Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle #3)

Chapter 28

28

FOUR MONTHS

AFTER brIANA MATTHEWS DISAPPEARED

William

THE MORGAINES FIND us before we find them.

Lark and I are leaning against the side of our vehicle in the parking lot of another motel as the sun nears its zenith overhead, waiting for Nick to return from his scouting. This time, we have looped back into North Carolina, just across the border from Tennessee. Beside me, Lark reads a message on his phone, then curses.

“They found another Merlin body three days ago,” he mutters. “Said he was ambushed on a patrol—magical death confirmed.” With a taut expression on his face, he shoves his phone back in his pocket.

Not for the first time, I wonder if he might have been safer at the Keep. Whoever’s hunting Merlins might isolate him while he is in the field with me and Nick, or when he is up at night patrolling. And because he is a Merlin, I can’t heal him.

This thought has crept into my consciousness with increasing frequency lately. It is a concern I always had with Selwyn, but Selwyn rejected all caution as a matter of course, and unlike humans, Merlins heal injuries quickly without much intervention. And yet… the very image of Lark being wounded drives an impotent sort of terror through my heart.

If my worry keeps me close to his side a bit more frequently as every week passes, then I think that’s more than fair. If he notices my proximity, my tendency to walk closer to him than I do to Nick, which I know he does, he does not comment on it.

In fact, he seems to encourage it. Even now.

As if seeking comfort, or offering it, he slides closer to me against the side of the car until our hips touch.

We are interrupted by Nick’s tall figure striding back into the parking lot. He approaches us deep in thought with a frown on his face, and we both straighten to greet him.

Abruptly, Lark grows stiff beside me. Across the lot, Nick has frozen too. Then, I see her.

A girl is leaning against another SUV parked twenty feet away near the tree line.

Ava the Morgaine and I have never met, so I don’t recognize her at all, but Nick clearly does—and so does Lark. But even I can tell that the confident smirk on the girl’s face as she studies us is too knowing, too clever, to belong to a Onceborn.

She is South Asian, with light bronze skin and short, thick brown hair. She is a few inches shorter than me, built like an athlete. Broad-shouldered, muscular arms, and completely stunning. High cheekbones and long lashes frame her dark eyes. She’s half model, half Marine. Black combat boots and fitted cargo pants and a fur-collared bomber jacket. Someone who could kick your ass and look absolutely perfect while doing it.

“You’re looking for me,” the girl says. “Why?”

Lark blurs in front of me in a blink. Nick turns on his heel and allows a gauntlet and the hilt of a blade to spring to life in his hand.

Nick’s face, like all of ours, is worn from travel. Blond stubble on his cheeks and along his jaw, hair shaggy under his wool cap. Long days on the road will do that to you. “Stand down,” he orders Lark. “It’s her.”

“Davis?” Lark asks, palm tipped up. “Is—”

“Nice to see you again,” Nick says. He squints at her face, and I’m surprised it takes me as long as it does to see what he sees. “You’re injured.”

She’s holding one arm awkwardly at her side. Fair bit of bruising on her fingers.

Ava sniffs. “Found a group of fresh Shadowborn, newly crossed. Caught them unawares, but they were big enough to do some damage.”

I notice how stiffly she holds her shoulder. She’s acting tough, but she’s in pain. “Do you want me to heal that for you?” I ask before thinking twice about it.

She smiles condescendingly. “Let me guess. Scion of Gawain?”

I dip my chin in acknowledgment. “We haven’t met yet, but, yes. My name is William.”

“And who’s the Merlin lapdog?”

Lark’s smile is all fang. “Aren’t you cordial.” His eyes are already searching the parking lot shadows, glancing beside her car, back toward the main office. “Bring any rude friends?”

Ava smiles. “Wouldn’t tell you if I did. We know how to hide from your kind.”

“How long have you known I’ve been looking for you?” Nick asks, stepping forward.

The minute Nick moves, Lark shakes his head. “Snipers in the trees,” he warns Nick. Nick holds.

Ava shrugs. “We’ve been following you a few weeks now. Wanted to see if the Regents sent you to flush us out.”

“They haven’t,” Nick replies. “I asked for a quest to find you myself.” He nods to me and Lark. “Will and Lark are backing me up; that’s it.”

“You expect me to believe the Regents would let two Scions go for a three-month-long walk ?”

“You’ve been watching us for longer than a few weeks, then,” Nick replies, raising a brow.

Her smile falls, and a scowl replaces it. “Caught me in a lie. Don’t you feel clever?”

“I’m a good listener,” Nick says.

Ava kicks one leg over the other. “You went back to where we found you last year in Sapphire Valley. You didn’t think we were there just for fun, did you?”

“I assumed you were there following me, my father, and Isaac,” Nick said.

“Yeah, like I said, we weren’t there for fun.” She smiles. “It’s cute you thought you could just seek us out whenever you like, Scion. Maybe this is news to you, but we don’t give a damn about your title and rank. We don’t come running just because you go looking.”

Nick spreads his arms wide. “And yet here you are.”

