Wyvern's Lair (Desert Cursed Series Book 5)

by Shannon Mayer

  “No, no, not that. You all haven’t been around that long, and you were created by someone. Does that someone have a name?” I rolled the handle of the flail in my palm. Warm, but it had unstuck itself from me. Maybe it realized it wouldn’t be used. That didn’t mean I was putting it away.

  They hissed and a low chittering rolled out of them before there was an answer.

  “We do not speak the name of the one that made us. Sacrilege.”

  Slow hoofbeats announced Batman’s arrival. “Sure, sorry about that.”

  I looked over my shoulder to where Marsum sat astride Batman. His eyes locked on mine, and whatever he saw there, his own narrowed in response. “What have you done?”

  “I’ve struck a bargain. Get off Batman,” I said.

  His jaw flexed and I could see him fighting the command. “What have you done?”

  “A soul for passage,” I said. “You have many of those, do you not? Surely one could be offered up?”

  A slow smile crossed his face. “Fine, we give them Maks.”

  Oh fuck.

  “No, you give them you, Marsum. Or one of the others,” I said. Damn it, my heart was pounding out of control with just the thought of Marsum handing Maks over. Maks was the only reason I was doing this.

  A sharp, dagger-like pain bloomed in my chest and I put a fist to it, as if I could calm it with some good pressure. Marsum did the same, leaning over his saddle. “You can’t disobey me.”

  “Actually, he can,” Maggi said softly, “if you tried to put his life in danger.”

  I shot a look at her.

  “Our patience is fading. We do not play games. We want our soul. We will take yours.”

  I turned as one of the sand wraiths launched itself at me. Chest still throbbing, I swung the flail, catching it square in the head. The flail’s handle shivered against my palm and stuck itself into the creature’s skull. Twin balls covered in spikes dug into the sand wraith, a pulse of power sucked away and into the flail.

  The scene exploded, sand everywhere, a wind snapping around us and making it hard to see. “Maggi, get out of here!” I yelled. She was useless now with all her power gone, and it was going to be hard enough to protect myself, never mind her too.

  I hoped she heard me.

  I could barely see through the sand swirling around my face. “Shout out, so I know where you are!”

  Lila hollered from way above and there was nothing from Marsum. The bastard had probably run. Then again, I had just tried to feed his soul to a new master.

  Without another thought, I swung the flail as I turned Balder to the side. Hands slid over my arms, and I smashed through them, the bones breaking with resounding cracks. The sand eased around us and I squinted through the swirling pieces. Marsum faced off with four sand wraiths, and Lila was in the air, dropping in and freezing them—or at least she was trying to. They would freeze and then shake the cold off like it was nothing.

  “Go with Maggi!” I yelled to her.

  She was no good here. Again, I didn’t wait to see if she listened. I fought my way to Marsum’s side, knocking the sand wraiths down with what felt like ease.

  “You’re a fool!” he shouted at me.

  “Are you assimilating Maks?”

  “YES!” he roared the word as he lifted his hand and the black magic of the Jinn poured out of him, wrapped up the sand wraiths and pulled them apart. The wind died down immediately, and the sand at our feet shimmered and shivered.

  Anger snapped through him, and without the sand wraiths, I would never have gotten him to this point. To this much emotion.

  He glared at me. “They will pull themselves together in a very short time. I suggest we move. If that pleases you, mistress.”

  My jaw ticked. “It would please me to have Maks back.”

  “He is, you fool. We are all softening because of him,” he roared. “I don’t want this emotion. I don’t want to care for you. Fuck you, yes. Get a child on you for the next in the line of the Jinn, yes. But love you? No. That’s a fucking mess that no amount of magic can fix.”

  I just stared at him. “Tell me there is a way to—”

  “There is no way to bring him back,” Marsum yelled. “There is no way to separate us. I took over Davin, and now I’ve taken Maks, but . . . his love for you is insane! He would die for you, and I can’t stop him from wanting that. From making me want it. It makes me want to love you and protect you and cherish you in a way that would make us both targets. It would make us both weak and that will kill us both!”

