His father waved a hand at him. “Did you come to chitchat, or free me, perhaps?”
Merlin had to keep his feet from moving and keep himself just out of reach. “You know even I can’t do that. The spells were not just my own that bound you. You’d have to get the Oracle, Wyvern, and Jinn leader here at the very least, all working together . . .”
His father’s face twisted into a hard smile. “Indeed. Which means I should keep you here.” His hand shot out toward Merlin, reaching for his throat.
Merlin threw himself backward so hard, his head hit the ground, the resounding crack of his skull against stone reverberating through him and waking him. The blow, remarkably, snapped Merlin out of the drugged state he was in—barely. With a groan, he pushed himself off the floor and reached until he found the torch once more and lit it.
He sat there, thinking, aching, wondering just what in the seven hells his father was up to? Because there was more to this than just getting free of his prison. The old bastard was too savvy by far for there to be only one thread of his plots on the go. Especially not with one of his other children helping him.
The Emperor’s daughter didn’t want Zam to reach the Oracle or the Wyvern, both once powerful entities that had helped Merlin cage his father the first time. But the Emperor said he had Zam moving where he wanted.
Which was it?
So the question now was, did he stay where he was and try to stop his father from within the dreamscape, or did he go to Zam and try to help her face whatever challenges she would battle?
“There is no easy answer,” he said softly, rubbing at the back of his head. He looked around the sparse room he sat in, wondering.
Stay or go?
Go or stay?
Back and forth he went until finally he shook his head. “You are on your own, Zam. No one knows the old bastard like I do. And if anyone is going to get information out of him, it will be me.”
Even if it made him want to curl up like a child and hide, he knew it to his bones. He had the best chance of getting his father to slip up.
Which meant he was going to have to find a way to outsmart a very angry, rather vengeful Emperor. Again.
10
The desert was quiet around us as we sat at Shem’s camp, the horses even silent as his suggestion seemed to echo in the air. I grimaced and kicked at the fire but didn’t argue with his idea.
Shem was right, even if his idea was one that stuck in my craw like a bone going down sideways with spurs on the end. It wasn’t a bad idea, even if I felt like it was stupid. Not if I wanted to cross the swamp without being found. Not if I wanted to get to those who were still alive on the edge of the blasted lands waiting for us. Kiara. Benji. Frankie. Asuga. Fucking hell on fire, what had happened to the others?
No, I had to block out that fear, that possibility that something was terribly wrong with my pride. I could feel that those to the southeast were not hurt, not injured. For now, that would have to be enough. We would get to them as quickly as we could and that would be that.
We waited until nightfall to move, though, which gave me some time to sleep, and for all of us to rest before we made a run through the swamp. We took shifts so no one was awake alone, in case the standing stones pulled on us once more.
Even though I wanted to charge ahead, I knew that everything that had happened in the last day had taken a huge toll on me, and I needed to sleep if I was going to be of any use to those who depended on me.
Crazy to think that just a few weeks before, I would have done just that, charged ahead until I dropped. But that was before I was alpha.
My choices didn’t just affect me now. I had to think about what was best for the group.
When I woke, Shem held a hand out and snapped his fingers at me. “Take it off.” With a grimace, I slid out of my long red cloak and hood combo. He stuffed it into one of Balder’s saddlebags and pulled out the thicker, dark gray cloak I had for a backup. He swung it over his shoulders.
“You’re sure it was the red you were wearing?” he asked.
“Positive.” I folded my arms, irritation flowing through me.
“And you’re sure you want to ride with me and not Ford?” Shem raised both eyebrows.
I glanced at Ford in time to see the frown on his face. “He won’t fit either of my cloaks, so it makes sense for me to ride with you, Shem. Unless you have another plan up your sleeve?”
That did nothing to ease the look on Ford’s face. Like I’d hurt his feelings by saying I wouldn’t ride with him. Damn it, the man had saved my life, and I’d seen his memories and now I’d made him think that . . . what? That I didn’t like him?
