Avalon Read online

  "So, I gather you didn't bring me out here for the view." I shook the thermos from side to side and took another sip.

  "I need to know more about The Pieces of Three." She looked at me and I could see the battle waging inside her cerulean eyes. I had to take advantage of this moment and get her on my side without giving her too much information.

  "So you believe me then, about Aiden looking for them."

  "I didn't say that." She held up her hand, glaring at me defensively.

  "What do you want to know?" I asked, and turned to face her. My foot sank further into the sand, filling my shoe with a thousand tiny pebbles.

  "Why might someone be looking for them?" she asked. She twisted the ring on her pinky finger and kept her eyes on the ocean.

  "You mean, why would Aiden be looking for them?" I corrected her and narrowed my gaze on her profile.

  She shifted uncomfortably and crossed her arms.

  I sighed, hoping my calm demeanor and sincere concern would convince her to trust me. "You need The Pieces of Three to wake The Lady. It's the only way." The wind picked up and thunder rumbled overhead as if Mother Nature disapproved of me telling Lila anything about The Lady.

  "But I thought Violet was supposed to be the key to waking her. What do The Pieces of Three have anything to do with it?" Lila asked, refusing to remove her eyes from the water.

  "Lila, you've got to be straight with me." I grabbed her arm and turned her to face me. "Did you find something?"

  Her eyes widened like a deer in headlights and her lips parted. "I think you may have been right about my father searching for them." She looked away, ashamed. "But it doesn't make any sense. He's always said that waking The Lady was the worst thing that could happen to the Magical world and that's why he wants Violet dead."

  "Or maybe he just doesn't want anyone challenging him. Aiden isn't who you think he is," I said with as much sympathy in my voice as I could conjure.

  "But if that's true..." she uttered, trailing off as her eyes searched mine for comfort, but I had none to give.

  I hardened my face to show exactly how serious things were. "Then that means you tried to kill an innocent woman." I held her gaze. Though part of me wanted to make her pay for what she'd done to Violet, I knew deep down she had no idea what she was doing. Lila was just another victim in Aiden's search for power.

  "You don't understand. I had to," she pleaded. "Violet, she's going to bring destruction down on our heads. I didn't have any other choice."

  "You always have a choice, Lila," I said. "There was a time when you knew that." I took a step away from her as I watched her world crumble.

  "I did what I thought was right - you can't fault me for that." She gazed up at me, the fervent look of realization in her eyes.

  "How is killing anyone the right thing to do?"

  "You're telling me you wouldn't do what you had to in order to protect your family, your way of life?"

  "That's not the point. Violet never did anything wrong, she never hurt anyone. She's been hunted since the day she was born because her destiny is to wake The Lady." A drop of rain landed on the tip of my nose.

  "But she'll hurt people," Lila insisted, finding her conviction again. "Including your family." Her voice was cold and hard as the coming rain.

  "No, she won't. That's not who she is."

  "You always did love blindly." Lila let out a sarcastic laugh.

  I didn't dignify her outburst with a response.

  "You know, Robert," she said, closing the gap between us. "You think I'm naive, but the only reason you're defending her is because you let your feelings get in the way."

  "That's not true," I replied. Another drop of rain landed on my cheek. The sky was about to open up on us and I really didn't want to get caught in the storm.

  "Isn't it? You can't see anything objectively." She threw her hands into the air in exasperation.

  "What I may or may not feel toward Violet doesn't change the fact that you've hurt people. And I don't know about you, but the good guys don't commit murder just because they're told to." I turned around and walked back toward the tree line, pushing through the damp sand.

  "Is this really why you brought me out here? To talk about my feelings for Violet?" I called back, pausing to turn around and face her.

  She sighed. "No. I just don't know what to do anymore."

  "Well, for starters, you need to stop listening to that Ian guy. He's certifiable." I had to yell over the din of the waves and the slow drizzle of rain.

  Lila rolled her eyes and said, "He's not so bad."

