Awry (The Archers of Avalon, Book Two)

by Fine, Chelsea

  “Who was this red woman?” Gabriel tilted his head.

  Mr. Brooks leaned in to Gabriel. “Her shoes were tall and almost as red as her hair. And she smelled like…like….”

  Scarlet swallowed. “Like cinnamon and coffee?”

  Mr. Brooks whipped around, his bathrobe sailing in a circular motion. “Yes!”

  Laura.

  My guardian bought weapons from this guy?

  Gabriel didn’t seem fazed. “Did you sell all of the weapons?”

  Nate shifted his weight nervously.

  Mr. Brooks pointed to a nearby podium with a glass case resting on top. “All but one.” He muttered, “I can’t very well deplete my family’s most precious collection in one transaction.”

  The podium was too far away to see what was inside, but no one moved to get a closer look.

  “No worries,” Gabriel said casually. “We’re not here for the weapons.”

  The old man eyed him skeptically. “No?”

  Gabriel raised a brow. “Not today, anyway.”

  “We’re just here for information,” Nate clarified, his eyes drifting to the podium every few seconds.

  “I see.” Mr. Brooks nodded as he gestured about the room. “Well, you are welcome to view my collection. As you can see, I try to keep things organized and I’d appreciate if you’d do the same. You have one hour.” He looked at the four of them pointedly, swinging his cane in their direction like he was going to poke them each in turn. But he didn’t.

  His voice was thick with warning. “Explore carefully, children. Knowledge can be deadly.” Mr. Brook’s green bathrobe flew out behind him as he rapidly ascended into the darkness above.

  Once the hallway door had shut behind Mr. Brooks, Heather looked at everyone. “Is it just me, or did the person Mr. Brooks sold his weapons to sound a lot like Laura?”

  Gabriel marched over to the podium, everyone else right on his heels.

  Laying inside the case was a single knife. The handle was dark and solid, without any markings, and the blade was made of blue stone.

  Sharp and polished, the blue blade glinted in the light of the dozens of bulbs above, looking like marble.

  Gabriel threw his eyes to Scarlet. “What are Bluestone weapons?”

  Scarlet’s mouth fell open as she pulled her eyes away from the weapon. “How would I know? You’re the one talking about them like you’re an expert.”

  “I was bluffing.” Gabriel sighed and looked back at the knife. “You really have no idea what Bluestone weapons are?”

  “No.” Scarlet shook her head. “But it sounds like Laura does.”

  Gabriel rubbed the side of his face.

  Heather mumbled, “I guess now we know what Mr. Brooks sold that made him wealthy again.”

  “Maybe Bluestone weapons are collector’s items.” Nate looked up from the podium. “Maybe Laura has a knife fetish that we don’t know about.”

  Yeah.

  Or maybe Laura was plotting to destroy the earth.

  “What if they’re not collector’s items?” Scarlet put her hands on her hips. “What if they’re more important than that? I’ve never seen a single weapon at my house, let alone an entire arsenal of knives.” She shook her head. “I have to believe Laura wanted them for a different reason.”

  “If it was Laura at all,” Nate said. “We don’t know for sure.”

  “Ooh!” Heather’s face brightened. “Maybe that’s what Laura had in her suitcase. Maybe she bought Mr. Brooks’ weapons to take to a road show…or something…and that’s why she was so weird about you touching her luggage. She didn’t want the valuables inside to break. Or fall out and stab you.”

  Gabriel paused. “Maybe.”

  Scarlet bit her lip.

  “Here’s what we’ll do.” Nate clasped his hand together. “After we’re done searching for apple tree stuff, we’ll talk to Mr. Brooks and find out what is so special about this knife.” He nodded. “Until then, we need to stay focused on Scarlet’s drawing.”

  Gabriel nodded. “Where should we start?”

