by Sariah Skye
“So far, he’s been more honest than you have. Why didn’t you tell us that you’ve been holding Morgaine, all this time?” I snapped at him.
Lachlan blanched, and turned pale. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I do that?”
“I really don’t know. Why would you be an absentee father my whole life, Morgaine or not?” I retorted icily, crossing my arms stubbornly over my chest. “Surely there was something that could have been done.”
Lachlan appeared wounded. “Ava…I explained that…”
I huffed as he moved towards me.
Bash stepped forward between the two men— Rhys and Lachlan—glaring daggers at them both. “Well, one of you is lying.”
“Don’t bother lying about it, Lachlan,” Rhys said, my father’s name bitter on his tongue. “You know how I know? My essence was held in the vessel that contained Avalon. When she performed that ritual, trying to bond it with Ava, I was released right along with it.”
“What?” My father laughed loudly. “That is simply not possible! Why didn’t any of us see you?” He took a handful of steps toward the wizard. Sorcerer. Whatever the fuck he was. Bash jut out his arms to keep them apart as they stared each other down like jungle cats waiting to pounce.
Rhys rolled his eyes so hard, I thought they’d literally snap off his face. “You loblolly! I’m the greatest sorcerer the world has ever known! Your invisible shield? A mere parlor trick for me, you bumbling bastard basket of—”
“Hey!” I protested. “That’s not easy magic, fucker! Bash, hit him for me, will you?”
Bash grinned widely. “With pleasure.” He balled up a fist, and decked him square in the shoulder, exactly where I would have. It wasn’t too hard, but it got the job done.
Rhys rubbed at the hit area, grousing. “Hey, I just meant that’s easy for me! All I had to do was blink and disappear!”
“Right.”
“See what I mean?!” Lachlan protested. “He’s a two-tongued devil.”
“Still… it doesn’t mean what he says isn’t true. So far, he’s been right about everything. Like, why have you been hiding where you live? Why haven’t I met Nadina yet? What is up with all the secrecy?” I asked, tapping an impatient foot.
“It would certainly explain why Morgaine hasn’t attempted to come for Ava, yet,” Mathias explained, attempting to be calm. His brown eyes were tinged with a hint of black; meaning he was about to lose control. The fact I could see the black indicated how truly angry he was. Miraculously, he was controlling it, but one wrong word from either Rhys or Lachlan and I would fear for their lives.
Lachlan sighed. “Why would I lie about that? She’s my daughter—”
“—Your what?” A new female voice joined the conversation.
The boys were gathered in random places around the very small home. They appeared very out of place—frankly, so did Lachlan—in a place like this. But all of us in unison turned to face the exotic stunner that emerged seemingly from one of the solid walls. More magic, I assumed. Damn these fuckers and all their magic! I thought scornfully.
“Holy shit…” Rhys stuttered under his breath.
Lachlan glanced between her and us in a panic. He forced an innocent grin. “Nadina!” He closed the distance between them and tried to put his arms around her. She shrugged him off, opting to keep her distance, her hands firm on her shapely hips.
Nadina was beautiful—and that was putting it mildly. She was average height, with all the right shapes in the right places; hourglass figure, full hips which probably gave way to a round booty in back, a petite frame with reasonably large breasts. She was stunning and exotic. Her heritage was clearly mixed, each feature paying homage to a distinct culture. She was amazing… and I suddenly felt like a potato.
I didn’t balk, though. Just sucked in my gut—I hadn’t lifted in a couple weeks really, I needed to get back to it—and flashed her a wry smile.
She glowered at me. Then back to Lachlan, as the knowledge sunk in. Really, we looked a lot alike; there was no denying we were related.
“I can explain,” Lachlan insisted.
“Ohh this is going to be good!” Rhys trotted up to my side, and clapped his hands excitedly in anticipation, like he was getting ready to watch a good, sleazy episode of Jerry Springer.
Trystan was closest to us, and he shoved his formidable frame between Rhys and me, nudging the sorcerer aside.
