Harley Merlin 16: Finch Merlin and the Blood Tie Read online

  I grabbed Luke and Melody and urged them to the door. Huntress raced at my side as we tore across the last twenty yards. My hand reached out for the handle, and, thank Chaos, it gave. Wrenching it open, I waited until everyone was in before slamming the door behind us. It wouldn’t keep the guards at bay for long, and neither would those hex wisps, but we only needed a head start.

  “We need to shelve the Finch idea for a bit and hope that Lux and Erebus have it in hand. Finding Kaya has to be our priority,” I panted, taking a second before running for the next door.

  Melody nodded. “She needs to know about her father and Faustus. We have to tell her what kind of danger she’s in. She has no idea that they’re coming for her.”

  “And then there’s her plan to deal with,” Luke added.

  But which one to start with? I pulled open the door, and we headed out into the palace labyrinth. I guessed we’d find out once we found the queen.

  Twenty

  Finch

  “Erebus? Do you mind?” I leaned against the side of the bath and hit him with an “I swear to Chaos, if you don’t give Ryann and me a moment to ourselves, I’m going to flip my lid” stare. Oh yes, all that in one sharp look.

  She sat beside me, our sweeping epic of a movie kiss having been slightly ruined by the Prince of Darkness looming over us like an overcautious mom. But then her eyes flashed with sparks of white, and Lux was back. My battered heart sank. The husband-wife team had dragged me out of the spell, only to stop us from having a private reunion?

  “Yes, Erebus. If you could wait outside for a few minutes, that would be greatly appreciated. You are starting to appear somewhat creepy.” Lux laughed. “I may not be able to entirely leave them to their own devices, but I can tuck myself away in Ryann’s mind for a short while.”

  Erebus scuffed his boot against the marble floor, where the symbols of the spell had dried up. “I don’t think that is a good idea.”

  “Why? Have you forgotten what it feels like to be in love?” Lux tilted her head at him. “Besides, it was not a request. Finch and Ryann have been through a great deal; they’ve earned a moment together. Step outside.”

  Erebus pouted sullenly. “Fine, but I will come back in five minutes, and I had better not see anything inappropriate.”

  I flashed him a grin. “Yes, Dad. You’ll be wanting me to leave the door open next.”

  “Actually, that is not a bad—” Erebus was cut short by his wife.

  “Out!” she barked.

  Erebus shuffled out the door, muttering a dead language under his breath the entire way. But I didn’t need a translation. Grumbling after a marital squabble sounded the same in any language.

  I glanced back tentatively to find that the white lights had gone. “Ryann?”

  “I’m back.” She nodded, an eager smile curving her lips. “I don’t normally like it when she does that, but I’m glad she gave him a talking-to.”

  “Can you… feel her?” I lifted my hand to her cheek and felt the warmth of her flushed skin.

  She paused. “A dull pulse, that’s it. I think it’s the equivalent of putting her headphones on.”

  I laughed properly for the first time in a long while, the sound filling the bathroom. It was worth it to feel that kind of happy contentment, even if it hurt like hell. The spell-breaking that the Children of Chaos had performed came with a bevy of physical side effects. My lungs felt wizened to the size of two prunes, my throat had been torn raw, my muscles burned as if I’d done a dozen marathons in a row, and my head pounded like I had Diarmuid the leprechaun sitting on top of my skull, whacking it with his shillelagh over and over again. But I didn’t care. My memories had all flooded back through the spell’s dam, and I knew where my love belonged—with this woman right beside me.

  “I love you,” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion… and possibly blood.

  Her eyes shone as though the stars themselves had moved and taken up residence there. “I love you, too.” She pressed her lips to my palm, making it tingle. “I thought I’d lost you, Finch. I thought I’d never get you back. You looked at me like you barely knew me, and I couldn’t see a way to free you from that spell. If Chaos itself hadn’t intervened, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

  “Fate and Chaos might stab me in the back from time to time, but they also have a tendency to take the knife back out when they get bored of messing with me.” I leaned closer, until we were forehead to forehead. “And I’m sorry for what I did and said while I was under that spell. I had no idea what I was doing. Trying to remember anything was like swimming through syrup. Cloudy, extra-sticky syrup.”