Ava narrows her eyes at him but does not respond to his comment. Instead, she says, “Surprised your Scion of Arthur isn’t with you. You two seemed rather close.”

“She’s missing,” Nick replies, face placid. “But I bet you knew that, too.”

“Heard rumors,” Ava answers. “Either that, or the Order locked her up again.”

“That was only me this time, I’m afraid.”

“Hope she’s all right, wherever she is, and that she stays hidden, for her sake. Wouldn’t want to accidentally kill her.”

Lark huffs. “Nick, let’s ask her about the Merlins and quick. The rest of this conversation might make me accidentally forge a weapon.”

“Big talk from an Oathbound cambion. How’s that going, by the way? Protecting these two Scions is enough, right?” Ava holds her fingers up in front of her mouth like fangs. “Or are you turning fangy sometime soon?” She laughs, and Lark glowers.

“Davis…,” Lark warns. “I’m ready to wrap this up.”

“Ignore them,” Nick says sharply. “This is my quest, not theirs.” He steps forward again, this time with both hands raised. Ava allows him to approach and doesn’t budge from where she leans on the car door. “Let’s talk.”

Ava looks at him. “ Talk? We hired a goruchel to assassinate you. You know that, right?”

“Unsuccessfully.” Nick’s teeth flash white, all charm. “I’m hard to kill.”

“Apparently,” Ava murmurs. “And you know that if your girlfriend were here right now, we’d be trying to kill her again too, right?”

Nick drops his hands and smiles. “Well, for one, she’s not my girlfriend. And, two, Bree’s even harder to kill than I am, so I think you’d have a fight on your hands.”

“Ha!” Ava says, standing up straight and, to my dismay, looking genuinely delighted by her banter with Nick. “I look forward to another assassination attempt. Successful, this time.”

Nick dips his head in a half bow. “I look forward to thwarting you.”

“All right, I’ll bite.” She puts her hands on her hips and looks us over. “What do you want?”

“Like I said, I want to talk,” Nick replies. “Just you and me. You can take me captive, if you like—we can do this on your terms, whatever you want. I’ll go to one of your safe houses, of which I’m sure you have many. Surround me with your fellow Morgaines.” To my shock, he puts his hands out. “I’ll even let you void cuff me.”

Lark looks like his eyes might bug right out of his head. “Davis! This wasn’t the plan.”

Ava raises a brow, looking between them both. “The void cuff offer is tempting, but no. Why are you being so… agreeable and self-sacrificing, Davis? You were born to be a king, not a pauper.”

Nick’s eyes sparkle. “I could play hard to get. I just thought this would be more efficient. Pauper or king, take your pick.”

“Oh, you are funny .” Her mouth quirks. “But I don’t trust you. Didn’t then, don’t now.”

“I get that a lot.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“That’s my business. Could be yours, too.” Nick’s eyes slide to Lark, then back. “But it’s not theirs.” His eyes flit up to the trees. “And it’s not your soldiers’ business either.”

Ava crosses her arms. “I am intrigued, but I still don’t trust you.”

“The feeling is mutual.” He grins. “And I’m not offended.”

She signals with a flick of her wrist, and the trees above us shudder, then go still. The Morgaines, retreating.

“We’ll be in touch.” And with that, Ava begins to fade into the darkness. “Probably.”

“Name your price,” Nick says, following her. “If you want money—”

“No, rich boy, I don’t want your money ,” Ava says, face twisted with disgust.

Then, as if the thought has tripped an idea in her mind, she begins to slowly smile. She studies Nick in a way that makes me uncomfortable, and I’m not even subject to her scrutiny. She takes in his longer-than-usual blond hair, the light growth of facial hair down his cheeks and across his jaw, his broad shoulders and height. Nick shifts under her gaze, as uncertain as I am about the gears he sees turning behind the young woman’s gaze.

“You are a rich boy, though, aren’t you?” Ava murmurs.

“What are you talking about?” Lark interjects. “What does—”

“My family has money, yes,” Nick says. He tilts his head. “How much do you want?”

“How much do you have?”

Nick’s brow rises. “Plenty. Add a lot more. Then plenty again. Times five.”

She grins, wide and genuine. “I like that answer.”

Nick considers her. “You’ve never struck me as the type of person who cares about cash.”

“I’m not,” Ava says. “But I know people who do. People with things I want.”

Nick hums. “And yet you aren’t looking at me like I’m a bank.”

“No, I am not.” Ava’s grin spreads. “I’m looking at you very, very differently than I was a few moments ago, though.”

“Aw, shucks,” Nick drawls, voice tinged with sarcasm. “You’ll make a guy blush.”

“You are a rich boy,” Ava repeats, “but more importantly, you look the part.”

“Which part?”

Ava releases her arms. “Here’s the deal. You say you want to talk to me, but that’s just code for asking me for something. Something you don’t want to say in front of your fellow Order boys here”—she gestures to us—“which means you want information that’s important and secret and, I’d wager, valuable. Information that you seem very certain I can give you.”

