In front of the castle, Macsen Rhys stood alongside Garrett Bloodnight. Vehicles were being loaded with luggage and supplies. Those evacuating the premises worked quietly and efficiently.

Macsen had known Garrett for a long time. Long had they trusted each other. Merlin’s chicanery now put that friendship to the most severe test.

Somewhere in the castle, Jon Merdwyn…or Merlin…waited. Garrett wasn’t in a particularly affable mood concerning the wizard. It was determined, therefore, that the enchanter of the ages should not be present while Garrett vacated his domicile. The last thing anyone needed was a full-blown battle between the owner of the estate and the Arthurian conjurer.

Mac, as all his friends called him, understood the reasons why Garrett was leaving.

In his zeal to keep secrets, Merlin had waited far too long to tell Garrett about his heritage. Angered beyond reason when he learned of it, Garrett had ordered his human staff back to the village. They were to wait there, until he returned to Bloodnight Castle. The clueless humans didn’t know what was going on, but they obeyed instructions with the promise of raises when they returned to their duties.

Since many of the staff didn’t know about Ethereals, or that a very real Arthurian-related battle was going to take place on this property, Garrett wouldn’t take chances with their safety. All immortal staff who now knew the circumstances were packing and readying themselves to go with Garrett—to Scotland. Jean Long was included in that group.

As Mac learned on his arrival, those who knew of Merlin’s secrets hadn’t approved of his keeping them. The immortals and a few Ethereals who knew of Merlin’s sinister confidences were just as angry about his having kept them as Garrett was. They’d long pestered the wizard to inform Garrett of the truth, but Merlin had put it off. Garrett’s leaving his home in a rage was the result. Included in the list of those to leave was Anna Gast—Merlin’s Ethereal sibling. Anna would be going to Scotland to help train Jean in the magical arts when Merlin had wanted that job for himself.

As the only real friend Garrett could trust, Mac was now on the premises to keep watch on the castle, and oversee any skeleton staff who’d feed and look after livestock during the daylight hours.

Garrett scowled before speaking. “I hate going, but he hasn’t left me with any choice.”

Mac knew that the he in question was Merlin.

“I don’t blame you for being so angry, Garrett. However, if I were in your place, I don’t know that I’d leave my home. I think I’d have just chucked him out.”

“No. I need to get Jean away from here. Our relationship is…well…it’s damned new. More to the point, she’s not ready to take on the kind of magic that’ll be used when Morgan shows up. Jean won’t be for some time. We can only hope it takes a while for our enemy to make her appearance.” Garrett shook his head. “Right now, I could easily boil Merlin in oil! Not only was I unaware of any such beings as Ethereals, I had no idea that an entire Arthurian legend was going to be dumped on my doorstep, and with such severe repercussions.”

“I’ll speak with Merlin about his penchant toward secrecy, Garrett. If it makes any difference, I’m with you.”

“If you are, then why didn’t you ever tell me Merlin existed, Mac? I called you the other night to come take care of the place. I called because I trusted you. I spilled my guts to you about Merlin because I knew you’d keep the conversation between us. Then, out of the blue, you reveal that you know about Merlin, and you know about all the crap having to do with Morgan LeFey.” Garrett snorted loudly. “It was at that point that I wasn’t sure who the hell I could trust. If you hadn’t been so honest in that conversation, I’d have been just as angry with you!”

“I’m sorry, Garrett, but—”

“What the hell is going on with POSI agents these days? Can’t anyone tell the damned truth anymore?”

“Garrett, I had no idea you’d ever need to know about Ethereals, Merlin, or about anything having to do with the existence of magic in the world. I had orders to treat those issues as top secret! When you told me what was happening…with Merlin being on the premises…I didn’t know, even then, that you were the descendant of Sir Galahad. After you called me, I called our resident wizard. I made him tell me the truth. That’s when I found out about your heritage. At any rate, there are hundreds of other immortals in the UK, and none of them know about Merlin or Ethereals, either. I’m not trying to make excuses. It’s just the way things are.”

“But, you’re a friend and knew about him!”

“Only because of how long I’ve been immortal. If it makes you feel any better, the old fart has kept secrets from me, too. I just told you. I didn’t know you were the direct descendant of Galahad.” Mac sighed heavily. “Yes, I knew about Merlin, and the whole Arthurian saga. I knew that someday Morgan would show up, wanting to get even with every immortal who’d ever tried to hunt her and her minions down. I didn’t know that the showdown would be here, on Bloodnight land. I swear to you, those are the facts. I’ll say it again… after your call, I made Merlin come clean about your part in this. I was in the dark as much as you were. About many things.”

