Legendary (9 page)

Most of the Sidhe swayed together in large groups while a few split off, moving and gliding sensually in pairs. But none, save the ones wearing cloaks, touched the people in white.

“My lady,” Aliana heard a growling voice call to her. She glanced around the courtyard, trying to see who had called her. Something sharp scratched her hand, and she gasped, momentarily distracted from the Sidhe. “Do not listen to them!
We must leave now!”
Daggerhorne hissed. He’d slipped out from beneath her hood and now hovered by her side.

She pulled herself up so she was sitting on the edge of the wall. Swinging her legs over, she peered at Galahad, whose mask highlighted his bright, blue eyes—she wanted to get lost in them as she danced with the knight around the fire. He reached up, grabbing her about the waist, and pulled her down to him.

Biting back a gasp, she stared up at him, absorbed in his warm eyes and even warmer embrace. Slowly, she brought her arms up, wrapping them around his neck, feeling the soft skin and silky hair under her fingers. “We should go dance with them,” she whispered, a small smile on her lips.

“Lady Aliana, focus on me,” he ordered her harshly.

“Oh believe me, I am! There are other people out there with the Sidhe. They’re not being hurt. We should join them.” She felt intoxicated by him and the music. She just wanted to go into the courtyard and dance with Galahad.

She looked away from him and back at the dancers. They were now surrounded by all of the Sidhe. The creatures that had been wearing cloaks earlier had shed them and were now only in animal skin pants, held about their waists by thick, gold ropes. Two female Sidhe wore black, glossy scraps of cloth that barely covered their nearly flat chests. Tiny coins hung from their short skirts, jingling as they moved.

The Sidhe with the horned mask lifted his blonde dancing partner onto the altar so that she was kneeling. He joined her as the other disrobed Sidhe took their claimed humans into their arms, grinding and sliding against them while they watched the couple on the altar.

The flames surrounding the courtyard flared high as the last rays of the setting sun fell prey to the darkness of night. The Sidhe on the altar ran his fingers through the woman’s corn-colored locks before tugging her head back. His free hand ran down her face and over her exposed neck to her shoulder, which he gripped tightly as he lowered his mouth to her neck.

“
Aliana!”
Galahad whispered fiercely into her ear, but she couldn’t turn away from the scene. How she wished she were out there with them, with Galahad, dancing around the fire.

Galahad’s rough hand grabbed her chin, forcing her eyes back to his. “Focus on me, Aliana.” She blinked several times, trying to clear her mind, but her body started to shake. The need to be with the Sidhe fought violently with her desire to be close to Galahad.

With an unhappy growl, Galahad’s hand splayed against her back pulling her tighter against his body. His other hand slid into her hood, threading through her hair. Closing the distance between them, he crushed his lips against Aliana’s in a kiss that demanded her full attention.

A wave of heat tore through her body. The band around her heart gave a hard tug. The kiss was passionate and frenzied, his lips warm and hard against her softer ones. Everything else faded away except for the two of them, and the slow fire inside her, building, burning away everything that tried to come between them.

All too soon, Galahad pulled away. Aliana opened her eyes and smiled up at him. His hand trailed down her neck then back up and cupped her cheek. He took a deep breath, keeping his baby blues glued to her. Slowly, he let his hand drop from her cheek and rest at her waist.

Being sure to keep his arm around her waist, he reached down to pick up the sword he’d apparently dropped. She felt weightless against him and had no will of her own, so when he pulled her away from the courtyard, she went without a fight. Dagg flew beside them.

“Where did you hide your bag?” Galahad demanded, and Aliana felt the tension in his body. Even though they were several yards away from the keep, he was still on high alert. “Where, Aliana?”

She scrunched her brows together, trying to remember. Her eyes darted up and down the stream before settling on the closest piece of ruined wall. “Um, over there…I think.” She pointed to a small pile of stones.

Galahad nodded at Daggerhorne, and the Dragon zoomed off toward the stones as Aliana looked around, confused. It felt like she was waking up from a dream. She had just been in the keep. How had she gotten here? “Galahad, what’s going on?” Feeling his arm tighten around her waist, she remembered him pulling her from the wall, trying to get her away from the Sidhe. She remembered his fierce eyes and the kiss he’d claimed as he’d broken her free from the spell of the beating music.

Gasping, she pulled out of Galahad’s arms, heat rushing up her neck to her cheeks. Galahad had kissed her!

And it was amazing.
Her memories of the stolen moment flashed in her mind. No one had ever kissed her like that—none of her exes had ever been that passionate. But why had he been? They’d known each other for five minutes, why…how could he kiss her like that and mean it? Her elation from seconds earlier vanished as her practical side took over.

Galahad let her pull away, though his face darkened, and he stayed close. Dagg returned, flying up to her with the straps of her bag hanging from his claws. Gripping the bag tightly, she kneeled, opening it for no other reason than her need to do something that didn’t involve Galahad. But the knight grabbed her hand, pulling her up and toward the trees.

“We need to reach the safety of the forest. The Sidhe will not enter there, and then you can get whatever you need.” He sounded angry and determined, and his grip on her wrist was unbreakable. His long legs ate up the ground so quickly that she almost had to jog to keep up with him.

“Galahad, slow down,” she pleaded, tugging at his grip.

His eyes stared straight ahead, his sword at the ready, but he shortened his stride. Relieved, Aliana was able to move next to him, but he still didn’t look at her.

Maybe he’s upset he had to kiss me.
In the stories, Galahad was celebrated for his purity. It was the whole reason he had succeeded in retrieving the Grail. But Dagg had also said that none of the knights were chaste. So maybe he was angry because she was stupid enough to have gotten caught in the Sidhe’s magic.

