Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,110

instead of collapsing in the scorch-mark-stricken street.

Merlin lay prone before him, his skin red and raw, his hair all but gone. Changing his light magic to create heat was something that Mordred found to be difficult but effective. Unfortunately, it was also hard to control, so he’d had to wait until there were no bystanders around before using it.

“How?” Merlin asked, his voice raspy.

Mordred forced himself back to a standing position. “I told you, Dad. I am better than you. You made me better than you. That was the whole bloody point.”

Merlin nodded. “You and Nate were what Arthur feared,” Merlin said, his magic already working overtime to heal his voice.

“I know,” Mordred said. “I think that was partially because you made sure of it.” Mordred crouched beside his father and drew Excalibur. He activated its power to remove magic and lies and placed the blade of it against Merlin’s chest.

Merlin smiled. “I joined him because I thought I could control him. Because I thought he was right, and I figured that with me by his side, I could point him in the right direction. I said that I’d never cross a line. And then that line moved. Slowly, over time, it moved further and further away. It takes a strong person to say no and not move with the line. I was not a strong man. I was a cruel, vindictive man. I did evil because I thought it was for the greater good, and then it was too late to go back.

“When I thought that Arthur was in a coma, I wanted to save him, to make him realize that his way was misguided. I’d invested so much in him as our savior; I refused to see him as anything else.”

“I know,” Mordred said.

“You know that without my magic, I will die?” Merlin asked.

Mordred nodded. “I don’t want to kill you, but I also know you need to die.”

Merlin smiled again. “Killing me by removing my power and just letting me die. I always thought I’d live forever.”

“No one lives forever,” Mordred said. “Not even Arthur.”

“He wants his enemies crushed,” Merlin said. “I can’t lie, can I?”

Mordred shook his head. “For the first time in millennia, you can’t hide behind tricks and lies. You can’t convince yourself of anything that isn’t true. What’s Arthur’s plan?”

“These buildings—they have hundreds of monsters in them,” Merlin said. “Actually, it’s probably thousands of monsters. Magically resilient monsters. They used to be human. They were taken and experimented on. Some were forced to learn the dwarven runes. They made bracelets. You’ve seen them before.”

“I have,” Mordred said. “Where do they go?”

“Shadow Falls,” Merlin said and chuckled. “Damn you for making me say all of this.”

A cold pit of fear started inside of Mordred. “Thousands of monsters are being sent to Shadow Falls to kill everyone there.”

Merlin nodded weakly. “Not just Shadow Falls. They’re going to Washington, DC, too; Gawain was meant to make sure the entire area around the White House was turned into a realm gate, but he got caught. So I sent Lamashtu and the elves there to get it finished. Once Arthur knew that Poseidon was no longer an option, he sent word to your brother to stay in Washington and allow himself to be captured. He said not to make it look too easy, though. I promised Gawain we’d get him out when the invasion started.

“Arthur wanted you all here. Once you’re here, you’re trapped; you’ll never get back to Shadow Falls in time to stop the massacre there.”

“When does it start?” Mordred asked, stopping himself from running off to warn everyone.

“There’s a signal.”

“What is it?”

“The collapse of these buildings,” Merlin said. “Each one has tunnels under it that lead to chambers, much like the one that was under the realm gate, except everyone in these has bracelets on that take them to Shadow Falls or Washington. The power needed to make them work will destroy the buildings above them. You can’t kill Arthur before he gives the signal. You should run, Mordred. Take everyone you love and run as far and as fast as you can. It’s the only way you can survive what’s coming.”

Mordred stared at the windowless buildings, wondering how close he was to a mass of monstrous chaos right then. “We’ll stop Arthur before he does anything.”

“No, you won’t,” Merlin said.

“I’m sorry you were too weak to stop Arthur,” Mordred said, getting to his feet. He looked over at Hel, who had been joined by