Merlin's Children (The Children and the Blood)

by Megan Joel Peterson

  The driver pushed open the door and stumbled out, gaping around in shock. Ashe remembered how to breathe.

  “Ashley!” Lily cried.

  She spun, looking from the girl to Cole. White-knuckled, he grasped the wheel, pain clear in every tense line of his face. Drawing air between gritted teeth, he whipped the sedan around another car.

  “Any more?” he growled.

  Turning, she checked the distant on-ramp. Her brow drew down. Midday travelers and semis occupied the interstate for miles.

  But of the other three security vehicles, there was nothing.

  “No,” she answered warily.

  He swallowed hard and swiped a hand at the sweat dripping into his eyes. “Good,” he replied, the word sounding as though he’d just as soon it be a curse.

  Scanning the road, she ignored him. On a lazy curve, the elevated highway swept toward the heart of Banston, most of which was veiled by a haze of smog. Beyond the guardrails edging the interstate, concrete drainage slopes led to deep ditches and a line of ragged trees trying unsuccessfully to shield the older sections of town from view.

  White metal flashed at the corner of her eye, and her gaze snapped back to the highway. Half a mile ahead, three security vehicles sped down the off-ramp and charged into the oncoming traffic.

  Her eyes darted from the trucks to Cole.

  And then their magic was coming.

  Electricity lashed across a semi ahead. The tires exploded, sending the truck careening, and then the semi jack-knifed hard. The front whipped back toward the trailer, catching on the blown tires. With lethal speed, the truck slammed down and ground across the width of the highway in a fountain of sparks and screaming metal.

  Cole hit the brakes.

  Two security vehicles raced around the ends of the skidding semi.

  Swearing, Cole looked from the white vehicles to the semi-truck.

  “Go!” Ashe shouted.

  He crushed the accelerator to the floor.

  The sedan surged toward the semi. Pulling in sharply, the security trucks veered toward the center of the road.

  Ashe stretched her hands out to either side.

  The car shot between the white pickup trucks.

  “Now!” Cole yelled.

  Her magic obliterated the windows and the vehicles beyond.

  Spinning in her seat, she watched as the trucks tumbled across the interstate, the vehicles flying apart as they rolled. Twisting the wheel sharply, Cole raced the sedan through the narrow gap between the semi and the metal pylons dividing the interstate.

  Lily screamed.

  Cole slammed on the brakes.

  She turned.

  There was a car.

  Propelled by magic, a blue sports car flew through the air like a child’s toy, heading straight toward them, and she had no time. Metal howled as the car slammed into them, the destruction racing her magic to reach the occupants of the sedan.

  Her shields enveloped them.

  Glass exploded as the hood crumpled and the whole world went sideways. The magic behind the impact threw the green sedan backwards, and the steel pylons dividing the highway vanished as the car plowed over them and began to roll. Concrete flashed past the windows, grating and screaming and kicking up shattered glass to fly through the chaos in the car.

  And then they were airborne.

  Gravity vanished and Lily screamed. Ashe’s stomach climbed into her throat, trying to escape, and breathing was an impossibility. Frantic, she poured everything she had into the shields as the world tumbled down and down and down.

  Into the ground.

  Chapter Ten

  Glass tinkled like rain and smoke burned her nose.

  Ashe opened her eyes. She was on the roof. Metal and fabric were pressing her cheek, while her shields still flickered weakly around her.

  And the car was on fire.

  The realization hit her as hard as the ground and she gasped, shoving away from the roof. Pain radiated through her, emanating from every muscle and bone in chorus, and she choked on it as she shifted around to see the front of the car. Pebbles of faintly green glass tumbled from her bloodstained clothes, and in her pocket, the crushed remnants of her cell phone grated as she moved. Beyond the headrest, she could see Cole dangling, his body suspended by the seatbelt still connected to the side of the car, and as she looked over, he groaned.

  Lily lay on the roof by his side.

  Breath catching, Ashe reached for her.

