Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Varek watched the scene unfolding with horror. Merrill’s sorrow-filled roar was like a gut punch. He knew what was coming, and there was no way he would allow his friend to suffer through it. He whirled around and strode to Con . The King of Kings slowly turned his head to him.
“ Get Ulrik from Earth . Now ,” Varek demanded. When Con didn’t immediately move, Varek got in his face so they were nose to nose. “ You know what Merrill has done for us. For all of us. You can no’ let him suffer.”
Con didn’t blink, didn’t so much as breathe.
Varek shouldered past him. “ Fine . I’ll get him.”
He didn’t get two steps before Con’s hand wrapped around his arm, halting him. “ I sent Rhi for him the moment Katla fell.”
All the anger left Varek . But with one problem solved, there was another. He looked at Merrill’s hunched form. “ We need to get to him now, then. Tell him. The madness will take him again if we doona.”
“ Nay , it willna,” Con said softly as he released Varek . “ There is no more anger in Merrill .”
Varek didn’t know what was worse: the raging Merrill , or the crushed one. Neither was the dragon he knew. He couldn’t sit by and allow his friend to traverse things alone. Not after Merrill had sacrificed so much of himself for every King .
The entity had been defeated. There was no longer a reason for him to stay that way. Varek walked away from the others and burst into a run before shifting. He closed the distance between himself and Merrill in a matter of seconds. Yet as he flew over the couple, Varek was unsure what to say. Then he realized he wasn’t alone. Con , Brandr , Hector , Alasdair , and Derek were in the air with him.
Varek landed, shifting into his human form as his feet touched the ground. He called clothes to him, but his footsteps halted as he stared at the couple. Merrill’s head was bent over Katla . One arm held her against him, and he had intertwined the fingers of his free hand with hers. Sorrow permeated the air. Misery surrounded them like a wet cloak.
What could he say to a King who had lost his mate? A dragon who was slowly, painfully dying. Varek looked around for Ulrik . Where was he? Varek swallowed and ate up the last few feet between him and the man he considered a brother.
“ Merrill ,” he called softly.
When Merrill didn’t look up, Varek squatted, bending to the side in an effort to see his friend’s face. All the air left Varek’s lungs when Merrill’s bleak gaze locked with his. Tears ran down Merrill’s cheeks. The anguish staring back at Varek was visceral and gut-wrenching. He wanted to look away but didn’t.
Then Ulrik was there. The King of Silvers glanced at Varek before dropping down to one knee. “ Merrill , hold on while I bring her back. I’m going to touch her now,” Ulrik said as he tentatively rested his fingers on Katla’s arm.
Ulrik’s gold eyes closed as he drew on his magic to call Katla’s soul back from death. It was a power Ulrik rarely used. Varek had known he would come to Merrill’s aid without question. That’s what family did.
His attention returned to Merrill as Ulrik worked. When he saw Merrill begin to tip to the side, Varek reached to steady him. Merrill went limp in his arms.
“ Nay ,” Varek murmured as he laid his friend alongside Katla . “ Hold on, you stubborn bastard.”
Merrill’s dark blue eyes met his before they drifted closed. And didn’t open again.
“ MERRILL !” Varek bellowed and shook his friend’s shoulders.
But he was gone.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Ulrik had come. He was giving Katla life again. That should have stopped Merrill’s death.
“ Wake up, dammit,” Varek ordered, shaking Merrill again.
Someone touched his arm, but Varek couldn’t look away from his brother. He couldn’t be gone. He simply refused to believe it. Ulrik had come. Surely , he had brought Katla back in time.
Someone wailed, screaming Merrill’s name. Varek’s eyes swam with tears that dropped onto his face. His mind couldn’t process the scene unfolding. He couldn’t imagine a world without Merrill in it. The jokes, the laughter, his infectious smile. Merrill had defeated the entity. He had stood against Villette and Miena .
Varek drew in a shaky breath and blinked. It took him a moment to realize that Katla was draped over Merrill . It was her wails he’d heard.
“ She’s alive, Merrill ,” Varek said, not wanting to give up. “ Wake the fuck up! We’re all here.”