  He roared the words at me, and in them, I heard Maks. I heard him trying to stay at the front of his own mind, of his own body. He was fighting for me with all he had, with his most powerful weapon.

  With his love for me.

  “I am not giving up.” I choked on the words. “I refuse to give up on him.”

  “That’s the problem!” he snapped. “Neither is he!”

  I urged Balder forward, passing by him. I didn’t reach out to touch him. But he flinched like he was afraid I would. Or maybe he was afraid of what his own reaction would be to me.

  Following my instincts was something I knew, something I’d always heeded. More than once, they’d saved me. They’d brought me out of situations everyone thought would kill me.

  What my instincts were telling me to do, though . . . they went against everything that had brought me here. Maggi was wrong about the cuffs. Merlin was wrong.

  Caging the person you loved was not how you kept them near you.

  I dismounted Balder. “Get off my horse,” I said softly.

  He dismounted, snarling. I walked up to him, cupped his face and kissed him. He made as if to pull away, then gave into it, wrapping his arms around me, holding me tightly. I tipped my head back so I could look him in the eyes.

  “Maggi was wrong. I love you. I love you completely, even if it damns me to die. Maybe it would be better to give the sand wraiths my soul, but as it is, you have it.”

  Suspicion was written clearly across his face. “That changes nothing.” That’s what he said, but he didn’t let me go.

  “You’re wrong, Marsum. Love isn’t weak. It’s the strongest thing in this world. It’s made me better, made me stronger. I fight the way I do for those I love.” I touched his cheek. “If you and Maks are assimilating, if you are becoming one, then . . . I guess I love you too. And I can’t risk either of you dying on my account. That’s not what you do to someone you love.”

  He went very still but said nothing.

  I let him go and stepped back, took a deep breath and spoke as clearly as I could through the sudden wash of tears, because I knew the cost of what I was doing. That doorway inside me to my magic opened and I pulled it through me, finding the handcuffs easily, following the same instincts that had saved me time and time again. “I release you from your bonds.”

  The metal cuffs appeared over our wrists, then fell off with dual snaps. They fell to the ground and slithered toward one another, clicking as they came together. I scooped them up, mounted back on Balder and rode away from him.

  Love didn’t bind those you loved forcibly. If there really was no way to bring Maks back to himself, then I either would find a way to love the person he’d become, or we would go our separate ways. I wasn’t sure I could do the first, and the second was likely to kill me.

  More than that, I had hope that there was an answer somewhere in between.

  I had to trust that Maks had shown Marsum I was worth saving.

  There had been a moment where Maks had tried to bind himself to me, and Marsum had stopped him. I would take the chance that love was enough to save me.

  I had to.

  I caught up quickly to Lila and Maggi.

  Lila shot over to me, tore off the sapphire and shoved it into my hands. “Take it now, take it now, and never give it to me again.”

  I nodded, my throat too tight to speak. But I knew why she said what she said. The sapphire made her mean, and prone to viol
ence. I could almost feel the anger rolling off her as she thrust the stone back at me. I tucked it into the pouch at my side and kept on walking.

  Maggi asked me what was wrong, and I just shook my head. Already the pain and nausea I’d endured before the cuffs went on rose inside me. Flaring in my body, the vertigo rolling up and around me.

  I knew that if I died, if this magic took me, there would be no stopping Ishtar, no saving my pride, no keeping the Emperor imprisoned. But there was no saying any of that would happen if I did survive.

  I’d have never said I was a gambler before, that I would take a risk with so little obvious ability to come through it, but then again, my middle name was Reckless.

  “What have you done?” Maggi whispered, her hands on me, holding me upright.

  “I let him go.” I blinked up at her. “I had to, Maggi. I had to let him go. It’s the only way to make this work. He’ll keep fighting, and in the end, that will kill us. So this way . . .”

  “Oh, my dear girl.” She touched my face and took the cuffs from me. “You have more faith in him than you should.”

