Ever My Merlin

chapter 11 – THE GOOD WITCH

I woke up with a start, my vision hazy. Blinding halogen lights shone down from spotlights in the ceiling. In a dreamlike trance, I took in the details around me. I sat in a huge chamber that looked like it belonged inside a palace. At the front of the room, a mammoth tapestry depicted a scene of mythical beasts seated at a round table.

My elbows brushed against cold steel. I was sitting in a wheelchair. Close to the head of a long rectangular table, I was placed behind the Queen of England, the First Member of the Wizard Council.

Grey knelt down beside me, wearing a tailored business suit. The cut of the suit made him look surreally older, shattering the little brother box in which I mentally kept him encased. “It’s all right, Ryan. You’re under heavy meds. Try not to talk. They’re going to ask you a few questions when the time comes. I’ll let you know.”

They who? I opened my mouth to ask, but no sound came out. A sharp stab of pain pounded at my temples. I lurched in the wheelchair and Grey righted me. The whole room swam circles for a long minute before I could focus again. When I did, I found Matt kneeling beside me with a worried expression. He was all cleaned up, wearing khakis, a button-up shirt, and to my surprise, a striped tie.

“If this hurts her, I’m going to maim you, Emrys,” Grey hissed.

Matt took my hand in his, heating my chilled skin. “She’ll be fine. She’s strong.”

I didn’t feel particularly strong at that moment, but his amber eyes reassured me. I rasped, “What—”

Matt’s fingers squeezed mine. “Just hang on for a little while.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I couldn’t resist a yawn.

He stood up and went to talk to the Queen. Grey exchanged worried glances with Colin. The gargoyle king’s enforcer silently flanked Grey’s side, cementing his allegiance to Grey. Other adults I’d never seen before occupied the rest of the table. By the distinguished grey in their hair and the grim set of their faces, I guessed they must have been middle-aged or older. Two men in military uniforms with a line of gold stars down their shoulders looked perennially bored. Everyone else, including several women, wore the same homogeneous, dark, expensive suits.

Around the rectangle, everyone held their pens poised over white papers. They fidgeted in place, waiting. It felt to me like we were waiting for a board meeting to begin. I turned my head and struggled against more dizziness. Matt moved to stand at one end of the table. He tugged at his tie as if it would strangle him. Behind him, a long, oval table was built on a level above the rectangular one. Other people sat behind the table with microphones and looked down at us, like judges observing a trial. Beyond the higher table, through an opening in the circle, raised, red-fabric stadium seats were set up in a spectator section.

I eyed the impossibly high ceiling. At the very top of the room, unlit private boxes with glass fronts offered eagle-eye views to the proceedings below. It reminded me of being in the gladiator pit on the mermaid island. Instead of swords, though, I imagined the battles waged here relied on words. However, I didn’t see any shapes or movement inside the private boxes and most of the stadium seats were also empty. I gathered this was a secret meeting.

A man seated to the Queen’s right leaned close to her, whispering, “Are you sure about this?”

The Queen gave a small sigh. “We have been waiting for this since I told you about the cause of the tsunamis. You would not be here if you did not agree, Prime Minister.”

The man nodded reluctantly. A mustached man at the other end of the table cleared his throat.

He intoned, “The emergency session of the Security Council will now come to order.”

The United Nations Security Council, I realized. The table quieted.

“Let the minutes show, the participants on this day are as follows…” Mustache-Man started making introductions.

I tuned out as another wave of dizziness hit, making me clutch the rails on the wheelchair tightly. The names of several countries were announced. I only caught the words “the President of the United States” and instinctively turned to look at her. She sat removed from my field of vision so I had to crane my neck to see her. That little bit of exertion rebounded on me, and I had to combat a wave of nausea by staring dejectedly at the boring beige of the carpeted floor.

I must have dozed off for a little bit because when I looked up, the table no longer held bored attendants. The world leaders were talking with Matt, Grey, and Colin. Colin was in his beast form. His forehead protruded like a Cro-Magnon and the elongated incisors peeked out from his lips. Tension screamed from the tight set of his shoulders. Yet, the others around the table seemed unconcerned that a gargoyle roamed in their midst.

One of the men in the military uniforms stood up. “We understand that this Vane person has become a threat, but surely, with your power, you can restrain him.”

Matt colored. “He has taken my power.”

“This is grave. How are we supposed to defend ourselves from a being that is capable of so much wanton destruction? If they were to learn that the tsunamis were being caused by supernatural wizards... that you even exist, the ensuing chaos would be unimaginable,” the US President said.

“I’m more concerned about what’s happening now,” a man in a grey suit beside the President said. “You said Merlin had critical intelligence about the global blackout.”

The President added, “Indeed, I can tell you, it’s been pure hell trying to keep the people calm. If we can give them answers, is it Vane—”

“No.” The Queen replied, “Vane didn’t cause the blackout. What happens in the next month will be much worse than a few days of no power and satellites going offline. Merlin will explain the details.”

