by R. E. Carr
“You mean they need you and your whammy voice to control them?” Lorcan asked. Ren sneered a little.
“Whammy voice? Really, is that what you call the power to command?” He looked right at Steve and Georgia and sighed, “Of course, it got named that.”
Ren began to pace along the bannister, tugging his hair back into a topknot. He ran his fingers over the hilt of his sword. “The die is cast. Georgia, please—we have to finish what I started. I know that I can lead, if you stand beside me—”
“Ren, no, I can’t—”
“Georgia, please . . . I have never heard you sound so defeated. You’ve never given up or said something was too difficult—”
“That was a lifetime ago, damn it! That was before I was cut up and stitched together. That was before you used me as a hashtag to garner sympathy and look good on TV. I’m not a symbol. I’m not a queen! I’m just plain old Georgia Sutherland who wanted to run away with you and have a little shop . . . maybe by the beach or something. Maybe before all this, I could have . . . I could have . . .” she stopped to sniffle while Steve looked on in speechless horror. One more surge of pain shot through her shoulder, and Lorcan yowled as he pulled away and licked his already healing slash.
“Could is that word you use to describe things that are either unimportant or uncertain,” Ren said softly, looking back at Georgia. “You told me that once.” He knelt next to her and took her hand as he stared into her eyes. “I really hope you are just uncertain about what you want.”
Lorcan pulled away from all of them. He sniffed the air and snarled. “Merlin,” Lorcan growled. “Look, I’m done with this. Whatever happens next, you guys are doing it without me. I’m done with being the villain when you needed one or the savior who swoops in when you get into trouble. I’ve my own life to figure out for a change. Above all else, I’m done with Merlin and his games. Honestly, if you know what’s good for all of y’all, you’ll follow in my footsteps.”
“You’re just walking away?” Steve asked.
“Yup.”
“That’s it? After everything you’ve done? What about us? What about Paige?” Steve asked, now holding onto Georgia. “We need you.”
“No, you need to stop holding onto the past and what others told you to do. Figure it out for yourselves! As long as we fight each other and play that game, it only works out for the schemers pulling our strings. A couple of millennia ago, I stabbed my father and destroyed an Empire because I thought it was right. Now when I think about what Arthur wanted to do then—to bring us into the light—hell, it brings a smile to my face. I’ve changed, and the world has changed. It’s up to you if you want to do the same.”
Footsteps approached. Lorcan leaned in to check on Georgia one last time. “It’ll be OK,” she could feel more than hear as he drew close.
“Help him.” Georgia gave him a pleading look. Lorcan gave them all a little salute then jumped over the railing right before Merlin finally crested the landing on the top floor. The elder vampire stared with a mix of bemusement and horror at Ren, Georgia, and Steve looking confusedly at each other.
“What the hell, people? Where did Mordred go?” Merlin asked. He cupped his hand over his ear as there was a distant thud. “Did you defeat him and throw him over the edge or something?”
“He didn’t want to fight, Merlin,” Ren said flatly, his voice now completely back to his near-robotic inflection. Steve once more joined his former servant’s side and took up a defensive position to block Georgia from the menacing visitor. “He suggested I figure out what I want and stop caring about what you expect me to do. I must say, it’s rather liberating.”
“Arthur—” Merlin started.
“I’m not sure that I am Arthur anymore. I know that I must be—”
“You must finish your duty, Son. This confusion will pass, just like all the others. Listen to my voice and remember your grand purpose—” Merlin stopped suddenly as Excalibur was thrust soundly between his ribs. He gasped and staggered back a few steps, while a stunned Steve and Georgia watched Ren slide the blade back out.
“Ren!” Georgia screamed, her color returning as Lorcan’s blood pulsed through her body. She tried to get past Steve, but he held onto her tightly. Merlin coughed up a little blood but smiled and stared at Steve’s protective embrace.
“Arthur will never let you have his queen, Steven, but if you strike him down now, I will make sure that you do get your happily ever after with your precious Georgia. All you have to do is strike him down before he turns on you.”
Merlin then looked at Ren. “See! See how this Jaeger monster covets your one true love. Whether you are Arthur, or you are Ren, you can never truly have her as long as Steve still draws breath.”
