Without a single warning, the world starts to shake.
“Watch it!” Arthur shouts.
I throw myself to the side as a gaping hole opens beneath us, taking the old boat down with it. There’s a loud yell, and I see Bri’s dark curls vanish into its depths.
“Hold on!” Arthur shouts, diving in after her.
Myrdwinn’s laughter redoubles as he aims for Keva next. His fingers twitch, and a thin vine shoots out of the ground to wrap itself around her ankles. Keva hits the muddy ground with a wet thud before being dragged towards the crater.
“Keva!” both Daniel and Jack scream at the same time.
“Leave them be!” I shout at Myrdwinn, jumping back to my feet.
And with a growl, I punch the air. A blast of icy wind tears through the grounds, turning everything it touches to frost. But with the barest of movements, Myrdwinn sweeps my attack aside.
“You do not have what it takes to destroy me, girl,” Myrdwinn says. “Do not think I’m like my brothers, who were either too soft-hearted or soft-brained.”
I barely have the chance to see him move before his strong arms close around me. My back cracks as I try to break free.
“Mine at last,” Myrdwinn breathes.
And before anyone else can do a thing, he’s carrying me up into the stormy sky. The howling wind buffets us as we climb ever higher, rain like ice picks stabbing at every exposed part of my body.
“Put me down!” I shout.
“Funny how such an iddy biddy thing like you has managed to cause so much trouble,” Myrdwinn says. “And I’ve got to wonder, is it because of your blood, or are you simply too hare-brained to get anything right? My money’s on the second option. But let’s see, shall we?”
Pain rips through my chest. Heart stuttering. Muscles spasming. We break through the sky-lake’s dome, and the murky water fills my cramping lungs, burning as it steals away the last of my oxygen.
All at once, Myrdwinn’s gone, leaving me to drown alone in Lake Winnebago’s freezing waters. Panic seizes me. I need to get back to the others. But I can’t move, can’t see a thing. My heartbeat is slowing. My thoughts sluggish.
Then something hits my sternum hard, and I fling my eyes open, water vomiting out of me. I grab at the person holding me, needing to feel their warmth around me.
“Easy there,” Lugh says, rubbing little circles on my back to ease the chills. “I have you now.”
I choke back a sob at the sound of his warm voice. I’m alive. And so is he. I clasp my arms around him, hugging him close. Only now do I realize how terrified I was of losing him to Az. My dark, brooding Fey lord who’s always watched over me.
“You are fine now,” Lugh says, gently helping me up.
He’s brought me back to the asylum grounds, and I give the others a wobbly smile, glad to see them all safe and sound, even Bri and Arthur.
“She’s not fine,” Arthur retorts, sounding furious. “She nearly died!”
“But she is here now,” Lugh says. “If it weren’t for Lady Vivian, Dother would’ve—”
“Lady Vivian’s a t-traitor,” I say, teeth still chattering both from my dip in the lake and nerves.
“Watch what you are saying,” Lugh says.
“Who’s Dother?” Daniel asks at the same time.
“Carman’s third son,” Bri replies with a shudder. “He’s been posing as Myrdwinn this whole time, and…”
Her voice breaks.
Daniel looks scandalized. “Carman’s son was at Lake High this whole time and you guys didn’t even know it?” He turns to Lugh. “Not even you?”
“As I said, boy, Lady Vivian had him under control,” Lugh says cuttingly.
“Under control?” I exclaim. “Lugh, she’s been working with him from the beginning, she—"
“Do not speak of that which you do not know,” Lugh says, pulling menacingly away from our little group, and for a split second, I can see in him the terrifying warrior he must have been when he defeated Balor.
There’s a high-pitched cackle overhead, and we all look up. I flinch as I catch sight of Myrdwinn hurling across the sky straight at us.
“Find Lady Vivian or we will never get out of here alive!” Lugh shouts at us, before launching himself at Myrdwinn.
Light blooms from the collision of the two powerful Fey, turning the whole sky white. The detonation follows a split second later, followed by a scorching wind that flattens us to the ground, turning the rain to steam. Keva whimpers as the scalding water burns her face and neck, until Daniel throws his jacket over her head to shield her.
