“We’ll see when we get in there, but I’m not going to drive my sword through a sleeping man. And I know you won’t either.” She lifted her chin, stubborn to the end. Her eyes softened when his knees buckled, and she moved up to him and slipped one arm around his waist. “Lean on me.”
With Astrid’s support, they proceeded into the next chamber. The rough-hewn rock gave way to polished stone with glittering veins of quartz and amethyst streaked through. Mage lights glimmered, brightening the further they went down the corridor past paintings of landscapes, noble figures carved from marble, and wooden shelves filled with old books.
They entered a chamber flooded with light—its source a hanging star cluster shimmering from above. Below, in the center of the room, lay Merlin.
In a glass coffin.
Astrid blinked at the spectacle then turned to look back at Nate. “Called it.”
Nate grumbled under his breath. “Just rub it in.” Part of him had to wonder why a glass coffin of all things. Did they preserve bodies the way a fridge kept meat? He boggled before he stepped forward, the sword carried in his hand.
The wizard was as he remembered him in vague and fleeting memories, tall and lean in build, dressed in robes of soft velvet and silk with golden embellishment and stitching against purple, flowing fabric. His beard lay over his chest, stark white and long as the hair spread around his shoulders. He looked peaceful.
“Here, help me open it.” The lid came off easy, lacking locks to clasp it shut.
“I expected... more,” Nate said. He shuddered. The room felt strange. Stagnant air surrounded them in a malicious aura. It didn’t feel like the magic of a white wizard.
“Maybe there is more.”
“Huh?”
“There’s magic radiating from him. It’s like... like he’s wrapped in a web of it. I can see the strands.” Her brow furrowed and frown deepened. “Nate, he’s bound up tight here.”
“I don’t see anything,” Nate replied, bewildered by her observation. He leaned closer for a look inside the coffin and gripped his sword hilt tighter in one hand. One stroke. One stroke was all it would take. He didn’t feel anything protective around the coffin, no wards or barriers preventing him from taking swift action.
“I’m telling you, it’s magic. He’s wrapped in a cocoon of it, bound to this room.” She raised Ascalon and swung the sword seemingly through thin air.
“Why the hell would he bind himself in magic?” Nate demanded. “That doesn’t make any sense. He’s always just laid down to sleep and awakened again on a whim to discover what kind of world we lived in.” He took her word for it and mimicked her with his sword, only to feel a strange resistance above him. Nate narrowed his eyes. “There is something here.”
“Stand back. I’m going to try to slice through it. Then we can take him back to my father, if he doesn’t wake up and try to kill us first.”
“Here’s to hoping he doesn’t reward you with a face full of fireballs,” Nate muttered.
He stepped back and gave her a wide berth, observing as she shifted her stance and swung with all of her might. When she cut the spell, his ears popped like a shift in the atmospheric pressure. The blanket of negative, oppressive energy that had pushed against him since their entrance vanished.
Light flashed above the translucent coffin. Astrid winced and pressed her palm to her right ear. “What’s that sound?”
“I don’t hear anything.” He twisted around and searched until he saw a small camera tucked inside a shallow nook in the wall. “But we must have set off an alarm. Wards and an alarm.”
His attention drifted around the chamber, only to notice another wooden door in a recessed indentation at the rear of the room. Torches flanked it, each one lit by a blue flame. “That’s our exit. I can’t tell you where it leads, but I recall as much.”
Voices echoed down the long corridors of Merlin’s lair. Familiar voices. He’d recognize Kay’s stern tone anywhere.
“We’ve got company, too.”
“Shit. How the hell did they arrive so fast?”
Before he could make sense of what was happening, Astrid tossed his jacket back to him. “I’m going to trust you with my sword. I hope there’s open space on the other side of that door.”
It felt odd in his hands. Heavy and unbalanced. How did she use the damned thing? A couple of seconds later, he had his jacket on and Merlin tossed over one shoulder. With Ascalon clutched in his hand, he hurried with her to the door.
“Down this way! They’re in his chamber!” a knight called. Their footsteps thundered, the noise of many people traveling closely together in full armor.
