by Skye, Sariah
Where am I going with this again? Seriously, my brain. It’s sooo noisy up here.
I shook myself before I went on a tangent and pointed again. Dejectedly, all four guys sat down in various spots around the room, sitting as far from one another as they could just like a bunch of whiny, bratty children.
“Great! One big happy family!” I quirked, and Mathias opened his mouth to speak but found he still couldn’t. I watched his knuckles turn white as he gripped his knee angrily. With a wave, I gave them back their speaking abilities.
“You can talk but first—listen. Now I know you’re all pissed—or you think you’re pissed—but I promise you, this is not you. I’m not sure how, but I know Nimue has messed with all of you somehow,” I explained, shaking my head.
“How is that possible?” Xander inquired, and I shrugged.
“Beats the fuck out of me, but she’s capable of that shit. Whatever you’re angry about, it doesn’t justify getting as angry as you are,” I insisted as I pointed upstairs. “And the crap you just said to Ava? If I were bigger, I’d be dick-punching you right now. I also am not going to do that, because I’d probably like it too much. So—in short? You’re all being assholes. Every one of you!”
Trystan snorted. “Och, big magic boy. Why de you care so much, eh? You trying to get her in your pants too? Every witch on the isle just weren’t enough for ya?”
“Oh fucking hell…” I slapped my hands over my face, scrubbing them down my chin as I spoke all the insults I could think of in Avalonian.
“Makes sense,” Bash interjected, leaning back against the sofa, tapping on his chin with one hand and stretching out his arm over the back with the other. His fingers brushed Xander’s shoulder as he did, and he balked. The two of them snarled at each other before sliding over, further apart on the sofa. “Once we’re out of the picture, he can have Ava for himself.”
“Goodness gracious, you are all being ridiculous!” Mordred had been quiet, but he finally had obviously had enough. I nodded at him once with a grin, hoping to show him how thankful I was—but that part would have to wait. My mind started playing porno-music in the background, and once again my mind started wandering to dirty things. Stop, Emrys, before you lose control of the room, here…
“Maybe he’s trying to get to her,” Mathias narrowed his eyes at the dark prince and just out of spite, I flicked my hand, cutting off his speech again. I laughed loudly.
“Ava isn’t my type,” Mordred said blandly.
Xander cocked a brow. “Why not? She not good enough for you?”
“Well, first of all she’s my cousin. And, while it’s common in Camelot to have relations with family—” I shuddered at the mere thought as he continued, “—she really isn’t my type.”
“Why not?” Trystan asked curiously.
“Because I’m—what was it called? Gay?” He looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded. Actually I did more than nod…I looked him up, down, sideways, back and forth and if I had X-ray vision, I’d be looking under those clothes. Don’t leer at him, man. You’re trying to be with it and commanding. Still I swore Mordred blushed as I regarded him.
What? He was hot. Despite his parentage. And it was doubly fun now that I knew officially he could swing my way. Hell to the yeah! The Avalon magic had a severe effect on me as well. I was a damned horndog. In fact I’d be howling and probably humping the nearest leg right now if the situation were different. This was a tough room.
Ooh, a room. Like maybe a dark room and a four-poster bed, with hooks to tie things to, and oh—
Really need to stop before little Merlin gets any harder, ‘kay? Kay.
The things I sacrifice for magic. Down, boy…it’ll be okay. Soon, very soon… I tried to—unsuccessfully—resist the urge to check out Mordred again. Ho-leee hell…
“Ye can still like women, ye know,” Trystan said, pulling me back out of my mind and my dirty damn thoughts, and I rolled my eyes.
“Oh for fuck’s sake Trystan. He said he’s gay, so he’s gay. I’m the one that doesn’t give a shit where I stick it. So unless you want me to prove the difference by forcing you to bend over, shut the hell up and listen! Because I can do that you know!” The skin on my hand tingled lightly as I opened my palm for a ball of pure energy magic that I could bounce up and down. It was a combination of different things, really, and it was even buoyant. The green color made it fun when I bounced it up and down.
