Legendary (23 page)

“I think that only works in the States, Lace.” Aliana rolled her eyes.

“You above all people should know how persuasive I can be, Lia,” Lacy chided, laughing.

“Oh, I remember! The only times I ever got into trouble was whenever you had one of your ‘brilliant’ ideas.”

“Exactly! Okay then, I gotta go. The florist is here. I’ll see you at seven sharp.” Lacy hung up before Aliana could say goodbye.

Walking back into the kitchen, she found Dagg perched next to her plate, happily eating the last of her breakfast. “Hey, you moocher, get your own food!” Everyone laughed as she swatted the Dragon away. All he left her with was a half-eaten pancake.

“Now that we are all fed, we should be going,” Lancelot said, rinsing off his plate and surprising Aliana that he’d be so domestic.

“That’s cool,” Aliana said, “but there’s some place I need to be tonight. Well, actually, we all need to be.”

“Oh, right, your mum’s fundraising party,” Owen said.

“Aliana, it’s too dangerous,” Lancelot said immediately.

“Relax, Lancelot. The party is at a crowded hotel in the middle of London. No chance of attack there. Besides, this is for my mother, so I have to be there.”

“What charity?” Percy cut Lancelot off before he could argue more.

“My mother started a charity over ten years ago to award scholarships for students in need to study all forms of art.”

Arthur and Galahad frowned, confused. “I’ll explain it later,” Percy told them.

“Besides, I already promised my friends I would be there. I won’t back out on my promise.” She fisted her hands on her hips, squaring off with Lancelot.

The stubborn knight looked over her shoulder to Arthur. Aliana peeked at the king, seeing Arthur nod his head.

Halfheartedly, Lancelot said, “Okay, but we have to be very careful, and you will have one of us with you at all times.”

Aliana smiled. “Great, thanks. Owen already has a tux, but we’ll need to get some for the four of you, plus masks. It was Lacy’s idea to make it a masquerade theme, and she’ll flip if it doesn’t go right.”

“I will handle that,” Lancelot said. “Percy and I have tuxes and we can have two more sent over for you and Galahad, Sire.” Lancelot and Owen agreed to go get the suits while the others stayed with Aliana.

She glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost eleven a.m. “I need to finish cleaning up, and then I need to start getting ready for the party. Is there anything the three of you want to do in the meantime?”

“We can clean up for you,” Galahad offered. “Maybe you could get more sleep before tonight.”

“No need, I got plenty of sleep,” she lied, hoping Galahad wouldn’t push the subject. She didn’t need any more fiery dreams today.

He scowled at her, seeming like he wanted to say more, but nodded. Arthur watched their exchange, veiled interest in his golden gaze.

“Maybe Percy can explain some more things to y’all.”

“Sure,” Percy said quickly. All through breakfast, he’d been glancing between the two legends, clearly anxious to get to know them better. “Lance mentioned several things he wanted to fill you both in on.” He seemed to make an effort to sound blasé, but he still looked like a kid about to open presents.

Almost reluctantly, Galahad and Arthur left the kitchen behind Percy. Galahad glanced back to Aliana, and she couldn’t stop the flush that spread across her cheeks.

“You shouldn’t lie, Aliana,” Dagg said when the boys were out of hearing range. “You didn’t sleep for more than three hours last night, and you spent most of that tossing and turning.”

“You were asleep when I got up, so how would you know?”

“We are connected through the magic of the prophecy. I can feel what you feel when I want to, and you will soon be able to do the same with me when we train you how to use your magic.”

Aliana abruptly set down the pot in her hand. “What? I can’t…” she started but stopped, remembering everything in Avalon and the power she’d used to awaken Arthur. “I can still use magic?”

“Yes. When we find Merlin, he and I will train you so you can defend yourself with it.”

Aliana just stared at him, completely lost for words.

“What’s wrong?”

Lying to Dagg clearly wasn’t going to do her any good. “I’m still trying to get used to everything, and I’m a little nervous about tonight.”

