28. Will
Chapter twenty-eight
Will
You have a good heart, Arthur Pendragon
I sat up straight, jolting out of my nightmare. Arthur was on his feet in an instant, legs set in a defensive stance, Excalibur snatched up from the ground and glowing in his hands, his narrowed gaze darting around the room in search of threats.
“Point me toward our foes so that I might smite them where they stand!”
I sighed. It was too early for this. “Arthur?”
“Yes, William?”
“There are no foes.”
He peeked at me over his shoulder, dark blond brows scrunching. “None?”
“Not at this moment, no.”
“Oh.” His shoulders drooped, and he returned Excalibur to its sheath with a dramatic pout. “That’s unfortunate.”
My eyebrows shifted up my forehead, though I kept struggling to keep my eyes from lowering. “Unfortunate that we aren’t under attack?”
He waved his hand at me, dismissing my sass. “Then tell me what happened.”
“Um, right now?”
He frowned before his gaze fell to his body. His very naked body. The wound from his shoulder was nearly healed now thanks to one of our healing tonics, but the skin remained red and angry.
Snatching up his jeans from the ground, he tugged them on sans underwear.
That probably shouldn’t be hot, but the thought of how much easier it would be to access him without an extra layer of clothing definitely made my blood heat with lust.
Arthur slipped into the bed beside me, cradling my face in a large palm. “You’ve been having a lot of nightmares, Will. I know you’ve been keeping something from me. From all of us. Why won’t you tell me? Maybe I can help?”
Looking into his green eyes and reading the tenderness there made me ache. Because I had been keeping something from all of them. And I was growing tired of keeping it to myself. “You’re right,” I admitted. “But when I tell you, you have to promise not to freak out.”
He squinted at me. “Will I be mad?”
I bit my lip. “Probably.”
“Okay, I’ll try. Tell me.”
So I told him. About the nightmare. About the Chessboard. About how I Saw myself die. Arthur listened with growing horror as I explained that last part, and he bolted to his feet once more to start pacing. He didn’t speak a word, didn’t even look at me, but his body was rigid and crackling energy charged his skin.
“Arthur—”
But he just shook his head, and red danced in his eyes. “How long have you been having this vision?”
“Since before the glen.”
Arthur snatched up a little wooden fish figurine from the dresser, gripping it tight in his palm. His curse lashed out violently, and the figurine splintered apart, scattering across the floor.
Then he hung his head, his breathing frantic.
Slipping out of the bed, I approached him with cautious steps. When I placed my hand on his arm, some of his tension bled away, but not all.
“Why?” he whispered, voice hoarse. When he lifted his face, I found tears in his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was scared,” I admitted, watching as he seemed to push back his curse. “And I knew if I told the others, they’d try to stop me from finding the rest of the Treasures. They’d hide me away, and then you’d never find the Grail.”
He looked so sad. “I don’t want you to die for me, Will.”
“I don’t plan to.” Grabbing his hand, I pulled him toward the bed so we could sit on the edge of the mattress. “I’m a firm believer that the future is always changing, and that ultimately, we get to choose our own fate. What I Saw is just one possible path.” Running my fingers through his hair, I sighed. “But it’s not the only one.”
Arthur did not look mollified by that. “Do you know when? Or where it happens?”
I shook my head. “No, but I’m guessing it will happen fairly soon. And while I don’t know where specifically, I’ve been trying to research places that match my vision. I just haven’t found the right place yet.”
“Maybe there’s a spell that could protect you? Or one of the Treasures can help prevent this all?”
Twirling a lock of his hair around my finger, I shrugged. “It’s possible. I’m not familiar enough with Morgana’s magic to know how to fully counteract it, but there are protection spells out there. Also, I’ve been secretly using the Chessboard to see if I can create a different outcome, but so far, it hasn’t worked. But I have to believe I was given this vision as a warning. And hopefully, because of that, I can figure out a way to avoid it.” I planted a soft kiss on his shoulder. “I’m not alone. I have you. My family. The Treasures. It will all work out.”