“There!” Jack says, pointing at a spot far above the burned-down docks.
“But that’s not possible,” Keva says, staring wide-eyed from beneath Daniel’s coat, face blotchy from the burns.
We all watch open-mouthed as a young Myrdwinn pummels Lugh, his blows raining down on the Fey lord so fast I can’t even see them.
Now that I know he and Dean were related, I can see the resemblance. But where Dean’s eyes always held a sad warmth to them, Myrdwinn’s have always been cold, if not downright demented. I clench my hands at my sides, seething.
“We need to find Lady Vivian,” Arthur says, back in command.
“Where could she be?” Keva asks.
“I haven’t seen her at all since the school got taken over,” Bri says.
“And why would you?” Jack asks snidely. “It’s not like she’d want to hang out with another traitor, would she?”
With a last punch, Myrdwinn breaks through Lugh’s defenses, sending him hurtling down on the other side of the school.
“Morgan, no!” Arthur shouts, catching my intent at the last second.
Too late. Snarling, I slam my foot on the ground and shoot after the bastard.
I swear by all that is unholy, today is the day Carman’s going to lose her third and last son.
◆◆◆
“I highly recommend you don’t intervene this time ‘round,” Urim says, poking his white face out of a dorm window as I fly up the school building.
I crest over the roof, scanning the skies for a trace of Myrdwinn, who’s managed to slip away from me before I could reach him. Ahead, the giant Apple Tree’s branches keep quivering and shaking in a way that has nothing to do with the rain and wind. Almost as if it’s laughing at me.
I slow down, giving the thick branches a wide berth.
“Ya might wanna look down.”
I startle at Thummim’s voice, berating myself for not hearing either him nor Urim follow me.
“Is this a trap?” I ask the two Dark Sidhe, narrowing my eyes at them.
Stupid question. What are they going to say? Oh, no, Morgan, we’re here because we think we should be BFFs?
Urim shrugs. “Don’t mind us,” he says. “We’re simply curious.”
Despite my better judgment, I finally look down. The courtyard is still eerily empty, and from above, even with the torrential rain, the destruction of the gardens is a lot more obvious. Nothing’s left but for that stupid Apple Tree and the make-out hedge.
“We’ve got a bet going as to how long your luck’s gonna hold,” Thummim adds, nodding emphatically. “Lugh managed a full five minutes against Dother.”
“To be fair, he’d already faced Azazel,” Urim says, sounding like he lost on another bet earlier.
I’m about to ask them to shut up, when my breath catches. Hanging within the hedge’s thorns, is a woman in a long dress of white and red. Lady Vivian.
I react without thinking, diving for her, and only stop when I’m inches from the Fey woman. I hover for an excruciatingly long moment in the air, uncertain as to what to do. Is this what Myrdwinn meant when he talked of taking care of a minor setback? But how could he do this to his acolyte, to his…lover? Unless Lugh was right, and Lady Vivian was somehow preventing him from wreaking havoc all along.
“Lady Vivian?” I call out gently, afraid to touch her in case the thorns holding her up tighten. The smal
lest of them could pierce her jugular.
“Lady Vivian, can you hear me?” I ask, a little louder.
Slowly, Lady Vivian’s eyes flutter open, and I bite back a gasp as pain-filled irises stare back at me, red as carnations.
“Guess it’s too late to get them to couple therapy, huh?” Thummim says with a soft snicker, as he and Urim drop to my sides.
“What is this?” I lash out at them, stomach churning.
The two Dark Sidhes give me identical shrugs. “What does it look like?” Urim asks.
With a growl of frustration, I return to Lady Vivian, eyeing the thorny hedge wearily. I may have hated her for a second—she knew Myrdwinn’s true nature yet never breathed a word of it to anyone—but she’s also the one who showed me kindness when I thought the whole world didn’t want me.
“Don’t worry,” I tell her, garnering a scornful chuckle from Urim. “I-I’ll get you out.”
I reach for the smaller thorns circling her wrists first, carefully snapping them off one by one, until the ground below is red from the sap. But when I move onto the thicker spines embedded in her side, the hedge suddenly contracts around Lady Vivian, digging deeper into her flesh and drawing a sharp gasp from her.
