by Priya Ardis
Sylvia bowed her head. “The night your father died… everything changed. The family has run the bank for centuries. I never knew until then that its main commodity was…”
“Magic,” Matt finished for her.
Grey jumped up. “Do you know how crazy you sound?”
Matt pointed to the TV. The jagged black Stone half the size of a semi-truck took up most of the screen. “What about that? Is it real?”
“I. Don’t. Care,” Grey said.
Matt made an impatient sound. “Haven’t you ever wondered why you’ve succeeded in every sport you’ve tried? You have incredible reflexes—almost as if you see the action before it happens. It is because you are a candidate.”
Grey scowled. “I’m not anything to you.”
“Our race is called Keltoi. Some called themselves druids. Not Merlin, but a fringe group of wizards. Mostly we were just like everyone else—struggling to survive. Except we had one advantage, we could control the natural elements. Magic as you would call it. During Arthur’s time, the Keltoi were quite numerous, but everything changed after the Battle at Mt. Camlan.” A shadow crossed over Matt’s face. “When Arthur died at Mt. Camlan, the age of wizards and man living together passed. Eventually the wizards formed their own society away from those they called the Regulars. It was at the same time that the Gargoyles disappeared. Both races have been blending into the background of civilization for millennia.”
The large windows in the living room showed swaying trees hovering like gargantuan guardians over the house. I didn’t want to ask, but I did anyway.
“Why did the Sword appear now?” I said.
“Something very bad is coming—”
I knew Matt well enough to read a lie on him. “You don’t know.”
His lips twisted. “It doesn’t matter. The Gargoyles want it. And they are willing to kill whoever stands in the way.”
Sylvia hugged herself. “The Gargoyles wouldn’t do this. They have no magic except…”
Matt pinned her with a derisive look. “Except what merchants sell to them. The Gargoyles have been amassing power without us even knowing it. We are at war and because of you we’re losing.”
Sylvia lowered her eyes. “The Council never stopped me.”
“The Council has been short-sighted. They don’t want to take up the problem of regulating the sale of magic. I’m trying to change that.”
“Mom, you’re a banker,” Grey said. “Magic is not real!”
Matt flicked his hand. The whole sofa floated up a few inches. Grey jumped up as if he’d been sitting on a bed of lava. He leapt across it at Matt. His agility impressed me. Grey hadn’t become a jock by accident.
Before Grey reached him, Matt flicked his hand in the air again. Grey flew back. His shoulders hit the wall with forceful thud. This time, Grey got up much more slowly.
I stepped in between them and faced down Matt. “You’ve proven your point.”
“I wanted to show him what would happen if a gargoyle came bursting through the door right now.” Matt locked eyes with Grey. “Believe me, it would be the last thing you’d ever see. You’re no more than a pup—one easily culled.”
Grey’s nostrils flared like a bull about to charge.
Marla burst into the room. “You need to see this.”
She hit the volume button on the remote. The clipped voice of the bubbly reporter blared through the flat screen. Yet, this time her face was a mask of sorrow. “This just in—we have had a death in Trafalgar Square. Twenty-five year old Gianni Russo traveled to London from Venice, Italy to try his hand at the legendary sword. But he will never return home again.” A scene of medical vans and police in the square filled the screen.
The reporter continued, “At approximately, nine-thirty this morning his turn at the sword came up. He stepped up onto the rock and touched the hilt of the sword. Those in the line behind him said nothing happened. He stepped off the rock and was on his way out of the square.”
The camera panned to the reporter when another man says he saw him clutch his arm. The next thing anyone knew, Gianni Russo had collapsed.” The camera panned to bring the reporter and a middle-aged man in focus.
The reporter stuck a microphone in the man’s face. “Can you tell us what you saw next?”
“He was there at the edge of the Square.” The man pointed to where police had set up ropes to funnel an exit out of Trafalgar Square. “Almost out. Then, he gripped his arm tight. Next thing I saw him fall to the ground.”
