by Jeff Hale
Merlin and I needed to know what he knew. Malachai had some ideas as to the location of Excalibur and seemed to believe it existed and was accessible somehow. We needed to find out how true that possibility was. In the wrong hands, Excalibur could be extremely dangerous.
All Sentinels drew their power from a different Aspect, yet Excalibur was rumored to give a Paragon direct power, completely bypassing the Aspects entirely. It was also rumored to give the Paragon who held it power over all of the elements. Merlin couldn’t remember much about the blade, or if it really even existed at all. Not surprising since he’d been alive for several millennia.
I descended the basement stairs, ready to face a madman that made the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gayce seem like perfectly sane, contributing members of society. A madman who also had the power to cause earthquakes, localized lightning strikes, and had the fighting abilities of a samurai master and a Knight of the Round Table combined.
So who’s more insane? Him? Or me for going down to talk to him of my own volition?
Not a question I really wanted an answer to.
TWENTY-FOUR
Malachai sat looking somewhat comfortable in an iron chair, bound with iron cuffs that covered his hands and were chained to the chair. His feet and lower legs were also covered in iron and chained to the chair. The chair sat in the center of an iron room. Lucien might have gone overboard, but Malachai wasn’t going anywhere.
So why do I feel like he’s ready to leap out of his chair and kill me the moment I step through the door?
The expression on his face suggested that he could literally just get up and walk out of the room whenever he felt like it. It was unnerving to say the least. He was the one that was a prisoner, bound and helpless, yet I walked in feeling like he had the advantage over me. He was still wearing a silk black dress shirt that was untucked and a pair of loose black slacks. He had been relieved of his signature leather duster and fedora.
“Ah, the young damsel comes to see the villain. Welcome to my den. Such as it is. I apologize for my lack of hospitality, but as you can see, I am not in a position to offer anything. Now, what can I do for you?” He smiled slyly at me.
He knew. Somehow he had figured out that I was here to get information from him. This wasn’t going to be easy. Maybe just straight out asking him would work?
“Merlin suspects that you know the truth as to Excalibur’s existence, and that if it theoretically existed, where its location would be,” I stated directly.
“Excalibur? Isn’t that a myth?” He had a thoughtful look on his face.
“You killed a lot of fledgling Sentinels to get some bit of information. If not about a blade that would give you ultimate power, then what? Besides, I heard you mention it to Aerick.”
“Oh. That Excalibur. What makes you think I know where it is? Why doesn’t the old man just drop the act and retrieve it himself? He knows exactly where it’s hidden. He put it there.”
“No. He didn’t. He gave it to one of his fae retainers to hide it away so he wouldn’t know where it was,” I said.
“Then what makes you think that I know anything about its location?” he asked in exasperation.
“Well, Morgana did teach Mordred how to remove the true soul of a Sentinel, the dragon soul, and question it before it left for the Aetheric Winds.”
“So if Mordred knows, I know. Is that it?”
“You are Mordred. That’s why you’re so fucked up. Haven’t you figured that out by now? He has pretty much taken over your soul. That’s why you hear his whispers so frequently. Merlin can fix that for you.”
“Fine. Then do it. Not like I can stop anyone from doing anything right now.” He glared at me and made a show of fighting against his restraints.
“You have to be willing.”
“Oh? Now that puts a different spin on it, now doesn’t it?”
“That’s up to you really.” I shrugged.
“Well, I’m not just going to let the old man start messing around in my soul.”
“Why not? Not like he’ll hurt you any.”
“How do I know he won’t tamper with something, make it so I lose who I am?” He seemed genuinely concerned.
“You don’t, except that Merlin is honorable. While you may do something like that, he wouldn’t,” I promised.
“Why not? Hasn’t he done all manner of things for the supposed ‘greater good’?”
“Well sure, but…”
“Then what’s to say he won’t do that to me? For the greater good and all?”
“Do you like how you are?” I asked him candidly.
“Maybe I do.”
“Even if you had the information, you wouldn’t give it up willingly, would you? You like the killing so much that you wouldn’t want to take away your reason for killing Sentinels.” I threw my hands up, all but giving up on the idea of getting any pertinent information from him.
“I don’t need a reason to kill anyone. It’s just convenient to have a reason. Makes people feel better if I have a reason. Makes them feel safer when they deal with me. Like I won’t kill them if they don’t fall within my boundaries to kill someone. Nice, neat little labels to make everyone feel better about poor old demented me,” he sneered at me.
“You really don’t think there’s anything wrong with you, do you?”
“Why should I?”
“You kill people indiscriminately! For no reason, other than your own self-gratification and pleasure!” I scowled at him.
“Again with the reasons, or lack thereof. Would it make you feel better if I told you I had reasons? Would that make it so there wasn’t anything wrong with me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“That’s not an answer, but fine. I kill because I am ordered to. I’m a soldier, and I’m fighting a war. Everyone I have killed, mortal or Sentinel, have all been my enemy. You just don’t know the full story. Does that make everything better?”
“Well. Yeah, I guess it does. What’s the story then? Who were they that they were such horrible enemies of your superior?”
