Crush

by Vivienne Savage

  Red intruded on Nate’s vision. He threw himself between Kay and Astrid as Kay’s blade descended. The sword struck his armor and cracked it, leaving a deep fissure in the starlight metal. Nate groaned as blood welled to the surface, but he pushed through the pain and spun with a backslash aimed for Kay’s throat.

  The older knight leaned back and twisted his head, taking the strike against his pauldron. Nate’s sword carved a groove through the tainted metal. While their armor could be destroyed, each piece materialized from their spirit and eventually regenerated over time whether it took days or weeks.

  As blood ran down his back, Nate praised the powers above that Kay had struck nothing vital.

  “You should have remained a good soldier and followed orders, Galahad. A pity I’ll have to destroy—”

  Blinding electric arcs struck Kay from behind, transferred down the length of Astrid’s blade. Anger had provided the key to unlocking her potential with the weapon, and it sizzled with the magical currents, sending white-hot pulses crackling up and down Kay’s body. He seized in his armor but kept his footing, body stiffening as her stroke emerged from the front of his chest piece.

  “I’m not a little girl. I am a dragon.”

  Nate didn’t have time to marvel at Astrid’s magical feat in her human form. He used the opportunity her attack offered and struck. Kay’s gloating face transformed into a mask of pain and disbelief. He stared down at the two swords piercing his torso. He’d been skewered, and warm, wet splatters glistened on Nate’s face and armor.

  “Son, don’t do this,” Kay begged. “Don’t let her do this.”

  Completing the stroke, Nate shoved his sword through Kay’s chest despite the growing resistance. The hilt grew hot, and then something gave with a discernible snap where the fallen knight’s heart belonged.

  Something unnatural resided there.

  “You were never my father. You’re nothing to me.”

  Kay collapsed to the floor when Nate and Astrid both yanked their swords free. His blackened armor disintegrated into ash, and his sword did the same seconds later.

  “Nate!”

  Astrid rushed to his side and supported his weight before his legs gave out beneath him. He slumped against her without shame.

  “I’m fine, baby girl. I’m fine.”

  “You’re bleeding!”

  “Not as much as him.”

  Merlin knelt down beside Kay and clicked his tongue. The knight struggled to breathe, each gasp rattling in his chest. He tried to speak, but bloody froth bubbled against his lips instead. After a moment, his body stilled, went lax, and the light left his eyes as Merlin chanted over him.

  The magic in the air swirled in a miasma of dark and light. Nate watched with a heavy heart. As much as he’d hated what Kay had become, the man had still raised him. There were good memories peppered among the bad.

  He couldn’t celebrate, their victory coming at too great a price.

  “The Sir Kay we knew is no more, and he will never again be born into a new life,” Merlin replied. His quiet voice carried the weariness of ages. “It is over. For now.”

  “But what about Arthur?” Astrid asked.

  Merlin ran his fingers around the edge of Kay’s collar, revealing a golden rope chain. The ruby pendant at the end pulsed when he touched it. “The jewel must be destroyed to free the spirit trapped within.”

  “Then I’ll do it,” Nate said, stepping forward with his sword.

  “No. Only two swords in this existence possess the power to cut through this dark sorcery. One is Excalibur and the other...”

  Astrid gazed in wonder at her sword. “Ascalon.”

  “Yes, but not here. There is too much darkness. Let us free Arthur in the sunlight.” The gold chain popped. With the jewel secured, Merlin rose and led them from the armory.

  They left Kay behind and made their way back to the others through deserted corridors. The remaining knights awaited them in the yard while the dragons perched on the building above.

  “Nate, you okay, man?” Lancelot hurried over and took his weight from Astrid. “Where’s Kay and Bedivere?”

  “Bedivere escaped,” Astrid replied. “But Kay…”

  “Kay is dead,” Nate told him. “Gone for good.”

  “Damn. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”

  Nate shook his head.

  Merlin held out the ruby with Arthur’s soul for all to see. The knights all recognized the pendant, accustomed to seeing it around Kay’s neck, and each and every one of them bowed their heads.