  She looked up into my eyes, and the world stood still. “You know I don’t blame you. I could never blame you.”

  “It still stings, knowing that I hurt you.” I cupped her face in my hands and leaned in, kissing her gently on the lips. Her arms slipped around my neck as she kissed me back.

  “If it helps, I feel better now.” She smiled against my mouth as our kiss deepened. I felt like no time had passed between the kiss we’d shared on her sofa, in her palace bedroom, and this moment here. She was in my arms again, and I was in hers, and this was exactly where we were supposed to be. Maybe not in Atlantis, but I could forget that for now. I could pretend we were somewhere else, in some other fancy bathroom, reuniting in a way that neither of us had thought possible just this morning. The love spell had put my heart through a mincer, but now it’d never felt so whole.

  “I’m never forgetting again.” I pulled away slightly, staring intensely at her. “No matter what happens, I swear I’ll never forget again.”

  She bent my head toward her and kissed me on the forehead—sweet and lingering. “I don’t think Chaos will let us forget again. The father of all magic stepped in to bring you back to me. If that isn’t a sign that this is worth holding on to, then I don’t know what is.”

  I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close, burying my face in her neck and inhaling the intoxicating scent that had thrown my mind into turmoil under the spell. She did the same, her hand on the back of my head, the two of us huddled together—lost souls on the Atlantean tile. And I’d have done it all over again to get back to her. I’d have signed up for fifty more years in Erebus’s servitude if I had to, though I wasn’t about to tell him that. He didn’t need an excuse to keep slapping me with the small print.

  “You are special, you know,” she murmured.

  I chuckled against her. “In a good way or a bad way?”

  “It’s just something Lux and Erebus said. Being a Merlin—it makes you… extraordinary. It’s why Erebus jumped at the chance to trap you in his servitude in the first place. He wanted to be able to control you.” She hugged me tighter. “And your contract does have an expiration date. He just doesn’t want to release you because of who you are. But if you ever truly want to be free, you need to get him to promise he’ll end your deal, once and for all. Then we can live without his shadow looming over us, both figuratively and literally.”

  Things had turned from swooning romance to stark reality in the space of a hug. “You heard them say that?”

  “And more.” She sat back and took hold of my hands. “The control you have over your affinities—Light and Dark—makes you rare. It’s a balance that not even Harley has, because she’s struggled to even out her affinities.”

  I frowned, thinking of my curious balance. “That’s because Light never fights for dominance. Half of me is made up of it, and I can dip into it when the occasion calls for it, but it’s not trying to usurp the Dark, and the Dark isn’t trying to push back the Light, either. Huh, I guess that is a balanced sort of… well, imbalance. Things don’t get wild, like with my sister.” My mind turned to Kaya and her silly legend. “I didn’t believe in the legend of the Luminary—I still don’t, for the record—but when Kaya spoke of a rare balance between Light and Dark, I just thought she’d targeted me because I have both available. In the magical world, that is rare.�
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  Ryann nodded. “Exactly. That’s why Chaos intervened, because if anything happens to that balance, there would be catastrophic consequences. It’d be the same if anything happened to your sister. You’re bound together. One can’t exist without the other.” Her head snapped toward the door. “Speaking of catastrophic consequences, we should go.”

  “Go?” I didn’t want to leave this room.

  “We have to find Luke, Melody, and Nash. Huntress came to us, and it looked like Nash was in trouble. They should’ve been back by now, but they’re not—the door to my room is still ajar, so they can get in, and it hasn’t been closed again. So I’m guessing that means they’re still out there. We should make sure they’re okay, regroup, then turn our attention to this Atlantis rising business.” She ducked in for one last kiss. “Lux thinks raising Atlantis may be one of the consequences of their meddling, and they’ll be the ones who get it in the neck if it does turn out to be the disaster we all think it’s going to be. So we should get to fixing it as quickly as we can, for everyone’s sake.”

