He smiled and smothered his bitterness with a quiet chuckle. “You’re kinder to me than I deserve. I stalked you. I followed you for weeks... and I knew from the start you were as beautiful inside as you are outside.” He’d loved her then, he thought. Even though he’d never met her, not in person, he’d loved her. His shoulders drooped. “I have to make this right, because if we don’t end it, your father could be next. Your grandmother might be the next phone call, Astrid.”
Astrid ran her fingers over the sheathed sword belted around her hips. “You should have told me, but I guess, in a way, I see why you didn’t. I just wish… I just wish I hadn’t fallen in love with you while we were in a lie. But maybe I’m just as much to blame. Maybe I lied too, because I didn’t tell you what you meant to me. The moment we met, I recognized you for what you are—not a dragonslayer, but the other half of my soul and heart.”
His brows raised. “You believe in soul mates?
Astrid sighed. “Have you ever noticed that dragons tend to mate for life?”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed it but never put much thought into it.” It seemed a strange change in subject from his imminent death and the end of the knighthood he’d served for several hundred years. “Why?”
“Dragons have soul mates, for lack of a better word. No, it is the right word. It’s just become so cliché among the humans, but for dragons, it’s very literal. That’s what happened with Mom and Dad. For the first time, as far as we know, a dragon and a human found they were destined for one another.”
Nate stared at her. She can’t be implying...
“Some dragons wait centuries, searching for their true mate. When you see them, it hits you like a Mack truck. You just know they’re the one for you.”
“I’m not the one for you, Astrid. If you’re trying to suggest it’s me, I’m no one special.”
“Don’t say that, because you are special. Maybe not to your dad, maybe not to yourself, but you were special to me. Special enough to give my heart to. Special enough that I don’t know if I can do this and kill you.”
Facing death had never been difficult before. Knowing it would be the last time came as a turbulent mix of relief and despair. He reached for her but caught himself in time to drop his hand back to his lap instead. Touching Astrid, holding her, or even kissing her would make separating even harder.
Nate averted his gaze and put his hands on the wheel again. “We need to be on our way,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, I guess so.” The disappointment in her voice struck him like a railroad spike to the heart.
“I know my apologies are worth nothing, but it doesn’t change the remorse I feel for this. I hope you’re right, that we don’t have to die right now. They’ve all got families, you know? Lancelot’s got two kids now.” Who were more brother and sister to him than the other son Kay had fathered. “The others, too. Percivale’s a bachelor, but he takes care of his mother. She can’t live alone.”
After checking the highway, he pulled out into traffic again, and resumed their travel toward Disney. Something felt off, his senses ablaze with worry and anxiety, but he gritted his teeth through it, and drove ahead anyway. Maybe it was the promise of death and the true possibility of facing Merlin down in some dark, terrifying tomb. He said nothing else during the drive to the amusement park, content to focus all of his concentration on driving. Instead of panicking.
The order had passes to employee parking. They went through checkpoints with ease, and no one glanced twice at her sword, accustomed to sword-carrying dragonslayers passing through. As they walked through ‘the happiest place on earth’ he thought of everything he’d be losing.
Astrid’s smaller hand slipped into his, startling him. His mind had been preoccupied with all of the good-byes he’d never written. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “but I don’t regret falling in love with you.”
Knowing it was possibly the last time they’d have together, he led her through the magical kingdom. With hours between their arrival and the park’s closure, there were families everywhere. “Under normal circumstances, Kay has the park operators shut down the ride and clear the area. I don’t want to draw attention to us, but I could try a spell to chase everyone away. Or one to conceal us.”
All of the knights knew magic to some degree, though some were more talented and capable than others, able to draw their swords and armor in silver blazes of powerful magic, or create small enchantments and charms. A few of their number and some white witches in close association were responsible for the anti-dragon charms and boundary lines they placed around their property.