  The girl moaned and opened her eyes. At the sight of her sister, she gasped. “You–”

  “Are you okay?” Ashe interrupted, not caring what her injuries looked like.

  Lily stared a moment more and then nodded.

  Breathing again, Ashe echoed the motion. “We need to go,” she said with meticulous calm.

  Lily’s nose twitched and then she looked sharply to the front of the car.

  “Can you get him down?” Ashe asked in the same tone.

  Wide-eyed, Lily nodded and then scrambled across the glass and debris to nudge Cole hard. “Wake up!”

  Groaning again, the young man opened his eyes and then tensed, visibly thrown by finding himself upside down.

  “Hurry,” Ashe warned him.

  He twisted in the restraints to look at her, and then nodded at whatever he saw in her eyes. Reaching down, he braced himself on the roof as Lily unfastened the safety belt. Controlling his fall, he tumbled sideways to the ground.

  “Ready?” she asked as he pushed away from the ceiling.

  Lily crawled over next to her, watching Cole.

  He nodded again and started for the empty driver’s side window.

  Ashe grabbed his arm. “What if the wizards are waiting?”

  He grimaced, stopping.

  “Wait till I signal and then head for the trees,” she told him.

  She slid through the empty window and then rose swiftly, her gaze on the highway above the drainage slope. Smoke poured into the air, obscuring the view, though she could see the dim forms of people crowding around the broken barrier to scan the wreck below.

  “Go,” she hissed.

  Glass and gravel crunched as Cole emerged. Quickly, he grabbed Lily’s hand, pulling her along as he took off for the trees. Her eyes on the interstate, Ashe backed away from the sedan and then turned, running after them.

  Trees and bushes scraped her bloodied skin. As she pushed through to the other side of the hedgerow, her eyes swept the backyards. Chain-link fences separated each lawn from the next, with a few wooden fences thrown in for variety, and every one of the yards was still. A wall of houses blocked the road, but a few lots down, she could see a utility easement leading between two of the homes.

  “Come on,” she said.

  Lily hurried after her, leaving Cole to follow.

  Moving fast, she strode between the fences and the trees, her eyes twitching to the houses as she went. Dark windows stared out at them, threatening despite the fact no one appeared to be home. Somewhere in the distance, a lawnmower growled, the sound nearly obscured by the sirens rushing down the highway. At the end of the easement, she paused, scanning the street. Nothing moved and most of the driveways were empty, their owners long since gone to work.

  She had no idea where to go.

  A quiver shook her aching muscles at the realization. Miles of labyrinthine residential streets twisted away in front of her, leading to a city she knew nothing about. They’d only arrived in Banston a short time before, and hadn’t hardly stopped long enough to do more than wait for the next portal on the way to the airport.

  She made herself breathe as she fought the burgeoning panic. It didn’t matter if she wasn’t sure where they were. She just needed a portal to get them enough distance from here, and then it’d simply be a matter of finding a phone, calling Katherine and meeting up wherever the woman happened to be.

  It was going to be fine.

  Though that didn’t bring Cole into the equation.

  “Where
to now?” he whispered, as though in answer to her thoughts.

  She swallowed, not looking at him. Cole didn’t matter; Lily did. Getting her away from here did. The boy was irrelevant, and if leaving him behind was what it took to keep Lily safe, then that was damn well what she was going to do.

  Exhaling sharply, she raked her gaze over the houses, seeking a deep enough doorframe.

  She froze. Between two homes down the street, the edge of a pastel pink house could just be seen. Magenta trim and purple shutters completed the image, rendering the garish house utterly out of place among its neighbors.

  But she recognized it. She’d seen it from the apartment window when they first arrived in town.

  She grabbed Lily’s hand and darted from the cover of the houses.

  “Where are we going?” she heard Cole call furtively.

  She ignored him, her feet picking up speed as she ran across the road. A brief flicker of magic took out the lock on the fence blocking her way, and another removed the latch beyond. Barely pausing at the next street long enough to glance around, she started down the sidewalk, her shoes hitting the pavement at a rhythm a thousand times slower than her pounding heart.