“Of course, he has the whammy voice too,” Georgia whispered as Steve let her go and turned to face the seething, wild-eyed Ren.
“I knew you’d be useful to me still,” Merlin said with the smuggest of smiles as Steve and Ren locked into a nasty dance of punches and half-hearted stabs while Georgia tried to brace herself against the wall. Ren barely managed to nick Steve’s arm before Steve landed a moderately impressive right hook. After a few minutes of slugging and slashing, it became abundantly clear that Ren hadn’t learned any real fighting skills and Steve, while strong, still could not really box so much as swing wildly and pray for a lucky connection. Merlin eased over to the wall next to Georgia and clutched his wound until the vampire within finally bubbled up and sealed the slash. “Oh my, Arthur wasn’t ready for Mordred, was he? Also, now I see why even Mr. Lambley kicked Steve’s behind.”
Georgia gave him a side eye. “Not everyone is a badass, you know.” She tried not to snicker as Steve missed again and kind of ended up in an awkward hug with the sweating Ren. “And you are just a dick for making them fight over me.”
“It won’t matter. I will have my Arthur again, and at least the world will be interesting once more—” Georgia looked past Merlin at Steve leaning over and whispering something in Ren’s ear. Merlin continued, “Are you truly saddened that this is the best you get dueling over you? One of those pathetic excuses for a vampire will—”
Georgia’s eyes widened as Merlin was abruptly silenced by Steve swinging wildly and punching Merlin square in the jaw, while Ren went for the kneecaps and sent the elder vampire sprawling to the ground. Ren cold-cocked the wizard with the hilt of Excalibur.
“The world needs Arthur,” Ren said softly, looking down at Excalibur. “But I don’t know what I want anymore.”
Georgia pushed away from the wall and rested her hand delicately on top of his. “So . . . do you want the world, or do you want me, Ren?”
43
“No,” Gail gasped as she stared at the pool of blood running down the stairs. She caught her breath as she saw Arthur on the top landing, clutching his stomach. He barely held onto Excalibur in his left hand as blood bubbled and gurgled out of his mouth. Suddenly he spasmed violently and fell to the ground, revealing the horror show behind him. The lifeless eyes of Georgia Sutherland stared right at Gail, bite marks visible on her already scarred throat.
Minerva ran past Gail and took a pulse and a sniff. “She is dead,” she said, then gasped and ran to the broken bannister. “Mein bruder!”
“Tasukete kudasai,” Arthur begged, grabbing at his chest. “The blood . . . her blood—”
Across the room, a bloodied and confused Merlin groaned and grabbed his head, then stared at the scene before him in horror. “What has happened?” he cried as he crawled through the blood to get to Arthur’s side. Gail ignored the elder vampire and opened Arthur’s shirt, so she could see the pattern of engorged red veins circling around his heart. He gagged again and clung to Gail with a pleading look in his eyes. “Blood . . . now . . .”
Gail thrust her wrist into his mouth without a moment’s hesitation. He drank deep but red striations continued to crisscross his body. He fell, limp and cold next to her—no trace of heartbeat in his chest. Gail didn�
�t breathe. She didn’t think. She just felt the surge rise from the pit of her stomach until the electricity ran along her skin and into Arthur’s chest. He lurched. She repeated until finally a soft rhythmic thump echoed under his sternum. His eyes widened.
“My . . . heart,” he gasped, staring in awe at his savior. He then promptly rolled to his side and vomited. Minerva, meanwhile, cried out again and pointed over the edge.
“What happened?” Gail asked, grabbing her patient by the shoulders and shaking him. “Are you Ren, or are you Arthur?”
He looked over sadly at the lifeless Georgia. “The world needs Arthur, and the world is more important . . . than any of us.” He took her hand. “I remember you . . . Gail. Once more, you saved me. You brought me back to life.”
Gail pushed him away and scrambled past Merlin and over to the poor, broken human. “You fed on her?” She took the tiniest of tastes of the blood on Georgia’s lips. “And you tried to give her your blood?”