  Lila grabbed at me and I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry, Lila.”

  “No, no you don’t get to decide to die on me! You brought me back from the brink. I was dead and you saved me!” She was yelling at me, and I knew that I was breaking her heart, but this was how it had to be. I had to try. I had to . . . gods, what if I was wrong?

  “Go with Maggi. Get to Trick and Ollianna. Go far away,” I said. “Go.” I tried to push her away and she shoved at me, took off and flew the wrong way.

  She flew toward where I’d left Marsum.

  “Oh my heart, this is a mess,” Maggi said. Surprisingly, she pulled me out of the saddle and onto Demon’s back with her, shocking me. “Yes, I am stronger than I look. Don’t be so surprised I can lift you.”

  I might have smiled. I’m not sure. Dying wasn’t so bad. That was about the only thought going through my head. The magic pooled in my belly, sending out waves of warmth.

  My gamble was not working. Maks wasn’t taking control of Marsum. He wasn’t coming to save me.

  “I’m sorry. Can you tell everyone I’m sorry?” I slurred the words as if I’d been drinking țuică for days.

  “Hush now. I’m going to try to get you to the Wyvern. He might be able to help.”

  That was what she said, but I heard the doubt in her voice. She didn’t think I had long left. With Marsum and me holding the magic at bay together, we’d had only a few days left to get to the market and then to the crossroads. That time had been more than cut in half by the way my body felt.

  Maggi sighed. “You have hours left, dear girl. Hours.”

  Well, damn.

  17

  Merlin

  Merlin had his head against his horse’s neck as they raced after Shara, who galloped toward Ishtar. His dreams were haunting him, showing him what was coming for him, for Flora, and for Zam. Just thinking about the visions had him breaking out in a cold sweat that left him wracked with fear.

  He knew the difference between a nightmare and a glimpse of the future. There was no point in telling Flora. She wouldn’t believe him. Wouldn’t believe that he had gained an ability while his father’s power had taken hold of his mind. Perhaps his father had unlocked the capability so he could use it for his own benefit. Merlin didn’t know, and also knew it didn’t matter much except for the fact that it was the truth.

  Besides, in the last two days, Flora hadn’t said a single word to him, so speaking to her was difficult at best. Never mind a cold shoulder, she was giving him a full-on snowman. Or snowwoman, he supposed. But even that wayward thought didn’t do much to soothe his worries and fears. Beside the nightmares was a raging headache that made it hard to focus. He kept wanting to turn south, away from their current path.

  The crossroads called to him, and that was a thought, a desire he knew wasn’t his own, no matter how he tried to ignore it. Something in him was cracking. Each night, he was losing more and more of himself in the dreams that blurred his mind.

  If only he could remember them.

  He touched a hand to his head, feeling the weight of something there he couldn’t quite put his finger on. A deep throb started in the base of his skull and spread upward, fanning across his skull like a pair of hands gripping, digging in tightly to the meat of his brain. He groaned and leaned farther against his horse. He was out of time.

  “Flora.” He said her name and then pulled his horse to a sweating, heaving stop. “We need to stop.”

  “No, we need to catch her if you don’t want her to die! Ishtar will kill her, and while I’m not sure that is a bad thing, she is your child.” Flora spun her horse around to snap at him.

  “Something is wrong, something is in my head.” He stared at her in horror as his hand began to lift without any desire on his part. The fingers across his skull tightened farther, and his back arched in response. “Flora!” His magic pooled up just at the tips of his fingers. The spell was there, ready to launch at her, and it would end her. “Flora, strike me!”

  For a moment, he thought she wouldn’t. He thought maybe she couldn’t because she cared for him so much. Those green eyes widened and the wind caught her hair, flinging it around her face. In that moment, she was the girl he’d met all those years ago.

  Then her eyes narrowed, and she flicked her hand at him. A bolt of lightning flew from the sky and slammed into him and his horse with a boom of thunder following close behind. He was thrown sideways, his body limp, and his horse fell in the opposite direction. The fingers in his skull eased for just a moment.