  Nate turned around in circles for a moment, trying to take it all in. “Okay.” He pointed to Gabriel. “You look for maps; anything that has a fountain or an apple tree on it is ideal. You,” he pointed at Scarlet, “go through journals. Maybe Mr. Brooks has a crazy uncle that liked to write about trees or something. And you,” he pointed at Heather, “stand guard at the stairs in case Mr. Brooks returns with a magic wand and tries to turn us all into stuffed owls or something. If you start hooting, we’ll know to run.”

  Heather glared at him.

  “Okay, fine.” Nate sighed. “You can look through the maps with Gabriel.”

  She smiled, looking proud to have a job.

  “What are you going to do?” Scarlet asked Nate.

  He looked around. “I’m going to find any and all city plans and drawings from the 1500s. There might have been a significant apple tree somewhere in Avalon’s history.” Raising his voice a tad, Nate said, “And chop-chop everybody. Apparently, there’s a time limit to being down here. Mr. Brooks said an hour and I’d rather not find out what happens to meddling kids who spend more than an hour in his cellar.”

  Scarlet turned and headed to the journals. They were old and dusty, and most smelled of mildew and dirt. Running her hand along the first shelf she came to, Scarlet tried to determine where to begin. But it was hard to find a starting point when she didn’t really know what she was looking for.

  Pulling journal after journal from the shelf, Scarlet eyed authors and pages, but nothing spoke of the fountain or apple trees.

  Time passed slowly and Scarlet grew frustrated.

  She turned and started walking back to find Nate, when a journal on a low shelf caught her eye.

  The journal itself was bland and severely weathered, but on its cover was a drawing of a beautiful woman with dark hair and exotic eyes.

  Instinctively drawn to the picture, Scarlet carefully removed the old journal from the shelf. Inside the cover was the author’s name.

  William Jacobs.

  Click.

  Scarlet’s eyes began to burn.

  Scarlet was a little girl, watching a man—her father—give a box to a beautiful woman. The same beautiful woman whose picture was on the journal. “For you, my sweet Ana,” he said.

  Scarlet’s mother.

  Ana opened the small box and smiled at the sight of the silver brooch inside. She pinned the brooch to her dress and kissed William gratefully.

  “Scarlet, my love,” the woman said. “Did you see what your father gave me?” She pointed to the brooch as Scarlet ran up to her and eyed the shiny object.

  “It’s pretty, mama!” Scarlet smiled. “Daddy loves you.”

  William smiled at Scarlet and crouched down beside her. “I love you too, my little red rose.” He kissed Scarlet’s cheek.

  Exiting the memory, Scarlet’s hands began to shake as she looked down at the journal. This belonged to her father. This was another piece of her past.

  Trying to calm her trembling hands, Scarlet turned through the journal’s pages, finding most of them ruined by water. The ink was blurry and indecipherable, and the pages themselves were torn and wrinkled.

  But near the end of the small book, a page remained untouched by water or age, and the ink, though scrawled in inconsistent lettering, was sharp enough to read.

  I will not live much longer.

  Desperate for more of the magical blue water we were addicted to, Francis and I traveled to the New World where we now make our home among the Avalon natives.

  The natives fear the water while Francis and I are thirsty for more. The natives speak of an antidote to the addiction. A fruit that can cure the thirst, but I have searched and searched and no fruit can be found.

  Our addiction
has become so intense we hardly sleep or eat. Francis’s jug of magic blue water was stolen, leaving us to share my quickly-depleting supply.

  I do not plan to share it with him for much longer. The water has stolen my soul and my humanity, and I feel it is time for us to give ourselves over to the pain and die of thirst.

  Francis insists that he remembers the map Ana stole, and is sure we will find our way to the fountain before the addiction consumes our lives.

  I hope we do not. We look young and healthy, but our minds are twisted and lost. I buckle in pain if I go even a short while without the water. Francis does the same and I fear we are both becoming mad. With a tendency to rage.

  The natives keep their distance from Francis and I, as they should. The water poisons both mind and body and we are rapidly becoming monsters.

  Or, maybe, we already are.

  I am giving up my search for the fountain. The water is evil and I will not taste it again. The thirst will soon kill me, and this is comforting.