“I’d say go for concealment. Chasing them away will just draw undue attention to the ride. I can do a cloaking spell, no problem. How do you think I get away with flying around?”
“Then you’re up. I trust your magic better than mine. You’re the dragon.” He flashed her an uncertain, shy smile and released her hand to approach the sword in the stone display in front of the carousel. “Tell me when.” They were between spins at the moment, the current riders stepping down from their horses.
The world around them dimmed slightly, as if a gauzy curtain had been drawn.
“Okay, we should be good. Just try not to run into anyone.”
“Strange that you’re able to use your magic here when so many others cannot,” Nate muttered under his breath. He closed his hand around the hilt of the sword protruding from the anvil, and it glowed white.
In his hand, it moved slightly, like a lever, then he pushed it back into place. Just before them, the ground began to drop away, creating stone steps leading down into the darkness at a steep descent. He offered his hand to Astrid. She took it, and together they descended the steps into the unknown.
Chapter 13
Saul’s personal office lacked the space to house the number of paranormal beings inside. He lurked behind Max’s shoulder, one hand on the back of his chair, the other on the desk while he leaned close to look at the screen. “Do you know what you’re doing?” he asked.
“I know more than you,” Max replied.
Chloe and Ēostre had taken seats on a settee nearby while the two eager dragonmen potentially ruined their evidence. Teo and Tlaloc, ultimately useless when it came to computers, had no interest in poring through the laptop’s contents. They had excused themselves to make use of Chloe’s personal coffee bar.
“Gentlemen, maybe we should invite someone with the training for this kinda thing to peruse the slayer databases. Just a suggestion,” Chloe said to Max and Saul.
Saul glanced at her and narrowed his eyes. “I know how to use a computer.”
She raised a skeptical brow. “Is that why we had to pay three hundred dollars to the Geek Squad to recover all of your data after you nearly lost it while trying to upgrade your operating system?”
Her husband growled back at her. “That wasn’t my fault. It glitched during the installation.”
“Uh-huh.”
Xochiquetzal chuckled quietly. She leaned against the wall beside the door leading to the balcony, the cool breeze rustling through her dark hair. She held a cup of deep, black coffee in her hand. Chloe had come to learn that Xochi, Tlaloc, and Teo practically lived on the stuff.
“Are you two not due to return to the White House, Belenos?” the earth dragoness asked.
Max shook his head. “The Oval Office can wait until Astrid is home safe.” He leaned forward to squint at the screen, tapped the enter key, and grinned broadly. “This is surprisingly straightforward. Downloadable documents in their database, handily provided in ZIP format. I’m in their e-mail server at the moment and… Sweet ancestors,” he said on a breath.
Ēostre hurried to the desk. “What?”
“They’ve gotten a dozen of their people into Congress. Over a dozen.”
“Are there names or just discussion?”
“The cocky bastards are quite open, and while I haven’t discovered a list yet, the e-mails are pretty damning,” Max said.
&
nbsp; “Your Secretary of Defense,” Saul said. “Look. They’re keeping an eye on you through him. He isn’t yet part of the Anti-Dragon Movement but certainly considering his stance.”
Max swore under his breath. “With this, we can root out and interrogate dozens of their agents.”
“Do you still question whether the young slayer’s intentions are legitimate?” Xochi asked.
“I certainly do not,” Ēostre said.
“Okay, so like, I get that he’s a reincarnated knight, but have any of you crossed paths with him before?” Chloe asked.
“Once in the past,” Ēostre said.
“Twice,” Max replied.
“Has he killed anyone you liked?” None of the dragons spoke. “Anyone you even knew?”
“That means nothing,” Saul said. “Dragons were once plentiful. It was impossible for us all to know one another on a personal level. His kind has changed that.”
“Your kind have as well.” She hesitated and toyed with the edge of her shirt before saying in a softer voice, “I killed Brigid, but no one holds it against me. Not even Max.”