  “All this time, Arthur was trapped among us,” Degore said in a heavy voice. “We were all blind.”

  “It’s time to set things right,” Percivale said.

  Bleoberis nodded. “Agreed. Merlin, what must we do?”

  “The time of fighting the dragons is over,” the wizard declared. “This order once stood for justice and honor. I would like to see it happen again, and I know Arthur would wish the same. When he returns to us in his next cycle, let us be a brotherhood he can regard with pride.”

  “Here, here!” Lancelot cried out. The knights echoed his cry.

  “President Emberthorn.” Percivale stepped forward and turned to the red dragon perched above. Max glided down from the rooftop and landed across from the armored knight. “Once, long ago, Arthur asked to forge a truce with your kind. I’d like to honor his wish.”

  Max gazed down at the knight addressing him. “A truce we would have were it not for Kay’s treachery. On behalf of the dragons and our council, it would bring me great pleasure to end hostilities between our races.”

  “On my word, no harm shall come to any peaceful dragon,” Percivale said. He offered his hand, and Max extended a talon to him in return. “So it is witnessed, so it shall be.” Merlin tapped his cane against the ground. “Now, Astrid, if you would kindly do the honors. Arthur has been trapped long enough.”

  Nate turned his head and pressed a kiss against Astrid’s golden hair. “Go on, I’ll be right here.”

  With an audience watching her, Astrid approached Merlin and the stone. In the twilight, sun dwindling with only faint hints of gold at the edge of the horizon, she was beautiful, his sword-carrying warrior woman.

  It was a shame their knighthood never accepted women. He watched her angle the sword to the ground and place the sharp edge against the glimmering ruby. When the tip of Ascalon pierced the stone, a hazy golden mist arose from the shattered pieces and lingered in the arid air.

  Was that Arthur’s face, or was it Nate’s imagination? He blinked and the serene visage was gone. A shapeless light remained, the lost soul making a lazy skyward spiral, only to veer at the last moment and streak toward Astrid and encompass her in a radiant glow.

  Startled, Astrid leaped back, but it was too late to evade it. From the corner of his eye, Nate saw Saul leap into the training yard and begin to rush toward them. He arrived too late to help. The dimming light consolidated to her abdomen and vanished.

  “Peace, Drakenstone,” Merlin cautioned. “No harm has been done.”

  “What was that?” Astrid stared down at her midsection.

  “Arthur has chosen his next life, it would appear.” Merlin set his hand against her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

  “Wait, what?” Nate snapped his gaze from Astrid to Merlin then back to his mate in wordless disbelief, struck too dumb to form a complete sentence.

  “I think the wizard’s saying you knocked your dragon girlfriend up and this time around Arthur’s going to be your son,” Lancelot offered helpfully. “Congrats, Dad.”

  Saul rocked back on his hind legs.

  Astrid touched her hands to her flat belly. “But that means…”

  “Your unborn child now has a soul,” Merlin said. “This destiny is what I sensed between you and Galahad, one of the ties binding your lives and souls together. For the first time, our fate, those of the knights and the dragons, shall join as one.” Merlin lifted his gaze to the ast
onished knights and dragons gathered around them. “Let there finally be true peace between us.”

  ***

  Astrid ran her fingers over her stomach and turned sideways to look at her reflection in the mirror. Nothing had changed, her tummy toned and slim as ever, and she couldn’t estimate her pregnancy at a glance.

  How long would it be before she saw the first sign of a subtle swell? Before she felt the first kick?

  Hours after the death of Kay and liberation of the Knights of Merlin, restoring their wizard mentor to his rightful place as their advisor, she stood in her childhood bedroom while her friends and family waited downstairs.

  They wanted to talk to her, but they’d respected her privacy and state of shock as well.

  Nate hadn’t left the shower yet, but he’d surrendered the bathroom first to her. An unusual silence had fallen over him since Kay’s death and the discovery of Arthur’s reincarnation as their child, but it finally occurred to her that no one had asked if he was okay. No one but her.

