He gasped in relief and crushed her to him. “Thank Jesu! I thought you were dead!”
“Yeah, I thought that too, about six dozen times.” She made a little sobbing sound. “Gaia is dead.”
His eyes widened. Oh, hell, is Cheryl mortal again? And a savage heartbeat later -- I don’t give a damn if she is. I’m never walking away from her again. Arthur can go fuck himself. He lowered his head and kissed her hard. Desperately.
She kissed him back.
“What the hell is going on here?”
The familiar bark made Ulf leap to his feet in sheer reflex, dragging Cheryl up and shoving her behind him. Surrounded by the other Knights of the Round Table -- including Kel, along with Guinevere, Eva, Morgana, and Smoke -- Arthur glared at them. They all wore expressions of anger, bemusement, or some combination of the two.
Arthur was simply pissed. His deep black eyes snapped in rage, teeth visibly grinding. “Kel went to check on you. Imagine his surprise when he found you gone. You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing on Earth? In a hospital? With someone who might be killing people!”
Chapter Eight
Ulf wasn’t in the mood for this shit. “I was watching my woman almost die trying to do your job -- save humanity. Which, thank you very much, she succeeded in doing.”
Smoke, sitting on Eva’s shoulder in house cat form, sniffed delicately. “Does smell like somebody threw a hell of a lot of power around. Among other things.” He glanced at the massive hole the scout had punched in the back wall. “What did that?”
“Also,” Morgana said, her gaze distant, “it seems every human in this building is unconscious.”
“Gaia wanted to keep them out of the line of fire,” Cheryl said. “It was safer to put them out.”
Arthur turned the glare on her. “Hope none of them was in surgery at the time.”
“No, they hadn’t started the next procedures yet, and the others were in recovery. Gaia checked. I’ll wake them all in a minute.”
“Why did you knock them out to begin with?” Suspicion narrowed Arthur’s black eyes.
Ulf really didn’t like his liege’s body language. His right hand longed for the sword he’d left back in the Mageverse. Instead he stepped forward, planted his palm in the middle of Arthur’s chest, and pushed him back a step. Hard.
And had the pleasure of seeing black eyes widen in astonishment. Ulf wasn’t on the list of people who got up in Arthur’s face -- about anything.
“You forget yourself,” Arthur snapped.
“No, you do. Cheryl damn near died saving us all. You’re not going to bully her.”
“Then maybe you should tell me what the fuck just happened.”
God, he wanted to knock Arthur’s teeth down his throat. “For one thing, she destroyed an entire genocidal race of aliens who were planning to kill and eat humanity.”
“As they did to Gaia’s people fifteen centuries ago,” Cheryl added, sounding much calmer than he was. “The Hive were psychic predators who have wiped out thousands of intelligent species across countless universes, including Gaia’s people. That’s why the Fae…”
Arthur stared, brows lifted. “Merlin’s people?”
“Exactly. The Fae considered the Hive one of the multiverse’s worst threats to intelligent life. That’s why they sent Merlin to help Gaia’s Errul create a spell to exterminate the bastards. Unfortunately, the plan hinged on killing the Hivemother, and she never got close enough. But Merlin Saw they’d get another shot in 2020, when the Hive would come to Earth. He saved Gaia, who was dying after the battle, and put her in that ring. Which he then gave to Ulf so she could try again when the Hive came for us.”
Arthur’s nostrils flared, parsing their scents for any indication they were lying. He frowned at Ulf. “You believe all that?”
That punch was getting more tempting all the time. “Yes, because it’s the truth.”
“Maybe it’s the truth. Then again, you wouldn’t be the first Magekind agent to fall under a spell.” He flicked Cheryl a glance. “We really don’t know what she’s capable of.”
“Gaia’s dead,” Cheryl snapped. A muscle worked in her jaw. “She died killing the Hive.”
Morgana lifted a dark brow. “Did she, now?” Her skeptical drawl suggested she didn’t believe a word of it.
Ulf spread his arms. “Probe my memories. Hell, project them. See what you think.” He’d endured Morgana’s memory spells before. He’d always hated the process. No one with sense wanted Morgana le Fay rummaging in his head like a cat burglar in Tiffany’s. But it would be worth it to get Arthur off Cheryl’s ass.