  The wizards would be coming. It wouldn’t take them long to backtrack into the neighborhoods. She had to be quick if she wanted to get them out of here.

  In so many ways.

  Gritting her teeth, she pushed the thought away as she raced past the pink house. Lily would be upset. She knew that, and she’d deal with it later. But right now, the preset portal in that apartment was the best chance they had of reaching someplace actually safe.

  She just needed to get it open fast enough to put the girl through before either Lily or Cole realized what was happening.

  The tan brick of the apartment building came into view at the end of the next street. Her eyes sweeping the neighborhood, she ran down the sidewalk and then jogged up the entrance stairway, staying close to the wall. At the door, she paused, peering through the grimy window to the hallway beyond.

  Stillness greeted her. Gray light shone through the glass onto the scuffed floor, and as she tugged open the metal door, the clank of the latch echoed in the silence. Her shoes squeaking on the tile, she pulled Lily behind her as she hurried across the hall to the stairs.

  “Are the others here?” Cole whispered.

  Halfway up the first flight of steps, she glanced back. His hand gripping the end of the banister, he seemed reluctant to move any farther, and though he never looked at the girl, it felt like he was focused on Lily all the same.

  “What?” she asked, confused.

  “The other Merlin. Did any of them stay behind here?”

  She stared at him, incredulity warring with the memories. “Why?”

  His face shut down as well as any wizard’s, and ice crept through her, joining the magic twisting beneath her skin and making it hard to breathe.

  “Just want to know what’s up there,” he said neutrally.

  “They–” Lily started, her voice choked.

  Ashe jerked the girl’s hand and kept climbing, tugging Lily along.

  It was a moment before she heard him follow.

  Three flights up, she abandoned the stairs and ran down the shadowed corridor, making a beeline for the apartment at the end. The door flew back, the handle banging into the wall as she raced past, and to one side of the empty living room, the closet waited, a few bent hangers dangling within.

  Her hand hit the closet doorframe. Blue letters chased themselves across the wood.

  “Wait,” Lily cried. “What–”

  She turned and grabbed the girl as, in the closet, the hangers and the back wall vanished into a gray vortex.

  Cole ran through the apartment doorway.

  Lily’s fist hit her shoulder, sending pain shooting through her arm, and for a second, her grip slipped. Shoving away from her, Lily tumbled to the carpet and then backpedaled.

  “What’re you doing?” the little girl exclaimed, retreating to the far side of the living room. “We can’t leave Cole!”

  Skidding to a stop, Cole’s face tightened with discomfort.

  Lily waved her hand at him anxiously. “Stay away from it!”

  His gaze darted from the girl to the door, and then came to rest on Ashe.

  “You’re not taking her,” he said.

  From behind his back, a gun materialized.

  Her magic met it before he’d done more than bring it into view.

  He gave a pained cry as the weapon went flying, but he recovered fast, moving for Lily as the gun clattered to the floor. Ashe raced to intercept him. Swinging hard, her fist connected squarely with his jaw. He staggered to one side, and then turned quickly to knock her away.

  “Stop it!” Lily yelled.

  He shoved her hard, sending her crashing into the wall. Hot blood soaked her shoulder as the wound from the airport ripped open. Gasping, she pushed herself upright as he rushed past her, heading for Lily.

  Her hand burst into flame.

  “Stop!” Lily screamed.

  Bracing herself on the red-streaked wall, Ashe looked over at him. “Don’t touch her,” she ordered, her voice ragged with the effort of speaking through the pain.

  One hand gripping the little girl’s arm, Cole didn’t move.

  “Ashley, stop this!” Lily pleaded. Ripping from Cole’s grasp, she looked between them as she backed away. “Both of you. Stop!”

  “You’re not taking her to him,” Ashe said.

  Cole gave a cold scoff. “Wasn’t planning on it.”

  Her brow twitched down.

  “Please, Ashley,” Lily begged. “Put the fire out. Please.”

