldn’t have to be so painful.” Out of nowhere, tears sprang to my eyes. Annoyed at myself, I rubbed them away. “I thought I knew you, but I’m coming to see that I don’t at all.”

Matt frowned, but without a hint of any remorse. “Ryan—”

“Forget it, Matt. If I’m going to die here, right now, I want to do it alone.” I stalked off across the rock. The amulet jangled heavily in my pocket. I drew it out. The gemstone winked dully. The quiet in the chaos, it sat without life. Vane couldn’t help me, yet I still undid the clasp and slipped on the silver chain. I didn’t really want to die alone.

A sense of calm filled me as soon as the red gemstone settled against my skin, just above the cleft that encased my heart. A spear of rock slammed down from above just in front of me. The impact knocked me backwards and I landed hard on my tailbone. The stone stalagmite lowered a few more inches. The stone face of the Morgan watched the destruction of the island impassively, but from this angle, I noticed a detail I previously missed.

Matt walked over. “Ryan, listen, please—”

I turned to him, pointing excitedly at the Morgan. “Matt, look at her face. She has pointed ears.” I touched my ears. Gia and I got pointed ears when we were temporarily transformed into mermaids.

Matt peered at her, then the next closest Morgan. “It looks like all of them are mermaids. In Greek, the nine water nymphs, the Muses, the daughters of Hesperides, guarded the isle of immortality.”

“Look at their mouths,” I said. The Morgans’ mouths all formed a small O. “They’re
singing
. Water nymphs used songs to lure men to their deaths. On the rooftop, I heard Leonidas. The mermaids’ power is in their singing. We need a mermaid to sing.”

My shoulders drooped. The
Dragon’s Eye
sat cold on my skin. There was no mermaid to help us. No Vane.

Suddenly Matt laughed and drew out a plastic vial from his jacket pocket. “We may not have a mermaid, but we do have wind. The sound of the wind will be enough. We only need the key, not real mermaid magic.”

I perked up. “What else do you have in there?”

“I keep trying to show you,” he said archly, throwing the vial into the air.

It exploded. A wild whirlwind screeched around the island, threatening to send me flying. Matt grabbed my hand and pulled me up close to him. Sober, amber eyes framed by thick lashes held my gaze. Warm fingers shoved back swirling hair from my face.

“Ryan—”

“Later,” I shouted.

Matt’s fingers tightened on me. “There may never be a later—”

More rocks crashed beside us. The wind picked up huge chunks that flew around like bouncy balls. I shouted, “We have to get to the casket. It’s our best bet.”

The rocks played a deadly game of “whack-a-mole” with us as we bobbed and weaved through them. Just as we reached the casket, a soulful aria filled the cavern. The Morgans sang a poignant melody. Despite my non-wizard status, I swayed in place as waves of magic washed over us. Beside me, Matt fell to his knees. I held myself upright by sheer will. Every bone inside me felt as if it were turning to liquid.

In a haze, I watched the ten heads swirl around in circles. Then, the depressed center head, the one Matt pushed, glowed with golden light. Rays spread over the circling heads, connecting them until they lit up, one-by-one. The Morgans’ aria pitched even higher. Matt passed out and fell forward on the ground.

I wanted to lean down to catch him, but couldn’t. Gravity seemed to have increased, making my whole body heavier. The sides of the casket rose up and pushed open the top of it. The stone kept rising until they reached past my head. It was the outline of a doorway—two vertical slabs with the lid of the casket balanced horizontally across the top. A trilithon, I realized. Golden light flashed inside the doorway. A portal opened.

I saw mist on the other side.

Then, the wind died down. The aria stopped.

I jerked forward, almost falling on my face as I suddenly became free once more.

I knelt down to Matt. The Morgans started sinking rapidly into the water. More rocks crashed around us. One sharp fragment fell straight down to split my skull. I jumped aside at the last moment, but it sank deep into my shoulder. The awning started to slip-slide down. I had to get out before Matt and I became little more than pancakes. With a cry, I tore the wretched piece out of my shoulder. Blood seeped down my chest. I hooked my hands under Matt’s armpits. My shoulder burning with pain, I heaved his shoulders off the ground. Somehow, I dragged him into the mist.

CHAPTER 10

KRONOS’S FURY

I
fell, plunging straight down between the banks of a narrow river. I sank deep into the water and swallowed several mouthfuls before I pushed myself back up to the top. Coughing, I glanced around the water’s surface. Matt was nowhere to be seen. I dove under the water again, but I could see nothing in the murkiness. I made several dives before my body forced me to take a rest.

Above me, the darkening sky showed a fading sun and emerging moon. A familiar outline of stars shone from a healthy blanket of blue sky. On the riverbanks, trees swayed under the direction of a quiet breeze. I moved toward the bank. Maybe Matt managed to make it to land.