“Sorry,” I say, biting hard on my lip.
“It’s OK,” Lady Vivian whispers back.
Her eyes close again as the vines jerk her head back by the hair, exposing her white neck to let another thick, black thorn pierce her. Blood flows down the new puncture wound to disappear down her décolletage, draining her.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” I say, crying freely now. “But why?”
“Watch out!”
Something hits me hard, and I crash into the muddy ground. Myrdwinn’s hair-raising cackle resonates from within the Apple Tree. I push myself up, and glare up the gargantuan trunk, trying to pierce the thick foliage to find the Fey. My heart skips a beat at the sight of a blazing pentacle carved halfway up the massive trunk—golden against the tree’s bark—the very same mark that was used to seal my powers.
A door slams open. Footsteps. Someone else is coming this way. I fling my arms up defensively, accidentally bringing out the poppy flower Gale gave me.
The intruder bursts into view, only to skid to a halt at my sight. We find ourselves staring at each other for a few heartbeats before I recognize the tall boy.
“Morgan?” Lance asks, dropping his sword arm in surprise.
He’s skinnier than he used to be, and his skin has lost its sun-kissed hale in prison, giving him a tragic beauty like those of ill-fated knights in troubadour[14] songs of yore.
“Careful,” I tell him, returning my attention to the Apple Tree where Myrdwinn is hiding. “Think you’re all that for having deceived us, huh?” I call out to the old school director.
There. Movement.
“But I’m gonna make you swallow that leer of yours, and you’re gonna wish for the days when you were still locked up in the asylum!” I shout.
Another bough lists ever so slightly. I flex my fingers, the air crackling with power, then launch myself up. I duck as a low-hanging branch tries to swipe me away, swerve around a second before it can shatter my legs. I catch the tail of Myrdwinn’s coat disappearing on the other side of the tree, and alter my course to follow him.
But as I fly around the massive trunk, a pulsating mass of amber miasma hits me straight on, catching me across the chest. I see the flash of Myrdwinn’s moss-green eyes, crinkling at the sides in laughter, then I’m plummeting to the ground like a rock. I land badly, crying out in shocked pain as my ankle twists beneath me.
“Stay back!” Blanchefleur shouts, bounding forward from the opposite direction. The Fey warrior swings her crystal sword at another projectile, slicing it in two before it can hit her, then twists as another volley whistles past. Myrdwinn’s sinister laugh booms out again.
“Can you stand?” Lance asks, offering his hand to help me up.
“I’ll manage.”
“Good, ‘cause it’s about to get busy,” he says, motioning towards the Herbarium.
I glance over as Keva, Daniel, Bri, and Jack storm out of the building, an angry Arthur closing the rear.
“Anything wrong?” Keva asks me, reaching me first.
“Everything’s wrong with her,” Daniel says, looking as miserable in his drenched uniform as I feel.
“Ah, well, we’re all about to get slaughtered anyway,” Keva says with a small pat on my arm.
I throw her a questioning look, avoiding Arthur’s seething face.
“Seems the Gates are fully open again,” she says, “and we sorta, uh, ran into some of those beasts in the hallway.”
“Shields up!” Arthur barks at us.
My stomach tightens into a tight knot as demons swarm the gardens. Flashes pop brightly across the courtyard as knights call on their oghams to defend ourselves. Then chaos hits.
Bri cries out as a dog the size of a pony lunges at her.
“Laguz!” Arthur shouts, raising his hand.
A pearlescent beam shoots out of his fingers, and a tall barrier of water cleaves the earth, slicing the demon’s head off before it can touch Bri. But already more demons are pressing their snarling faces against the watery barrier.
“Kano!” someone roars from behind us, and fire blazes a trail across the old vegetable patches, leaving behind agonizing screams. Hadrian’s back, along with the last of the survivors he’s managed to free, and they fan out behind him, falling on the horde of demons.
“We need to get everyone out!” Hadrian shouts at Arthur and Blanchefleur.
“We need Lady Vivian!” Bri shouts back at him.
I turn away from the battle to face the make-out hedge again.
“What are you doing?” Arthur asks, rushing to my side.
