Harley Merlin 16: Finch Merlin and the Blood Tie Page 16

  “You’re kidnapping me now? What, are you going to drown me in the tub so you can have Kaya all to yourself?” Finch tried to clamber out of the bath, but Lux shoved him back down.

  “Not so fast there, sparky.” She kept my boot on his chest, sending a faint shimmer of magic down my leg and into his body. He wheezed sharply, clawing my boot as though it weighed a ton. Which I imagined it did, thanks to whatever Lux had just done.

  Finch blinked in confusion. “Why are… you… helping him?”

  “Hush, Finch. You will understand soon enough. As for drowning you in the tub—please, we would not be so coarse.” Lux leaned more as Finch wriggled. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. I watched him struggle and fight, his eyes flashing with fear and uncertainty. He didn’t understand, and why would he? For the last year, Erebus had done nothing but crush him, and Lux hadn’t been any better. He had no reason to trust them, even if one of them wore my face.

  It’s okay, Finch. It’s all going to be okay. I promise. My chest clenched with sudden pain, sending my hand flying up to my heart.

  Could you stop emoting, please, for all our sakes? Lux snapped internally. As if it were that simple.

  “Do you know what you’re doing?” Lux, still wincing from the pain I’d accidentally inflicted, turned her attention on Erebus.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Do you think I would be scrawling my blood on the floor if I didn’t?” He raised a withering eyebrow. “I did not waste my time moping when it became clear that Kaya had chosen another. I knew it might be useful to have a way to reverse the love spell, in the event that her heart overcame it or I decided to free her from it. And Atlantean locks are very easy to break, when you know how. I have seen the love spell scroll with my own eyes and know how to dissolve it.”

  “You had better.” Lux pressed harder on our shared chest as the ache grew more insistent.

  I am going to let you out now, Ryann. It is up to you to placate him, however you can, if only to cease this intolerable pain. The heart is stronger than anyone understands—it is a mythical entity that people spend their whole lives trying to unravel, only to fail. Try to make him remember that your heart is his, and his heart is yours. Piece him back together, so that this dissolving spell might have a greater chance of success.

  And just like that, her hold over me disappeared. I blinked my own eyes and moved my own mouth, flexing my fingers to be sure I really had control. She was still there, lurking in the depths of my mind, but she’d handed over the reins. And I couldn’t fritter away this opportunity. I had to make Finch see what he’d lost—not for Lux, and not even for me, but for himself.

  “Finch?” I leaned forward and took his hand, only for him to snatch it back.

  “Get off me!”

  I tried again but didn’t lift my boot just yet. “Finch, it’s me. Lux has retreated. It’s me… Ryann.”

  He lay still, staring up at me. “Why are they doing this to me?”

  “They want to help you. I know it sounds absurd, but they do. I would never let them hurt you.” This time, his fingers relaxed into mine as I lifted the weight off his chest. But the confusion in his eyes remained. “Do you remember when we first came here, and I was struggling with having Lux inside my head? We were at Verity’s Death Day, sitting beside each other, and I couldn’t take it anymore.”

  He frowned. “I… I think so… but I don’t know. I can’t really remember anything.”

  “Well, I remember.” I persevered. “You told me to focus on you, on the way your hand felt and the color of your eyes. I need you to do that for me now. Focus on me. Tell me what you feel. Is my skin smooth? What color are my eyes? How many freckles do I have?”

  His eyes scrunched up, his hand clawing at his chest. He writhed in the bottom of the tub, his teeth clenching against the wave of agony that’d obviously just hit him. But I held his hand all the harder, determined not to let go under any circumstances.

  “Tell me what you feel and what you see, Finch,” I urged. “Don’t think about the pain, just think about me. Come on, I know you can do this!”

  A cry escaped his throat, and he arched back, the veins popping in his neck. “I can’t! I can’t do this! I just want it to stop!”

  “Then tell me what you feel.” I got into the tub with him, holding him as his body went into violent spasms. With all the strength I could muster, I pulled him up and wrapped my arms around him, taking on the tremors that pulsated through him. His cheek brushed mine, his skin searing hot and slick with sweat.

