“That’s true… Just be careful, okay?”
“I will,” she said. “Thanks, Autumn.”
“No problem.”
So maybe it was possible to go from enemies to besties.
The dance to which they’d been invited took place in the center of Onyx Forest and it was nothing like the dances Autumn had been to in Arbor Falls. Elves liked to play and listen to soft, ethereal music made for ballroom dancing. Warlocks, on the other hand, liked to listen to what Autumn would call club music—similar to Hip Hop and R&B, or something with a lot of bass.
“This is what I’m talking about!” Luke exclaimed as they approached the middle of town. The sun had long since set and flashing colors of light illuminated the town square, which had been turned into an enormous dance floor.
“Hey, you guys made it!” Tara said, jogging up to them. She was all sparkles and glitter, the flashing lights bouncing off of her outfit like a disco ball.
“Swift dress,” Crystal shouted over the blaring music.
“Thanks!” Tara exclaimed, laughing. A song that sounded reminiscent of a Britney Spears club hit came on. “Ahhh! This is my song!” she squealed, grabbing Desireé and pulling her onto the dance floor.
“Why is everyone standing around?” Willow called out to the others. “Let’s dance!”
The rest of the Warriors followed her lead and moved onto the dance floor. The couples immediately broke away from the group, Eden and Lucian, Charlotte and Jastin, Crystal and Edric, Autumn and Avery. Willow and Forrest could even be spotted disappearing together into the writhing bodies of warlocks. Autumn narrowed her eyes as she saw Kyndel and Ember dancing together.
Then everything around her fell away when she turned to look into Avery’s eyes. He looked down at her with a lopsided smile. The ground vibrated beneath their feet and the colorful illuminations turned into flashing strobe lights. Avery placed his hands high on her back and slowly moved them down, pulling her to him. She ran her hands up his strong arms, corded with muscle, and down to rest on his chest.
The gravitational pull kicked into high gear and suddenly she couldn’t be close enough to Avery. She moved her hands up to his shoulders, clawing into his skin, but he didn’t seem to mind. He bit his lip, staring down at her with hungry eyes. Their lips met and Autumn’s heart rate doubled, pulsing hot blood through her, making her tingle.
“I want you,” she breathed.
“You have me.”
“No…” She held his eyes, silently communicating what she wanted.
He looked at her for a moment and then pulled her slowly off the dance floor. Once they had passed a clump of pine trees Autumn ripped off Avery’s shirt, kissing a trail down his chest as they moved. He pressed her up against a nearby rock and ran his mouth over the contours of her neck and collarbone, making her shiver. Autumn pulled her own shirt over her head and tossed it aside. He looked down at her, drinking her in.
Just as Autumn was reaching down to unfasten Avery’s pants their ears were met with the sound of giggling and heavy breathing, and then they were no longer alone. Kyndel was pulling Ember through the exact same spot Avery and Autumn had just entered. Autumn cursed under her breath and looked from Avery, to their discarded clothing, to Kyndel and Ember, who were now locked in a passionate embrace.
Avery stared at them with wide eyes and an open mouth, his hands still resting lightly on Autumn’s hips. She cleared her throat. Kyndel and Ember broke apart, whipping around to face them. Kyndel gasped and turned a deep shade of red. Ember glared at Avery and Autumn as if they were the ones who had been interrupted. Avery was still frozen in place. Autumn remembered that she was topless and quickly grabbed her shirt, pulling it back over her head.
The elated, aroused feelings she’d had before had now been replaced with horror and embarrassment.
The four of them stood in silence for some time before Autumn said to Kyndel, “Uh, so I guess we should probably explain things to Avery now.”
He turned to face Autumn with a quizzical expression. Kyndel folded her arms across her chest and Ember frowned, hiking her hands on her hips.
“Why should we tell him anything?” Ember demanded.
“Probably because he just saw you two kissing,” Autumn said sardonically. Kyndel looked miserable and embarrassed and Autumn moved to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Kyn, he won’t tell anyone. I promise.”