The Queen nodded at Matt. He recapped the events in Greece—the discovery of Poseidon’s trident and the mermaids—and I tried to wrap my head around their words. They knew about gargoyles and wizards. They knew about Merlin. And Vane.

Matt took a small, velvet box out of his pocket. “It was after I read about Alexander’s quest for the water of life that we were led to uncover this.”

He pulled on gloves and opened the box’s lid. The Kronos Eye lay inside. He used his gloved hand to take out the crystal. The source of immeasurable pain looked so innocent sitting quietly on his palm.

The Queen commanded, “Atibha.”

A bit of blue magic flared. Matt held up the small crystal orb high in the air.

The Kronos Eye lit up. Like a 3D movie, a hologram in full color played out the sequence I’d previously witnessed in person. A star went supernova, causing its younger neighbor, our sun to go crazy and begin emitting huge solar flares. It showed a blue planet. Earth. The sun shot out a particularly massive flare. The bombardment of radiation tore through Earth’s thin barrier of defense, the ozone, and attacked the fragile ball’s innards. Within seconds, flames cooked the surface of the planet Earth. Steel cities melted in eerie silence.

The hologram winked out.

Matt walked to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

The Queen asked, “Can you confirm, sword-bearer, this is what you saw?”

With effort, I focused on her. “Yes.”

A composed man seated by the Queen, the Prime Minister (of Britain, I assumed), stood up. “Quite fantastic, isn’t it? However, it is also quite real. I have taken the liberty of gathering our top astrophysicists to review the vision.” He gestured at Mustache-Man, who began passing out a thick set of papers. “You will want to review their reports with your own advisors.”

“Pages and pages of calculations.” The grey suit beside the US President flipped through the report. “What does it say in actual English?”

“The details are for your scientists, Defense Secretary.”

Interesting. The pinched-face man in the grey suit was our Defense Secretary.

The Prime Minister continued, “The report comes down to two simple words—our sun. I will allow Dr. Latimer, who led the report, to explain.”

Dr. Latimer, a white-haired man in a too-expensive suit, cleared his throat. “The star identified in… the Kronos Eye… is thought to be a previously unobserved pulsar—a star that has already gone through a supernova. In the reports you will see it marked as MPH2 or Phaethon. The supernova would have been observable fifteen hundred years ago. It sits further out, about fifteen hundred light-years, beyond Orion’s shoulder.”

Fifteen hundred years ago. I sat straighter in my seat.

Dr. Latimer continued, “We’ve been observing its brother for years. Approximately five hundred and seventy light-years away, the red giant, Betelgeuse, is the alpha star on Orion’s shoulder. It has been of keen interest to us, since it will be the closest supernova to Earth in our known history.”

“There are two stars going supernova?” asked a military man further down the table.

“Twin stars, we believe,” Dr. Latimer said.

“One has gone supernova and one will,” the military man said.

Twin stars. The first one happened fifteen hundred years ago already. I shifted in the wheelchair. It all sounded hauntingly familiar. Vane’s memories came back to me and a chill went through me. Was this why he and Merlin had waited in a frozen tomb for fifteen hundred years?

Dr. Latimer clarified, “Technically, they have both happened. It takes light-years for the phenomena to travel the distance across space and be observable. Until then, to us, it hasn’t happened—”

The Defense Secretary scowled. “Forget observable. Let’s concentrate on the physical effects.”

Dr. Latimer nodded eagerly. “Yes, well, as I was saying— the Phaethon supernova, in our terms, happened fifteen hundred years ago from the approximations of the modeling we’ve done. Now, Betelgeuse will affect us in the not too distant future.” He opened a laptop to show a crude modeling of the Orion system. “In the past few years, the scientific community has noticed it shrinking without losing any of its luminosity. There have been no firm conclusions as to what the cause is. According to the Kronos Eye, it is because it is getting closer to a supernova explosion. Or I should say, five hundred and fifty years ago, it was losing its luminosity and we are only observing it now—”

The Prime Minister cleared his throat. “Yes, Doctor, but for all intents and purpose to us this is happening today.”

“Yes. Yes.” Dr. Latimer added with self-importance, “But I want to make sure you have the facts—”

The Defense Secretary interrupted, “From what I gather, you cannot confirm the version of events the Kronos Eye predicts with outside data.”

“No,” Dr. Latimer said. “However, we did run the modeling and the possibility exists. Once the supernova happens it will cause our usually stable sun to start fluctuating for a period of time.”

The Defense Secretary said, “What do you mean fluctuating?”

“Increased coronal mass ejections from the suffusion of energy from the supernova explosion.”

“A super solar flare,” the Prime Minister stated.

“Do we have evidence that corroborates the Kronos Eye?” the US President asked.

“We have previous evidence that coronal mass ejections can reach Earth at an astonishingly fast rate. In 1859, in what was called the ‘Carrington Event,’ a major solar flare from our sun made it to us in a matter of seventeen hours, thereby retaining much of its energy. At that time, it thankfully resulted in a benign aurora display.” Dr. Latimer turned to his laptop and zeroed in on the Orion system. “Secondly, there is Phaethon itself. The simple fact of its existence lends credence to the Kronos Eye. Before nested dust and gas shells obscured our sight around Betelgeuse. Now, we know where to look. Thirdly, we’re seeing increased solar activity across the board. The global blackout was the first wave. No one expected a neighboring star to go supernova at the same time as an energetic sun.”