Nadina raised a hand, effectively shushing everyone. She pointed an elegant finger at me accusingly but didn’t speak to me. “So this is who I’ve been playing hostage and hostagee for? Your bastard child? How old is she, huh, Lachlan? She doesn’t look like any spring chicken here—”
“No!” Mathias’ voice rumbled the entire room, and Nadina, who had looked ready for a fight, began to back down under his sheer formative appearance. “Do not say those things about our girl. I don’t care who you are—I won’t fight you, but Ava is a force to be reckoned with. We’ll just watch the magic happen.”
“Damn right,” I muttered, as Trystan chuckled behind me.
“Wait.” Bash spoke up, interrupting the showdown. “Hostage? You are holding Morgaine!”
“Morgaine? I thought her name was Marian?” Nadina scowled.
Lachlan, looking utterly defeated, slumped his shoulders, and raised his palm. “Why doesn’t everyone sit down, and I’ll explain.”
“Sit down? I want to see Morgaine! Now!” I demanded.
Nadina snorted loudly. “I’ll happily take you to her, but you have to promise to take the psycho bitch off my hands!”
I exchanged a look with the guys. “Done!” I said, and she motioned for us to follow.
“No! Wait—please, you can’t take—” Lachlan threw himself in front of her, and the invisible door in the wall.
Mathias was by his side, clutching his arm firmly, pulling him aside. “You’re not going to want to mess us with this on this one, Lachlan.” He held my helpless father, a look pleading on his handsome features, as Nadina placed her hand on the wall. It went through, and she seemed to be reaching for some kind of doorknob or handle on the other side. With a lift of her elbow, the door clicked and opened, revealing another large room and hallway. They were simple rooms, with wooden paneled walls and a knotty wood floor, but it was so much more than what’d we’d seen already I was almost relieved for a second when I realized my father wasn’t living so destitute after all. Then I became angry when I realized he’d betrayed me.
Bash followed her, then I, and Xander and Trystan brought up the rear. Rhys attempted to follow but Mathias grabbed him last second, ordering him to stay put.
I knew he could probably use magic to escape his grasp, but the fact that he didn’t boded well for him; he was playing the role of submissive until we trusted him.
It was only about a ten-foot hallway, and Nadina flung open a wooden door, pulling on an overhead chain to switch on a single lightbulb, revealing a long flight of stairs that led into a damp basement.
I gasped. It was a single room, with a laundry off to the side. The walls were stone, or concrete—I couldn’t tell the difference in the dark—and the floor dark, either a packed dirt or some kind of deep-colored stone.
And my mother was chained up against the wall.
Chapter Thirty-One
Both my stomach churned, and my inner bitch cheered, watching my mother and former captor, chained helplessly to the wall. Morgaine’s arms were pinned over her head and bound with heavy metal chains; her head lolled onto her shoulders, and she slumped against the wall, eyes clamped shut.
It was a mixture of terror and vengeance I felt. On one hand, this was my mother. She took Summer and me to school, dried my tears after panic attacks, and listened to me when I had boy woes. On the other hand, it made what she did to me that much more heinous and unforgiveable.
“Ava?” Someone kneaded my shoulders and spoke softly into my ear. Xander gently kissed my cheek and stepped back to a respectful distanc
e. I was either going to explode or crumble, I wasn’t sure what yet.
I raised my hand and nodded once, indicating that I was fine. Generally.
“Let me tell you something about this bitch,” Nadina spat venomously. “She’s difficult and demanding. I offer her food, she kicks it away. We promised to treat her decently but—”
“—that’s my mother.” I interrupted. I don’t know why I said it, but Nadina recoiled.
“She…oh. Oh.” You could almost see the wheels spinning in her mind, churning over the knowledge, as she became angry. “This is…so fucked up.”
I sighed. “Yeah, you have no idea.”
“If this were anyone but Morgaine, I’d be completely disturbed by this,” Bash said to her. “What possessed you to do this?”
Nadina grumbled in exasperation, shoving her hands into the side pockets of her dark blue denim jacket. “Lachlan told me that she was a danger to the supe community, and Ava specifically. Of course, I didn’t know you were his daughter.” She frowned at the word. “We had to keep her here until we could figure out what to do with her. But, why do you keep calling her Morgaine?”