I did like him. He was part of my pride. He was my enforcer and even my friend, I think.
But the only other person I’d rode with when I was in my smaller form was Maks. And it somehow felt disloyal to ride with Ford. Shem was family, that was fine.
And yes, I chose not to think about why there was any feeling of disloyalty at all. Why Ford had his feelings hurt.
Why I felt bad for hurting them.
La-la-la-la fingers in my ears and not going there.
Shem’s plan was simple. I would ride with him, hidden in the hood of the dark gray cloak. They would try to go across a section I knew from my previous entry was less active with the witches who had sunk their magic into the land. That was the best I could offer in terms of help on the information end of things. My previous job had been to find the witches and take their gem and get the fuck away without being injured or worse, and I’d done that. Over a year ago now.
I chose not to tell Shem or the others that I’d flipped off the witches as I’d made my escape. I mean, let’s be honest, did anyone expect me not to? Yeah, that’s what I thought. That had been the last insult on top of the mountain of insults I’d handed them by sneaking into their village and filching the jewel right out from under their noses.
Mind you, they’d been sauced on a crate of țuică they’d just stumbled across. I smiled, and then other thoughts of the țuică and what it had done to my reservations whipped through me and the smile slid.
Of that night in the snow with Maks and our first kiss.
There was a flash image that danced through my mind of Ford giving me CPR.
I gritted my teeth.
Shem mounted up on Balder, his horse tied to the back of the saddle by a long enough rope that each horse could move somewhat independent of the other without losing each other in the swamp.
Ford was already on Batman, still too quiet for my liking. Damn it, I didn’t like it. I needed him to be on his game, not grumpy and sulking. “Ford, would you lead?”
He perked up and gave me a salute. Not perfect, but I’d take it for now.
Shem held his hand out to me and I took it as I shifted, using the momentum of him pulling me to leap up and onto the pommel of the saddle. From there, I jumped to his shoulder and slid down in the back of the hood. At least the view was decent and I wouldn’t be covered in mud by the end of this little jaunt. That made me grin. I hated getting my fur dirty.
Ford was only a few strides ahead of us and we caught up easily.
Lila paced us in the air, swooping and diving as we rode the last few miles to the edge of the swamp. According to the map.
“You mean, you really couldn’t see it before? The swamp, I mean,” Ford asked. He fumbled a bit with the reins and Shem reached over to untangle them for him.
“Could have walked right by it and not so much as smelled a rat’s fart,” Shem said. “That was the beauty of these witches. They wanted nothing to do with anyone. They held their end of the bargain better than any of those who held onto the stones to keep the Emperor in his cage.”
There was no recrimination in his words, but still I stiffened a little. “I wouldn’t do it again, Shem. I wouldn’t take the jewel had I known what the fuck it was really all about.”
“I know why you took the jewel,” he said, “but it doesn’t change the f
act that they were essentially harmless.”
I snorted a laugh. “Please. Anyone who did wander too close was drawn in to be used as a pet, or worse. This swamp is far from safe. And you’re a damn fool if you think it is.”
“Only those who went looking for them could find them. If you go looking for a witch, you deserve what you get,” Shem said.
I did stiffen that time, my claws extending to dig into him. “I lost friends to another witch, Shem. Doing what Ishtar wanted. They didn’t deserve what they got. None of us did.”
He sighed. “I know that. But others . . . well, Ishtar for one. Perhaps she’ll get her comeuppance one day.”
After that, we all fell quiet. Well. If you discount Ford singing softly a tune I thought I’d heard before. He had a good voice, and that surprised me.
“Killing me softly,” he sung quietly, which seemed appropriate for the mood of the night.
