Awry (The Archers of Avalon, Book Two)

by Fine, Chelsea

  Nate looked at her with a grim expression. “Where does it hurt?”

  “Everywhere.”

  He scratched the back of his head.

  Scarlet paused. “I think I’m feeling Tristan. I think…Tristan is in pain.”

  Nate tucked his lips in.

  Scarlet continued, “At first, it was really mild, but now it’s like…it’s like he’s hurting so much that I can’t ignore it.”

  Nate rubbed a hand across his mouth and stood up. “Well, that’s disturbing.”

  Disturbing?

  Not the encouragement Scarlet was hoping to hear.

  Nate said, “I think you should stay here this weekend, just so I can observe you. I’m not sure what this new connection you have to Tristan is doing to you.”

  “Can’t I just…can’t I just go to Tristan? And see if he’s okay?”

  Nate furrowed his brow. “Do you think you could find him?”

  “Yes.” Scarlet was positive she could find him. All she’d have to do is follow the pull of his heart. Which was strong. And heavy.

  And painful.

  “You can find him, the same way he can find you?” Nate tilted his head. “Interesting.”

  Scarlet moved to sit up. “If I just go to him—”

  “No,” Gabriel said quietly from his post beside the couch as he looked into Scarlet’s eyes. “Tristan left to keep you safe, Scarlet. You can’t run after him just because he’s in pain.” Scarlet saw Gabriel’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “Being near Tristan could hurt you.”

  “Gabriel’s right,” Nate said. “Tristan is used to pain. I’m sure, wherever he is, he’s fine. And I’m sure he’d be upset if you found him.” Nate turned to Heather. “Can you run and get Scarlet some things for the weekend? I want her to stay here so I can observe her.”

  Observe her? Like she was a lab rat?

  Agh.

  “Sure thing, Captain.” Heather saluted Nate and headed for the front door.

  “I’m going to try to text Tristan again. Maybe he finally has service wherever he is.” Gabriel disappeared down the hallway.

  “You,” Nate pointed at Scarlet, “stay put. I’ll be right back.” Nate went upstairs.

  After a few minutes passed, Scarlet stood from the couch and winced her way up the stairs.

  She wasn’t good at staying put.

  Upstairs, Nate’s bedroom door was open, so Scarlet stepped inside his room and looked around. Five computer screens were set up in a semi-circle around a large desk. Four of the computers had video games on them, all frozen on different levels and worlds. The fifth computer had three windows open, all with different maps displayed.

  A long table was set up against the side wall, set with sterile instruments and vials of, what looked like, blood. Petri dishes, a microscope and another computer sat on top of the table as well.

  A large bed was against the center of the back wall, adorned in Star Wars bedding and matching pillowcases and shelves and bookcases around the big room were covered with small figurines, comic books, and other pop-culture items.

  “Nice toys.” Scarlet smiled as Nate turned his eyes from a cabinet he’d been searching through.

  “They are collector’s items, not toys.”

  Scarlet nodded. “Even the Thor hammer in the corner?”

  “Yes, especially the Thor hammer.” Nate shook his head as he looked at her. “I told you to wait for me downstairs.”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t listen. What are you doing?”

  He exhaled as he pulled some tubing out from the cabinet. “I’m getting everything I need to take a sample of your blood.”

  Scarlet looked at the sterile hospital pack he brought over to her. “That looks official.”

  “Yeah, well, when your good friend is constantly dying and coming back to life, you get yourself a few medical degrees and learn how to be a doctor.”

  “You’re a doctor?” Scarlet asked, although the idea didn’t really surprise her.

  “Yep.” He motioned for her to sit in a chair beside the table. “Or, at least, I’m usually a doctor. Right now, I’m on hiatus. Give me your arm.”

  “Wow.” Scarlet watched as he tied off her upper arm and started cleaning the inside of her elbow. “So, you really do play with blood.”

  He smiled. “I’ve been trying to find a cure, a vaccine, for Tristan’s blood. You know, just in case the fountain thing doesn’t pan out.”

