“We’ve employed some interrogation tactics that don’t involve magic but we haven’t used the sword on him yet. We were waiting for you to be present.”
“I really appreciate you including me, I know you didn’t have to do that.”
“His crimes against you were just as unforgiveable as those against us.” His eyes looked away but I caught how they sparked with anger.
“At least he won’t be hurting anyone else ever again.”
“Now we just have to stop Morgan.”
“What can you tell me about her?” I asked, appreciating the change of subject.
“Morgan was Merlin’s apprentice.”
“She’s Morgan La Fey, isn’t she?”
“That’s the name she’s been given by humans over time, yes. She’d been off the radar for so long that she was thought to be dead.”
“I’d like to show you something if you have a minute.”
I led him upstairs to the painting of Morgan La Fey that Merlin had commented on the first day we had talked. The woman depicted was wearing silk robes and had dark curling hair flowing down her back. She appeared lost in the throes of casting a spell over a small cauldron filled with flames.
“The first day I talked to Merlin when I came to Belfast was here at the museum. He was studying this painting but he never made any indication that Morgan was involved, or that she was even a real person for that matter. I don’t understand why he never told me she was the person behind the attacks and it pisses me off. He wants me to stop her, but why keep me in the dark about who she was?”
“It’s hard to say with a man like Merlin, I’m sure he has his reasons. Can you recall exactly what he said about the painting?”
“He commented about the artist not getting much right—something about her passion being accurate and the timing. Does that mean anything to you?” I turned from the painting to look at Lochlan as he took in the details of the piece.
He concentrated for long moments before giving a frustrated grunt. “No. I would say that his ‘timing’ reference is important but I’m not sure how.”
“You Fae talk in such code that you can’t even decipher yourselves. Would it be so terrible to speak plainly and explain what you mean?” I ground out in exasperation.
“Aren't you forgetting something?” he asked with a raised brow.
“I’m human where it counts, up here,” I shot back, pointing to my head. I turned back to look at the painting and we both stood silently for a moment. “Merlin is trying to stop his apprentice?”
“It’s more complicated than that. Morgan was the daughter of Merlin’s long-time lover, Viviene, who was the original Lady of the Lake. She was a water nymph and the two were madly in love. Merlin’s twin sister, Mab, grew insanely jealous of Merlin’s relationship with Viviene so Mab abducted her and tortured her for years. By the time Merlin figured out who had taken Viviene and attempted to rescue her, it was too late. At the time Morgan was still a child so Merlin raised her as his own and she became his apprentice.”
“And Merlin had to kill Mab to get to Viviene, right?”
“Yes.”
“So why does Morgan want to start a war? Is she just power hungry?”
“No, her grudge is personal. Morgan’s history with Guin goes back to when Arthur was the Erlking around 500 A.D. Merlin brought Morgan as a teen to the Seelie Court and while she was at the palace she became infatuated with Lancelot. When Guin’s relationship with Lancelot was discovered, Arthur was enraged and exiled Lancelot from the Hunt. In an attempt to placate Arthur, Guin also snubbed Lancelot and he was forced to leave Faery and wander Earth. Morgan was devastated that Lancelot left and blamed both Arthur and Guin.”
“I remember that Morgan La Fey was the one who basically got Arthur killed.”
“Over the years she grew in power and helped Arthur’s sworn enemy attack him. She repented when Arthur was slain on the battle field and she helped return him to Avalon to heal, but he was not able to recover. After his death she became a recluse and has not been seen since—everyone had assumed her grudge was over and that she was likely dead, but obviously that was incorrect.”
“Her anger toward Guin has been festering for centuries, and I’m supposed to stop her?” His heated gaze traveled over me and when I met his eyes, my skin prickled with awareness.
His hand lifted to guide a wayward strand of my hair back behind my ear. “As crazy as it may sound, Merlin knows what he’s doing. I believe that if anyone can do this, it’s you.”
I was rendered mute. Who was this man and where had he been hiding?
Before I regained use of my brain, he leaned in and placed a kiss on my forehead and whispered, “Gotta go.” Then he was gone.
Instead of following his lead and going back to my office, I stood dumbstruck.
“I thought he’d never leave,” said a man behind me.
“Jesus!” I gasped as I spun around.
“No, although I have been called a god before,” said Merlin with a wry grin on his face.
“That’s what I hear, that you are super powerful—and yet you’re relying on a human-Fae mutant to save the world? Doesn’t make much sense if you ask me.” My hands came up on my hips and my eyes squinted as I scrutinized the Fae man.
“For reasons that your Lochlan just explained, I owe her in ways that I cannot describe. Plus, it goes against the nature of a parent to harm their child. Even if I was able to overcome those obstacles, Morgan would have seen me coming and run—I’m more powerful than her but she knows enough to keep well away from me. Our best chance is you, and I have done what I could to equip you for that challenge.”
“You say that, but I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m a fish out of water just flopping around on the shore with no idea what’s going on.”
