Set in Stone: A Contemporary Adventure Romance Novel (Legend Book 1)

by Kylie Stewart

  “Ay, it has its ups and downs. Being a politician is not something I’d wish on anyone. In fact, I’m getting rather bored with it.” His thumb ran over the back of my knuckles. “I’ve missed you.”

  “And I you.” My heart jumped into my throat. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  His eyes were gentle. I could tell him anything, and he’d always listen, never judging me.

  “Why did you leave?” My lower lip quivered without my permission. “Why did you leave if you loved me, and I felt the same?”

  I never thought I’d get to see a man’s heartbreak on his face, but I witnessed it in Lancer. He moved quickly to my side and cupped my cheeks in his hands.

  “Because I was a damn fool. Because I didn’t realize how much I did love you until I let you go.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “I was misled. I was so stupid, Allie.”

  I leaned into his touch. I’d missed him more than I had known. I rubbed my nose against his. “You were stupid. I should hate you for it.”

  “Do you?”

  The fear in his face gave me assurance that hating him was the last thing he wanted.

  “I could never hate you, Lancer. Don’t you know that?” My lips curled into a smile as I gave a small giggle. “You should have seen your face.”

  “Now, that’s not fair, lass. Making a man think he’d lost his balls.” He chuckled. “God, I want to kiss you. Would that be so wrong?”

  “No.”

  My heart fluttered against my ribcage as he leaned closer. Our mouths brushed slightly, teasing, before he molded his lips to mine. He moved slowly, gently claiming what had been his. My hands went to the back of his head, tangling in his hair. This moment needed to last forever. Lancer embraced me, protecting me from the world. I nipped his lower lip, pulling a deep growl from his chest. He was a restless lover, and I needed him in every way. Parting my lips, I submitted to him.

  His tongue sought mine as they danced around one another, taunting, insinuating what we both wanted. I could feel his love for me. I tasted his longing in every kiss. He hadn’t given up on us. Hope surged through my body as we paused, breathing hard.

  “Oh, Allie.” Lancer kissed my cheek before resting his head on my shoulder. “Forgive me.”

  “I’ve already done that.” I stroked my fingers through his hair. For the first time in years, my heart felt light.

  He kissed me again, taking more control. I didn’t care if anyone saw us. Lancer was back, and he wanted me.

  A flash of a memory penetrated my brain. It was so fast I couldn’t see it, but it replayed again, slower. Eyes. Such sad, heartbroken gray eyes, begging me to stop, asking me why.

  Avalon.

  I stopped the kissing before it turned into a heady make-out session. At least, that was how I played it off. The vision had unnerved me.

  What will Avalon do?

  Will he hurt Lancer or me?

  Will he do whatever he can to keep us apart?

  He had raised Lancer, but Lancer was his own man now. But those eyes . . . cut me. A stab of guilt washed through me. This was supposed to be a time to rejoice. The man I once loved had come back into my life. Yet the man I was shackled to had made enough of an impression to shake me.

  “We should get back to the dinner.” Lancer cleared his throat.

  The glassy look in his eyes told me he wanted to do anything but go to dinner. I knew that look. He wanted to rip off my dress and claim me outright. I would let him . . . in time.

  “Yes.”

  With a nod, I took his hand, and we stood.

  Lancer winced and quickly adjusted himself, giving me a boyish half-smile. “What can I say? I want what I want.”

  I ducked my head, feeling the heat in my cheeks. “As do I.”

  “So are you going home after this?” he asked.

  My pace slowed to a halt. Glancing up at Lancer, I didn’t know how to tell him.

  I shook my head. “No, I’m going home with Avalon.”

  “What?” His handsome face turned into a scowl. “No, you are not. What the bloody hell? Why would you?”

  “I have to work on the statue.” A different force of guilt rose inside my chest. This looked so bad.

  “Yeah, so you work on it from your studio. Allie, why are you going home with him?”

  Green eyes forced me to look at him. I could see what he was thinking. I could see what he was assuming.

