Demon Bound: The Camelot Archive - Book One

by R Taylor, Nicole

  “I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I’m real sorry, okay?”

  “Do you feel better?”

  “A little.”

  She stared at me, so I narrowed my eyes. “Anything else?”

  “Thompson said you’re excused from patrol tonight.”

  I shook my head. “You should have led with that.”

  “Are we good, I mean—”

  “Of course, we are,” I told her. “I know you’re only trying to help, but you’re just pressing the wrong buttons. I deal with things differently, that’s all.”

  How did I reconcile the fact that my mutation might be the source of all my issues? It was a cruel joke to say the least.

  Whatever this mutation was inside me, Ramona hadn’t detected it. No one had, even after it had been activated by those slimy ex-Camelot demons. I wondered what it meant. Was it just a natural evolution . . . or was it something more sinister?

  If it was active, would it grow? If it messed with my Light, I’d have a serious problem on my hands—one I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep secret for long.

  My problem was I had too many questions and not enough answers.

  “I just…I want to look to the future and do something I’d be proud of,” I confided. “I don’t want my past to be the only thing I’m remembered for.”

  Maybe Maisy could understand where I was coming from, being on her own redemption arc and everything.

  She looked at the staff in my hands and then at the training dummy. “Do you want some company?”

  I didn’t, but in the interest of rebelling against the status quo—the status quo being my internal friend—I nodded. “Sure. I won’t go easy on you, though.”

  She smiled, the uneasiness of our earlier conversation forgotten. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

  * * *

  “We have to cut it out of her.”

  My eyes cracked open and fluttered as they filled with bright, white light.

  “We can’t, Ramona,” someone said. “It could kill her.”

  “There’s no other way.”

  I jerked my arms but was met with resistance.

  “She’s waking up.” Scarlett?

  “We’re out of time,” Ramona exclaimed. “We have to do it now.”

  “No!” The sounds of a scuffle reverberated around me and I fought against the restraints. “I won’t let you take her!”

  My limbs felt heavy like they had sedated me. I was having trouble opening my eyes and confusion filled my mind.

  “Wait! Stop, I can explain…” I shouted, but my lips weren’t moving. “Scarlett! Help me!”

  Ramona’s face came into view above me. “Don’t worry, Madeleine. I’ll cut the demon out of you.”

  Stop… No… Don’t do this… Scarlett…

  Elijah, please…Elijah!

  “Madeline.”

  My eyes flew open and I reached for my cold iron dagger. Trent’s hand wrapped around my wrist and I gasped for air. “What…?”

  “You were screaming in your sleep,” he said as the barracks came into focus behind him.

  It seemed I’d woken everyone because they were standing around their beds, starting at me—annoyance, concern, anger…it was all there.

  Trent noticed the direction of my gaze and waved at them. “It’s okay, everyone,” he said, “it’s just the after-effects of her capture.”

  I shot him a withering glare and began to get dressed, wiping at the sweat across my brow. Shoving my feet into my trousers, I stood and pulled them up. I felt dizzy but nothing I couldn’t dampen with Light.

  “What are you doing?” he asked. “It’s two in the morning.”

  “I can’t stand it in here,” I hissed as I grabbed my jacket. “Did you see their faces when you said the word capture? It sounded more like collusion to them.”

  He wrapped his hand around my arm. “Madeleine…”

  I lowered my gaze, unsettled by my dream. “I just need to be alone for a while.”

  “You can’t go outside the boundary.”

  I rolled my eyes and snatched my arondight blade. “I’ll be fine.” I had a guardian demon after all.

  Outside, the camp was still. The low hum of the generators echoed off the stone walls, but nothing else stirred—apart from the bleeding effect of my hallucination.

  It’d been so real. Ramona had warned me, but I’d brushed it off. I could handle anything my mind threw at me—except maybe undergoing a live autopsy.

