by Chant, Zoe
She couldn’t let herself be ruled by fear. If she had to be ruled by something, she wanted to be ruled by love.
Dali was about to call out to him that she loved him and she was sorry when their eyes met. She didn’t know how she knew what he wanted, but without a single movement, without even a flicker of his eyes, he was telling her to keep quiet and follow his lead. Dali knew it with as much certainty as she knew that she loved him, though his actual expression showed a weariness and despair and bitter determination that made her heart hurt.
But Merlin had been raised by con artists. He’d run rat roulette when he wasn’t old enough to drink.
Morgana’s the mark, Dali thought. And I think I’m the plant.
She hoped she’d be able to figure out what con Merlin was playing, and be word-perfect with her lines without any rehearsal. A single slip was likely to be deadly for both of them.
“See?” said Morgana. “Your ex-girlfriend is unharmed.”
“She’s bleeding,” Merlin pointed out.
“A minor scratch,” said Morgana. “One that I had nothing to do with. She told me herself that her own magical beast attacked her.”
“Well, I want to check her myself.” Merlin strode to her side and took her chin in one hand and the back of her head in the other, tilting her head around as he peered at her blood-smeared cheek. Though his touch was impersonal and his expression revealed nothing, the crackle of sexual energy that went through her nearly made her jump.
How could I have believed in Morgana for a second? This is Merlin, Dali thought.
“Satisfied?” asked Morgana.
“Not yet.” He lifted her left arm and checked it, running his hand over the join between the prosthetic and her wrist, then knelt and began patting her down.
Dali fixed her gaze on Morgana, not Merlin. The wizard-scientist was visibly bored and irritated.
Finally, Merlin straightened up. “You’re right, she’s not hurt. Are you going to release her once I’ve heard your offer?”
“Yes,” Morgana said smoothly. “My interest is in you and her magical beast, not the woman herself. I merely wanted to keep her from interfering while I presented my offer.”
Sure you’re going to release me, Dali thought, but held her tongue. Her attention was on Merlin, the wizard-scientist, and her two guards. Even if they weren’t shifters, they were big strong men, and they both had guns. Not even Merlin’s biggest velociraptor could take out one wizard and two armed men before one of them got off a spell or a shot.
“Fine,” Merlin said. “Let’s hear your offer.”
Morgana smiled. “First, let’s review your situation. You’re alone in the world. Your ability to form a mate-bond has been severed.”
What the hell is a mate-bond? Dali thought.
“Your latest lover wants nothing more to do with you,” Morgana went on.
“No, wait,” Merlin protested. “Here she is—maybe she’s changed her mind.”
Dali thought she knew what Merlin wanted her to say, but she hoped he’d give her some kind of clue.
Without pause, he addressed her earnestly. “I came here to rescue you! At serious risk to myself! I’m not saying you owe me, of course, but, well...”
“You’re not saying it, but you sure implied it,” Dali snapped. “It’s because of you that I got kidnapped! I never should have gotten in that car with you. I mean her.”
“Doesn’t sound like she’s changed her mind to me,” Morgana remarked. “And she’s not the only one who doesn’t want you. Your team would be glad if you quit. The circus has declared you outcast. Your own mother has disowned you. ”
What? Dali thought. But Merlin just nodded, looking even more depressed, so she kept up her stone face. Given how much she wanted to punch Morgana in the face, that took some doing.
“You’ve never belonged anywhere, in your entire life,” said Morgana. “Not on your bodyguard team, not in the Marines, not in any of the jobs you did before the Marines, not in the circus, not even in your own blood family.”
Low blow, thought Dali. She was more certain than ever that Merlin wanted her to play along, but she had to clench her jaw tight to avoid shouting out in his defense.
“So, to sum up, you have nothing and no one.” Morgana paused for effect before saying, “Am I wrong?”
The sheer misery on Merlin’s face struck Dali to the heart. Sure, he had a plan. But what Morgana was saying had to hurt anyway. Dali had broken up with him. He had been unwanted by his horrible bio-parents. And what was that thing about the circus and his mother?