The US President closed her report. “What would the supernova mean to us, Dr. Latimer?”

“The supernova itself will be merely interesting—a second sun will be visible in the sky for weeks, we approximate. It is the increased activity from our sun that we need to worry about. The super solar flare will hit our already weakened ozone layer—”

A military man interrupted. “I thought the hole over Antarctica was closing.”

“It has been. However, we’ve been seeing severe storms all over the world this summer—quite possibly due to the turbulence in the oceans caused by earthquakes. It has weakened the layer in major areas.” Dr. Latimer continued, “Imagine our ozone, our only protection, as a massive sail with several thin patches that’s about to face a hurricane. Mild flares cause satellite disruption and magnetic storms interfering with worldwide communications. A medium flare caused the global blackout. Stronger flares will deplete the ozone layer leaving us exposed to radiation and solar winds—”

There was a pause. Everyone across the table flipped through their handout, not because they were actually reading it, but because they needed something to do.

The Defense Secretary said, “We will make plans to evacuate underground.”

The Prime Minister shook his head. “The super solar flare will be like a million megatons of hydrogen bombs being launched on us all at once. Nothing is going to survive that.”

Dr. Latimer, his white hair glistening in the dim light, stared at the table. “The universe is in delicate balance, gentlemen. The flare will not only destroy the Earth’s surface, but also superheat the core of the planet. It won’t take long for the already unstable supervolcanic sites, like Yellowstone, to erupt. This is actually a good thing for the planet. Volcanic eruptions will tear apart the earth and release atmospheric particles trapped in the ground. That will rebuild the ozone layer and ultimately, preempt global cooling. The Garden of Eden will flourish again and the planet will rebuild.” He smiled grimly. “However, we will not survive the upcoming chain reaction. Life will be eradicated. We are the dinosaurs.”

“Kronos’s Fury,” Matt murmured beside me. “The day of reckoning.”

No one on the rectangular table heard him. The US President tapped her pen on the hefty report. “If it is inevitable, as you say, what hope do any of us have?”

Matt interrupted, “We can do this with the tools we have been given. Excalibur was sent to us for a reason.”

The Queen spoke, “Yes, since the Total Tremor, we have known something was coming. We must believe.”

With more diplomacy, the US President added, “Sitting back and doing nothing isn’t my way.”

The Defense Secretary scoffed, “How can some magical sword save an entire planet from a super solar flare? Will you go on top of the Himalayas and knock the flare out of the sky?” He glanced at me and sneered. “Should we helicopter up your precious sword-bearer?”

I rasped, “There’s more.”

No one heard me.

Matt faced the Defense Secretary with fisted hands. “She is the champion!”

With effort, I grabbed the back of Matt’s shirt. I repeated, “There’s more.”

The Queen’s sharp gaze focused on me. “What did you say, sword-bearer?”

With effort, I straightened in the wheelchair. I croaked, “More to the v-vision.”

The Queen turned to look at Matt. “Merlin?”

Matt’s amber eyes turned to me. “Ryan, what did you see?”

Black dots danced in my vision. I blinked. “I-I…”

“We should use a memory stone to extract it from her. The poor girl is in no condition to speak.” The Queen took out a smooth gemstone from her pocket. She floated the seeing stone to Matt. “This is one of the best.”

Matt grabbed the stone out of the air. “Ryan, are you sure? This won’t be easy.”

Grey grabbed his arm. “Forget it, Emrys. I won’t let you endanger her anymore.”

Matt retorted, “I would not do this if I believed it could hurt her. We’ve lost enough time to the Kronos Eye. Only a month remains until the solstice. From here on out, every day counts. You know that as well as I do.”

“Grey,” I whispered. “S’okay.”

Grey turned to look at me hesitantly.

Matt stepped around him. “Are you sure?”

A sharp pain focused my attention on my stomach. Fresh blood soaked the loose, dark fabric of my T-shirt. Hoping no one would notice, I nodded.

In his face, I saw the conflict. Should he believe me? Was risking me necessary? But we both knew this meeting was too important. This meeting would define how the world reacted. This crisis belonged to us all. It was bigger than him. Bigger than me. And I understood why he’d brought me. He needed me to see what we faced and who it would affect, not a hypothetical “whole world,” but the eyes of several billion people peeking out from behind the haunted faces of the leaders they’d chosen to represent them.

Coming to some internal decision, he put on the Dragon’s Eye and held out the seeing stone. I put a shaking hand on it. He commanded, “Atibha.”

A heavy pressure pushed down on me. I started to pant, as I was unable to breathe. A bubble of green surrounded me and I inhaled greedily. Vane’s magic, I realized.

As he’d done in the Ella caves, Matt was siphoning off Vane’s magic.

