Part 23 (1/2)
She nodded. ”Yes. It was enchanted by Nivaine, Merlin's apprentice and the object of his desire. He taught her all his secrets and she betrayed him by using his power against him.”
”What happened to the sword?” Trevor asked.
”No one knows. In some versions it was given to the Lady of the Lake, another says the blade shattered after it pierced Merlin's body and the pieces were scattered all over the world.”
”Do you think there are pieces of it around still?” I picked up the cookie and shoved the entire thing into my mouth.
Morgana leaned back in her chair regarding us strangely. ”You do realize that these are just stories? Myths. They aren't real. They are basically allegories about the state of society at the time.”
I nodded. ”Of course. It's just the way you tell it, it seems so real.”
That seemed to please her and she went back to smiling pleasantly. ”Anything else, dears? I have another appointment soon.”
”Just one more thing.” I slid Trevor's phone across the table. ”Do you recognize any of these symbols?”
She took the phone and looked at the first sigil, which was the triskele. ”Yes, that's the Celtic symbol for the three worlds, the triumvirate if you like, or the holy trinity.” She flicked through the others and her brow wrinkled as she narrowed her eyes. She glanced up at us. ”Where did you get these?”
”Do you recognize something?”
She turned the phone around to show me one picture on the screen. ”This is a very old marking. It's the only symbol that was ever found that pointed to the slight possibility that Merlin was in fact a real person. It's Druidic and means Satansp.a.w.n. Merlin Satansp.a.w.n was one of many names attributed to him.”
Trevor and I shared a look. He knew exactly what I did. That Merlin had been real and Thane was his descendant.
”Now, can you tell me where you got these pictures?”
I took the phone and handed it back to Trevor. We both stood. ”Thank you for your time, Ms. Morgana. Our paper is going to rock.”
As we walked past her chair, she reached out and touched my hand. The contact was brief but it was obviously enough for her to figure some s.h.i.+t out. The first being we were lying to her, and the second that we weren't one hundred perfect human.
She s.n.a.t.c.hed her hand back and cradled it as if she'd been burnt. Her eyes were wide, maybe a bit frightened, definitely shocked, when she met my gaze. ”Be careful, Shadowrider. He can still hurt you.”
”Who?” I demanded. ”Who can hurt me?”
She shook her head. ”I can't see his face, but he's there waiting for you in the shadows.”
”Oh great, thanks.”
Her words threw me for a loop and Trevor had to steer me out of her house and back onto the street.
”What the h.e.l.l was that about?” he asked as we walked.
I shook my head, still a bit shaken by her vision. ”She must've sensed I wasn't fully human.”
”She was a bit of a freakshow.”
If I hadn't been too freaked out, I might've laughed at that. Trevor calling her a freakshow when either one of us would have fit right nicely into a traveling carnival with bearded ladies and lizard men.
”Do you think she was talking about Thane? About him hurting me?”
Trevor grabbed my hand in his. ”I won't let him hurt you anymore.”
I nodded, and we continued to walk in silence for a few blocks to catch the trolley back to the hotel. I was still absorbing everything Morgana had told us. I was more than certain that we had the answer to our problem. Just not how to put it all together.
”You think there's a piece of the sword in that box, don't you?”
I looked at him. ”Don't you?”
”I still don't know what to think.
”Merlin's symbol is on that box. It can't be a coincidence.”
He nodded. ”How do we get the box and open it?”
”One of us has to sneak into his room and take it.”
He sighed, scrubbing at the stubble peppering his chin. ”They have one last gig tonight.”
”Good, then while you're at the club, I'll slide through the shadow-way to Thane's room and open the box and take whatever's inside and be back all before they get off stage.”
”And if there is a piece of that sword inside?”
”Then we stab them in their sleep.”
He halted and turned me toward him. ”I won't let you do that Salem. I'll do it. I don't want you to have to live with something like that.”
I squeezed his hand, and then pulled him into a hug. ”It's going to work. It has to.”
He sought my mouth and kissed me. It was soft and gentle and made my knees weak. He kissed me again, then rested his forehead against mine. ”You're one of a kind, Salem.”
”So are you.”
We started walking again, hand in hand. Before we got to the trolley stop, Trevor tugged me a stop.
”I don't want to go back yet. Let's go do something fun.”
”Like what?”
”I don't know. Let's go be tourists for a few hours.”