Arthur gathered me in his arms then, holding me tight. “I won’t let you die.”
I hugged him back. “Same here. I’m sorry. For keeping this from you.”
One hand stroked down my spine, making me shiver. “I’m sorry you felt like you had to bear such a weight on your own.”
I placed a light kiss on his neck. “Come back to bed.”
“I’m still frustrated with you,” he warned, though he let me push him back down on the bed.
“Mm,” I said, straddling his thighs. I licked my lips and flicked open the button of his jeans. “Then I think I have the perfect way for you to release some of that frustration.”
In the morning, we found a flushed and disheveled Pell in the dining room. A buffet awaited us, and we dug in, grateful for the food.
I was exhausted, struggling to keep my eyes open as I scooped scrambled eggs into my mouth.
We’d stayed up long into the night while I showed Arthur with my hands and tongue just how very sorry I was for keeping my nightmares a secret. And I was pretty sure after making him come for a third time that night, he’d finally forgiven me.
But while I didn’t regret staying up, I sure was tired.
When the others had arrived for breakfast, Arthur had relayed the events of last night—about the Sword, not our sexy times—and they’d congratulated him, excited we had yet another Treasure.
Because now we only had two more to find.
We said our goodbyes after that, thanking Pell for feeding and housing us. And for some reason, Nana kept sending the poor man salacious winks, which left him blushing as red as a strawberry. Arthur lagged behind to speak with Pell, and I waited for him with the others as the two of them shook hands. Pell’s eyes filled with tears, and he gave Arthur what appeared to be a grateful smile.
Pell had waved to us then, and I spotted something in his face that had been lacking since the first moment we’d met, before the door shut behind us.
Hope.
But my thoughts of Pell disappeared as we stepped out of the castle and found ourselves at the top of a large hill overlooking a deep blue lake in the near distance. It was similar to the location we’d found Pell and the castle in before, but unlike the one prior, we spotted a road below.
We traveled down the hill, eager to continue on with our journey, but once we reached its base, I turned to glance behind us.
The castle was gone, and the barren landscape was now rich with lush trees and vegetation.
We continued walking in the direction of the lake, and it didn’t take us long to reach it.
“I wonder if they’ll let me borrow a charger,” Otto said, spotting some people parked and taking pictures of the beautiful scenery.
Nana frowned at him. “Why didn’t you just use the charger in the bedroom of the castle?”
It was Otto’s turn to frown, subconsciously rubbing at a bruise on his throat. “There was a charger?”
“Yes. I snooped around a bunch of rooms, and all of them had chargers.”
Otto’s gaze slid to Gerry, who was already looking at him, and his cheeks warmed. “I guess I must have missed it somehow.”
“I don’t know how you would have missed it. It was right on the nightstand.”
“I was tired, okay?” Otto shouted, surprising all of us. “Will you get off my back about the charger?”
Otto stomped off toward the people and their cars then, leaving us all in silence.
Finally, Nana broke it. “That boy has far too much pent-up frustration.”
Gerry, whose eyes were pinned on Otto’s retreating form, smirked. “I agree completely.”
“What did you say to him?” I asked Arthur as we moved off to the side of the road.
Arthur peered up at the hill we’d just come from. “I promised that once I obtained the Grail, I’d find him again and set him free.”
I grinned at him. “You have a good heart, Arthur Pendragon.”
His returning smile left butterflies in my stomach, and I recalled my realization last night as he’d held me in the shower.
I was so whipped for this man.
Otto returned then, looking much calmer than before as he eyed the lake.
“What did they say?” I asked, following his gaze.
“Well, they were very nice and offered to charge my phone, so that’s good.”
“O kay ,” I said, urging him to continue. “So where are we?”