  She pushed through the bathroom door and let the steam encompass her. Her mate soaked beneath the showerhead, face raised to the cleansing spray. Still nude from her shower, she stepped in behind him and squeezed her body against his back.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey,” Nate replied. He reached back and stroked her thigh. “You okay?”

  “I came to ask you the same question.”

  “I’m good.” His strained voice told her otherwise.

  He’d killed his father. One of his brothers-in-arms.

  Without asking him another question, she tenderly bathed his back. The injury inflicted by Kay’s sword had closed, a tender pink line only healed on the surface. Her father and grandmother had tended him without her asking.

  She kissed the back of his shoulder. “I love you.”

  Nate turned within her embrace then dropped his eyes to her stomach. His strong arms wrapped around her. “Even now?”

  “Even more,” she replied.

  “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you. I ask myself every day.”

  “Continue to be a wonderful man and you’ll always deserve me.”

  He kissed her. Sometime later, they exited the shower together and dressed, a visit with her family looming over their heads. Hopefully, Merlin had answered most of the questions for them.

  Nate settled on the edge of the bed, his pensive expression distracting her long after she dressed.

  “I’m s—” he began.

  Astrid whirled and cut him off. “Don’t you dare apologize for this baby.”

  “I wasn’t going to.”

  “Good.

  “I was going to say I’m surprised your dad didn’t break down into tears.” He beamed. “As for our baby…” His voice trailed, and her heart did a nervous double beat in her chest when his expression sobered. “Are you happy with this? With our child becoming Arthur?”

  “It’s unexpected, but yeah, I am. This is our child, and from everything you’ve said, Arthur was a good man.”

  “I wonder if he’ll be a dragon like you.”

  “I don’t know, but shifter genes tend to carry down generations. Everything about this is new. What about you? Are you okay with this?”

  “I truly am,” Nate replied while raising his arms to curve around her waist. He kissed her stomach through the thin cotton dress and closed his eyes. “I’ll love both of you with every day this life gives me. And when it ends I will find you again, Astrid. This I swear.”

  “We don’t know yet if you’ll age and die.”

  “I know, but it makes my words no less true. If it should happen, will you wait for me?”

  “Of course, I will.”

  Love shone in his eyes as he kissed her stomach again. They joined hands and ventured from the room to join her family. At the bottom of the stairs, Saul paced a groove into the carpet, resembling a caged lion more than a dragon.

  “At last!”

  Nate grinned. “I’ll give you two a moment.” He kissed her cheek before parting from her side to join their guests in the next room.

  “Where’s Merlin?” she asked her father, peeking around him.

  “Outside with your grandmother talking shop and detailing out how to reveal the knighthood to the American public.”

  Astrid wrinkled her nose. She didn’t envy her grandparents for the work about to pile up on them.

  “Is everything all right, Dad?”

  “It is. I cannot say I ever imagined this is how things would turn out for our family but—” he drew in a slow, deep breath then released it on a quick exhale “—Nate has proven himself a good and capable man. I am happy that you are happy.”

  Tears stung her eyes. “Thanks, Daddy. That means a lot to me.”

  Saul enveloped her in a comforting hug. “Your mother is quite emotional. Fair warning.”

  She smiled, hearing the thickness in her father’s voice. “Thanks for the heads up.”

  They walked into the living room together, arm in arm, where he relinquished her back into Nate’s care. The symbolic gesture of her father passing her fingers back into Nate’s hand made tears spring to her eyes.

  “I can’t believe my baby is going to have a baby,” Chloe gushed. She sprang from her seat and rushed to her daughter. “How do you feel?”

  “I feel… normal. A little queasy, but I thought that was nerves because of the fighting with Nate then all of the action with rescuing Merlin.”

  Saul grumbled and gave Nate a dirty look, though it faded over the seconds to grudging respect. “Now that your memories have returned, I expect you to take excellent care of my cub. You must have centuries of experience with fatherhood,” the dragon muttered.

  “Actually, no. I’ve never fathered a child,” Nate said.