  “Dear God, are you and he . . . ”

  “No! Oh, Lord, no!” I let go of Lancer’s hand and angrily held my ground. “I wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere near that bastard’s bedroom. How could you think that of me?”

  “You’re staying at Caliburn, why? Tell me why.” He grabbed my shoulders and shook me lightly. “Alexandria, tell me. Do I have to intervene?”

  I wasn’t sure why he was panicking so much. I wasn’t sleeping with the man; I was working for him. “I’m working from his estate, yes. I signed a contract with him that I would work on the weekends to complete it, and I have the freedom to go home on the weekdays if I want.” I left out the part where I was forced to play arm candy whenever he asked.

  Lancer’s face went pale. “You—you signed a contract with him?” His eyes lingered on my neck where the diamond and ruby necklace lay. “Does he give you gifts?”

  “Lancer, I don’t understand—”

  He cut me off. “Does he give you gifts, Alexandria?”

  Agony etched over his face like I’d never seen. What was going on?

  I narrowed my eyes. “Yes . . . but I try to refuse them.”

  “Why did you sign a contract?” Lancer’s voice broke as his muscles trembled.

  “Because that’s the kind of work I do? So I can get paid? You’re confusing me, Lancer.” I reached for his arm. “Why is a contract so damn bad?”

  “He owns you. Until your work is finished, the Duke of Avalon owns you.” His lips curled back into a snarl. “Don’t you understand? Avalon doesn’t just take what he wants. He possesses it, uses it, and rips it apart!”

  There was that word again. Possess. Yet here was Lancer saying it. A man raised by the Dragon himself. What did he know? What had he seen?

  “What do you mean owns me?” I could barely make out my own voice.

  “Dammit, Alexandria.” He crushed me against his chest, holding on tight. “I’ll get you out of this. I’ll find a way.” He kissed the top of my head, adding, “You’re mine.”

  “I’ve always been yours. I’m not sure I understand you correctly?” This was becoming too much. It was all too much. I was no one’s property. Why was Lancer acting as if I’d sold my soul to the devil?

  “I believe we should be going now.”

  That voice cut a space between Lancer and me. I jerked back out of his embrace as if I had been trained to come when Avalon called. Lancer didn’t let me go so easily. Instead, he held his ground.

  “Avalon, we need to talk.”

  “I think you two have done enough talking for the night.” He sneered at us. “As well as exchanging saliva.”

  My face heated. Had he been watching us?

  “You promised me you wouldn’t jump to desperate measures. You promised me you’d be better!”

  Lancer’s anger shocked me.

  What promise is he talking about?

  Avalon pinched his nose. “Lancer, shut the hell up. I’m tired, and I don’t need you whining about trivial shit.” In a dangerous tone I’d never heard Avalon use, he said, “Let her come with me.”

  Lancer snarled in return. “No. She’s coming with me.”

  I was the toy between two alpha wolves snarling at each other. The testosterone was overbearing. Avalon’s knuckles popped, and a vibrating sound was humming from somewhere. Was that a cell phone?

  “You will do well by her and let her leave with me for now. You and I may talk later, alone.” Avalon ordered.

  This was getting dangerous. I could sense Avalon was getting cl
ose to his breaking point. I’d seen it yesterday. He was a few inches shorter than Lancer was, had a tad leaner build, but something was . . . deadly about him. It reflected in his eyes.

  “Lancer, I need to go, but I will be in touch.” I tried to put on a mask of calm. I cupped his face; I turned his attention to me. “Hey, I’ll be fine. Whatever mess I’ve gotten into, I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t get out of.”

  I heard the duke behind me suck a breath in through his teeth.

  “You can’t leave with him, Alexandria. We just got each other back.” Lancer covered my hand with his. “I need you safe.”

  “I am safe.”

  Avalon nodded, assuring me I would be safe.

  “I don’t know why, but I trust him. Not much, but he won’t harm me. I have to make his statue, and then I’ll leave.”

  “Alexandria.”

  Lancer pulled me into a deep kiss, one I couldn’t ignore. Kissing him back, I could hear Avalon sigh, clearly annoyed.

