None of that mattered now.
She couldn’t let them down, not after everything they’d done for her over the years. Doing everything possible to win the Gauntlet and stop Morgana from driving Avalon into the ground was all that counted. No matter how worried or angry Briana’s brothers would be at her for staying, they’d understand her choice.
Winning Excalibur was also the only shot she had of freeing herself from a bond that had the potential to destroy her. Forged by the Lady of the Lake, the sword possessed unimaginable magic, powerful enough even the gods knew it could sway the outcome of the next Campaign.
And in the right hands, the sword’s magic might just be capable of making her forget that Lucan was her mate or force the cat to reject him. It wasn’t too late to move on with her life if her feline half turned away from Lucan, saving her from the self-destructive path of the Forgotten.
His hands fell back to his sides. “Briana?”
“You’re right. You’re not the man I remember. The man I foolishly convinced myself you were. We should be competitors. It’ll be better that way.”
“Don’t do this. I can’t… Your family can’t lose you.”
Where her heart might have quickened at what Lucan might have almost said, she felt only a steely determination. “And they can’t help me either.” She turned away from him.
“You don’t know what you risk by staying.”
“And you don’t know what I risk by leaving.” Clinging to the belief that she’d made the right decision—the only decision—she walked away from him.
Only when she was inside and alone in the kitchen, the others’ voices coming from another room, did she grip the edge of the counter until her claws scratched the granite.
“You’d think he’d have more reason than anyone to compete.”
Still riled up, the cat growled at Vaughn’s presence, urging her to take action. She just didn’t know which instinct was driving her the hardest—the yearning to mark Lucan as hers, or the determination to protect herself from the one person capable of hurting her the most.
She was crazy to stay, she knew that. Even though Lucan had praised her sword and tracking skills—something that meant entirely too much to her under the circumstances—she knew she didn’t have the same deadly training as he or Nessa possessed, or the magic that Elena and the Fae could wield.
But leaving would mean accepting that she’d been denied her mate. She’d meant what she said to Lucan. Her family wouldn’t be able to help her. She’d eventually become hostile and aggressive until the cat took over entirely. Not even her brothers could prevent her from becoming one of the Forgotten.
“What’s the story with you two anyway?” Vaughn slid onto a stool, and she noticed he’d exchanged the towel Elena had provided for a black T-shirt and jeans.
“It’s…” She hitched a shoulder, knowing she was better off saying nothing. While she didn’t have Lucan’s innate mistrust of everyone, she also knew anyone who stayed would be playing to win.
“Complicated as fuck?”
Despite herself, she grinned and turned toward him. His arms were open before she made the conscious decision to move into them. Strong and warm, the embrace felt safe, predictable. Like family.
She pulled back and gave him a once over. “So what kind of trouble were you in before this?” She motioned to their surroundings.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” He grinned, but something dark flashed in his eyes. He gave her a hard squeeze, and crossed to the fridge to poked around inside.
“Anyone going to miss you if you stay and compete?”
He shot her a knowing look. “If you’re asking if I’ve hitched my rope to the mating post, then no.”
She smiled softly, the first genuine smile in what felt like forever. “Maybe I was asking about your sister.” Briana had missed both of them more than she realized. Their families had been nearly inseparable once upon a time.
Vaughn shuddered. “I pity the wolf that sets out to claim her. No one can flip a bitch switch faster than she can.”
“I’m going to tell her you said that,” she teased, knowing Vaughn would do anything to protect his sister, the same way Briana’s brothers would her.
“Sun is going down.”
She went along with the abrupt change in subject, following his gaze out the window where she caught a glimpse of Lucan across the courtyard.
Turning away, she wandered across the room, hearing the unmistakable sounds of someone fighting.
“Nessa and the witch.”
Briana cocked a brow at the term Elena would have taken issue with.
He shrugged unapologetically. “They’re sparring in the gym. It’s next to the weapons room,” he tacked on.
“And the others?”
“Haven’t seen the slave dealer for a while,” he said, referring to the Korrigan. “The Fae is meditating that way, and the enchantress and Kel are tolerating each other’s company in the dining room.” He motioned in the opposite direction. “She piled twice as much food on her plate as the dragon, and he could probably eat a small village.”
Movement from the corner of her eye snagged her attention, and she watched through the glass as Lucan approached the door on the opposite side of the room.
“Does he worry you?” Vaughn put a plate of cold chicken on the counter.
“He should worry everyone here.” Herself included.
Vaughn came to stand beside her. “I was talking about Kellagh the Black, but I can’t say your wraith friend doesn’t freak me the fuck out.”
“We’re not friends.” They weren’t anything anymore. It shouldn’t bother her to admit that, considering she and Lucan had barely seen each other in centuries until recently, but it did. Beneath her ribs she could feel the gnawing throb of the loss. “Lucan knows my brothers.”
Biting into a sandwich he’d pulled from the fridge, Vaughn cocked his head. “I’ve never crossed paths with a wraith until now.”
“Lucky for you that Morgana and Rhiannon aren’t BFFs, otherwise you might have been marked for assassination long ago.”
