Once & Future (Once & Future #1)(80)

“We are. Sort of.”

“More lies,” Gwen said. “Have they all brainwashed you?”

“You want to know the truth, Gwen? This feels worse than the loss of my people.” Ari winced, one hand over her face, hoping the rest of her friends didn’t know how close she was to being worthless. “That’s insane, isn’t it? This should be nothing.” She attempted a small smile, sniffing back the storm. “People get their hearts broken every damn day.”

Gwen stepped closer to Ari, her hands running up Ari’s arms, massaging her countless scars, and Ari lost a bet. If Gwen can hurt me, I’ll stay away, she’d snapped at Morgana on Ketch. I’ll rise above it. Morgana had laughed.

No one was laughing now.

And no matter what, Ari wasn’t going to be able to walk away from Gwen. She would stay right here, in the riot of her pain, for even a chance at this closeness.

Gwen’s fingers took hold of Ari’s dented breastplate, and Ari had a steaming flash of the tournament when Gwen had pulled Ari into that kiss so confidently Ari had taken to it like gravity. Gwen pulled Ari close again, but instead of kissing, she pressed their faces together. Gwen’s lips found Ari’s ear. “It had to be him, Ari. He was the closest I could get to you.”

She let go, pushed Ari back. And walked away.

At first it felt like the cosmos were on fire. Ari took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, searching for the place inside where King Arthur stopped, and Ari started. Gwen was right; it was becoming harder and harder to find.

Merlin jogged over, pulling a robe over his T-shirt and jeans. “Back in uniform, old man?”

“It’s—what do they say?—game time!” He was grinning, but the look slipped, no doubt because he could tell how torn up Ari had become. “Are you all right?”

“I am… not.” Ari dropped Excalibur into the sheath at her back. “But that’s the way it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? This is all part of the story?” Merlin’s acute sadness shone through, his baby-smooth face a reminder of how much he lost with each passing day. “Come on. We’re going to end this. I promise, Merlin. I’m going to save you.”

They embraced, and Ari held on to him too tightly.

“This feels like it’s really happening all of a sudden,” Val said, linking an arm with Merlin’s. “Not that I was doubting it, but well, of course I was. So what do we do when the Big Bad arrives?”

“We blow up Heritage,” Lam said, staring up at the huge starship parked past the moon. “I have explosives.”

Merlin waved his hands. “Blowing up the Death Star always seems like a good idea, but it only leads to bigger Death Stars.”

Morgana took in the crowd with a growing curiosity, her physical presence a bit strange. She tilted her head back and pointed. “There. They come.”

In the deep reaches of the blue sky, Ari saw the first sign of Mercer, a vessel that dropped like a dark insect. Just one. “Open up the web. Let him in, Merlin.”

Merlin obeyed, and the ship zoomed close. At first Ari hoped it was the Administrator, coming down to meet them with some honor. Then she woke up.

“Take cover!” she yelled, as it zoomed by. Its bay doors opened, and Ari imagined bombs or associates or poison falling on them.

Instead something wrapped in Mercer packaging fell from the vessel. It was as large as the escape pod she’d stolen from the generation ship. And yet it didn’t hit the ground like metal.

It hit like flesh.

Ari recognized the shape. And yet, she stood stock-still, gripping her sword.

“What is it?” Jordan asked. “A weapon of some kind?”

Ari waited for the large lump to move. When it didn’t, she walked toward it, slowly at first, and then faster and faster. Her friends followed, but they were not quick enough to stop her from pulling the tarp back, revealing the dead taneen hatchling. Kay’s green head was battered and bloodied. His long, forked tongue swollen and stuck out, his eyes a murdered black.

“Kay!” she screamed. “No, no, no!” Her legs gave out, and she was all aching fists against the side of the dragon’s hide. The real Kay appeared, dragging her back from the body.

Overhead, the vessel disappeared.

“What the hell is this supposed to mean?” Lam asked, voice tremulous.

“It’s the dragon from Ari’s video,” Val said, his voice biting. “The Administrator wants us to know that Mercer has been to Ketch.”

Gwen started to scream about her people, hysterical as Ari was turning coldly numb. Jordan fought to hold on to the queen.

Ari’s words tumbled from her lips. “Not Kay,” she whispered. “He’s just a baby.”

Her brother held her face with both hands, making Ari look into his blue eyes. “Kay is… the dragon? You named a dragon after me?”

She closed her eyes. “Missed you too much. Had to find a way to say your name every day.” Ari started to burn again, boiling with feelings that left her fingers clawing into her brother’s starved frame. The Administrator had done this. Taken their home. Their lives. He’d found the one thing that had brought Ari happiness on Ketch, and he’d murdered it.

“I’m going to kill him, Kay. I’m going to rip a hole through the Administrator.”