  "Are you kidding me?" I balked, strolling back to her so I didn't have to shout. "He's one screw loose away from the whole house falling down."

  "Don't be dramatic." She rolled her eyes.

  "Lila, you need to start thinking for yourself and stop listening to everything daddy dearest tells you." I ran my hand through my damp hair, my patience for decorum running thin.

  "You don't understand. He's the only real family I have left."

  I thought about what Clara said about Lila being lonely. "You're right, I don't understand. But that doesn't mean you have a free pass." I took a step toward Lila and steeled myself for what had to be done. "You have to know there are other people in this world who care about you," I said, and placed my hand on her shoulder.

  "Don't bullshit me, Robert," Lila scolded, swatting my hand away.

  "You're not one of his minions, Lila. You deserve better than that." I wore my emotions on my sleeve, desperately trying to push her in the right direction.

  "You're right. I'm not one of his minions, I'm his daughter." She shook her head and crossed her arms. "He wouldn't lie to me."

  "Just like he didn't lie to you about your mother?" My eyebrows rose and I took a cautious step closer. This was dangerous territory. The loss of Lila's mother had nearly destroyed her and I knew this could either go well or horribly bad. But I needed to get her to separate herself from her father.

  "He kept the truth from me to protect me," she insisted, glaring at me out of the corner of her eye.

  "Is that what he told you?" A sarcastic laugh escaped my throat.

  "You think everything is a game don't you?" She turned on me, fists forming at her sides. "I didn't bring you out here so you could play mind games with me."

  "Alright." I held up my hands in surrender and took a sip of coffee.

  "Now tell me what you know about The Pieces of Three."

  Realizing it was time to back off, I answered her question. "Violet needs them in order to wake The Lady. Somehow, she has the ability to activate them and bring The Lady out of her slumber," I explained.

  "So if my father can get to them before Violet can, she won't be able to wake The Lady," she said, connecting the dots.

  "Right. And I can't let that happen." Thunder roared above us again and the rain picked up, falling at a steady pace and soaking my blood-stained shirt.

  "How can you be so sure you're on the right side? We both know The Lady is too powerful for this world. Waking her can only cause destruction."

  "And what do you think Morgana will do?" I reached out to her and lightly placed my hand on her arm.

  "Morgana is a force to be reckoned with, I'll give you that. But the only thing she's ever wanted is freedom for the Magical world. How can you be against that?" She didn't turn away from my touch this time but placed her hand on mine. I saw a spark flash across her eyes. She wanted me to understand her side and give her clemency for her sins.

  "You're being selective with your history, Lila," I said and let go of her. "Yes, Morgana wanted to be able to practice Magic without the fear of prosecution or exploitation. But she also wanted to gain that freedom by commanding an army whose sole purpose was to destroy all Non-Magical people. Can you really get behind the slaughtering of millions?"

  She hesitated a moment and it shocked me. Maybe the girl I was trying to reach was gone. Aiden had really gotten his claws into her this time if she
could justify the deaths of an untold number of innocents.

  She shrugged and finally said, "No, of course I don't want to see the world's Non-Magical population destroyed. And that's exactly why I went after Violet when my father asked. You're being selective with your history too. The Lady vowed to never help the Magical world again, she swore to destroy us all if we ever woke her. What would you do in my position?"

  "Lila, I'm in your position right now. You tried to kill the woman I'm trying to protect. I could easily kill you right here and justify it with your logic." I closed the gap between us and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward me. My emotions were getting the better of me again and I had to clamp my hand shut to keep from squeezing her neck.

  "Go ahead, do it then." She pushed herself against my chest and gave me a defiant glare, her chin jutting out, daring me to harm her.

  Magic crackled at my fingertips as Clara's words echoed in my mind. If you plan on getting out of here alive, you can't let your emotions control you.

  I released her then turned on my heels and walked back the way we'd come.

  "Where do you think you're going?" Lila called after me.