Trystan backed down, frowning and cursing in his language. Whatever it was. Half the time no one could ever understand him, but Ava, I swore.
She was so fucking perfect for them… and they were about to blow it. All because of some sort of spell.
“Why should we listen to you?” Bash demanded, and I threw my hands up in exasperation.
“Dear god. You know what? Why not just all go to your damn rooms and think about what bad incubuses you are, huh? I’ll be up to spank you later.”
All four of them leered and postured, meaning to come at me—oh just try me, bros—but I rose my hand a little higher in the air and cocked a brow. They backed down. Yeah, that’s right, I thought, with a triumphant smirk, back down, incu-bitches…who’s your damn magic daddy now, huh?
Okay, stop Emrys… this isn’t helping the little Merlin situation.
I cleared my throat; everyone was giving me a strange look. Like usual, but…anyway. Where was I going now? Oh yeah. The spell. Fucking Nimue… but not actually because ew. Now fucking Nimue’s son… I could get behind that. Most literally, actually. Bow chicka—
—OH MY GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?
“Rhys?” Mordred brought me out of my mind-barf tangent. Right.
“But seriously, think about it—what better way to get Avalon to fall? Pit her protectors against her, and each other! D’uhhhh.” Seriously, I couldn’t believe these guys were so fucking dense. This must be one bad ass spell. “Remember in Alexandria? She played on all your fears and habits and got away? Remember that?”
From the corner of my eye, Mathias sank back into his chair, attempting to speak. Whoops… forgot. I flicked my hand at him with a roll of my eyes.
“Damn, don’t ever do that to me again, Merlin, or so help me…” Mathias threatened, clearing his throat. “But… he has a good point.”
“Yeah, but—” Bash blurted, and I turned to him raising my hand, quirking a brow. He was the one that surprised me the most; he was the last person I figured that would deny the presence of a spell.
“Aye. Maybe we should go to bed, and clear our heads and talk in the morning,” Trystan suggested reluctantly. He stood up with a groan, scrubbing his hands over his face and chest. He caught me leering at him and rolled his eyes. “Enough of you, wizard. I’m going to bed. I suggest you all do the same.”
“Yeah… wise…” Mathias agreed, standing and I assumed he was doing the same.
“What about Ava, though? We can’t just…?” Xander began, and Bash was on his feet, snorting loudly.
“Oh come off it, Xiang. Fuck this, I’m going to bed myself. All of you can go fuck yourselves, huh?” He shoved past Mathias and stormed up the stairs. Moments later we heard a door slam. Trystan was already all the way down the hall to his bedroom, I assumed, and Mathias took his time shuffling up the stairs. He appeared to be deep in thought. Good for him. Realize just what a bad little—okay not so little I’ve seen that cock and daaaaayuuum—
—omg STOP, Rhys. Just stop.
“Do you really think there’s a spell? If so, why am I not angry, then?” Xander asked, bringing me out of my irreverent mind again. I shrugged in reply.
“Part of the plan. You were the one who has been jealous,” I said, and he frowned. “Well, it’s true. Even if you’re over it now…”
“Nimue is a master manipulator. It wouldn’t be anyone’s fault,” Mordred maintained.
Xander rose, adjusting his shirt and pushing his hair out of his eyes. “So what do we do?”
“I could use a hand in finding thi
s damned spell. And then afterwards, you better go see to a certain cambion upstairs, who I promise you is crying her eyeballs out,” I said, setting my hand on my hip and gently raising my brow. “A sad Avalon is not a good Avalon.”
“Won’t the sword help that?” Xander retorted, a hint of bitterness in his tone.
Blinking slowly and scornfully, I scowled at him. “No, Jian, that’s not how it works. I can’t tell you much about the damn thing, but it only protects her body and let’s her fight. As for her heart? That’s your damned job,” I said, jabbing a finger at him right in the arm, attempting not to enjoy the feeling of his taut muscle under my finger.
Xander gave me a sidelong smirk. “Right. You know, you’re not so bad when you’re not being a peeping freak. Just don’t tell anyone I said that.”