“No,” Merlin said in a voice of numb despair. “You’re not wrong.”
“But it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Morgana. “Not if you join us. We’ll give you a place, and we’ll never abandon you. You’re important to us. We want you to be one of our Dark Knights, who will help us build a world in which we will rule. You will be powerful, and you will have a home.”
Merlin hesitated, then took a slow step toward her. Then he stopped, wavering.
“And you will have freedom. You can do anything. Say anything. Whatever you say, people will believe it—or face the consequences. If you tell them they’re a dog, they’ll bark.”
He took another step closer to her, then bowed his head in surrender.
Morgana extended her hand as if she expected him to kiss it. “Kneel before me, Merlin, and I will make you the first and most powerful of our Dark Knights. Kneel, and I will name you Deceit.”
Merlin sank down to his knees.
Then he sank further down. Much further. In the blink of an eye, he was a velociraptor the size of a kitten. Before Morgana could react, he sank his fangs into her ankle.
Morgana let out a piercing shriek of shock and pain. Her men tried to aim their guns at Merlin, but he shrank further, to the size of a hamster. As she flailed around, screaming, he used his talons to rapidly clamber up her robe.
But Dali only saw this out of the corner of her eye. She’d made her move the instant she saw Merlin shrink.
When he’d touched her hair, he’d pulled out one of her hairpins, and when he’d patted her down, blocking everyone’s view of her body with his own, he’d picked the handcuff lock with one hand. So she was free to leap out of the chair, rush the nearest guard, and disarm him while he was distracted by Morgana’s screaming.
Dali had learned that move in boot camp and faithfully practiced it. She’d always trusted that it would work in an actual combat situation, and was pleased to find that it did. She slammed the butt of his own gun down on his head—another move she’d learned in boot camp—and that worked too. He crumpled to the ground.
But one guard remained. He couldn’t shoot at Merlin without hitting Morgana, so he swung his gun toward Dali.
Instantly, Merlin was a velociraptor the size of a man. His long tail cracked like a whip, knocking the gun from the guard’s hand.
Morgana, no longer distracted by a tiny velociraptor climbing her robe, made a quick gesture. Merlin froze in place.
“Dammit!” Dali yelled.
As she backed up so she could cover both Morgana and the guard, something grabbed her ankle. She kicked out, dislodging the clutching hand; it belonged to the guard she’d hit with the gun, who had failed to stay unconscious.
In that instant of distraction, the other guard rushed her. He had the element of surprise and was much stronger than her. Despite her struggles, he managed to pin her hands at her side. Dali gave a hard, painful twist and upward yank of her left arm. Her prosthetic hand popped off, leaving her arm free.
The guard, who had obviously forgotten that she had a prosthetic, let out a yell of horror. Dali almost laughed; he must’ve thought her actual hand had come off! Before he could recover from the shock, she struck him across the neck with her left elbow (boot camp again), then body-slammed him into the row of cages.
With a vengeful howl and a buzz of wings, Cloud pounced. She stuck out her paws, yanked his fingers through
the bars, and sank her teeth in the nearest one while clawing the hell out of the others. The guard let out a shrill scream.
Dali spun around, bringing her gun to bear on Morgana.
And froze in place.
If she could have moved her lips, she’d have sworn a blue streak. As it was, all she could do was watch while Morgana, her brow furrowed in concentration, said, “Guards! Restrain them!”
The guard Dali had hit over the head got up, glaring at her. He was joined by the guard whose hand Cloud had scratched and bitten.
“How do we restrain a dinosaur?” the bitten guard asked sulkily.
Morgana looked at them like they were idiots. “Hold a gun to the woman’s head. Then I’ll release Merlin. If he doesn’t turn into a human and cooperate, shoot her.”
“Oh.” The bitten guard pried the gun from Dali’s hand, then pressed the barrel to her head. The touch of cold steel made her shiver involuntarily.
Morgana gestured. Merlin unfroze, then became a man. Without pause, he said, “I’ll cooperate! I’m going to go sit in that chair there, and you can cuff me, okay?”
“Do it,” she ordered.