“What about tonight worries you?”

“It’s not really worry,” Aliana said as she scrubbed the last dish dry. “I…haven’t been to one of these parties since my parents died. Tonight will be the first time they’re not there with me.”

“I understand. Dragons are very loyal to their clans. When one of us is gone, we all feel the loss.”

“It must have been horrible to be trapped in that cage for so long.” She scratched the little Dragon behind his ears.

“What was harder was not being able to search for you. It has been my only purpose since my creation. If I had been free, perhaps I could have found you sooner.”

Aliana couldn’t let herself think about what might have been different if he had. “We should go find the guys,” she said, putting away the last dish.

“I can hear them in Galahad’s room. They are saying something about…a broken door handle,” Dagg said, confused.

Aliana left the kitchen with the Dragon on her shoulder and headed toward the guys.

“I don’t know how it happened. It came off right in my hand,” Galahad said.

“Could it be because of the magic you were trapped in?” Aliana asked, surprising the trio.

Galahad looked up, embarrassed, holding the crushed handle in his hand. Why did she find that so…cute?

“Don’t worry, Galahad. I’m not mad about the broken door knob,” she assured him. “I’m just trying to figure out this new strength and that burst of speed earlier in the kitchen.”

“What?” Arthur asked.

Galahad quickly filled them in.

“Perhaps Aliana is right,” Arthur said, stroking his chin. “Lancelot said he had new abilities when he left Avalon—that the magic there had affected him. Being trapped in a magic crystal has to have changed you, Galahad.”

“Why don’t you guys go up to the roof and test your theory,” Aliana suggested. “It’s private, and Wade and I have a practice area set up that you can use.”

Following her to the roof, the three men looked around at the amazing view of the modern city while Aliana unrolled her sparring mat and pulled out some clean towels from a small storage closet. They decided to let Percy be the first to test Galahad’s new talents.

The two men circled each other, and then Galahad just
moved
. Suddenly, he was behind Percy with the big man trapped in a headlock and falling to his knees. Percy tried to break the hold, but nothing he tried worked. Reluctantly, he tapped Galahad’s arm to be released.

“Hot damn, that was amazing!” Percy said, taking a few deep breaths and pulling himself up with Galahad’s offered hand. “Your grip was like iron! I could barely move.”

“How about you, Arthur?” Aliana suggested. “Let’s see if the magic that trapped you had the same effect.”

Several minutes later, it was clear that Arthur hadn’t developed the same abilities, but he did seem to have a way of predicting Galahad’s moves. Maybe that was because the two had fought together for so long. Then Arthur went against Percy, proving that just because he couldn’t beat Galahad didn’t mean he couldn’t fight. He managed to defeat Percy three times with an impressive and aggressive style. The guys continued changing partners, testing each other and testing the limits of Galahad’s and Arthur’s abilities.

“Damn,” Aliana muttered, looking down at her watch.

“What’s wrong?” Galahad asked as he and the others came to her side.

“I need to start getting ready for tonight.”

Percy laid a hand on Arthur’s shoulder and gave him his first lesson about modern girls. “Women need excessive amounts of time to get ready for these things. It takes them hours to get it together.”

Rolling her eyes, Aliana turned to Dagg. “You stay here with the guys.”

The Dragon shook his head. “You are my charge. I’m supposed to stay by your side.”

“Maybe when we’re in a dangerous situation, but not while we’re home. Besides, you remember my rules. You disappear when I’m getting changed.”

Grudgingly, Dagg agreed, but he still had the last word. “You can’t keep shutting people out,” he said softly so the others couldn’t hear. “Burdens are meant to be shared, not bottled up inside.”

“I’m just getting ready for a party, Dagg.” She wasn’t shutting people out; she just didn’t want an audience. And besides, what was wrong with not wanting to drag others into her problems?