He stared hard at me, seemingly gauging me to see if I could be trusted with the information. Or so I thought. Then he laughed again. Apparently I was amusing him. I gritted my teeth and tried very hard not to hit him.
“I had you going there. I was lying. Either way, in the end, why is there a difference?”
“Because in the scenario you were just playing up, you had extenuating circumstances. You had a job, or orders. Whichever.” I knew he was playing with me, but I needed to see if he would let something, anything, slip.
“Again, why does it matter?” he asked.
“Why wouldn’t it?” I retorted.
“Those people are still dead in the end. Their families are still left to grieve and mourn the person’s passing. That person will never come back. Well, except in the rarest cases, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, so to that end, does it really matter if the person died for a reason or not?”
I thought a moment. “No. I guess not.”
“So, again I ask, how am I any different than any soldier?”
“You’re still making the choice to kill, they aren’t.”
“You really are that naïve aren’t you, little girl? Again, you are wrong. The soldier made his or her choice the moment they enlisted. They knew that they would have to, at some point or another, possibly kill someone. When they became a soldier, they signed on to hold a gun and pull the trigger. Granted, it’s on someone else’s whim, but they still do it. At least I kill on my own terms rather than on the terms of some vague government leader’s.”
“Are you saying that you’re motives are better because you don’t kill because of politics?” I asked, appalled.
“Well, you said that. Not me. I’ll just say that when I kill, it’s cleaner. Purer,” he said simply.
“You are insane.”
“Am I? You never did ask the important question.”
&
nbsp; “Okay. Fine. Why did you kill all those people?” I asked, dreading the answer now.
“Because. They needed to be released. Their true souls were trapped, and would have remained that way.”
“How so?”
“They were all Sentinels, it’s true, but they didn’t know their true potential. Most of them were foolish enough to believe they were simply extremely powerful sorcerers, much the way Aerick did once. At least he wised up a bit.”
“What about the mall guard that tried to apprehend you?”
“Simple.” He shrugged in the confines of the iron. “He was ordered to hold us for the Purity Movement, who were already on their way. I couldn’t allow myself to be captured by them.”
“So, you’re saying that in your own way, you’re a hero? That you’ve done all this for the greater good?”
He laughed again. “You really are cute, you know that? No. I did all this for myself. Baba Yaga Marked me as well. She tried to pull on the strings she thought she had attached. I decided to rebel and cut the strings. I killed all those people to save my own ass, and because I did enjoy it. Especially the Sentinels. They put up a half-way decent challenge, and the rush of power when they die is exquisite.”
“Then why not kill Aerick?”
“Because. He’s my brother, for one. Well, speaking for Mordred’s part of it anyway. For two, he provides me a real challenge. I can gauge my own capabilities by how well I do against him. And thirdly, I need him,” he said cryptically.
There it was. He had let something slip. I wasn’t sure what exactly, but he had. “And why kill me?”
“Because I want to rape your dead corpse of course. I think you’d be a more interesting lay after rigor has set in.”
“What? Excuse me?” I took several steps backwards towards the door.
He laughed again. “You really are entertaining, you know that? No, I want to kill you because you, of all the Sentinels, would have an idea as to the exact location of the sword. But you’d need to be dead so I could question your soul. Your attachment to this mortal life really is an annoyance,” he said in a disappointed tone.
“Sorry I’m such an inconvenience.” I rolled my eyes.
“Not your fault really. You can’t help that you want to live.” He shrugged.
“Right. One more question.”
“You’re going to ask it anyway. Why inform me ahead of time?”
“We know that each Sentinel draws from one of the Aspects. We also know that Morgana taught Mordred to draw directly from the Aspect rather than go through the Aether to draw from the Aspect. Did you inform Aerick of any of that while you were in captivity with him?” I asked, knowing that his next answer would be very important. If he gave me a straight answer at all.
“Hmmm. I can’t recall. Did I? Maybe. Maybe not.” He snickered, then he looked past me. “Did I tell you about the ability to draw power directly from an embodied Aspect, Aerick?”
I gasped and turned. Aerick stood on the other side of the door. He looked haggard. Dark stubble played across his face and his hair was down and looked like he hadn’t brushed it in quite a while. His clothing looked rumpled and unkempt. He had a curious look in his eyes, before shaking it away.
“I’m here to talk to you, Val. About Serena,” he said.
I started to shake my head when Malachai cut me off.
“Don’t you have a demon to go chase down or something?” Malachai asked Aerick.
“What are you talking about?” Aerick cocked his head to one side, the curiosity back.
“You obviously had quite the conversation with him when we were prisoners.” Malachai shrugged absently.
“When? Why don’t I remember this?” Aerick demanded.
“You were in quite a state then. You never did look quite right while we were there. Even less than you do now, probably had something to do with watching that attractive little blonde with the enormous tits that they were fucking on the monitor. I’d love to get a piece of her. She looked like she was a righteous piece of ass.” Malachai was taunting Aerick, not realizing just how dangerous that was right now.