Merlin sat down in the chair, and the other guard handcuffed him by both wrists with his hands behind his back.
“And keep the gun on him, too,” warned Morgana. Then she gestured, and Dali unfroze.
It’s hard for her to keep people frozen, Dali thought. Especially more than one person at once.
But she couldn’t figure out how to make use of that knowledge when she had a gun to her head. And their enemies were taking no chances: Morgana indicated another chair, and cuffed Dali herself when she sat in it, so the guard could still keep a gun to her head. He didn’t lower it once she was cuffed, either.
The guard who’d thought he’d pulled off her hand picked up her prosthetic gingerly, by one finger. “I oughta stomp this to bits.”
“Have fun trying,” Dali said, though she really hoped he wouldn’t. It had been very expensive. “You’ll bruise the hell out of your foot. Might even break it.”
With a disgusted look, he instead dropped her hand in her lap like it was a dead rat.
Merlin’s golden hair was disheveled and he was cuffed to a chair, but he gave her a reassuring smile. “You were fantastic. I had no idea you could fight like that. How have we never sparred together?”
Dali didn’t see how they were going to get out of this, but Merlin’s impossible yet genuine cheer gave her hope. “Guess we were too busy with other stuff. Too bad.”
“It’s not too late. We still can.”
“What are you talking about?” Morgana said angrily, stepping back to face Dali and Merlin. “You’re not going anywhere. And even if by some miracle you did escape, you’re not going to do anything together, ever again. She doesn’t love you, remember?”
“Boy, are you wrong about that.” Dali turned her head so she could look Merlin in the eyes as she spoke. “I love you, Merlin. I’m sorry I broke up with you. I was scared that our lives were incompatible, and... I was scared. But I’m not scared anymore. I love you, and I want to be with you. We can work it out.”
His eyes shone like a cloudless sky on a sunny summer day. “I love you too. And we will work it out.”
“You’re not working anything out,” snapped Morgana. Her cold eyes fixed on Merlin. “So you found one person to lean on. Good for you. But you have nothing else. You’re swimming alone in a stormy sea, and she’s your life preserver. And when I kill her before your eyes, you’ll have to take my hand or drown.”
Dali saw the flash of fury and terror in Merlin’s eyes. But when he spoke, his voice was calm and steady. “I’m not alone. It doesn’t matter what kind of tricks you played at the circus—once I explain what you did, my mother and my friends will believe me, not you. My team does respect me and care about me. I teach Caro gymnastics. I have friends all over the world. Killing Dali won’t get you anything from me.”
“Then maybe I’ll kill her just because I feel like it,” snapped Morgana.
“I don’t think so,” said Merlin.
“Oh?” Morgana said. “And who’s going to stop me?”
Merlin just smiled. And then Blue, who had come padding up behind her, unnoticed by the guards who were intent on Dali and Merlin, bent down and bit Morgana’s ankle. Her other ankle, the one that the velociraptor hadn’t bitten before. She went down with a scream.
“Blue is,” replied Dali. Now that she could stop trying not to look at him or give anything away, she didn’t need to let Merlin hog all the comebacks.
Morgana rose from the floor with an ear-piercing screech, taking to the air on flapping leathery wings. She had become a gray-green flying reptile with a long, sharp beak: a pterodactyl. Blood dripped down her scaly ankles and off her sharp claws.
Merlin’s cuffs fell to the floor as he became a hamster-sized velociraptor. Before either his guard or Dali’s could react, Merlin became the twelve-foot raptor again, knocking the guns from their hands with simultaneous blows from his head and tail. He was so fast that Dali had no time to be afraid, but only to marvel at his agility and precision. Even his maximum-size raptor moved with the grace of the acrobat that he was.
But as he lunged for the guards, they both shifted. The one Cloud had bitten became a dinosaur bigger than Merlin with spines down its back and a vicious spiked tail, and the one Dali had hit over the head became a shaggy black dog the size of a horse, wreathed in gray smoke and with eyes of flame.
What is that thing? Dali was more unnerved by the black dog than by the dinosaur, even though the dog was smaller. That’s not any kind of animal that ever lived. It looks like some kind of dog-demon!