Garrett regarded him keenly. “Mac…I’ve been used. How could all this have been kept from me for so long? And why?”

“The longer you know Merlin, you’ll discover that he never tells the entire truth to anyone. Not me. Not his sister. Not even the queen. He swears Her Majesty knows what he’s up to, but I’ve never been sure.”

“And you still work with the bastard?”

“As little as possible. Usually, I don’t have much of a choice. I don’t like his sinister games any more than you do. Sad to say, even some Americans know more about the man than some of our own agents.”

“What? Americans? What the hell do you mean?” Garrett demanded.

“Merlin has sent for some American. An immortal he worked with during WWII. Apparently, he’s told her everything. She knows about Ethereals. She knows about Morgan LeFey, and the coming battle…everything but your part in all of it. I don’t think she knows that, but…she might.”

“And how long has this Yank known more about Britain’s business than I have?” Garrett shouted.

“Apparently, she’d been informed around the late thirties.”

Garrett stood there staring, in shock. Anger was plastered all over his face, and Mac was sure he’d lose a friendship before all this was over. He continued to share information that might help placate Garrett’s feelings of situational impotence.

“On Merlin’s advice, Washington has had this woman locating magical objects for decades. I’m told she goes all over the globe seeking them. Seems she’s got skill that allows her to sense magic easier than other immortals. She’s been hunting down relics, hoping to keep them out of Morgan’s hands. It’s believed that Morgan will use talismans, amulets, and anything else she can get her hands on to syphon their powers for her own needs. Since Morgan is neither immortal or Ethereal, she needs those magical relics to keep herself going. She’s using very dark enchantment to exist at all.”

“Americans knew…before I did…” Garrett’s voice trailed away, then he let out a very long and loud string of unsavory curses. These echoed off the front of the entire castle.

Mac put up his hands in a placating gesture. “I know. I know. It’s maddening. Even the current administration in the White House is taking direction from Merlin. It seems that even they know more than most of our own agents. Merlin claims it’s vitally important to keep the Americans engaged in procedures; to keep Ethereals off any radar. I don’t need to remind you that one of those Ethereals is your Jean!”

Garrett curled his fingers into fists. Mac gave the man full credit for hanging onto whatever was left of his temper.

“Will you keep me apprised of everything, Mac? Can I trust in our friendship?” Garrett angrily asked. “Will you tell me what the flaming hell is going on when Merlin won’t?”

“I swear to you, Gart,” Mac confirmed while resorting to his friend’s nickname, “I won’t keep anything else from you. But guard everything you do, watch everyone around you. The more people who know about your ancestry, the more endangered you’ll become,” he advised. “By all accounts, Morgan LeFey is quite mad. It’s said that using dark arts has made her irrational. Vengeance governs everything she does. If she’d known who you were…if she’d somehow magically gleaned your heritage before now…she’d have been on your doorstep, killing anyone she could to get to you. As time goes on, she’ll only get worse in her single-minded determination. She will eventually learn about your ancestry. If you feel you need to get to Scotland so that Jean can be trained to handle what’s coming, then go. I won’t let Merlin pull any more stunts!”

“There’s another reason I’m going. If I’m not here when Morgan learns about my ancestor, she’ll have to search for me. That could buy us time, to get our agents in place to fight her.”

“Once she knows who you are, she’ll likely use magic to locate you in Scotland. You’ll need to get back to the castle as soon as you can or the battle you never wanted might take place in the middle of a lot of innocent people instead of in this remote place.”

“It seems that Her Majesty is in on these secrets. The queen will go down with the rest of us if the normal population finds out about Ethereals and that Morgan exists. Everything Morgan has done, has been blamed on human failing. Can you imagine the repercussions if the world learns otherwise?”

“Yes. I can. I repeat…that’s why you want that battle to take place here. By prophecy she’s supposed to start the last battle here. We need to end it here. You might not like Merlin’s chicanery. Neither do I. But, if these old hills saw the original battle for Britain, then this is where Morgan must meet her end. Thwart that magic and a lot of people could die who didn’t need to. At the first sign of any trouble, come home. If anything goes wrong here, I’ll contact you.”

“What about this American? What business does this particular person have with this situation?”

“I don’t know, but leave her to me. You have my solemn word that I’ll keep my eye on ‘er! And I’ll keep you informed,” he reiterated.

“Don’t let me down, Mac!”

“I won’t, Gart! I’m part of this now. And I always finish what I start.”