Sword of Darkness

by Kinley MacGregor

  "Are you all right?"

  "Never better," he said sarcastically.

  Blaise changed back into a man. "Anybody have a guess on when and where we are?"

  Kerrigan sheathed his sword. "I'm not sure. It looks vaguely like upstate New York. Stirling Forest, I think."

  Seren frowned at his words. "New York? What happened to the old one?"

  The men ignored her question.

  Blaise turned toward Garafyn and Anir. "We need to hide the gargoyles. Beasts, go find a building to squat on."

  Garafyn curled his lip. "Dragon, go find a—"

  "Enough," Kerrigan said, cutting them off. "Blaise is right. The last thing we can afford is someone seeing all of us together."

  Garafyn growled at him. "Yeah, well, I'm sick of pretending to be a lawn ornament."

  "What is a lawn ornament?" Seren tried again.

  Garafyn let out a disgusted breath. "A statue that sits on a yard where dogs piss all over it."

  "Yeah," Anir said, "in short, it's us. I really hate New York."

  Blaise snorted. "Hey, at least it has a lot of buildings for you to hide on."

  Garafyn didn't look amused.

  Kerrigan gave the gargoyles an evil glare. "Feel free to return to the Middle Ages or Camelot any time you want."

  "Yeah, right," Anir said. "Like those people don't tie us to a stake and torch us. Really messes with their head when they realize stone don't burn easy. As for Camelot, fuck that."

  "Yeah," Garafyn snarled. "Especially after we just screwed over Queen Bitch." He looked at Kerrigan. "Where are you guys going?"

  Before they could answer, something bright flashed beside them.

  Kerrigan turned as an Adoni came through to land before them. He made a sound of disgust. "Don't you people have a home?" Drawing his sword, he lunged at the Adoni, only to have him step back.

  The instant he did, Garafyn snapped his neck.

  The Adoni fell dead at Kerrigan's feet.

  Kerrigan curled his lip. "Did you have to do that?"

  "I thought I was helping."

  "I need to feed, and that would have been a great source of food for me."

  Garafyn held his hands up in surrender.

  "Anyone got a suggestion on where to hide before another jolly good friend finds us?" Anir asked.

  "I'm thinking Pluto," Garafyn said under his breath.

  Kerrigan didn't acknowledge that strange word at all. "We need something mobile. They'll have a harder time pinpointing us if we're in motion."

  "Wait," Anir said with a note of warning in his voice, "I saw this episode of X-Files. The guy's head explodes the minute Mulder reaches the West Coast. I don't want that to be us."

  Seren was completely baffled by their conversation. "Please, someone, tell me what's going on."

  Garafyn gave her a droll stare. "We're discussing how we're going to die. Anir is voting for head explosion. My vote is disembowelment. Painful disembowelment."

  "Shut up," Blaise said before he turned to Seren. "We need to find something to move us around quickly."

  "I'm sure there are horses—"

  "Too slow. We need something that moves much faster than that and doesn't get tired."

  Kerrigan rubbed his head as if he had an ache between his eyes. "I have enough energy left to conjure us a mobile home. I think. But I'm going to have to feed soon and—"

  His voice broke off as another Adoni appeared. His eyes flamed red an instant before he saw Seren. The air crackled as two more came through.

  The Adoni rushed them.

  Anir grabbed one while the other two went for Seren. Kerrigan swung his sword to drive one back.

  Seren used her powers to blast the other, but it had no effect on him. She struck out, and her blows glanced off him.

  The Adoni grabbed her hair and laughed. The air around them shimmered as if he were about to take her back through time.

  Panicking, she saw Kerrigan toss the one he was fighting toward Blaise, who then engaged him so that Kerrigan could run toward her.

  Before he could reach them, Garafyn grabbed the Adoni who held her and flipped him on his back. "One vegemite Adoni made to order. Eat 'em up, grump."

  Seren cringed as Kerrigan placed his hand over the Adoni's chest. The creature screamed out in pain while Blaise killed one and Anir finished off the Adoni he was fighting.

