Awry (The Archers of Avalon, Book Two)

by Fine, Chelsea

  The first night of the Avalon Fair was everything it promised to be. Colored twinkle lights lit up the square and stands advertising muffins and cider and pies and soups were all over the park.

  A Ferris wheel was set up in the center of the park and a large, colorful carousel twirled about beside the park’s large, white gazebo.

  And, if Gabriel wasn’t mistaken, there was a petting zoo off to the side full of goats, llamas, pigs and sheep. Pony rides were available beside a dunk tank in the park and jugglers everywhere were tossing pins, balls, and fire through the air.

  Live music came from a band set up in the middle of Main Street and people everywhere walked around with treats and hot cups.

  It was chaos. Colorful chaos, but chaos nonetheless. And it was the perfect place to get stabbed by a member of the living dead.

  Whose idea was this again?

  Heather was merrily passing out to-go cups of Millhouse coffee at her booth, wearing a black apron over her pink dress and an extra-friendly smile while Gabriel stood beside the stand and watched.

  When there was a break in the long line of coffee patrons, Heather turned her fake smile to the Gabriel and walked over to him, her vanilla perfume sliding into his nostrils.

  “Really, Gabriel? It’s a fair. Go ride a pony or something. Don’t just loiter.”

  Usually, Heather was quite a bit shorter than Gabriel. But with her tall shoes on, her eyes were level with his mouth.

  “I’m not going to ride a pony.” Gabriel glanced around. “My job is to make sure you don’t have any Ashman run-ins, so forgive me if I loiter.”

  She filled a cup and thrust it toward Gabriel. “Then at the very least pretend to be enjoying yourself so the customers don’t think our coffee makes people pouty.”

  ***************

  Scarlet looked around the town square carefully. “I don’t see Laura anywhere.” She stood with Nate and Tristan beside the tall Ferris wheel, just a few yards away from Heather and Gabriel.

  The fair was well underway and everyone in the town was there to celebrate. Laughing, dancing, and throwing darts at balloons in order to win giant, stuffed animals that looked like toy store rejects.

  Scarlet wasn’t crazy about her town’s community events. But at least no one was trying to kiss her at this one.

  Nate exhaled. “Well, we need to find her so we can detain her.”

  Tristan shrugged. “Or maybe kill her.”

  Scarlet’s eyes went wide and Nate glared at Tristan. “We’re not going to kill her, Tristan. We will detain her. And take away her little flower so she can’t make anymore Ashmen.”

  Tristan looked around the park and muttered, “And maybe kill her.”

  “Ooh!” Nate’s eyes lit up as an old lady wheeled a cart past them. “Cotton Candy!” He stepped away from them to purchase his treat.

  Left alone beneath the colorful lights and happy noises, Scarlet and Tristan didn’t make eye contact. Scarlet absently felt for him, sensing his nervousness and alertness. He was ready for a fight.

  She glanced at him and found his face turned to the side, looking out over the festivities. Running her eyes down his profile, Scarlet wondered who he’d been in her last life, when they were kissing. Who had she been?

  He turned his head and their eyes met. She didn’t shy away from him or pretend not to be searching his face. Instead, she stared more intently. Hoping to find a bit of herself in his green eyes.

  “You weren’t surprised earlier.” Scarlet lifted her chin to keep her face on his.

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I threw that knife into the Ashman’s head, you weren’t surprised. You didn’t question how I was able to do that.” She softened her voice. “Why not?”

  His voice was quiet. “Because I don’t question you.”

  Scarlet raised a brow. “Even when I run a blade through an Ashman’s head?”

  He smiled. “Especially when you run a blade through an Ashman’s head.”

  Scarlet’s heart tightened at the sight of his dimples. He was devastating.

  For a moment, she felt his heart and her heart echo against one another in her chest. In perfect harmony, they pounded together, like two drums in a dark night, beating a rhythm into the sky. Strong…healthy.

  Deadly.

  Sadness invaded her lungs. She was killing Tristan. Every heartbeat, every beautiful pulse, was one step closer to losing him.