“Thank you, sir,” the reporter said. The camera panned back on him. “We don’t have confirmation yet, it appears to be a heart attack. However, relatives who’d come on the trip with Gianni Russo said he’d been in perfect health—”
Sylvia muted the TV. “Gianni was a candidate?”
“Yes,” said Matt. “There is risk in trying for the Sword.”
I rose up. “And you want Grey to do this?”
“Yes.” Matt pointed at the long line of people on TV who surrounded the Stone. “We must find the sword-bearer. Imagine the power it gave to King Arthur. With it, he reshaped the world. We must make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Why do think the Gargoyles sent the dragon? To wipe out any candidate that is not theirs.”
“How do you even know Grey’s a candidate?” I demanded. “Who says so?”
“I do.” Matt’s crystal-hard gaze locked with mine. “I am the one person in the world who can seek out candidates and I am not wrong. I have foreseen it.”
“You are a seer.” Sylvia looked at him with an awed expression. “There has only ever been one with name the Emrys. You are his descendant?”
I frowned. “What is a seer?”
Matt’s lips twisted into a grimace. “I see the future.”
***
I rested my elbows against the ledge of the balcony outside my room and tried to breathe. In the middle of the driveway, under the artificial light of the driveway lamp, sat the dry carcass of the fountain. Half of an ugly stone creature stared up at me. A wrinkled forehead, a dog’s face, outstretched wings—it was a gargoyle, I realized.
The front door flew open below me. Russet-brown strands of Matt’s hair gleamed in the sun as he hurried to his bike. Despite myself, my chest gave an odd squeeze at the sight of him. As if he could read my thoughts, his head snapped up. I stepped back into the shadows of the balcony hoping he wouldn’t spot me.
“Ryan.” Matt stood on the ledge of the balcony.
My mouth opened and closed. Against the backdrop of the sinking sky, his silhouette seemed to be surrounded by faint blue glow.
I said inanely, “How did you do that?”
Matt raised an amused brow. “I am a wizard.”
“Great. Why don’t you wizard yourself back down?”
Matt jumped off the ledge and onto the balcony. “I know you’re upset.”
“That doesn’t begin to cover it.” I stepped back further into the shadows.
He inclined his head. “Are you hiding from me?”
I didn’t answer.
“Why are you out here?”
I hugged my arms to myself. “I couldn’t sleep. I keep thinking about—” I said in a rush, “The dragon. It’s like it lives behind my eyelids. Just waiting for me to fall asleep.”
In a blink, Matt had his arms around me. He pulled me tight against him. Warmth surrounded me pushing out the bitter chill. For a second I let it seep into my frigid bones. I let it drip inside me, a lifeline from the icy abyss that threatened to swallow me from within.
“You’ll be okay,” he murmured into my ear. “You’re not alone.”
I pulled away from him. “I am alone, Matt. Because of you. I lost my sister. You’re trying to take my brother. Tell me, Matt. How am I not alone?”
Whirling away from him, I stomped to the door back into my room.
“Just leave me alone.”
“I can’t.” The words seemed like almost a sigh.
My heart stilled a
nd then restarted. The guy was a lying liar. Lying liar? Even in my head I sounded like a baby.
I burst out, “You used me to get to Grey.”
“Yes,” he replied without apology.
There was a pause. A long one. I was the first one to break. I turned my head to look at him. “So what’s left to say?”
Matt got up. Heat radiated off his body. His gaze caressed my face. “I need you—”
I cocked a brow. “You’re looking to hook up?”
He chuckled. “Not exactly.”
“I need you, Ryan,” he said softly. “You’re a candidate too.”
CHAPTER 4
A NEW ROAD
My jaw dropped open. “What?”
Matt said bluntly, “I had hoped never to tell you.”
“You said every candidate needed to come forward.”
“There has never been a female candidate chosen before this ascension.”
I gaped at him. “I’m excused because I’m a girl? What kind of ass-backwards thinking is that?”
