by Sariah Skye
“We’ll subdue her, take her back home, and give her to Avalon or figure out another way,” Mathias said softly. “Just… don’t. Or if you must, let me.”
I shook my head quickly. “No…” Sighing deeply, I glanced back at Nimue, and down at the sword. I’d only pierced the sword in slightly, little more than the digit of a fingertip, but she was losing blood. Sighing, I willed the sword back into a dagger, and pulled it back.
Mathias encapsulated me into his arms as I held the dagger at my side. I felt a rush of bizarre, conflicting emotions. Regret for not finishing the job, relief that I didn’t do it.
A vial was tossed on the ground; Bash had immobilized the area right under her. “We’ve got this.”
I nodded slowly and glanced up at Mathias’ troubled brown eyes. “I’ve never been so angry…”
“I know, sweetheart. I know…” He spoke softly into my ear.
“Ava!” A weak voice shouted. I craned my head around just in time to watch as Nimue leapt forward, hands outstretched as she dug her nails into my skin and scratched. I cried out in pain.
Mathias swatted a big arm towards her, and the guys moved to react, but she was fast. The blood curled under her scratches and she swiped the vial over it quickly.
“I knew you were weak.” She grinned triumphantly. “Should have killed me.” And in a puff of black haze, she was gone.
I blinked, stunned.
We’d all been fooled. She was just acting subdued. Bash was crestfallen.
“My… potions didn’t work…” he said quietly.
The scratches on my arm pulsed, and I winced as Mathias closed his hand over it to stop the bleeding. “Rhys!” He ordered.
“On it!” With no effort, Rhys’ hands glowed brightly as he hovered them over my arm, the sharp pain subsiding gradually until I let out a breath I didn’t know I was clenching. Mathias released his grip, his hand still full of my blood but the cuts had bound together.
“Thank you,” he said, and Rhys just nodded.
“What the hell just happened?” Xander asked in confusion.
“We were duped. She played on all our weaknesses, all our instincts… and duped us.” Bash said sullenly.
“Hey,” Rhys said, trying to sound cheerful. “Look, we’re all okay, we now know the extent of her abilities—I doubt we could have actually killed her with a simple stab wound, even from Excalibur. We have the stone, we can go home.”
“But she has Ava’s blood.” We swiveled around, Trystan was—still naked of course—walking with a weakened Morgaine towards us. “With that, she can probably summon or start to summon Camelot.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rhys argued. “Because Avalon will protect us. Both the isle, and the woman.” He flashed me a friendly wink.
“Well, now what?” Xander asked grimly.
“Now we go home, lick our wounds and summon the isle… then go to bed,” Mathias said with a wry chuckle.
“And what do we do about her?” Trystan asked with disdain.
“It’s up to Ava,” Mathias instructed.
I sighed. Smearing the blood on my hand off on my leggings, I turned to her. “What… are you doing here? And why?”
Morgaine’s face was emotional. Her lower lip quivered and her eyes watered. “I know you don’t believe me, and I don’t blame you after what I did… but you’re still my daughter and I care about you.”
I frowned. “Yeah, but what are you doing here?”
Morgaine hung her head. “The second the magic was released, and you were all distracted, I went after her that day in Lancelot’s cabin. There was… something about her. Something wrong I just couldn’t place.
“I originally started all this Avalon business, turning you into a vessel in order to one day stop Arthur,” Morgaine said, with a sigh. “I was trying to do the right thing… but I messed up. I didn’t think I’d care about you, and I got power-hungry. In the wrong hands, Avalon is… well… it’s better with you. Ava… I am… sorry. I should have told you from the beginning, and we could have done this together. I just… I don’t know.”
I blew out a breath. “Well,” I said, glancing at each of the battle-weary guys, “she did try to save us. If it weren’t for her…” Needing something to do, I sheathed the dagger and hung my head.
My mother. She hurt me. She betrayed me. But… was there a chance she could be redeemed? Even if not, I didn’t want to kill her. I wanted her punished, and to live out the remainder of her mortal life tucked away. But, not killed.
“Take her home,” I said finally. “Just… make sure she can’t get away.”