Morgana eyed him a long moment, then gave a short nod. He braced as she shaped a glyph in the air.
The spell stabbed into his forehead like the blade of a dagger. He felt the cool touch of Morgana’s mind reaching into his consciousness. A heartbeat later, it was happening all over again.
* * *
Cheryl started as a three-dimensional projection bloomed in midair, as sharp and vivid as if it was happening now. They all fell silent, watching. She blinked, a little shocked at how incredibly violent the fight had been, at the horrific forms the scout had taken.
“Glad I didn’t have to take the fucker on,” Gawain said, watching the lizard slam her against the wall. “That does not look like fun.”
They started exchanging critiques of the fight. She flushed a little at their murmured approval at the way she’d fought -- the leaps, the power of her blows, the inhuman strength, speed, and agility. And they had a point. A growing sense of unreality rolled over her as she watched. Is that really me?
Of course, she’d known what Gaia had done to turn her into the Vengeance. Yet to see herself fighting felt… odd, as if she were watching a movie.
Just as she was starting to feel a little impressed with herself, Arthur stared at Ulf. “And you just stood there watching that?”
Cheryl was so done with Arthur Pendragon. “It was a damned good thing he did. There was a death spell on that lance he’s carrying, designed to wipe out the Hive. But it would have failed if we hadn’t been able to lure the Hivemother into the scout’s body. They shared a gestalt consciousness, so if we could nail her with the spell, it would kill all of them. That’s why Gaia failed originally -- the Hivemother refused to get anywhere near that spell. If Ulf had struck before the queen showed up to feed, we’d have ended up suffering the same fate. She’d never have let us get that close again.”
Ulf nodded tightly. “Cheryl had to lure the alien in by appearing vulnerable. I had to wait for her signal.” He grimaced. “And let me tell you, it was the hardest thing I have ever done.”
“So, you were bait?” Smoke asked Cheryl.
“Didn’t I just say that?”
“Christ, woman.” Arthur fisted his gauntleted hands on his hips. “Why the hell didn’t you just tell us any of this?”
“Because Gaia Saw you wouldn’t believe us, you stubborn bastard,” Cheryl snapped. “Hell, you didn’t trust us even after we took out the Fomorian Queen for you. You would have shown up with all your knights, and the Hive would have killed the lot of you. Then we’d all be finished. It was our fight -- mine, Gaia’s, and Ulf’s. We were the only ones who could have won it.”
In the memory projection, Ulf drove the pike into the writhing mass that was the Hivemother’s true form. Cheryl winced as he jerked under the parasite’s repeated blasts. Even as he shouted in pain, he held the pike lodged deep so the death spell could do its work.
When the Hive was finally ash, she looked around to find all the Magekind staring at her and Ulf.
“If Gaia’s dead,” Arthur asked, “are you mortal again?”
“No, Goddamnit, I’m not.” She took a step toward him, feeling heat roll to her hairline. “You know what, Arthur? You’re a bigot.”
Arthur stiffened in offended astonishment, like a lion who’d been bitten on the nose by a mouse. “I beg your pardon?”
“You damn well should. Y
ou look down on the humans you’re supposed to be helping. You may protect us, but you don’t think we’re as good as you are.”
“That’s ridiculous. We recruit mortals.”
“You recruit Latents. Your own descendants. People with the blood of the Knights and ladies of the Round Table. Ordinary humans are like house cats to you. You care about us, but you don’t really expect very much from us, and you sure don’t consider us your equals. But Gaia picked me. There’s absolutely no Round Table anywhere in my family tree, but I was good enough for her.”
He rocked back on his heels and folded his arms. “She also made you some sort of magical cyborg, speeded up your reflexes, increased your strength by ten or fifteen times, and implanted a hell of a lot of combat skills.” He jerked a thumb at the spot where the memory had displayed. “Because no plain vanilla mortal could have done that.”