Max smiled sadly. “No, I do not hold it against you, Chloe. You are as much my daughter now as she could have ever been.”
“Then how can we hold it against all knights for killing a few of you when you kill one another as well? Ēostre had to slay Mahuika. You men can’t deny that you’ve fought over the years, too.”
“She has a great point,” Ēostre said.
“I know I do,” Chloe said, beaming. “I think you’re too hard on him. Yes, he did hurt Astrid, but we’ve all hurt each other at one time, right? What matters is he’s putting his life on the line to help us now. We know nothing else about him.”
“This Sir Kay, however, he is well-known to us.” Max’s fisted knuckles whitened.
The two black male dragons returned at the tail end of Chloe’s pitch, the younger raising his brows curiously over his cup of coffee. “How so?” Teo asked.
“He is the knight believed to have slain my father,” Saul answered, tone subdued.
“Then we must find him and rip out his spine,” Tlaloc said, making a fist. “If he is in this California, we will send a message to all dragonslayers.”
Xochi sighed, and Chloe empathized.
“If anyone gets to take vengeance on Kay, it’s Ēostre, and only if she wants to,” Chloe told them. “But that is a discussion for later. Right now, I say we let Max do his thing and get us all the information we need. Agreed?”
“Fine. I have no fondness for these trivial mortal conveniences,” Tlaloc said imperiously before disappearing through the door.
Xochi trailed behind him, laughing at her husband. “You dislike them because they don’t obey your commands.”
“Lovely. Saul, will you join me outside a minute?”
“As you wish, my love.” Saul left his post behind Max’s chair to join her. Without prompting, he sought her hand and laced their fingers. She led him outside and shut the door behind them.
Fresh air was what she needed after all the tension and machismo inside. She drew in a deep breath, relishing in the breeze scented with wildflowers and roses, before rounding on her husband.
“I wanted to chat with you before Astrid is home.”
Saul’s brows rose. “About?”
“Her boyfriend.”
“The one who is soon to die?”
“We don’t know that he’s going to die when they slay the wizard. For all we know, she may have another fifty years with him, Saul.” After a dramatic pause, she added, “Fifty years as your son-in-law.”
He bristled. “Over my dead body.”
“I think she loves him,” Chloe said, “and it’s no business of ours if she does. We’re her parents, not dictators. We can’t make the decisions for her, and if she feels for him even a fraction of what we felt when we first met, we have to stand back and let her choose.”
“He deceived her!”
“Yes, and you once did the same to me. Are you both so different? Did you tell me from the start you were a dragon? You marked me.”
Her husband grimaced. “I will forever apologize and regret—”
Chloe touched her fingers to his lips. “I’m not asking for your apologies or regret. I love you, Saul Drakenstone. I understand that your instincts took over and carried you away. And I wouldn’t trade this life with you for anything. All I ask is that you consider there are circumstances that sometimes change everything we think we understand about a situation.”
He sighed. “Very well. I will not dismember the human when he returns.”
“And?” she prompted.
He grunted. “I will attempt to like him.”
“Thank you.” She leaned forward on tiptoe to kiss him. “I’ll be glad when this ordeal is over and Brandt is home again.”
“He’s enjoying his stay at the island with Svetlana and the twins. I’m sure he doesn’t even miss us,” Saul pointed out.
“Poor Marcy for having to wrangle three tikes though. She’s earned her raptor training badge today.”
Saul’s warm chuckle huffed against her cheek. “The children are all safe and, most importantly, oblivious to the danger. We will make sure Marceline enjoys a well-deserved holiday when it is all done.”
“I think we all deserve a little holiday after this.”
Hugging her husband close, she tried not to worry about their daughter. Astrid was stronger than they all gave her credit for, and she had her own destiny to fulfill.
Chapter 14
The entrance sealed behind them and enchanted lights flickered on, old lanterns dangling from the ceiling of the narrow, downward sloping passage. Astrid swallowed back her trepidation and adjusted the sword belt around her hips.
