Harley Merlin 16: Finch Merlin and the Blood Tie

by Forrest, Bella

  Twenty-Five

  Finch

  He wants to just… let it all go? No matter how bad things had gotten over the years, the idea of being magicless had never been on my radar. Not even once. If anything, I’d had nightmares about waking up and finding that I didn’t have Chaos anymore. Hell, when my mother had stolen it from us, I’d fought like a demon to get it back.

  Nash kept waiting for an answer, but I couldn’t give him one. All this crazy stuff with Ovid and Kaya must’ve loosened a screw in his head. That was the only explanation for this mad decision. I couldn’t even begin to picture life without Chaos. With the exception of Ryann and Harley, magic was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Sure, it had its issues. But had I been born magicless, I’d have been much worse off. Admittedly, being part of a cult and the sidekick to an evil fruitcake weren’t great things to put on a resume, but I’d come out the other side a better person. I owed that to Chaos, for bringing my sister and me together, and giving us the power to take Katherine down. It was the whole reason I could be the Finch I was now. But I’m not Nash. When we found him, he’d been happy as a clam in his isolated cabin in the middle of nowhere. A content little hermit, with his pup and his knives. He might as well have been magicless then. Aside from his knifework and some concealment spells, it hadn’t looked like he used any at all. We were the ones who’d invaded his solitude, and I was the one who’d gotten him into this mess. And really, what was the difference between this request and poisoning his blood, reducing his lifespan to keep hunters at bay? At least this wouldn’t kill him, like the self-inflicted curse would.

  He’d gone to such extremes to keep from being someone’s blood bag. If we hadn’t turned up at his cabin, he’d have died within a year. We’d saved him from that, but we’d done it by putting him back in the line of fire. Ovid had already drawn blood from him, and we all knew he’d be back for more. Maybe Nash’s request wasn’t insane in the grand scheme of things. Maybe he was better off living a simple, magicless life after nearly forty years of running and fighting. What would I feel at almost forty if the years between now and then were filled with turmoil and danger and relentless pursuit? I didn’t have a crystal ball.

  But even if I could get on board with Nash’s plea, there was one thing that worried me.

  “What would happen to Huntress if you gave up your magic?” I asked. “Would you lose your ability to communicate? Would it sever the bond between you guys?”

  Nash hung his head, his shoulders sagging. “I honestly don’t know. When Katherine took everyone’s Chaos away, not much changed between Huntress and me. Maybe because she’s technically got the same sort of magic in her that a Purge beast does, so it didn’t affect her much.”

  “Wait. She has her own magic?” I hadn’t realized that.

  Melody chimed in. “Magic is a gift given to a Familiar when the soul bond is forged. It’s not as much as a Purge beast, as they are made of raw Chaos, but Familiars do have some. They are imbued with Chaos during the soul-binding spell, and it becomes a part of them, granting them a separate source of Chaos from their magical. So in essence, Huntress is a magical in her own right.”

  Understanding dawned. “And since she had her own Chaos source, when Katherine took Chaos away, it didn’t touch her. The way it didn’t touch the Purge beasts from the Bestiary.”

  “Exactly,” Melody confirmed. “As for how it might affect Huntress in the long term, I have no idea. However, I’d be happy to search my mind palace for any information I can find about it.”

  He didn’t look up, his hands rubbing the back of his neck. “I’d appreciate that. I don’t want to do anything that causes her pain or takes away what I gave her. And I don’t know if I could handle not being able to hear her voice anymore. I’d suffer for the rest of my life if giving it up meant she’d be hurt or silenced.”

  Huntress sat up and tilted her head, a low whine emitting from the back of her throat. She padded over and laid her head in Nash’s lap, and he immediately buried his face in her fluff. I wondered what they said to each other with no one else to hear. Her whine sounded sad but not upset or disappointed. I didn’t speak dog, but it sounded like she understood. After so many years together, I doubted anything would be able to separate them.