Nate threw open the door. Beyond the enormous wooden panel, he saw only beautiful green and rock. He rushed outside and realized they were miles away from where they’d entered the wizard’s underground lair, as if they’d emerged from a portal to another location entirely. Had they been underground long enough to travel so great a distance? He doubted it.
“We’re at Irvine Regional Park. Astrid, we’re miles from Disneyland.”
“Right.” Free from the confining tunnels, she took to her dragon form once more and claimed Merlin in one of her claws. “Climb on. You’re about to get a crash course in riding a dragon.”
He gave her a dubious look then glanced behind them into the open doorway where shades of blue and purple shone from within, highlighting an empty glass coffin. The knights burst inside, Kay and Bedivere in the lead with guns and swords at the ready.
Chapter 15
Within ten minutes of going airborne, Astrid’s fight or flight response dwindled, and she remembered Mahasti was only a call away. In a blink, the djinn brought them to Drakenstone Manor, her flawless aim placing them above the front pasture.
The pain registered in Astrid’s mind after she touched down on the grass.
Astrid released Merlin from her claws seconds before collapsing. Her father and family rushed out, a herd of dragons crowding the area around her within seconds.
Her mother appeared by her side as if by magic, hands tiny against her child’s bleeding side. “Astrid? Astrid, baby, what happened?”
The assault from Kay and the knights hadn’t been as harmless as she thought. During the flight, adrenaline had numbed her, and she’d flown with no other purpose but to deliver Nate and Merlin to safety. Exhausted from her ordeal, she turned her head to see Nate pinned beneath her father’s massive claw. He didn’t struggle, and for a moment, she feared Saul had already crushed the life from him.
“What did you do to her, human?”
“She’s been shot!” Chloe called. “Ēostre! I need you!”
“Not his fault,” Astrid groaned through her pain. She strained to see Nate and her father through a haze of pain and tears.
“Must be armor-piercing rounds,” Max muttered. She hadn’t seen him rush up to her with the others, but he remained in his smaller form to stroke her brow with human hands. “You hang in there, sweetheart. They’ll fix you.”
“I know,” she whispered. “Grandpa, check the wizard, please.”
“Merlin?”
“Yes,” Astrid groaned. “He was under a spell. Please check on him. Make sure he’s okay.”
“Okay,” Max reluctantly agreed.
“Forget the wizard. Who shot my cub?” Saul demanded. The tip of his claw rested squarely on the center of Nate’s chest.
“The other dragonslayers arrived as we left Merlin’s lair. The place was bugged with alarms. I didn’t hurt her. I could never hurt her.”
Saul relented, reluctantly. He abandoned Nate in the grass and hurried over to Astrid’s side as any concerned father would.
“Merlin was trapped, Grandma,” she said while Ēostre and Tlaloc’s mate worked over her wounds. Relief came with a wave of magic, numbing the fire in her side enough for her to breathe easier. She laid her large, golden head on the grass and turned her snout toward Nate, checking on him. He crawled to his feet, dirt and grass clinging to h
im. “There was a chimera guarding the lair and it bit Nate. I healed him, but... Daddy, will you make sure he’s okay? Please?”
“Be still, child.” Xochi pulled a bullet from her scales and she flinched.
“I’m fine, Astrid. Your dad’s right to worry about you.”
Saul eyed Nate with a mixture of disgust and grudging respect. He gave a single huff, a warm plume of breath billowing from his nose, laced with magic to help ensure any lingering traces of poison were gone.
“Thanks,” Nate murmured.
Saul barely acknowledged him. “You did well, Astrid. He will be fine. For now. But I suggest we all return inside and deal with the wizard.”
“I’ll take him inside,” Max said. He picked the old man up and gave a nod of his head for Nate to follow.
Mahasti summoned clothes for the others. Astrid shifted last with only her mother and grandma in her company. They’d seen it all before, countless times through her childhood to adolescence.
“Take it easy, baby,” Chloe cautioned as she offered out a sundress for Astrid to pull on. “You want to wait out here a minute?”