“We were going to be together. I thought if we could . . . oh god, Steve tried to stop us. I thought he was mad with jealousy, and then—”
Gail shoved her way to the railing and gasped as she saw a body impaled at the base of the stairs—a bannister protruding through a T-shirt, and dark curls clearly visible in amongst the rubble and the construction supplies in the landing so far below. A terrible smell of rot and decay already wafted from the corpse. “Steve!” Gail cried. “No, not Steve.” She whirled around to the recovering Arthur. “He was trying to warn you, goddamn it. Georgia’s blood is poisonous, and she is allergic to fucking vampires! You . . . you killed him!”
Merlin stepped between them. “Now, you must realize that this was a crime of passion. Before I was knocked out, I heard Steve threatening Arthur’s life. There is no way that he would have ever forgiven my son . . . because he believed that Arthur ordered Georgia’s death, but it was me. I confess to it all.”
“You,” Gail snarled. “You murderer!” She froze as she felt a bare hand against her neck.
Arthur leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Calm down, little one. You don’t want to be angry, do you?” Gail teared up as she felt her body involuntarily relax. “Shh . . . just stay with me, and everything will be fine. The world will be yours. After all, you saved me.”
Gail sniffed back her tears. Arthur ran his hands slowly over her shoulder. “Come with me. You know what you’ve always wanted, don’t you?” he whispered. “If you want, I’ll give you the world. Just take my hand and come with me.”
“Damn you,” Gail choked out, but she took his hand. He pointed to Minerva.
“Seize Merlin and escort him to his chambers. He will answer for his crime,” Arthur ordered, all traces of his American accent fading from his voice. “Father, we shall have words later.”
“But Georgia . . . and Steve . . .” Gail protested. Arthur gave her an apologetic glance.
“But of course,” he said softly. “I’ll send servants to retrieve the bodies, but I think for now, it’s best for all of you not to dwell on this scene. Just come with me. There is so much work to do.”
Gail followed him in a daze as did Merlin and Minerva. Whispers and stares accompanied them where they went. Seconds stretched into minutes, and minutes stretched into a foggy expanse of time until Gail found herself sitting on the edge of a wing-backed chair, Mina Harker perched nervously across from her, while Geoffrey Lambley sobbed inconsolably. Gail absentmindedly reached up and felt the welts on her shoulder.
“Ivan told us that he found quite the scene,” Mina said, looking away. “I thought that you could help, but—”
“I was able to save Arthur,” Gail said bitterly. “I suppose that is something.”
“Lorcan . . . left us,” Mina said, taking Gail’s hand. “But I’m certain we will get through this. Our family will survive.” Her eyes lit up as two guards escorted in the confused trio of Edwin, Beulah, and Winona. They ran over and hugged both Mina and the stunned Gail. Even Geoffrey looked up and put on his best brave smile. Gail only smiled when she saw a nearby lamp flicker.
“It’s true that the world is changing. Our laws are changing,” Mina said with a brave smile. “But I promise you, if we stick together and play the game, then we will not only live through this tumultuous time—but one day, we shall thrive. Those that fight are eventually crushed; but those that use their wits and their talents will always find a way.”
Gail looked past Lady Harker to the far side of the Intercontinental lobby where Arthur was speaking with Ivan and a group of guards. He glanced briefly at Minerva, but as he turned to look at Gail, he gave a sly, almost flirtatious grin.
“You’re right. I will find a way,” Gail said, forcing a smile in return. “After all, I did save his life, didn’t I?”
Days spread into weeks, weeks into months, months into a year, as the world reeled at the truth—vampires are real, and they are here to help us all. “What a bunch of bloodsucker drivel, don’t you think, Little Bit?” Kyle asked as he plopped his phone on their tiny dining room table. Paige sighed and set a TV dinner in front of him. He forced a smile as he saw a roughly chicken-like patty smothered in cheese and sauce. She set her own Salisbury steak opposite him and cracked her neck and knuckles. “Paige?”
“Has it really been a year?” Paige asked softly.
“Time flies when you are having fun or on the run from the feds and vampires, eh? Ooh. Vlad Tepes won the general election by a landslide in Romania. What a surprise. Hey, are you OK? You seem a bit off.”