“You don’t know who this is? Really?” Trystan inquired.
Nadina just shrugged. “I told you all I know. Lachlan—”
“Question,” I interjected. “How old do you think Lachlan is?”
Nadina snorted. “Supes don’t age like normal people, so age is irrelevant. I’m two-hundred and thirty.”
I got the feeling that beyond Lachlan being a supe—and an incubus—she didn’t know anything further about his legendary heritage. Which suddenly make me incredibly nervous.
“Let me rephrase,” I said, trying to ignore the dirty look she was giving me. “Who do you think Lachlan is? Really?”
Nadina scowled and chortled loudly. “He’s an incubus. Surely you know that. Or…maybe you don’t, if you really are his daughter.” She looked me over and sighed. “Clearly you are, you look exactly alike.”
“I’ve heard that. But…besides incubus. What is he? Really?”
Nadina tossed up her hands. “Look, Ava, if that’s your real name. I don’t really know what you’re getting at so just cut the crap and either fill me in, or get this crazy ass bitch out of here!”
“Oh, we’re going to do that,” Bash said calmly. “But, I think I know what Ava is getting at,” he said, raising a brow at me. “How much of Lachlan’s life do you know about before you met?”
Nadina clamped her full lips shut. Finally, speechless. I felt a certain amount of glee over this. First impression really didn’t give me the best feeling about her; but that could be the fucked-up situation, not actually her. Point blank, I didn’t like her.
“All I know is that he’s been around for a while,” Nadina explained. “He has gone around the world fighting in different battles because he felt lost, then he started seeking out other supes that needed help. That’s what he said about Ava; he found out about you being targeted by this woman, and he ran into you at some club somewhere.”
I exhaled slowly. “Well…part of that is true. But fucking vague as shit.”
Nadina shrugged. “Not sure what you want; we don’t talk a lot about the past. We both have things we’d like to keep hidden, so I just let it go.”
Narrowing my eyes, I frowned at her. Her expression was unabashed, so whatever was in her “past” she wanted hidden, she had little remorse over it.
Bash stepped forward, thrusting the stunner in one of his pants pockets. “Nadina…Lachlan’s real name is Lancelot du Lac. He’s probably around eighteen-hundred years old. We know this, because Mathias, the large gladiator upstairs, battled with him, many, many years ago in ancient Britain.”
Nadina snorted loudly, rolling her eyes. “Lancelot? Come on. No one is named ‘Lancelot’… who’d want to be named after some old, stuffy knight?”
I groaned into my hand. “Oh jeez… He wasn’t named after some stuffy knight. He is that stuffy knight, okay?”
Nadina flinched, then grimaced in disbelief; like I’d just told her the sky was orange with green polka dots. “You’re lying. That’s not possible.”
I shrugged dismissively. “Believe what you want. I don’t care.” I brushed her off, turning to the guys. “How did she get here, even? Can we take her out of here, and she won’t disappear?”
“She can’t disappear,” Nadina replied, nodding to the chains. “Lachlan said he recovered them from the ritual site; they’re demonic in nature. She can’t escape them. Keep her chained, and she’s fine.”
I winced, watching the guys shudder with discomfort. I gingerly stepped forward, inspecting the chains as close as I dared to get to Morgaine. The heavy, black metal was still stained crimson with dried blood that probably belonged to one of the guys.
Trystan gripped my arm and pulled me away. “Just get away, Avie. Nothing good can come from being near there.”
Rebelliously, I wanted to fight him. But seeing the dread in his eyes, I relented.
“Is she even okay?” Bash inquired. My mother’s limp form was still slumped along the wall.
I waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, she’s sleeping. My mother could sleep through a nuclear bomb being shot off in her room.”
Xander chuckled quietly. “Sure, she’d be dead.”
I glared at him flatly. “Would she? She’s lasted this long.”
Nadina stepped around us and began unfastening the chains on the wall. Holding them in her hands tightly, she kicked at my mother forcibly. “Hey! Get up—you’re outta here!” When my mother didn’t stir, Nadina rolled her eyes. “She was sedated, but it’s been hours; she really should be awake now.”
