by Lexi Blake
“Do we have everything we need?” Daniel asked Nim as we rejoined our friends.
The nymph nodded, her brown hair bobbing. “We’re as ready as we’re going to be.”
Zack and Lee checked their weapons, and Zack handed Daniel a gun after he inspected it. We were going in fully armed. My new Ruger was settled into the holster at the small of my back. The Order had been very happy to replace some of the weapons we lost to Scotland Yard. I found I had one small question before we left.
“So I’m glad this whole Order of Galahad thing worked out for us, but one has to wonder. I know I didn’t call them up and request they meet us on the tarmac. Who put in that little heads up?”
Stewart blinked as seven pairs of eyes suddenly turned on him. “Well, you couldn’t expect me to just drop everything without a little call to home.”
Yep. That was what I’d thought. When everything goes to hell, look to the demon.
“Yes, I could, asshole,” Daniel said.
“I merely told a friend.” Stewart pouted prettily. “He probably told a friend or two and so on and so on. We’re demons, you know. We have a little trouble with gossip, but like you said, it all worked out in the end so I should think you would actually thank me.”
“Don’t count on it,” Daniel ground out. He turned. “Lead the way, Nimue.”
Nim began walking across the vast green carpet that makes up so much of Wales. We marched along, Daniel at the front and Lee and Zack protecting our six. Dev walked just behind Daniel, his gun in hand. Neil was beside me and then, just like a dog you probably shouldn’t have ever fed in the first place, Stewart was on my heels.
“The Fae creature seems different,” Stewart said conversationally. “Whatever you did while you, the king, and he were ‘napping’ seems to have done the trick.”
I couldn’t help it. It just came out. “How so?”
Stewart’s blue eyes lit up because I’d fallen into the horrible trap of actually responding to him. “Well, he seems much less troubled. In fact, he seems downright content today. Something happened to make him feel worthy. He’s just bursting with self-esteem. Normally, there’s a well of sorrow just below his surface no matter how happy he seems. He’s always waiting for the worst to befall him. That’s what happens when your entire world gets ripped out from under you at a very young age.”
“Is he talking about the fact that the nobles turned on him when they discovered he was mortal?” Neil wasn’t able to resist either. It was part of why Stewart was so dangerous. He sucked you in.
“Yes,” Stewart said. “That one incident has colored his world ever since. Much like the time your father attempted to get you to bed a female and you couldn’t do it and he…oh, you poor puppy.”
“Get out of my head, Stewart,” Neil growled, his icy blue eyes flashing.
Stewart gave Neil a shy smile, not at all perturbed by his show of temper. “You’re very good at that, you know. Of all the people I’ve met, you can toss me out of your mind faster than any of them. Your emotional control is incredible. It’s one of the things I find most attractive about you. I find it interesting that you and the Fae creature had very similar upbringings, but your reactions are different. You were both tossed out by your families, considered perverse and freakish by your people, yet he walks about an aching ball of pain, naked to my eye, and you’re completely closed down.”
“Just to you, Stewart,” Neil said, getting himself under control. “I’m not closed off to the people I love. I think it just bothers you that Dev and I can go through some terrible shit and still be perfectly capable of loving those around us and allowing ourselves to be loved.”
Stewart considered that. “I suppose it confuses me. I understand the Fae creature. His mother still loved him. His brother still loved him. He was considered lesser, but the core of the bond was still functional. It sent him off on a quest to find a family who truly needed him. Your family always knew there was something wrong with you. They despised you for it.”
“I probably gave it away when I wanted Madonna to sing at my tenth birthday party,” Neil admitted.
“Silly little puppy. They never gave you a party,” Stewart said solemnly. “They knew you were wrong the minute you were born. Your father would have tossed you out, but your mother wouldn’t have it. She died far too young, if you ask me.”
“If I just tell you what you want to know, will you be silent for the rest of the walk?” Neil asked, slightly exasperated.