“So what can we expect down here? I mean, is he in a glass coffin? A bedroom?” She didn’t let go of Nate’s hand, savoring every precious moment of affectionate contact.
“He isn’t Snow White,” he replied. His nervous chuckle did nothing to alleviate her unease. Something scuttled in the dark, and she watched him reach for a sword he didn’t have. “I’ve never been here in this life.”
“Do you remember anything at all?”
“Not exactly. Few of us ever come here to see him, except for Kay, Bedivere, and a couple of the older guys seeking guidance.”
Their descent ended at a thick, wooden door. Carved vine motifs decorated the old oak, polished to a glossy finish with what smelled like beeswax. Magic hung in the air, heavy as jungle humidity. Something nameless, wild, and ancient was present, a sense of power she’d never felt from her grandmother.
Merlin. She could sense him, too.
“Merlin slept here long before this land was purchased by the park,” he explained. “I think it was his idea to move to California when the greater wyrms began to relocate their hoards here. So he made this.”
Nate stared at the door. When she reached for the knob, an electric buzz ran over the tips of her fingers and down her arm, like the static reaction of touching a television. He jerked her back before she made complete contact. “No. Let me.”
“Yeah, of course.”
She stepped back and let him take the lead. The door swung open to reveal a path littered with skeletal remains. Active runes and the scrawl of powerful enchantments created a kaleidoscope pattern of color in the subterranean cavern. Dozens of them stretched as far as she could see.
Nate sucked in a breath. “I feel like Indiana Jones right now.”
An assortment of bones, both animal and human, lay scattered over the floor and piled against the walls. As they rounded a bend, a dragon embedded in the rock stood out beneath a mage glow. She fell back a step, heart pounding. It was more than Merlin’s resting place; it was a mass gravesite.
“There may be traps in the walls. Some of these bones have been shattered,” he said, “and there’s no telling what activates them. Don’t touch anything.”
“Trust me, I didn’t plan on
it.”
He proceeded, only to pause as if uncertain whether to keep Astrid to his front or behind him. In the end, he slid an arm around her shoulders and held her close. “Many have tried to locate him and found only death.”
“Too many. There must be hundreds of remains here,” Astrid pointed out.
“He’s been living here a long time.” They came to a divide in the path, able to go left or right. He froze; then his brows raised. “It’s a maze. We all know the way, at least, we should know the path to him.”
They turned and continued down an identical path with another two turns. Torches glowed with ever burning flames, and with each deviation they took, nothing changed.
“That skeleton there. It’s the same one,” he said. “It’s the same bear. Look. And so is that one. There’s bits of cloth left on the bones.”
They were going in literal circles, somehow rounding back the same way they’d come even whenever they changed their path and took another direction. He made a frustrated groan and looked at his watch. It had stopped. “I don’t remember any of this.”
“If we’re going in circles, maybe we need to turn around? Go down the other way? Or maybe there’s a lever you’re supposed to press?” It was disorienting, but she felt out with her own magic, trying to find a weakness in the confusing enchantment. The charm was unlike anything made by dragon hands or common, modern-day witchcraft.
“Maybe,” he said with uncertainty. “Do you smell that?”
Astrid sniffed the air and turned a quizzical glance to him. “Yeah. It’s earthy.”
The air had a strange, musty odor to it like the scent of livestock and the cool scent of water.
“Now I know how the others died. Some of them must have wandered for days, weeks, until they were too weak.” He gestured to an intact skeleton. “I wonder…”
“You wonder what?” Nerves made her snap the question out, followed swiftly by guilt. “Sorry. I’m just so unsettled. And nervous. Maybe… maybe we should go back. There has to be another way to stop your brotherhood.”
“Like what? Asking them nicely? I tried that. No one was willing to hear me out but the two men I’ve talked to you about. Some more were on the fence, but Bedivere and Kay have clout I lack for as long as I’m without my memories.”
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