Avery looked even more confused at the way Autumn had just interacted with Kyndel, as if they were friends or something.
Kyndel nodded and sighed as she looked up at Avery. “I like girls.”
“Wow. I, uh—I had no idea,” he said, looking just as embarrassed as she was. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“And have everyone look at me like a freak?” Kyndel said, her voice wavering.
“No one would think that,” he said sincerely. “You deserve to have people standing behind you and supporting you. The Warriors are your family, Kyndel. We would never look at you like you were a freak.”
Kyndel had tears sparkling in her eyes, but she was smiling.
“No,” Ember said to Kyndel. “We aren’t telling the other Warriors. They won’t understand. It’s bad enough that these two know.”
Autumn glared at her. “Excuse me, but Kyndel chose to tell me. Just because you want to keep your feelings all locked up inside doesn’t mean she should too.”
“Who are they to me?” Ember snapped. “They aren’t my friends. They could care less about me. Why should I tell them anything?”
“Because maybe then they would care about you. No one knows anything about you because you made it that way. Meanwhile, all of the pain you’re feeling—all of your secrets—are eating away at you inside. Trust me, I know what it feels like to be consumed by secrets.”
All too well.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s so hard to be a perfect little princess,” Ember scoffed. “You have to keep all those royal secrets. How horrible that must be!”
“You don’t know the first thing about me,” Autumn said, her voice shaking with anger.
Avery stepped in. “Autumn—”
“Why not, Princess?” Ember sneered. “I thought you told everyone everything. The Warriors are your family, right? Have you told them everything about you?”
“Ember—” Kyndel warned.
“You may fool everyone else, but you don’t fool me,” Ember continued. “You go around and try to put out everyone else’s fires, try to fix everyone else’s problems, but why? Because you don’t feel like dealing with your own? Because it helps you sleep at night? How many people have you actually succeeded in helping, huh? Because it looks to me like you’ve just made everything worse.”
Kyndel grabbed her arm. “EMBER.”
Ember yanked her arm free, her burning coal eyes still locked on Autumn. “Remind me who your last charity case was? Oh, yeah. Victor Vaun.”
“Stop,” Autumn said through gritted teeth.
“You did an excellent job helping him, didn’t you? Giving him all of our secrets so he could go and tell his sister. Who did that help? Surely not Cera Tillman—”
Autumn hurled forward and punched her hard in the jaw and then stormed away before she did anything worse. Avery and Kyndel called after her, but she ignored them.
She walked aimlessly through the paths between the warlock cabins, trying to even out her breathing and hold back the angry tears that were threatening to break her. Then she heard the voices.
“Here are the orders Mr. Remington sent,” a familiar voice said.
“Ah, yes. Thank you, Mr. Lavigne.”
Autumn stopped dead in her tracks. Did they just say Lavigne? Autumn tiptoed behind a nearby cabin and peered around the corner. She saw a warlock shaking hands with Rion.
Rion Lavigne.
He turned to leave, his emerald eyes shining in the moonlight.
The Secret of the Warlock
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A
utumn’s heart pounded, all of her angry feelings towards Ember forgotten. The emerald eyes may have been coincidence, but the surname Lavigne too? She didn’t think so.
She followed Rion—or whoever he was—down a deserted pathway, unpleasantly reminded of last night’s unsettling dream. When she was positive they were completely alone she revealed her presence.
“Hey, Lavigne!” Autumn called.
Rion turned around with raised eyebrows. She could see his shining green eyes from where she stood, even though he was ten feet in front of her.
“Yes?”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out who you were?” she said, storming up to him.
“Sorry?” He looked around apprehensively to see if anyone was listening.
“Interesting eye color you’ve got there,” she continued. He glanced away from her. “Almost one of a kind, you might say.”
“I really must be go—”
“You’re not going anywhere, Victor,” Autumn growled, readying herself for an attack.