  “I promise I’ll see you soon,” I said.

  My head was spinning as I turned toward Avalon. I didn’t know what to do. Lancer acted as if I had signed my life away. Avalon acted as if he owned me.

  Avalon held out his hand. I took it hesitantly, feeling one by one as each digit curled around my palm until he locked me in. He gave me a gentle pull, pressing himself against me, our bodies molding. His eyes soothed and ignited my fears as he stared down into mine.

  “Good choice, Ms. York. Sir Rivers, I’m sure I shall see you again, sooner rather than later.” Avalon nodded to his former charge.

  Lancer’s face twisted in rage. “Oh, I’ll being seein’ a lot of you, Avalon.”

  With a turn, I was led away to the dragon’s lair, while my knight watched. I was certain Lancer would figure this out. He was smart. I still didn’t know the extent of Avalon’s power, but he had done one thing right—he’d raised a lion in Lancer.

  Sixteen

  Avalon

  Never in my life had I ever felt like such a villain. I hadn’t counted on this. I was sure I was going to have words with M later. I was done with all of the surprises popping up just when I thought I was gaining the upper hand. I stopped glaring at M in the rearview mirror to look at Alexandria. She was huddled as far away from me as possible against the car door. Her face was ashen, her eyes wide as she stared down at her hands. Her fingers trembled in her lap.

  I shrank to less of a man on the inside; she was terrified of me. I thought about how close we had gotten and about how far apart we now were. Actually, we were always far apart. Only in her dreams did she accept me with arms wide open. That was only because she couldn’t see me. That was because she didn’t know me. That version of me was everything she needed. After tonight, and knowing Lancer was in the picture, would she still need me?

  I offered to help her out of the car. She refused. I tried to start a light conversation, and she said nothing. I even offered to walk her to her room. She refused. Alexandria completely shut me out. She had every right to do so.

  You’re a monster.

  I stared down at my hands, opening and closing them. I sighed and walked dejectedly inside my castle. She had already raced ahead of me to lock herself in her room.

  “Sir.”

  I paused when M’s voice cut through the silence. I didn’t say anything; I just waited.

  “Perhaps, you should try opening up to her. Now that the young gentleman is back in the picture, our plan will not go as originally intended.”

  “I am well aware of this little hiccup.” I shrugged off my jacket and handed it to him. “I’m going to let her see.”

  “Are you sure that is wise, sir?”

  I could already tell by the gentle tone of M’s voice that he knew how hard this was for me.

  After my unexplained outburst in the dining hall with Alexandria, I told M. He was growing concerned that what Mordred had taken from me was weakening my mental state. A missing piece of one’s soul was nothing to treat lightly.

  “She deserves to know. It is her right.” I climbed the grand staircase and headed to the wing reserved for me. I took a left before my door and pushed against a section of the wall. It slid, and I looked into the dark. One foot after the other, I walked up a small, stone corridor. The estate hid the old castle behind polished marble and embellished walls. Plenty of secrets lurked, and this was one of them.

  I used the chapel on the main floor regularly, but this chapel was the original of the castle. I had kept it hidden along with the rest of my secrets. I dug into my pocket, found a lighter, and lit a torch on the wall. I came upon an old wooden door and pushed it open. The moon cast her light onto the golden altar at the far side of the tiny room.

  It wasn’t much. A few stone pews sat crumbling; an old purple carpet that had been moth eaten led my feet to the kneeling bench. Taking a capped bottle on the offering table before me, I poured it onto my fingertips. I made the sign of the cross, recapped the bottle, and stared downward.

  The wave of emotion pulled me under, and my head leaned forward, resting on the table. Candles lit one by one of their own accord, lighting the room. A cross hung in front of me with the Savoir of the world staring down upon me. A statue of the Virgin Mary kept vigil in the left corner. A bible, so worn it was falling apart, lay in front of me, open to First Corinthians. The gorgeous sapphire and ruby rosary lay ready for me.

  I wrapped it around my hand, and after a few moments of complete quiet, I raised my head to glare at the figure staring back at me.