  I have destroyed everything I have ever loved, abandoned everything that mattered. And I no longer want to live.

  Ana and my young Scarlet both fled from me and left me empty of love and hope. But now I understand there is no room for love and hope in the heart of a man consumed by addiction.

  I only pray no one else falls victim to the taste of the blue water. The taste of true death….

  Scarlet’s lips parted as she stared at her father’s entry. Hungry for more information, Scarlet began searching through the journal again, one page at a time.

  Blurry nonsense was all she found until her eyes landed on a drawing.

  Scarlet gasped.

  ***************

  Gabriel rolled up another map and put it away. So far, he hadn’t found anything helpful.

  “So, what’s the deal with your love curse?” Heather was to his right, examining her own map.

  Gabriel slanted his eyes to her. “Is that what Scarlet calls it?”

  “No,” Heather said, rolling up her map and putting it away. “That’s what I call it. But we can give it a different name if you want. How about the Curse of Perpetual Doom?” she said with a deep voice as she looked at him in mock seriousness.

  He shook his head and pulled out a new map. “What is it you want to know?”

  Unrolling another map, Heather said, “Is it true your ex-girlfriend cast the curse?”

  “Yep.”

  “Is it true you can’t fall in love with anyone aside from Scarlet?”

  “Yep.”

  “Is it true that no else, besides Scarlet, can ever fall in love with you?”

  “Yep.”

  Heather stopped reading her map. “So you’re telling me that, in five hundred years, not one girl has fallen in love with you?”

  “Nope.”

  She snorted in disbelief.

  Gabriel shrugged. “It’s true.”

  Heather looked at him for a moment, her eyes tracing his face carefully before she turned back to her map. “Well, that sucks. Your ex-girlfriend was a bi-otch.”

  Gabriel put his map away. “You have no idea.”

  A moment passed.

  Heather said, “Well, I’m glad you at least get to have Scarlet fall in love with you when she’s alive.”

  Gabriel paused. “Did Scarlet tell you she’s in love with me?”

  Heather looked unsure for a moment.

  Gabriel tilted his head. “Or are you just assuming that she loves me because of the curse?”

  Heather blinked. “I guess I just assumed that was how it worked.” She hurriedly added, “But Scarlet totally loves you.”

  Gabriel nodded and went back to his map. He knew Scarlet loved him. And he loved her. They loved each other.

  So why did he still feel empty inside? Why was the hole in his chest still lingering in the background, making him want something…more?

  Thunder echoed above them and the lights in the cellar flickered.

  Heather looked up, her brown eyes nervous. “If the lights go out and we get stuck down here, so help me—”

  The lights went out.

  Heather’s small, cold hands were immediately gripping Gabriel’s bicep. “O-M-G, O-M-G, O-M-G.”

  “Calm down.” Gabriel looked around, hoping his eyes would adjust, but being underground meant no natural light penetrated the cellar walls.

  They were in complete darkness.

  “Uh…guys?” Nate’s voice trembled a bit as it echoed across the cellar. “Does anyone else feel like we’re in a scary movie? Perhaps one in which all the main characters die?”

  “I’m sure the storm just knocked out the power, that’s all,” Scarlet’s voice said.

  “Yeah,” Nate replied. “That’s what all the main characters say right before they die.”

  “Nate,” Gabriel said into the blackness, trying not to roll his eyes. “You’re immortal. You can’t die.”

  “But I can still feel pain!”

  Heather plastered herself to Gabriel’s side, sinking her fingernails into his upper arm. “I’m not immortal. I’m totally killable.” She sucked in a breath as her pitch rose. “And I’m blond. Blonds always die first.”

  “That’s true,” Nate said matter-of-factly.

  Heather made a freaked-out squeaky noise. “I don’t want to die.”

  Gabriel smirked. “Well, maybe being a member of Team Awesome wasn’t such a great idea after all.”

  “Really, Gabriel?” Heather snapped. “A lecture? Now?”

