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Castor was right. I should have spoken to Keely about this first. Fancy just blundering in and announcing it like it was a done deal!
Although… Itwasa done deal, wasn’t it? No matter what Keely thought, I knew the time had come. I had work to do, and for that I needed my magic.
But Keely’s face…
I headed upstairs with a heavy heart, and my footsteps slowed as I neared our bedroom. I steeled myself. The door was open, and I hated seeing Keely cry. Knowing I was the one who’d hurt her so badly made me feel like an absolute—
‘Ratbag!’
I ducked as our alarm clock went flying past my head and hit the landing with a thud. I wasn’t sure whether to feel sorry or relieved that she wasn’t crying. Far from it. She was standing by our bed, her face red with anger as she glared at me like she wanted to kill me.
Runa, who had been lying on the bed, gave me a disdainful look and leapt onto the carpet, slapping my leg indignantly with her tail as she stalked past me. She headed downstairs where Frey was lying low, having clearly decided he wasn’t going to get involved in any domestic incident.
‘Keely, I can explain.’
‘Can you? Go on then, genius. Explain how you thought it was a good idea to make such a massive decision about our future without so much as mentioning it to me first.’
I rubbed the back of my neck. Put like that…
‘I was talking to Hector and Emrick,’ I admitted woefully. ‘I guess I just got carried away.’
‘You reckon?’ She folded her arms. ‘So when’s it happening then? This stupendous event? When do I get to say goodbye to my boyfriend and hello to some stranger?’
I stared at her. ‘Is that what you think’s going to happen?’
‘Can you tell me it won’t?’ Her chin tilted defiantly but it was too late. I’d heard the wobble in her voice, seen the tears pricking her eyes. My heart sank.
‘Keely, you do know this has got to happen, no matter what the cost? We haven’t got a choice any longer.’
‘As soon as you reclaim your magic you’re a target,’ she said. ‘You know that, right? Our life together, such as it is now, will be over. You’ll forever be looking over your shoulder, worrying about the Pendragons.’
‘Which is why we have to finish them.’ I cautiously edged towards her, managing to sit on the edge of the bed without her throwing anything else at me.
‘Finish them?’ She shook her head. ‘Have you heard yourself? What’s happened to you? Lowen—my Lowen—would never talk about finishing people, like this was some Xbox game.’
‘I didn’t mean… Look, I meant finish the threat. I’m not— Hell, Keely, what do you want me to say? You knew this was coming. You’ve known since the moment I took Excalibur from the sea. This is my destiny. I have to stop the Pendragons before the other witches decide to take matters into their own hands, because if I don’t it will be all-out war. I can’t let that happen. You wouldn’t want me to! Would you?’
She hesitated, then sank onto the bed beside me. ‘Of course I wouldn’t.’
‘Well then,’ I said gently. ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘I want you to make it all go away,’ she said tearfully. ‘I want all this to never have happened. I want to wake up and find my boyfriend is Lowen Ericson, a pretty crap solicitor from Gerrenporth who nearly passes out when he hears the word witches.’
‘Don’t,’ I said, embarrassed. ‘What an idiot I was.’
‘I loved that idiot,’ she said indignantly. ‘I loved how innocent and afraid you were. I wish you were still that innocent.’
‘If it helps,’ I said, nudging her, ‘I’m still afraid.’
She sighed then took my hand. ‘Are you?’
‘I’m petrified,’ I said, surprised. ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t know that. I’m not that good an actor, surely?’
‘You’ve changed a lot lately,’ she said. ‘There’s something about you. You seem more determined, somehow, and you’ve taken on the responsibility for us all. Look how you stood up in the chapel earlier. The old Lowen could never have done that.’
‘It’s my job to do that,’ I reminded her. ‘Peacekeeping is what I was born for.’
‘Ironic, considering you’ve just been talking about finishing the Pendragons.’