“Do you think Nate will be okay?”
“Oh, baby.” Chloe stroked a hand over Astrid’s golden hair. “I promise you, your dad won’t hurt Nate.”
“Agreed,” Ēostre said. “Do you want to tell us what happened? Why did you bring Merlin to us here?”
“Because I couldn’t kill him,” she admitted in a tiny voice. Her shoulders shuddered, prompting both women to draw in close beside her with reassuring touches. “I think he was a prisoner, has been for a long time.”
“Then maybe we should get inside before our hot-headed men do something stupid.”
Once Astrid was dressed, they found the dragonmen, Mahasti, Leiv, and Nate in the living room where Max had sprawled Merlin on the sofa. With his arms crossed over his chest, the red dragon stared at Saul.
“No, young one. Astrid asked me to watch over him.”
Saul made an exasperated noise. Astrid couldn’t discern whether it was because of Max’s disagreement or her decision to stand beside Nate and take his hand.
“We should slay him now, while he sleeps,” Tlaloc said.
“I actually agree with my father on this,” Teo added, earning a surprised glance from his parents. “He’s too dangerous to allow to live.”
Merlin looked weak and fragile, a harmless old man draped in wizard’s finery. “I agree,” Nate spoke up with the two black dragons.
“As do I,” Mahasti said. “He is a powerful wizard, and should he awaken, my powers will be no match for him. He is the first, the originator of all human magic, but only the knighthood should be affected if he is destroyed. They are bound by blood magic.”
“You see, Max?” Saul gestured to his supporters. “The only choice is clear. For our safety and that of our children, he must be killed for the greater good of our species. We have lost too many friends and good brothers to the insanity designed by his hands.”
“Saul, what are you saying?” Chloe stepped forward and hugged her arms around herself. “We can’t just kill off a sleeping old man. It’s not right. What if there’s more to this story? And what about what Astrid said, about him being bound?”
Ēostre spoke up in a calm voice while laying a hand on her son’s arm. “Agreed. I can see the lingering web of an imprisonment curse around him.”
“I am saying I value the lives of our family more than one old man. Or many dragonslayers,” Saul growled.
“I will not be party to murder,” Leiv said. He glanced at his wife, expression calm. “I know he is magic, but look at him. He reeks of frailty. Even if he did wake up angry, he could not take on a room full of dragons, let alone a djinn.”
The supernaturals argued amongst themselves, husband against wife with the exception of Max and Ēostre. The older fire wyrm shook his head and raised his voice to be heard among the squabbling.
“Tlaloc, Xochi, Ēostre, and I were there when Merlin first organized the Knights of the Round Table,” Max said. “Yes, his magic is great, but I cannot abide by murdering him as he sleeps. We must awaken the wizard and have him speak for his crimes.”
“And you will not make the decision for us, Maximilian. You are the leader of human men only and have no power here. We have a right as much as you,” Tlaloc snarled. “I say he dies.”
“No one is killing anyone.” Astrid slammed her fist down on the table. The wood splintered, and the table shook. “You’re all five for five, so I’m casting my vote, and I say we wake him. We’re not murderers. If he’s truly guilty of horrible crimes, then he can answer for them, but he has the right to speak for himself. Because I am pretty damn certain that none of you, not even you, Grandma, can say that you were blameless in the past. The dragonslayers came into being for a reason—because dragons rampaged and acted like gods. You hurt people, you took what you wanted, and you made this necessary. We’ve changed over the centuries, but he doesn’t know that. Not if he’s been cursed.”
Chloe gave her daughter a satisfied look and nodded when her husband’s shoulders sagged.
Saul relented. “She is right, though it pains me to agree.”
Nate sighed and slumped against the wall. He closed his eyes. “As far as I know, none of us are capable of true magic at this level. We outsource most spells to enchantresses and mid-level magicians.”
Ēostre shook her head. “It smells like dark sorcery, nothing I’ve seen from any good witch.”
“Agreed,” Max said. “I know little of magic and spells, but whatever traps this wizard in his sleep is unnatural. What do you say Xochi?”
