by Kimbra Swain
Nimue passed me walking toward him. She lifted her hand and an ornate sheath appeared. I knew of the power of the sword, but the sheath also held the power to keep the bearer from being wounded. It had been lost longer than the sword. I never saw my father with it in the Otherworld. She had deemed Levi worthy of the entire inheritance.
“Take this, along with the sword. You have proven you’re worthy today, but Excalibur demands that you continue to be so. If there ever comes the day, when you’re unworthy, it will return to me. Blessings of the goddess to you, Levi Rearden, bearer of the Great Sword,” she said.
Tennyson led the way as he dropped to one knee. The others quickly followed and Jenny bowed deeply. In respect, I lowered my eyes to the ground.
Nimue walked past me to the water as I continued to look down. Her feet hit the water’s edge silently.
“Gloriana, daughter of Oberon,” she called to me.
Turning to look at her, she smiled. “Yes, my Lady,” I said with respect to her because I hadn’t shown much from the beginning.
“Your ways are brash but crafty. As Excalibur deems Levi worthy, I deem you as well,” she said raising her hand again. Out of the waters, the water stone which should have been in my vault hovered over her hand. The clear orb shifted with the glowing jewels inside. It floated across the air between us, stopping before me. I opened my palm as it settled into it. “You’ve never needed my approval to wield the water elements. You seem to be able to create your own snow at will. However, now, your spells will be blessed with the element of water and those of us who guard it. Not that you need any more power to win this war. Good luck to you.”
“Thank you, Nimue,” I replied.
She sank into the depths of the swamp as silently as she had come.
Levi slid the sword into the sheath, then looked up at me.
“I don’t know what to say, but thank you, Grace,” he said.
I reached up and touched the scar on his cheek. “I know that I give you hell, but I’m not an idiot to think I could do all of this on my own. We all have a role to play. This one is yours.”
Tennyson slapped him on the shoulder. “Brother, welcome to the club.”
“What club is that?” Levi asked.
“The named-sword club, of course,” Tennyson replied.
“Oh?”
“This is Seure,” Tennyson said, holding his sword up. “The Lady blessed all of our swords with the ability to open portals. But each has its own meaning to us.”
“This is the Grail Sword. It was once broken, and I repaired it. Yet the crack remains as a reminder that even the strongest weapon has a weakness,” Astor said.
We turned to Finley. “What? This old thing? I got it from our Father’s vault when we were stealing stuff for Grace’s vault.”
“Children,” Tennyson muttered.
Jenny popped Finley on the back of the head. “You, Moron. That’s Galatine. It was given to Gawain by the Lady of the Lake.”
“Oh, I thought it looked cool,” Finley shrugged, but he looked upon the weapon with new eyes.
Luther stepped forward, revealing a sword tucked behind his wings. I hadn’t noticed it before.
“This is Zulficar. It was given to a great man by Gabriel, the archangel. It was given to me after I was cursed as a weapon to prove my worth. I intend to do just that,” he said with a smile. The sword tilted with an arching curve but split at the end like the long bill of a bird. It was downright scary. It matched Luther in his ifrit form perfectly.
We turned to look at Troy. He shrugged.
“I’ve got this,” I said. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the red car in my garage back home. As I lifted my hands, the box from the trunk appeared. I walked forward, then opened the box for him.
“No, Grace. I can’t,” he said.
“He would want you to have them,” I said. “They are just sitting in the trunk of his car. They should be used.”
Last Christmas, I had two Kimber 1911’s made especially for Dylan. One featured a Phoenix and the other a Thunderbird. Dylan considered Troy to be like a brother. I knew he would want Troy to have them.
“It’s not a sword,” Troy pointed out.
“No, but they are your weapon of choice,” I said. He ran his hands over the fine tooling of the guns. “I’m totally okay with this. Please take them.”
“His children should have them,” he said.
“Then, one day, when they are ready, you can give the guns to them,” I said.
“Do they have names?” he asked.
I smiled and turned them over, showing him the D. Riggs engraved on the other side. “How about Driggs?”
“I like it. What does it mean?” he asked with a grin.
“It means badass muthafucka,” I said.
Levi shook his head while the others laughed.
“He was rather impressive in Greece with those vamps,” Luther said.
“I’ve heard that story. Too bad I don’t remember the good parts,” I said.
“I’d never seen anything like it,” he said.
“Nor will you again,” I replied.
“Never again,” he said.
The mood turned very somber. “Don’t be sad. He would have loved this moment. All of us coming together to fight the evil that threatens this town. It’s what he did every day. We just have very big shoes to fill,” I said.
“They were only size ten,” Levi smirked. I swatted him on the shoulder.
“Jenny, do you have a sword?” I asked.
“No, actually, I was thinking that Nestor and I would be good candidates to protect your children while all of this is going on,” she said. “Tennyson and I discussed it. As much as I would like to be fighting with you, I know that you cannot be focused on the battle while worried about your children. I suggest we take them, Mark, and the other kids into the vault. Mike can keep the outside safe, and we will take the kids inside. They will think it’s a magical sleepover.”