“With pleasure.” Bash’s leer was poisonous.
In a show of good faith, my mother held out her wrists. “Do what you must.”
“I need something to bind her,” Bash said. “And for the gods sake, Trystan, put on some fucking pants!”
“Oh. Aye. They’re here somewhere…” He handed Morgaine off to Xander, and both he and Bash subdued her, Bash choosing to use his bandanna from his head.
Trystan found his pants and shirt, strewn about when Nimue blasted us, and put them back on. “Can’t find my sweatshirt. Damn,” he grumbled.
“Where is the stone?” I asked Mathias. “She didn’t—”
Mathias shook his head quickly. “I shoved it in the car first and locked it before she got me. So… hopefully you still have the key.”
“Right.” I shoved my hand down the neckhole of my shirt and rummaged through my bra for it. “Still warm,” I kidded, placing it in his hand. He smiled gently.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Trystan said, and we walked towards the vehicle. “Say, what happened to the police? Didn’t we hear sirens?”
Bash smirked. “Just some confusion potions; they probably drove right through them and forgot what they were doing and turned around. That’s why we were delayed.”
“Nice,” I chuckled.
Morgaine was loaded in first. Rhys said he particularly wanted to keep an eye on her, so we trusted him to watch her. Not that she could really do anything, I didn’t think.
Mathias’ mood was gloom as he turned over the engine, the blood of mine he couldn’t wipe off was still on his hand as he gripped the steering wheel.
“You two should sleep,” Xander said, letting Bash and I get into the center seat first. “You must be tired, and well…” he didn’t have to say it; we’d be up for the Avalon spell next.
The stone was up front with Trystan, and I felt relieved when we finally drove out of the parking lot, and out of town.
I stretched out on the long seat, resting my head against Bash’s side. Xander took my legs on his lap and carefully massaged my tired calf muscles. It wasn’t long before I drifted off uneasily, weirded out from the events that just transpired, and… relieved that we were all still here. Together. I guessed it could be worse.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
No sooner did I close my eyes, did I feel something rumbling me awake again.
“Ughh…staahhhp,” I said, kicking my feet half-heartedly at the offending shaker; whatever it was.
“Ava, dear… we’re here.” Something rough scratched across my arm and I looked down to see Xander with his chin on my arm.
“Huh?” I stretched out my arms sleepily and earned an “ouch!” for my efforts. Groggily, I craned my head upward and noticed I just had inadvertently punched Bash in the cheek, and I quickly sat up as far as I could with Xander’s upper body draped over my bottom half. “Sorry,” I said sheepishly, stroking his red cheek gently with my fingers.
Bash blinked sleepily and grinned lazily. “It’s okay. We can’t be here already? I just fell asleep!”
“No shit.” The vehicle wasn’t moving, and Mathias and Trystan were already filing out.
“You need to hurry,” Morgaine insisted. Wait, Morgaine? Oh yeah, that’s right… she sort of saved my butt a little. “We don’t know how much Nimue needs to resurrect Camelot; she could already be close.”
<
br /> “Stands to reason,” Bash said, groaning and rolling out the crick in his neck, “that if our spell requires three, hers probably does too. If she only has Ava’s… She didn’t get yours, did she, Rhys?”
Rhys shook his head proudly. “Nope!” Bash appeared relieved.
“It’s likely she has Lancelot’s as well,” I said dryly. “He’s been captive for… well…”
Morgaine gasped. I balked, to see genuine concern in her eyes. “He… is captive?”
I frowned. “Scheduled to be executed in two weeks.”
“Oh no…” her gaze tracked downward. “Why two weeks?”
I shrugged. “I’m sure there’s a reason.”
“Enough time to lure us there,” Xander offered bitterly. He probably wasn’t wrong.
“Let’s go, Morgaine,” Rhys commanded, gripping her by the arms and pushing her out of the vehicle.
“Wait,” I called after her, and Rhys and Morgaine paused. “If you’ve been following her, do you know what happened to all those people? Did she use them or—?”
