Ever My Merlin (Book 3, My Merlin Series) (42 page)

Vane’s arms tightened around me. “What will you give me to save him?”

The toddler?
I blinked. “What do you want?”

“A favor.”

It was a demand and a plea. The last favor in Chennai hadn’t worked so well, but I replied, “Anything.”

On the street, the military man’s phone beeped. He looked at the screen in surprise. “Wait. I’ve been given an extra space.”

The father straightened. The mother didn’t wait for him. She rushed up with the last child. She thrust the kid into the truck. Her daughter quickly grabbed him and the Superheroes backpack.

“I’ll take care of them,” the teenager sobbed.

The mother put a fist to her mouth and nodded. The father jumped in the truck.

The truck roared away. The mother cast a furtive look around her and then rushed back into the small house.

I turned around and faced Vane. He deliberately slid his phone into his pocket.

For a minute, I wanted to hit him. What kind of bastard was he? Then I noticed that bit of wistfulness in his hazel eyes again. The same wistfulness with which I’d caught him watching me. Acting on impulse, I grabbed the phone from him.

I ran down the street, clutching the phone like it was a lifeline. He chased me. He could have felled me with a simple spell. I don’t know why he didn’t. As I ran, I tapped the screen. It had a password.
Vivane.
I rolled my eyes at the tremendous security.

Vane stopped me. A manacle went around my wrist. He snatched the phone back. I stumbled back against the side of a random car. He caught me and pulled me to him. I grabbed steely shoulders. The details of the webapp selected on the phone. He’d added a space for the little boy. The webapp recorded the time of the transaction. He’d done it several minutes ago, before I agreed to the blackmail, probably as soon as he’d found out the boy’s name.

“Why?” I demanded.

He said, “There’s always a price, isn’t there?”

“Whatever the price, I’ll pay it,” I said.

“I know. It’s what scares me.”

I understood. And I hurt. I looked up. Clear skies belied the coming storm. The stars above shone too brightly. The moon looked mournful and no help was coming. My arms went around Vane’s neck. I let all my weight hang, my knees too weak to hold me up. I listened to the beat of his heart, a good heart, even if he didn’t believe it. I couldn’t look at him as I whispered, “I don’t want to lose you either, Vane.”

He took my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. His lips curled up into an arrogant smile. “You won’t. I’m like a god, remember?”

A fire hydrant opened behind us. Water gushed out of it. It fanned out around Vane and soared straight into the sky, stabbing it with determination. I watched the watery spectacle.

That’s what
I
was afraid of. He and Matt thought they knew what they were doing.

I wasn’t so sure.

Even gods weren’t infallible.

CHAPTER 20

FOREVER AND EVER

D
uring the drive back to Glastonbury, I kept glancing at him.

Vane let out a breath. “What, DuLac? Spit it out.”

I wasn’t sure I could. Any hope I held for a miracle had died. It reminded me of his memory.
Never let them know how much you want something.

Well, I wanted. Now I was paying for it.

I crossed my arms and hugged myself. “What happens tomorrow?”

“I bring Excalibur. Merlin brings the apple. Once the Fury starts, we can use Excalibur to open the gates. I will use the trident to extend the energy to all the gates from the central one at Kronos’s Circle. All of us, including the evacuees, will go through the gate. We take the apple through. Because the gates are tied, I believe it will lead us to the same place.”

“Why the circle?”

“Poseidon touched the stone in the circle in my memory. In the Kronos Eye, the same stone appeared with Excalibur in it. The stone is still there.”

I ran out of things to say. The impending doom pressed down on me.

We drove along the road.

Finally, Vane spoke. “If he didn’t have the curse, would you be with him?”

“I fell for him first,” I said honestly.

Vane let out a hiss.

I added quietly, “But I fell for you harder.”

The car swerved. Vane cursed. “Don’t say things like that when I’m driving.”

“Then don’t ask the question.”

“If I wasn’t already late, I’d pull over and take off your pants right now,” he muttered.

I smiled. “I like you too, Vane.”

We sped down the winding one-lane roads of Glastonbury. We passed a stately manor estate with a sign declaring its modern-day update to bed and breakfast. Closer into town, we passed cottage-style townhouses and narrow streets interspersed with bushy green trees. The van ambled down the narrow streets until we reached an open, well-preserved area.

Vane stopped the car in the parking lot in front of the remains of Glastonbury Abbey. Due to the late hour, it was empty. The park had already closed for the day.

Beyond the fence, the ruined abbey’s impressive stone arches still stood tall. Behind the arches on a clear stretch of lawn a Roman chapel built in the eleven hundreds remained. A mist of blue, the color due to the local stone in the rolling hills had settled over the abbey, lending it an otherworldly air. A figure popped up next to me, just outside the window. I let out a small shriek. For a minute, I thought I was hallucinating. I rolled down the window.

Grey’s face peered down at me. He, too, wore a formal suit.

I pushed open the door and jumped out. I threw myself into his arms. “What are you doing here?”

“This place is seriously creepy.” Gia tugged on a strappy pink gown.

Vane got out of the car and came around the front. The small Avalon Prep van Mark had taken was parked beside us. Several wizards got out. They all wore formalwear. Mark climbed out of the driver’s seat. “I brought everyone she wanted from the school.”

I frowned. “Who wanted?”

Vane walked to the fence. A breeze blew around us. He handed me a box. “You’ll have to change in the Rover.”

I opened the box. It was one of the three prom dresses—a flirty gown of deep green chiffon.

“You got the green one!” Gia made a face. She touched her hair. Its brilliant red clashed with the soft pink of her dress. “This blows.”

I glanced at Vane. I noticed he wore the same color vest.