No matter how long Varek stared at his friend, Merrill’s eyes didn’t open, his chest didn’t move with breath. He looked to Ulrik , who looked as shell-shocked as he felt. Above them, the Kings began their heartbroken roars. The sound spread as dragons across the border answered the grieving call. It had been so long since he had heard such cries that Varek could only sit and listen.
He wondered if Merrill had known how much he was loved—and how he would be missed.
Ulrik ran a shaky hand through his black hair. It was on the tip of Varek’s tongue to ask Ulrik to bring him back, but it went against the rules for Ulrik to use his gift on a King —no matter the reason. They had spent so many eons without their dragons that they had all gotten complacent about their place. They had forgotten what it was to lose a King .
It didn’t matter that Merrill had battled a terrible foe and won. They had failed him. Varek should’ve demanded that Ulrik be there from the very beginning. He shouldn’t have let Merrill and Katla face the entity alone. It didn’t matter the reasoning or how sound it appeared at the time. He had known it was a mistake. He should’ve listened to his gut. Merrill wouldn’t be dead now if he had.
The last King of the Oranges . Varek closed his eyes and shook his head. Merrill would come back. He would sense Katla there and claw his way back. He was a fighter. He’d proven that as he kept a tenable hold on his sanity. He would’ve heard Ulrik . He wouldn’t have given up. Not the Merrill Varek knew.
How many times had Merrill told him he wasn’t that man anymore? Varek had dismissed his words then. He couldn’t any longer.
Katla’s keening howls pulled him out of his thoughts. Varek wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand before gently taking Katla by the shoulders. She didn’t resist when he pulled her around to him. Her arms wound around his neck as she buried her face in his chest. He held her tightly as her shoulders shook with her sobs.
He had no words of comfort for her. This wasn’t how things were supposed to turn out. The Kings had gone up against many enemies. They had taken a beating at times, but they always came out ahead in the end. Maybe a little worse for wear, but they made it. What had gone wrong this time? Varek needed to know where to place the blame. Someone or something had to be responsible for his best friend’s life being extinguished.
Merrill should have waited for Katla to return.
Ulrik should have worked faster.
Rhi should have gotten Ulrik to Zora quicker.
Or maybe the blame lay with Con . He should’ve had Ulrik there days before.
If not him, then Villette , surely. She’d instigated all of this.
Nay , it was the entity and the Orgate warriors for driving Merrill to madness.
Maybe it was his fault. Varek should have seen the pain Merrill hid and helped centuries ago.
Varek looked over at Ulrik to find him staring white-faced at Merrill , tears rolling down his cheeks. He lifted his gaze to Varek . Neither had words for the anguish ripping through them. They should be celebrating Merrill’s victory, not doing this.
Out of the corner of his eye, Varek saw gold scales descending from the sky. The King of Golds shifted as he landed. Con’s normally unruffled composure was shaken. Grief cut across his face and shadowed his black eyes. He took a step forward, only for his leg to give out. He dropped to one knee, a hand on the ground to keep from tipping over. His breath billowed out of his mouth in a gray mist as he lifted his head. Varek watched Con’s face crumple as he touched Merrill’s arm.
“ We need to take him to Iron Hall ,” Con said through their mental link.
Ulrik nodded numbly.
Varek dipped his chin when Con looked his way. Con was the first to his feet. He held out a hand to Ulrik and pulled him up. Varek helped Katla to her feet. She , too, had suffered. To have lost everything, only to find love and lose it again. It seemed unusually cruel for two people who had so recently found each other to be so viciously torn apart. It was worse for Merrill . He had never thought to find a mate, but in the end, he had. For an all too brief period of time, he and Katla had found happiness together.
Any questions Varek might have had about Merrill and Katla’s relationship had ended the moment Con healed her wounds. Her first thought had been Merrill . Then again, after Merrill went mad, she had been the one to calm him. Only a mate could have reached Merrill in such a way.