I plastered myself against the wall, waiting for Aerick to cut Malachai down where he sat. Aerick rushed forward, putting his hand around Malachai’s throat, slamming his head against the back of the chair.
“The demon you said I was talking to. Who was he?” Aerick demanded through clenched teeth. It was obvious from the way Aerick was shaking that it was taking everything he had to not tear Malachai’s throat out.
“Azreel, Assrile, something like that. I don’t fucking remember!” Malachai answered in a hoarse voice, trying to get a breath in despite Aerick’s grip.
“Azryel. How do you know that?” Aerick asked as he relaxed his grip and took a step back.
“I heard you address him when you were talking with him the first time.”
“Why was a demon being allowed to roam around in a Purity Movement complex?” Aerick demanded.
“Because he was their leader. Or at least they believed that he was. I’m assuming they had no idea what he was,” Malachai said, giving Aerick a look of trepidation.
“Was?” Aerick asked.
“You killed him. That’s how we got out. He went into your cell to speak with you and you broke his neck and made like the sun and went supernova.”
“I need to tell Lucien about this. Travis mentioned Azryel when he… did what he did to Serena. Said Azryel wanted me to see it happen,” Aerick said as he turned to leave.
“Aerick, wait upstairs for a sec before you talk to Lucien, okay?” I called after him. I turned back to Malachai.
“Little girl, if you think I’m warped, you need to take a serious look at your boyfriend there.” Malachai gestured with his head in the direction Aerick had gone. “He’s way more fucked up than I am, and over a girl no less. He’s so twisted he’ll never be right. Ever. He’ll do things that I couldn’t dream of, and he’ll justify it by saying he’s doing it for his fair little girlfriend. You watch and see. Genocide is something he wouldn’t bat an eyelash over,” he warned.
“That coming from a serial killer. That’s rich,” I said, shaking my head. I turned to leave.
“I’ll be out of here eventually, little girl. When I am, I’ll find you. And I will get a piece of you. Whether that is before or after I kill you will depend on my mood,” Malachai called after me right as I closed the door.
“I swear he has a crush on me,” I muttered as I closed the door behind me. What was with him today? Or me for that matter?
I looked down at my outfit. I was still wearing what I had on when I had visited Serena; a spaghetti strapped shirt that draped over my breasts loosely with the neck line plunging to my navel, and a tight leather mini-skirt. I shook my head. No wonder.
I went upstairs and didn’t find Aerick waiting for me like I had asked him too. Just as well. I sat in one of the booths outside of Lucien’s office and waited. A few minutes later Aerick came out. I stood and walked with him as he made his way to the front of the club.
“So who gave you permission to leave?” I asked.
“Lucien did, on the grounds that I didn’t try to see Serena until she was ready, and that I occupied my time with something. So I am.”
“Hunting Azryel?”
“Yeah. So do you think she will ever want to see me again?” he asked, despair creeping into his voice. “Because if not, then I have no reason…”
“Don’t say that! Yes, she will want to see you again. She misses you right now.”
“Then why…?”
“Because, she still feels dirty. She feels like you won’t be able to look at her the same way. That this thing will always be hanging over your heads. And until I can convince her that it’s not her fault, and that she had no control over the situation, and that she didn’t do anything wrong, then she will feel that way. It doesn’t help that she knows that you saw everything. It’s going to take time, and space. Trust me.”
&
nbsp; “I’m just getting tired of people telling me that us being apart is better for both of us.” He stuffed his hands roughly in his pockets.
“It is. For now. She will need you eventually, and when that time comes, you can’t even look at her like you think she’s worth less now than she was before. If you do, it’ll break her. I’m serious, you can’t even think to yourself that she’s somehow broken or less of a person for what happened. You will have to act like everything is normal. If she wants to talk about it, she will, and you will listen. Calmly, patiently.”
“And if I want to talk about what happened to me? She wasn’t the only one that was…”
“I know, and if you do, you ask her if it’s okay first. Anyway, I better go check on her. Good hunting out there, and do myself and Serena a favor.”
“Anything.”
I put a hand on his arm. “Well, two favors. Don’t fuck Kat, and don’t get killed out there. I’m not sure what kind of damage either would do to Serena.”
“For the first, do me a favor before I promise anything.”
“What?”
“Ask Serena if we’re even still together.” Aerick’s eyes met mine for a split second before they dropped to the floor.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes. If we’re not, you can’t ask that of me. I love Kat. Have for a long time, and if I can’t be with Serena…” He looked back up at me, resignation in his expression.
“So Kat’s second choice, huh?” There was that flare of jealousy again.
“It’s not that, it’s…”
“It’s okay, I was flippin ya shit. I get it. I do. I’ll ask her.”
“Thanks. Let me know what the answer is as soon as you find out. I’ll have my phone on me.” He pulled away from me and continued towards the door.
“I will. And Aerick?”
“Yeah?” He looked back at me over his shoulder.
“She still loves you. Just know that, no matter what her answer is. She might not be ready for the idea of being in a relationship yet, even if it was a pre-existing one.”