I chortled loudly. “No one would believe me. Shall we find a shitty spell?” I asked, smiling sweetly at our task, looking between the “dark prince” and the storm-wielding incubus.
Xander sighed reluctantly and motioned his hand outward. “After you.”
“Good. Mordred, you ready?”
“Not really,” he retorted, with a frown. “I’ve had enough of my mother’s magic for a life time.”
“We-he-he-hell… suck it up, buttercup.” I prodded him by slapping him in the ass while Xander let out a very loud, surprising laugh. Mordred flinched, grabbing his butt when he noticed my shit-eating grin, he relented. “Let’s find a spell, save Avalon and then, oh… I don’t know. Have fun after?” I wiggled a brow and actually felt satisfied as Mordred blushed. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Xander
My lips pressed together, drowning out my laugh from escaping, as Rhys started throwing a temper tantrum. Literally, complete with stomping feet, a pout on his face, and grouchy, irritated whining. I shouldn’t have been laughing given the situation and the levity of everything but… it was fucking hilarious. And, Ava would think so too.
Ava. Then I was crestfallen, remembering the awful things the guys said to her. Mathias being the most surprising. Everyone probably thought I was the romantic one, and I probably was, but Mathias kept growling at me anytime he’d catch me leaving her notes or flowers. He was the most territorial of us all. I was a bit foolish, but I wasn’t stupid; I didn’t want to catch his ire. I was powerful, magically enough to take him, but not only did I not want to because he was essentially my brother, I knew how bad it felt to get decked by this giant “arm pythons” and wanted none of that. I’d show her my affections in other ways. And I generally did. Especially on Sunday…
Mathias though was actually the biggest sap of all of us. I don’t think Ava ever even saw him angry—truly angry—besides perhaps that day at the Stargazer. But, he wasn’t angry at her, and never could be. I’d been at the other end of his fury probably more than the others, and it wasn’t fun, or pretty. He could be furious, enraging out of his clothes, and all Ava would have to do is walk in and he’d melt. I didn’t think there was anything she could do on any realm for any reason that would make him say such things. And, they weren’t even that bad, but for Mathias towards Ava? That was as bad as it got. He’d give his life, his very soul for her, no matter what she did. Fuck, we all would, but he’d be first to stand up—partially because of his super speed of course. It was just beyond surprising to me that Mathias could react that way. Whatever this spell was Nimue left behind was twisted and messed up and needed to go.
We weren’t having much luck, though, after thirty minutes of searching.
Rhys and Mordred searched the property, recruiting Morgaine of all people, because Morgaine was the only person to know Nimue years ago, besides Rhys. Morgaine then had been in glamour, just like she had been when she encountered each of us. And, she worked with dubious magic and probably knew it well.
I was wandering the house, looking in all the nooks and crannies, including any space that Bash kept hidden with magic. I had no idea if Nimue had the sort of power to get into the house which was even more heavily warded than the property, but she’d gotten into Avalon somehow, so it was likely.
I didn’t encounter anything though, but a bunch of angry assholes as I tried to comb their rooms. Mathias might have been the most surprising, but Bash was the angriest. I’d never seen him so angry, and I wasn’t quite sure why the spell seemed to affect him so badly.
“Well, I’m certainly at a loss,” Mordred said, with a heavy sigh. After searching, we gathered near the gardens. Not my ideal place, because what was once a relative sanctuary for me was now a wandering ground for handfuls of witches. Witches who had no cambion resistance and made me uncomfortable anytime they looked at me. Ava had just as much as a territorial streak as we did, as we’d learned in St. Cloud at that party, so I didn’t want to taunt the beast so to speak… especially with everything on the rocks anyway.
“I’m not sure where else to look,” Rhys said, frowning, finally sitting up from his tantrum. A couple witches wandered nearby, speaking quietly to themselves and giggling when he grinned at them. I noticed Mordred had to fight a sneer at their admiration of him. I rolled my eyes. I wouldn’t, but I certainly did not get the appeal of the legendary wizard.