He grinned like it was a compliment he’d managed not to get himself killed serving the rebellion.
The door opened behind her and she kept her gaze trained on Vaughn. Her friend dove back into his sandwich without betraying how much the wraith intimidated him. He glanced over her shoulder to where Lucan stood.
The weight of the former knight’s stare bore into her. Though she didn’t acknowledge his presence, he lingered, his presence a bittersweet stroke across her fledgling resolve to forge a new fate for herself.
“The twisted bastards got the raw end of the deal with Rhiannon,” Vaughn murmured a few moments after Lucan had gone.
Briana didn’t comment. Focusing on the competition was the only hope she had of tempering the beast inside her. She forced herself to eat something with Vaughn, then followed him to the training room to watch Nessa and Elena for a while. He stretched out on the bench, looking much too at ease given the situation as he resisted both their attempts to get him to spar.
Watching the huntress dominate hand-to-hand combat left Briana a little nervous. She knew she could hold her own for a while, her brothers had guaranteed it, but she spent far more time working on her security systems these days than she did channeling her inner huntress.
“She’s trying to screw with our heads, you know.” Vaughn didn’t bother opening his eyes. “She wants us to be scared of her.”
“There will be much scarier things than Nessa to face.” Briana’s gaze landed on Kel, who stood just outside the training room. Things worse than even a dragon with a reputation for being a willing mercenary, unlike Lucan.
A gong sounded outside, and everyone stopped.
“Time’s up I guess.” Vaughn was the first on his feet and walking out of the room.
She was the last to leave the training room, mentally preparing herself for a competition two gods had decided to include her i
n, maybe solely for her connection to Lucan. If she hadn’t been in the parking lot that day, she might have escaped their notice.
Somehow she knew that would have been worse than being given the chance to change the path that fate and her mate bond had set her on.
By the time Briana joined the others, Kel and the enchantress were slipping outside to gather with everyone else. She kept her gaze from seeking out Lucan for as long as she could He stood watching Maeve and Aren, who lounged atop a snowy-white gazebo straight out of a bridal magazine photo op.
Below them, a black gong at least ten feet wide continued to vibrate in the center of the gazebo. The handle lay next to it where the Korrigan had tossed it aside.
“You’ve declined our invitation to participate?” Maeve pouted.
The Korrigan nodded.
“If that is your decision.” Aren lifted a hand and the vine covered wall that enclosed the courtyard parted, revealing a dense jungle on the other side.
The Korrigan walked toward it without looking back. As he disappeared into the surrounding foliage, Maeve sat up straighter. “Does anyone else wish to decline?”
Briana watched Lucan from the corner of her eye, but he made no move to approach the gazebo. The enchantress took a step forward, looking unsure.
A scream rang out and seconds later chunks of the earth rained down on the courtyard. No, Briana quickly amended. Chunks of Korrigan, including his head, which landed directly at the enchantress’s feet.
Hand over her mouth, the enchantress spun away from the gruesome sight. The Fae who sat on the ground, his back against a low stone wall, tipped his head up toward the gods. “I thought we could refuse?”
Aren nodded. “We did indeed say that. But we never said you would be allowed to live if you declined.”
Maeve giggled. “The competition begins at midnight.” The pair vanished along with the gazebo.
“Well, that settles it.” Vaughn glanced at Elena. “I guess you’re gonna get to spend more time with me, beautiful.”
Chapter Seven
Lucan stared at the door leading to Briana’s room but made no move to knock.
He knew he should apologize. He just wasn’t entirely sure what for. For sounding like a bastard when he warned her that she couldn’t trust anyone in this competition, not even him? Or for lying to her? Again.
He pushed away from the wall, taking two steps toward the door that loomed in front of him. The need to set things right between them ate at him. He just didn’t know what right was anymore.
Every time Briana got too close, she blurred the lines that kept him from making a mistake. Being with her—being anywhere near her—was a mistake that had hurt them both before, and here he stood with only a door separating them.
Bracing his hands on the frame, Lucan closed his eyes. Downstairs he could watch the others, shadow them while they remained oblivious to his presence, noting their strategies and skills. Instead he had to talk himself out of speaking to Briana for just a few minutes, as if that would ever be enough time to make up for the pain he’d already caused.
He reached a hand out to knock. The sight of his hand, pale and tinged an icy blue, stopped him. Although he didn’t feel the wraith’s presence, threatening his control, he spun away from the door.
Maybe it was better if he said nothing. If he smoothed things over—if that was even possible—he risked making her think she could rely on him throughout the competition.
A potentially costly mistake for both of them.
But how could he protect her if she continued to avoid him as she had since their last conversation?
Another glance at the door had him imagining her sitting at a desk, her dark brows scrunched in concentration, her fingers gliding across the keys of her laptop. More than a few times he’d caught a glimpse of her that way in her brother’s office at Pendragon’s or at her family’s home. Lost in concentration, she always remained unaware of his presence for long minutes, giving him time to watch every nuance of thought cross her face while she worked.