  “Ooh, ooh!” Nate’s voice chimed into the cellar again. “I might have something.”

  Gabriel heard Nate rustle around for a moment before a small stream of light lit up his face.

  “My handy dandy flashlight,” he said with a grin.

  Shining it across the room, he helped everyone find their way back to the table in the center of the cellar. Heather finally pulled her claws out of Gabriel’s arm. Another boom of thunder rattled the ceiling.

  “Okay, I think our time in the dungeon of information is done,” Nate said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  One by one, they climbed back up the stairs, Nate in the lead. When they reached the door to the hallway, Nate turned the handle and found it locked.

  He jostled it again, but the door did not open.

  “Well, this is terrifying,” Nate said.

  Heather’s fingernails found their way back into Gabriel’s arm as she squeaked, “Are we locked down here? In the dark?”

  “Try knocking,” Scarlet said. “Maybe he forgot we were here or something.”

  Or maybe he was going to kill them all in his bathrobe.

  Nate knocked on the door and, like magic—creepy, weird magic—the door opened, but no Mr. Brooks was beyond it.

  Yeah. Field trip time was over.

  In a line, they made their way back down the dark hallway, past the owls, past the cobwebs and past the hidden rats.

  Gabriel pried Heather’s razor-sharp fingernails from his skin.

  Nate called out, “Mr. Brooks?”

  No answer.

  Heather tried, “Mr. Brooks? Are you still here?”

  Still no answer.

  Thunder rattled the old house, causing statue owls to shuffle on their shelves.

  “Maybe he left,” Scarlet said.

  Nate complained, “But I really wanted to ask about the Bluestone weapons.”

  “Next time,” Heather said. “You can ask about the weird blue knife next time. I want to get out of here.”

  Nate sighed. “Fine.”

  They made their way out of the house and found that the wind had picked up. The sky was darker and heavy rain was now falling all around them. The howling of a dog echoed in the distance.

  Everyone hurried down the
porch steps and headed through the rain to Heather’s car.

  Once they were all inside the tiny vehicle, Scarlet said. “Mr. Brooks’ house is a little creepy.”

  “A little?” Nate raised a brow. “The guy has dead owls everywhere.”

  “And rats,” Gabriel said.

  “And owls,” Nate repeated.

  Heather asked. “Did we find anything useful in there?”

  “Yep,” Scarlet announced, holding up an old book. “This was my father’s journal.”

  Nate’s jaw fell open. “Are you serious?”

  Scarlet nodded.

  “That’s amazing!” Nate reached for the book, but Scarlet pulled it closer to her chest.

  Heather looked at Scarlet in horror. “And you just took it? What if Mr. Brooks finds out? What if he hunts me down and curses me or something?”

  Gabriel threw a wicked smile at her. “Welcome to Team Awesome.”

  “Shut up,” Heather snapped, boring her deep brown eyes into his matching ones.

  Scarlet bit her lip. “I know I shouldn’t have taken the journal, but it was my father’s. And it has all kinds of information. For instance, did you know that my father was addicted to fountain water?”

  “No way!” Nate smiled. “That’s so awesome.”

  Scarlet frowned at him.

  He cleared his throat. “Not the part about your dad being addicted. Just the part about you finding out.”

  Scarlet took a deep breath. “There’s more.”

  Everyone leaned in and watched Scarlet flip through a few ancient pages. “I found a drawing of a map that my uncle, some guy named Francis, drew a long time ago. Or, at least, a copy of a map.”

  Scarlet turned the book over and showed everyone in the car.

  Drawn in dark ink was an almost identical picture of the apple tree drawing Scarlet had found in her brooch.

  “The tree?” Heather scrunched her nose.

  Scarlet nodded. “The apple tree drawing I found in the brooch is actually the original map to the fountain of youth.”

  Oh. Snap.

  35

  Tristan sat in the stone room of the outer court, staring at his hands. Two guards stood watch at the sole entrance to his right, and another three stood watch around the perimeter.