Immortal Flame (The Excalibur Duet Book 2)

by Kim Loraine

  “Fine, I’ll try. Shield your eyes, Merlin.”

  He turns away and pulls the chain taut. Then I swing. The blade connects with a jarring clash, sparks flying in the air as metal meets metal. But the chain is broken and Merlin is free.

  Standing, he rolls his shoulders and stretches. “I’ve been trapped like that far too long.”

  A scream of rage fills the hall, shaking the walls and making the torchlight flicker.

  “She’s coming,” Merlin says.

  I hold my sword at the ready and keep the old wizard behind me as we head into the corridor. It’s time to face this evil head on. I know there’s more than one way to break a curse. If the witch is dead, her magic dies with her.

  The torches dim to faint orange glows in the now dark hallway, but I see Nimue coming. She’s luminescent. A soft blue light emanates from her as she slowly makes her way to us.

  “Merlin!” she shouts. “No. You can’t be free.”

  “I am, Nimue. Lancelot freed me to stop you from your pursuit of the sword. Excalibur will never belong to you.”

  “It already does.”

  Dread curls in my stomach. “You’ll never wield it. You’re not worthy.”

  “It’s only a matter of time before I have a child of Arthur’s growing in my belly. Then I’ll have Pendragon blood, and the sword will be mine.”

  I laugh. “Brooks will never be yours.”

  Her lips turn up in a wicked smile. “It’s interesting what a man will do to save those he loves, Lancelot.” She places her palm on her belly and rubs it in a slow circle. “Why, he might do…anything it takes.”

  “No,” I whisper. Brooks would never go to bed with this creature.

  I rush her with the sword, ready to take her down even though I know she’ll stop me. I can’t let her get her hands on Excalibur. I hear Merlin’s murmured words and see a glow spread across the blade of my sword. Nimue gasps and her gaze locks behind me, on the wizard she imprisoned.

  “You,” she says. “What are you doing?”

  “You thought you could keep me down here like your dirty little secret?” Merlin’s voice is weak and tired, but filled with malice.

  She holds out a hand, her gaze narrowed on him and he lets out a pained grunt. I don’t turn my focus from her even though everything in me wants to see if he’s all right.

  “I should’ve known,” she hisses and makes no move to stop me as I run her through.

  The light leaves her eyes, and she turns to ashes at my feet. A staircase appears at the end of the hall, and I turn back to face Merlin. The man, who once appeared old and weary, now resembles the younger, more virile wizard I once knew.

  He sighs and dusts off his hands. “She’d been siphoning my power for centuries. Never trust a woman,” he grumbles.

  I turn away from him and run for the stairs. I need to find Brooks, to get him back to Excalibur, and more importantly, we have to make sure Gwen is awake.

  “Coming?” I ask, tossing the word over my shoulder, not waiting for him as I take the stairs two at a time.

  “You don’t need to run in, sword drawn. I can take you to them.”

  I stop in my tracks. “What?”

  “Now that you’ve taken care of Nimue, my magic has returned in full. I was the most powerful wizard on Earth until she trapped me with her wiles.”

  He grips my wrist and my stomach twists as the ground disappears beneath my feet and I have to shut my eyes against the dizzying sensation. When Merlin releases me, I open my eyes and see Brooks on the floor, blood on his forehead, eyes shut, face pale, but he’s breathing. I run to him and pull his body up against my chest.

  “Brooks,” I say, patting his cheeks. “Wake up.”

  He stirs and blinks his dark eyes, focusing on me. “Am I dead? She…she killed you.” The pain in his voice nearly does me in right there.

  “No. I killed her. She’s gone.” He pulls me down and kisses me right there in front of Merlin. I don’t stop him. Knowing he thought I was dead, that he worried about me, makes me ache to show him how much I care as well. Then I break the kiss, not letting myself get carried away by him, by us. “We have to find Gwen.”

  Brooks sits up and rubs at the wound on his temple. “I’m only slightly angry it was you who killed Nimue and not me. That bitch tried to rape me. She wanted to steal my damned sperm. Then knocked me out when I wouldn’t cooperate.”

