Gwen

I promised myself I’d kill Lancelot if I ever saw him again. Now, here I stand, nerves fluttering in my belly as I face the one man who broke my heart and ruined me for anyone else.

He’s beautiful. The same face I dream of every night. A face I’d thought I’d never see again. Dark hair tousled and falling into his eyes, the thick strands curling around his ears, shaggy to the point of being too long. But it’s his eyes that take my breath away. The truest blue I’ve ever seen, Lancelot’s eyes tell the story of a man who lost everything. He never could keep me in the dark if he let me see those sky-blue irises for longer than a few seconds. Right now, I see a culmination of shock, anger, frustration, betrayal…and the pain of long weeks spent near death.

“Guinevere, what are you doing here?” His voice hits me like the strike of a whip. Painful. Terrible. Perfect. “Come to lead me to my downfall once more?”

Oh, if only he knew. I may be a witch, a siren cursed to die and be reborn for all eternity without ever finding true love, but I never ensnared him with my song. “Look, I don’t want to be here either, but I have to. You saw as well as I, Gabriel sent me.”

He cocks a rakish eyebrow. “As in, the archangel? What interest would he have in two adulterers?”

Fighting a sigh, I avoid eye contact with him and turn to leave. I can’t be here. Not with this man I’d spent reckless nights with hundreds of years ago. “Never mind. This is daft.” I reach for the doorknob. “I’m leaving. Try not to get yourself killed, will you?” My arm throbs, a deep burn taking hold.

Glancing down at my wrist, I gasp at the sight of three deep claw marks marring my once pristine skin. I’ve seen this injury before…on Lancelot only weeks ago. A slowly healing wound caused by the demon venom that nearly killed him.

Damn it all to hell. Gabriel hadn’t lied. I’m tied to Lancelot. What happens to him, happens to me. And that means I’m stuck here…with him.

My thoughts drift to my earlier conversation with Gabriel right before we left my sister’s wedding celebration. The archangel’s voice rings in my memory. “He knows nothing of this world, Gwen. He hasn’t been outside since he escaped purgatory and until he touched Excalibur, he didn’t even remember who he was.” I can’t leave. There’s more than just my life at stake if I do.

“Change your mind, my lady?” His words send a shiver of longing through me. I remember him whispering those words against the nape of my neck as we’d snuck off into the woods together for the first time.

“I don’t have a choice.”

He lets out a dark laugh. “Of course. If you did, you’d have chosen anything other than me. How fitting.”

There’s such bitterness in his tone, I almost ask what he means, but then I remember. For all his gallant airs, I know exactly who he is. The knight I sacrificed everything for. The knight who left me alone in the forest after promising me we’d be together forever.

“I’ve been tasked to help you…acclimate to this time,” I grumble, hating the fact that I’m connected in any way to him. I don’t understand why Gabriel would do this to me. I’ve fought the good fight, given my all to the side of the angels, and now I’m punished to live without magic, and most of all, to stare into the face of the man who’d been my downfall.

He frowns. “Why?”

“There’s too much to explain right now. All I know is you’re the key to getting my sisters and I our magic, at least, that’s what Gabriel says.”

The air around us shifts and I fight a sigh at the reappearance of Gabriel. His tall, broad form is encased in biker leathers, from his collar to his boots, but I catch sight of the paperback romance novel stashed in his pocket. He’s a closet romantic and he looks nothing like what I’d picture as the messenger of God.

“What do I say?” he asks, leaning against the breakfast bar.

“Come off it, angel. You know exactly what we were talking about. I bet you didn’t even really leave. I never knew angels were voyeurs.”

He sniffs. “We watch. It’s part of the job.”

Lancelot clears his throat and steps forward. “You. You were the one I saw in purgatory before.”

Gabriel frowns. “Hmm. But the real question is, how is it I didn’t see you? A living soul in purgatory doesn’t seem like something I would’ve missed.”

“I became quite adept at hiding in plain sight after I arrived.”

“You must have.”

I cross my arms over my chest and take a long breath. “All right, Gabriel. You’ve popped in and sufficiently broken up the tension in the room. Why are you back?”

The angel settles his big body on the cozy armchair and stretches his long legs out. “I’ve come to lay down some…rules for you two. I realized I hadn’t given you enough to keep you from ruining everything.”

“Rules?” I can’t help but bristle. I’ve spent far too long following rules that never worked to my benefit.

