Myron’s lip curled in a sneer. “Don’t act like that makes you happy.”
“It doesn’t,” Marci snapped. “You’re a cynical jerk who wants to wipe out all magic because he’s afraid. But you’re also a mage who wants to save humanity, just like I do. That’s not a lot of common ground to work with, but we have to use it, because no matter what we decide to do in the end, something has to be done about this seal before it snaps, and I can’t do it on my own.”
That was the bald truth. Marci was rightfully proud of her spellwork, but even in her greatest moments of hubris, she’d never claim to be as good as Sir Myron Rollins. He’d literally written the books on ancient casting languages and complex spellwork system modification, both of which were vital if they were going to have a prayer of transforming the cracked seal into something stable.
“I’m not asking you to agree with everything I say,” she said gently. “I just want you to take a chance. You came here ready to give up your magic in order to save mankind. That’s not something a mage would do if he weren’t serious about his convictions. We disagree a lot, but in this at least, you and I are the same. We both want to fix things, so let’s do it, but let’s do it together.”
She held out her hand to him as she finished, and Myron gave her frankly skeptical look.
“Really?”
“Really,” she said sincerely. “We’ve got too many enemies to keep fighting each other. Now are you with me or what?”
She flashed him her best smile, the one she used to close deals, but Myron just smacked her offered hand away.
“Comeon!” she cried. “I saved you!”
“Which entitles you to nothing,” he said, crossing his arms tight over his chest. “A shikigami of the Last Merlin flat-out told you that the Mortal Spirits are going to overrun us, and you’re planning to ignore him. Not because of facts, but because youfeeldifferent. Because youbelievein the power of human goodness. That might make a nice inspirational poster, but it is lunacy to bet the lives of every man, woman, and child on such shoddy logic, and I refuse to ride at your side while you tilt at windmills.” He kicked the broken seal with the toe of his fancy shoe. “You want to destroy the world? Do it yourself.”
Marci was imagining dropping that stone seal on his head. “Why are you so stubborn? It’s like you wantto give up your magic!”
“What Iwantis to ensure the survival of the human race,” he snarled. “You’re the one who cares about magic more than people.”
“But peoplearemagic!” she yelled. “This isn’t humans versus spirits. It’sallof us finding a way to live together without killing each other!”
“Tell that to Algonquin,” Myron said. “She’s certainly made up her mind. And since you were right about me still being bound to the DFZ, I might as well tell you that she’s already back in her city, and it is not a happy homecoming. She and Algonquin are determined to tear each other apart, which means the chaos I warned you about is already happening. You could stop it if you cared to. I’d gladly help you repair the seal and shut all this down for good, but that’s not what you want. You want to fight. You want to have it all, even if it means people die. I can’t allow that, so unless you change your mind, we have nothing further to discuss.”
He turned away after that. Marci turned her back on him as well, grinding her teeth as she fought the urge to throw him off the mountain. Julius made this turning-enemies-into-allies stuff look so easy when he did it, but Myron must have been more stubborn than a dragon, because she was getting nowhere. She just didn’t understand how such a smart man could be so cynical and shortsighted. If he weren’t the only other mage here, Marci would have written him off completely. She didn’t need this nonsense.
Unfortunately, shedidneed his help. Even if Amelia could translate the words, the crazy spellwork on the seal was way outside Marci’s area of expertise. If nothing else, she needed another pair of hands to maintain the circle that would hold the magic steady while she made changes. Myron might not be able to change the spellwork here, but he could still move magic, and unlike her, he could actually read what the spell did. That was kind of important when you were trying to modify a spell where a single mistake could send a thousand years of magic cascading down on an unsuspecting world.
There was nothing for it. She needed him, and since appealing to Sir Myron’s reason and better nature was clearly a waste of time, Marci decided to try a different approach. “How about we make a deal?”
Myron glanced suspiciously over his shoulder.
“I get that you don’t want anything to do with this,” she went on. “But the seal still has to be stabilized. I can’t do that on my own, so how about you help me figure out a way to jury-rig this thing into letting out magic at a safe, sustainable rate, and in return, I will build you an emergency shut-off.”
“You mean like a kill switch?” he said, turning back around.
“Exactlylike a kill switch,” she said. “I’ll even let you design it so you can be certain it works. This way, I can do my thing, and if you’re right about it destroying humanity, you’ve got something you can hit to shut things down anytime you want.”
For a moment, Myron looked as if he was actually giving the idea serious consideration, and then he scowled.
“I see your trick,” he said bitterly. “You’re letting me build a kill switch because you know I won’t be able to use it. Even if you made me a big red button right on top, I wouldn’t be able to push it, because only Merlins can manipulate spellwork in the Heart of the World, and I’m not a Merlin.”
“Of course there’s a trick,” Marci said with a smile. “I’m offering you a deal, not a surrender. Why would I let you build a kill switch if I knew you were just going to mash it the first moment you could? No, no.” She wagged her finger. “Here’s my part of the deal. I will let you make a kill switch,butyou’re going to have to become a Merlin yourself if you want to push it.”
Myron stared at her, uncomprehending. “A Merlin?”
Marci,Ghost growled in her mind.What are you doing? You can’t make him a Merlin. He wants to destroy us.
“But that’s just it,” she whispered back, keeping her eyes on Myron. “I can’t ‘make’ him a Merlin. The Heart of the World decides that, not me, and that’s why this is going to work. Think about when the gate let me in. It didn’t open because I was a hotshot mage with a Mortal Spirit. I was only let in after I freed the DFZ, because that was when I’d proved I understood that Merlins are champions forallof humanity. Spirits and ghosts included, not just the physical people alive right now. That’s why I can build Myron a kill switch, because if he can understand that truth to the point where the Heart of the World opens to him, then he’ll no longer be the sort of man who wants to push it.”
That didn’t stop the other Merlins,the Empty Wind argued.They were the ones who made the seal in the first place.
“And considered it their greatest defeat,” she said, raising her voice so that Myron could hear too. “I know it’s a gamble, but it’s a safe one, because I’mright. If Myron can become a Merlin on his own merit, then I won’t have to say a word. He’ll understand for himself just how foolish and cowardly he’s being, or he won’t be a Merlin at all.”
The older mage sneered. “And if I refuse?”