  I moved through the camp, the cool air soothing my flushed brow. The ground had turned into hard packed dirt from the hundreds of pairs of boots that had walked over it and I loathed to think what this place looked like after rain.

  Finally, I slipped past the watch on the walls, keeping to the shadows. It was easier than I had expected, but they were looking for things trying to get in, not out.

  I could breathe easier once I was outside the limits of Camelot. Climbing the hill, I kept an eye out for the patrols, but I’d seemed to have timed my wake-up call perfectly. I was alone…with about a trillion stars watching over me.

  I found a sheltered alcove in a rocky outcrop near the top of the rise and turned towards the valley. Celestial beings, demons from a parallel universe, humans turned supernatural, hidden worlds and ancient wars . . .. Our world was a strange one, that was for sure.

  Despite the bright moonlight, Camelot was a dark smudge on the landscape. I never cared what lay within the depths of the castle, but I wondered what it was like when it was intact and full of life. This was the pinnacle of our civilisation—if you could call it that—until everything had gone wrong. The fickle human heart had almost destroyed the entire world. Speaking of fickle…

  What was I going to do about Elijah? There was no cure for his mutation. Not one that I could see at least. Ramona had only stopped mine because it hadn’t completely taken over. Elijah’s had deep roots that’d likely fused with his humanity over the years.

  How could anyone be cured of something so parasitic and not die? I didn’t think it was possible. It’d only been one day, but Ramona had already given me the answer to his predicament. There was nothing I could do for him unless he wanted to come back to Camelot, but I knew he’d refuse.

  Looked like it was bad news for me. Would Elijah let me live now that I knew about him?

  “Back so soon?”

  I spun on my heel, my heart leaping into my throat as Elijah melted out of the darkness.

  “Don’t do that!” I hissed, keeping my voice low. Sound carried out here and the last thing I needed was to bump into a patrol.

  “You’re the one who called me.”

  “No, I didn’t…” I frowned, trying to recall the moment when I had summoned him, but came up empty.

  “You did. But it seems like you didn’t mean to.” He turned to walk away, but something made me grab his arm.

  “Elijah.”

  He glanced at my hand, then back over his shoulder at me. Heat swam into my cheeks and I let him go, turning back towards Camelot.

  I sat on the ledge and propped my feet up onto a rock. “It’s harder than I thought.”

  A ripple passed through my body as Elijah arranged himself next to me, our boots pressing against each other. I noted he was careful not to touch me anywhere that risked skin on skin contact, but at least he was sticking around.

  “Whatever those demons did to me, it woke up my residual mutation,” I said. “I’m aware of it now.”

  “So, in simple terms, it means you’re more of a raging bitch than usual?”

  I snorted and wrapped my arms around my knees. “If I didn’t have this stupid thing inside me, I would be well-adjusted. Wouldn’t that be a novelty?”

  Maybe I was asking myself the wrong questions. It should be more like how to get rid of it, rather than why it was there.

  We fell into a strange silence, the whispers carried on the wind our only company.

  After a moment, Elijah stirred. “Why are you here
?”

  “I couldn’t sleep. The…” I trailed off, not wanting to share my weakness with him.

  “Ah,” he murmured, “the echoes. They’ll pass.”

  I relaxed a little, knowing I had the human side of him with me. While he was amicable, I wondered if he’d reveal more about who he was, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so stupid about wanting to spend time with him—which was a betrayal to the Naturals.

  I studied his profile. “How old are you exactly?”

  “Twenty-eight human years,” he replied matter-of-factly.

  “I don’t believe you,” I scoffed.

  He smirked, his eyes shimmering silver in the moonlight. “If you want the answers you seek, then you have to ask the right questions.”

  Fine. “How long have you been twenty-eight?”

  “A lot longer than I should have.”

  “Now you’re deliberately evading the question.”

  His lips quirked and he turned to look at Camelot. I had to tell him the truth—and the perfect time was now, while his demon side was asleep.