“You guys take her?” I said to Xander and Trystan, and Nadina handed off the chains quickly, relieved to be getting rid of her. They each tugged on their respective ends, but Morgaine still didn’t stir.
“Och, what’d ya give her?” Trystan asked.
Nadina shrugged. “Don’t know. Had a horse on the bottle…”
“Let me.” Cautiously, I knelt down by my mother’s side, and poked her shoulder. She didn’t stir, but breathed evenly. Placing two hands on either side of her shoulders, I took a deep breath, and screamed at the top of my lungs.
“MOTHER!”
Everyone flinched; Nadina covered her ears.
Morgaine’s eyes flew open and she gasped in terror at first, then she started to laugh. Reaching out for me, she beamed widely. “Oh! My Ava—you’re here to rescue me! I knew you’d come!”
I dodged her grasp, and Bash pulled me away quickly. “Really? You tried to kill me! But we are taking you with us, so we can keep a better eye on you now…Morgaine.” Her name was vile on my tongue.
A scramble of feet rumbled above us, before Bash shouted, “We’re fine!” The feet went silent.
“Would you get her out of here, now?” Nadina demanded.
My mother groggily turned, glaring at Nadina. “If you had any idea what I was capable of, you tramp.”
Nadina sneered. “What? Screeching for hours and throwing food? You can throw the perfect tantrum, I’ll give you that.”
Morgaine started to raise her fist, but Xander pulled on her chain. It made a loud metallic sound as the links shook. Nadina was positively giddy at Morgaine’s involuntary submission.
Morgaine looked at me pleadingly. “Please, Ava…you can’t keep me tied up like this! I’m your mother! How are you? The magic—is it—?”
Trystan yanked forcefully on his chain, prompting her awkwardly on her feet. “Ye may have birthed her, but ye ain’t her mother. A real mother would never risk her child’s life just to bring a wee bit of magic into the world.”
Morgaine flinched, appearing wounded. Trystan allowed her some slack, and she brushed out the front of her dirty clothes; I noticed she was still wearing the same ritual robes she wore the last time I saw her. “I did what I had to do. And obviously she’s not hurt by it.”
The sound of palm on forehead was d
eafening. Xander was shaking his head vigorously, muttering unintelligibly; probably swearing in Chinese.
“You have no idea what I’ve been going through. No idea at all.” I glowered at her with such fury, she stretched her neck out uncomfortably to shy away. I spun on my heels in a huff and stormed off up the stairs, through the invisible part of the house, confident the guys had her secure. Which was good, because I couldn’t even look at her right now.
The scene upstairs wasn’t any less tense; Mathias stood like a brick wall between Rhys and Lachlan as they glared daggers at each other.
“You two look like children. Seriously, what’s the beef here?” I demanded.
“Too much to tell right now.” Lachlan said through gritted teeth.
“Are you sure she’s secure?” Mathias questioned warily about Morgaine entering the room, being reluctantly dragged by Xander and Trystan. Bash brought up the rear, and Nadina came upstairs a few moments later. We struggled to fit in the tiny room comfortably, standing in various places; there were a lot of grumbles, groans, and stink-eyes.
“You!” Morgaine exclaimed, her eyes landing upon Rhys. “How are you not dead?”
Rhys was being closely watched by Mathias and Lachlan, but he seemed indifferent to it. Shrugging, he stretched out a hand in front of him, as if admiring a new, shiny manicure. “Did you really think you could kill me, Morgaine? You’re just a witch. Not even a very good one, anymore. Not that you ever were, just diabolical,” he said, with a snort, and Morgaine’s face reddened with fury. “I’m the most powerful sorcerer of all time! Your pathetic attempt to shove me in that vessel was a nice try. But when you unleashed the magic, you unleashed me also!”
Morgaine turned her face away from him, her eyes narrow with anger.
“How did you survive in there?” I asked.
“It was like a really big, long nap,” Rhys said, with a cheesy grin.
“Since the fall of Avalon?” Lachlan inquired, sounding surprised.
Rhys quickly shook his head. “Oh no, I escaped long before that.” He threw Morgaine a sour look. “We’ve met since then a few times and battled. This last time she thinks she bested me.”