  “I… hear your… name. Over and over. I can’t… fight it. It hurts too… much.” He buried his face in my shoulder, shaking so hard it made my teeth chatter. “Make it stop. Let… me go and… make it stop!”

  I hugged him so tight my muscles burned. “I’m not going to do that, Finch. I can’t let you go, because… I love you. I love you so much, and the thought of a life without you isn’t one I can ever imagine. You mean everything to me. You came into my life and turned it upside down, and you know what, I wouldn’t change it for anything. I want my topsy-turvy world with you. But you have to remember. You have to focus on me, the way you made me focus on you, and you have to get through this!”

  His fingernails scraped my back, and I flinched from the stinging bite. “Your skin… feels cool. Your eyes… blue like… the water… in the Aquarium. You smell of vanilla and strawberry… and I can’t… get the scent out… of my head. And you make… cups of… coffee that could… kill a man. You… have soft hair, which tickles… when I kiss you. And your mom… makes the best damn… roast dinner in the world. But I hate… her sprouts. Can’t stand… them.”

  His head snapped backward, and I quickly grabbed the back of his neck to stop him from hurting himself. He was drenched in sweat, but I didn’t let go. I held him, supporting his head, even as a fierce heat radiated off him like a fever.

  “That’s it, Finch! You’re remembering. I know you can fight this. You just have to keep focusing on your memories.” I clung to him, holding his head firmly against my shoulder.

  He whimpered in despair, his face contorting against me. “It hurts. I can’t… take it. It’s going… to kill me. My heart… is about to… explode. Make it stop, Ryann. Make it… stop.”

  “Update, Erebus! Things are getting dangerous here!” I shouted at the Child of Chaos.

  “A few more minutes. I need to add the last ingredients.” Erebus jumped up and ran to the sink, pouring water straight into his hands. He raced back and sprinkled the liquid over the symbols he’d drawn on the floor.

  Back and forth he darted, tearing a strip of silk from the sleek bathrobe on the back of the door and spreading it on a snake-shaped symbol. He punched one of the floor tiles and used a chunk of broken marble as another component of his seemingly arbitrary recipe. Next came a healthy dousing of essential oils, which he’d snagged from the bathroom cabinet, and petals from a vase of dried flowers on the back of the toilet. Finally, he added what I hoped was the last ingredient—a vial of Nash’s blood. He’d clearly kept some for himself after Finch had made the delivery back in San Jose.

  “I’m scared, Ryann. I feel… like this is… it. I’m going to… die.” He started to sob into my shoulder, and the sound broke my heart. This love spell had ravaged him, and it wasn’t going down without a fight.

  So, I did the only thing I could to distract him. Taking his face in my hands, I kissed him. His eyes opened in surprise, his arms squeezing me. I didn’t know what that meant, but I wasn’t about to give up. I kissed him harder, until his grip made me feel like my ribs were about to crack.

  “I’m… sorry,” he whispered. No sooner had he spoken than he went limp in my arms. The pressure eased from my chest, but he was down for the count. I tried to hold him against me, listening for the sound of his breath. A shallow rasp echoed back.

  “Erebus!” I yelled. “Do something!”

  Without a word, Erebus hurried over and took Finch from my desperate embr
ace. In strong arms, he carried Finch to the center of the symbols he’d drawn with his own blood and laid my love down. I scrambled behind them and went to Finch’s side, taking his hand in mine. My cheeks felt wet from tears I didn’t remember shedding, with more trickling down. He looked… No, I didn’t dare to say it, in case it tempted fate. I’d heard him breathing, no matter how fragile and shallow those breaths had been.

  “Lux, I need you to hold the back of his neck,” Erebus commanded.

  “Lux? But—” My tongue stilled as the Child of Light took over, surging through me and pushing me back into that cramped prison in my brain. Obeying her husband, she grasped Finch by the back of the neck, propping him up so the spell could begin.