Rather than running or attacking he merely sighed in defeat. “Follow me,” he said, entering a nearby cabin. Autumn quirked an eyebrow at this. That wasn’t exactly what she had been expecting, but what did she really know about Victor anyway?
Against her better judgment, she followed him into the cabin. Rion—or Victor—moved to a nearby chair and waved a hand towards its mate. “Please, sit.”
Autumn remained standing, watching him with narrowed eyes. “Listen, Victor. If you honestly—”
“I am not Victor.”
“Don’t lie to me. I spent months staring at those insanely green eyes. You can’t hide who you are from me.”
“I’m not Victor.” He sighed. “I’m his father.”
Autumn froze, her mouth falling open. “What?”
“I said I’m his—”
“I heard you. But how is that possible? Vyra killed you—him—their father.”
“Indeed she did kill her father, Vex Vaun. But Vex was not, however, Victor’s father,” Rion said.
“But then—”
“Please sit,” he repeated. Autumn hesitated. “I’m not going to hex you, I promise.”
Autumn looked from Rion, to the empty chair, and back. She knew she probably shouldn’t, but she did as he said, sitting gingerly on the edge of the armchair facing him. A fire crackled in the hearth and Rion’s eyes ventured to the flames licking the air. With the fire reflecting in his eyes, they actually looked like real emerald stones as gleams of light danced on their shining surface. They were glazed over, unfocused, and Autumn could tell that his thoughts were far from the present.
“Her name was Elizabeth,” he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “And I’d been separated from the rest of the Warlock Army. The Shadow came out of nowhere. I managed to kill it, but it was too quick and I’d already lost a lot of blood. I was fading fast. My vision was blacking out, my body was going numb—and then she came, right before I passed out. When I awoke, the first thing I saw was her. A sheet of black hair framed her face and those blue eyes, the color of sea glass. She was exquisite. I thought she had to be an angel, something not of this universe. Then I saw her ears. She was an elf. But she’d Healed me. She’d saved my life.
“Back then, warlocks were not only forbidden to procreate with another magical creature, but they were forbidden to speak with them. Only the Chief Warlock was allowed to communicate with them, and even then, only through their leaders. But here I found myself thanking the elf woman who had so graciously saved me, asking her name, learning her history. She had a husband, and a small daughter named Vyra. She told me she was an Atrum, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about any of it. By the time I left that forest I realized I was in love with her. The next night, I returned in the hope that she would be there too. She was. I returned every night after that for a month until—” He stopped speaking, looking forlornly into the fire.
“She was crying, almost hysterically. I tried to calm her, but she was inconsolable. She told me she was pregnant and that she was sure the child was mine. She said that she couldn’t see me anymore. For months and months I continued to return to the forest every night, waiting for her, but she never returned. I had to see if she was all right. I had to see if she’d given birth to my child. So, I traveled to Alder Island. When I peered into her window my heart almost burst with pain and awe. I saw her there, rocking him. He had jet-black hair. Just like her. But his eyes…his eyes were mine. I was terrified. I knew what this meant. There had only been one other before him and the last one had caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of magical creatures. The first one had caused the first Underground War. If anyone knew—if anyone found out what Victor was—Elizabeth and I would be killed, and so would he.” Rion’s voice shook. He placed his face in his hands.
“I’m not sure I understand,” Autumn said slowly. “Why would you be killed for having a baby with an elf? Why would Victor be killed?”
Rion looked up at her dumbstruck. “Because the child of an elf and warlock is the most powerful creature the Underground has and ever will see. An Ellock. He has the combined power of an elf and a warlock. He’s the most dangerous creature to ever roam the Underground. This is why magical creatures are forbidden to procreate, to cohabitate. It’s not because we are afraid of one another. It is because we are afraid of what we could create. We remain segregated to prevent creatures like him from being created. Your cause against the Vauns is a noble one. But I fear Victor will be nearly impossible to defeat, even with the rest of the magical creatures behind you. Vyra may appear to be the leader of the Atrums and Shadows, but Victor is her secret weapon. Why did you think she killed both of her parents, but left him alive?”