  “Why?” I whispered. Taking a deep breath through my nose, struggling to keep the rain cascading from my eyes, I asked again, “Why can’t I win? She will never learn to love me or accept me. Not when she has him to protect her. And what of him? I raised Lancer as my brother, and he has the gall to question me.” My frustration piqued as I stood. “Why do you never answer me? I was your servant and crusader. I was true and pure in my dealings. I ruled with you as my guide and now . . .” I picked up a silver plate from the table and threw it across the room. “Now, you lead me to this fate? Your loyal, your humble slave to the Holy world, you lead to a life of purgatory. What have I done?”

  Wiping my brow, I paced back and forth, shaking my head and wagging a finger at my Lord.

  “I shall tell you this and only you. I love her. And I hate her.” Admitting it caused my heart to constrict. “For you know what she has done to me in the past. Will I be forced to relive it again? Are our sins still too red to be washed clean?”

  The man on the cross was silent.

  “What must I do at this moment to win? Huh? What must I sacrifice to end this vicious cycle?”

  I twisted my fingers into my hair, falling to my knees, letting out a silent sob.

  “What haven’t I done for you? What am I not saying? What am I not doing?” Tears cascaded down my cheeks. “You don’t speak to me, so am I damned? Is this the fate you see fit for someone like me?”

  Never in my life had I been so alone. My life was cold and pressing, dark—like death—but I wouldn’t die. My existence was meaningless without her.

  “God, please . . . just show me what I must do. I’ll do anything you ask, but I cannot lose her again.”

  I sat on my knees, trying to calm myself in the silence of the ancient chapel. A low ringing in my ears started, low at first, and then it turned into a steady hum. I stuck a finger into one ear and tried to pop it. The ringing got louder. It sounded like metal hitting metal. It grew loud and louder until I had to cover my ears with both hands and cower in pain on the dusty floor.

  The sound pulsed louder, sending an electric shock through my body. My eyes slammed shut, trying to block out the ringing, but it didn’t cease. When I opened my eyes, I was in a meadow next to a lake.

  I slowly stood up, glancing down at my body. I was dressed in black trousers and a billowing tunic. My sword was strapped to the belt around my waist. I unsheathed the mighty sword and studied it as light glinted off the
steel blade. I couldn’t help my grin.

  This wasn’t the modern time—this was the past.

  Had God taken pity on me finally?

  Had he taken me home to be with her?

  My feet moved to the edge of the lake, and I stared at my reflection. It was true. My eyes were a brilliant emerald green and my hair blond. Gone was the dark-featured man I had become. This was the me of old, the me of legend.

  A voice pierced the silence of the moment, and I turned to see Alexandria waving at me. I raised my hand to wave back. My mouth opened to call to her, but words never came out.

  The sound of metal slicing through flesh and bone resonated in my ears. Pain seared through my chest and branched out toward my limbs. Blood trickled through my lips as I coughed once. I looked down to see the point of a blade, and then it retracted.

  I fell to the earth, trying to catch myself so I could see my attacker.

  My face came into full view as he fisted my hair, yanking my head up to stare at me. A wicked grin on his lips sent chills down my spine.

  I truly was my own worst enemy.

  “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” He shoved me to the ground again, stepping on my back where my open wound was exposed.

  I cried out in agony.

  I don’t want to die like this!

  It was getting so hard to breathe.

  Not without seeing her one more time.

  The foot applied more pressure, and I began to choke on blood.

  Not before telling her the truth.

  I gasped, desperate to live, and my fingers dug into the dirt.

  Not before . . .

  It was as if my body hit a wall. My eyes flew open. My lungs took in fresh air. I scrambled to sit up and heard crying in the distance.

  “Alexandria!” I searched through the dark, waving my arms like a madman. “Alexandria, where are you?”

  A dim light shone down a narrow corridor, and I followed it. When my foot crossed the doorway, the white light transformed to an orange glow.

  She sat on the floor in front of a fire, sobbing, and her small body shook as the emotion controlled her. I rushed to her side. I had been dreaming at one point of my death—and then sought her out while I had been dying.