  Astrid’s head swiveled around. She stared at him. “Never?”

  “We don’t always reproduce during each lifetime, and we only reappear in the bodies of our male offspring. That’s how it’s worked for centuries,” Nate said. “I’ve never had children, and neither has Percivale. It was all about duty for us. At least, it was for me until I met you.”

  “He’s right. Marriage and children has never interested me. I will live to the final day of this life screaming at kids to get off my lawn,” Percivale agreed.

  “I’ve had all girls,” Lancelot added.

  Saul offered a reluctant but sympathetic, “My condolences. It relieved me greatly to discover our second would be a boy.”

  Lancelot grinned. “Thanks. I’m dreading the day they start dating, but I figure I can flash my armor at their potential boyfriends and ensure they’re brought home on time.”

  “An interesting strategy.” Saul rubbed his chin.

  “So now what?” Nate asked Lancelot.

  “Percivale is overseeing things in Nevada. The, uh, president brought in some military guys to make sure the compound is clear. Lots of arrests happened, but due to the extenuating circumstances, he mentioned issuing pardons to everyone, knights included, which is nice because I have a family and don’t want to spend the rest of this life in prison.”

  Even Saul chuckled. “My father is quite kind and benevolent for a fire wyrm. You will see as you come to know him.”

  “Still, we’re taking back any gear Kay and Bedivere issued out to the movement. It’s gonna take a while.” Lancelot rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Hopefully, it isn’t too late.”

  “What about you, Nate?” Chloe asked. “What will you do now?”

  “I have a legitimate job in the Navy.” And enough work accrued over his impromptu, emergency leave to keep him busy for the next month. He sighed. “But I need to make the drive into L.A. first this afternoon.”

  “Do you want me to come with you,” Astrid asked. She stepped in close beside him and rested her cheek against his shoulder.

  “Not this time. This is something I need to do.”

  ***

  The idyllic home of his childho
od awaited him beyond a white picket fence. The two little dogs barked and played in the yard, but the driveway was empty. Kay’s SUV would never grace it again. Aaron played a game in the living room, the television visible beyond three narrow windows.

  “Nate?”

  He glanced to the side to see Elizabeth, his stepmother, standing beside his driver’s door peeking in at him through the half-open window. He hadn’t noticed her arrival, her car parked behind him parallel to the curb.

  Shit.

  The woman held a bag of groceries in her arms and had her fingers looped around a few more. He hurried from the vehicle and took a few from the tired woman. Dark circles under her eyes and a haggard appearance told a story he already knew. She’d been awake all night waiting to hear word from Kay.

  The front door opened to frame his lanky half-brother, Kay’s biological son with strawberry blond hair, freckles, and a small, upturned nose. He shared their green eyes, but he’d never thought of the spoiled boy as his little brother.

  He took a bag from his mother but blinked at Nate. “What are you doing here? Dad’s pissed at you, you know.”

  “Go fetch the rest of the groceries,” Elizabeth told him.

  “Fiiiine.”

  While Aaron ran for the rest of the bags, Nate trudged behind Elizabeth into the kitchen and lowered the heavy bags on the counter.

  “Daniel isn’t home, and you probably shouldn’t be here when he returns,” she said. Then after a grudging moment, she added, “But thanks.”

  Nate hesitated. He glanced over his shoulder toward the open arch between the kitchen and family room, and then he sighed. “I know he’s upset with me. We’ve talked since then.”

  The woman turned and began unpacking goods from the store, placing cool drinks and milk into the fridge, cereal into cupboards. “Oh? Everything forgiven then? He raged and stormed around for hours, claiming you stole something of value from him the other day.”

  “I did, but listen, Elizabeth, I…”

  Aaron dropped a bag with packages of frozen meat into the sink. “Really? Dad forgave you? Sweet! Hey, wanna play this new game with me then?”

  Nate blinked. He’d never thought Aaron liked him. “Not right now, Aaron. Hey, wait a moment and stay in here with us, okay? Sit down, Elizabeth. I gotta… I have to tell you…”