by J. M. Briggs
“Head north!” Jenny turned and pointing towards the bridge. “If we can get them to Morgana’s then she can help us.”
“What about Merlin? I think he’s less likely to blast us.”
“Not funny,” Jenny muttered. “Morgana’s house is further out of town.”
“Have you been there?”
“No,” Jenny admitted. “But it’s a Victorian up on one of the side roads.”
“That doesn’t help much,” Lance grumbled, but nonetheless he kept driving as they both ignored the screeching sounds from the Redcaps. Next to Jenny, the glass began to chip and crack.
Her phone chirped and Jenny looked down at the phone. Alex’s text was short but included instructions to Morgana’s and a promise to be there soon. Despite her dry mouth, Jenny relayed the directions just before a metallic scraping filled the cabin. Lance’s jaw tightened, but he just shook his head and turned the wheel sharply. A strange little scream reached Jenny as they spun onto the side road.
The truck accelerated as they raced up into the hills and Jenny looked back at the truck bed. Somehow they’d gained another two Redcaps who were now trying to swing down onto the sides. The tires, she realized as her heart jumped: they were going for the tires. She looked frantically through the windshield. Up ahead she could see the lights of a house and desperately hoped that it was the right one. The truck jolted and a gasp escaped Jenny. She heard Lance curse under his breath as the truck began to bounce. They jolted again and the bouncing was worse than before. A deep grinding began echoing up through the truck and Jenny didn’t dare look at Lance.
It was a Victorian and lights were turning on as they slid on the gravel. The screaming became louder and a Redcap swung over to her window and slammed its body up against the window. Silver light burst out from the porch of the house, blinding Jenny as the truck slammed to a stop. A chorus of screams erupted all around them. Bringing her hands up to cover her ears, Jenny kept a tight grip on her dagger and felt the cool of the blade against her cheek. There was another explosion of light and then everything fell silent. She heard Lance exhale and opened her eyes.
Looking up at the house, Jenny’s jaw tightened as she found Morgana standing on the front porch glaring into the darkness.
17
Dark Phone Calls
The rays of the sunrise glinting off of the snow promised a lovely day, but Alex couldn’t help but feel tense and frustrated as she turned onto Morgana’s road. On the road, she could see tracks where Lance and Jenny must have been driving last night. Alex muttered a curse towards Arthur and his mother under her breath. It didn’t help much.
What did help was the sight of Morgana’s house and Lance’s intact truck parked in front of it. As she pulled her car up next to it, Alex noted that whatever damage that had been inflicted on it had already been fixed. The bodywork was smooth and the paint was shining in the sun like it had just been washed and waxed. A small smile tugged at her lips, but Alex shook herself and reached back to grab the bag in her backseat.
The front door opened as she approached and Morgana stood calmly in the entryway waiting for her. Bounding up the stairs, Alex smiled at the professor who shifted back to let her into the house. She set the bag down for a moment and shrugged out of her coat. Morgana collected it from her and hung it up on one of the hooks without a word. Looking into the living room, Alex breathed out a sigh of relief as she spotted Jenny and Lance seated next to each other on the sofa. They were talking with Merlin and drinking tea with tired but real smiles on their face. Their clothes were rumpled from their night here, but they were okay.
“They’re fine,” Morgana’s voice assured her. “However I suspect that they’d like their things.”
“Uh, I have some of Jenny’s stuff.” Alex held up the small bag she was carrying. “Bran said he’d swing by Lance’s room.”
“Does he have a key?”
“No, but he was pretty confident that he could get the door open.”
“Those are keycard locks,” Morgana reminded her with a small frown. “Unless he plans to fry the circuits I doubt he has enough control-”
“Or just use telekinesis to turn the handle from the inside,” Alex interrupted. She enjoyed the odd look that crossed Morgana’s face and the tiny shadow of a blush on the older mage’s check. “Thanks for protecting them last night,” Alex added gratefully.
“It was no problem.” The corner of Morgana’s mouth ticked up in a small smile. “Let’s just not make a habit of it.”
“Don’t like your house being the slumber party center?”
“If we’re going that direction then I need to redo a couple of the rooms,” Morgana said drily. “I only have one guest bedroom set up.”
“Yeah; given that you’ve had me here a couple times, my parents, the mages and now Lance and Jenny it may be time to look at turning the sewing room into another bedroom.”
“I suppose so. I haven’t had the time since magic returned anyway.” Morgana paused and nodded towards the living room. “I take it that Nicki and Aiden will be by soon?”
“They wanted to check around town quickly just to make sure that there weren’t more,” Alex explained quickly. “They’re together.”
“Very well.” Morgana raised her hand and looked at the small watch on her wrist. “I’m going to check around the house so please stay inside.”
Holding back a remark about Morgana’s paranoia, Alex instead nodded and walked into the living room. Merlin, Lance, and Jenny all looked at her and Jenny’s eyes moved down to the bag. She gave Alex a grateful smile as she set the bag down by the doorway.