  “Elijah…they never finished their research,” I told him. “There’s nothing I can give you.”

  His shoulders tensed.

  “It’ll take time and I’m not sure—”

  “I’ve got plenty of time,” he interrupted, jerking on the tether that bound us. “Keep trying. Your cure could be mine.”

  I grimaced as a strange pressure wrapped around my chest and squeezed. I imagined it was what a heart attack felt like.

  “You don’t have to hurt me,” I hissed and jerked away from him. “I would have helped you without all this binding shite.”

  “You forget what I am.” His tone had turned cold. His demon half had roused.

  “I forget nothing.”

  We were nose-to-nose, within an inch of something more intimate, yet we held steady. I was lost and he was…unknown.

  Elijah lowered his gaze before returning it to mine. “You close yourself off from others, yet you give everything to me—the enemy—without a second thought. Why is that?”

  I tensed, knowing I was playing with fire, but unable to stop myself. When I was with him, my pain went away.

  “I don’t know,” I murmured. “Maybe I am just a stupid little girl after all.”

  10

  I stood my ground as Thompson glared at me.

  The security tent was empty, but the sounds of base camp filtered through the thick canvas.

  “Leaving camp boundaries without permission is a punishable offence,” he barked. “And after your ordeal, it baffles me as to why you’d even want to.”

  I didn’t reply, though holding my tongue had become difficult.

  “I don’t know what to do with you, Madeline,” he said with an exasperated sigh. “You and I both know that this is your last chance. I don’t want to report you to the Regula, but you’re leaving me no choice. Haven’t you got anything to say for yourself?”

  The tent flap opened and Aiden strode in, followed by a gust of cool air. Saved by the younger brother.

  He looked at his brother, then at me. “I can’t say I’m surprised, but I spoke to Trent this morning. He said you woke up the entire barracks because of an echo.”

  I lowered my gaze, but not before catching Thompson’s glare.

  “Why didn’t you say?” he demanded.

  “Would it have changed your response?” I asked him.

  “There’s no need to report anything here.” Aiden stepped between us before Thompson could reply. “I think you’d benefit from helping us on the dig, Madeline. We are always in need extra hands.”

  I raised my eyebrows. First it was a demotion to running patrols, now it was down to digging through piles of dirt?

  “There’s increased demon activity around the perimeter,” I argued.

  “I informed the Regula of your findings,” Thompson said, “and they’re launching an investigation.”

  My eyes widened. “You spoke to Wilder?”

  “The Inquisitor ordered the scouting of Ben Nevis himself,” he told me.

  But they didn’t need me. Wilder hadn’t checked in either, which was another blow I hadn’t expected.

  “Given the circumstances, they’ve sent more experienced Naturals,” Aiden said. “We’d rather have you here, Madeline. You’ve been back for three days and Ramona was adamant about the echoes lasting for a week or more.”

  “We have removed you from active duty until further notice,” Thompson stated.

  “I feel fine,” I said. “I can’t be benched again. I—”

  “You’re not losing your status,” Aiden said. “You’ll be able to return to duty when you’re medically cleared.”

  “That’s an order.”

  I glanced at Thompson and nodded. “Understood.”

  “Dismissed.” He waved at his brother as if to say ‘good luck with that’. “Aiden, she’s all yours.”

  Outside, Aiden gestured for me to follow him and he led me though base camp towards Camelot. Another new assignment…

  I glowered, annoyed I wasn’t going to be part of the investigation of Ben Nevis, though I supposed my report had been enough. Elijah wouldn’t have been happy about me leaving Camelot anyway.

  “This isn’t a punishment, Madeleine,” Aiden explained. “This might be good for you.”

  Digging up broken and crusty pottery out of the ground would be good for me? What planet was he on?

  “I could help Ramona in the infirmary,” I offered, seeing a chance to get myself unbound from a certain demon-hybrid. “I don’t know anything about archeology.”