Cheryl moved in until she was as close to nose-to-nose as she could get with him. “Which would have done me no good at all if I hadn’t had the guts to use what she gave me. That was me, not Gaia. Which is my way of saying, Arthur…” She took one more step until her sneaker toes bumped his boots. “Ulf is mine until Ulf says otherwise. If he decides he doesn’t want me anymore, he has that right. But you don’t get to order him to leave me again. Because if you do, I swear to God, I’ll find your ass the minute you show up on Mortal Earth. And we’ll see who can do what to whom.”
“Don’t threaten me,” he snarled, one hand closing around Excalibur’s hilt.
A big body pushed between them, shoving Arthur back so hard he almost fell on his ass. “My love life is none of your fucking business, Arthur!” Ulf snarled. “If you make me choose between you and Cheryl again, I’m going to choose my wife. I won’t fail her this time. I will walk away from the Round Table if you push it.”
Cheryl’s mouth fell open as she stared at Ulf’s broad back. But we’re not married. He’d never asked. She didn’t say it, moving quickly so she’d have a clear field of attack, ready to back him up in case Arthur drew Excalibur.
Black eyes burning, Arthur opened his mouth. Only to shut it again and look across the room. Following his gaze, Cheryl saw Guinevere standing with her arms folded and a cold expression on her face. She had to suppress a grin as realization hit. Someone’s getting chewed out in the Truebond.
Arthur’s expression grew outraged. Gwen glared harder. Arthur opened his mouth. Gwen’s jaw set. A very long two minutes ticked by. Nobody moved.
“There can be no doubt,” Arthur finally said through his teeth, “that the two of you saved lives today. After the day you’ve had, I’m not going to hold rash words against you.”
“They weren’t rash,” Ulf said, his gaze steady on the man who had been his king. “I meant every one of them.”
Arthur stared at him for a tense moment. Finally, he nodded. “So you did.”
“Don’t you think you’d better wake everyone up?” Morgana asked Cheryl in the tone of someone desperately trying to change the subject. She gestured toward the dome-shaped camera housing in one corner of the hall. “But first, you should probably do something about the security cameras, if you don’t want today’s little fight to make YouTube by morning.”
Cheryl winced. “God, no. I work at this hospital.” She frowned. “Except… I’m not entirely sure how to fix security video. I’ve never had to deal with any of that.”
“I’ll show you what to do,” Kel told her. “It’s a hell of a lot easier than killing an entire species of genocidal alien parasites.”
Cheryl snorted. “I’d damn well hope so.”
* * *
Cheryl walked through the gate into her bedroom with Ulf following so deliciously close behind her, his breath warmed her nape. She turned to him as the portal vanished, her heart pounding.
“Well,” Ulf said, an admiring smile warming his eyes. “I’ve never seen anyone, not even Guinevere, give Arthur such a well-deserved set down.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe it either.” She managed a smile, though she felt off-balance. Her skull felt light, oddly hollow, as if it might float if it wasn’t attached to her neck. “It’s strange not having Gaia there anymore. She had a way of filling up my head while she turned me into… Super Broad.”
“Oh, bullshit.” When her brows flew up, he added, “Didn’t you just tell Arthur it wouldn’t have mattered how much power she’d given you if you didn’t have the guts to use it in the first place?”
She gave him a sheepish grin. “Yeah, I said that, but…”
“And you were right.” He caught her by the shoulders, pulling her into a hug. “The woman who handed Hivemother her ass is the same one who beat up that idiot wanna-be rapist four decades ago. Why do you think I fell in love with you?”
She smirked at him. “Because I’m pretty?”
He laughed. “Lots of women are pretty, but I don’t fall in love with them.” His gaze grew serious. “I certainly don’t tell Arthur to go fuck himself over them.”
“Good, because I doubt he’d take that well. He’s a little…”
He bent down and covered her mouth with his, cutting her off. It wasn’t one of those rapacious kisses he’d been giving her lately. It was tender and sweet. Yet there was none of that I’m-afraid-she’ll-break care he’d taken during the years they were together.
There was raw honesty in this kiss, a plea for forgiveness. It made her eyes sting.