  “Hi, Gabriel,” came a perky voice.

  Scarlet and Tristan turned to see Kristy Stevens walking up to them. Kristy glanced at Scarlet, then turned her eyes back to Tristan—clearly assuming he was Gabriel. “I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight.” Kristy gave him a flirty smile. “We could have come together.”

  Scarlet stared at Kristy and felt the sudden need to strangle her.

  Tristan looked at Kristy with narrowed eyes. “I don’t think so.”

  Kristy tilted her head and looked at Tristan sweetly. “No?”

  Scarlet wished she still had the butcher knife on hand.

  Tristan stayed calm. Collected. “Nope.”

  Kristy shrugged. “Whatever. See you around.” She turned away without looking at Scarlet.

  Scarlet’s heart was on fire. She would kill Kristy. She would hunt her down and grab her by her hair and throw her to the ground and—

  “Scar,” Tristan spoke softly as he looked at her with an amused expression. “Relax.”

  Scarlet shot her gaze—which had been focused on the back of Kristy’s stupid blond head—to Tristan. “I don’t like her.”

  “I can tell.” Tristan smiled and his dimples made him look like a little boy.

  Scarlet exhaled through her nose as she looked back at Kristy. “She’s such a flirt.”

  Tristan tucked his lips in. “You don’t like her flirting with me?”

  Scarlet looked at him and answered honestly. “No.”

  Tristan nodded and looked away. “Kristy is a just girl, Scar.”

  “So?”

  Looking back at her, Tristan leaned in close and lowered his voice. “She’s not you.”

  Scarlet stared at him for moment, feeling his heart pound in sync with her own as his lips were only inches from her face. Being so close to him was confusing. And dangerous.

  But, oh, so alluring….

  “Do I need to put you guys in giant, plastic bubbles so you don’t touch each other?” Nate walked back up to them with a mountain of cotton candy in his hand.

  Scarlet and Tristan immediately stepped away from one another.

  Nate stood in between them and began eating his treat. “Fairs are the best,” he said through a mouthful of blue sugar.

  Scarlet shifted her weight. “I think I’m going to hang out with Gabriel and Heather for a while. Let me know if you see Laura.” She didn’t look back at Tristan as she made her way over to the coffee stand.

  But she could feel Tristan watching her. And she liked it.

  74

  Tristan reached the main hall and found himself completely blocked by the mass of villagers surrounding the building. Everyone was curious. Everyone was excited.

  Everyone was in his way.

  Not caring if he was shot down by his father’s guards, Tristan began scaling the side wall of the castle like he had when he was a child, lifting himself into the lowest window of the hall and lowering himself down into the ceremony room.

  He squeezed his way through the crowds until he was at the edge of the altar, but hidden in the sea of faces. He saw Gabriel standing at the altar with a smile on his face.

  Gabriel looked genuinely happy and for a moment—a split second—Tristan was filled with jealousy.

  Scarlet did not belong to Gabriel.

  But then Tristan remembered why he had asked Gabriel to care fo
r her. And he remembered how Gabriel had selflessly promised to do so.

  Tristan tried to shove his jealousy aside and replace it with gratitude.

  And then he saw her.

  Dressed for the occasion, with all eyes on her, Scarlet walked to the end of the aisle and up two stairs to meet Gabriel. She was breathtaking.

  And she would never be Tristan’s.

  Tristan let his heart break down the middle and crumble into pieces in the pit of his soul.

  ***************

  Gabriel smiled. Villagers crowded the hall, eager to watch the ceremony and celebrate with their new earl.

  In just minutes, he and Scarlet would be wed and they would start their life together. A new life. Free of death. Free of sorrow.

  Free.

  Gabriel looked at Scarlet. She was beautiful and perfect, she smiled at him with love.

  His heart was full.

  He took Scarlet’s hand into his own and whispered, “You look lovely.”

  Scarlet gave him a crooked smile. “I certainly hope so. I can’t breathe in this thing.” She tugged at her corset and Gabriel smiled.

