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

  Melody lifted her weary head. “Did someone say we have a cell to call home?”

  “Ah, sorry. Not quite what I meant.” I offered her an apologetic look. She’d worn herself out fighting the guards in the throne room, and the tough nugget was struggling to stay awake.

  “Oh.” She withdrew back into herself and hid her face in Luke’s chest. She was crying, but she didn’t want the rest of us to see. Luke kissed her hair and held her tight, whispering consolations into her ear.

  “At least Kaya’s sorry.” Nash ruffled Huntress’s fur absently. “I thought we’d have to do a lot more persuading to get an apology out of her.”

  I shrugged. “So what if she’s sorry? What difference does it make?” Anger tingled on my tongue. “She’s not in charge anymore. All we got ourselves was a lot more trouble.”

  “Ovid is infinitely worse than Kaya, and that means a lot coming from me.” Ryann made her way over and wrapped her arms around my waist, leaning into my back. Lux had handed back the reins just after I’d noticed Erebus missing, and Melody had passed the Sylph appearance off as a hex ball incident to try and protect Ryann. I didn’t know if Ovid had bought the lie, but I guessed it didn’t matter. He had a Child of Chaos in custody either way.

  I settled back into Ryann, grateful to feel her arms and not Lux’s. “Man, I didn’t think it was possible to hate someone more than I hate Davin. Then along comes that slithering eel Faustus, and now they’re vying for the top spot. At least Davin is honest about being the scum of the earth.”

  “I don’t know about that. Davin looked so insufferable; I could’ve punched the smirk off his face.” Ryann seethed into my neck. She had plenty of reason to loathe Davin after what he’d done to her and her family back in that grim hotel room, moments before the Battle of Elysium, which I’d hoped would be the last battle I’d ever have to fight. How wrong I was. Still, all that seemed like an eternity ago. My sister and friends at the SDC had never been farther away.

  “Davin’s the worst kind of monster—a coward through and through, swinging from one powerful ally to another like a monkey in a friggin’ jungle. But at least he doesn’t pretend to be anything else. Faustus fooled everyone.” I put my hand over Ryann’s, which were clasped across my stomach. “And now they’ve got Necromancy coming out of their ears.”

  “And they’ve got enough of my blood to do a whole mess of harm,” Nash added. “With the amount they took, they can plow through a library of forbidden spells and who knows what else.”

  “Yeah, we’re in deep trouble.” Luke sighed and pulled Melody closer, like he could protect her from anything if he just hugged her tight enough.

  She poked her head out of his embrace. “It’s worse than that.” Blinking rapidly with her big eyes, she looked more like a chipmunk than ever. “Kaya already did the hard work; she set the blood drive in motion. Now Ovid has the means to replace whatever they don’t have with Nash’s blood. He’s going to raise Atlantis and take on the whole world, fulfilling his daughter’s ambition just to prove a point—that he’s a better, stronger, more powerful ruler. The global domination is just an extra perk.”

  Nash banged his fist against the floor. “I hadn’t even thought of him using my blood for that. He has everything he needs.”

  “And we’re stuck here with no way of stopping the spell.” Melody shivered with fear. “Erebus has gone AWOL, Kaya is a prisoner in her own palace, Davin is free again, and Lux… actually, what is Lux doing?”

  Ryann shrugged. “I have no idea. She retreated in the throne room. She hasn’t made a peep since.”

  “Those Children of Chaos—they’ve really got bad timing down pat, don’t they?” I struggled to swallow my irritation. I couldn’t exactly complain, since I was the one who’d demanded that Erebus set me loose. But he’d said he’d keep the contract in place until I didn’t need his help anymore, so maybe I did have a right to be pissed. We needed his help now more than ever.

  What’s he playing at? Was this some kind of trick, to get me to sign up to a lengthier contract? Whatever his reason, he’d left us high and dry.

  “But… there might actually be a glimmer of hope.” I bowed my head and shot a look at Apollo and Thebian. They hadn’t said anything at all since we’d been shoved in here, but I didn’t know if I could say what I wanted to in front of them.