“Neil, you don’t have to tell him anything,” I swore. “I can have Lee gag him.”
“Oh, please don’t,” Stewart said, his voice sounding charming. “I really am interested, Neil. I know you don’t believe me, but I do greatly admire you. You have such strength where I worry I would not.”
Neil still didn’t look completely convinced, but he plunged on ahead anyway. “It was Daniel who brought me back. I made my oath to him and through his blood, I was able to feel his connection to Z.”
“The obsession a vampire feels for a companion must be very strong,” Stewart commented.
“It wasn’t obsession.” Neil didn’t seem to care if Stewart believed him, but it was the truth so he was going to put it out there. “It was love and it was the first time I’d really felt it. I liked it. I liked loving someone but then I realized somewhere along the line that Z loved me and I liked that, too. Being on that crew with Z and Danny and Sarah was the first real family I could ever remember, and I was safe for the first time.”
Stewart’s eyes never left Neil. “But you’re not on the vampire’s blood anymore. Did he not offer it to you when you returned from your sojourn?”
I was silent because I’d wondered about that as well. For the longest time after we got Neil back, he and Daniel had danced around each other until they’d finally come to an understanding while we were in Faery. Daniel could handle more than one servant, but he and Neil had not renewed their oaths.
“I don’t need it anymore,” Neil replied. “Daniel offered, but I had to say no. I need to be me now. I’m strong enough. I can love and I can accept love without anyone else’s blood influencing me. I know I’m weak, but I’m Neil. I’m finally just me.”
I reached out and squeezed his hand because he should know that was more than enough for me.
Stewart’s eyes had softened. “Little puppy, that…”
“You promised,” Neil reminded him and Stewart fell silent. We walked along for a moment, our fingers tangled together. “See, that was totally worth it.”
Nim held her hand up. We stood in the middle of a flat, emerald green plain. There was nothing at all to see but grass, yet Nim stopped like she didn’t want to hit something. She motioned for Stewart to come forward. I stood there not sensing anything at all in the cool of dusk. The sun was just beginning to set on the horizon, and I could see the Irish Sea. This island was so small. It seemed impossible that it held some sort of prison and no one had ever discovered it.
“Do you sense anything?” I asked Neil, who shook his head, just as lost as I was.
“I can’t describe it, but I know something’s wrong,” Lee said, coming up behind us. Zack had gone to stand with Daniel. “It’s like I can sense that something should be here, but it isn’t.”
Stewart scented the air. Perhaps in his normal body the gesture would seem natural, but it was odd in the human body he was riding. He walked around and the movements seemed jerky, like he couldn’t get the limbs to do exactly what he wanted and was forced to compromise.
After a long while, he went still and turned to us, and a long, satisfied smile crossed his face. “It’s here, Your Highness.”
Nimue went to stand next to the demon and gestured for Daniel to stand beside her. “We need the sword now.” She took it in her hand when Daniel passed it to her and frowned, looking the slightest bit nervous. “Now we find out if I did my job properly.”
“What do you mean?” Danny asked.
She tugged at her bottom l
ip with her teeth. “Well, there’s always a test with things like this.”
“Like the sword in the stone?” I remembered my Arthurian lore, or at least the Disney movie.
Nim nodded. “Yes, that was the test for the boy. I set up the test for this king a very long time ago. I didn’t know exactly why I chose this method because at the time it seemed odd, but something told me this was the proper challenge.”
“Why a test?” Neil asked. “You’re the Lady of the Lake. Don’t you just know who to give the sword to?”
“Think of it as a fail-safe,” the nymph replied. “Excalibur in the hands of the wrong person could prove very bad for us all.”
“But Daniel already has the sword,” Dev pointed out.
Stewart chirped up to answer that question. “Oh, he won’t for long if he doesn’t pass this test. If he fails, we all die. Well, all of you die. I just go back to the Hell plane and resume my former life. But I would mourn you all terribly.”
“What’s the test, Nim?” Daniel asked.