I closed my eyes, lulled by the movement of Balder, the warmth inside the hood, and the soft tones of Ford singing. Every now and then, I opened my eyes. But the land around us stayed as a desert for easily two hours. I slept off a little more of the pains, bruises, and aches of the last twenty-four hours. Had it really been less than a day since we’d galloped to meet the Jinn and their hyena mounts? My heart was still battered beyond recognition, but even that eased a little. Not gone, just . . . I knew I had to let it go. I had to let Maks go.
But knowing that and doing it were two very different things. And how did I look at Ford and see him grin, or say something that had Maks written all over it?
It felt like weeks had passed, and yet with my eyes closed, I could so easily see him in front of me, his eyes as blue as ever. Pleading with me to stay with him. I opened my eyes and drew a deep breath to banish Maks from my mind.
How do I let you go? I thought to myself. How do I truly say goodbye?
My thoughts scattered and I scrunched my nose up as the first sign of the swamp shot up it. Rotting eggs with a side of overripe compost was the waft of perfume that greeted us first.
Ford and Batman dropped back to ride with us. I peeked out of the hood to see his nose crinkled up and his eyes watering. “Jaysus, that stinks,” he said.
“It’ll only going to get worse, so get used to it,” I said. When I’d ridden in before, we’d had a salve to put under our noses that helped block the smell. Steve, of course, had sent me in first and I’d gladly given him the jewel to carry when we came out. It wasn’t until after that trip that I found out he’d been fucking around on me.
How many jewels had he taken to Ish, letting her believe he was doing all the work? Nearly all of them. Fuck, I’d been a moron. A stupid, stupid girl who had let love blind her. The epiphany hit me like a bolt of lightning. Was I doing it again? Was I letting my love for Maks blind me to the fact that he would crush me and all those I loved if I didn’t hold firm against him? My chest constricted, and I fought to breathe through it.
Another roll of a new stink floated up my nose and I buried my face against the back of Shem’s shirt. Shitty water and decaying plants if what I was picking up was correct. The smells actually made the hairs inside my nose shiver as I fought not to identify them and failed. That was the problem with being in my cat form, I could tell you what was coming our way without much effort. And in this case, I didn’t really want to know. Though it did take my mind off other things.
“The rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril. This is bloody horrible,” I said. Lila circled around my head.
“Oh, good one. And really rather fitting, don’t you think?” She did a lazy loop before she answered. “The Merry Wives of Windsor, I think. Not sure what act though.” She pursed her lips. The smell did not seem to be bothering her as much as Ford and Shem.
Ford leaned to the side as he dry gagged, his whole body heaving. Lila giggled, and I had to admit, it was kinda funny to see such a big strong guy pulled low by a bit of stink.
“Hold it together,” Shem grunted, but I could feel his own body shaking to control a heave.
“It’s better if you breathe deeply,” I said. “Just make the stink part of you.”
Ford heaved harder, the retching of empty gagging making Lila laugh harder. “Oh, he’s got a sensitive tummy, too funny!”
I peered out as Lila swooped by Ford’s head, using her wings to waft the air toward him, and fast as only a cat could be, Ford shot a hand out and snagged the tip of her tail, giving her a quick tug that threw her off balance.
She whipped around, her mouth open and tiny teeth bared at him. “Would thou wouldst burst!” she snapped, her fangs missing his fingers, but only just by a hairsbreadth.
“Don’t laugh at me, scaly one, or I’ll throw you into the first puddle of shitty water I see,” Ford said, and then proceeded to gag again on the last word.
That one stumped me, though, Lila’s quote that was, and I snorted. “Damn, she got me finally.”
“Timon of Athens. I think,” Shem said. Lila tipped her head at him, just a quick acknowledgment.
I smiled as she swung back around Ford for another pass and his hand shot out again, this time missing her.
“They are kinda funny together,” I said.
“You don’t think he’d really hurt her, do you?” Shem asked quietly.
“No, he’s not like that. He’s all bluff. And very good at looking out for the pride, and he listens well. Better than Steve, that’s for fucking sure.”