“No problems with my roommate?”
“She was fine.” Alex sat on the armrest of the sofa next to Jenny. “How are you two doing?”
“Alright,” Jenny assured her with a smile. “They never touched us.”
“Just tore the hell out of my truck,” Lance said. Shaking his head, he couldn’t hold back a smile. “But Merlin repaired it all when he got here.”
“Glad to help.” Merlin nodded pleasantly, but he still looked a bit uneasy. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to retrieve something from my car.”
The eldest of the mages quickly stood, giving a small smile to Alex and a nod to Jenny and Lance. Alex watched him head out while trying to convince herself that he wasn’t running away. Sadly her attempt at that only made her chuckle softly.
“He still doesn’t like us does he?” Lance sighed as he slumped back against the couch, moving his arm over to Jenny’s shoulder.
“Merlin’s still got some previous incarnation issues,” Alex admitted. Stretching out, she leaned over the back of the couch. “Despite his bright-eyed and optimistic nature; well, all things considered anyway,” Alex amended. “I don’t think he knows what to make of you yet. It still sort of throws him off that this time around we’re functioning as friends.”
“And our behaving exactly as he expected didn’t help matters,” Lance groaned. “I get it; hate it, but get it.”
“Give it time Lance.” Jenny leaned against his chest, resting her head beneath his chin. “We’re all still trying to figure it out.” She paused and looked towards the bag by the doorway and grinned. “Now if you excuse me I’m going to take a shower and get into some clean clothes.”
Jenny jumped up, forcing Alex and Lance to shift to give her room and scooped up the bag with a spring in her step. She vanished down the hall towards where Alex knew the downstairs bathroom to be, leaving Alex and Lance alone.
“So other than the Redcaps, how was the date?” Alex asked.
It earned her a sideways incredulous look from Lance. He stared at her for a moment as he tried to process if she was really serious. Finally, his lips curved into a smile and he chuckled. “Actually it was going pretty well,” he said. “And the Redcap attack meant that we spent last night huddling together while Morgana prowled around outside.”
“Prowled?”
“Watch her and tell me that she does
n’t remind you of a puma.”
“You’re strange Lance!” Alex laughed even as she considered the comparison. “But not completely wrong.”
Outside a car door slammed, drawing Alex’s attention towards the window. Jumping up, she crossed over to it and drew back the curtain. Her whole body relaxed as she spotted Bran out by his car with a bag. Merlin was standing next to him with a much more relaxed smile with the pair chatting. Bran nodded at something the older man said before gesturing towards the house. As Bran began strolling over to the house, his cane not in sight, Alex moved away from the window. Opening the front door, Alex smiled in greeting to Bran and stepped to the side to let him into the house.
“Morning Alex,” Bran greeted with a nod, leaning over and giving her a quick one-armed hug. He grinned and headed into the living room with Alex following along behind him. “Special delivery for Mister Taylor.”
“Hey Bran,” Lance greeted with a grin, catching the other boy’s arm for a moment. “Thanks for getting my stuff.”
“No problem.” Bran handed over the bag with a shrug. “I still can’t believe that you haven’t got a roommate and I’m stuck with Aiden.”
“He bailed at Christmas,” Lance explained. “And don’t whine about Aiden. I’ve been over enough to know that’s bullshit.”
The ringing of her phone pulled Alex out of the conversation as she battled down a hint of jealousy that was contrasted against relief that they got along so well. Looking down at her phone, Alex barely kept in the short gasp that threatened to escape her. Instead, she tried to look completely calm and normal as she slipped out of the kitchen’s back door. The chill outside hit her only for a moment as she brought the phone up to her ear, and her anger overpowered everything else.
“Arthur,” she greeted with a growl.
“Alex,” the smooth, deep voice of her ex-boyfriend/cousin in an earlier life/would be murderer greeted. “How are things?”
“A bit chilly to be honest.” Alex focused her gaze on the empty bird feeder hanging on one of the trees in the backyard. “How about you? What are you up to?”
“Oh, the usual; sending my minions after people you care about. I’ll be honest, even I’m a bit surprised how quickly some of them have made it to Ravenslake. Maybe all that magic calls them in like a siren song.”
“What do you want Arthur?”
“Many things Alex; Cathanáil for one and dominion over the Tree of Reality for two.”
“Going the classic villain approach then huh?” Alex mocked drily. “Seriously, take over the world?”
“Not just the world, all of the worlds Alex. The Sídhe conquered an entire branch and it was the Iron Realm that stopped their army. I think I can do better.”
“Not going to happen Arthur, and if you’re done I’ve got things to do. Any chance you could lose my number?”
“Aren’t you supposed to worrying about redeeming me about now?” Arthur asked. In her mind’s eye, Alex could imagine him just spinning in a chair with a smirk. “That is how the stories go at this point right? I’m afraid I’ll have to defer to your expertise.”
