Sword in the Stars (Once & Future #2) - Cori McCarthy Page 0,35

who wore nothing but her unders and that goldenrod tank top, was sitting between Ari’s legs, staring avidly at the control board. This was the day before they landed on Troy. Before they met the Administrator and so much changed so swiftly.

“How do I make us go faster?” Gwen asked.

Ari took this as a cue to slide her arms around Gwen. “That orange button guy.”

“There are three buttons in the orange family.”

“So try all three.”

“Ari, what if I crash us?”

“That’s the fun thing about space. Not much to crash into.”

In the dark cave, Ari could almost feel Gwen’s weight through the image. New aches replaced her grief, the idea of holding Gwen like that, of being relaxed together in a tangle. The Ari in the memory guided Gwen’s hand to the throttle. She helped Gwen press it forward and held on to her as the ship’s speed rankled and jerked, making them burst with laughter. Ari throttled back after a few seconds, shutting off a few no biggie alarms, while Gwen started kissing her, and kissing her…

“On the control board, Ari?” Kay roared, appearing in the cockpit.

Ari—the real Ari who was freezing in the Lady of the Lake’s cave—laughed too hard. She covered her cold lips with her hand, watching her brother chase the two girls back to the room they’d stolen from him. All the while shouting, “Next time I have a date on board, we’re going straight to your bunk, Turtle! What do you think of that?! Karma is coming for you!”

Ari’s laughter faded as the image fuzzed. She stood up, taking in the strange scenery. The wet rock walls, the black lake, and at its center, a small, rectangular island. She squinted; it was a funeral pyre, complete with a body laid out upon it. “Val?” she called out, voice echoing.

“Ari!” Val’s voice called back from far away.

“Val! Where are you?” Ari swung around, looking for a door. Instead she found a gloriously perfect person, watching her.

The Lady of the Lake.

“Would you mind not screaming? Human voices are tedious at best.” She circled Ari, showing off long limbs beneath a tightly tailored green velvet suit. Her skin was the sort of nearly-translucent white that seemed to be on the verge of glowing, and her hair was a screaming shade of red, combed against her scalp. Ari’s eyes peeled a little too wide. She hadn’t expected this; Merlin hadn’t said anything about Nin being… smoking hot.

“Hey,” Ari said, throat dry. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

The Lady of the Lake came so close that Ari felt self-conscious about each plate of unpolished, dented armor. The strong-lined and lean figure breathed on Ari’s breastplate, fogging up the dragon Ouroboros.

“Ah, wow, you don’t do small talk, heh?”

Nin peered at Ari, flint-eyed. “I don’t like tears in my cave. Saltwater is useless.” She motioned to Ari’s tear tracks.

Ari smudged away the remaining offenders. “That’s why you showed me that memory from before Troy. To stop me from crying.”

“Not a memory. A piece of time. Humans require time to march in a single direction, past to present to future. But time is a river that can flow many interesting ways, including circles. If you want to step into a different age, you need only know where to stick in your toe.”

“So you really are timeless,” Ari said, although her mind spun with a sudden, burning question. That’s not all you are, is it? Ari’s understanding of this being had been filtered through Merlin. And Merlin’s unorthodox existence. Perhaps he had reasons to trust Nin, but Ari was drawing a blank as to what those reasons might be. Her gaze went back to the center of the lake where the funeral pyre she’d witnessed minutes ago had already vanished.

“Where’s Val?” she said, fear showing in her voice.

“Unharmed, as promised. I’ll be returning him shortly. Merlin is almost ready to have him back.” The Lady continued her inspection of Ari. “I’ve never met one in the flesh.”

Ari took a small step back. “Met one of what?”

“One of Arthur’s human vessels,” she said. “I do believe he is right. You are the last. He is finished with his grand schemes to unite humanity. Finally beaten. Poor fool.” The Lady’s finger traced the circular dragon on Ari’s breastplate. “Do you like your armor? I had to search a few thousand years of Earth history to find it for you.”

Ari’s mind went black and then bright, as if someone had turned on a burning spotlight. “This armor…