Ever My Merlin (Book 3, My Merlin Series) (24 page)

“
Yes, you will, champion
,” he stated, but I didn’t believe him. He couldn’t hide the edge in his voice.

I closed my eyes. The
Dragon’s Eye
heated.

In my mind, the woods disappeared.

I crawled along the linoleum floors of a grey hallway at Acton-Concord High. I let out a mental groan. My last moments of life were going to be in a high school that had, most likely, already expelled me. Any divine forces watching me had a terrible sense of humor.

The hallway T-boned, and other corridors stretched to the right and left. I stopped, unsure of which way to go. On the cream-colored wall in front of me, a poster advertised tickets to the “Under the Sea” prom. Fluorescent overhead lights blinked on and off, as if powered by a dying generator. The odd lighting made my skin take on a pale, translucent sheen, like the skin of a ghost. At the end of the corridor to the right, Matt suddenly appeared. He stared at me, looking confused.

Another burst of pain exploded inside my stomach. I fell to my knees. Sweat broke out across my skin. I sucked air into my lungs, but couldn’t seem to get enough. On the left corridor, Vane winked into existence. He ran down the hallway and knelt beside me.

“I should have known you’d come here.” He glanced at the prom poster. “You missed this place that much?”

“I don’t like leaving things unfinished.”

Vane pulled me into his arms and squeezed. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

Pain rocked my body. I took a gasping breath. I voiced the only thought I could hold in my brain. “Vane, take care of my family.”

“Take care of them yourself, DuLac,” he replied harshly.

The world started turning blue and black. I went limp against him. Vane cursed next to my ear, but the words seemed to come from far away. Matt hurried down the corridor. He knelt down behind me. “She swallowed the Kronos Eye. It’s killing her.”

“What eye?” Vane barked.

“It’s a crystal—”

“Never mind,” Vane interrupted. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get it out.”

The lights shone brightly above me. The corridor started to turn hazy and my field of vision narrowed. I was barely aware when he laid me down on the white linoleum. He yanked up my shirt to expose my distended stomach.

Matt put his palm down on my navel. “I can feel it here, but I can’t do any magic.”

“
Upari
!” Nothing happened.

Vane exclaimed several expletives. “It’s not working. Magic is useless. I can’t even make a sword and cut it out.”

“This can’t happen. It’s her world, and she’s fading,” Matt said.

“Think, Merlin,” Vane said. “You always have the answer.”

The pain in my stomach intensified. Some kind of foamy drool dribbled from my mouth. I started to take weaker and weaker breaths. My heart rate slowed.

“No,” Vane yelled. A hard fist thumped my chest. It pounded unsuccessfully against a fading beat. Vane leaned down over my face. I smiled at him, peace starting to fall over me.

“We can try force feeding power to her,” Matt said.

“The
Dragon’s Eye
.” Vane grabbed the amulet from where it lay against my chest.

His fingers curled around the gemstone, but the ruby remained cold. Vane slammed the stone against the floor. The floor trembled.

“There’s still power in it. We only need to figure out how to use it,” Vane muttered.

Vane slammed the amulet again. The whole hallway shook.

On my other side, Matt let out a cry, clutching his skull. Blood dripped down from his nose. “Vane, what are you doing?”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. One hand tightened on me. “I won’t let you go. I don’t care what it takes.”

He slammed the amulet as hard as he could. The amulet cracked. Tiles on the ceiling tore open and fell. Vane sent a shot of power burning into the amulet’s ruby gemstone. Then, he let out a harsh cry and collapsed on top of me. His body transformed. Instead of a human, the Minotaur rose in his place.

The fissure in the gemstone healed. Matt crawled over to try to cover me with his body. The Minotaur slammed him back with a burst of green magic. Matt flew up high and crashed hard against the lockers. He slid to the ground, totally knocked out.

“
You are caught
,” the Minotaur spoke in my head. The coldness of the voice drenched my mind, waking me a bit. It was Vane’s voice, yet not his. It was a deeper, more inhuman version. The Minotaur’s hungry green eyes surveyed my failing body. “
Do you know what I do to those that I catch, my fallen hunter?
”

One of the Minotaur’s human hands slid up my thigh. The other pushed down on my shoulder as he pinned me in place. I stared at the unforgiving face of the bull. According to the myth of the Minotaur, many entered its lair, but none came out. All were devoured. Reading my thoughts, the Minotaur smiled—a ravenous smile. The bull bared sharp, white teeth. Without another word, he dove down. Massive jaws clamped on the hard lump under tender skin.

I screamed.

Teeth impaled the sac of my stomach and pulled off skin and flesh in one swift bite. I screamed again. The bull lifted its head. Green-grey mucous and pink flesh mingled with blood on its mouth. The Kronos Eye tumbled out of my stomach.

The crystalized organ clinked as it fell on the hard linoleum.

The Minotaur stared down at me. Blood still covered its mouth. As if he couldn’t help it, the Minotaur emitted a small moan as it licked its own mouth. A frenzy rose in its green eyes. Its tongue hanging out of its mouth, it dove for my shredded stomach again. A tongue swept over my torn stomach, licking the blood and broken skin.

I cried.

“Stop!” Matt appeared above my right side. The Minotaur lifted its head and roared. It swiped at Matt. Matt ducked and grabbed the
Dragon’s Eye
. He threw it into beast’s mouth. “
Upaviz.
”

A flash of blue magic imploded inside the Minotaur, and this time, it was thrown back against the lockers. The Minotaur morphed back into Vane. His face and mouth covered with blood and bits of skin. My blood and skin. Hot silent tears leaked from my eyes, burning my cheeks, and dripped onto the smooth floor.