The meeting room disappeared, but the table full of people remained. The circular table above me also stayed, but the background changed as if we’d suddenly been thrust inside a movie. Still sitting in the wheelchair, I watched myself fall on the nine stones. The horsemen appeared and the scene with the trilithon and the golden apple played over, but at a removed distance.

Beside me, Matt watched it all avidly. His hand linked the stone to me. “This is it. The gates are the answer.”

“Or the apple.” I yawned. “Or both.”

The memory flickered as my strength waned. Matt waved a hand. The meeting room came back into focus.

“That’s the plan?” The Queen looked at Matt.

Around us, the table full of world leaders sat in stunned silence.

The Queen cleared her throat. “Merlin, maybe you should explain—”

Matt began to say something. I didn’t hear him. The pressure on me was replaced by a loud buzzing in my ears. The door blasted open.

Matt flew backwards across the room. The seeing stone fell at my feet.

“What have you done, Merlin?” Vane’s voice boomed through the room.

The military man jumped up. Several others on the circular table above us also rose.

“Who is he?” someone said.

“Vane.” The Queen stood up.

“This is Vane?” the US President said.

“How did you get past security?” the Defense Secretary demanded.

Men in black suits and with guns streamed in behind him, but Vane sent them flying in the air. He turned his glowing eyes on the Queen. “I don’t have time for this. Stop them or I will kill them all.”

Vane’s eyes traveled around the room. In front of me, Grey picked up the seeing stone from where it had fallen in front of the wheelchair. Behind Vane, the mermaids surrounded Vane in a protective stance.

“Why are you here?” the Queen demanded.

The other leaders sat in petrified silence. I remembered having the same reaction the day I’d met the mermaids. It hadn’t been a good day. I stared at Vane, yet again reminded that he was one of them—their king.

Vane strode straight toward us. Another wave of dizziness overtook me. The room spun and I fought to stay conscious.

The Defense Secretary yelled to the men in black, “Stop him.”

“Send more security now!” the Defense Secretary barked into a phone. He leaned down and picked up a gun from one of the fallen guards.

The men in black scrambled up. One fired at Vane’s back.

The glow of a green shield popped up around Vane. The bullet bounced off Vane’s shield and straight at the nearest target—the Defense Secretary. It hit his chest and the politician fell back on the table.

A stunned assembly watched the trail of blood seep across the white papers on the table. On the floor, Matt slowly rose from the concussion-inducing fall and rushed to the fallen man. The men in black tightened their grips on their guns. Vane glanced at the Secretary without expression and sent a wave of green magic stunned the men in black. They froze in place.

“Anyone else care to test me?” he growled.

Black oblivion stood like a shadow over me. I held it back with a fragile tip of a finger, but it wasn’t enough. Pressure squeezed my lungs. I let out silent gasps, trying to suck in air.

Vane turned toward Grey. Grey’s fingers tightened on the seeing stone. Colin stepped in front of Grey.

“She’s dying, you idiots,” Vane barked at them.

Grey blanched. “What?”

Injecting as much vitality into the statement as possible, and with more effort than I actually possessed, I croaked from behind Grey, “I-I’m okay.”

His eyes snapped to me. “I don’t think so.”

Vane shoved him aside. He reached me. Monster green filled his irises. I couldn’t help flinching. Vane didn’t miss my reaction. The green receded to leave only hazel-brown. He said softly, “The beast’s caged, Ryan. It’s just me.”

The beast may have been caged, but its door had no guard. Still, I was glad to see him, ridiculously glad. Vane put his hand against my stomach. Green magic flowed over the cloth, but nothing happened. “Merlin, why isn’t this working?”

“It’s the same as in the hallway. The Kronos Eye seems to be blocking any magical healing.”

Throwing his brother a glare, he ordered. “Ragnar, call an ambulance.”

I blinked trying to stay awake as Grey scrambled to get his phone.

Vane grabbed my hand. Real fear rolled off tight shoulders. “If you close your eyes, DuLac, you’ll force me to gut my own brother.”

I almost smiled. Prince Charming, he was not. Then, my chest constricted. My arm jerked in his grip. Worried eyes, brown pupils surrounded by a ring of green, were the last thing I saw before my heart gave out.

***

I woke up to find myself in a sterile, white room.

Everything hurt. Even my eyelids were sore. When I took a breath, my side spiked with pain. My ribs were bruised. My breastbone ached as if it were pounded relentlessly, which it might have been. I remembered hazy bits of an ambulance. Beyond that, I lay immobilized on a metal bed. I looked up. Set against a tiled ceiling, bright fluorescent tubes illuminated the room with crisp clarity. A black-tinted window let in muted, natural light as if too much might be painful. The window showed I lay several stories high in a red brick building, a sign declared it as “Thoreau General.”

I stretched out my hand, wincing as something pulled at my skin. Thin tubes slipped beneath the dermis connected to an IV marked “saline.” A metal heart rate monitor was wrapped around my index finger on my right hand. Machines beeped steadily behind my head. I pushed up with my elbows on the slanted mattress of the hospital bed and reached for a plastic tumbler full of water. I only had enough strength to swipe at it drunkenly.