He nodded at the water. “This is Llyn Dinas. And the hill we just hiked down was—”
“Dinas Emrys,” Arthur said, turning back to study the hill with more interest.
Nana frowned. “Am I the only one who has no idea what you’re talking about right now?”
Gerry, in his human form wearing what definitely looked like a sheet with holes, raised his hand. “I don’t!”
I gazed back at the hill, thinking of the stories I’d read. “There are tales of a king who once tried to build a castle at the top of Dinas Emrys, but the walls kept falling down. He sought help and was told to sacrifice a child who was half-human, half-demon.”
“Rude,” Gerry muttered, scowling at me like I’d been the one to tell the king that.
I rolled my eyes and continued. “So Merlin, who was just a boy, was brought to the king since his mother was a human and his father an incubus. But before the king could sacrifice him, Merlin told the king that two warring dragons were sleeping in an underground lake beneath the fortress, and they were destroying its foundations when they’d wake up and fight each other. So the king had his men dig up the lake, drain it, and they discovered Merlin was right.
“There was a red dragon and a white dragon asleep underwater. But when the lake was drained, the dragons woke up and fought even more viciously. The red one won, and the white fled. It was supposed to reflect the war between the Britons and the Saxons.” I turned to Arthur. “Are dragons real?”
“I’m not sure. If they are, I’ve never seen one with my own eyes.”
“Well, where do we need to go next, Will?” my dad asked, looking at me expectantly.
I thought back to the two remaining Treasures. I had very little clues as to where the Coat could be. Possibly in a museum since I’d Seen it hanging on a clothes rack along with a whole bunch of other medieval-looking clothing items.
But when I tried to focus my thoughts on the Coat, hoping I’d be gifted a vision, nothing happened.
Thinking of the Hamper instead, I recalled the glimpse of the brochure I’d Seen in the vision. I knew it was at a nursing home, but which nursing home?
And as if I’d asked the magic question, visions slammed into me with the same force as a battering ram.
I heard the squeal of car tires. Saw a swarm of black ravens diving from the sky. Glimpsed a brochure for Amesbury Abbey Nursing Home with pictures of a large manor surrounded by green lands. Shouted as Arthur snarled at me, his beast on full display...
I jolted out of the visions at that, the memory of his red eyes lingering as I blinked.
“Amesbury Abbey Nursing Home,” I said, my heartrate still calming after the jump scare of that last vision. “That’s where the Hamper is.”
“Where is that?” Dorothy asked.
“Let me grab my phone and I can check,” Otto said, jogging back over to the strangers.
“And we’re sure we need the Hamper?” Gerry asked, eyeing my brother as he stretched his arms over his head and nearly giving us a show of his double appendages. Because apparently, he hadn’t found an extra sheet to make underwear from. “Doesn’t it do, like, the same thing as the Crock and the Dish?”
“Yes, we need the Hamper, Gerry,” I said, smacking his arms back down. “And the Hamper is different. Apparently, if you put food for one person inside and cover it, then food for one hundred will come out.”
Gerry rolled his eyes. “I wish there were more fire-weapon Treasures. The Sword is cool.”
“Your opinion is noted,” I said dryly.
When Otto returned, he’d already powered his phone back on, happy to find it at 33 percent. He waved goodbye to the kind people who’d helped charge his phone when they drove past us down the road. “Hmm, I’m not sure what its connection to Arthur is yet, but it’s a five-hour drive from here.”
“What would it be doing there?” Gerry asked, though he seemed distracted when he spotted a caterpillar crawling across the road. And much to my chagrin, he snatched the bug up and ate it.
“I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter, we need to—”
“ Will ,” Arthur said, grabbing hold of my arm. “We need to go. Right now.”
I frowned over at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. Following his sight line to some trees growing around the outskirts of the lake near us, I realized what the problem was.
Dozens of black birds perched on the trees’ branches, their beady eyes watching us.
“Fuck!”