Matt put a trembling hand on my forehead, his eyes reflecting the horror of the scene. He whispered, “God, Ryan, what did he do to you?”

I didn’t reply. Thankfully, I passed out.

CHAPTER 11

THE GOOD WITCH

I
woke up with a start, my vision hazy. Blinding halogen lights shone down from spotlights in the ceiling.  In a dreamlike trance, I took in the details around me. I sat in a huge chamber that looked like it belonged inside a palace. At the front of the room, a mammoth tapestry depicted a scene of mythical beasts seated at a round table.

My elbows brushed against cold steel. I was sitting in a wheelchair. Close to the head of a long rectangular table, I was placed behind the Queen of England, the First Member of the Wizard Council.

Grey knelt down beside me, wearing a tailored business suit. The cut of the suit made him look surreally older, shattering the little brother box in which I mentally kept him encased. “It’s all right, Ryan. You’re under heavy meds. Try not to talk. They’re going to ask you a few questions when the time comes. I’ll let you know.”

They who?
I opened my mouth to ask, but no sound came out. A sharp stab of pain pounded at my temples. I lurched in the wheelchair and Grey righted me. The whole room swam circles for a long minute before I could focus again. When I did, I found Matt kneeling beside me with a worried expression. He was all cleaned up, wearing khakis, a button-up shirt, and to my surprise, a striped tie.

“If this hurts her, I’m going to maim you, Emrys,” Grey hissed.

Matt took my hand in his, heating my chilled skin. “She’ll be fine. She’s strong.”

I didn’t feel particularly strong at that moment, but his amber eyes reassured me. I rasped, “What—”

Matt’s fingers squeezed mine. “Just hang on for a little while.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I couldn’t resist a yawn.

He stood up and went to talk to the Queen. Grey exchanged worried glances with Colin. The gargoyle king’s enforcer silently flanked Grey’s side, cementing his allegiance to Grey. Other adults I’d never seen before occupied the rest of the table. By the distinguished grey in their hair and the grim set of their faces, I guessed they must have been middle-aged or older. Two men in military uniforms with a line of gold stars down their shoulders looked perennially bored. Everyone else, including several women, wore the same homogeneous, dark, expensive suits.

Around the rectangle, everyone held their pens poised over white papers. They fidgeted in place, waiting. It felt to me like we were waiting for a board meeting to begin. I turned my head and struggled against more dizziness. Matt moved to stand at one end of the table. He tugged at his tie as if it would strangle him. Behind him, a long, oval table was built on a level above the rectangular one. Other people sat behind the table with microphones and looked down at us, like judges observing a trial. Beyond the higher table, through an opening in the circle, raised, red-fabric stadium seats were set up in a spectator section.

I eyed the impossibly high ceiling. At the very top of the room, unlit private boxes with glass fronts offered eagle-eye views to the proceedings below. It reminded me of being in the gladiator pit on the mermaid island. Instead of swords, though, I imagined the battles waged here relied on words. However, I didn’t see any shapes or movement inside the private boxes and most of the stadium seats were also empty. I gathered this was a secret meeting.

A man seated to the Queen’s right leaned close to her, whispering, “Are you sure about this?”

The Queen gave a small sigh. “We have been waiting for this since I told you about the cause of the tsunamis. You would not be here if you did not agree, Prime Minister.”

The man nodded reluctantly. A mustached man at the other end of the table cleared his throat.

He intoned, “The emergency session of the Security Council will now come to order.”

The United Nations Security Council, I realized. The table quieted.

“Let the minutes show, the participants on this day are as follows…” Mustache-Man started making introductions.

I tuned out as another wave of dizziness hit, making me clutch the rails on the wheelchair tightly. The names of several countries were announced. I only caught the words “the President of the United States” and instinctively turned to look at her. She sat removed from my field of vision so I had to crane my neck to see her. That little bit of exertion rebounded on me, and I had to combat a wave of nausea by staring dejectedly at the boring beige of the carpeted floor.

I must have dozed off for a little bit because when I looked up, the table no longer held bored attendants. The world leaders were talking with Matt, Grey, and Colin. Colin was in his beast form. His forehead protruded like a Cro-Magnon and the elongated incisors peeked out from his lips. Tension screamed from the tight set of his shoulders. Yet, the others around the table seemed unconcerned that a gargoyle roamed in their midst.

One of the men in the military uniforms stood up. “We understand that this Vane person has become a threat, but surely, with your power, you can restrain him.”

Matt colored. “He has taken my power.”

“This is grave. How are we supposed to defend ourselves from a being that is capable of so much wanton destruction? If they were to learn that the tsunamis were being caused by supernatural wizards... that you even
exist,
the ensuing chaos would be unimaginable,” the US President said.

“I’m more concerned about what’s happening now,” a man in a grey suit beside the President said. “You said Merlin had critical intelligence about the global blackout.”

The President added, “Indeed, I can tell you, it’s been pure hell trying to keep the people calm. If we can give them answers, is it Vane—”

“No.” The Queen replied, “Vane didn’t cause the blackout. What happens in the next month will be much worse than a few days of no power and satellites going offline. Merlin will explain the details.”

The Queen nodded at Matt. He recapped the events in Greece—the discovery of Poseidon’s trident and the mermaids—and I tried to wrap my head around their words. They knew about gargoyles and wizards. They knew about Merlin. And Vane.

Matt took a small, velvet box out of his pocket. “It was after I read about Alexander’s quest for the water of life that we were led to uncover this.”

He pulled on gloves and opened the box’s lid. The Kronos Eye lay inside. He used his gloved hand to take out the crystal. The source of immeasurable pain looked so innocent sitting quietly on his palm.

The Queen commanded, “
Atibha
.”