Sword in the Stars (Once & Future #2) - Cori McCarthy Page 0,111

fucking with those Mercer ships, on our way to Troy. Remember?”

Merlin nodded, his reddish-gray hair falling in his eyes. “I got loose. I thought I was going to be lost to the cosmos forever and you grabbed me and hauled me back in.”

Ari squeezed him, hoping that the airlock took extra seconds to fill with air. “That’s what moms are for, Merlin.”

Merlin locked bright eyes with Ari in the tight, small space. He didn’t have to say it.

“I know, old man. Me, too.” She wrestled him into a hug, and when the inner door swung open, they blinked through tears at Jordan, Val, and Gwen.

Gwen rained her hands over their faces, kissing both of their cheeks and adding her own tears to the party. Her hands found the bloodied slice in her shirt, and she swore until Ari wrapped her up in her arms.

“I’m okay, lady. I’m okay.” Ari pulled away.

“I’m never going to forgive you.”

“Really? I thought this one was pretty good payback for the time you kidnapped yourself. Get it? I knew I had to die so I set my own parameters. You inspired me.”

Gwen’s eyes flared. “You didn’t know I had that pill.”

“True,” Ari said, kissing her. “But I knew both of you would save me. Sorry, I don’t want to miss this.” Merlin and Val were meeting each other all over again, and Ari turned Gwen’s chin with a soft knuckle so that she could watch, too.

Merlin held both of Val’s hands. He was trying to find words and failing miserably. Odd nouns were just popping out. Val leaned in to kiss Merlin, and Merlin leaned back a little. “I have to tell you something! It might change your mind about… me.”

“If this is about you being the magical time baby, and the fact that your moms are my best friends, I’ve already come to grips with it,” Val said, leaning in even closer.

“You have?” Merlin’s eyes were huge. “I mean, you know?”

“Someone had to do the parenting math on all this nonsense. The second Gwen gave birth to a glowing baby, I was pretty damn sure.” Val tossed a look at Ari, who had definitely not figured it out and felt a fair amount of parental shame on the subject. “Of course, you can’t just tell someone their lost baby found their way home a long time ago.”

“Next time,” Gwen growled, “try, Percival.”

Val’s scowl turned to a laugh, and Merlin caught his lips in a kiss. Ari’s whole body hummed with happiness at the sight of the two of them.

“What is the status on the evil time lake?” Jordan asked, as if the effort of holding back had been a serious trial. Her shoulder was bound, but she still had a ready weapon in each hand.

Merlin took offense. “Evil? Time cannot be evil. But it can hold on to the pain of its past. We’ve put an end to all that. We’ve set it free.”

“Merlin took care of Nin,” Ari said. “And then we broke the lake apart. Now we only have to worry about Mercer.”

“Hardly,” Jordan scoffed. Everyone stared until she elaborated. “You both pulled the Sword in the Stars. Technically you two are now the Administrators of the Mercer Company.”

The sudden silence was a small explosion.

“I abdicate,” Ari said automatically. “Gwen’s got this one.”

Gwen wove her fingers with Ari’s in agreement. She turned back to Merlin. “What about the pieces of time lake? Can they ever rejoin?”

“They will go everywhere,” Merlin said. “Not bent to the needs of one story, but naturally flowing into new legends.”

“Your magic is entirely too sexy,” Val breathed, and Merlin blushed as red as his hair. He smiled at his friends, just as a bright spark of magic shot out of him, firing around the small spaceship.

While everyone ducked, Jordan clapped her hands around the light. She held her cupped palms out, and they gathered around. When she opened her fingers, the magic stayed put, lighting up the center of their family like a brand-new star.

Several moons of time—and literal moons—later, Ari checked her watch. Gwen was supposed to have met her an hour ago. Her shuttle from Troy was late. Ari waited on the balcony of the little nightclub on Tanaka, the vivid view of a neon-green water planet before them.

She fussed with her outfit for the hundredth time, and Val put a light hand on her wrist. “You look epic. She’ll be here. Relax.”

“Easy for you to say,” Ari said, eyeing the way Merlin was attached