“She fed off on their energy and tried to keep them hostage, but I managed to release them. They’re probably around here somewhere, but really confused,” Morgaine explained. “They’ll probably turn up in a day or so. I hope.”
I gave a questioning look at Rhys, who just nodded. If he believed her, that would work for me.
Xander took my hand and helped me out of the vehicle, and Bash jumped out behind me. It was pitch black outside; we’d forgotten to turn on the yard lights before we left. Rhys summoned a ball of light in his hand and tossed it up over our heads a ways.
The sky was overcast, and the wind was still. Given everything that we had gone through tonight, it was more than a little eerie.
“So now, what do we do?” I asked, as we milled hesitantly about the driveway.
“We summon the damn isle, that’s what we do, and go to bed,” Bash said. “I’m fucking tired.”
I nodded in agreement, then I chuckled. “Oh, no big deal. Just tear a hole through time and space and summon an entire new piece of land. Then just go to sleep, no big deal.”
Bash chuckled dryly. “Sounds like something the Doctor would say.”
Cocking a brow, I asked, “Doctor who?”
“Exactly,” he said with a wink. I just shook my head. Nerds.
Mathias carried the stone past the house, and I nudged Bash and Xander and we followed, just passed the barn. “Are you sure we have enough room for this? What is it going to do to the animals? The house?”
“It should just combine with the area; it’ll be like a Wild/Avalon combination,” Rhys said. “It won’t destroy anything like Camelot would; it works with the land.”
Mathias grumbled, setting the stone onto the ground. “Right, right. Makes total sense…”
“Out of curiosity, is the spell for Camelot on here too?” I trotted over to the stone and waved my hand over it. “Hey, stone. Show me to spell to resurrect Camelot.”
The stone darkened and rumbled, like it was angry. I sighed.
“By the gods, a moody stone,” Trystan said, clicking his tongue.
“We’re only curious, we don’t actually want to do it,” I said, and the stone faded and turned into a dull gold.
“What does it say?” Bash said, placing a hand on the small of my back and looking over my shoulder.
“Basically… if I’m reading this correctly, Camelot cannot be summoned without Avalon; it upsets the balance. There are… ways but they’re nefarious and not suggested,” I said ominously. “Once Avalon is resurrected, a portal should appear to the kingdom, but only the worthy may pass through.”
“More cryptic bullshit. Great,” Xander said with a sneer.
“So, we don’t really know how close Nimue is then,” Bash said, crestfallen.
“Not necessarily. Sebastian—” my mother spoke, but he flashed her a death gaze, “—Bash was probably on the right track. When I…” she cleared her throat uncomfortably, “…when I summoned the demons to construct the incubus seduction spell, there was always a number of us willing participants required. And, something of this demonic nature is going to require a lot of…”
“A lot of what? Blood? Souls?” Xander inquired.
Morgaine frowned. “Yeah, probably. In order to enact the spell, I had to summon an actual incubus from the Underrealms, take his life, and combine his blood and ash with a great number of other ingredients. A dragon’s scale. A fae’s broken wing. Things like that.”
I shuddered. “They’ve been planning this for a long time.”
“Which is why time is of the essence.” Link emerged from the darkness and joined us. He tossed a scathing look at Morgaine, who just hung her head. “I won’t ask.”
“You probably already know anyway,” Mathias said.
Link shrugged. He pulled a vial out of his pocket. “I can take her if you’d like, Merlin needs to be free for this, obviously.”
Reluctantly, with a leer, Rhys entrusted the bitch witch in Link’s “care”. He tossed a vial at her feet that appeared to lull her to sleep. “To keep her out of the way. She’s escaped too many times; this won’t let her go anywhere this time.”
I sighed, glancing at Rhys and Bash. “Are we ready to do this?” I asked them.
“No, but let’s do it anyway,” Bash said. “Ava, I’ve never really felt your magic before. When you… have it what does it feel like?”
“It’s… well,” I felt my cheeks flush. “The Avalon stuff comes with a surge of, uh—”
“—lust. You’re going to feel horny as hell, see?” Rhys supplied, and I nodded in confirmation.