  Scarlet nodded as he unwrapped a new needle. “Do you always take my blood?”

  “Yeah.” Nate gently slid the needle into her skin, but Scarlet felt nothing except the ache that was pulsing through her bones and muscles. The ache of Tristan.

  Nate continued, “I usually do it right after you come back to life, but this time I just got so caught up in how you didn’t vanish, I forgot. But now that you’re feeling Tristan’s pain,” he looked at her in concern, “I’m worried that maybe something significant has changed, you know?”

  Scarlet nodded even though she didn’t “know”. She watched her blood pump out of her vein and into the tubing Nate had attached to a vial.

  “Are you hurting right now?” Nate asked.

  “Yes. Everywhere.”

  “And you’re sure it’s Tristan?”

  Scarlet inhaled. “Yes, I think so. It’s not me. It hurts like it’s my own pain, but it also feels like an echo. Like it’s far away inside me.”

  Nate nodded, watching the vial fill. “Your connection is stronger than it used to be.”

  Scarlet bit her lip. “Do you have any guesses as to why?”

  Nate glanced at her, but let his eyes fall back to the vial. “I think you and Tristan got a little too close in your last life.”

  Scarlet’s heart started to race. “What do you mean?”

  He sighed. “I don’t know, exactly. And I don’t really want to know.” Nate looked at her. “Maybe you high-fived each other. Maybe you hugged each other. Maybe more.” He looked at the tubing. “But you touched. And touching makes the immortal blood inside your heart stronger.” Nate looked at her sternly. “Which is why you shouldn’t touch at all.”

  Why did people feel the need to keep reminding her of that?

  And why did their warnings make Scarlet want to touch Tristan that much more?

  Nate continued, “And I also think Tristan’s touch is why you’ve had trouble remembering things.”

  Scarlet’s lips parted. “What?”

  Nate twitched his mouth. “Witches used to search for immortal blood for spells and potions, claiming that it had the power to erase memories. I never gave much thought to it in the past because you always got your memories back. But with your amnesia as strong as it is, it’s possible Tristan’s touch captured your memories in your previous life.”

  Well, that sucked.

  Just how much touching had she and Tristan done in her last life? And why?

  Scarlet looked down. “How do you know so much about immortal blood? And my connection to Tristan?”

  “I know more about witchcraft than I probably should,” Nate capped off the first vial, replacing it with another, “and I’ve performed a lot of tests.” He pointed to a Petri dish. “I’ve done countless experiments with your and Tristan’s blood. If a drop of your blood gets close to a drop of Tristan’s blood, it expands. And over time, your blood cells burst. But if a drop of your blood touches a drop of Tristan’s blood, your blood cells burst at a much faster rate.”

  Scarlet nodded. Tristan made her blood explode.

  Great.

  Nate said, “But if I separate Tristan’s blood from yours for a lengthy amount of time, his blood cells implode, shrinking until they are dead. So you see, there is a delicate balance to keeping you both alive.”

  Scarlet’s stomach lurched. “Tristan could
die just by being far away from me?”

  Nate said, “Only in theory. But don’t tell Tristan that. We both know he has a death wish when it comes to saving you.”

  Scarlet’s heart pounded even harder. “Is that what’s happening right now? Is that why I feel him in so much pain? Because I’m…I’m killing him?”

  Nate quickly shook his head. “I doubt you’re killing him.”

  “But what if I am?” Scarlet looked at Nate intensely. “He’s hurting, Nate.” Scarlet waited until Nate looked back up at her before continuing. “Tristan is in serious pain.”

  Nate pressed his lips together. “Tristan will be fine. Pain is normal for him.”

  Scarlet shook her head. “No way. This can’t be normal.”

  Nate sighed again. “Don’t worry about Tristan. He’s probably just really far away and his body is trying to adjust to the distance between you guys.”

  “No.” Scarlet watched her blood flow out of her arm. “I can feel him. He’s close to the cabin. I could probably walk to him if I wanted.”

  Nate furrowed his brow. “That doesn’t make sense.” He looked down at the vial. “If he’s so close, he shouldn’t be hurting.”