The door opened.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Grey walked into the hospital room carrying a handful of white lilies.

I arched a brow, the only action that didn’t cause shooting pain. “You got me flowers? You must have been really worried.”

“Mom started it.” He crossed the room and pulled me into a tight hug. I squeezed him feebly. Weakness made my bones feel like liquid. I tried to drop back against the pillows. Grey held me tighter. “You look better. A lot better. Don’t do that again.”

With effort, I put a hand on his back. “I know I should’ve found a way to call you from Sri Lanka, but it was only for a few days—”

Grey pulled back with a strange expression. “It’s been two months since India, Ryan. I found you at the old bridge four days ago.”

My jaw dropped open. “What—?”

A round, middle-aged woman, wearing blue scrubs, bustled inside the room. “You’re awake! I was hopeful when your heart rate fluctuated.” With a beaming smile, she crossed to check the beeping machine behind my head. She gave Grey an impatient look and he quickly moved out of her way to the other side of the bed.

I watched her. “What happened to me?”

The nurse stilled, giving Grey an odd look. “We have an on-staff counselor. She will be happy to come and talk to you.”

On-staff counselor? That didn’t sound good. What story did they tell the hospital? I touched my stomach. Under the cotton blue gown, thick bandages taped my stomach. The Minotaur’s sharp teeth flashed in my mind. It was hazy, thankfully so, but I remembered it with more clarity than I intended. I remembered the pain.

Suddenly, I wanted to rip the gown off and examine the horror waiting for me underneath.

Grey leaned over me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “You’ll be fine. Mom brought in the best plastic surgeon in the area. It just needs time to heal.”

Plastic surgeon? Since when did I need a surgeon when there were a bunch of wizards running around? I rubbed my forehead. Memories seemed hazy. I remembered the hallway and the monster. I remembered a strange, yet incredibly real dream of a meeting at the UN. I remembered Vane’s fist pounding my chest, fighting for me. Or was it the monster who fought? I didn’t know.

While the nurse busily checked my pulse, Grey went to a long tray table beside the bed and replaced some dead daisies inside a crystal-blue vase.

I stared at the wilted brown petals. “How long have I been here?”

“Almost four days,” the nurse answered cheerfully.

I started coughing. The nurse handed me the plastic tumbler of water and waited. I lifted the tumbler with shaky hands to my mouth and managed to take a small swallow. My body ached as if it had been run over by a semi-truck. Four days in the hospital. Two months lost. My mind struggled to process the numbers. I remembered hazy bits of the hospital. Waking up a few times in a darkened room—probably this room—then quickly passing out again.

The nurse continued to watch me with a critical eye. She waited until I finished drinking before saying briskly, “Excellent. You’ll be hungry soon. I’m going to order you some food. I need to alert your doctor and the… others.” She pointed to a cord hanging off the hospital bed. “If you need anything, push this button.” In a whirlwind of efficiency, she spun around to leave as quickly as she came. She paused at the door and oddly enough, glanced back at Grey. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay, hon?”

I took Grey’s hand and squeezed it to show her. “I’ll be fine with my brother.”

The nurse nodded, but the worried look didn’t leave her eyes. This time, when the door opened, I noticed that two men in black suits stood just outside my room.

As soon as the door reclosed, I dropped Grey’s hand. “Why am I in a hospital? And why was the nurse looking at you like you’re a murderer or rapist? What’s going on?”

“Er, a lot has happened, Ry.” He paused, giving me a deer-in-headlights look that made me wish I had the strength to toss the tumbler of water at him. “Are you sure you’re ready to hear all of this?”

I ground out, “Start at the beginning.”

“I got to the Old North Bridge at the same time as the paramedics. You were really torn up and… God, the blood.” His eyes took on a faraway look. “I don’t think I can ever go back to that park again.”

My heart skipped a beat. Alexa. We lost her at the bridge. I picked up his hand and squeezed it.

Grey shook off the memory. “Anyway, we made up a story of you being attacked. The police wanted to know how I knew you were there, so I planted a cell on you. Except for a few hours, you’ve been here since I found you with your stomach ripped open, bleeding to death at the park. Understandably, the nurses have been rather protective of you. They said they’d never seen such a horrific mauling. It almost looked like an animal attack, but some of the bruises they found came from human fingers.”

I touched my stomach, pressing in on the heavy bandages, and tears of pain sprung to my eyes. The Minotaur flashed in my head again. I shivered. Even though he tore me open to save me, I don’t think I’ll ever forget those teeth. “And Matt?”

“He was unconscious when the police came. They think he was attacked first. Which got him off the hook, unfortunately—”

I held up a hand. “What do you mean unfortunately? Is he all right?”

“He’s fine,” Matt answered for himself.

For the first time since I had known him, my heart didn’t immediately leap into my throat at the mere sight of him. It could have been because everything hurt too much. Messy, brown hair fell over his forehead as he crossed the room to me. Oh, he still looked mouthwatering in a tight brown T-shirt, lean abs, and ragged jeans, but the faraway, unfocused look in his eyes, which formerly intrigued me so, only annoyed me today.