“She said that he was more useful to her alive.”
“That’s the truth,” he said, laughing bitterly. “The fact is she couldn’t kill him. He’d have done away with her in a second if she tried. Frankly, I don’t know why he hasn’t killed her by now. It’s suspicious. Very suspicious, and concerning. I don’t know what he’s planning, but it can’t be good. ”
“You said the last Ellock started the Underground War?” Autumn asked. Rion nodded. “I thought that war started with a dispute between the trolls and giants. That’s what they taught us in History class.”
Rion laughed humorlessly. “Is that what the elves are teaching? We warlocks teach our children that the war started because of the vampires and centaurs.”
“So…it’s all a lie?” Autumn said, incredulous.
“I’m afraid so. Why do you think we try so hard to stay segregated? It isn’t because we hate each other. Well, it didn’t use to be. I suppose it is now. We’ve taught our children to fear and loath all other creatures because, if we learned to live together, if we cohabitated, the possibility of more Ellocks and other mixed creatures being created would increase significantly.”
“What would be so bad about mixing races?”
“It would lead to absolute chaos. The mixed race magical creatures inherit qualities from each parent, making them stronger. Much, much stronger. With strength comes power, and with power comes a choice—a choice to use one’s power for good or evil. What choice do you think the last Ellock made?”
Autumn frowned. “Maybe if mixed magical races were more common, and weren’t considered such a novelty, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. Maybe if the creatures of the Underground actually taught their children the truth, rather than lying to them and changing history, they could be educated on the dangers of using their power for evil, then they would know which path to choose.”
Rion shook his head. “That will never happen. The rulers and their confidants are the only ones who know about the power the Ellocks possess, and that’s how they want it to stay.”
“The rulers. You mean my grandfather knows about this? He knows about them changing the history books?”
“Of course he knows. I’m surprised you and your brother didn’t know
either. Perhaps Olympus was waiting until you two were initiated as rulers to tell you, to keep you naive and innocent as long as possible.”
Autumn’s eyebrows knit together as she frowned into the fireplace. Why hadn’t he told them? More importantly, how could he have been okay with it? The creatures of the Underground deserved to know their own history. They deserved to know what Victor was, what he could do. Was it really fair to ask all of these creatures to fight when they weren’t even aware of what they were getting into? That they were preparing to fight an Ellock?
“If Victor’s so powerful, why hasn’t he killed all of us by now? He had plenty of opportunities when he lived in Arbor Falls.”
“As I said before, he’s behaving quite strangely for an Ellock. I can’t quite figure out what he’s waiting for. The fact that he’s allowing Vyra to lead him is very strange indeed.”
Autumn sat in silence for a while before speaking again. “Your surname is Lavigne?”
Rion nodded and Autumn frowned.
“Why?” he asked.
“That’s the surname Victor used when he came to live in Arbor Falls.” A shadow passed over Rion’s face and he looked away from Autumn, back at the flickering flames. “And if he knows that he’s an Ellock then he must’ve known that Vex Vaun was not his father. Did he know you were his father?”
Rion cleared his throat loudly and said, “It’s getting late. You should probably get back to your cabin. Your friends will be worried.” He stood and moved to the front door, opening it.
Autumn stood slowly, a glimmer of suspicion in her eyes. “What will happen if the rest of the Underground finds out about Victor?”
“We will be looking at the second Underground War—with elves and warlocks as the primary targets for retribution.”
Flashbacks
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Where the hell have you been?” Luke exclaimed when Autumn entered his and Avery’s room dragging Crystal behind her.
“Chill out. I’m about to tell you,” Autumn said. “And you obviously weren’t worried enough to come looking for me.”
Ash (The Underground Series Book 2) Page 17