“Some things take time in order to unfold properly. Had I told you as a teen, before you had ever come here, that you were destined to fight a Faery sorceress, your life would not have unfolded as it did. Just because you explain complicated mathematics to a child does not mean they have the maturity or ability to use that knowledge. There is a natural timeline of events that must unfold, and even I cannot rush that continuum. As it so happens, you are ready for the next stage in your journey. Do you recall what I said about the painting?” His eyes turned back to the rendering of Morgan La Fey and my eyes followed.
“You said the painter got her passion correct and the timing, but we don’t know what that means. There’s a window with a sunset or sunrise in the background—is that what you were referencing?”
His chest swelled with pride and he tipped his head in a bow. “What you need to know is that between worlds, there is a little-known place called the Twilight Realm. That is how Morgan is opening the portals. As you have learned, there are two types of power, light and dark, and they cannot coexist in most circumstances. However, after many years of trial and error, I found a way to imbue your amulet with the essence of both a Light Fae and a Shadow Fae such that they are woven together and yet separate.”
“Which is why my powers are different from other Fae.”
“Yes. Morgan possesses light magic and is using a dark magic amulet along with black magic spells to combine the powers, but at a high cost. Together the powers enable her to enter the Twilight Realm, which she uses to circumvent Guin’s wards. In theory, your combined powers should enable you to open a portal to the Realm, but first you must learn to wield those powers. Once you are able to access the Twilight Realm, you will be ready to do what will need to be done.”
“You’re talking in riddles again—what is it that needs to be done?”
“As hard as it is to believe, I’m not all-knowing. You, my dear, are the first Twilight Fae and your powers are as much a mystery to me as they are to you. Learn your powers, then we will talk again.”
He started to turn away but I reached out and took hold of his arm.
“Wait! No one knows how to teach me since my powers aren
’t the same as theirs. How am I supposed to learn without a teacher?”
“Lochlan will help you with that.”
“One more thing!” I called out as he again started to turn away. “What did you give Ashley?” She would have questions once she was able to wrap her mind around what had happened, and I wanted to get as many answers for her as I could.
“In order to gather the essence of a light and a dark Fae, I had to learn how to extract and store Fae essence, or magical energy. Seeing as the experiment was not something I cared to broadcast, I practiced on myself.” His eyes were soft and the edges of his mouth tipped down just slightly. “What I gave her was a dose my magic, a pure source of my power—Ashley is now, in a way, my daughter.”
“So she’s not like me?”
“No, her magic is all light based. You are one of a kind.”
I wasn’t sure if Merlin giving Ashley some of his essence was more gross or amazing, but since she was alive, I wouldn’t balk. “Thank you, for saving her.” Regardless of the means, he had brought back my Ashley and I would be forever grateful.
He tipped his head toward me and gave a small smile before disappearing from sight.
I only worked a half day with the intent of spending my afternoon with Ashley. She had managed to convince her parents that there had been a horrible misunderstanding at the hospital. She made up an elaborate story about falling down some stairs and explained that while she was not in any danger, she would like some time to rest. They made plans for lunch the next day and gave Ashley the afternoon to herself. I had wanted to make sure after all that had gone on that she was adjusting well so I arranged to spend the afternoon with her.
“Your visit go ok with your parents?” I asked her when I got home.
“I understand why they were worried, but there’s no way I could stand hanging out with them all day, especially with my mom hovering over me.”
“You do what you need to do, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. A lot happened this week and I’m sure you’ll need time to adjust. I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you needed to talk to a counselor—not that you could tell them everything, but you could talk about the abduction and attacks.”
“Have you gone to a counselor?” she challenged.
“No, but we weren’t talking about me.”
“Well, we are now. It seems to me you’ve had just as much crap to deal with, if not more, than me.”
“I haven’t needed a counselor, so no, I haven’t talked to one.”
“I don’t need a counselor either—don’t handle me with kid gloves. Where is this even coming from?”
“I don’t know, I guess I just feel like it’s all my fault and I want to make sure I didn’t completely fuck up your life.”
“I’ve told you that I’m okay, you’re going to have to find a way to believe that.”
“Okay, you’re right. You said you’re in this for the long haul, does that mean you’ve moving here?”
“It would be hard to help you and learn about my magic from an ocean away. My life is here now, whether you like it or not.”
“Aside from having to worry about you, I’m thrilled to have you stay.”
“Good, so tell me where things are with Ronan.”
“They’ve got Ronan in the basement and have been interrogating him. Lochlan stopped by the museum this morning and said they haven’t used the sword on him so I’m supposed to come over this evening to be there when he talks.”
“You have training tonight, too?”
“We hadn’t really said if we were going to train as well. I can text and see what the plan is.”
“Okay, see what’s happening because I wouldn’t mind going on over there. They're Fae, I’m Fae, seems only logical to get to know them.”
I pulled out my phone and texted Lochlan. “He’s not great about texting. Let me get changed and if he still hasn’t responded we can go on over.”
“Sounds good. I’m ready whenever you are.”
As expected, Lochlan hadn’t texted by the time I had put on my workout gear so we loaded up in the car, which Ashley was in love with, and headed to the club.