“It is a spell far beyond the scope of my control. Black mortal magic, a curse of some variety or another. I can tell you little else.”
Nate shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. The knighthood doesn’t condone black magic.”
“But you do employ mages.”
“A few, yes, for services like teleportation, health potions and tonics, and enchanted gear for our troops. No one involved in the sort of sorcery you’re talking about. At least…” Nate paused and seemed to consider his words. After a moment’s thought, he shook his head. “If they do, it’s high level and the majority of the knights are unaware. It’s against our code.”
“Perhaps we should call on Loki,” Ēostre suggested. “He’s meddled with magic beyond even my understanding.”
Max gave a vehement shake of his head. “No. My cousin only lives to cause mischief. He’ll try and twist this to his advantage, if he can even help at all.”
Nate’s jaw dropped. “Loki is your cousin?”
“Indeed. A trickster and troublemaker who will be of no use to us here.”
“I don’t know if you’ve seen your cousin recently, but I have.” Nate hesitated a split second before pressing on. “While on assignment. He was as benign as a kitten.”
“Benign? Kitten?” Max stared hard at him. “I think you must have watched the wrong dragon.”
“No. I’m certain. Another knight agreed, and he’s been doing this a decade longer than me this life cycle,” Nate insisted. “If the rest of you can change, isn’t he capable of the same?”
“You speak with great wisdom, young one,” Ēostre said.
Licking his lips nervously, Nate looked to each dragon in turn. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but for the past thirty years of my life, I’ve been raised to think the worst of your race. Astrid showed me a side I didn’t know could exist—that you’re people capable of change and great things. I’ve read the books on you, Mr. Emberthorn. Your hands aren’t clean either. Even Tlaloc is known for receiving sacrifices atop temples, but he’s changed.”
“Mahasti, could you please ask Loki to join us?” Saul asked after several long minutes. “Tell him it is of great importance.”
The rest waited in awkward silence as Mahasti teleported away. Through it all, Astrid had never lost her grip on Nate’s hand. She’d hoped it went unnotic
ed and was sure it had until Saul glowered at her boyfriend again.
“Have you attempted to place your mark on him, Astrid?”
“Mark?” Nate’s eyes widened slightly. “What mark?”
“No,” Astrid answered in a soft voice. Saul seemed to relax until she turned to Nate. “It’s part of what I was telling you about, with soul mates. Dragons... they—we, I guess—mark one another. It’s a magical bond. I’ve resisted the urge to mark you because I wanted to tell you everything about who I am and what it means, first. Because I didn’t want to force a choice on you.” She shrugged and glanced away, aware of her father’s stare.
After marking her mother in a dank, rain-filled cave, Saul had no right to remark on her relationship.
“Might I suggest saving this conversation for a more private venue?” her grandmother asked. The storm dragoness’s warm touch landed at the small of Astrid’s back. Ēostre’s other hand settled against Nate’s shoulder.
Astrid loved her grandmother even more for her unvoiced display of acceptance.
Before anyone else could speak, Mahasti and Loki made a surprising entrance to the dining room. Max made no effort to conceal his disbelief. Astrid knew what he thought of Loki. According to her grandfather, the sorcerer dragon was a loose cannon, an immature liability to them all.
“Loki, thank you for joining us. As you can see, we are in need of your expertise. Meet Merlin.” Saul gestured to the wizard on the sofa.
A business suit clothed Loki’s lean frame and he wore his dark hair loose around his shoulders. Astrid had never seen him looking anything less than his very best. He and her father appeared to be of similar age in their mid to late thirties, while she would never assume Max to be a day over forty-five.
Years ago, in her teens when she first became aware of the attractive qualities in the opposite sex, she’d harbored a crush on the dragon god of mischief, adoring his green eyes whenever she saw him on magazine covers and newspapers. She hadn’t dared to breathe a word of it, as none of the adults ever spoke favorably of him.
Now she had a better man to adore. Her fingers briefly tightened over Nate’s hand.
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