“One cannot enter Elysium so easily, little one.”

I looked in the direction of the voice. Up on a long, slanted boulder, next to the riverbank, a tanned, bare-chested man sat wearing billowing, black Arabian-style trousers. From the middle of his wide forehead, a third eye winked at me. Two gold armlets decorated his beefy arms. Tattoos of heads, five on each arm, were elaborately inked down his upper limbs. A long tongue stuck out of the mouth of each tattooed face.

The giant of a man sat casually on the smooth boulder. Sharp cheekbones on his handsome face gave him an austere countenance. The regal way he held himself reminded me a little of Lelex, the mermaid king—which was not a good thing. He scrutinized me. “Who are you? I wait for the sword-bearer. How did you come to be here, little girl?”

I swam closer to the bank. “I am the sword-bearer.”

Rawana guffawed. “I do not believe it. You cannot be the great wizard-warrior the Father said the Lady would dare to send. You are so delicate. Scrawny.”

I stared back at him. “How are you still alive, King Rawana?”

“I am not, in a mortal sense,” he answered. “You have found a piece of my spirit, left to guard this place. I pay penance for my misdeeds.” Rawana stood up. My breath caught. Behind him, previously hidden by his big body, I spotted a black lion. His mane and body glistened with dark fur. Huge amber eyes watched me quietly, yet the lion remained frozen in place.

Matt.

I demanded, “What have you done to him?”

Rawana let out an outraged roar. Drawing a scythe from behind his back, he put his foot on the lion’s head. “Tread carefully,
warrior
.” He emphasized the last word with a sneer. “I am not one who suffers a slight.”

“That much I know,” I muttered.

He kidnapped Seetha in retaliation for an insult to his sister.

Sharp teeth flashed at me as Rawana smiled. “Your lover has been changed to reveal his true form.”

True form?
Matt’s lion had never been black. My stomach churned.
Had I done this to him?
“We are not here to fight you. We are looking for the water of life.”

“Do you not know where you are?” Rawana laughed. “The River Lethe, the stream of oblivion and mortal life. This is the place that heals.”

I flailed in the water. “This can’t be it. There’s so much of it!”

Rawana cocked his head. “If you bathe in the river, you will be cleansed of your mortal suffering.”

I looked down at my shoulder. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed that it no longer screamed with pain. The gash was completely healed, and under the water, fresh skin gleamed instead. I swam closer to the boulder.

A long, thin rock, the shape of an arrowhead, lay at the edge of the bank.

Rawana stared down at me, blocking the path to the quiet forest behind him. “Past here is the final resting place of heroes, but you are not one. Neither is the lion. This one is marked. He has taken a soul from Elysium without permission. It’s why he remains frozen where your wounds have been healed.” He pulled the lion’s head up to expose its jugular and thrust the scythe against the vulnerable spot. “It is time to give another soul in return.”

“Stop! Take mine instead.” I grabbed the bottom of the boulder and hauled myself up. I slipped the arrowhead into my wet cargos and stood up, dripping from head to toe.

Rawana stilled. The tattooed faces on his arms twitched. The third eye glared at me. He said in surprise, “You would do that?”

I took a step closer to the muscled king. “I would offer myself to the demon king.”

Rawana let out a bellow of laughter. “Demon king—”

I threw the rock arrowhead at Rawana’s exposed navel. A flash of green burst from the
Dragon’s Eye
. On the heels of the arrowhead, it hit Rawana with deadly accuracy in the stomach. A golden apple fell from under Rawana’s navel and tumbled down at my feet. Rawana blinked. The scythe dropped from his hand, falling to the ground in front of Matt.

I let out a breath of relief.

Rawana clutched his navel, swaying in place. Then, his legs buckled, and he fell backwards on the boulder. Above us, the sky rumbled with thunder. Dark clouds moved fast to cover the blue sky. I ran to the fallen king. Picking up the scythe, I knelt down beside him.

His three eyes locked onto the
Dragon’s Eye
. “You possess surprising power.”

Unconsciously, I touched the
Dragon’s Eye
.
Vane.
The thought he might be here eased a knot of tension inside me.

From the ground, Rawana asked, “How did you know where to aim?”

“I know your story.”

A wistful expression came over his face. “Then, I live on in the mortal realm. I am pleased.” His third eye closed. “You do not seem like a warrior, little one, but you have proven yourself worthy. You have defeated me. The apple is yours.”

I glanced at the small golden apple. “What is it?”

“After I lost the nectar of my immortality, I was sent here. I was asked to protect this by the Father. It was stolen from him but he was able to retrieve it. He warned me that the great Lady would send someone to collect it, but I could not let them have it.”

The great Lady. The Lady of the Lake. Rhea. They were all the same. Excitement shot through me. My fingers tightened on the scythe.