  The minister cleared his throat to begin the ceremony, but never had a chance to utter a welcome.

  Fire rushed through the center of the crowd, building a wall on both sides of the aisle and people screamed in fear as they fled the room.

  The flames licked up toward the tall ceiling and smoke gathered in the hall, clouding up the aisle.

  And through the smoke walked Raven.

  Holding a carefully drawn bow and arrow, she looked at Gabriel. “You should never have crossed me.”

  ***************

  Scarlet heard a shuffling to her right, but she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the crazy girl with the arrow.

  Gabriel gave the mad woman a dark look. “What are you doing, Raven?”

  The crazy girl cocked her head to the side. “Do you love this peasant girl?” She glanced at Scarlet.

  Scarlet took a step back and caught sight of a person coming toward her on her right. Which was odd, because everyone else in the hall was running away from the scene. Turning her head, Scarlet saw….

  Tristan.

  It was Gabriel’s face and Gabriel’s body, but the boy shoving his way through the exodus of people, covered in dirt and sweat, was Tristan.

  And he was coming for her.

  Scarlet’s mouth parted. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

  Tristan was alive.

  Gabriel spoke to Raven, “Yes. I love her.”

  “Are you sure?” Raven asked.

  Tristan was alive.

  Scarlet couldn’t control her thoughts. Or her singing soul, coming back to life. Whole. Complete. No longer broken.

  “I am sure,” Gabriel said.

  Just as Tristan reached the altar, his eyes shot to Raven. Scarlet’s eyes shot to Raven as well.

  “Then may you never know love without her,” Raven said wickedly.

  And the crazy witch readjusted her bow and aimed at Scarlet.

  Gabriel charged at Raven, Tristan closed in on Scarlet, and Scarlet watched Raven release her arrow.

  Before Scarlet could move, Tristan threw his body in front of hers to shield her from the arrow.

  Scarlet watched in horror as blood poured from the back of Tristan’s shirt. Then she felt a stabbing pain enter her body.

  Looking down, Scarlet saw the arrow sticking out from her chest.

  Tristan’s body fell limp to the floor in front of her, she heard Gabriel yell, and then Scarlet fell to the ground as well.

  Blood filled her mouth, pain filled her body, and sadness filled her veins as she watched Tristan’s head turn in her direction.

  His eyes, looking at her in sorrow, turned a brilliant, magical shade of green, before the life drained from them completely and they went dark.

  Scarlet went cold and numb as she watched her hunter die.

  She choked and gave herself over to death as well.

  75

  Gabriel shook his head at Heather.

  “What if I give you twenty dollars?” Heather challenged Gabriel with a smile.

  He sighed. “I’m not going to ride a pony, Heather.”

  She scrunched her nose. “You’re such a bummer.”

  “Hey guys,” Scarlet said, smiling at the two as she walked up to them. “What’s up?”

  “Well, Fierce Jaguar over here,” Heather pointed to Gabriel, “is being a big, whiney baby about the fair. He refuses to have any fun at all and his pouty face is scaring off the customers.”

  Scarlet puckered her lips. “Fierce Jaguar?”

  Heather nodded. “That’s Gabriel’s Team Awesome code name.”

  “That’s not my code name,” Gabriel said.

  “Oh, B-T-W,” Heather said to Scarlet. “I told my parents I’m staying with you all week because of the fair stuff. No school!” she reminded them with a smile. “Yay.”

  Gabriel shook his head. “What kind of town shuts down all week because of a fair?”

  “The same kind of town that celebrates a Kissing Festival every year,” Scarlet answered.

  “Heather!” Clare called from the other side of the stand as she pointed to the Millhouse shop across the street.

  Heather looked at her boss before turning back to them. “I gotta go grab more coffee from across the street. I’ll be right back.”

  As Heather shuffled out from behind the booth and headed across the street, Scarlet turned to Gabriel. “I haven’t seen Laura anywhere, have you?”