  Closing his eyes, Erebus started to chant words that didn’t even sound like words. It sounded like an ethereal chorus, the piercing notes rising to the heavens. It started soft, growing with each indescribable verse, until goosebumps shivered along every inch of my skin and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. Erebus appeared to be shivering too, but in a way that frightened me. His body pulsated, his dark flesh turning almost liquid, while faint ripples swept across his skin, matching the rhythm of his chanting. I’d never seen or heard anything like it. I felt as though I’d stepped into a mystical realm where humans weren’t meant to tread.

  As the mesmerizing chant reached a fever pitch, the sound drowning out everything else, Erebus plunged his hand straight into Finch’s chest. A scream lodged in my throat, unable to escape. Whatever the spell had done to Erebus’s body, he could somehow move right through solid matter, transcending space and substance. And I had to watch, horrified. I waited for blood to pool around Erebus’s intrusion, but it didn’t come. Instead, Erebus’s hand moved so fast it became a blur, doing something to Finch’s heart that I couldn’t see.

  What is he doing, Lux?! I shouted to her desperately, fearing the worst. This didn’t look like it was helping. It looked like it was killing him.

  Be at peace, Ryann. He is tearing away the magical chains that have constricted around Finch’s heart, she explained in an uncharacteristically soft tone. It may look painful, but Finch cannot feel a thing. He is oblivious.

  Faint tendrils of purple light floated out from Finch’s chest and burst into flurries in the air. The violet sparks rained down before evaporating on the floor, their magic burned out. I watched each one—trying to take my mind off the fact that Erebus had his hand in Finch’s chest—until there were no more. The last spark died on the marble, and Erebus wrenched his hand back out. Dusty white tracks like smeared ash streaked Erebus’s skin as he sank back on his haunches, visibly exhausted.

  “It is done,” he murmured. “Lux, remind me never to meddle in mortal affairs again, if this is what it takes to undo it.”

  “I will remind you at any and every opportunity.” Lux bowed her head, and suddenly, I was back in control. I hadn’t even felt the transition. But I was me again, and I didn’t waste a moment. With my hand still on the back of Finch’s neck, I laid his head on my lap and cradled his face, willing him to wake up.

  “Finch?” I whispered. “Finch, can you hear me?”

  Slowly, his eyes flickered open. “Ryann?”

  “It’s me. I’m here.” My hands trembled. “Tell me you remember us?”

  He frowned. “Us? I… don’t know what you mean.”

  “No… no, you have to remember!” I begged. “It can’t be too late.”

  A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Sorry… that was mean.” His breath came in strained gasps. “Of course I remember. I just… couldn’t resist.”

  “Finch!” I didn’t know whether to punch him or kiss him, and I definitely had to swallow a choice expletive that started with the same letter as his name. But in the end, I chose a kiss. I’d waited too long not to kiss him, even if I could’ve strangled the life out of him. I supposed it was good that he hadn’t lost his sense of humor to the love spell.

  I bent my head and touched my lips to his, hardly able to believe that he was back, that he remembered me. His hand lifted to my neck, pulling me closer as he kissed me back: a sure sign that he was mine again. I pressed my hand to his heart and felt it beat steadily, quickening as our kiss deepened. This was all I’d wanted, since the moment Finch had been carted off to his wedding. And though I should’ve been slightly worried about the fact that he did, technically, still have a wife, I wasn’t going to let that spoil this moment.

  He sat up with a weary groan and dove back in for another kiss, his hands cupping my face as his lips moved in a slow, passionate rhythm that made all the heartache seem worth it. Absence made the heart grow fonder, didn’t it? It certainly felt like it. I caught his mouth in mine and ran my hands through his damp hair, wanting this private dream to last forever. I’d almost lost him, and I wasn’t going to let that happen ever again. Come hell or high water, he wasn’t leaving my side. And I wasn’t giving up his kisses to anyone. When a kiss had real love driving it, there was nothing in the world that could compare. This was magic.

  Erebus cleared his throat. “Not to interrupt, but my wife is still in there. I would prefer if you refrained from pawing at one another.”

  Finch paused. “Did you get a smack to the head while I was out?”

  “Pardon?” Erebus looked confused.

  “Well, it sounds to me like you’ve got a severe case of short-term memory loss.” Finch smiled, stroking my cheek gently. “This whole Atlantis mess happened because you had a roving eye, remember? So I’ll kiss my girlfriend all I like.”

