More than he’d believe. And a lot more than she was comfortable with.
“I command demons and corralled and held the Sephiroth for thousands of years. What can I say? It takes a lot.” But honestly, he did. She just wasn’t the kind of person to ever admit it out loud. That knowledge gave too much power to others over her and that was one thing she’d never do.
Not for anything.
Without another word, Falcyn followed after Blaise.
Unnerved, she stayed back to watch. There was something eerie in the air. It left the hair on the back of her neck prickling her skin. Goose bumps ran along her arms.
Shivering, she glanced around the room. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear someone or something was watching her. Not wanting any part of it, she rushed to follow Blaise and Falcyn to Brandor and Brogan.
They were all gathered over Emrys’s body.
“How can this stone free the dragons?” Urian cocked his head to stare at it.
“I don’t know.” Blaise pulled the ring gently from the man’s hand.
Which was so strange to Medea, as she realized how much younger Emrys Merlin had been than Blaise. “How is he your father when it’s obvious you’re at least ten years older?”
Blaise let out a sad laugh. “He aged backwards.”
“Seriously?”
Nodding, he smiled. “Both he and Nimue. It was a spell.”
“Damn … I need that magick. Any chance you know it?”
“Sorry, Dee. If I did, I’d sell it to Lanc?me and retire on an island like Savitar.”
Falcyn snorted. “Having been retired in such a manner I can tell you not to bother. Some asshole always turns up, wanting a favor. Usually when you’re at your most zen … or naked.”
Now that was intriguing. “Spend a lot of time naked, do you?” Medea arched her brow to warn him he’d best be careful with that answer.
He grinned at her. “Only in my natural dragon body. Hard to find clothes that fit.”
Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “You’re such a goof.”
“I’m a goof? You’re the one asking for aging cream when you don’t age.”
“Yeah, but I can sell it to the humans and make a killing.”
Falcyn gave her a gimlet stare. “That Daimon humor?”
“Kind of.”
“Har … har.” His voice dripped with his sarcasm.
Blaise slid Merlin’s ring onto his hand, then lifted his body and carried it to where Nimue was trapped in the wall.
Silently and reverently, he used his powers to place his father into the wall beside her. As soon as Merlin was a sketching like Nimue, his image reached across and took Nimue’s hand into his. Then, expelling a breath, he settled into the wall and turned pale.
With a ragged breath, Blaise splayed his hand over his father’s image. “They might have fought constantly, but they loved each other more than anything. I couldn’t let them be apart. Not even in death.”
Falcyn patted him on the back as he looked at the two serene frescoes. “They appreciate it.”
A single tear slipped past Blaise’s control to slide down his cheek. Without a word, he wiped it away. “I want Kessar’s heart in my fist.”
“I will hand it to you myself.” Falcyn’s eyes burned with his fury as he made his promise.
Medea cleared her throat gently to get their attention. “I don’t mean to intrude, but I do have one question.… With them gone … how do we get out of here?”
*
“They’re in Val Sans Retour.”
Narishka froze midstep at the last thing she expected to hear. “Pardon?”
The Adoni warrior who’d been serving her for centuries shifted nervously as he rethought his report. He actually took a step back into his two-man armed escort in the narrow hallway that was lit by the glowing entrails of the gutted demons who’d displeased the mistress they served. As soon as they parted and he collided with the wall, he grimaced and swallowed hard. “I heard it from the Sylph queen myself. They entered her realm a short time ago. A mandrake, a dragon, an Apollite, a Deathseer, and a man whose powers they couldn’t identify. Apparently, they’ve befriended Brevalaer.”
She cursed Morgen’s lack of foresight for banishing her toy right into Emrys’s treacherous hands. “A Deathseer, you say?”
“Aye, my lady.”
That could only be the whore’s sister that he’d been forever droning and whining about.
“Now there’s a face for radio. Who pissed in your Wheaties, Narishka?”
Narishka turned a cold, harsh stare from the Adoni before her to the exceptionally tall blond man approaching them. Dressed in green and gold armor like the three Adoni who’d been reporting to her, Arador Pendragon still carried himself as a thief, and spoke in a peasant’s vernacular. As Morgen’s latest paramour and the king of her fey court and Circle, he thought himself the most lethal and capable warrior in all the world.
But he paled in comparison to the once-great Kerrigan, who’d ruled here before him. And not just because Kerrigan was the keeper of the sword Caliburn.
Nay, there had been much about Kerrigan’s dark powers that few surpassed. And no one could touch the skills of her own treacherous son, Varian duFey. While Arador’s merlin powers were impressive, they had a long, long way to go before he could ever begin to challenge some of the more ferocious members of the Lords of Avalon who opposed them.
Or her.
While she might not possess Arador’s Stone of Taranis that could enchant any blade it touched and coat it with a poison so lethal it would bring instant death to anyone it scratched, she was no less dangerous. Indeed, she’d laid many men and women in their graves with a single kiss.
And a knife to their gullets.
Giving him a bow that galled her to the core of her being, she offered him a cold smile. “I didn’t realize you’d returned … Majesty.”
“Careful. That lack of vigilance here could cost you. Your beauty. Your position.” He paused and raked a cool smirk over her body. “Your life.”
She narrowed her gaze on him as that threat made her seethe. Yet she refused to let him know it. Instead, she smiled as if his words didn’t bother her in the least. Because while they angered her, she didn’t see him as a threat. No more than one would a buzzing gnat. “So what brings our king to our counsel?”
“Morgen summoned me.”
“Ah.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Unlike her, he didn’t have the wisdom to keep the anger from his tone.
She bit back a true smile. What it meant was that he was nowhere near the man Kerrigan had been. That rank bastard had never come at Morgen’s behest. Rather, he’d driven her niece to distraction with his endless defiance. And it was one of the reasons why Kerrigan had lasted longer than any other in his reign here.
But Narishka had no interest in helping Arador hold on to his power. Not when it was in her best interest to dethrone Arador before he learned any more of his merlin’s skills and grew strong enough to strike out at them. “’Tis naught. You’ll find her in her bedchamber with Apollo.”
A strange light came into his eyes before he swept past her.
“Arador?”