“Yes. Since you’ve got no magic, you can’t really protect Lancelot, but you can protect each other.”

No. I don’t want Lancelot looking after me in any way. He’s done enough damage to me. I open my mouth to protest, but Lancelot cuts me off.

“I owe her no fealty. She is no longer my queen, no longer my duty.”

Gabriel laughs and shakes his head. “She’ll always be yours.”

What does he mean by that? I’ll always be his, or his duty?

Lancelot scoffs. “She was never mine.”

“How true,” I say. “If only you’d been so honest the first time.”

Gabriel holds up his hands. “Now, now, children. Let’s not fight. Lancelot, you and Gwen have important roles to play and you can’t fulfill them without each other.”

“So, what are we supposed to do? How can we finish this and move on?” I ask.

“Lancelot must walk through his trials before he’s ready to do what he must to stop the apocalypse. I’m sorry. I can’t say any more.”

Right, there’s that. As if we didn’t have enough happening with our magic being stolen and in the hands of some unknown enemy. We have to deal with the beginning of the end.

“Of course, you bloody can’t. Typical angel.” I throw my hands into the air, desperate need to get away from all this clawing at my chest.

“I can’t tell you more because I’m not sure what awaits him. My Father has a plan and all I can do is deliver His message. Stay together. Stay safe. I’ll return with more information once Lancelot is strong enough to move forward.”

My ears pop and the hair on the back of my neck stands up as the air around me shifts. Gabriel is gone—again. Damn angels. They always pop in and out when they want and leave the rest of us to clean up their messes.

Taking a long breath, I raise my gaze to Lancelot’s, but hesitate, settling on his full lips instead. That was a mistake. I mutter to myself, “Come on, Gwen. Don’t be a coward. He’s just a man.”

If I had my magic, I’d throw a protection spell around him and leave, but I don’t. I’m basically human. My chest tightens at that thought. In all my many lifetimes I never thought I’d be…normal.

“What was that, my lady?” His warm velvet voice covers me like a favorite blanket on a chilly night. Comforting, just right, and everything I need.

I shake my head. “Nothing. It’s just…it would seem the two of us are linked. Gabriel shackled me to you…magically speaking.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t leave even though I desperately want to. When I said I was tasked to help you, I meant it. God has put us together. God, or Gabriel…that angel is a menace.”

He runs a hand through his hair and sighs, wincing with the movement. “He’s an angel. Don’t angels do good things, like save innocent people from imprisonment and death?”

I can’t help but laugh. “I see purgatory didn’t change your trusting nature.”

“Everyone deserves trust…until they break it.”

That burns. He’s the one who convinced me to leave Arthur, to run away and never return. Without a single declaration of love, he took my heart as his and he hasn’t given it back. “I broke nothing.” I sigh, collecting the pieces of my ruined heart that escaped the prison I’ve made in my chest. I’m stronger than this. I will not let Lancelot be the reason the world ends. “You and I are stuck together until Gabriel sees fit to remove his curse. So, I suggest you get over whatever grudge you hold against me as we get you used to the world you’re living in now. We have work to do.”

“Should we make the most of it?” A dark look takes me by surprise as he leans against the back of the sofa, his full lower lip between his teeth. “There’s no love lost between us, but if I recall, we were quite skilled at other things.”

A shiver rolls through me, anticipation, hunger, desire, all working against my iron will. I’ve spent centuries without him, lifetimes alone, never knowing the touch of a man, and now, with a lip bite and teasing words, he’s got me needy. “Your pretty face fooled me once, but I won’t be letting you seduce me again.”

He’s close enough to touch now, the heat of his body melding with my own. “Oh, my lady, are you so certain it was me who did the seducing?”

“Ye—” I stop myself before I give in and argue. “There’s no point in fighting over this. You and I were the worst mistake in history. Quite literally. I won’t have you in my bed again. Not now. Not ever. So, you can just take your handsome, dashing self and find another willing woman. I’m not an option.”

His eyes widen, but he smirks. “Always so easy to get a rise out of you. And your cheeks get so pink when you get angry. If I remember correctly, other parts of you are just as pink.”

I groan in frustration and toss my hands into the air. “You’re impossible.” I turn and head down the hall in search of a bedroom I can claim as mine. My face burns with embarrassment, but there’s an ember of arousal smoldering in me as well. This man knows my body better than any other. He was able to play it like a finely tuned instrument, bringing about the most earth-shattering experiences I’ve ever had. But he also broke me and left me a shell of the woman I wanted to be.