  The thought of Nimue putting her hands on him makes my stomach churn. “Let’s find our Gwen and get out of here.”

  Then Brooks stands and finally takes notice of Merlin who is standing in the corner.

  “Bloody hell, Merlin, is that you?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gwen

  My head aches, but I can move. I can open my eyes and see the world around me. It’s much better than darkness and visions of blood and death. I’m in an ostentatiously decorated room, gilt frames house portraits of Nimue in various gowns and poses.

  “Fucking narcissist,” I mutter, swinging my feet off the bed and standing on shaky legs.

  The door swings open and slams against the stone wall. I nearly jump out of my skin and pull my power into my palms, ready to defend myself against Nimue. Instead, I see the two men I love more than life standing in the doorway.

  “Gwen,” Lance breathes, absolute relief pouring from him. “Thank God.” He rushes to me, pulling me tight against his chest and crushes his lips to mine.

  I break our kiss and hold my hand out for Brooks. He joins us and kisses my forehead. “I was worried we’d lost you,” he murmurs.

  Shaking my head, I lean in to Brooks’ touch and smile up at him. “You’ll never lose me. Not if I have anything to say about it.” Their arms feel so good around me. “How did you break the curse? She has to be dead. Which one of you killed her?”

  “I did,” Lance says. “With a little help.”

  A shadow moves in the hallway through the open door and I gasp, filling my palms with power once again and breaking out of the hold of my two loves. “Someone is out there,” I whisper.

  Then Merlin steps into my view. He’s exactly as I remember him, tall, handsome, graying around the temples. “Merlin?”

  “Guinevere, I wish I could say it’s a pleasure to see you, but you’ve never liked me much.”

  It’s true. I never connected with him the way Arthur did. Part of me never trusted that the wizard couldn’t tell that I myself was a witch. “You abandoned Arthur.”

  “He was imprisoned by Nimue.” Brooks puts a hand on my shoulder.

  “I’d never have left Arthur’s side willingly,” Merlin says. “If I had been there, none of this would have happened.”

  “You couldn’t have stopped my curse from taking me.”

  “But I could have stopped Lancelot.”

  My stomach twists. “You weren’t meant to interfere. This is how it all was supposed to play out.”

  “Let me do what I can to repay you for setting me free.”

  His eyes flash with an eerie blue light before he bows his head and takes a deep breath. The light surrounds him, growing stronger as he raises his arms and holds his hands out. His whole body trembles and Brooks grips me tighter to keep me from moving.

  Then Excalibur manifests across Merlin’s palms and the scabbard sits atop the blade. The light dims and Merlin stops shaking, heavy gasps giving way to slow and even breaths.

  “The scabbard,” Lancelot says.

  “Take up your sword, Arthur.” Merlin’s voice is strong and determined. “Take up the scabbard. This is what you’re destined to be.”

  Brooks releases me and walks toward Merlin, then he removes the sword and sheath from Merlin’s offered hands. Excalibur glows and Brooks fastens the scabbard around his waist. When he sheathes the sword, his whole body takes on the glow of Excalibur.

  “The Once and Future King,” Merlin murmurs.

  The moon shines in through the window, casting a pale beam of light on us. A howl reverber
ates through the castle, followed by another, and another. “We have to get out of here.” My words are tight. “The beasts. They were hers.”

  “They’ll want revenge,” Lancelot says.

  Merlin holds out his hand and gestures to the door. “Come, I know a way out, but we have to hurry.”

  We follow, having no choice but to trust him. The man delivered Excalibur and the scabbard. He’s always had Arthur’s interests at heart. Now is the time for me to put aside my unease.

  Down the stairs and through the great hall, we find an empty castle, crumbling now that Nimue is dead. Merlin opens the tall doors and the night air flows inside. Howls fill the atmosphere and glowing golden eyes appear in the distance.

  “They’re here.” I whisper the words as my two men take defensive postures in front of me.

  “Wait a moment,” Merlin says.

  The glowing amber eyes come closer and through the fog I watch as the forms of wolves shift into humans. “Shifters,” I say.