  “Damn you, Merlin!” Flora’s voice sounded far away and tinny as if he were in some sort of metal box.

  Hands cupped his face and he pushed her away. “Go. Get away from me. Something is in my head and it wants you dead.” He didn’t dare open his eyes. That was how his father, the Emperor, had controlled him. By seeing through him, his father had been able to direct him to do his deeds. Was this what was happening again?

  “Is it the Emperor?” Her hands were cool against his flushed skin, her words echoing his own thoughts.

  “You don’t listen well,” he said. “You need to go. I don’t know who it is. Like fingers inside my head, digging in.”

  “I’m not leaving you.” Her voice was closer, next to his ear. Lips brushed against his cheek. “You don’t leave family behind. Neither do I. Keep your eyes closed.”

  He squinted his eyes shut tight, his other senses straining. The rustle of her skirts, the tearing of cloth, the smell of her skin so close, he could lean in and kiss it, and then a swath of material covered his eyes. She tied the blindfold, pulling it tight enough that he winced. He couldn’t help but touch a hand over it.

  “Can you get them out of your head?” she asked.

  He blew out a slow breath and focused on the sensation in his mind. The fingers digging in there, the power rolling through him that was not his own. The feeling was strange when it wasn’t painful, as if someone were probing through his mind, reading his thoughts, reading his memories. But who could have such control over him?

  “Not my father. Someone else.” He bowed his head and continued to search himself. He needed to figure out who this was so he could detach them from his mind. He lifted a hand to his head as if he could touch the fingers that dug into his mind. There was sense to them that he could only feel as one thing. “A woman,” he said.

  “But who?”

  He had the same question. “I can’t figure out who, only that it is a woman.”

  Maggi could walk the dreamscape . . . could she have turned on him? His plan did require that she give up her life, but she should be dead by now, and to stop her sister Ishtar, she’d seemed willing. Of course, there was Ishtar herself, though he didn’t think she could actively walk the dreamscape. And that was where he was sure he’d picked up this spell.

  Like picking up a disease in a foreign country. His nightmares and restless
nights, the visions, they all made more sense. But now he wondered if the visions of the future were true, or were they planted by whoever this woman was?

  “I think we have a traitor in our midst.” He worked his fingers, massaging his own skull, using his magic to untie what was knotted inside him. Slowly the threads came apart and he breathed a sigh of relief. “It is undone. But that I could be taken at all, that is concerning.”

  “Who though? Because we have not been near anyone,” Flora said.

  “The dreamscape,” he said softly. “Temporarily this will work, but what happens when we face someone? What happens if even with this spell gone, my mind is taken again, and I attack you?” And when they faced Ishtar or Shara? Both were powerful enough that Flora and he would need to be on their best game.

  “I don’t know. But we’ve come this far, so we must continue on.” Her hands slid to his and she helped him stand. “Good thing I focused on you and not your poor horse.”

  A muzzle shoved against him, and he fumbled to find the horse’s reins. “Beautiful and smart.”

  “Compliments will get you nowhere.” A sigh followed her words. “What are we doing, Merlin? Are we even helping? It’s like nothing we do here has had the impact we wanted. I tried to help Zam with her magic, and I couldn’t teach her a thing. You tried to help her by sending Marsum back to her so she could find a way to free Maks. You saw the crystal ball this morning, they’ve separated again.

  “The Emperor is nearly free, and Ishtar is growing in power every day as she heals. Even Ford and the other lions are trapped. And now your mind is being attacked. There are too many, on too many sides.”

  He held a hand out to his side, hoping . . . and she took his fingers and he held on tightly to her. “We keep trying, Flora. We keep trying to help. Even if they are mistakes, I don’t want to be known as the Merlin who gave up, the warlock who ran away when the world needed the most help. I will do all I can until there is no breath left in me. Even if that moment is getting closer and closer.”

  Her fingers squeezed his. “Don’t talk like that.”