  “There is?” Melody looked at me with such eager desperation that I couldn’t keep the secret to myself. I hadn’t kept it from them on purpose. I just hadn’t remembered what I’d done until the spell broke, and then the world had gone insane and there hadn’t been time to fill them in.

  I nodded and gestured for everyone to come closer. “Apollo, Thebian, you can join the party too, if you like.”

  “No, thank you.” Apollo kept his stiff upper lip, and Thebian followed suit. I guessed they were wondering what the hell they were doing here when they’d sworn an oath to their queen. Unfortunately, they’d picked the wrong horse. Which raised them way up in my estimation, to be fair.

  “Yes, I think it would be best if we remained separate until I can comprehend what has just occurred.” The general of the Atlantean armies appeared to be struggling more than Apollo to fit the pieces together. And I had to wonder what Ovid was going to do without Thebian when he launched Atlantis into full-scale warfare. The Atlantean armies and their soldiers looked to Thebian for orders, not Ovid. I guessed the king hadn’t fully thought that one through, though he’d probably just promote someone else and offer them extended life to do as they were told.

  I shrugged. “Suit yourselves.”

  “What is it, Finch?” Melody pressed, clinging to Luke for support. “Do you have a way out of this?”

  “Not exactly.” I couldn’t look her in the eyes. “Before I was forced to marry Kaya, I used this ring that Erebus gave me. It’s basically a portal that takes you to Tartarus—his old otherworld. I went there to give a message to the djinn who live there now, to pass on to my sister via Raffe. They have a lot of love for Raffe after he and Kadar helped them win their freedom. Since I’m his friend and I told them I was in trouble, I hope they did the right thing.”

  Nash clapped me so hard on the back he nearly knocked my spine out of shape. “You bona fide genius!”

  “My sister won’t be able to come and help us down here,” I elaborated, in case he’d gotten the wrong idea. “But it means that the surface world might be prepared for what’s coming. And if they can rally around one cause, Ovid might not get any further than rising.”

  “Like I said, these Atlanteans don’t know their asses from their elbows when it comes to war.” I hadn’t dampened Nash’s enthusiasm. “But we do, up top. We’ve fought enough of them. If your sister can persuade the world’s best military minds to work together, we might have a shot at killing this plan before it gets rolling.”

  Melody’s eyes swam with renewed courage. “I don’t know your sister well, but I imagine she could sell ice to the Inuit if she put her mind to it! Oh, Finch, this is the best news you could’ve given us. Your mind is incredible.”

  “I think desperation can spur some pretty decent ideas from time to time.” I lowered my gaze, feeling oddly shy. “Plus, the folks on the surface will have the full weight of the Bestiary behind them if they can get Tobe to agree to spare some of his Purge beasts.” Flashbacks of Elysium rattled through my head like gunfire.

  “You did good, Finch.” Luke added his own slap of gratitude to my achy shoulders.

  Ryann nodded and kissed my cheek. “My magical man is a force to be reckoned with.”

  “The thing is…” I had to be honest. “It might not make any difference for us. The surface world is a long way away, and who knows what Ovid will do to us before then.”

  Melody wrapped her arms around Luke’s waist and mustered the bravest, saddest smile I’d ever seen. “That doesn’t matter. As long as your message gets through and the surface world can defend itself, we’ve done everything we can. If we don’t live
to see it… at least we’ll know they’ve got a chance. It hurts to say it, but I don’t know if there’s much else we can ask for.”

  To live. To love. To grow old and be happy. That was what we could ask for. That was what we were owed after everything Chaos had put us through. And I’d be damned if we weren’t going to collect.

  Twenty-Four

  Nash

  An hour passed in the cell. Funny how quickly optimism gave way to dread. Finch’s news about the djinn had served as a temporary boost, but it didn’t get us out of this glass cage. Judging by the silence, the others felt the same way.

  We had no help, no cavalry on the way. As for those who could’ve given us a hand, Lux had gone back under her rock, Erebus had jumped ship, and we had thick layers of impenetrable glass, Ovid-loyal guards, and miles of ocean between us and freedom.