Frustration turned her cheeks a flattering pink while eagerness made her bite her bottom lip. Her eyes always narrowed slightly when something seemed to puzzle her, and her feet bounced nonstop when she was close to finishing something.
Each time their paths had crossed in recent months had been an opportunity to discover something new about her, until he’d found himself lingering a little longer, drawing out each moment until they almost pained him.
Despite their past, she’d always been quick to greet him with a smile, never realizing how such an innocent gesture—or worse, the feel of her skin brushing his—could so easily rattle him.
A fuzzy tingling started in his chest and he glanced down, frowning. What the hell?
A surge of power snapped through his body, an electrical current arcing through him. Spikes of green—the same as when they’d been snatched off the street outside Pendragon’s—filled his vision. The world swayed at the edges, and then he found himself standing in the mansion’s courtyard.
The sun had gone down hours ago, replaced by the glow of the moon that cast shadows across the group of immortals summoned once more without warning. The wolf looked ready to unleash his animal half, but Kel managed to simply look bored. If not for the tensing in the dragon’s sword hand, a subtle gesture Lucan recognized from their years spent training together, Lucan might have assumed he was far more in control than the other gargoyle.
Briana on the other hand… Was she excited? Eyes bright, she rocked on the balls of her feet with barely-contained energy. In place of the subtle aggression that Vaughn and Kel exuded, a hint of excitement hummed on the air around her.
Something was wrong. She couldn’t be looking forward to this, could she?
Careful to keep his scrutiny under the radar, he watched her from the corner of his eye, equally aware that the Fae was doing the same thing to Lucan.
Bran had made himself scarce most of the day, appearing long enough to witness the Korrigan’s dismemberment. Twice after that Lucan had been certain the old one was near, but hadn’t shown himself. The immortal made no effort to hide his own scrutiny.
Lucan returned the Fae’s critical gaze, making it perfectly clear the old one didn’t intimidate him in the least. Bran’s eyes narrowed, and he glanced away.
Message received then.
Lucan shifted his attention back to Briana, unexpectedly comforted by the sight of her in darkness. The night glow brightening her face was familiar, steady—and something he knew better than to rely on to keep him grounded should he lose himself to the monster Rhiannon created, the one stirring restlessly beneath the surface.
He blamed that on the fact that she moved closer to Nessa and Elena, clearly ignoring his advice. Maybe she was reluctant to doubt Nessa, but she couldn’t be foolish enough to trust the sorceress who had cursed and imprisoned Briana’s own brother for over a century.
Elena was no more of an ally than the Fae. She knew the power of Constantine’s daggers and no doubt had a taste for the strong magic she’d inadvertently used to trap Cian.
Lucan could only imagine the lure of Excalibur for an immortal entrenched in magic from birth. Wars between houses of sorcerers were legendary, their constant battles for more power almost as well-known as Morgana’s lust for Camelot.
A bolt of lightning struck the group and sparks chased away the shadows cast by the trees.
“Almost rivals a Vegas show opening,” Elena quipped under her breath.
If Maeve heard or understood her meaning, the goddess gave no indication. “I want to formally thank you all for participating in our games.”
Silence greeted her remark, and she cast her gaze around, eyes tightening at the corners. Apparently she’d been expecting a more enthusiastic response.
“The first competition begins shortly.” She gestured to her brother.
Aren stepped forward. “You are looking for three gems, the Eyes of the Afanc.” He held up a ston
e three times larger than a marble. The stone gleamed in iridescent shades of blue, then red, and finally black. “When a stone is in close proximity to another, the gem will glow, making it easier to locate the next one.”
Making it easier to track and take them from each other, Lucan silently added. He knew little of the Afanc beyond that Arthur had slain the creature, chaining and dragging the beast from the lake where it had ruthlessly preyed on those foolish enough to wade away from the shoreline.
Maeve picked up where her brother left off. “The competition concludes when all three gems have been located. You will then be returned to the courtyard.” She took the stone from her brother. “There will of course be consequences for anyone who attempts to leave the competition site or contact anyone not directly involved in the game.” She paused. “I should also mention that sections of the site have been manipulated for…entertainment value.”
Manipulated being code for sabotage. Either way, every one of them was at the mercy of gods who’d already proven they viewed their competitors like Mr. Potato Head toys.
Aren grinned. “And be wary of the location’s other treasures. Many have been enchanted and quiet capable of distracting those who lose sight of their objective. Off with you then.” He turned his back on them at the same time Lucan felt himself thrown backward.
He slammed into the ground, his palms sliding across dirt as dark as the surrounding charcoal walls. Accustomed to shadows, he made out the low ceiling and stone walls of an underground corridor. Dampness mingled with the faint smell of saltwater, and in the distance he could hear the muffled thump of water crashing against rocks.
Where was Briana?
Alone in the corridor, he stood. The glow of firelight flickered from the left. Wary of the more welcoming path, he studied the darkness to the right, tempted to go in that direction. His curiosity won in the end, and he went left, hoping the added light would give him a better look at his surroundings.
The tunnel ahead opened up to a wide cavern. The walls had crumbled in places, leaving caved-in debris to block some of the numerous tunnels that led away from the cavern.
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