He leaned close to me. “Someday I’m going to put you in a white one.”

I blushed. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going to a wedding.”

“Whose?”

“Change and you’ll see. They’re waiting for us inside.”

It took me five minutes. Everyone except Vane was gone by the time I emerged from the car. Vane leaned against the hood. “I was thinking about coming in to help.”

“Help me with the zipper.” I turned around to show him my bared back. The dress opened down the length of my spine.

Vane made a growly sound and stepped up behind me. His fingers traced the knobs of my spine as the zipper slowly slid up. “Want to see if the Rover’s backseat has as much space as is advertised?”

I turned around to face him. I took his lips between my teeth and bit gently. “I might let you if you’re really good.”

His eyes heated. “I’m better than good.”

With a shake of his head, he yanked me toward the park. “C’mon, they’re waiting.”

Instead of going to the entrance, Vane went up to the fence. He hauled me up and bent his knees. He jumped with me into the air. Not at all what I was expecting, I squealed and flung my arms around his neck. We sailed over the iron links and onto the other side. Vane landed on his feet.

My heart hammered from the impromptu flight. He chuckled into my ear. “Surprised?”

Surprised was a mild word for his flair. Why did he have a way of shocking me? I curled my fingers into his hair.

“Save it for later,” he said.

As if there was going to be a later.

He let me down. We walked into the ruins of the stone abbey. In between its ruins, a crowd of mermaids, some wizards, and a smaller set of gargoyles stood waiting. As we neared, Vane took a crown out of his jacket. The last time I’d seen it had been on Lelex’s (Leonidas’s father’s) head before Vane had killed him. The simple gold band had a large emerald embedded into a curve at its center. The crown’s ends curled up in the shape of a fish. Vane also took out two armbands. He put on one fashioned like a snake. On his right, the armband was of a mermaid holding a trident.

“The king,” announced a mermaid near the front.

The mermaids sank to their knees.

There were no chairs. It wasn’t necessary. Pink, white, and green flowers decorated the ruined walls of the ancient abbey. Two monuments of crumbling stone, the ruined front face of the once-tall monastery, made the perfect arbor. There were no attendants to the bride and groom. A line of stone in the short green lawn marked the aisle.

Vane walked me down the aisle and deposited me next to Grey and Gia, who stood toward the front. The happy couple already stood at the head of the crowd.

Leonidas and Leonora both knelt on the ground.

They wore white. Her long ethereal gown offset by his kilt-like uniform. A gleaming sword lay strapped to his belt. The slight tinge of green to their skin sparkled with life.

Vane stepped past them to take his place at the front. I realized the king would be officiating the wedding. He gestured and everyone rose.

“Before we begin, I have one order of business.” Vane took off his crown and handed it to a shocked Leonidas. “Tonight, I abdicate the throne to Leonidas. He is the rightful king.”

My jaw dropped. I saw a similar stunned expression go through the rest of the crowd.

Leonidas found his voice. “No, you are our leader. The line of Lelex cannot get us through this dark time. If we make it, it will be because of you.” He thrust the crown back at Vane. “You are a mermaid, Vane. You always will be. Even before you were the Fisher King, you won your throne.”

The mermaids cheered. Several raised their swords high. Metal clanged in the air.

For the second time in my life, I saw Vane completely flummoxed. The first had been at Buckingham Palace when I asked him to kiss me.

“Now, if you do not mind, Majesty.” Leonidas’s gaze fixed on Leonora. “I would really like to be married.”

After that, the wedding ceremony was brief. Pretty much a do you/don’t you affair. I doubted the happy couple could have said much more. Leonidas’s ‘I do’ had come out broken. Instead of rice, dew drops pelted us as they kissed.

I cried.

Beside me, so did Gia.

Grey pulled us both close.

And that small hope, the one I thought snuffed out, flickered once more.

***

He found me beside the water. On the grounds of the park, past a square plot of dirt behind the ruined abbey marked as the grave of King Arthur, a small pond celebrated life. The spot hosted ducks, fish, and a canopy of weeping trees. I stood under one tree and watched the moonlight dance over serene ripples. A mother duck shepherded her ducklings into the quiet water.

He came up to the tree. He raised his hands and grabbed a low branch. He leaned on it, and I watched the water reflect off his long torso, its well-defined muscles honed by an unrelenting life. He watched me.

“That was an interesting twist to the ceremony.”

A brow arched. “Did you approve?”

I titled my head. “Do you care?”

“I do.” He sounded surprised. “Think there may be hope for me after all?”

I played with the drooping branch of a weeping tree, tracing its ribs as if I were tracing his. “You make it hard, but I think so.”

Green fire lit his eyes. “You like hard.”

I smiled. “Do you know me so well?”

He replied seriously, “I will never know you well enough. I will always want more.”

The words full of yearning melted every doubt inside me. I blinked back tears at the intensity of the emotion. For the night stretched deep but dawn lay waiting to pounce. I peered through the branch swaying between us, a seductive veil. I asked softly, “How can we survive this, Vane?”

Because I don’t think I can live without you.

Watchful eyes fixed on mine and read the unspoken thought. He sucked in a breath, yet stayed entirely still. “There’s another story I know. This one doesn’t have any swords or visions. This one is about a boy who found a girl during a terrible time.”

“How did it turn out?”

“I don’t know, but I do know the boy doesn’t regret it. Not a minute. No matter how it turns out. Because he’s been waiting for this girl from the time she was born, and if it takes another thousand years to meet her again, he’d wait again. Whatever it takes.”

Tears, which had gathered, spilled from my eyes.

Finally, he walked closer, coming behind me, and wrapped his arms around my chest. We watched the ducklings float in circles in the water.