Grey moved so quickly I almost didn’t see him. He punched Matt in the face, growling, “How did you get past my gargoyles? I told you, Emrys, you’re not welcome here.”

Matt reeled back at the surprise attack.

A clipped accented voice said, “Mr. Ragnar, step back. The gargoyles are fine. Just a minor freeze spell.”

“Freeze spell?” the other one muttered, as if he couldn’t believe it.

Two men came into the room.

I recognized the first one right away. “James Bond.”

“Robin,” corrected the British spy from Sri Lanka.

I studied the other man in quintessential Boston wear—black T-shirt, dark jeans, and a Red Sox baseball hat. The whole ensemble was perfect. A little too perfect. Still, he was definitely American. I said, “Is this your friend, Felix?”

“I prefer Frank,” the CIA agent confirmed with a warm, you-should-trust-me smile.

I didn’t buy it. “What’s going on, Grey?”

“Sire!” Colin and five other gargoyles crowded into the small room. Robin and Frank reacted immediately by positioning themselves between Matt and the gargoyles. The spies slipped out handguns with silencers from under their shirts.

Colin sneered at the two. “As if that would hurt us, Regulars.”

“No, but it will slow you down enough to take your head,” Robin replied.

Two of the gargoyles behind Colin snarled.

I gaped at them all. Nothing in the bizarre scene made sense. I guessed that Matt and the two spies were allied together, and Grey was pissed at Matt. The latter wasn’t so odd, after all. Grey lunged at Matt again.

“Grey, stop!” I said.

Colin caught him. Grey spat, “He almost killed you.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill her,” Matt said, rubbing his jaw. “I’m trying save her. To save all of us. She agreed to use the seeing stone.”

Grey snorted in disbelief. “You should never have taken her to New York. She had a cardiac arrest.”

I squawked, “The UN meeting was real?”

I’d landed in the woods and I’d imagined being back at AC High. I touched the bandages again. The hallway may have existed in my mind only, but the monster had been very real. It had saved me. Then, Matt had taken me to the UN meeting?

I rubbed my head, pushing back the beginnings of a headache. “Can someone tell me what’s going on? Why am I in a hospital? Why have I lost two months? Why are the spooks here?”

Matt answered in backwards order, “The First Member asked me to work with Robin. We were in Rawana’s realm for a little more than seven weeks. The Kronos Eye poisoned you and you’re in the hospital because magical healing hasn’t worked. The poison seems to be immune to it.”

“The Lady hid the answers in a thing that poisoned her own champion?” I remarked. “Brilliant.”

Matt frowned at my assessment. “The path to the answers. She didn’t have the answers, only the instrument to get them; and I doubt it was her intention to harm you. Rawana said he waited for a wizard-warrior. You’re one-half of that pairing. The Lady must have expected me to be there with you. Except I didn’t have my magic.”

“Actually, you didn’t have a pure soul,” I corrected.

Grey let out a snort of laughter.

“Because of you, Ragnar,” Matt spat out. “Because I pulled you back from death after the trial.”

“I remember when I died, Emrys,” Grey retorted.

Matt raked a hand through brown hair, messing up the neat style. He explained, “Now that we know what we’re up against and—”

“We do?” I interjected.

Matt gave me his long-suffering Merlin look. “You brought the proof, Ryan. This isn’t conjecture anymore on our part. The leaders of the world have to know the danger we’re facing and we need their help. I’ve given the apple to be studied—”

My mouth dropped open. “You gave away the apple!”

“Well, it seems I arrived just in time.” Vane’s mocking voice filled an already crowded space. With one quick flick of the wrist, he sent both groups—the gargoyles and the two spies—flying across the room, parting the way for his entrance.

Vane said silkily, “I find myself very interested in this apple.”

He should be. It had been in his memory. Perceval had taken an apple from the vault in Carthage.

The gargoyles and spies scrambled up, drawing swords and guns. They tensed for battle as if the Grim Reaper had suddenly appeared. Vane sneered and marched further into small room.

“The apple is being studied by the world’s most eminent physicists in a secure lab even you won’t be able to find,” Robin added.

Vane turned cold eyes on him. “Want to wager?”

Frank almost took a step back before he realized what he was doing and stopped himself. Robin gave him a pat of sympathy.

Vane turned to me.

“Forget your minions—I mean—mermaids?” I said lightly.

“They’re busy,” he answered with an enigmatic smile. He didn’t bother glancing at anyone else as he crossed to the bedside. A critical eye swept over me, stopping at my heart, causing it to ache a little. He said quietly, “You could do better than that gown.”

I fiddled with the papery green material covering me, sticking my nose in the air. “It works well enough.”

“Well enough isn’t up to your level,” he said huskily.

A sting of tears—happy, unhappy, I didn’t know which—sprang to my eyes.

Matt took a step closer to me. Vane’s gaze snapped to him. In a blink, Vane caught his brother by the throat and pushed him face down into the mattress at the foot of the bed.

“Vane!” I squeaked.