  I observed the Atlantean contingent huddled together across from us. “Hey, you two. Don’t suppose you’ve got any bright ideas about how to escape. You know Atlantis better than we do, and I’m guessing you’ve been down here more than a few times. Just how screwed are we?”

  Apollo gave me a blank stare. “We are only here because of Finch, and you are his associates. Why would we lift a finger to help you escape?”

  “Because otherwise, you aren’t getting out of here any quicker than we are.” I had to be blunt. “Kaya isn’t going to seize control back from her father. She’s a prisoner now, same as us. We’ve got to work together to figure out an exit strategy. It’s the only way she’s got a hope of rescue.”

  Finch raised his head from a shallow sleep. “He’s blaming me for this? What did I do?”

  “You brought Children of Chaos and Davin Doncaster to Atlantis.” Thebian raised a haughty eyebrow. “Of course you are to blame. None of this would have occurred had you stayed on the surface where you belong.”

  “I got dragged down here!” Finch protested. He shouldn’t have bothered. The Atlanteans had their prejudices, and it didn’t look like they were going to change their minds about helping us. Not when they had such massive chips on their shoulders. “Erebus wanted to come here. I didn’t. And Nash is right—if you want to save Kaya, then you’ll have to swallow your pride and work with us.”

  Apollo turned his head away. “Kaya’s safety is our concern, not yours.”

  “Are we going to wake up and find that you’ve scurried off without telling us?” Finch sounded peeved, though he spoke in a hushed tone for Ryann’s sake. She lay sleeping beside him.

  “I think that is highly unlikely,” Apollo replied in an equally snarky tone.

  I leaned closer to Finch. “There’s no point talking to them right now. They need to realize that they won’t get out of here without us. Let them stew. See if they don’t come around in the end.”

  The two Atlanteans went back to their sullen silence. Everyone else slept, trying to replenish their energy stores after the events of the day, Huntress included. Her soft snores drifted through the air. Beside me, Finch blinked with heavy eyelids, but I couldn’t let him fall asleep just yet. I had a thought that I needed to get off my chest. One that had been troubling me for a while. I didn’t know if it’d make a difference to our current situation, but maybe if I said it out loud, it’d start to feel possible.

  “Can I have a word?” I whispered.

  Finch yawned so wide I saw a flash of his fillings. “Sure.”

  Getting up quietly, we walked as far from the others as we could and sat against the wall together. Finch waited for me to begin, but I had no clue where to start. These thoughts had been swimming in my head for weeks, but getting them out was a slippery process.

  “Nash?” Finch prompted.

  I took a steadying breath. “I’m too old and tired for all this. I want to live a life that’s mine instead of running from everyone who wants to squeeze what they can out of me. I realize it’s weird timing to say this now, since we don’t know if we’re going to live to see tomorrow, let alone the rest of our lives, but I can’t keep this to myself anymore.”

  “What are you saying?” Finch furrowed his brow. He didn’t understand. Not yet.

  “I’m done being a Sanguine. It’s a curse, no matter which way I spin it. That hit home when Melody mentioned that Ovid had all the blood he needed to make this rising spell happen.” It had been the catalyst to this conversation. Because of me and my blood, Ovid had all the ingredients to bring destruction to the surface world.

  Finch shook his head. “I’m not following.”

  “I want to surrender my Sanguine and Elemental abilities to someone.” There. I’d said it out loud. “I want to give up magical life and try to find some peace. I get that we might never leave this cell or see daylight again, but that’s why this is more important than ever. If we don’t live through this, I don’t want to die with this blood in my veins, for those vultures to drain dry.”

  Finch reeled back in surprise. “Surrender? What does that even mean?”

  “It means what you think it means. Giving it all up.” The more I said it, the easier it flowed off my tongue. I wouldn’t allow Ovid to turn me into a human blood bag. I’d have said “over my dead body,” but that smarted of irony.