  Lance and Brooks have both drawn their swords and the five shifter men outside form a line in front of the castle.

  “Nimue is dead,” Brooks calls, stepping to the open doorway. “There’s no use defending your mistress. You’re too late.”

  Instead of attacking us, the shifters each drop to one knee and bow their heads as if in fealty to Brooks.

  “Take us home,” the man in the center says. His Scottish accent is strong and makes me think of Izzy’s mate, Grant. “Get us out of this place. My mate must be worried sick.”

  “Your mate?” Brooks asks, sheathing Excalibur. “Are you Logan?”

  The man gets to his feet. “Aye. Have you seen my Kiki?”

  Brooks nods. “She asked me to find you. Why would you leave her for this place?”

  Logan shakes his head. “All of us…we were taken. One by one, Nimue stole us away and held us under her enchantment.”

  “How long have you been here?” I ask, taking in the appearances of each of the men. A few are dressed in clothes that look like they’re from the 1920s while others are more modern.

  “It feels like just yesterday and eternity all at the same time.”

  I look back to Merlin. “Can we take them with us?”

  He nods and smiles. “Of course. They don’t belong here. None of us do.” Then he walks past us all, past the shifters and to the gates. “Come along.” He holds his hands high and a wall of flame rises in front of him. The flame drops low until it is nothing but a line of scorched earth.

  When he steps over the line, he vanishes, and my heart lurches. Has he just abandoned us here?

  “What do we do now?” Lance asks.

  I shrug. “Follow?”

  Brooks takes my hand and Lance does the same with my other, threading our fingers. The three of us walk past the shifters and step over the line just as Merlin did and back into the remnants of Camelot.

  “We’re home,” I say, glancing around and taking in the dark sky, the freezing air, and the heavy snow on the ground. How long have we been gone?

  I shiver in the cold, but Lance is there, wrapping me in his arms before I can call a warm coat into being.

  The shifters follow behind us, Logan taking a long shuddering breath when he feels the change in the air just like I did.

  “Kiki,” he whispers. His shoulders tense and he looks to his left, then he shifts, right there in front of us. One moment he’s a man, then next, he’s a brilliant silver wolf, large and dangerous with a glossy coat and burning amber irises. He’s off like a shot and the others follow suit, spreading out in all directions. Going home.

  Brooks

  Gwen shivers, her teeth chattering as Lance holds her close. The air holds the bite of winter as well as something else, something much more sinister. Too long has passed since we went to Avalon. The ripple of unease curling through the atmosphere shoots right through me.

  “Where’s Merlin?”

  We look around us, but can’t see any trace of him. “I don’t know. I can’t sense him.”

  “We have to get back to my sisters,” Gwen says. “Who knows how long it’s been.” A frown furrows her brow and she lets out a soft groan, whispering, “She’s here,” before swaying on her feet. Lance holds her tightly and turns his gaze from her to me.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  She brings her hand to her forehead and sighs. “Just…woozy. I feel a bit sick. Must be the shifting from world to world.”

  No. That’s not at all what this is. But I can’t tell her yet. She’ll come to it in her own time.

  “Brooks, we need you.” She holds out her hand and I link our fingers, letting my grace flow through her, into Lance, into all of us.

  We close our eyes and she whispers an incantation, transporting the three of us away from Camelot’s ruins.

  “My God, I never thought you’d make it back.” A strong female voice has me opening my eyes.

  Helena, Gwen’s sister witch stands before us, belly now visibly showing signs of her pregnancy. Before we left, I hadn’t known. “How long have we been gone?” I ask.

  “It’s been close to three bloody months. What were you doing? Having a damned holiday?”

  “We found him, Hel. We brought Lancelot back,” Gwen says, rushing to her sister. “We have the sword, the scabbard, the key. We can close the seal.”

  A scream echoes from the house behind us, sending a chill down my spine. “What the bloody hell was that?”

  “Izzy,” Gwen whispers. “Oh, the baby is coming.”