Tearing the book from my bag, I found the Chariot’s page and retrieved it. It still looked like a toy yacht, but the moment I held it in my palm and pictured a large van, it began to glow.
In a flash, it disappeared from my hand only to reappear a moment later as a red fucking MINI Cooper.
I glared at the damn Chariot, feeling like it was mocking me by becoming such a small car. But we didn’t have time to try again, because the flying jerks were taking off from the trees.
“Get in!” I shouted.
We rushed for the car, and Gerry transformed into his smaller feline form and perched on the dashboard, leaving his holey sheet on the road. I groaned when I realized the car was another fucking manual. Meaning...
“Booyah!” Nana exclaimed, shoving my dad out of the way so she could sink into the driver’s seat.
Dad pouted all the way around to the passenger side.
Dorothy and Otto crammed into the seats on either side of Arthur and me, and as Nana started the car I heard the click, click sound of talons on the roof. The tires squealed in protest as Nana took off, running straight over a few ravens sitting in the middle of the road.
More of them gave chase as we raced down the road, reminding me a lot of that night in Glastonbury. But I didn’t have a good way to counterattack the feathered assholes when they started pelting the MINI Cooper.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, shifting to straddle Arthur’s thighs as I peered out the rear window.
Arthur released a low, almost inaudible groan, and his hands gripped my hips to steady me when a bump in the road nearly sent me toppling over. His fingers slipped up toward my waist, dipping beneath the hem of my shirt, and if we weren’t squished in a car surrounded by my family while magical birds attempted to unalive us, I would have totally encouraged him to explore more.
“I think I’m going to need your help,” I told Dorothy and Otto. Meeting Gerry’s gaze over my shoulder, I jerked my chin. “You too, Gerry.”
He hopped from the dash and climbed into Otto’s lap. “How may I be of assistance, Lord Will?”
“I need to borrow some of your power to summon a lightning storm. We’re going to strike these fuckers right out of the sky.”
He bowed his head. “Of course, I shall provide you with aid.”
Gerry sliced his claw over each of our palms while Arthur watched on, looking mildly horrified by the exchange. But I couldn’t care about that. I had evil sky chickens to fry.
With our palms sliced, Dorothy, Otto, and I held clasped hands. Dorothy then had to reach behind me to grasp Gerry’s paw and Otto took up Gerry’s other. We chanted those words from Nana’s spellbook, allowing our magic to flow through us.
I gasped at the feeling of their power mingling with my own, the sensation of so much magic almost making me feel drunk.
Their irises were blown wide, feeling the same effects I did. And I grinned as I pictured the clouds in the sky darkening, becoming heavy.
Then the first crack of lightning lit the sky, followed by the boom of thunder.
The lightning struck time and time again, disintegrating the birds in groups and one by one.
I kept my focus on the heavens, sensing Arthur’s gaze on me but not looking away as I took down more and more of the magical nuisances. My pulse beat in my ears as I held onto the others in a painful grip, and their magic continued to flow into me with ease.
Then, in one final show, I urged the storm to cast dozens of strikes at once. Our combined magic strained to comply, and my teeth ground together as I held back a scream of exertion. But as I watched the lightning blast the last of the shadow creatures from the sky, I slumped down against Arthur, releasing Otto and Dorothy.
Otto collapsed against the door, his eyelids drooping while Gerry, already passed out, snored loudly on his lap. And when Otto met my gaze, he sent me a weak smile.
We’d done it. Together.
Dorothy’s hands shook as she fished out some healing tonics and passed them out to us. I barely had the energy to take a sip, but I managed, watching as the cut in my palm healed slowly.
Finally, I stared down at Arthur, seeing the awe written on his face. He searched my eyes, and I wondered what he saw there because he smiled. Then he pulled my face into the crook of his neck, urging me to relax. He hugged me protectively long after the sounds of thunder stopped and the threat had passed. But I didn’t mind.
Instead, I took comfort in his arms as we drove and drove.