  “But… why? Why would you do that?” Finch stared at me in disbelief, with the shock of someone who couldn’t even contemplate it. Then again, he hadn’t been through what I had, though he’d been through a fair amount himself. Give him another fifteen years, and he might well be in the same boat.

  “I’m tired of being an ingredient instead of a person. And I don’t want Ovid draining me of every last drop.” I looked at Huntress. “If we get out of here, I want a peaceful, ordinary life. Not endless running and hiding. I want to set up in my cabin and stay there. Magic like mine isn’t worth the price.”

  Finch ran an anxious hand through his hair. “You can’t be serious. A life without magic is no life at all for a magical. I get that you’re stressed, and we’ve been in some pretty nasty situations lately, and you’ve been used by so many people—myself included, which I’m sorry for. But you can’t just… give up. That’s not you.”

  I smiled sadly. “I’m not giving up. I’m giving Chaos up. It’s been a barrier my whole life. I never settled down because of it; I never had kids because of it. I’ve lived my whole life trying to outrun the hunters when I should’ve run from Chaos itself. That’s the only way I can make it stop.”

  “You’re tired. You’re not thinking straight.” Finch rocked slightly on his haunches. “Once we’ve sorted out this Atlantis problem, I’ll talk to my sister, or O’Halloran, or someone at the UCA. They’ll be able to give you protected status or something, so you can live the life you’ve always wanted without having to surrender anything. There are other ways, Nash.”

  I sighed. I was clearly not getting through to him. “There aren’t, Finch. There’s no other option than to rid me of this curse for good. It’s now or never. I can’t fight Ovid if he comes for me. I don’t have the ability to protect myself from being his blood source.”

  A small shadow loomed over us. I looked up to find Melody standing there. It was obvious that she had heard us, though we’d tried to be quiet. Tears sparkled in her eyes. “It may be difficult to comprehend, Finch, but you have to listen to him. I can understand the desire to just… relinquish it all. I’ve thought about trying to give back my Librarian knowledge more times than I can count. It’s not as quiet in this head of mine since I became the Librarian, and I miss the silence sometimes. And perhaps if I’d had to live with this for nearly forty years, I’d be ready to hand it over to someone else.”

  “Melody! You can’t seriously agree with this.” Finch wrung his hands anxiously.

  She sighed. “I agree with Nash’s right to choose.” She let her gaze settle on me. “And I wasn’t just eavesdropping. I have some intelligence about a way for you to give up your magic if that is really what you want.”

  “You do?” My heart raced with nervous excitement. I knew t
here had to be a way, as I’d heard of it being done before, but I didn’t have access to that kind of knowledge.

  “Melody!” Finch cut in again. The poor kid looked horrified.

  “However, in order for you to relinquish your abilities, you have to give them to someone else,” Melody continued regardless. “Think of it as a permanent Ephemera, which I realize is a contradiction in terms, but that’s the only way I can describe it.”

  Sanguine blood might’ve made me vulnerable, but it also gave me power. It meant I had the ingredients to do any spell I desired. But that wasn’t me. I had no reason to use extreme spells. However, if I could give my Sanguine ability to someone who was already incredibly powerful in their own right, then maybe it’d be enough to break us out of this prison. And maybe it would be enough to fix the problems that my blood had caused.

  “If I have to give my abilities to someone else, then I have the perfect person in mind…” I turned to Finch.

  “Me?” His eyes glinted with panic.

  I nodded. “The Sanguine ability is extremely rare and strong. Not just any old magical would be able to withstand it. You’re the best candidate. You’re already brimming with Chaos. And combining it with what you already have might be enough to get us out of here.” I’d thought about transferring my abilities a few times before, but I’d never met anyone before Finch who could’ve handled the addition. Plus, I’d had no idea how to go about it, since I hadn’t had a Librarian on hand either. And the effect it might’ve had on Huntress had bugged me to the point where I’d just shelved it entirely. But not anymore.

  Finch sat there in silence.

  “What do you say?” I prompted. “Will you do this for me? Will you accept my powers?”

  I couldn’t force him. He had to make the decision. Yes or no. The ball sat firmly in his court.