  I tried to hold on to her, but she was already on her feet. I’d just gotten out of one dilemma, only to land in a bunch more. Kaya was in the middle of putting her plot together, Nash was in some kind of trouble, and I wasn’t allowed another few minutes with the woman I loved. I’d almost caught a break there. Almost. But I had to be satisfied with the fact that Ryann and I were back together, the way we were meant to be. And maybe once we’d quelled a tyrant and gotten out of Atlantis, we’d finally get more than a few minutes alone together. Preferably, sans the cosmic piggy-backer.

  Grumbling a few choice curses under my breath, I took Ryann’s hand and headed out of the bathroom with her. Erebus paced just ahead, definitely playing into the anxious parent routine. He whirled as we approached.

  “Oh… does this mean you’ve had enough of each other already?” He smirked. “They do say that the brightest stars fizzle out the fastest. I thought I would have to bang on the door to get you both to come up for air.”

  I shot him a withering glare. “Knowing that a Child of Chaos is prowling around, ready to interrupt at any moment, kind of kills the mood.”

  “I am only doing what is best for my wife,” he replied, still smirking.

  “Really? That’s a new one for you,” I fired back.

  Ryann cut in before things could get any frostier. “We have to find Nash and the others so we can work together to stop Kaya from raising Atlantis. You know her better than anyone, and you’re the one with your father’s axe hovering over you. So… either you help us or you hinder us. What’s your choice?”

  Erebus shrugged. “I suppose I have to help. You would only mess things up, in your usual mortal manner, if I allowed you to pursue this alone.”

  “We’re the ones who mess things up?” I snorted and got a stern look for my efforts. Two of them, actually. One from the E-man, and one from my girlfriend. Apparently, I needed to play nice.

  “Come on. We don’t have a lot of time.” Ryann led us out of her bedroom, leaving the door open a crack in case any of our friends happened to come back this way before we could find them.

  Hiding in the bushes, I scanned the horizon for any sign of guards, but they’d gone AWOL. Perhaps they had bigger fish to fry than standing around aimlessly, watching a door in case someone happened to sneak out. Evening had fallen across Atlantis, but the fake moonlight gave off plenty of light to see by. A safety measure implemented by the architects of this place, to make sure nobody really had to walk anywhere in the pitch dark. Danger lay in shadows. You just had to look at Erebus to know that.

  “We should go around to Nash’s room to see if they made it back,” Ryann murmured, pointing around the side of the palace. Kaya had made it so that each of my friends had been placed in a different part of the palace, presumably to make it harder for them to scheme together. Nash’s lay on the southern side. Not impossible to reach, as long as we were stealthy.

  I nodded. “Let’s go.”

  With Erebus trailing us, we slipped through the shadowed gardens, sticking to clusters of trees and bushes that provided cover. I kept Ryann’s hand in mine throughout, reluctant to let go on the off chance that this was just a miraculous blip in the love spell. They called it an “awakening” during dementia. The love spell wasn’t the same thing, of course, and it really did feel like the spell had broken, but I’d learned not to take anything at face value.

  “You know, you would be able to move much faster if you let go of her hand,” Erebus said mockingly, blending into the shadows better than either of us. He could literally disappear in the blink of an eye, becoming a disembodied voice that scared the bejeezus out of me.

  “No thanks. I’m moving fast enough.” I tried to pinpoint him in the gloom. It probably would’ve been safer for me to let go of her hand, since I was supposed to be in love with Kaya, but I simply couldn’t do it.

  His cold laugh spilled out into the night. “I hope this obsession does not turn out to be the death of you. Star-crossed romances so rarely end in happiness, and you were certainly not born under a fortunate star, Finch. Why, I would stake my eternal existence upon it—this will end in tears. There have already been a veritable torrent from the two of you. I have never understood the necessity for tears. They do not seem to serve any purpose other than to reveal weakness.”