  “There’s a lot more going on than that.” Helena grabs Gwen and tugs her inside. “Come on, you two,” she calls over her shoulder. “Best get inside so you don’t freeze to death. It’s going to be a long night.”

  The house looks different from what it once was. It’s larger—sprawling even. Lance takes his place at my side while we follow behind the two witches. His arm brushes mine, and I tense. How do we act now? We’re here, in our world, away from the magic of Avalon. Do we continue to push things over the line between us, or were those moments only due to the circumstances?

  “Have you ever been in witness to a birth?” Lance asks.

  I shake my head. “Not in my past life, not in my present. There are hospitals for this kind of thing now.”

  “Obviously witches do this differently.”

  I think of Izzy’s mate, the brawny shifter named Grant. He’s protective in the extreme, not unlike my feelings toward Gwen and Lance. I open the door and walk inside, the fire is burning in the hearth, warming the house and making it instantly inviting.

  “Nephilim,” the fallen angel Tamiel raises a glass in our direction. “And Lancelot, good to see you. Glad you’re not dead, after all.”

  I’d forgotten they’ve all met Lance before. He crosses the room and shakes the angel’s hand. Then settles in a chair across from him. “How goes it?”

  “Loud. Apparently bringing a child into the world still can’t happen without pain. Helena might reconsider after Izzy gives birth.”

  Lance crosses his arms over his chest and a concerned frown draws his brows together. “Is it still as dangerous as ever?”

  “No. Much has been learned about saving mothers in childbed since your time. It still happens, but it can be avoided.”

  That doesn’t ease my mind. Just the thought of Gwen suffering any pain makes my chest hurt. “Why are they not at a hospital?” I ask. I can’t help it.

  Tamiel shakes his head. “That’s not how witches bring their children into the world. There are rituals that must be seen to. And now that they are four rather than three, the baby can be blessed properly.”

  “Four?” My thoughts drift to the cryptic conversation with the Lady. “They’ve been reunited?”

  “It was quite a surprise when Gabriel brought Ruby to us on Christmas morning.”

  “Gabriel was here?” Lance asks.

  “He delivered her to us and now that Gwen has returned, they’ll be able to unlock her ma
gic.”

  The walls shake and light spills through the cracks of the floorboards above our heads. “That’ll be them,” Tamiel grumbles.

  Loud footsteps come down the stairs and Grant appears in the foyer, his hair rumpled and eyes ringed in dark circles.

  “All right?” Tamiel asks.

  Grant drags a hand through his hair and lets out a long breath. “They had to do a spell. My mate is in labor and this bloody coven wants to do a spell.”

  “For Ruby?”

  He nods. “She remembers. They remember her. They are more powerful now than they ever have been.” Then he stalks to the kitchen and I hear the squeak of a cork being removed from a bottle. He returns with an open bottle of scotch. “Bloody hell, this is more than I can take. She’s in pain and I can do nothing to help her.”

  As if on cue, Izzy lets out an agonized cry. Grant brings the bottle to his lips and swallows. He passes the bottle to Tamiel, who takes a long pull and passes it back to Grant.

  “So, which one of you has Gwen chosen?” Grant asks before taking another drink.

  That’s a more complex question than he knows. “We…Gwen and I got married while we were away.”

  Lance’s shoulders stiffen. “But we are a trio. They might be married, but Gwen is just as much mine as she is his.”

  Tamiel cocks a brow. “Interesting.”

  The high, thready cry of a newborn baby pierces the air and Grant bolts for the stairs, shoving the bottle into my hands on his way past.

  We stay silent, the three of us in the room together avoiding conversation at all costs. Until Tamiel leans back in his chair and sighs.

  “And which one of you knocked up our little seer?” he asks, shocking me to my core. How did he know?

  “We have no way to know,” Lance says.

  My mind instantly goes to the moment Gwen gives Lance and me this same experience. She’ll bring our baby into the world and make the two of us fathers. Because no matter who the biological father is, there’s no way I’ll spend my life as anything but that child’s dad.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I say. “I’m in this forever and so is Lance. We’ll both raise any children that come of our union.”