  She watched as the color came back into Kerrigan's face even as it faded from the Adoni. She wanted to look away, and yet she couldn't. She was mesmerized by the brutality of what Kerrigan had to do to survive. Damn Morgen for doing this to him. It wasn't right that Kerrigan had been turned into this because of one woman's sadistic nature.

  But even as that thought went through her, Kerrigan let out a relieved sigh. When he came to his feet, he was again the fearsome knight she'd met in London.

  Garafyn appeared to smile. "Good to the last drop, huh?"

  "Don't start with me, Garafyn," Kerrigan warned. "I'm now in position to pull your wings off your back and laugh while I do it."

  "Point well taken."

  Kerrigan led them over to what appeared to be a road, only it had an odd black surface to it. She'd never seen anything like it. It was hot, with lines, both broken and straight, painted over it. No sooner did they reach it than a giant…something appeared out of nowhere.

  It looked like a big, long box with wheels. It was too big to be a wagon.

  "Is this a house?" she asked.

  "Kind of," Anir said. "It's a mobile home."

  She was baffled by his words. "How can a home be mobile?"

  Anir laughed. "Step inside and see."

  Kerrigan opened the door. "He's right, Seren. We need to get inside and get out of here before more come through."

  Seren followed Blaise into the peculiar device. Blaise pulled her toward a table that was flanked by two benches while the gargoyles came in and tucked their wings around them. Kerrigan joined them, then shut the door.

  "I'll drive," Blaise said.

  "Duh," Garafyn said. "Kerrigan needs to rest. Anir and I would get us pulled over since I don't think cops are used to seeing statues driving, and queenie over there would kill us since she's never seen a highway or car before." He paused as if another idea just occurred to him. "You do know how to drive, don't you?"

  Blaise gave an evil smirk. "Guess we'll see, huh?"

  Garafyn looked sick to his stomach. "I really hate mandrakes."

  Kerrigan shook his head at the gargoyle. In a strange way, he was beginning to like Garafyn, and that actually scared him.

  "Relax," he said to Garafyn as Blaise moved to the front to take the wheel. He looked up at the mandrake. "Make sure you stick to the back roads."

  "What? You don't want a major fight in a U.S. city?"

  "I could care less about that. But we need to move fast, and I don't want to hit a traffic jam."

  "Good point." Blaise took a seat, then started the engine while Kerrigan moved to the small row of seats so that he could close his eyes and rest for a bit.

  Blaise pulled them onto the road and started down the empty highway.

  Seren scooted out of her bench and followed Kerrigan to the back. All things considered, she was being remarkably calm, but then after Camelot, the marvels of the twenty-first century were probably mild for her.

  "What?" he asked as she sat down by his side.

  "They're going to find us again, aren't they?"

  He sighed at the fear he heard in her voice. Part of him wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how to do that. So instead, he chose to be honest. She had every right to know what they were up against. "Aye."

  "Then what are we going to do?"

  He opened his eyes to see the concern that burned bright in her green eyes. "We're going to keep running, Seren. It's all we can do."

  "But for how long?"

  "As long as it takes."

  "You know," Garafyn said from the table. "It would be easier to hide if you two split
up. The power of three Merlins is pretty damned hard to miss. But one…"

  "I won't leave her unprotected," Kerrigan growled.

  Garafyn scowled. "Since when do you have a conscience?"

  "I don't have a conscience."

  "Then why are we protecting her?"

  Kerrigan didn't answer. In truth he didn't know what to say. He honestly had no idea why he was doing this. There was nothing to be gained by protecting her. Not really.

  They were only delaying the inevitable. Morgen would find them again and again. She would be relentless.

  He angled his head so that he could meet Seren's gaze. "You know, you've been nothing but trouble since I first met you."

  Instead of being offended, she smiled. "I was minding my own business, my lord, when you came and took me away from everything that I knew."

  Smiling, he reached up to brush a stray piece of hair back from her cheek. Her skin was so soft. Warm. In all his life, he'd never known kindness until she'd taken his hand and followed him into hell itself.