Varek turned Katla so she didn’t have to see Con and Ulrik lift Merrill’s body. Ulrik touched the silver Fae cuff on his wrist, jumping them to Iron Hall . Merrill’s body might have left the field, but the agony of his death lingered, hanging in the very air and scarring the ground.
Katla gripped Varek’s shirt tightly. Her sobs had quieted, but not her tears. Nor , he imagined, would she stop for some time. He hadn’t been able to help Merrill , but Varek intended to do whatever he could for Katla .
Rhi appeared beside them. Her face was pale, her silver eyes bright with tears. He gave her a nod when she lifted a hand. She jumped them to a chamber inside Iron Hall with a single touch. Katla didn’t seem to notice. In some ways, Varek envied her. She was lost in a fog of despair and heartache. He couldn’t delve into such emotions. Not yet. Some things needed to be taken care of first. It had been eons since a Dragon King had died, but they hadn’t forgotten their traditions.
Varek longed to find Jeyra . He needed her arms around him, but his sorrow took a back seat until Katla was settled. Merrill would want her at Iron Hall . He would’ve fought for her to be welcomed, Varek was sure of that. Merrill had sought out the Druid and saw past her crimes to the woman beneath. He had freely given her his friendship. They would honor him by doing the same.
He walked Katla to the bed. There , he gently took her by the arms and leaned her back.
Katla’s black lashes were spiked from crying, and her eyes were puffy. She looked lost as she gazed up at him. “ He can’t be gone.”
Emotion swelled and lodged in Varek’s throat. He couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down his face any more than she could. “ Merrill defeated the entity. He made sure it couldna hurt anyone again.”
“ How did it kill Merrill ?”
Varek looked away, his chest tightening. She didn’t know. And now he had to tell her. He couldn’t find the words. It was too much.
Rhi approached. She gave Katla a gentle smile and peeled her hands from Varek’s shirt before sitting with her on the mattress. “ Did Merrill tell you about dragons and their mates?”
Katla nodded, her brow furrowed.
Rhi sniffed and took Katla’s hands in hers. “ A dragon can’t live without its mate. If one mate dies before the ceremony to link them, the other will also die.”
“ Nay ,” Katla whispered as she shook her head. “ Nay !” Her face crumpled, and a fresh wave of tears came.
Varek stood by helplessly as Rhi held Katla while she sobbed uncontrollably. Rhi motioned for him to leave, and Varek took the opportunity. He was too angry and upset at Merrill’s passing to be good to anyone anyway.
He quietly shut the door behind him before striding down the corridor and into the great hall. Varek’s feet halted at the top of the steps. He looked out over those below. Some cried, some spoke softly. His grief was too raw to share it with others.
Varek opened the mental link. “ Con ?”
“ We’re in the northeastern hall,” Con answered immediately.
Varek turned on his heel and came face-to-face with Jeyra . She said nothing as she wound her arms around him. He crushed her against him and buried his face in her neck. Her hands were soothing, comforting as she stroked his hair.
She took his face in her hands. “ Go to him. I’ll be here when you return,” she whispered.
He gave her a quick kiss and made his way through the maze of hallways. It would’ve been shorter to go through the great hall, but that would’ve meant talking with others. Con and Ulrik had brought Merrill to a private section of the underground city they’d recently found.
Walking was too slow. Varek started running, hoping to flee the hurt descending upon him. Which was absurd. He was running toward his best friend, who lay dead. There was no getting around the sadness and what the future would look like without Merrill . Varek couldn’t even remember a time without Merrill in his life.
He slowed when he reached the corridor and walked along the hall until he found an open door. Varek spotted Ulrik first. He stood against the wall near the door like a silent sentry, his sadness creasing his features as his shoulders drooped. Con stood against the opposite wall. His devastation hanging like a dark cloud above him.
In the middle of the room, Merrill lay atop a table draped in an orange blanket from chest to feet.
Varek reluctantly made his way inside. His feet took him to the table. He gazed down at Merrill . Anger no longer contorted his features. But there was also no smile. Some would say Merrill was at peace, but only dragons knew the truth. Merrill’s soul would search endlessly for that which he had so recently found. Katla .