Inside the main club we found Michael sitting at a table, much the same as I’d seen him before—with a cigarette in hand and papers splayed out before him. “You’re early.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” I shot back at him with more attitude than I’d intended. On the ride over I had mentally braced myself for the ordeal with Ronan and was more on edge than I’d realized.
Michael’s eyes narrowed at me and I imagined he was weighing the possible consequences of strangling me.
I rolled my eyes and turned back toward the elevator to go down to the gym but Ashley didn’t follow.
“I think I’ll just stay here while you look for him,” she said as she took a seat across from Michael, who scrutinized her with narrowed brows.
“Careful sitting with that one, his surliness might be contagious.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Her words were sultry and as soon as they left her lips Michael’s head slowly swiveled her direction.
“I’m not even going to touch that—Michael, where is Lochlan?”
His eyes cut back to me. “You check the gym?”
I bit back my snippy reply and walked to the elevator, taking it down to the gym and letting myself in now that I was given security access but I found the room empty. That figured, Lochlan was probably upstairs and asshole Michael sent me down here just to screw with me. I took the elevator back to club level and stormed back through the now empty room—I really hoped Ashley wasn’t making a horrible mistake with Michael, but I wasn’t her mother and I wasn’t going to chase after her. I peeked into the main office. Empty. Walking farther down the hall in search of Lochlan, I zeroed in on voices coming from the conference room.
As I neared the door, I realized that what I had heard was a woman moaning. How awkward. Was somebody getting freaky in the conference room? Oh hell, was Ashley in there with Michael? Despite knowing I should do the polite thing and walk away, my curiosity got the better of me and I peeked around the doorframe just enough to see who was inside.
My gut clenched viciously and a searing heat spread across my cheeks as I witnessed Lochlan engaged in a passionate kiss with a redheaded woman. His back was angled toward me and he had her perched on the edge of the table, legs spread with her skirt up around her hips.
Pain hollowed out my chest and a chill crawled along my skin. Never did I think seeing that would hurt so badly. He had no commitment to me and my logical mind knew that, but it didn’t seem to matter to my heart. When had I formed such a solid attachment to the Fae man?
I spun around to leave but before I took a single step I pulled myself up short. What was I doing? Letting my feelings get in the way of business, that’s what I was doing. If I had kept my head in the game like I was supposed to have done, this never would have been an issue so that’s exactly how I needed to act. Dealing with Ronan and stopping the Fae invasion were infinitely more important than my injured feelings. I couldn’t lose track of my priorities, there was too much at stake.
Turning back around, I stepped back into the doorway with my head held high. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’m ready to talk to Ronan whenever you’re…available.” There was an edge to my voice that undermined the cold indifference I had tried to project.
The moment I started to speak Lochlan’s back went ramrod straight and both he and the woman froze. The woman peeked over his shoulder with a giggle but he never turned my direction.
I didn’t wait for a response. As soon as the words were out of my mouth I headed back to the main club where I took a seat at one of the round bar tables. My jaw clenched so tight I was afraid I would crack a tooth as I tried to think of anything other than what I had seen. I wasn’t there but a couple of minutes before Lochlan strolled out sans his companion. His hair was slightly more ruffled than normal but he looked otherwise unaffected. I h
ad no desire to rehash what had happened so I quickly stood, making sure I wore a blank face. “Let’s get this over with.”
He gave a nod and made a quick call to Michael asking him to meet us in Ronan’s cell with the sword. The one minute ride in the elevator down to the basement had to have been the longest minute of my existence. We stood with our backs to the same wall, eyes forward, neither of us acknowledging the other. If I had thought first dates could be awkward, they had nothing on that elevator ride.
We passed the interrogation rooms and passed through a doorway that led to a hall I had not previously seen. Dark and dank, this section of the basement had clearly not been updated with the rest of the building. In fact, the crumbling walls and dirt floor made me wonder if this passage had been constructed long before the building came to be. When Lochlan had said to meet in Ronan’s cell, he was not joking. Straight out of a movie, there was an iron door with a small barred window that looked into a dungeon-like prison cell.
Lochlan lifted a chain from around his neck that held a rusted key and opened the metal door. The musty air was rank with body odor and excrement, making me almost gag as I walked inside. Ronan was chained to the back wall, arms and legs spread wide. His ripped clothing hung from him in tatters and every inch of skin seemed to be marred with bruising or mottled flesh. His head was lolled to the side, resting against his shoulder and he hadn’t budged since the door opened.
I knew Ronan deserved every bit of the pain he had received, and yet my heart hurt to see any living being in such a condition. My need for vengeance against him shriveled up like cut flower left out of water for too long.
Footsteps sounded behind us and Michael joined us in the cell, the Sword of Light gleaming in his hands. His eyes met mine when I turned back to see who had entered, and I knew all my doubt and unease were written across my face.
Michael’s eyes cut over to Lochlan. “You sure she should be here?”
I tried to fortify myself, lips pressed firmly together and my shoulders back so when Lochlan looked over at me he would not renege on my invitation to participate. Just because what I was witnessing horrified me didn’t mean I wanted to leave. I wanted to hear what Ronan said, and I wanted to see the sword in action.
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