Sighing myself, I sat in the swing that hung from a cherry blossom tree, and shook my head. “I’m not sure. I mean… it’s not like she’d just tack it on the front door or anything.” Rhys blinked suddenly, raising a brow at me. “Would she?”
“It’s too obvious…” He said but blinked out in a cloud of mist anyway. Mordred and I eyed each other when we heard a sudden “Holy shit you have to be kidding me!” from in the distance.
Mordred and I went running in his direction, finding him standing on the front porch, holding a cloudy, gray crystal in his pinched fingers like it was poison. And, it probably actually was. “How do we know this isn’t one of Sebastian’s? It looks a lot like it…” I mused out loud, eyeing it carefully. It did look very much like one of the crystals he’d use for warding.
“Ask him?” Rhys replied with a snort “Not that he’ll be terribly forthcoming…”
Laughing lowly, I stepped forward, and snatched the crystal in my hand. “Oh, I’ll make sure he answers.” Shuddering at the sick, twisted power that emanated off of it, I clutched it close and stalked into the house. I was about to go upstairs to his bedroom when I heard shouts from the game room down the hall.
I shoved in through the door like a storm cloud; it smacked loudly against the wall, distracting the three of them—Mathias, Bash, and Trystan—from their activities. “So much for sleeping, huh?”
“You’re the one that forced us out,” Mathias snapped crossly. He had his back turned towards me, holding a handful of darts in his hand, as well as Ava’s diamond pendant clutched tightly. He grumbled under his breath in words I couldn’t understand. Rarely did Mathias slip into Latin any longer, but when he did? He was beyond pissed. That point was proven, when he launched a dart from his hand to the board across the room with such force it cut straight through the wall, leaving several small holes from where the small arrows had been launched previously.
Bash and Trystan were arguing with each other in Gaelic; Trystan was playing pool alone, and Bash was playing video games. Bash must have said something especially angry to him, because Trystan slammed his pool queue on the side of the table and stalked the distance until he could tear the controller out of his hand, slamming it on the ground, shattering it instantly into a hundred tiny pieces on the floor.
“Oh, it’s on, asshole, so help me fucking god you Scottish prick!” Bash was the shortest of us, but he was terrifying when he was pissed. With his new siphon powers he was channeling Mathias’ anger and my storm magic, and he grew about four inches, holding out his hand with lightning dripping out of it, threatening to toss it at the eagle shifter.
“Enough both of you.” Mathias tossed the darts onto the ground, shattering the floor below, and the three of them got into each other’s faces, pushing, and
shoving.
“Shit…” I said, raking a hand over my face.
“It must be because it’s so close now, they’re getting worse,” Rhys observed behind me. I didn’t notice when he entered, but I didn’t mind his presence. For once.
“Where’s Mordred?” I asked him quietly.
“Searching for others. I am pretty sure there are more…” I winced, watching Bash shoot his magic at Mathias, and Mathias enraged, clothes ripping and tearing at the seams. Trystan got in between the both of them, not entirely sure which to engage first. But veins popped out of foreheads, faces were red with fury, and I was pretty sure if we didn’t stop them, they were going to decimate the house.
Growling from in the back of my throat, I felt the chill in the air, even from far away. I opened my hand and pulled at it, waving my hands around each other until I formed a large mass of ice and wind. I shot it at the three of them, getting their attention when they were smacked with snowballs, and for good measure I tossed a blast of cold wind at them, knocking them flat on their asses. For good measure, Rhys blinked, and rendered them virtually immobile.
“Fucking hell, you guys! Are you serious with this shit? Do you realize this is a spell making you act that way?” I demanded angrily.
Trystan opened his mouth to speak first, but nothing came out. Rhys snickered, having taken away his voice.
I pressed my fingers to my temple. “Bash, do you think there’s any way to destroy this? Or make an antidote, so it doesn’t happen again?”
“What? Nothing happened, Xander. Just Ava shooting off her mouth as always, and these—” Bash began to yell before turning mute again, mouth moving but no words coming out. Rhys laughed wildly, doubling over at the waist and slapping his thighs repeatedly.