Paige stretched her still slightly shorter right arm. As she wiggled her new fingers, the joints popped. “I think I’m just getting used to ten fingers again. That, and I got a message on the forum last night.”
“Oh, hon,” he said, sliding around the table and giving her a big hug. She pulled up her own phone and showed off a picture of a chubby-cheeked little boy with bright mismatched eyes and a fluffy mountain of curls. He flopped against Maria DeMarco’s shoulder, but no part of the background gave a clue as to where he had run off to with his jet-setting Grandma.
“It was encrypted, and there was no location tagged with it. She’s being so careful,” Paige said, trying not to cry. “Let’s face it, Toy is teaching her well.”
Kyle wrapped her up in another big hug. “They are safe and sound, and that’s what matters. Hey, at least they are lifting the last of the quarantine protocols now that they have better tests for the wolf pox out there . . . Of course, since I’m the one administering most of the tests at the local clinic nowadays, I think that we are safe.”
“And I still think they are waiting for us to make a mistake. I’m worried that they’ve left us alone for so damn long,” Paige growled. “No matter how much I scared the sheriff, I doubt she’s got as much pull as she used to.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You are extremely scary. Now let’s just eat, relax a little. You’ve got date night with Nadia tonight, and I am finally getting to catch up with Sis. You deserve a little fun after—”
Paige returned the hug and nodded against his chest. She surveyed their cozy and spotless corner of Music City, a one-bedroom apartment full of scavenged furniture and neatly stacked takeout containers ready to go out to the recycling. Every counter and fixture sparkled and nary a crumb nor speck of dust marred the hand-me-downs. They ate quietly, both looking at their phones until it was time to clean up. She did grab Kyle a beer before wandering into their smaller-than-average bedroom, where a reinforced steel cage sat between the neatly made double beds and an IKEA dresser. She changed out of her work scrubs and let down her mountain of dyed-red hair, so she could go out on the town in a slinky top and a skirt. She let out a deep breath and made a frustrated noise as she saw her tail had broken free and the fur was all crooked. One repurposed garter and a few grunts later, she was finally ready to face the world.
As she was exiting the bedroom she stared guiltily at the pillows and blankets neatly folded by the couch. Kyle did give her a w
histle and a thumbs-up as she twirled to show off her outfit. “Thanks. The Nakanos said they wanted to see us sometime on Thursday. They met up with some old bondsmen that have formed an underground—”
“I have to make rounds on Thursday, but you can go,” Kyle said quickly. “Tom actually made some semi-coherent sounds last time I was there and got a little motor control back on his left side.”
“That’s awesome.” She wandered over and gave Kyle one more awkward hug for good measure, frowning as she saw red roots starting to show through his own dye job. “I’ll have to do you this week.”
“You mean it?” he said, giving her a little grin. “You know, usually—” Kyle didn’t finish the sentence, eyeing her low-cut top. “So, are you going to Shooters, or someplace downtown? You know, a nice bar, so you can sit in a booth and wait for some handsome stranger to buy you a drink?”
“Kyle,” she growled. “Are you spying on me?”
“Nadia and I are practically family, you know. Look I get it, we’re not really together-together, and that’s fine . . . so stop acting all squirrelly whenever you want . . . well, not me.”
“Kyle, you are always here for me. I adore you—”
“But not in the sweaty, stinky, bodily-fluid-swapping way. . . thank goodness.”
“I know, I know—and you have been ridiculously patient while I try to process everything. I just keep waiting for this nightmare to end . . . I mean the hiding, and the lies, and all the stupid, stinking moving and transformations. Two cops stopped by the clinic last night, and I nearly popped; then I get the message from mom and I think, maybe we messed up? Maybe we should take our chances with the feds, and hope that Arthur is too busy with his new girlfriend to care about us. I mean . . . can you believe that Gail just sold out like that?”
“Um, I’m not sure she had much of a choice.”
“I guess Lorcan didn’t feel like stopping Arthur after all, and now King fucking Arthur is at a fucking Senate hearing and has a special cabinet post. Ugh! I just want to rip that smug smile off his face. No one has seen or heard from Great-Grandpa Steve, either. I mean, what the hell happened to him? Did he just roll over, too? You don’t think—”