Nim smiled a secret little smile. “It’s simple, Daniel. I thought at the time it was too simple, but now it’s very fitting. I’m sure it will all work out. The world needed Arthur’s strength, so his test was one that proved it. The world needs something different from you.”
Daniel sighed. It always came back to that. “Where am I supposed to bleed this time?”
“Stand right here where the veil is the thinnest and the door can open.” Nim watched him, holding the sword easily.
Daniel did as instructed and the minute he was in place, Nim’s hand came back and she sent Excalibur straight into Daniel’s gut with a horrible twist.
All hell broke loose. Zack leapt forward, his semi pointed straight at the nymph’s head. Lee pulled me back even as I tried to run toward Daniel. Dev made it to our vampire first. Daniel had fallen to his knees, his blood spilling all over the green grass, but before Dev could reach down to haul him up, he put an arm out to stop him.
“I’m fine,” I heard Daniel growl, clutching his middle.
“She gutted you,” Dev yelled as he turned his face accusingly to Nim. His gun was on full display. “Give me one good reason I don’t put a bullet in your skull, Nimue or Vivienne or whatever the hell your name is.”
“If you’re going to shoot me, you should step back to do it, Devinshea,” Nim announced even as I felt a wave of energy flicker across my skin. Lee cursed softly and I knew he felt it, too.
“The veil is opening,” Stewart said. “Someone should get the king back unless he wants to be ripped in two.”
Dev put his arm under Daniel’s shoulder on one side and Zack took the other. They started to hurry him away from the site.
“Didn’t I just get ripped in two? Sure as hell felt like it,” Daniel muttered as they made their way to me.
Lee let me go and I went down on my knees even as Daniel hit the ground.
I knelt beside him, feeling for the already healing wound. I expected it to be deep and still bleeding, but it was already closing. In moments there wouldn’t even be a scar. “Do you need blood?”
He nodded. “Not you, baby. I already took my share from you.”
Dev didn’t hesitate. His sleeve was already rolled up, as though he anticipated the need, and he came in behind Daniel, offering his wrist. He didn’t hiss at the pain as fangs pierced his skin. There was only a slight tightening around his eyes to show he felt anything at all as Daniel began to draw from him. I didn’t even yell at Danny for not pulling Dev in. That was a private thing and they wouldn’t do it in front of anyone but me.
“We have to hurry.” Nim used her sweater to wipe the blood from the sword. She tossed it away when she was done and held Excalibur out for Daniel to retrieve. “The test has been passed. The king’s blood has opened the veil and Merlin waits. I’m sorry for the violent nature of the test, Daniel, but it was necessary. There’s no question now. You are the King of the Sword. Are you ready to meet your mentor?”
Daniel released Dev’s wrist, licking the wound clean, and it quickly closed. He was on his feet and he helped Dev to his. Daniel patted his ruined T-shirt and sighed. He zipped up his leather jacket, covering the blood. He nodded to Dev and they each took an arm to escort me. It was how we had entered all state functions when we were in Faery. Daniel was signaling he wanted to continue the practice on this plane. “We’re ready.”
The demon held out his hand to stop us. “Please allow me to educate you in this. Your Highness, you should go first. It’s tradition. This is a very important moment. It will be commented on and talked about. We must get it just right. The king enters and then the queen and then the rest of your retinue. You’re at the center of this kingdom and we follow you.”
Daniel actually threw back his head and laughed. “Stewart, you know nothing of my kingdom if you think I’m the center. I haven’t been the center of my world for at least twenty years and I don’t ever intend to be. As for tradition, well, it’s time I made my own.”
In between the two men I loved more than anything in the world, I made my way into the prison of Myrddin Emrys.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Though we had walked into the pocket world at dusk, the sun was full and high in the sky in the prison. It made the crystal castle in the distance sparkle and shine like a jewel in the middle of a fertile field. The world here was so still and calm it felt quite unreal as Daniel and Dev lead me through the tear in the fabric of space and time and into the small world Nim had created to house the wizard.