Shem grunted. “I doubt it’s hard to do anything better than Steve from what you’ve told me.”
That made me smile. “Ford is a good guy. I’m glad we found him. But you found him first, if what he said was the truth.”
Shem adjusted his seat before he spoke. “I did. When I was on my way to the Dragon’s Ground, I stopped at an oasis. He was young. Barely out of his teens. And he was spoiling for a fight. Angry at the world. So it is interesting to me how much he’s grown up.”
I nodded. “Fighting to survive changes you. It highlights either the best of you, or the worst.”
“Sage advice, kitten. I knew you had it in you to be a good alpha.”
My hackles puffed up and I stuck my claws in him again. “Why do you insist on calling me that? It’s fucking derogatory.” I had the urge to bite him every time he used the nickname. It only served to remind me how I’d been thought of my whole life. As small and weaker than all the other lion shifters.
His answer surprised me.
“It’s what your mother called you, her little kitten.” He shrugged, his shoulders rolling under me and my heart thumped painfully at the thought of my mom. “I will do my best to stop if that’s what you truly want.”
“No,” I said quickly, “No, if that’s why . . . then I can live with it. I thought you were being a bastard because of my size.”
He snorted. “Your mother’s size never stopped her from leading the pack, or the pride as was the case. If anything, she fought harder to prove her worth to all those who would spit on her when they thought she wasn’t looking. Neither I nor your father treated her differently for her size. I believe that is why she loved us both.”
I found myself watching Ford. He’d made fun of my size on the first day I met him, and that . . . well, that said it all. I thought back to when Maks first saw me as a cat. He’d been surprised, but he’d never knocked me for it.
Ford struggled to get his heaving under control with little success. He spat to the side, only to start heaving the second he took a deep breath. The smell was bad, I’d give him that, but he was going to be next to useless if he didn’t pull his shit together. And fast.
The swamp rose up directly ahead of us, the stench growing with each step we took, and the details of the trees more visible. They were hung with moss that touched the water in many places and growing, thriving lichen that was slippery as snot on a sheet of ice when it was wet. I’d tried climbing one of them before and hadn’t realized how bad it was until I was flat on my
back and under the filthy water.
I crinkled up my nose. Around the edges of the swamp was a ring of stones partially buried. Fairy stones was what Ishtar had told me before Steve and I had left to retrieve the jewel for her. “Hold,” I said.
Ford pulled Batman to a stop, and Shem had to do nothing as Balder stopped with the sound of my voice.
“What is it?” Ford asked.
Shem said nothing. I stared at the stones. “Are they really fairy stones?” I asked.
“What do you think?” Shem answered with a question, the jerk.
“I wouldn’t have damn well asked if I knew,” I growled.
Lila dropped and landed lightly on Balder’s neck. “Fairy stones?”
“Did they enslave the little people to work for them, is that what you’re asking?” Shem said.
I bobbed my head. “Yeah, I think that’s what I’m asking. Because if that’s the case, then those little fuckers are loose in the swamp now. I’d bet the stone around my neck is what held the fairy folk to the witches.”
Ford circled Batman back around to our other side. “The fairy people are really not nice.”
“That’s the best you got?” Lila shot at him. “Even I know they’re no better free than they are slaves. I ate one once, you know. Tasted awful. Like a giant stink bug.”
“You did?” I couldn’t hold the shock back. The fairy folk were nothing but pure magic from what I understood. I wasn’t even sure that they could be killed. But she’d eaten one, so I supposed that answered that question. “What happened?”
Lila grinned. “That was when I got my acid. And my wings.”
My jaw dropped open. I wasn’t sure if she was teasing or not. “Maybe I need to eat one.” Then I could shift like the rest of my pride, big and powerful.
“I doubt that’s a good idea,” Shem said. “And they won’t be as docile as they were under the hold of the witch clan.”
Oracle’s Haunt: Desert Cursed Series Book 4 Page 8