Excalibur sings as he pushes a draugar away.
“Myrdwinn’s up that tree,” Lance says, guarding my other side.
Arthur throws me a worried look. “Are you insane?” he yells at me. “Even Lugh couldn’t take him, what makes you think you can?”
I swallow hard. Because I have to, I silently tell him.
I reach for my powers again, but this time, instead of flying to meet him, I punch straight out. Dark tendrils shoot out of my knuckles upon impact, boring through the tree like pins in a cushion, and I hear an angry hiss from above.
It’s now my turn to smile.
“Why did you teach us to harness Fey power?” I shout over the clash and shouts of the fighting knights and demons.
“It was a perfect way to weaken you self-righteous turds,” Myrdwinn says at last, peering at me intently from his perch.
“And to weaken the spell keeping Carman imprisoned,” Lugh adds, landing in our midst.
My heart stutters at his sight, relieved to find he’s still alive. Hearing Urim and Thummim talking about it made me fear the worst for the second time today.
“Mother should never have been put there in the first place,” Myrdwinn snarls. “I was only setting things aright.”
“By killing innocents?” Lugh asks coldly. “I thought you were better than that. Guess we all are paying for that mistake”—his golden eye flicks for a moment to the briar hedge—“Vivian most of all.”
A long root lashes out from the ground, going for Lugh’s feet, but he dodges it easily. The vine rears again, ready to strike, when a sudden clamor resounds from the other side of the courtyard.
“Watchers, Lugh?” Myrdwinn asks, no longer laughing. “And to think you professed you’d never renege your vows of holding peace. Then again, I always knew your word wasn’t worth the paper I wipe my ass with.”
I glance at the white-clad Fey as they corral the demons and draugar toward the center, their lips moving in whispered prayers. Their presence seems to boost our squad’s morale, and I hear Sir Boris redouble his cursing as he strikes another demon down.
The tide is turning at last, if only for a moment.
I reach for my powers again
, when something rams into the back of my legs. I gasp in pain as my bad ankle rolls, and Arthur catches me before I drop. I glare down at the white creature trying to climb up my legs, ready to kick it off, and freeze.
“Puck?”
The hobgoblin’s large eyes are full of fear and concern as he latches onto me, his tiny body shaking uncontrollably.
“What happened to him?” Keva asks, breathing heavily, blood spattered across her uniform.
“Vivian!” Lugh shouts.
All eyes, even those of the Dark Sidhe, turn towards the hedge. To my surprise, I find the blind Watcher’s standing before the wall of thorns, head bowed in prayer. A blazing light spreads from his outstretched hands onto Lady Vivian’s still form, making her skin shimmer like a lake under the summer sun, and Puck finally grows still in my arms.
Slowly, the thorns holding her up start to retract, shriveling up away from her body. Until, at last, Lady Vivian opens her eyes again.
“I can’t believe it,” Arthur says, stunned.
Already Lady Vivian’s pulling herself free, and turning toward the Apple Tree beseechingly. Her lips are moving, and I find myself leaning forward to catch her words.
“Come back to me.”
The cry of a woman to her lost love.
With a howl of rage, Myrdwinn lands behind the blind Watcher, and curls his fingers up, summoning his power.
“No!” Lugh shouts, throwing himself at them.
Too late. Roots shoot up from the ground, piercing the praying Watcher from all sides. The Fey’s blind eyes roll up to the skies, mouth open in a silent cry. His light winks out, and the thorny vines close up around Lady Vivian’s slender wrists once more.
Myrdwinn laughs softly. “How does it feel to be trapped?” he asks her. “How does it feel to be unable to help those you care for, huh?”
I tighten my arms around Puck, who’s started shaking again.
Lugh turns on Myrdwinn, face contorted in rage.
“Shit!” Arthur shouts, throwing himself on top of me as Lugh’s fist connects with Myrdwinn’s hastily-raised shield.
The blast crushes us all to the ground, burning through my vision. There’s a strange clicking sound, and Arthur and I both look up to find a draugar inching for us, undeterred by the fact that its flesh and hair have been burned away in the explosion.
Curse of the Fey: A Modern Arthurian Legend (Morgana Trilogy Book 3) Page 17