I glanced behind me and saw Neil entering just after Lee. It was odd to see another entire world peeking through the small doorway the veil made. The veil shimmered and closed as though it had never been there at all.
“It looks like it goes on forever.” Neil put a hand over his eyes to block the sun as he gazed at the mountains to the north of the castle.
“That’s an illusion,” Nim explained. “It’s actually quite small. It took an enormous amount of energy for me to form this world. I’m still not sure I’ve recovered from it entirely. I should have been able to easily handle the Order, but they got the jump on me.”
“You were concentrating at the time,” Stewart allowed. “That spell wasn’t a simple one.”
“Still,” she said, frowning. “I remember how Arawn had to take me to the otherworld for several hundred years to recover even a part of my strength.” The otherworld was the Welsh place of the gods and the dead. It was Arawn’s kingdom.
“How is the wizard going to handle you showing up after all these years?” I asked as we walked toward the castle.
Nim sighed. “I probably should have told him what I needed to do, but he can be very unreasonable. The rest of us were selected for our duties. We knew the risks and the rewards and we chose to be here. Myrddin didn’t have a choice. He was and always will be a wild card, so to speak. He straddles two worlds. He’s both demon and human.”
“His demonic nature will always be the dominant of the two,” Stewart said, his voice all snooty and superior.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Nim replied. “He was excellent with Arthur.”
Stewart rolled his borrowed eyes. “Arthur failed in the end.”
“He didn’t,” Nim argued. “He set up an entire system that stood for years. He kept this part of the world strong. It wasn’t the wizard’s fault that he let the personal stuff get to him.”
Stewart turned back and his smile was slightly malicious. “But darling girl, the personal stuff, as you put it, is exactly where a demon would strike.”
Dev’s hand squeezed mine and I knew it was his way of telling me he wouldn’t let Stewart hit us there ever again. Stewart was right. Something fundamental had changed in Dev since we lay in that tiny bed together and made a choice to move forward with our lives. A sense of calm had come over him. He was content with us and, for the first time, with himself.
“We just need the wizard to fix my heart,” Daniel said. “I can
take it from there.”
Nim’s violet eyes turned to Daniel. “Your Highness, you must listen to all the wizard has to say to you. He’s wise and excellent at prophecy. He’ll be able to guide you. I might have a difficult relationship with the man, but I can’t criticize his work. If he chooses to mentor you, it’s because you need him.”
Daniel sighed as we moved closer to the castle. Though it seemed to be made of crystal, I couldn’t see inside it. It protected its secrets.
“I will consider it,” Daniel allowed, but I heard that stubborn edge to his voice. Myrddin would find Daniel a difficult pupil.
“He mentored me,” Nim said as she contemplated her work. “I knew nothing of magic before I met the wizard.”
“Then how did you trap him?” Dev asked.
Stewart laughed. “How does a woman ever trap a man? For all his power, the wizard is also a man with a man’s desires. Nimue is a lovely woman. Even I can appreciate her on an aesthetic level. She got the wizard all hot and bothered and tricked him into her prison.”
Nim stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s not how it happened. Well, mostly not. He’s a horny old goat. He used to try to get his hands on anything with breasts and then he wants me to believe that he loves me. After all the women he went through, I’m supposed to believe he thought differently of me. I wasn’t buying it, not for a minute. He even tried to convince me he would be willing to share me with Arawn. He was just on the prowl. Like Arawn would ever agree to that. Besides, I needed him contained. I needed him locked away to wait for the new king. I couldn’t allow my emotions to engage.”
But it had been tempting. I could see that on Nim’s face. She’d felt something for the wizard. It might not have been love, but something about all of this made her feel guilty. She pushed forward, but I could see the tension in her eyes. She was nervous about seeing him again after all these years. When we finally stood at the door, she had to take a deep breath before moving on.
Nim pushed the heavy doors open but a hand locked on my wrist, pulling me back.