Then she had no room in her mind for curiosity, but only fear for Merlin. He stood in front of her, shielding her from the three creatures as they all attacked at once.
The pterodactyl who was Morgana flew at him from above, darting in to stab at him with her sword-like beak, then veering upward before he could retaliate; the warehouse had a very high ceiling, with more than enough room for her to evade him. Dali wondered if Morgana, who liked to plan ahead, had brought them to it in case she had to fight in her flighted form.
Meanwhile, the spike-tailed dinosaur attacked with vicious swipes of its tail. The black dog was hard to see clearly, with its cloud of smoke, and it seemed to materialize wherever Merlin wasn’t looking, biting at him.
Merlin was more agile than any of them, and fought with a protective fury. But he was stuck in one place, as he wouldn’t leave Dali, and soon his sleek black hide was streaked with blood.
Dali struggled furiously, but to no avail. Cloud was throwing herself against the bars of her cage and yowling, but she couldn’t get free either. And Blue seemed to have vanished as mysteriously as he’d appeared. Dali hoped he was sneaking up on their enemies, but she couldn’t imagine that one bugbear could do much good against three monsters. On the other hand, they needed all the help they could get.
And then she spotted him on the other side of the warehouse, moseying across the floor in what did indeed look like an attempt to sneak up on the fight. Dali wanted to scream at him to hurry up, but she held her tongue. The element of surprise was their only hope.
Morgana the pterodactyl was starting to swoop upward again. To make sure she didn’t spot Blue, who was extremely easily visible given that he was bright blue and the rest of the warehouse was gray, Dali let out a piercing shriek.
Morgana’s gray-green head whipped toward her.
“Hey!” Dali yelled. “What ever happened to your sneaky, clever plans? Now you’re just trying to beat us up like some kind of common thug! You’re not as smart as you think if the best you can do is turn into a pterodactyl!”
As Dali kept on yelling, behind Morgana and the other attackers the big double doors of the warehouse slowly and soundlessly swung open.
The hot red-gold glow of firelight flooded the warehouse. For the first time since she’d entered it, Dali felt w
arm. A great bird who seemed entirely made of flame arrowed through the doors, leaving behind a trail of fire, and went straight for the pterodactyl.
Not it, Dali thought as her face cracked in an incredulous smile. Him. That must be Roland, the phoenix.
A ferocious roar shook the building as the cave bear that was Pete charged in. The shaggy brown beast slammed into the spike-tailed dinosaur, biting and clawing.
Then a huge black dog stalked inside. Wisps of gray smoke rose from its body, and its eyes were like windows into the flames of Hell.
“Behind you!” Dali yelled. “Merlin, Pete, enemy behind you!”
The black dog swung its head toward her. Dali shrank back from the pits of flame that were its eyes. It shook its head in a surprisingly human gesture, then leaped to attack the other black dog.
Dali’s bewilderment gave way to realization. So that was what a hellhound was. She hoped her warning hadn’t distracted the others too much.
Finally, Carter strode in. He wore a long black coat over a suit and carried a gun in one hand and a briefcase in the other. He cast a quick glance over the fight, saw that he couldn’t fire without risking hitting one of his friends, and made a wide circuit of the fight to get to Dali. Despite the battle going on all around him, he calmly reached into his coat, pulled out a tool Dali didn’t recognize, and lowered it to her handcuffs. They fell to the floor with a clang.
She grabbed her prosthetic and jumped up, gasping, “Thank you!”
“No problem.”
“What can I do to help?” Dali asked, then trailed off.
Pete the cave bear was crouched atop the fallen spike-tailed dinosaur, growling. Merlin and Ransom, both still in their shift forms, had the other hellhound cornered.
The only people still fighting were Roland and Morgana. Morgana dodged a swipe of Roland’s fiery claws and dove toward Merlin, her vicious beak aimed straight down. Roland flew to intercept her, flame streaming out behind him. They met in a fireball so big and bright that Dali had to cover her eyes. When she opened them, nothing remained in the air but the phoenix, and a little ash sifting down.
