Algonquin frowned, her mask shifting into the mage’s own skeptical look. He was lying—she could feel it in his pulse. Mortals always lied, though, especially the egotistical ones. The question was: was he lying about the one thing that actually mattered?
“Did you cap the seal?”
“I did,” he said firmly. “I can’t do anything about the magic that’s already leaked out, but the flow of new power has been staunched. In a few weeks, everything that was spilled tonight will filter out, and the world will be left high and dry once again.”
“How dry?” Algonquin demanded. “Did you honor our agreement?”
Myron looked insulted. “Of course I did. I hate Mortal Spirits as much as you do. I capped the magic back to what it was the night you woke, exactly as requested. And I am Merlin, exactly asIrequested, which means our bargain is at an end, Lady of the Lakes.” He smiled. “We won.”
Algonquin wasn’t listening. She was too busy checking every inch of her domain, sinking down into the deep, cold waters that ran through her vessel at the bottom of the Sea of Magic. But even though she was there, she couldn’t tell for sure if he was speaking the truth. Everything was still too turbulent. Too riled up. There’d be no way to know for certain until the magic calmed down, and yet…
She returned to her water in the Pit, flowing up onto the island so she could stare directly down into the mage. Into what made him human. But there was no lie here. The shifts and marks she’d seen in every Merlin since mortals had first started calling themselves such were plain on his soul.
Her water began to tremble. Whatever else he might be, Sir Myron Rollins was unquestionably a Merlin now.HerMerlin. Her agent, her tool, the weapon she’d given everything to make, saying it was done.
“I won,” she whispered, the reflected mask dissolving as her water rippled in excitement. “Iwon.”
“Wewon,” Myron corrected, leaning on the cowed city spirit beside him, who had yet to make a sound. “Tonight was a victory for the entire world. You are free from the tyranny of our mad spirits, and humanity is safe from itself. I get the Heart of the World as my own personal laboratory, and you get to stop worrying about the DFZ.”
He was right. Now that the spirit of the DFZ had done its job, she could finally scrub its filthy city from her shores. She could scruballthe cities and boats and humanity that polluted her waters. First, though, she would take tonight’s leftover magic and finish what she’d started when she’d killed the Three Sisters.
There was more than enough power left to melt Heartstriker Mountain and all the other clan strongholds to their foundations, especially since the Golden Emperor had already served himself up to her on a platter. Once she’d destroyed their safe havens and gutted their clan leadership, it was only a matter of taking the time to hunt down and exterminate the snakes that remained, and now that the Mortal Spirits were no longer a threat, Algonquin had all the time in the world. An eternity of safety lay stretched out before her, a return to the time before mortals and their gods. A chance to go home again.
And it washers.
Not yet.
Algonquin turned around. Her mind had been racing so fast, she hadn’t felt the Leviathan’s approach, but that didn’t matter. He was where he always was: right behind her.
“What basis do you have for saying that?”
Common sense,he replied, his tentacles spreading out to surround the island where Myron stood.Your mage is a known traitor who went to a place you cannot see. Now he’s come back to tell you he’s done the impossible, which also happens to be exactly what you wanted. You are a fool to believe him so quickly, especially since he has yet to produce any proof.
“I felt him enter the Heart of the World,” Algonquin said. “That is proof.”
Proof he served his own interests,the monster whispered, his many eyes skeptical.But his service to you has yet to be verified. Can you not feel the magic?
She couldn’t feel anything else. But the Sea of Magic had been churning like an ocean in a hurricane even before Myron woke the DFZ, and large systems took time to calm down.
“It will drain,” she said confidently. “Because if it doesn’t, I will kill the mage and destroy his spirit’s city. For good this time.” She glanced back at Myron. “But youaretelling me the truth?”
“I’ve never told you anything else,” Myron said. “It’s you who’s been lying.”
He lifted his chin, looking over her water at the dark shadow behind her. “I learned things in the Heart of the World, Algonquin. For example, I now know what your Leviathan really is, and I will not tolerate it.”
“My actions are not yours to tolerate,” she said coldly. “I am the Lady of the Lakes. You’re just a man.”
“I am much more than that,” Myron said. “I am the Merlin, champion of humanity. I’m also the one with my hand on the spigot you’re so desperate to control.”
She went still. “Is that a threat?”
“Absolutely,” he said, looking at her head on. “Personal ambitions aside, I went along with your plan to banish the Mortal Spirits because I wished to make this world safe for humanity, not so you could gamble all our futures to a darker god. I know the Leviathan is here at your request, and that he’s the one who cracked the Merlins’ seal in the first place. But however he got here, a Nameless End has no place on a healthy plane. Send him away, or I will undo everything I just did.”
Waves went out in rings across the flooded Pit as Algonquin’s rage began to rise. “You think to threatenme? I am the land you stand on, fool. I will not be dictated to by a dying insect!”
Myron’s smile grew infuriating. “If that were true, you never would have agreed to work with me in the first place. Looks like youdoneed us dying insects. You should embrace that, because I’ve won you more today than he’s ever delivered.” He nodded at the Leviathan. “His victory is your defeat. He’s a Nameless End, a force that eats failed planes. There’s nothing in this for him if you succeed. The only way he gets what he wants is if you fail. I, on the other hand, have as much of a stake in this world as you do. Iwantyou to win because we share a future. That makes me infinitely more trustworthy than him.”
Algonquin scowled. That was true.