“I would like Ella to go with you,” Astor said.
“Sure. She knows all the children from school. Hopefully, it will help to keep them calm if she is there,” Jenny replied.
“What’s going on with you and Ella?” I asked.
“Um, why do you ask?” he replied.
“Because for a moment, I could have sworn the two of you had an issue, but then not so much earlier,” I explained.
“I asked her to marry me,” he said.
“What?!” Levi and I said.
“I asked her, and she said she needed time to think about it,” he said.
“Have you even kissed her?” I asked.
“I shall not tell,” he said. The grin on his face told me everything.
“Is that all you did?” I prodded.
“Grace, leave him alone,” Levi said.
“No! I gotta know!” I begged.
“She said yes,” Astor deflected. It was a good deflection because a round of congratulations went around the group.
“We should get home. How long do we have to prepare for this?” Levi asked.
“Samhain is the day after tomorrow,” I said.
“We have work to do,” he said.
“Yes, and I have a few ideas. We will visit Betty in the morning,” I said.
When we stopped talking to each other, we realized they were all staring at us.
“Is there something on my face?” I asked.
“So, are you two?” Jenny asked.
“No!” we said.
“My B,” Jenny replied. “You certainly don’t have to talk about it with us.”
“There is nothing to talk about,” I said.
“There really isn’t,” Levi groaned.
“Oh, my goddess, let’s go home,” I said. “Keep preparing. We meet again tomorrow afternoon at the office.”
Taking my hand, Levi said, “Home.”
We stood in front of the house. When I started to walk inside, he tugged on my hand.
“L
evi, I’m not sure I can talk about this right now,” I said.
“I just want to know if you’re okay,” he said. “You gave his guns away.”
“I had planned to give them to Troy. This just was the perfect opportunity,” I replied. “I’m trying to be very strong, but if we start talking about it, I won’t be able to hold it together.”
“You need to let it out,” he said.
“I did. The night he died. I won’t do it like last time. After the trailer blew up, I laid in bed for days thinking he was dead. You weren’t here, and I didn’t know if you were alive. I spent too much time being weak while Aydan grew inside of me. I should have done better by him. I should have known Winnie wasn’t safe. I locked myself away, and I just don’t have time to do that now,” I said.
“The difference is that I am here now,” he said. “I wasn’t before. I promise to keep you focused, but Grace, you need to just cry. Let it out. Hell, I loved him too.”
“I do cry,” I said.
“Silently. Alone. Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I feel it too?” he said.
“I know, but I don’t want to cut you off. When you did that the other day it was awful. Don’t ever do that again,” I protested.
“I won’t. I promise,” he said. By the look in his eye, I knew he regretted it. It hurt him as much as it had hurt me.
“We won’t always agree,” I said.
“No, we won’t,” he said. “But that’s okay, right?”
I looked down at my Father’s sword hanging from his waist. I touched the end of it to feel the power in the sword. It was icy cold.
“You could have pulled the sword,” he said.
“She said I could have,” I said.
“I didn’t learn to sword fight for this,” he said. “I had no idea.”
“It’s good to know that I can still lock things away in my brain that you can’t get to,” I said.
“What?”
“I had always hoped to give it to you,” I said.
“Not to Dylan?” he asked.
“What was Dylan going to do with a sword?” I asked. “He was a gun man all the way.”
“What else do you have locked away in that brain of yours?” he asked.
“Come inside, and I’ll tell you. The skeeters are going to eat me alive,” I said.
As we walked into the house, he didn’t let go of my hand, and I didn’t want him to. Winnie ran up to us with hugs and kisses. We told her it was way past her bedtime. Ella had been watching them after Astor left to back us up at Trailer Swamp. She dismissed herself, hoping to find Astor before it got too late in the evening.
“He’s peculiar about how late we are out together,” she said.
“He’s peculiar about a lot of things,” I said.
“I’m easing him into new ideas,” she said with a smile.
“Good for you, and good for him, too. I'm glad you said yes,” I said.
“Me too,” she blushed.
Levi took Winnie to bed while I checked on Aydan. When I opened the door, his little head bobbed up. A smile grew across his face, but his eyelids fluttered.
I rubbed the sandy blonde hair on his head. “Momma’s home, Little Bird. Go back to sleep.” His little lips puckered and he was gone again.
Shutting the door quietly, I stepped back into the hallway. Levi was turning the lights off in Winnie’s room, then pulled her door closed behind him.
“She had a thousand questions about the sword,” he said.
“What did you tell her?” I asked.
“I told her I was going to write a book about how I got it because she wouldn’t believe it if I told her,” he said.
“What? That you pulled it out of a stone? I’m pretty sure that story has been told,” I said.
“No, that it was given to me by a Queen,” he said.
“Damn you and your words,” I said.
“I’m good, right?” he grinned.
“Then you go and ruin it,” I laughed.
“Shh!” Winnie said from her room.
I put my hand over my mouth as I giggled. Levi moved closer to me then whispered, “It is so good to see you smile again.”
“There are still things to be happy about,” I said.
“Yes, there are,” he replied with a smile. “Ready to talk about your plan?”