Matt gave me an affronted look. “We haven’t had an ascension since Arthur’s time. Things were a little different back then. I’m only trying to protect you—”
“I’m the only one—the only girl?”
Matt ground his teeth. “No, we have identified others.”
“Did you tell the others?”
“No. Not yet.”
My eyes narrowed. “Did you plan to tell the others?”
Matt’s cheeks turned a guilty red.
“Why not me?” I demanded.
“You’re just so… nice,” he muttered.
I sighed. Sometimes I really hated being a blond. They all thought I could do nothing.
“Are these gargoyles are going to stop coming after me because I’m a girl? When were you going to tell me that I was putting everyone around me in danger?” I took a step toward him with murderous intent.
“You need time to absorb this.” He backed up all the way to the ledge and jumped off the balcony.
I couldn’t help it. I ran to where he’d jumped off half expecting him to be splattered on the ground. He’d landed nimbly on his feet. He looked up, saw me, and grinned.
My heart did a yo-yo.
I stuck out my hand and flipped him off.
***
The house sat silent in pitch dark. I lay awake. The bedroom doorknob turned. I sat up.
Matt burst into the room, stopped midstride, and gaped at me.
I only had on a skimpy nude camisole. And one side had slipped down to expose most of my cleavage. I snatched up the bedsheets.
Matt colored. “They are coming.”
I flew out of bed. Going to the window, I threw aside the curtain and heard… crickets. Nothing moved in the early morning light. The driveway stood completely empty.
“I don’t see anything.” I frowned.
Matt tapped his forehead. “I do. I just saw it.”
I touched the windowpane. The glass was a sheet of ice. I shivered and turned back to look at Matt. His gaze fell on me and lingered. I shivered again, but this time it had nothing to do with the cold. Matt adroitly turned away, only to meet my gaze through the reflection of a dresser mirror next to my bed.
Light glinted off the gold-brown strands of my hair. Bits of refracted green shone from the pendant necklace I wore.
“Your necklace is broken,” he commented.
I touched the chain around my neck. I moved closer to stand behind him and look into the mirror. The green emerald pendant had a deep crack going through it.
“The dragon must have broken during the fight,” I murmured, “ Guess it wasn’t real.”
“It compliments your eyes,” he said. “How did you get it?”
“Sylvia. She said it used to be my mother’s. They’d traded it long ago. But she said that I needed the charm now more than her.”
“Charm? I imagine so.” Matt let out a small cry and clutched his forehead. His eyes pinched shut. His face twisted in pain.
I put a hand on the broad expanse of his back. “Matt?!”
Instantly Matt’s face smoothed. He shook my hand off. His eyes opened and fixed on my skimpy top. He made a strangled sound. “Do you think you can put on some clothes?”
In the mirror, I saw my cheeks turn red. He looked big and hulking behind me. His eyes still dark with pain and… something else that I didn’t trust myself to identify. Next to him, I looked more waif than woman. But the intense way he stared at my reflection made me want less clothes, not more.
I hid a smile and went to my closet. The custom walk-in closet Sylvia had built for me—no small feat in a hundred year old manor. I eyed the shelves crammed with clothes. I admit I might have let Sylvia spoil me just a bit. Okay, maybe a lot.
I grabbed a pair of corduroys and a long-sleeved shirt. I pulled on the clothes and picked up some boots. As I came out of the closet, I asked, “What did you see?”
The relieved expression he’d gotten after seeing me dressed disappeared.
“W-what do you mean?”
I gave him a suspicious look. Had he been peeking? “You had a vision, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yes,” he said, with a quick grin. He leaned back on the dresser.
“And you saw?” I prompted.
His expression closed. “It’s better you don’t know. The things I see… aren’t always understandable.”
“Have you ever been wrong?”
“It’s possible, I suppose. But, no, I’ve never been wrong.”
I crossed to him. “That doesn’t sound bearable.”