  “It’s easy when you know the basics,” he countered. “Besides, the infirmary doesn’t see much action. You’d just be sitting around all day.”

  I narrowed my eyes. There was plenty to do in the infirmary, but I couldn’t tell him that.

  “Try it,” Aiden told me. “At least until the echoes subside.”

  “Aren’t you afraid I’ll break something?”

  “Not at all. I’ll get you started on some basic stuff.”

  “Great.”

  “I have the perfect place you can start,” he said, ignoring my veiled sarcasm. “Follow me.”

  I cleared my mind as we walked, thinking over my situation.

  If I was going to have any chance of helping Elijah, I had to make good with everyone. Win some trust, then work my way into the infirmary and science labs and learn some basics so I could diagnose myself—all while trying to subdue my temperamental parasite.

  I knew some simple things about my original mutation from when I was sick, but I hadn’t paid a lot of attention. Those early days after Scarlett had saved my soul were a blur. Then I had to deal with the loss of my Light—the very thing that made me a Natural.

  Basically, I was starting from scratch.

  We passed through the limits of the outer city, decaying towers and parapets looming in the distance. This place must have been a marvel to look at, but now it was a shell crawling with excited archaeologists with little shovels.

  Even from this distance, I could see part of the castle was carved out of the cliff face, and the rest of the structure flowed down into the lower valley in formidable steps. I’d looked out over the city a few times now, but the lay of the land and the illusions hiding it from human eyes had concealed Camelot’s true size. Now that I could see it, I began to understand why everyone was so fascinated by its mysteries. There were so many hidden corners.

  “Impressive, isn’t it?” Aiden commented. “They must have used so much Light to conceal it. It’s like it exists in its own pocket of space beyond the outside world.”

  “Maybe the Druids and the Lady of the Lake helped make this place like Avalon…hidden in time.”

  “Perhaps. Though I wonder if it’s more likely there’s a power source.”

  I raised my eyebrows, never hearing about such a thing. “Like a battery?”

  “Who knows for sure? Whatever it is, it’s st
ill active.” Aiden shrugged. “Camelot is full of beauty and mystery. We’ve found everything from simple spoons, all the way to jewellery, elaborate mosaics, and painted murals. There are even some artefacts that have carried faint traces of Light.”

  I’d overheard some Naturals talk about the mosaic courtyard outside the main gates of the castle. Only a few had seen it, as it led to the ruined chasm opened by Arthur and Lancelot when they’d crossed their swords, Excalibur and Arondight.

  The entrance was set with intricate mosaic scenes of battles, knights on horseback, Druidic runes, the Pendragon crest, and the Lady of the Lake—or so I’d heard.

  “Do you think there’s anything demonic left?” I asked.

  “Not that we’ve found, but there is the possibility.” Aiden turned a corner, leading me down a narrow street. “It’s possible the Darkness was chased out when the Twin Flames closed the rift, but we can’t be too careful. We have protocols and failsafes in place to catch any traps that may have been left behind.”

  That was reassuring. I looked around at the street Aiden had led me down. The lower city pressed closer here. They had erected buildings in every available space, some with two and even three stories. How many Naturals had lived here? More than I could imagine…and they’d all been taken in the cataclysm. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but at least the war was over.

  For now.

  I swallowed hard as my mutation stirred. It felt like stomach acid and the metaphor wasn’t lost on me. I should own up to it, but—

  “Here we are,” Aiden declared. “Come and look.”

  I studied the building with an underwhelmed sigh. It sat on an open square surrounded by stone structures just like it. There was even a fountain in the middle with a statue that had crumbled away at the knees.

  “What is it?” I asked as I followed Aiden inside.

  It must have been a house or a hall at some point, but the roof was long gone. There was the triangular stone remains of the structure at both ends, and a large fireplace with its mantle missing. Like everything else around here, anything organic had rotted away.