  “Let me go to him.” Scarlet watched Nate cap off the second vial.

  “No.”

  Scarlet licked her lips. “I’ll go really fast, just to make sure he’s okay, and then I’ll come right back. Or...or you can come with me.” Scarlet’s eyes lit up. She could find Tristan and take away his pain.

  “No,” Nate repeated. “Tristan left so that you wouldn’t die. There’s no way I’m going to send you out after him just because he’s uncomfortable. Geez. Does everybody in the house have a death wish?” He gently removed everything from Scarlet’s arm and looked at her sternly. “You’re staying here at the cabin, where I can make sure your heart doesn’t split open. Understand?”

  Scarlet slanted her eyes at him, frustrated that everyone in the world was trying to keep her safe. “Whatever.”

  Nate set the vials on the table.

  Scarlet looked around. “What are you going to do with my blood?”

  Nate twitched his lips. “I’m going to examine it for any cellular changes since your last life.”

  Scarlet hesitated. Then cleared her throat. “What happened with me and Tristan?”

  “I told you, I’m not sure how you touched—”

  “That’s not what I mean,” Scarlet said.

  Nate busied himself setting up a glass plate for the microscope. “What do you mean then?”

  “I mean…when I feel Tristan, he’s always conflicted about me. Sometimes he cares, sometimes he’s afraid, sometimes he’s angry. I don’t understand why he can’t just treat me the same way Gabriel does.”

  Nate breathed out a laugh. “Because he’s not Gabriel. Not even close.”

  “But why—”

  “Listen.” Nate stopped what he was doing and looked at her. “Tristan tried to save your life five hundred years ago and, in doing so, he became the death of you. That’s not something he’s ever been able to deal with. Watching you die, life after life….” Nate exhaled. “It does something to him. It breaks him down. He probably just doesn’t know how to be around you safely. And I respect him for that. Usually.”

  Scarlet sat still, watching Nate carefully withdraw a tiny drop of her blood and set it on the glass plate.

  Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Did I ever love Tristan?”

  Nate said nothing for a long time. “You tell me.”

  Scarlet didn’t answer, but she could feel the truth coating her insides.

  She had loved Tristan. And maybe she still did.

  Her heart sank in sadness and confusion and, suddenly, the aching inside her roared back to life, causing her organs to contract and burn. Scarlet doubled over.

  Nate cursed as he stopped what he was doing and put his hands on Scarlet to keep her from falling out of the chair.

  She could barely breathe through the pain in her body.

  Tristan wasn’t just hurting.

  He was dying.

  49

  Tristan didn’t text him back, so Gabriel left the office and met Nate and Scarlet at the foot of the stairs.

  Nate was acting like a crutch for Scarlet so she could walk. Her face was contorted in pain. Without thinking, Gabriel walked over to them and swooped Scarlet into his arms, cradling her against his chest.

  “Why is Scarlet in so much pain?” Gabriel demanded. “What’s happening?” He directed he question at Nate, but Scarlet answered.

  “Tristan’s dying.” She groaned as a look of anguish crossed her features. Scarlet looked at Nate in anger. “You have to let me go to him.”

  “He’s probably not dying,” Nate said. His voice was steady, but his eyes looked unsure. “But if your pain doesn’t let up in the next day or so, we’ll all go find Tristan together. Okay?”

  Scarlet nodded, but Gabriel’s heart began to race.

  Immortals couldn’t die.

  …Right?

  Tristan couldn’t die. He couldn’t.

  Gabriel walked to the living room couch and carefully laid Scarlet down. He sat beside her, stroking her hair away from her face.

  Nate walked over and crouched down beside Scarlet. “No.” He leaned his face in. “You are going to stay here. Do you understand?”

  The anguish faded from her face as Scarlet gave Nate a cold look.

  The front door opened and Heather entered, carrying three large, overstuffed bags.