He glanced at the window. “Sometimes it’s a relief when it finally does happen. Until then I alone have to live with it in my head.” His expression became bleak. “If the gargoyles get what they want, Ryan, if they get the Sword… what they can do to the world is unimaginable.”
I stilled. “Try me.”
“Worse than World War Three. Worse than a thousand Hiroshimas. It will be the end.”
I blinked. “Even if I believe you that the Sword is that powerful, why would they do that? Why would anyone?”
“They won’t mean to. But it will be their fate. If they get the Sword, they will have no one to guide them. No one—”
“Like you,” I said shrewdly. “Merlin complex much?”
“I admit I may sound a bit dramatic.” Matt smiled. As if he couldn’t help it, his hand reached out to brush across my hair. My breathing hitched.
Time seemed to stand still for a long moment as we stood in the warm confines of my bedroom. For a second, I could forget everything and he was just… Matt. The boy from school.
He pulled me closer. His hand tightened in my hair.
Sirens began blaring all over the house.
CHAPTER 5
ENEMY MINE
Matt and I ran out into the hall.
Grey burst out of his room in sweatpants. His hair stuck to one side of his face. “What’s going on?”
Marla came out of her room. “What eez happening?”
Sylvia marched down the hallway. “It’s the perimeter alarm—the magical one. We’ve got maybe ten minutes until they reach the house.”
Matt’s phone beeped. He pulled it out. “It’s a text from the other candidates. They are coming down the lane. But the gargoyles are not far behind by what I have seen in my vision. We’re going to need decoys.” He looked at Sylvia. “We’re going to need your cars.”
Sylvia nodded. “This way.”
***
Marla flipped on the lights as we entered the long garage. In the three-car space, there stood a silver Mercedes, Sylvia’s car, and a nondescript SUV, the family’s spare car. Sylvia crossed to the closed fourth garage and pushed a button on a separating column in between. A steel partition opened. Instead of Marla’s small import, a big black Land Rover waited silently.
Sylvia turned to me. “I was saving it for Christmas.”
“I don’t know what to say.” In a few strides, I cr
ossed to her and hugged the taller woman close. “Thank you.”
“At least I got a chance to show it to you,” Sylvia sniffed into my hair. “A-Alexa wanted to be the one to give you the keys.”
Grey slipped the keys from Sylvia’s fingers and tossed it in a wide arc to Matt. “You can take it and the SUV. We’ll go in the Mercedes.”
A brief wind dropped the keys into Matt’s hands.
“Cheater,” Grey muttered under his breath.
“Ryan is coming with me,” said Matt. “She’s also a candidate.”
Grey balked. “What?”
“What?” Sylvia echoed.
Matt opened the garage doors. Outside stood a line of six black SUVs. In front of the cars, a group of about twenty or so men had gathered. Half of them looked to be boys ranging between sixteen to twenty years old. The other half of the group was older.
“The other candidates,” Matt waved at them. “And their wizard guardians.”
Matt turned to a craggy-faced older man. “Where are the other three cars?”
“The ones from the South were… found,” he said grimly. “No doubt it’ll be a blip in a local news report. They have gotten clever at hiding their tracks.”
Thinking of the shadow-dragon’s destruction, I muttered, “Sometimes.”
“I am Oliver.” A cute boy wearing a wristband stepped forward with an easy smile. “And this is my guardian, Clarence.”
The older craggy-faced man nodded at us. “I’m afraid we may have been followed.”
“I know. I had a vision,” Matt replied grimly. “We don’t have much time. Split the candidates up between the two jeeps in the garage and the first three of our cars. I want two guardians in each. The remaining guardians will take our other jeeps and try to lead the gargoyles away. Save space for me in the Land Rover.” He glanced at me and Grey. “As well as two others.”
Grey opened his mouth to protest.
“Paul’s father asked that you call him after we reached here,” another guardian said.
“All of the parents have asked for you specifically,” Clarence interjected.
Matt nodded. “Of course. I’ll call them from the road—”