  Her gaze flicked to the girl and then back to Cole. Tense, he watched her, and she was painfully aware of the gun resting in the kitchenette nearby. If she went for Lily, he’d go for the gun, and then there wouldn’t be much she could do.

  Besides kill him.

  And she could tell he knew it.

  She shook her head, the flames unchanged. “We’re leaving. You can find your own way out of here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without him,” Lily protested.

  “And if I try to stop you?” Cole asked, his voice becoming contemptuous.

  Her hand trembled. “Don’t,” she advised.

  His gaze twitched to Lily, calculations racing behind his eyes. “You won’t do anything in front of her.”

  Quivers shook her and she fought to keep from giving any sign. Everything hurt, the air was like ice, and braced on the wall, her arm was going numb.

  She made the flames grow higher.

  “Just get out of the way,” she told him.

  “Hey!” Lily snapped. “I said I wasn’t–”

  “Shut up!” Ashe yelled, her voice breaking.

  Shocked, the girl fell silent.

  “Get away from her,” Ashe continued to Cole.

  He paused. “No,” he said carefully. “I’m getting her out of here. Away from you, him, all of this. And if you care about her at all, you’ll let me. Understand?”

  Ashe stared at him.

  “Come on, Ashe,” he finished. “You don’t want her to be a part of this or you wouldn’t have been trying to put her on that plane today. Let me help you.”

  A choked noise escaped Lily. The girl looked between them in horror.

  Ashe swallowed hard. “That’s why you came back?”

  He nodded.

  “Y-you were going to–” Lily sputtered, staring at her.

  “What about your dad?” Ashe asked, unable to bring herself to look at the girl.

  “Lily’s safer away from him too,” Cole said flatly.

  Her brow drew down, and for a moment, she desperately wanted to believe he was telling the truth. Lily could be protected and nothing had changed, even though the whole world had changed because Cornelius and the others were lying dead in a field after she’d asked them to do the exact same thing.

  She shuddered, mem
ories flashing through her mind. Everything hurt so much.

  “The Blood are coming, Ashe,” Cole pressed. “Please. Do the right thing. Let Lily go.”

  “I’m not leaving without Ashley either,” Lily argued, her tone lost between anger and disbelief.

  Ashe watched him glance to the girl, and slowly, the desire to believe him faded away. Cole wasn’t Cornelius. He wasn’t Elias or Nathaniel either, and he never would be. At the chance to run to his father, he’d willingly blown every scrap of trust she’d given him straight to hell, and for all she knew, he’d just turn around and do it again. He was nothing.

  And she was the best chance Lily had right now.

  She pushed away from the wall, fighting to keep her face from showing pain despite the fact she wanted to collapse. “No. Lily stays with me. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the hell out of my way.”

  The flames on her hand leapt higher in warning as she walked toward the little girl.

  “Ashley, you can’t do this!” Lily cried, retreating till the wall stopped her. “He–”

  Ignoring her, she snagged Lily’s arm. From the corner of her eye, she saw Cole start toward them, and instantly, her other hand flew out. A small burst of fire charred the wall near his head, sending him flinching away. She kept moving, tugging Lily with her toward the portal.

  “No!” Lily protested, digging in her heels. “I’m not going without–”

  “Yes, you are,” she retorted, yanking on the girl’s arm hard enough to make Lily cry out in pain. Guilt tried to surface at the sound and she crushed it back. She’d apologize later. She’d apologize for every damn thing in this day later.

  “I won’t!” Lily shouted as they reached the portal. “I’m not going! You can’t–”

  The magic hit before she knew it was there. Air rushed around her, and then she collided with the refrigerator across the room and crashed to the floor. Gasping, she opened her eyes, choking as she tried to breathe around the feeling her body had finally been broken for good.

  Her vision cleared. The first thing she saw was the portal.

  It was rippling. Rumbling.

  Roaring.

  Her gaze snapped to Lily, but Cole was already there. Grabbing the girl, he lunged for the door.