  For a lengthy ten minutes, we waited while Melody searched her mind palace. I’d have to answer Nash eventually, one way or the other. At least those ten minutes gave me time to think. Part of me understood where Nash was coming from. He’d had enough. He’d already had enough when we first met him. And magicless didn’t mean dead, like his last attempt. I just had to look at Ryann to know that a person could still have a great life, even if they didn’t have Chaos. She was also living proof that being magicless didn’t mean someone had to be separate from the magical world. That would be up to Nash if we managed to get out of here.

  And our chances of getting out increase if Melody can find a spell that combines what I have and what Nash wants to give. I turned my head toward the prison interior, where guards stood, bored out of their minds, at their posts. All was quiet. But how long would that last?

  “I guess if we did this, and Ovid didn’t know that I’ve got your Sanguine abilities, that could buy us some time. It might mess with his plan, too,” I speculated aloud. “He might come to take more from you, Nash, thinking it’s the magic stuff. But if he tries to use it in the spell, it could be enough to keep Atlantis down here a while longer.”

  Nash mustered a ghost of a smile. “That’s what I was thinking.”

  “Okay… I have information.” Melody opened her eyes, her cheeks a little flushed from the exertion. “As far as I can tell, giving up your Chaos won’t affect Huntress whatsoever. You are bound by soul magic, which outlasts everything else. Giving up your Chaos can’t take that away. As for the telepathic connection you have—same goes. As long as Huntress is alive, that is.”

  Nash’s eyes swam with gratitude as he clutched Huntress tighter. “She won’t be in any pain?”

  “It’s your magic that you’re giving up, not hers. She has her own Chaos source. She shouldn’t feel any effects whatsoever.” Melody put her hand on Nash’s shoulder. “However, there is one snag.”

  Ah… there’s always one. I still couldn’t believe he was considering this. Perhaps this snag would prevent it. Then he’d have more time to think things through. Or maybe I was just being naïve. Nash wasn’t a fool, and he definitely wasn’t rash. He’d have already thought about this long and hard before mentioning it to me.

  “What is it?” Nash’s face fell, no doubt fearing the worst. A rare ingredient that couldn’t be replaced with his blood, an exception to the soul magic rule, or some kind of sacrifice that he wouldn’t be able to offer. Chaos could be a tricky customer, always asking a high price for personal reward.

  “Well, considering that only Gaia has permission to give and take Chaos, unless you go to Chaos himself… we’re going to need Gaia. As you know, Children of Chaos aren’t really allowed down here in Atlantis unless they steal a human form.” Melody gave Nash’s shoulder an apologetic squeeze. But there wasn’t any need to apologize just yet. I knew something they didn’t, something that Melody hadn’t known to look for.

  “She doesn’t have to come here. We can go to her.” I leaned forward, keeping my voice down.

  Nash frowned. “A nice idea, Finch, but we’re stuck in a prison cell.”

  “Our bodies are, but our minds can go wherever the hell we want.” I tapped my temple. “Gaia will be in her otherworld, being the sensible daughter. If we sink into a state of Euphoria, we’ll be able to reach her there. My sister did it before, so I know it’s possible. Gaia wouldn’t even have to set foot in Atlantis—she could make the transference from the comfort of her otherworld.”

  Melody yelped with excitement. “You really are a genius! That just might work, and we even have an express route to Gaia. Euphoria of that intensity would take a long time to manifest, but if we can get Ryann to
coax Lux out, then she could provide a sort of jumpstart, to get you to her cosmic sister in double time.”

  Nash glanced at me. “Does this mean you’re agreeing to take my abilities?”

  “Till death do us part.” I tried to bring some levity, though my heart felt heavy. I hated that the magical world had brought Nash to this point. I hated that they’d made him despise his gift so much that he couldn’t think of it as anything but a curse. But who was I to tell him that he had to keep it if he didn’t want it anymore? I was a bit nervous about what adding abilities would do to my balance. Lux had warned us about disturbing the equilibrium, but perhaps Gaia would be able to handle that. I supposed we’d find out once we met with her.

  “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Melody gave Nash a solemn look.

  He nodded. “I’m ready. Been ready for a long time.” He scratched the spot between Huntress’s ears, and she peered up at him with sad blue eyes. “As long as this won’t do anything to her, I’ve got no reason to hold off anymore.”

  “Then we should see if we can wake the sleeping Child.” Melody led the way to where Ryann slept. This would be the easy part.