  I chuckled. “Say that again.”

  “Girlfriend?” He gazed into my eyes, and the world steadied.

  I nodded shyly.

  “How about I do one better?” He leaned in and kissed me—short and sweet and perfect. “I love you, Ryann. I should’ve said it a long time ago. I wanted to, but something always got in the way. But… I do. I love you. I love you so much that it literally almost killed me.”

  I kissed him back, sinking into his arms. “I love you, too. So, so much. And I’m glad it didn’t kill you.”

  He pulled away abruptly, his hands on my shoulders. “There’s something I have to tell you! I almost forgot, with all the kissing and the living and the spell-breaking!”

  “What is it?” I asked, a creeping dread edging back into my stomach.

  “Man, I’ve got tales to tell. Whoever created that love spell, they ought to spend an eternity in Tartarus pushing some rock up a hill or getting slathered in honey and having bees hurled at them. It messes with your head, until you’d agree to just about anything.” His voice took on a somber, grim tone.

  Erebus stepped forward. “Like what?”

  “Kaya wants to raise Atlantis to the surface, and when she gets there, she wants to rule it.” Finch focused on me. “She’s collecting blood from all the Atlanteans as we speak. Once she’s got it all, well… we’re going to be swimming in the biggest pile of crap this world has ever seen. Forget my mother; there’s a new Eris in town, and she’s brimming with good intentions.”

  Lux recoiled inside my head. No… this cannot be. Chaos, no.

  Kaya wants to raise Atlantis and take over?! You can’t let her do that! You have to do something! I replied frantically.

  A swell of icy terror pulsed through my veins, stemming from the Child of Light. This is the dire consequence that Chaos referred to in his message. We acted too late. It has already begun.

  Nineteen

  Nash

  “You think… we can… drop this… now?” Any longer in the oven, and this goose would be cooked. Enough time had passed since the guards had left. If they hadn’t poked their heads back in by now, they weren’t going to.

  Hector dropped his hands from my arms. The crushing, burning shield disappeared a moment later.

  “That was a close one.” Hector heaved in deep breaths. Sweat dripped down his face, and he wiped as much of it away as he could with the back of his sleeve.

&nbs
p; “You can say that again.” I took a second to mop my own brow. “I don’t much care for close shaves.”

  “I didn’t think they would find me here so quickly. I thought I’d have a couple of days, at least.” Hector glanced at the busted door hanging half off its hinges. It’d swung back into its splintered frame, so no one could see us from the street.

  I checked over my exposed skin to make sure that it hadn’t actually singed off. It hadn’t but, Chaos help me, it’d felt like it. “They’ve probably got the queen breathing down their necks, wanting results ASAP. If they knew your old address, it makes sense they’d try here first. And you can’t be the only one. They’re probably doing the rounds at every address that any dissenter has been known to live in.”

  Hector paled. “They will go to my sister.”

  “And your sister and daughter will give their blood, and no harm will come to them. The guards might ask if they know where you are, but if you didn’t have time to swing by, I’m guessing they don’t know. Their ignorance will keep them safe.” I couldn’t leave the guy panicking, even if I didn’t totally believe what I’d said. Kaya sending her guards here smelled of desperation. She’d use anyone as leverage for the “greater good.”

  “I don’t want them to have to give their blood,” Hector replied grimly.

  I pulled the front of my now sticky shirt away from my chest. “No, I don’t suppose you do, but it’s better than them getting carted off and being ‘persuaded’ six ways from Sunday.”

  Hector stared vacantly at the floor, but he rallied quickly. “We should probably get that Cuff off your neck. Neither of us can stay here forever, and you won’t stand much chance of evading the guards with it on you.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You know how to remove these?”

  “Another trick of my grandfather’s.” He tried to smile, but it came off as more of a wince.

  He took a flat leather pouch out of his pocket. I’d seen plenty of lockpicking kits in my time, and this didn’t look too far off the usual setup. He chose two thin tools and lifted them to the back of my neck Cuff. I heard them slide in with a metallic scrape. Then came the precision work—the artistry of someone who’d done this more than a few times before.