When he finally raised his head again, Cheryl gazed up at him as desire rose in her, a slow sweet tide. A need for him she’d never lost even in all these years. “Take a shower with me,” she said, a little hoarse with need. Feeling vulnerable, she tried out a grin. “Granted, it’s not that magical Lake Michigan tub of yours, but I’ve got a gas water heater.” She gave her eyebrows a suggestive waggle.
His lips widening in a smile. To her delight, she saw more than a hint of fang. Ulf was getting turned on.
And he wasn’t the only one.
They undressed each other in the bathroom, taking their time. Slow and sensual, touching every inch they revealed.
Ulf murmured over her bruises and kissed them one by one. The armor had protected her from the worst of it, but when something with four arms beats the hell out of you, the results aren’t pretty. “Do you want me to call a healer?”
She shook her head. “Her magic wouldn’t work on me. Anyway, the bruises will be gone by tomorrow. Another one of Gaia’s gifts.”
“I guess I’ll just have to kiss them and make them well,” Ulf purred with an exaggerated leer.
Cheryl laughed, leaning in to turn on the shower. When she lifted her head and looked around, she caught him staring at her ass. She gave it a saucy little wiggle.
“Wench!” Ulf laughed in the carefree boom she’d missed all these years.
Finally, they stepped under the spray together. The shower stall was so narrow, they had to huddle together, inches apart.
“Damn,” Cheryl murmured, smiling up at him. “Forgot how tight the quarters are in here.”
He gave her a lascivious smile. “I’ve always considered that part of the appeal.”
“Pervert.” She picked up a cake of soap and worked up a lather, eying his muscular chest with delicious anticipation. Licking suddenly dry lips, she handed him the soap and started running her palms over the hard plates of his pectoral muscles, pausing to tease hard male nipples. She was profoundly aware of the long shaft of his cock, its fat crown resting against her belly.
He reached out a long arm and grabbed the bottle of shampoo. “It’s not the same brand you used to use.” He poured a generous portion into his palms.
Cheryl snorted. “That was years ago.”
“I know, but whenever I smell lilacs, I always think of you and smile.” A corner of his mouth turned up. “Sometimes a little sadly, but I always smile.”
“For me it was Olympic fencing.”
He looked up at her, his brows, lifting. “Fencing?”
“Yeah, you kn
ow how you started teaching Adam to fence when the sword was taller than he was?”
He smiled, but again, she saw the pain in it. The regret. “Yes. The boy was so quick. Strong, even for a kid that age. I always hoped he’d become Magekind.”
“I got him enrolled in fencing classes at the Y when you… Well, afterward. He got really good. Every match that kid went to, every time he stepped on the fencing strip, I thought of you. He was North Carolina state foil champion the year he was a senior in college.”
“I know. I was there.” When her eyebrows rose, he nodded. “I had to take a Maja with me to cast an invisibility spell so I could attend. I was so fucking proud when he won that trophy, it was all I could do not to go down there and hug him.”
“I wish you had.”
He snorted. “He’d have punched me in the mouth. He did punch me in the mouth when Opal gave him the knowledge of what I am. How I’d lied to you.”
“He did?” She blinked. “He always worshipped you.”
“It wasn’t for himself. He hit me for what I’d done to you.” His mouth flattened. “And I have never so thoroughly deserved a punch in the teeth.”
Cheryl reached up and grabbed him by the back of his neck. She’d been doing that a lot lately. She probably needed to stop, but he was so damn much taller than she was, it seemed the only way to get his attention. “Yeah, we’re not going to go there anymore. It’s time to put it away. What matters is what we do going forward. The mistakes we’re not going to make again.”
He stilled, looking down at her. To her pleasure, the regret drained from his eyes, leaving heat behind. She realized it wasn’t just desire when he said, his voice rough, “I thought I’d lost you today.” He gripped her shoulders, then quickly eased their hold.
She reached up to grab hold of them, holding them in place. “Don’t you dare. I proved I don’t break. I proved you won’t either.” Her lips twitched. “And I will never forget the look on Arthur’s face when you told him off if I live two thousand years myself.”
Master of Honor (Merlin's Legacy 5) Page 12