  I shook her gently until her eyes blinked open. “Finch?” Her gaze turned to the other two. “Is something wrong? I don’t remember falling asleep. How long was I out?”

  “An hour or so.” I smiled and helped her into a sitting position. “Nothing is wrong, but we need you to help us with something.”

  “Oh?” She rubbed her sleepy eyes, looking cuter than I’d ever seen her. Like a little hamster poking out of a pile of cotton balls. “Why do I get the feeling I won’t like it?”

  Nash took over, kneeling in front of her. “I need you to try and wake Lux. We’ve got a task for her.”

  “Task? What task?” Ryann glanced at me, but I let Nash explain. This was his rodeo, after all. I was just along for the ride, offering up my body as a vessel for his unwanted goods.

  “I’m going to surrender my Chaos and give it to Finch. Gaia is the only one who can make that exchange happen, and we don’t have the time to delve into Euphoric states. She needs to… zap us to Gaia’s otherworld, for lack of a better word.” Nash attempted a reassuring smile.

  Her eyes widened. “You’re giving up your Chaos? Why would you do that?” As the only magicless one in our group, I knew she sometimes felt inferior, or that she wasn’t as strong as we were. She’d shown that wasn’t the case, and that a magicless mind could be just as useful as any sparkly spell, but I sensed that she still would’ve taken the gift of Chaos if it had been offered to her.

  “I’m tired of running, and I’m tired of being nothing more than an ingredient.” Nash kept his voice calm and soothing. “But I also believe that this might help us get out of here. If Ovid comes and takes more blood from me, with my Sanguine abilities gone, it’ll ruin the rising spell. Plus, Finch is already powerful. Add more power to that, and we might have enough to crack this egg wide open.”

  “How long have you been talking about this?” She wrapped her arms around her knees. “This seems so sudden.”

  “I think it’s something that Nash has had on his mind since we met him.” Melody gazed at our surrogate dad, her face showing a mix of conflicted emotions. She understood. I understood. But that didn’t mean we liked why he was doing this—a lifetime and more of being pushed to the brink. As someone born of two Atlantean bloodlines, his entire lineage was riddled with persecution. Ironically, it was in his very blood.

  Ryann stared at the peaks of her knees. “You’re really set on this, Nash?”

  “I am.” He gave a small nod.

  “I guess magic isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be, huh?” I could tell she was trying to understand his point of view, the way Melody and I had done. She’d been a spectator to the dangers and challenges of Chaos without ever knowing what it felt like to have it. In a way, that probably made her a more objective spectator.

  “There’s beauty in it, but it can be ugly,” Nash confirmed. “I’ve only seen the ugly side for so many years, and I can’t keep slogging through, not if someone else would benefit more from my abilities. As long as I’ve got Huntress, I don’t think I’ll even miss them.”

  Ryann hesitated. “You’re one hundred percent sure?”

  “I have no doubt in my mind.” He smiled wider. “People see freedom in a lot of ways. Getting rid of this curse will be mine.”

  “Will it hurt Finch?” She eyed me nervously.

  Melody put a hand on Ryann’s shoulder. “It’s an exchange, like using an Ephemera. It won’t hurt him.”

  “Will it… change him?” She shifted uncomfortably. “Lux warned me about what would happen if his balance got messed with. She spoke of catastrophic consequences. What if this triggers something?”

  I managed a faint laugh. “Worse than a maniac trying to raise Atlantis and take over the world? Although, I can’t figure out if Ovid is Pinky or The Brain. Given the ego, I’m going for The Brain. I doubt Ovid’s head could even fit through his throne room door anymore.”

  Ryann didn’t smile. “Be serious. What if there are side effects?”

  “Gaia’s an old pal of mine, though I can’t quite scrape my last memory of her out of my head.” I shuddered at the image of a buck-naked imitation of my sister, with her long red hair thankfully covering her dignity. “She’s got just as much reason to keep the balance as Lux does. If it won’t work, she’ll just send us back with our tails between our legs. No offense, Huntress.”

  The pup rolled her eyes.