  "Back to my cell," I yelled over my shoulder, seething. "I'd rather be locked up without Magic than be out here with you."

  How on earth am I supposed to rationalize with a twisted mind like hers? I thought as lightning split the sky in two and a deafening roar crawled across the clouds. The rain started to come down in sheets as I made it under the cover of the trees. Stopping a moment to take a deep breath, my hands shook with anger. The need to unleash my Magic filled me with anxious energy.

  Magic coiled around my hand and I threw a burst of Arcane energy at the nearest tree. Bark exploded around me and a hole the size of a pumpkin sizzled in the center of the trunk.

  "You always did have a temper," Lila said, coming up behind me.

  "Only when I'm forced to deal with someone who's acting irrationally," I noted. I kept my eyes straight ahead as we moved through the trees back to my cell without a word.

  Hopefully I'd laid enough doubt in her mind because I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. It was time to start coming up with a plan B in case this all backfired. I thought I could reach Lila and get her on my side, but the years we'd spent apart had allowed her to form an unhealthy attachment to a psychopath. A small pang of guilt pierced my chest. Maybe if I'd handled things differently she wouldn't have felt the need to crawl back to Aiden.

  As I stepped into the cell I took one last sip of my coffee and handed the thermos back to Lila. She slammed the bars closed behind her. With the force field back in place, my Magic leeched out of me and I was left feeling defeated.

  At this rate, I was never going to get back to Violet.

  Day 7

  Days passed since Lila and I spoke on the beach and neither Ian nor Lila paid me a visit. The only company I had was Clara, who was summoned from her cell a few times, and the guards who delivered my food. Aimlessly, I watched the sunlight move across the floor and fade into darkness each day. I was starting to go mad. My brief and infrequent conversations with Clara were the only things keeping my mind in touch with reality. Maybe I deserved to be locked up and punished for what I'd let happen to Violet. Thinking of her filled my heart with a longing that was almost unbearable. I knew she was safe and alive, but knowing and actually seeing her face, her smile... were two different things. I needed to get out of here.

  My prison door slid open with a loud clang. Startled, I looked up from where I sat on the bed.

  "Aiden wishes to speak with you," Ian said. His voice was stern and he didn't seem too pleased to be fetching me.

  "Well Ian, I hate to break it to you but I really don't care what Aiden wishes," I replied and shrugged my shoulders.

  "Get up, Healer." He took a step toward me as if he was about to beat me out of my cage.

  I cocked my head to the side and glared at him. "I have a name you know."

  "I said let's go." He closed the distance between us and grabbed me by the arm.

  I stood but refused to move forward. I was in no rush to get to Aiden and as an added bonus I enjoyed pushing Ian's buttons. This probably wasn't a good idea, but I'd been light on entertainment for the last couple days and wasn't in the best head-space.

  "You think this is a game?" He dropped his hand from my arm and squared himself in front of me.

  "Everything's a game and we're all just pawns being moved around a board. Or haven't you learned that yet?" I took a step around him and walked out of my cell.

  "Well don't just stand there," I said, looking over my shoulder. My Magic rushed back with a force that almost knocked me off my feet.

  His head twitched to the side as he walked past me and unlocked the cell holding Clara. "You too witch," he demanded.

  "Leave her alone." I stepped in front of him and pushed Ian away from the bars.

  "I have my orders and so do you. Now move." He shoved me forward and pulled Clara's frail body from her cell.

  I was in a testy mood, but I wasn't stupid, so I complied, putting one foot in front of the other up the stairs. The double doors opened and I had to shield my eyes from the blinding light. Ian shoved me forward and a pair of thick-muscled arms caught me. The guard grabbed my wrists and pulled my arms around my back to slap a pair of cuffs on me. My Magic drained out of my body as if I was a battery with a leak.

  Damn, that was short-lived, I thought. A guard stood on either side of me, guiding me out onto the lawn. Another guard stood next to Clara and helped her walk toward the house. Odd, they didn't lock her wrists up.