  The only problem was that angels couldn't live in hell and demons couldn't live in heaven.

  Kerrigan listened to the hum of the engine. Seren didn't belong here in this time period. She would have to learn a new language. Relearn how to do the simplest of tasks. She knew nothing of surviving in this world.

  "Who was the idiot who planned this escape anyway?" Kerrigan asked bitterly.

  It was Blaise who answered. "That would be the two who have rocks for their brains."

  "I resent that," Garafyn said indignantly. "It wasn't like either one of you had a better suggestion."

  Kerrigan didn't comment as he continued to stroke the softness of Seren's cheek.

  Where could they hide? Really?

  They were two gargoyles, an albino dragon, a demon lord, and a simple maid whose only dream was to be a weaver. They were far from inconspicious. Not to mention the fact that Seren would soon grow heavy with her pregnancy. Then she wouldn't be mobile. She wouldn't be able to run or to fight. He didn't know what kinds of demands this pregnancy would have on her powers.

  She needed to be with other women. With someone who could help her through this. Someone who could protect her even better than he could.

  He knew nothing of children or childbirth. He only knew how to take life.

  If he had one wish, it would be to have had one day of peace alone with Seren. One day to have spent with her not as her captor or her protector, but as a man, pure and simple. But there was nothing simple about his life. As for pure…he would laugh if he could.

  Nay, it was over. They'd given it a good run. But in the end, he knew the truth.

  "Garafyn. Anir."

  The gargoyles looked at him. Kerrigan leaned up and pulled the medallion from his neck. He took a moment to study the piece that he'd found near the stone where his sword had been buried. Morgen had been the one to explain its significance to him. In the hands of a Merlin, it amplified his power. It could also serve to return a Merlin home to Camelot should he be weakened out in the world of man. In the hands of the gargoyles or others who had no magic, it would allow them to channel certain powers.

  With it, the gargoyles would no longer be seen by Morgen. They could hide from her. But more than that, they would have the ability to travel through time without a Merlin opening a portal and sending them through.

  Though they'd still be cursed into the stone bodies of gargoyles, Garafyn and Anir would be free.

  Sighing, he tossed the amulet to Garafyn, who caught it with one taloned hand.

  The gargoyle gaped as he realized what it was.

  "Payment for services rendered."

  The gargoyles exchanged a stunned look.

  "You're not going to keep us enslaved like Morgen has?" Garafyn asked.

  Kerrigan shook his head. "There's been enough slavery. You're free." From the corner of his eye, he saw the weepy look on Seren's face.

  Garafyn's hand actually shook as he placed the medallion around his neck. Two seconds later, the gargoyles vanished.

  "That was truly kind," she said softly. She was so beautiful as her tiny hand held his. How could something so small touch him so deeply?

  Still, he scoffed at her sentimentality. "What do I know of kindness?"

  A gentle smile curved her lips as she lifted his hand to place a sweet kiss to his knuckles, which were scarred by a lifetime of fighting. "You're learning."

  Nay, he wasn't. He was what he'd always been. Cold. Calculating. Because if he wasn't, he would never be able to do what he was about to do.

  Kerrigan caught Blaise's frown in the rearview mirror, but he quickly averted his gaze. Garafyn was right. The only hope they had was to separate.

  And it was the last thing he wanted to do.

  Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. "Brea! If you want your sword back, come and take it."

  Chapter 14

  Kerrigan heard Seren gasp beside him as he summoned the Celtic god to them with his powers. He only hoped that Brea was listening. But then given how much the Tuatha Dé Danann wanted the sword back, it was a good wager that Brea would show.

  So much for being a bad ass. He was about to become a first-rate chump. And for what?

  A cheap piece of peasant…

  Kerrigan clamped down on that thought in anger. That wasn't Seren and he knew it. She was so much more. And he hated that he knew the truth of her. Because in the end that was his downfall. The moment he'd looked into her eyes and seen something more than a disposable pawn to be used, looked into her heart and seen the innocent compassion, he'd set his own course for destruction.