“It’s not complete, but you can help me fill in the gaps,” I said.
“I’ll start some coffee,” he said.
Levi and I sat up for hours discussing our options for the defense of Shady Grove. He looked up the tales of the Wild Hunt all across Europe. Each one had its own distinctions, but it followed the same thing. Bad things came and hurt good people. Not in my town. Wasn’t going to happen.
We made a few changes to my original ideas as we read some of the information. Tomorrow, we needed to get the word out to the people of Shady Grove about the attack. I hoped we would have volunteers besides just my knights and me to defend the town.
Somewhere along the way, we fell asleep. I dreamed about the fight and our victory. I saw the last part of the plan come together in that dream. One last thing to keep from my bard. Only to surprise him later. It was something I didn’t want to discuss, and once I revealed it, he would have no choice but to accept my decision. I just hoped it was the right one. However, I was sure that I’d regret it, right or not.
I jerked awake from the dream, finding my head resting on his chest. With the rise and fall of his breathing, I knew he was still sleeping. I had to calm my instincts to jump and run away from him. His right arm laid on my back with his hand at my waist.
I remembered the first time we slept in the same bed. We woke up with Winnie between us. The look he gave me that morning hadn’t changed. He still looked at me like I was everything he ever wanted and a popsicle on the side.
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on maintaining my composure. We weren’t doing anything wrong. Two friends. Sleeping on a couch. I shifted my weight, and his fingers curled into my side.
“You’re awake,” I said.
“I am now. What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I just didn’t expect to wake up like this,” I said.
“You passed out on my shoulder, so I just shifted us, giving you a chance to rest,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Don’t be sorry. I’ve been aching for the chance to just hold you, but you won’t let me in. I know the boundaries, Grace. You can trust me,” he said.
“I gave you my Father’s sword,” I said.
“Your heart, Grace. You can trust me not to make you uncomfortable or push. But you can also trust me to hold you close when you need to cry without getting any ideas,” he said.
“No pushing? No expectations?” I asked.
“You know me better than that,” he said out loud.
“Alright. What’s your middle name?” I asked raising up to look him in the eye.
“I’m still hurt by that one. I’ll have to see how long you beg before I tell you,” he grinned.
“I’m gonna tan your hide!” I said.
“Oh, please,” he begged.
I tried to get up, but he pulled me back down. I fought him harder, laughing the entire time. We both ended up on the floor wrestling, but he pinned me.
“What was that you were going to do?” he taunted.
“Don’t make me go ice queen on you!”
“I ain’t scared,” he laughed.
“Are you going to kiss Mommy?”
Silence.
“Winnie!” Levi exclaimed rolling off of me. I raised up on my elbows to look at her sitting in the chair across the room holding a doll.
“Morning, Winnie,” I said.
“Were you going to kiss Uncle Levi?” she asked.
“No. I was not,” I said.
“Oh. It looked like it,” she said. “You used to wrestle with daddy then you would kiss.”
My heart sank, and I felt Levi’s inst
ant pain.
I rolled over to my knees and got off the floor.
“Grace,” Levi called out to me.
“It’s fine. She doesn’t understand,” I said, rushing to the kitchen. “Winnie, Uncle Levi and I were just goofing off. We are going to have a Samhain ceremony tonight. Are you excited?” I hoped if I changed the subject, she would too.
“Miss Jenkins has been teaching us about Samhain at school,” Winnie exclaimed. “I’m so excited. It’s like Halloween.”
“It is,” I replied as I washed out the coffee pot from last night. Levi returned our dirty mugs to the sink and took out three fresh ones.
“I don’t think Astor is here,” I said.
“Is he not?”
“I don’t feel him here,” I replied.
“Well, good for him,” Levi said. Then he lowered his voice, “At least someone is getting laid.”
I rolled my eyes at him, and he waggled an eyebrow. Fucking adorable. It was enough to shift my mood.
“Momma, can I dress up for Samhain?” Winnie asked.
A plethora of baby noises filled the room from upstairs. Most of them were of the variety of a notice that he was awake and alone in the room.
“I’ll get him,” Levi said dashing up the stairs to get Aydan.
“You’re going to a special sleepover with Jenny, Miss Ella, and your Great-Grandfather,” I said. “And you can dress up if you want.”
“Yay! I want grits with cheese, please,” she announced.
My mind wasn’t on breakfast. It was on waking up with Levi, and despite my panic, he treated it as something perfectly normal. He was trying not to freak me out. I took down a bowl to fix Winnie some grits. Pouring Levi and I a cup of coffee, I sat his out with the sugar. I generally drank mine black, but for some odd reason, I put two scoops of sugar in it. Not an odd reason. I was making coffee for Dylan.
Quickly, I poured my cup out in the sink and fixed a new one. Levi came down the steps with Aydan who was clapping and giggling at him.
“Go ahead, Aydan. Who’s that?” he said pointing at me.
Aydan reached for me, opening and closing his little fingers. When I reached for him, Levi played his game.
“Who is it?” Levi coaxed.
Aydan just continued to reach for me but laughed each time Levi pulled him away.