  “Okay… if you’re confident, then I’ll do what I can to help. But don’t get your hopes up. Lux hasn’t been responsive since the throne room.” Ryann still didn’t seem sure about the whole thing, but we’d put potential freedom and the safety of the surface world on the table. She couldn’t turn her back on that.

  She closed her eyes and sat back against the cell wall. A few minutes later, her eyeballs flickered beneath her lids, her mouth twitching slightly, as if she were having a silent conversation. The rest of us watched her, holding our collective breath. Would Lux come out to play? Or had she gone right under, stubbornly staying there, since her husband had vamoosed?

  Her eyes shot open, glinting with white light. “Is this true?” Lux jumped right in, her attention fixed on Nash. “You want to surrender your Chaos to Finch?”

  “It is.” Nash held her gaze, not intimidated whatsoever. The man in plaid feared nothing except his blood. And rightly so, since that could kill him, whereas Lux couldn’t.

  “Such occurrences happen so rarely.” Lux smirked. “My sister will be most intrigued by this. In truth, I myself would not have expected a magical to relinquish a gift of such magnitude.”

  Nash shrugged. “Then you don’t know me.”

  “No, I suppose not.” Lux chuckled strangely, a high-pitched, awkward sound. “And you are certain that Finch is to be the recipient?”

  “Yes.” Nash didn’t elaborate.

  “It won’t tip any cosmic scales or anything, will it?” I asked the question I knew Ryann wanted the answer to, though she’d probably already asked herself.

  Lux flexed her fingers, like she was getting ready to lift weights. “Not in the slightest. Sanguine abilities are not dictated by Light or Dark affinities. And given your Merlin status, these new Sanguine abilities will merely be absorbed and integrated into your Chaos system, like adding ice cubes to a glass. As for the Elemental aspect—that will simply add to what you already possess.”

  “So this won’t cause any major problems?” I needed her to give it to me straight.

  “Oh, I did not say that. Adding Sanguine abilities will alter the blood in your veins. It may be… uncomfortable, until the new powers have settled, but it should not be beyond the limits of your endurance.” Lux gestured to Nash and Melody. “Your friends may have to watch you for a time, in case there are any adverse effects.”

  Melody waggled an agitated finger in her direction. �
�I thought you said it wouldn’t change anything.”

  “I said it would not tip the scales,” Lux corrected. “You may find that you do not have any issues whatsoever, Finch, but receiving another’s Chaos is much like having an organ donation. Sometimes the fresh organ is seamlessly accepted, and sometimes it is rejected. You shall have to wait and see which category you fall into.”

  I swallowed an anxious lump in my throat. “And what happens if my body rejects it?”

  “A Purge so intense and volatile that you will wish you were dead.” She couldn’t have been more blasé about it, her tone positively nonchalant. “I have only seen a few instances in all my millennia of existence, so I would not worry too much about it. You have a much stronger link to Chaos than most magicals. That should assist your body in accepting the new abilities.”

  Should… I hated that word. Not quite a fact, just a probability.

  Nash put his hand on my back in a paternal gesture. “You don’t have to agree if you don’t want to. I’m not going to force you into this. Weigh the pros and cons, and if you decide against it, I’ll understand.”

  “No.” I steeled my resolve. “I’ll do it. It’s about time I had a Purge anyway. Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “That is the spirit.” Lux grinned, savoring the moment.

  Nash took a shallow breath. “Then we’re doing this?”

  “If Lux can get us to Gaia, then yeah—we’re doing this.” I gave him my bravest smile, though I didn’t feel particularly brave. I should definitely have brought my brown pants to Atlantis. They’d have come in handy several times.

  “Lux?” Nash gazed at her hopefully.

  She clasped her hands together. “Brace yourselves. I am about to throw your minds into another plane of existence. It may be an uncomfortable trip.” She laughed darkly.

  Before either of us could say a word, her hands shot out and grasped our faces, her fingernails digging right into my temples. Thin, subtle streams of white light pulsated out of her palms and into our heads, the strands slithering straight into our brains. To anyone watching, it probably looked like we were getting our heads knocked together. And, let me tell you, Lux was a friggin’ liar. It stung with the fire of a thousand fake Atlantean suns, like she’d just poured molten metal through my eyeballs and into my skull. My mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out.