The King who had helped each of them find acceptance in the loss of their clans, who never failed to know exactly what to say, and who had lifted others up had found little of it in his life. Family had meant everything to Merrill . He had proven that time and again when someone needed a shoulder and he offered his. Merrill made the world a better place, and everyone who knew him was better because of it.
But what would they do without him?
“ How is Katla ?” Ulrik asked.
Varek slid his gaze to the King of Silvers . “ No ’ well. Merrill called her mate, but I doona think she understands.”
“ Bloody hell,” Ulrik murmured.
Con walked to stand at Merrill’s head. “ In every battle, against every enemy, I always tried to prepare myself for such a loss. But nothing could’ve prepared me for this.”
“ It isna right,” Varek said. “ Merrill should be alive.”
Ulrik shrugged. “ I doona understand it. He just had to hold on a wee bit longer.”
“ Then we change it.” Con and Ulrik looked at him. Varek shrugged. “ He’s no’ supposed to be dead. Bring him back.”
“ There are rules…” Con began.
Varek sliced a hand through the air. “ Fuck the rules!”
“ It isna that easy,” Ulrik said.
Varek crossed his arms over his chest. “ It is for me.” He shot Con a withering look. “ It should be for you.”
“ There are things you doona know,” Con replied.
Varek shrugged. “ Then tell me.”
“ Enough ,” Ulrik said, pushing away from the wall and walking to stand at the foot of the table. “ Varek , we all want this, but you know as well as I do that Kings can no’ be returned.”
Varek opened his mouth to argue.
Then Con said, “ On Earth .”
Ulrik’s head swung to him. “ What ?”
“ That’s the rule on Earth ,” Con said. “ We’re no’ on that realm.”
Varek looked hopefully between the two. “ Then do it.”
“ And the rest?” Ulrik asked Con without looking at Varek .
Con’s brow creased in a frown.
“ What ?” Varek pressed. “ What is the rest?”
Con ran a hand over his mouth and jaw. “ The law on Earth is that Ulrik is forbidden to return a King once he dies. If he tries, the King will immediately die again. It’s a cycle the magic set up.”
“ As we’ve already stated, we’re on Zora ,” Varek said.
Ulrik’s lips twisted. “ True , but there may be other consequences. Merrill may never be able to return to Earth . Nor do we know if he will still be a King .”
That wasn’t something Varek had even considered. “ Shite .”
“ Precisely ,” Con replied.
Knowing Con , there were other things, but he didn’t plan on sharing. And right now, Varek had all he could handle. “ Merrill always saw the best in everyone. Even when we couldna see it in ourselves. He had the innate ability to guide us toward whatever we sought. He did that with Katla . He saw something in her. Maybe he knew from the beginning that she was his mate. Maybe he didna. But he forgave her for her actions against the dragons.”
“ Because Villette deceived her,” Ulrik said.
Con braced his hands on the table, his gaze on Merrill . “ That doesna matter to the dragons. In truth, it didna matter to some of us. Katla had the ability to decide. But would we have made the same choices with the same information she had? Possibly . Merrill saw past all of that. He saw her . He befriended her and gave her what no one else did. Forgiveness .”
“ Because he sought it himself,” Ulrik added.
Varek looked down at his closest friend. “ Merrill was a protector. He stood between us and Katla when he thought we were going to hurt her. He would’ve stood between anyone and her. He found his mate. I say we bring him back.”
“ What about returning to Earth ?” Ulrik asked.
Varek dropped his arms and looked at the King of Silvers . “ Jeyra is here, and while we’ve made a few trips to Earth , I’m fine remaining.”
“ Aye , but you have the option. There’s a difference,” Con pointed out.
Varek grunted as he admitted the truth. Deciding when to return to Dreagan and never being able to return would change how he felt.
“ And if he isna a King anymore?” Con asked, looking between Ulrik and Varek ?
Ulrik shrugged. “ I know what choice I’d make between remaining King or being with Eilish .”
“ I feel the same,” Varek replied.
Con blew out a breath as he straightened. “ Me , too.”