  We shuffled through the wet grass up to the estate. The front doors were already open as we walked toward them and everything was eerily quiet, no wind, no birds, just silence.

  Clara and her guard made their way through the front door first and we followed along behind. Just past the foyer, we turned left into a great room. Several people were already in attendance. Lila stood to the right of a large, white marble fireplace and kept her eyes averted as I walked in.

  Aiden was sitting in a leather chair adjacent to the fireplace, speaking in hushed tones with a beautiful woman. Her red curly hair was at odds with her caramel complexion and she was oddly intimidating for someone with such a small frame. She knelt next to him and her eyes searched our faces as we came to a stop at the edge of the red, Persian rug. She wore a blue power suit that had the same symbol I'd seen on dozens of bodies on the collar of her blazer. Somehow, she was connected to all of the ritualistic murders, and just like I thought, Aiden must have been behind all of it.

  Ian joined Lila where she stood and nodded to the guard holding Clara. The woman speaking with Aiden stood up and Aiden finally cast his sight in our direction.

  Clara stepped forward and her guard backed away, moving toward the built-in bookshelf opposite Aiden. She took a slow step forward, and then another. I hadn't realized she was in such a bad physical condition. I could have tried to heal her. Granted, my Magic was being hindered, but all it would take was one touch while I had my Magic and I could help her.

  Slowly, she dropped to the dark hardwood floor and sat on her knees in front of Aiden, "You summoned me?" she asked, keeping her eyes on Aiden's black polished shoes.

  "The Waker lives," the family patriarch began without preamble, "but, I was told that the spell wouldn't fail. Explain." He laced his fingers together and gave Clara a pointed look.

  "It didn't fail." Clara paused as if considering her next words carefully, "It was never completed."

  "What do you mean never completed?" Aiden leaned forward, narrowing his eyes.

  Lila and Ian shared a concerned look.

  "The spell didn't work because it was never completed," Clara repeated.

  Aiden shot a glance in my direction.

  "She's lying," Lila burst out, and Ian reached for her.

  "Forgive me, Lila, but I believe it was you who told me Violet was dead. I'd think twice before you start
throwing around the word liar," Aiden warned.

  "Father, I'm telling you the truth. I did the spell exactly the same as the rest." She stepped forward, her boots echoing across the hardwood as a few guards blocked her path.

  Aiden raised his hand and the guards stepped back into place. "So then what went wrong?" Aiden directed the question to the Soothsayer.

  "Like I said, the spell wasn't completed," Clara said.

  "Is there something you're not telling me, Soothsayer?" Aiden reached his hand out and lifted her chin so Clara was looking him in the eye.

  "Of course not." She held his gaze.

  He released her chin and I exhaled. I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath.

  "And what of our other plans?" Aiden inquired as he sat back in the plump armchair and crossed his legs.

  "Since Violet survived, you'll still need one more sacrifice, and then she will return to this world," Clara answered.

  "The healer will serve as the last sacrifice," Aiden said with a casual wave of his hand.

  "Sacrifice? What's she talking about?" Lila asked, and looked between Ian and Aiden.

  Aiden let out a sigh. "Must you keep interrupting?" He glared at Lila and she recoiled.

  "I have the right to know."

  "Lila, stop," Ian said under his breath as he tried to restrain her. He gave me a look of pure hatred and I smiled in return.

  "You have the right to nothing," Aiden stated. He stood and moved toward Lila, agitation flashing in his uncaring eyes. "You are to follow my orders without question. Are we clear?"

  A moment passed where father and daughter stared at each other. A chill ran up my spine as the rest of the room dropped into a tense silence. Ian was the only person who moved a muscle. He reached a hand around the crook of Lila's arm in an attempt to rein her in, but she threw him off.

  "I'm your daughter," Lila said, holding her ground and not turning away from her father. "Not one of your minions to be ordered around." She motioned toward the guards in the room.