“Yeah, that. But there’s also this… beat in the back of my mind. Reminds me of the witches, it’s hard to explain,” I said carefully. “That probably makes no sense.”
“Actually… it does a bit. So, lust and a drum. Great. Got it.” Bash blew out a tense breath.
“Not only that,” Rhys said, “since Avalon is based on love and seduction magic, we are going to feel a rush of desire unlike we’ve ever felt. With luck, yours will be concentrated on each other,” he said, wiggling a brow. “Mine won’t have any target, except maybe you, Trystan.” He blew the eagle shifter a kiss.
“Stars above…” Trystan grimaced and shook his head.
“What can we do? Anything?” Mathias asked.
“Just be here.”
“Right.”
“Okay then. Stone, show me the spell to summon Avalon,” I commanded it, and it twisted and morphed into it’s beautiful golden state. “Man that’s quite a spell.”
“It is,” Rhys agreed. “I orchestrated the bones of it but didn’t actually implement it. It was the witches that lived here before. The ones that turned against Morgaine to preserve Igraine’s rule. They sacrificed themselves for this magic. We… should be humbled.”
Biting my lip, I nodded. Sighing with determination, I read the spell again. “‘To summon the isle you will need, life force and blood of loyal three.” I chuckled. “Okay well, blood is easy but what the hell is a life force, other than what—you guys all would like…make a…mess with? You know, to make life?”
“I’m not sure how it applies in this instance,” Bash said gently stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Without actually…”
“Screwing?” I offered, feigning an innocent smile.
He grinned playfully. “Yeah, that.”
“I am not fucking Rhys, that just isn’t happening!” I declared loudly. “Sorry, Rhys.”
He shrugged indifferently. “You’re not my type. I prefer to, you know, play the field.”
“Blood is a life force, shouldn’t that be enough? You can’t live without blood.” Mathias suggested, and I huffed in frustration.
Bash snapped his fingers. “So simple. Breath. What else besides blood do you need to survive?”
“Fucking genius,” I said, with a wide smile, lightly slapping his bicep.
“It wasn’t that hard,”
he said, quietly modest but he still grinned with satisfaction.
“No but it’s about to be,” Rhys quipped, and I shook my head; Bash appeared momentarily horrified.
“Don’t scare him, dammit.” He chuckled evilly.
“So, what then, we… breathe on the stone, or the land?” I asked.
“I am not sure it matters.” Bash glanced between Rhys and me. “Are we ready for this?”
“Trystan, maybe you should make like a bird and do surveillance, make sure nothing happens,” Xander suggested.
“Och, no way. I’m not going anywhere!” Trystan crossed his arms over his chest and stomped petulantly. “Nope. I love the animals, but Ava—” he cut himself off, blushing profusely. “Rhys says they’ll be fine, and I’ll trust him… because if not I’ll tear his head off and shove it up his arse.”
Rhys didn’t even balk. “I’m okay with that.”
“Fine, be ready just in case though,” Mathias urged, and Trystan nodded in agreement.
“Right. So… do we bleed or breathe first?” I asked, drawing the Excalibur dagger from its holster.
“How about both?” Bash shrugged.
“‘Kay.”
“Remember, once you start this, you cannot stop. If you do… well…” Rhys said darkly.
“We got it. Whenever you’re ready, babe.” Bash brushed his hand over my forearm, giving me an encouraging smile.
Briefly I glanced at each of the guys. Mathias, Trystan, and Xander were stone faced, but their eyes told another story of fear and trepidation. “We’ll be all right, promise,” I said, trying to flash them my most honest smile. Xander was first to pull me under his shoulder, kissing the top of my head. He leaned over and whispered into my ear. “I love you, my dearest one… you can do it.”
I smiled gratefully at him, and he moved to offer Bash his own hug—a manly, back-clapping kind of course, but still a hug nonetheless.
Mathias encompassed me next, lifting me into the air briefly before squeezing me into the wide expanse of his chest. “I don’t care what anyone says, if you guys are hurting, I’ll stop the spell. To hell with the world, we’ll find another safe spot and leave. Fate owes us that much.” He brushed his lips across mine, soft like a whisper and set me down.