  “I think they’re very important,” Ryann retorted, as we pressed on through the gardens and skirted the western edge of the palace. “They allow us to see even your weaknesses, Erebus, although they tend to be the tears of other people. Kaya being one.”

  “You will not bait me, Miss Smith.” Erebus swept by us in an icy rush of air. “The difference between the two of you and Kaya and me, is that I know that Kaya will die and any love we share will come to an end. You think yours will persevere and endure everything.”

  I stopped sharply. “I know it will. It did for my dad and Hester. They’re together right now, in the afterlife.”

  “And you think your love is as strong as theirs?” Erebus chuckled darkly. “I would not use that example if I were you, since your father was the one who killed Hester. Curse or no curse, he still did it. That is what I mean: love that powerful is also destructive and easily manipulated. If you think you have a love like theirs, then you are certainly doomed.”

  I rounded on where I thought he stood. He was trying to be funny, but he’d always lacked comic timing. Plus, his attempts pointed to a possible ending, one that I’d rather have died than lived through. I had my heart back, and it belonged to Ryann. And if anyone tried to manipulate that, they’d regret it. That included cosmic pains in my ass.

  “I know there’s an expiration date on our deal, Erebus. As long as things are mutually beneficial, I’ll keep up the pretense. But the minute this is over, and we’re free of this place, you’re going to release me from our contract. And you’re going to do it because the terms have already been fulfilled. This is just you dragging your feet.” I held my ground, staring into the shadows that didn’t look like the rest. “And if you don’t let me go, I’ll speak to Lux, or I’ll find Gaia, and I’ll get them to send word to your daddy-o that you’re still refusing to play fair. I’m a Merlin, remember? Universal balances hang on me. If you keep meddling, you’ll find yourself in a very sticky situation.”

  Erebus solidified, but he didn’t look peeved. He wore a curious, dare I say impressed, smile. “As long as you need my help, we will continue as we are. When the day comes where you no longer require my aid, then I will consider freeing you. That way, I am not exactly disobeying my father. I am, instead, leaving it more in your hands.”

  Do you know something I don’t? I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure him out. He was a tough nut to crack. Maybe he’d decided to be decent, for once. Or maybe he was just yanking my chain because he knew there might never be a day when I wouldn’t need his help anymore.

  “We can discuss this another time. We’ve got too much
work to do now.” Ryann squeezed my hand. Erebus drifted back into the darkness, and we pressed on around the perimeter of the palace until we finally reached the southern side. Creeping up to Nash’s window, Ryann and I peered in. The lights were off; no one was home. I tried the door, but Nash hadn’t left it ajar like Ryann had. This would require brute strength. Good thing we had a brute with us.

  “Erebus, can you get this open?” I squinted into the gloom.

  “For what purpose? Your Sanguine friend is not there.” Erebus reappeared again, adjusting his suit sleeves like he was getting ready for a party.

  Ryann rolled her eyes. “I want to check and make sure there hasn’t been a disturbance. Who knows, they might’ve made it back, only to get on the guards’ bad side. Kaya stationed them outside our rooms for a reason.”

  Erebus sighed and stepped forward. He’d just wedged his fingers into the door’s frame when a shout broke the silence. A familiar voice. One I’d spoken to about an hour ago—or was it more? My memories might’ve been back in place, but the construct of time still had some settling to do.

  “Stop right there!” Apollo strode out of a nearby copse. I felt a sense of déjà vu.

  “Apollo?” I wondered whether to play up to the love spell and order him to stand down. Technically, I was still the prince consort of Atlantis.

  Apollo edged nearer, sword poised. “Your Highness, I apologize for raising my weapon in your direction.” I stifled a laugh. “I am not threatening you; I am here in defense of you.”

  “What do you mean? I don’t need defending,” I replied.

  “I happened to pass Miss Smith’s chambers after I left Her Majesty and the rest of her councilors. I sensed a dark presence within, but the door was charmed with intense power, and I could not enter. As such, I waited, and I followed, and I believe you are in grave danger, Your Highness.” Apollo directed his sword at Erebus, as if that was supposed to frighten the Child of Darkness.