Matt flailed as Vane suffocated him. Hard fingers squeezed Matt’s throat. Vane pushed him deeper into white sheets. He yanked the Dragon’s Eye out of Matt’s jeans pocket and threw it on the bed in disgust. He railed at his brother, “You’ve dropped to a new low, Merlin. You can’t control something as powerful as the seeing stone with the little bit of magic you’re managing to steal. Don’t think I hadn’t noticed you taking magic from me. You could have killed her.”

I forced my fading attention onto the scene. Green encompassed Vane. Although I didn’t wear the Dragon’s Eye, I saw the outline of the monster riding him. A hint of sharp teeth shone from his snarling mouth, and for a minute, I actually believed he might harm his brother.

“Vane, let go!” I said, “I trust Matt. So do you.”

“No, I don’t,” he said.

I grabbed the Dragon’s Eye. Closing my eyes, I mentally opened the door between us. The monster stood with its back to me, alone in the grey colorless world of limbo. I went up to its hulking form. Pulling up my courage, I put a trembling hand on its back. Under my touch, hard muscles tensed, as if it debated my sincerity. As if it wanted me to release him and yet was afraid I would.

“Vane,” I said.

With a snarling sound, the monster pulled away. He rounded on me, his face furious. Hot breath blew down on me. Teeth glistened with saliva. The wound, my stomach, gave a twinge in response, but for the first time since the maze, I held my ground.

I found myself back in the hospital room.

“Let him go, Vane,” I said breathily.

His fingers eased a fraction off Matt. Then, a fraction more. He let go of Matt.

Matt sprang up, swallowing big gulps of air.

Grey stared at Matt with a slight satisfied smile. He said idly, “How did you find her? I used fake names and everything.”

Vane raised an arrogant brow. He pointed to a camera hidden at the corner of the room. “I knew you wouldn’t take her too far. I hacked the hospital’s security feed.”

Grey made an annoyed sound.

Matt snarled, “Why can’t you just leave her alone, Vane? She’s needs time to recover.”

Grey said sharply, “As if you care, Emrys.”

“Think you’ve made an enemy of the dog, brother,” Vane said with amusement.

I groaned at the amount of testosterone in the room.

Vane looked at his brother. “You didn’t find the Healing Cup.”

Grey let out a loud breath. Rourke, the gargoyle king, was dying. He desperately needed the Healing Cup. Matt stared back at Vane stony-faced.

“Never mind, I’ve already found a simulation of Kronos’s Fury. I know the endgame.” Vane shrugged. “What’s the next step?”

“As if I would trust you,” Matt retorted.

Vane’s eyes flickered over me. “You’ve never learned to trust anyone.”

I rolled my eyes. As if he was that much better.

Vane scowled and moved closer to me.

Matt said quickly, “I need her to keep reviewing the vision in the Kronos Eye. The answers are in the vision. The sword-bearer and I need to work together to see all the nuances.”

Each condescending word grated worse than the last one. I was the one lying in a hospital bed and he had the nerve to dismiss me as “the sword-bearer.”

My nostrils flared. I snapped, “Fine.”

“I need you—”

“I said fine,” I repeated, cutting him off.

Matt blinked. “Are you upset with me?”

“I’m not upset!” Of course, I was upset. He was just an idiot. I forced myself to look at the boy with whom I’d been obsessed for what seemed like forever. The boy I couldn’t seem to let go. Yet, he certainly had no problem letting go of me. I said in a measured tone, “Exactly when did I not bend over backwards to help you?”

“I-I…” Matt faltered.

“Apparently, she’s not upset,” Vane said dryly.

“How long do we have to figure out all this end-of-the-world stuff by?” Grey asked. “I missed that part of the meeting.”

“So did I.” Vane’s gaze flickered over me. He answered Grey, “Recall, if you will, on Aegae, the Lady said the longest day of the sun. We have until the summer solstice.”

Matt looked at his brother in dismay. “You figured that out?”

Vane’s lips curved up. “Afraid?”

Grey took out his cell phone and thumbed the screen. “It’s another month until the solstice. A week and a half after the end of school.”

I touched my bandages. Would I be ready?

Vane picked up my hospital chart, flipping through it. “Your vitals are good. The doctors say you’re healing well. You’ll be able to walk with a crutch in a few days, I suspect.”

I stared at him. “You can read a hospital chart?”

He arched a brow. “I’m a genius and have divine powers.”

“Stolen divine powers,” Matt muttered.

Vane ignored him. “The last bit about the crutch is in the nurse’s notes on her computer. You’ll be ready, if you want to be.”

“I have to be,” I answered flatly.

Outside, the sun shone down with serenity. The giver of life, it was a thing to be taken for granted. Soon, though, it would become the taker of life, a thing to be feared. I lay back on the bed as a rush of fatigue overtook me. I glanced at the motley group. “Now, if you’ve got what you wanted, can you get out and leave me alone?”

“I haven’t,” Vane said. The hairs on the back of my neck rose at the edge in his tone, but he wasn’t looking at me. “Give her back the amulet, Merlin.”