Locking her bedroom door, Aliana hooked up her iPod, blasting pop music while she took a quick shower and then got to work on her hair. Swaying with the music, she wrapped her long locks into hot curlers. By the time she finished, it was nearly three o’clock and she was starving. Wrapping a scarf around her head, she made her way to the kitchen, thinking the boys would still be up on the roof. Instead, she found the three warriors and her Dragon gathered around the kitchen island, eating cold sandwiches.

“I hope you guys saved some for me,” she teased.

“Already have one ready for ya, darlin’,” Percy said, pulling another sandwich from the refrigerator.

Standing next to Dagg, Aliana happily dove into her sandwich and their conversation. They had tested the limits of Galahad’s strength and speed only to find that it was nearly limitless. They’d also discovered that Arthur was able to consistently predict his opponents’ attacks. Percy even commented on how quickly the king had learned some new fighting moves.

“So, we have brains and brawn,” Aliana said, finishing her sandwich. “Lancelot said last night that he’d become skilled at tracking magical signatures. Was he always a good tracker?”

Arthur nodded, smiling, as he picked up on her line of thought. “You’re thinking that our new abilities are an extension of the skills we already had?”

“Yep.” Aliana looked over at Galahad. “Were you always faster and stronger than the others?”

“Speed and strength were always my strongest abilities, and Lancelot could track a snow flake in a snow storm,” Galahad answered.

“And I was always better with strategies and planning,” Arthur added.

“Not to mention you could convince almost everyone to do whatever you asked of them,” Lancelot threw in as he and Owen joined the group. “But why are we talking about this?”

“Galahad and I have discovered some interesting abilities, and we think the magic from Avalon could have enhanced the skills we already had,” Arthur answered, studying the suits the raven-haired knight laid across the kitchen table.

“What abilities?” Lancelot’s brow furrowed. Minutes later, they were all heading out of the kitchen and back to the roof.

“Just make sure y’all are ready by six. We can’t be late for the party,” Aliana called after them.

“Tell the others I’ll be up in moment,” Galahad said to Dagg after the others left.

The Dragon studied the pair, closing the door and leaving Aliana and her knight alone in the apartment. Her heart raced as he crossed the room to her side. Being alone with Galahad could prove dangerous to her heart.

“Are those your parents?” he asked, nodding at a picture just over her shoulder.

Aliana knew without looking which picture he was asking about. “Yeah.” She turned to stare at the photo. “I took that six years ago at their anniversary party in New York.”

The image was a beautiful one, taken at a rooftop restaurant in the city. Her mother’s auburn hair glowed with the sun’s setting light as she gazed up at her husband’s hazel eyes. Her mother was stunning with her olive complexion, high cheekbones, and curvy body. Her dad had short black hair peppered with gray, a rounded face, and nearly gray eyes. The pair’s hands were cupped together, holding a beautiful oval box almost the size of her mother’s palm with a smaller, heart-shaped lid at the center.

“My dad gave her that music box for their anniversary. The heart flipped open and played their wedding song.” Aliana had watched them dance to the soft music.

“They look happy together.” Galahad’s eyes seemed to drink in the detail of the picture. “You can see how much they were in love.”

“They were everything to each other. I always hoped that one day I’d find someone to care about me that way,” she said, accidentally letting the secret hope slip. “That probably sounds stupid to you.” Her eyes darted around, looking everywhere but at Galahad.

“I do not think it a stupid hope.” Galahad’s words were soft as he drew closer, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She smiled as she breathed in his wintery scent. “Thank you.” She finally looked up at him. They stood still for a moment, his face so close she thought he might kiss her again. Her stomached flip-flopped, but she stepped back. “I need to finish getting ready,” she said, her voice breathy, and escaped back into her room, leaning against the now closed door.

14

Sparring with Arthur and Galahad is damn cool, much more than I ever imagined. Already I feel a connection with them. But I can’t help noticing the way they both watch Aliana. They’re different when she’s not around. Their sparring becomes more aggressive, like they’re trying to prove something between them. Is this what they were like in Camelot? I wish I had my memories of that time. Lance is pissed at Aliana about this party tonight, though I think he’s overreacting. But that’s typical Lancelot.
~Percy