“That’s not how this story goes Arthur.” Alex couldn’t keep her voice even. “I’m not such a fool as to believe that you’ll change. You enjoy this too much”
“Harsh, darling,” Arthur chided in a mockery of disappointment. “I thought you were supposed to be the good guy.”
“I mean it Arthur: there may be moments where I wonder if you’re this way because of how the Queen raised you and there may be moments that I feel something akin to pity for you, but you had a choice. You could have gone to Merlin or Morgana for help, but you didn’t. You didn’t have to stab me and try to take the sword, but you did.”
“Old habits die hard. I killed you once and just couldn’t resist doing it again.” His nonchalant answer made Alex’s insides crawl. “I blame it all on my reincarnation. Surely you understand that it can be a bit overwhelming.”
“You used someone who loved you,” Alex reminded him. “As nothing more than a pawn in a chess game to fool Merlin and Morgana. Don’t pretend that it was anything other than a choice.”
“Ah come on darling, we both know that Jenny was meant to be with Lance. I led her to him. Honestly, she should be thanking me for that. Well, that and years of great sex.”
“You’re a pig.”
“You didn’t deny it though,” Arthur countered in the sweet, teasing tone that she’d once found attractive.
Now her stomach just felt ready to turn on her. She gripped at the railing of the back porch. Alex moved the phone away from her mouth so she could take a long, deep breath. She could feel anger clawing at her chest. If she thought her magic could bring Arthur here so she could punch him and maybe slash his eyes out with her dagger she would have used it.
“Arthur, when I think about you all I can see is you smirking at me as you took more of my blood,” Alex admitted around grit teeth. “I will never forgive you for what you did. For what you almost did.”
“Ah yes, the blood.” Arthur chuckled, ignoring her anger. “I’ll admit that it hasn’t been as useful as I hoped without Cathanáil. Aiden really threw a wrench in the original plans, but I think we’ve recovered fairly well.”
“So are you going for cliché villainy here?”
“Cliché is such a negative word,” Arthur said. “But I think we’ve done the witty banter enough. We have so much else to discuss.”
“I don’t know where Cathanáil is,” Alex said. Sadly that it was the honest truth. “So stop fishing.”
“Actually, that means it is time to start fishing,” Arthur countered. “There’s a lot of water in the world and it could be anywhere.”
“Well, that’s more of a problem for you than it is for me. After all, I’m not looking to open the gates.”
“True, but that gate won’t hold forever, and sooner or later they will break through somewhere else… who knows, maybe Spokane. Imagine the damage they could do there.” Arthur paused as Alex absorbed the threat against her parents and younger brother. “Of course before something like that happens I suppose I could just have the fairies stop playing hide and seek with the world. Imagine the chaos when bedtime stories suddenly spring to life.”
Alex frowned at the words, wondering why Arthur and the Queen hadn’t already done just that. Her gut instinct was that whatever they were using to control the other fae creatures didn’t allow for perfect control: at least not like that. Maybe the survival instinct of the fae against being seen was too strong, or maybe there was some other kind of magic on them.
“So how are you doing this anyway?” Alex asked, deciding to take a chance. “It’s a pretty serious spell to send all the faery creatures after us.”
“There are things that even Merlin and Morgana don’t know about,” Arthur told her smugly. “Honestly, do you think I’m going to start monologuing Alex?”
“You’re the one who keeps calling your ex! Getting a little lonely with only your mother for company are we?”
“Well, look who’s gaining confidence!” Arthur laughed like she’d said a joke. “I remember when you were just the love interest.”
Tightening her fingers on the phone, Alex grit her teeth as her stomach churned uncomfortably in a blend of rage, embarrassment and far more hurt than she ever wanted to admit. She didn’t trust herself to speak but hated the silence that was meeting Arthur’s last statement. He chuckled on the other end of the phone and Alex wondered once again just what Arthur thought he was getting out of these calls.
“Things change,” Alex wished that she had something more impressive to say in response.
“I understand that dear Jenny and Lance were attacked last night. On a date no less; really ,Alex, do you feel nothing when you think about them together? Isn’t there a tiny spark of rage when you envision them together?”
“No,” Alex told him firmly, glad that the truth helped her voice ring stronger. “I don’t Arthur. I’m not a vi
ctim of my previous lives.”
“Careful dearest,” Arthur replied in a far too confident voice. “You might just learn something that makes you doubt that. Three thousand years is a very, very long time, and there is nothing innately good about humanity.”
“Arthur!” a distant voice shrieked, cutting into Alex’s confused thoughts and preventing her from speaking. “Who are you talking to?”
The call suddenly ended and Alex looked at her phone in consideration. It had sounded like the Queen didn’t know that Arthur was calling her. She nibbled at her lip in thought, wondering if there might be dissent among the ranks. It only distracted her for a moment from Arthur’s cryptic words. Chewing at her bottom lip, Alex stared at the phone and half considered calling him back, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so.