  Damn, he was a fool. And he was becoming an even bigger one by the minute.

  Blaise pulled to the side of the deserted road as Brea flashed into the seat in front of Kerrigan and Seren. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a turtleneck, Brea looked completely at home in this time period. The god's dark eyes were full of suspicion as he stared at them.

  "Why have you summoned me?"

  Kerrigan paused as he considered his many reasons, none of which made a bit of sense. He really didn't know why he was doing this other than the one basic fact that it was the right thing to do.

  You've never done the right thing before…

  It was true. He hadn't, and yet he couldn't seem to keep himself from doing this. That's what you get from trading blood with the innocent. It's her purity that's corrupting you.

  Then again, her innocence had corrupted him the instant she put her tiny hand into his and allowed him to pull her across his horse.

  He'd been wrong when he thought she had destroyed her future by that one foolish act of trust. It was his future that had been destroyed by one act of selfishness.

  Nay, it wasn't selfishness that was his undoing. It was something else entirely. Something he'd never felt before.

  Compassion. Warmth. And another emotion he didn't dare name because it wasn't meant for something like him. It was a noble emotion for those who were worthy of it.

  It was an emotion for someone like Seren.

  He met Brea's gaze levelly. "I want you to take Seren to Avalon."

  Kerrigan wasn't sure whose face appeared most stunned by those words, but he had to admit that Brea's expression was most comical. Too bad he didn't feel like laughing.

  Seren's face paled as she wrapped one hand around his biceps. "I won't go without you," she said, her voice breaking.

  Those words spoke to a part of him that he'd never met before. A part of him he'd thought was completely defective.

  His heart.

  And it was breaking now. But this had to be done. There was no choice. Not if he wanted to keep her safe.

  He placed his hand over hers and gave a gentle squeeze of reassurance. "I'll join you there."

  Brea narrowed his eyes on him. The god knew he was lying and by the look on Blaise's face, he did, too.

  Seren's eyes were filled with pain as she looked up at him. She trusted him, and he
hated that he was breaking that trust. "Why won't you take me?"

  He savored the softness of her hand under his. It was such a tiny hand, and yet it had the strength to shake him to his foundations. To make him do things he'd never done before. To make him care for someone when he knew what he really should do was walk away.

  Taking a deep breath, he did what he did best. He lied. "I can't, Seren. You'll need an escort through the veil, and I gave my key to the gargoyles."

  Her green eyes sparked at that. "I have a key."

  He was stunned when she pulled a matching medallion from beneath the red tunic and handed it to him. He clamped his jaw shut to keep from gaping. "Where did you get this?"

  "My mother gave it to me in a dream."

  Now that was interesting, and if they had more time, he'd question her further about it. But her possession of an amulet changed nothing. If anything, it only strengthened his resolve.

  "You'll still need Brea to make the introductions for you at Avalon and to make sure that nothing happens to you."

  "But why aren't you coming?"

  "I have to go and get your loom before Morgen finds it…if she hasn't already. You go ahead with Brea, and I'll join you in Avalon as soon as I can."

  Kerrigan got up as Blaise moved toward the back where they were seated. "Watch her," he said sternly to the mandrake. "I need to have a word with Brea outside. Alone."

  Blaise nodded at the same time Seren protested. She was getting up to follow after him.

  "I'll be right back," Kerrigan promised as he gently pushed her toward her seat.

  She narrowed those green eyes on him threateningly. "You'd best be, my lord."

  Cupping her supple cheek in his palm, he inclined his head to her before he took Brea outside so that Seren wouldn't be able to overhear them. They were parked beside a small pasture where he could see a few small calves and cows grazing. Luckily there were no other cars about to notice his peculiar clothes or to ask if they'd broken down.

  But that wouldn't last. They needed to get out of here before someone stopped and questioned them. Or worse, before Morgen found them again.

  "You said something about the sword?" Brea prompted as soon as he left the RV.