Reflexively my hand tightened. I hadn’t realized I’d dropped it. And lost it.

“You have it on you. I feel it. If you’d prefer, I can take it,” Vane said.

With a grimace, Matt took out a handkerchief from his pocket. He unwrapped the sides of the handkerchief to reveal the Dragon’s Eye. For the first time, I got a good look at the necklace. Vane had done something to it in the hallway. A fissure ran down the gemstone. The fissure was a jagged green. Vane snatched the necklace away. He held it out to me. “Put it on.”

I recoiled at the heavy-handed command. My bandages seemed to tighten around me at the thought of being tied to the Minotaur.

Matt read my resistance easily. He said with satisfaction, “She doesn’t want it.”

“Leave her alone, Vane—” Grey started to say.

Green flashed in the room. Everyone, except Vane and I, slumped to the floor.

I gaped at the sleeping bodies. “What are you doing?”

In a velvety voice encased in ice, Vane said, “Do you know how easy it would be to kill everyone in this room? Everyone in this hospital, if you don’t cooperate?”

“And I would hate you. Is that what you want? I’m so done with being ordered around by you and Matt. Get it through your head. You. Can’t. Force. Me.”

His fingers tightened on the necklace. “Then, put it on because I’m asking you.”

His voice, sweet as honey, lulled my tongue into forming the word “yes.” I resisted the pull. “Why?”

“This is what saved you, Ryan. It saved you in that hell with Rawana. It saved you from the Kronos Eye. You were right to not to take it off in Greece when I asked you.” He said hesitatingly, “Now, I’m asking the opposite—just put it back on.”

It was a mistake to trust him, yet I couldn’t look away from him. I was the captured bird. We both knew he wasn’t really giving me a choice. I took a breath. “No games?”

“No games.” He held out the necklace.

I pushed. “If I take it, will you leave?”

He sighed. “For now.”

I took it and fumbled with the clasp for several seconds, until finally the chain snapped in place. Vane watched me with patience. As soon as the amulet settled on my skin, he touched the chain. A small breeze blew around my neck. The gemstone glowed green as he commanded, “Arudh.”

“What did you do?” I squawked, reaching for the clasp. It zapped me.

“I locked it.” Vane leaned close to my ear. My body flushed hot, then cold, as his lips grazed the sensitive edge of my earlobe. He said in a low tone, “No more games, Ryan. I let you toss me away once. This time, I will hold what’s mine.”

A hint of teeth showed between bared lips. His eyes met mine. The fiery intensity in them made me catch my breath, but I didn’t see any hint of green. This wasn’t the Minotaur talking, this was Vane, and I had no doubt he wasn’t playing games. The angry intensity in his gaze, in a sick way, turned me on.

“You came to find me at the UN meeting,” I said.

“I will always come.” Then, as if admitting too much, he stepped back. Putting distance between us, he added, “Sword-bearer.”

I let it go. At the moment, I didn’t have the strength to fight him. He knelt down beside Matt and started going through his pockets. It took me a little while to figure out what he was doing. “You haven’t seen the seeing stone.”

“I was a little busy saving your life.” Not finding the seeing stone on Matt, he stood. His lips lifted into a small grin. “I will, though.”

I looked at him curiously. “I could tell you.”

He stilled. “Would you?”

I hesitated, glancing at the limp bodies on the floor, glancing at Matt.

Vane read my expression. His own tightened. “Still can’t make a move without Merlin.”

“You could take it from me.”

His eyes flickered over my amulet. “Yes, I could.”

I touched the quiet gem. “What’s stopping you?”

“You’re not strong enough. Yet.”

For a second, I stared at him speechless.

He continued, “You’ll be useless if I make you a vegetable.”

I raised a brow and baited the monster. “Or you’re not able to take it.”

Icy green pupils hardened. Internally, I winced. Why was I waving a red flag in front of the bull? On my neck, the Dragon’s Eye heated. A pressure built inside my head. The monster reached inside my mind. It dug its hand into the black mess of my memories. I let out a small cry. I slammed the door shut in its gleaming face. To my surprise, the door held. The gem turned cold under my command. I looked at Vane in shock. “I can shut you out.”

“You’re welcome for the lesson,” he said dryly. “Don’t get used to it. I’m being nice.”

I bit my lip. “I know.”

He glanced down at Matt. “Anyhow, I will know soon enough.”

“You’re going to use me to spy on him.”

“He works better when he thinks he’s not on a leash.” He shrugged. “That’s the side benefit.”

“What’s the main benefit?” I retorted. Why was I asking a question to which I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer?

His lips twisted in a strangled smile. “You work better on the leash.”

“That’s what I am to you? Work?”

Emotion flickered in his eyes. His right hand fisted. “That’s what you chose to be. Get some rest, Dorothy. You’re going to need it to face the wicked witch.”

My eyes raked over his green-tinged ones. “You are the wicked witch.”

Vane arched a brow. “In an alternate version, the green witch was the good one trying to save Oz, and Dorothy was duped into killing her.”

“Is that what you think you are? The good witch?”

A hungry smile curved his lips. “I can be flexible.”