I peek my head into the first bedroom, a decent sized master with an attached bath. There’s no sign of anyone living here. The bed is pristine, drawers empty. Mine. If he doesn’t understand the value of a big ass bathroom, more’s the pity for him.

An ache builds in the center of my chest as the sound of his voice replays in my mind. I had never thought I’d hear the deep rumble of his words again. The ache grows into a heavy pressure and I can’t breathe. My pulse races and a wave of sickness washes over me. I think I’m dying. He’s killed me. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I dial Helena. Her face pops up on the screen before I realize I made a video call.

“Oh, dear God in Heaven, Gwen. What the bloody hell is wrong?” Her warm brown eyes are filled with concern.

“I…can’t…do…this,” I say between gasping breaths.

“What? Arthur? I know you said he killed you but is it really all that bad? I figured you two would just work together and move on.”

“It’s not Arthur.”

Her face pales. “What? I don’t understand. Is it a trick?” She glances over her shoulder and gestures wildly. My other sister’s face comes into view, her blond hair pulled to one side in a braid. “It’s not Arthur,” Helena tells her.

“What do you mean? It is. That’s…Tamiel said it was.” Izzy’s brow furrows. “Do you need us to come get you?”

My focus drifts to her round belly before I shake my head. “No. I…I can’t put you at risk.”

“Out with it, then,” she says. “You call up here looking like you’ve seen a ghost, I expect you to explain what’s got your knickers in a damned knot.”

“It’s Lancelot. The knight. He’s not Arthur. He’s the man I betrayed my husband with and the reason Arthur had to execute me.” It all comes out in a rush, and when I finish, they’re both staring at me.

“I…” Izzy starts, but she is clearly at a loss for words.

“Lancelot? Why would the angels put you two together? Your love brought down Camelot. You committed adultery, are one of the most famous stories of betrayal in the history of Britain.”

“Yes, thank you, Helena. I understand.” I don’t need a reminder.

She shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know why this is happening. He’s the one who’ll help us? Is Gabriel sure?”

“It seems that way. But I was so weak around Lancelot. He owned me. The man made me feel…everything all at once. I could’ve handled Arthur. We didn’t have passion or real romantic love. We were friends more than anything.” I twist my hair around my finger compulsively. “I don’t think I’ll be able to stand seeing Lancelot every day. Not after what he did. I’ll go mad.”

“What did he do?” Izzy asks, eyes bright with curiosity.

Helena elbows her in the arm and shoots her a withering glare. “Leave off her.”

“What? She never told us this bit. All we know is how she died and that most of the stories are true.”

“Haven’t you had some kind of vision to help gain insight into this?” Helena asks.

I shake my head. “Nothing. I haven’t seen since the moonstone went missing.”

Izzy’s expression changes from curious to alarmed. “Not even with the leaves?”

I shrug. “I haven’t tried tea leaves yet.”

“Wait, you must’ve. You told me you had a vision about my pregnancy.” Helena points to her still flat belly. “That was just today.”

“I had that vision before we lost you and got you back. Before Tamiel brought Lancelot back from purgatory.”

“So, our powers really are gone?” Izzy’s voice wobbles a bit on the last.

“It seems that way. I’ve only got the angelic grace Michael gave me. I can’t do any of my witch magic anymore,” Helena admits.

We sit in silence together and I miss them. I want to be with them, not trapped here with Lancelot. It’s in that moment, as I stare at their forlorn expressions, I understand I’ll have to get over my problems with my situation. “I’ll be fine. I’m a grown woman. Lancelot is the key to getting our magic back and I’m not going to let my issues with him stand in our way.”

“There she is,” Helena says. “That’s the fiery witch we’ve been missing. I thought you’d lost your spark.”

I shrug, not wanting to tell them how hard it’s been watching them both find their soul mates and fall in love, knowing that wasn’t going to happen for me. The man I loved betrayed me before I could utter the words. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I take a long breath. “Right, then. I’m off to save the world.”

“Call if you need anything,” Izzy says.

I nod and am about to hang up when I realize I’m here with absolutely no supplies. “Actually, can you lot send me some clothes? I can’t conjure anything.”

They both smile and make promises to overnight me a suitcase packed with supplies. I don’t think I’d be able to do this without them. They might not be my sisters by blood, but they are my family.

I have to do this, take on this task with Lancelot. If I don’t, my sisters and everything I hold dear will die.