  “Nope.” He took a sip of the coffee cup in his hand as he looked around. “It’s so weird that Raven was able to deceive all of us. Especially me.” Gabriel shook his head. “I knew her so well, but Laura…Laura is nothing like her. She doesn’t act like Raven, she doesn’t look like Raven….”

  Scarlet shrugged. “She’s been lying for half a millennium, Gabriel. She’s good at it.”

  He nodded, but his gut didn’t feel settled. “Maybe you’re right.”

  A shadow creeping up from around the corner of the gazebo caught Gabriel’s attention. It moved with stealth and slowness, deliberately trying to stay hidden, which sent a chill up Gabriel’s spine.

  He watched until the shadow became a figure crouched between two bushes with dead eyes set on Gabriel.

  “Stay here,” Gabriel commanded Scarlet, and shot a look to Tristan.

  Tristan caught his gaze, spied the Ashman, and made his way across the park, just like Gabriel. They’d approach the Ashman from two sides; corner him, kill him.

  Simple.

  Making brief eye contact with Tristan, Gabriel casually marched around the gazebo and yanked the Ashman back further into the shadowy cover of the dark trees. The Ashman struggled, but Tristan came up beside Gabriel and caught the Ashman’s hands behind his back.

  Another Ashman appeared in the darkness beyond Tristan.

  “Watch your back,” Gabriel said, and Tristan whipped around.

  In one fluid movement, Tristan pulled a dagger from his coat—because, apparently, Tristan carted bloody weapons around in his coat—and cut through the Ashman’s skull with forceful movement.

  Without missing a beat, Tristan turned back around and helped Gabriel pin the Ashman that was struggling beneath Gabriel’s grasp. Gabriel punched the Ashman in the face, giving Tristan an opportunity to restrain the Ashman’s hands behind his back.

  Gabriel pulled Scarlet’s butcher knife from his coat—okay, so maybe they both carted weapons around in their jackets—and with silent movement, he thrust the blade directly into the Ashman’s heart and twisted.

  Stiffness, cracking, crumbling…then ash.

  Murder accomplished.

  Gabriel tucked the blade back into his coat and dusted off h
is hands as he looked at the two piles of ash on the forest floor. “See how simple that was?” He looked at Tristan. “You hold him down, I stab him, end of threat. With Nate it’s all weird battle cries and plastic hammers.” Gabriel shook his head. “Fighting with you is much less dramatic.”

  “Yeah, well.” Tristan stretched his neck. “We make a good killing team.”

  Gabriel rolled his eyes as they headed out of the trees and back to the fair. “What is with everyone wanting to be on teams?”

  ***************

  Scarlet stood by Nate and watched him lick the last of the blue cotton candy sugar off his fingers. A clown beside them was making animal balloons and a man on stilts walked past them throwing confetti.

  It was so…jolly.

  You would never know there were Ashmen and immortals lurking about with deadly weapons.

  Scarlet looked across the street at the Millhouse doors nervously. “Heather’s been gone a long time, don’t you think?”

  Nate’s tongue was dark blue as he licked his lips. “Yeah.” He scratched the back of his head. “Should we go check on her?”

  “Check on who? Heather?” Gabriel asked as he and Tristan joined them.

  “Yeah,” Scarlet said, running a hand through her hair. “I’m worried. It’s taking her a long time to get coffee.”

  Gabriel nodded. “I’ll go check it out.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Scarlet said.

  Tristan’s eyes were fixed on something at the far end of the park. “Nate and I will be right back,” he said as he began walking toward something no one else saw.

  “Okay.” Nate shrugged and followed Tristan.

  Scarlet turned and followed Gabriel.

  ***************

  Gabriel walked across the street as fair music floated in the air. Scarlet came up beside him as they reached the coffee house doors. Inside the windows, chairs were stacked on tables and only a single light was on.

  “I’ll be right back,” Scarlet said as she let herself inside the shop to find Heather.

  Gabriel moved to follow after Scarlet, but paused, suspicion crawling up his spine. He looked around, but saw nothing unusual.