  “Okay,” Heather said. “I packed enough clothes and beauty supplies for Scarlet to last the weekend. Sorry it took so long. Scarlet’s closet is just so overwhelming and she had so many belts to choose from and then I had to stop and pick up some Millhouse coffee because there is no way I’m going to make Scarlet drink whatever black sludge you guys make here in the woods.”

  Nate said, “Our coffee is fine.”

  Heather smiled sweetly. “Exactly.” She looked at Scarlet in alarm. “Is she getting worse?”

  Gabriel continued running his fingers across Scarlet’s face.

  “Scarlet will be fine.” Nate looked at Heather. “Have you talked to Mr. Brooks yet? We need to figure out how to read our map.”

  Heather set the large bags on the floor and cocked her head to the side. “We have a map?”

  Everyone in the room turned to look at her.

  “Yeah,” Nate said. “The fountain map.”

  Heather still looked confused.

  “The map we found in my ring,” Scarlet prompted. She sat up with a wince.

  Heather blinked. “The pretty ring from your hair?”

  Scarlet said, “Yes, Heather. The map had an apple tree on it? It leads to the fountain of youth….?”

  Worry came over Heather’s face as she watched the eyes of everyone looking at her. Then realization hit. “Oh yeah. That’s right.” Heather shook her head. “I guess I forgot for a minute.”

  Nate furrowed his brow. “You forgot?”

  “Yeah.” Heather blinked several times. “Weird.”

  Worry filled Gabriel’s gut.

  Nate looked at Heather carefully. “How do you feel?” He walked toward her and looked her over carefully.

  Heather let Nate examine her eyes. “I feel fine. I just—”

  Nate took Heather’s head in his hands and slowly turned her face to the side. Looking behind her ear, Nate cursed.

  Gabriel’s palms began to sweat. “What’s wrong?”

  Nate touched a finger to a spot behind Heather’s ear.

  “Ow.” Heather jumped a bit.

  Nate exhaled and pursed his lips. “Someone used a Head Ghost on her. She has a mark where the sleeping serum was administered.”

  Head Ghosts could only retrieve memorie
s from individuals who were put into an induced and heavy sleep. And the sleep serum was injected behind the ear of the victim.

  “Are you sure?” Gabriel asked, walking over and gently examining Heather’s ear.

  Nate nodded. “That’s why Heather had trouble remembering the map. The Head Ghost must have rattled the memory in her brain.” He looked at Scarlet heavily. “Whoever did this stole the map memory from Heather’s head. Which means—”

  “Someone else knows we have a map to the fountain.” Scarlet stared blankly ahead.

  Fear rose inside Gabriel. “But who could have done that? Heather was only gone for a short while. She only went to Scarlet’s house—”

  “Maybe there was an Ashman at my house.” Scarlet looked pale. “Or maybe…maybe it was Laura.”

  Gabriel looked at Heather. “When you went to Scarlet’s house, was Laura home?”

  Heather blinked. “Yes.”

  Gabriel’s stomach dropped.

  “Ohmygoodness. It is Laura.” Scarlet stood up and ran a shaky hand through her hair. “It has to be.”

  Heather wrinkled her nose. “Laura?”

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense.” Scarlet bit her lip. “Laura’s been acting so weird and so interested in my eyes and…and she knew Tristan’s name and she visited Mr. Brooks….” Scarlet looked at Heather. “Laura must have let the Ashman into my house last year when I was sleeping to get my memories. And, today, she must have drugged you and stolen your memory.”

  Heather frowned. “You think the same Laura who’s scared of spiders and wears high heels to the grocery store has been trying to use Head Ghosts on you? And now me?”

  “Yes,” Scarlet said, wincing a little, “I do.”

  “Okay, new plan.” Gabriel clasped his hands together, trying not to sound panicked.

  But he was completely panicked.

  “For the time being, I think it’s best if we don’t trust Laura. Which means you,” he pointed at Heather, “are going to stay here, at the cabin with Scarlet, until further notice. We can’t keep you safe from Ashmen and Head Ghosts if you’re sleeping twenty miles away. So call your parents and say whatever you have to so you don’t have to go home.”