Nick nods. “I’m one hundred percent certain you can.”

“My information isn’t free.”

“We’ve addressed that.”

“I’ll give you what you want, Nick Davis.”

“But?”

“But you’re gonna have to do something for me first. Something you’re good at. Look and act very, very rich.” But Ava is already melting back into the shadows beneath the trees. “I’ll find you when it’s time. See ya later.”

“Wait!” Nick darts closer to her.

I’m running forward before I can stop myself, forging a dagger. Lark is already a blur ahead of me, but we both stop short when Ava’s fists erupt in crosshatched silver-blue magic.

Her face is twisted in rage in her aether’s light . “I knew it—”

“No, wait!” Nick holds his hands wide, empty, powerless. “I’m unarmed!”

“No Awakened Legendborn, no Scion of goddamned Lancelot is ever ‘unarmed,’ Davis!” Ava hisses. “Do you think I’m a fool?”

“Wait,” Nick repeats. “Just… just wait.” He glances back at us, then to her. “Please.”

The pleading stops her. Stops us all.

Nick swipes a tongue over his lower lip. “Give me five minutes to talk to my companions. Then… I’d appreciate it if you brought me with you to do this favor now, not later.”

Ava appears intrigued. She nods once but does not put her aether away.

Nick backpedals slowly, keeping his hands visible, and swings out so that he doesn’t turn his back directly to her. With a short jerk of his head, he turns away from the Morgaine and to us, waving us over.

We approach him warily, keeping Ava in our sights while stepping closer.

“Nick,” I whisper urgently, “what are you doing? Are you…?” I swallow, unsure of how much Ava is listening, and try to communicate what I’m asking with my eyes. Are you really going to go with her to kill her? Out loud, I say, “Doing a favor for the Morgaines was not part of the plan.”

“None of this is the plan, William,” Nick says. “Neither of you was supposed to come.”

“Nick, you can’t do this alone.”

“That’s the thing, I have to do this alone. I can’t tell you why, and don’t ask me to… because I’ll have to lie.” Nick smiles, shaking his head. “More than I already have.”

Lark is watching Ava, but his eyes meet mine in a look that says, I told you so .

The truth of the situation finally settles deep in my gut. A pain so sharp, it takes my breath away. “Do you not trust me?” I ask.

Nick’s face softens. “Other people need you, Will. The people in the Order who are only doing as they’ve been raised to do, still following the mission. A mission you still believe in. It’s not right to allow the Scion of Gawain to abandon his post—that alone should tell you how corrupt the Regents are.”

“Nick—”

“You have to go, William.” Nick claps a hand on my shoulder. “You and Lark both.”

The shock nearly rocks me backward. “No, the quest…”

“Tell them I attacked you,” Nick says. “Tell them I chose to abandon the quest.”

“What is your quest, Nick?” I demand. “Your real one?”

Nick squeezes my shoulder and releases it. “Something greater than the Grail.” He looks to Lark. “Get him home safely?”

“No, I’m not—”

To my shock, Lark lays his hand on my arm. “Will do.”

My heart leaps against my rib cage, panic settling in. Realizing that I am outnumbered, that Lark will drag me away when Nick leaves, and that I won’t be able to stop him. I glance up—it is near noon, but not near enough. I need to buy time. “Nick, you’re my friend.”

“And you are mine,” Nick says. He glances up too, his expression mild and amused. “Larkin, it is too close to noon for my liking. If you don’t get him away now, he’ll beat both of us to a pulp—lovingly, of course—and we’ll have to have this fight all over again later.”

Lark looks between Nick and me to Ava, who has been listening intently. Back to me. “Is that an order, Scion Davis?”

Nick’s smile is tight. Sad. “Yes. Take William away, please.”

Lark has me over his shoulder in a blur across the parking lot before I can call aether to stop him. I’m shouting, pounding on his back, clawing at his shirt before he puts me down unceremoniously—two hundred feet away from Nick and Ava. “Lark!”

Lark shakes his head, his arm wrapped around mine. “Will, we have to let him go—”

“No, we don’t!” I pull forward, but his strength is too great. Nick and Ava are speaking in quick tones. She still seems to be fighting with him, but he is shaking his head, refuting her.

I call aether to my free palm, and Lark’s hand tightens on my elbow. “Will…,” he says, eyeing my gauntlet and newly formed dagger. “Will… don’t do this.”

“Let me go,” I growl.

“William.” Lark glances overhead. “Please.”

I feel my eyes burn; the world begins to turn green. “Larkin, I am warning you—”

Lark steps closer, whispering, “Sweetheart… honey.”

My breath turns shaky, rattling in my chest. He’s never called me those things before.

Lark taps his forehead gently against mine. His slides his hand down to wrap around my wrist as his voice turns soft. “You don’t want to hurt me, and I don’t want to hurt you. We have to go.…”

“No, we don’t—”

“God, you’re stubborn,” he chuckles, “but so am I.”

Just when I am beginning to wonder if he’s right, if I need to let Nick go, let my friend, my patient go… the world explodes around us.