But distance is a good thing,
she reminded herself.
I need to keep my space and not get so wrapped up in him. After all, he’s only with me now because I freed him and have to awaken King Arthur. He’ll be gone just as soon as he doesn’t need me anymore.

Aliana hated that realization, but it was better to keep her expectations realistic from the start. If she wasn’t careful, she might let him get too close.
And I know what happens then—they get bored of my traveling and my desire to wait before having sex, so they cheat on me with my art models or try to rape…No, don’t go there!

To say Aliana didn’t trust her judgment of men was an understatement. Her friend Wade would be laughing at her if he could hear her thoughts right now. Any time she went off on a tirade about guys, he would shake his head and tell her she was being ridiculous. “Just wait,” he’d said the last time. “You’re gonna meet the perfect guy and then I’m gonna get to give you a big fat
I told ya so.”

Rolling her eyes, she’d replied, “That’s not happening any time soon, bud. My perfect guy doesn’t exist outside of my dreams.” Wade had just laughed before they’d resumed her martial arts training.

Daggerhorne glided above their heads, constantly circling to make sure no Sidhe pursued them. “We can stop for a moment once we’re in the woods,” Dagg said, flying low.

Aliana’s
was
tired. Her muscles were sore and shaky, and it felt like all the energy had been drained from her body. Yet some kind of power still hummed in her chest.

“There used to be a small clearing not far from the border,” Galahad said. “Perhaps we can use it if it’s still there.”

Just before they reached the trees, the three of them were violently shoved forward and slammed to the cold ground. A pulse of searing pain cut through Aliana. Her already sore muscles screamed as she sucked in a breath, trying to roll onto her side. She bit back a whimper as she accidently rolled onto her injured arm.

“What the hell was that?” Her voice was thin and labored.

“Magic,” Daggerhorne replied, already back in the air, his gaze fixed on the fiery courtyard. Piercing screams ripped through the quiet and Aliana covered her ears, trying to block out the utter terror in the voices. The screams ceased as quickly as they had begun.

Aliana looked up to see Galahad kneeling over her. “Are you all right?” One of his hands rested at her side while the other slid under her head. He gently pulled her up.

She gripped a fistful of Galahad’s tunic and stared up at the keep, tears swimming in her eyes. “Please tell me those screams weren’t from those poor people back there.” The people they had left behind.

He dropped his eyes from hers, nodding.

That could have been me!
A tear slid down her cheek.

Galahad carefully pulled Aliana back to her feet. She wasn’t able to meet his eyes and continued staring back at the keep, feeling her heart break with shame, anger, and guilt. She ripped the mask from her face and pulled frantically at the ties of her heavy cloak, throwing both onto the ground. Galahad pulled off his cloak and mask as well, dropping them next to hers.

He didn’t offer her empty words of comfort, somehow knowing that was not what she needed. He gently brushed away her tears with his knuckles and laced his fingers through hers. He just stood there, silently lending her his strength, letting her take whatever comfort she could from that.

Her body on autopilot, she followed Galahad through the dark forest. He had saved her from the Sidhe’s magic, but they had left those other people without even attempting to free them. Since leaving the keep, Dagg hadn’t crawled onto her shoulders again, but now he hovered close. Aliana was determined to get control of her emotions before they found a place to rest. The small corner of her mind she used as an emotional hidey-hole was the perfect place to push the guilt until she could deal with it.

Galahad led her past more moss-covered trees before stepping into a small clearing littered with fallen tree trunks, clusters of large, flat stones, and rounded boulders. The opening provided a beautiful view of the star-studded sky. A crescent moon lit their resting space. Noticing that the trees were filled with large, shiny, green and red apples, Aliana suddenly realized how hungry she was.

Galahad pulled her over to the closest cluster of rocks, embedding his sword in the ground and guiding her to sit on a flat, stone surface. He kneeled next to her and took her pack from her hands. “Do you have anything to clean and re-bandage your wound?” He pulled back the flap.

Panicked, Aliana snatched her bag, or tried to. “Give me that!” But Galahad refused to let it go. For a moment, they played a silent game of tug-of-war, their angry gazes warring with each other. “I can take care of it myself! I don’t like people rifling through my stuff.” A girl had to have some privacy, after all.

“My lady, I am just trying to help you.”

Aliana couldn’t tell if he was offended or confused by her refusal.

She shook her head. “Thank you, but I can handle it.” Everything was spinning out of control, and she felt like she was losing her ability to take care of herself. There were so many things she didn’t know or understand about Avalon, and the thought of having to totally rely on someone else to get her through this was…unsettling.

Galahad narrowed his eyes, reaching out and tugging at the cloth around her arm.

“I said no, Galahad!”

“You can’t clean it properly on your own. Let me help you,” he growled at her in frustration. Aliana narrowed her eyes at him, trying to pull away again.

“Lady Aliana, please let
me
see to your wound.” Dagg’s voice was calm with an air of authority that reminded her of her father’s when he was dealing with one of his students. “The magic of Avalon can sometimes have ill effects on humans.”

She huffed, feeling like a scolded child. “I wasn’t trying to be difficult, but I don’t need people to do everything for me, either.” She narrowed her eyes on Galahad as she reached into her pack with her good arm and pulled out a bottle of water and her first-aid kit.

“You seem disturbingly well prepared, Aliana,” Dagg said as he examined the first-aid supplies.

“Yeah, well, you live and learn. Get caught once without it, you make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Dagg gave her a questioning look, but she avoided responding to it both because she didn’t want to relive her first trip without her family, and also because Galahad would probably focus on her bad decision.

The knight didn’t say anything as he watched Aliana open the water bottle and place it and the bandages next to him. Taking advantage of her cooperation, he unwrapped the soiled cloth from her arm. She bit the inside of her cheek—the fibers of the scarf had bonded with the dried blood and pulled roughly at her skin.