Chapter 2
Two
Avalon
Vox’s eyelids fluttered closed as he fell to the side. Hayle grabbed him quickly, laying him down at my feet. I looked up at my brother. “What happened?”
Bach shrugged. “We found him stabbed in the back alley behind Ren’s house. I patched him up and told him to get out of here, but he wouldn’t leave without you.”
Lierick checked Vox’s pulse, then lifted his shirt. The bandage over his stomach was soaked in blood, and still actively bleeding. “He’s alive, but his pulse is weak. He needs a doctor, or at least a healer.”
Bach shook his head. “Not here. Baron Vylan is almost at the gates, and you need to be gone before he arrives. Otherwise, you’ll all be dead.”
I looked between Lierick and Hayle. What did I do? I still couldn’t feel my powers. I couldn’t take us back.
Hayle bent down and scooped Vox into his arms with a grunt. “Holy Goddess, this fucker weighs a ton.” He gave me a carefully blank expression, like he knew how close I was to losing it. “Which town has the closest healer?”
Shaking my head, I couldn’t take my eyes off Vox. He looked dead already. “Uh, most people come to Rewill. There was an elderly lady west of here, but I think she died.”
Hayle nodded. “We’ll head that way. Maybe she had a protegé.” He gave me a small smile. “It’ll be okay, Avie. It would take more than death for Vox to leave you.”
Iker checked the body of my father. “He’s still alive too.”
Spinning, I stared down at my father, pale and unconscious, before looking up at Bach. “He was going to kill you. Said he didn’t need two Heirs.” Bach didn’t even look surprised; if anything, he just looked sad. Roman Halhed had been a disappointment to us all. “Be careful, Bach.”
He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Kian and I will take care of the Ninth Line. You take care of yourself. We need you safe, happy, and healthy when you return home.”
I was never coming home after this. We both knew it. This place held nothing but pain and bad memories.
I hugged him tightly. “Be safe.”
And then we were out of there, Braxus leading us down the stairs and out toward the back through the kitchens.
I didn’t hide this time; I strode out of there, meeting the eyes of every single member of the manor staff.
Some had done what they could when I was young, like Cook, while others had turned a blind eye to how the Baron had treated his youngest daughter.
Let them all see me now.
Alucius was waiting at the back door and quickly licked Braxus’s muzzle, before licking Hayle’s hand frantically. “I’m okay,” Hayle told her. “I hated not being able to communicate with you too. Thank you for taking care of this guy for me while we couldn’t.”
Alucius huffed and whined, sniffing Vox’s unconscious body, before licking his cheek where it hung over Hayle’s arm.
“We’ll need horses,” Lierick said, the concentration on his face telling me he was using his powers. “We can’t outrun them on foot.”
I turned us toward the stables, pushing through the doors like I belonged here. I didn’t, though; I belonged somewhere with nothing but good memories.
The stablehand looked up from where he was shoveling a stall. “Avalon?”
Of course it had to be him. “Hey, Paton. I need three horses, as fast as you can.”
Paton stared. And stared. This was just my luck. Of course it would be the stablehand who’d given me my first kiss years ago. We’d been friendly, and in a crowd of people, he’d at least been a safe harbor, even if he wouldn’t stick his neck out for me.
“When did you get home? Are you staying?” His desperate hopefulness made my cheeks flush with embarrassment. This was so awkward.
“Obviously not, which is why she wants three horses, fast,” Hayle growled, and as Paton’s eyes turned toward him, I watched his face pale even further than his normal milky complexion.
Paton hesitated. “Edgar said no one was to take any horses without his permission, or that of the Baron.” He took a deep breath. “Fuck it, I always hated that pompous old asshole anyway. This way.” He didn’t specify whether he meant Edgar or the Baron. Probably both.
Lierick, Iker, and Paton quickly saddled three large horses. Hayle pushed an unconscious Vox onto a giant roan, and Lierick climbed up behind him. Iker got on the second horse, while I climbed onto the last one behind Hayle, with Epsy settling between our bodies.
I looked down at Paton, chewing my lip. I’d thought I loved him once, but I hadn’t even known what love was back then. Even just the smallest kindness had felt so much bigger, rather than common human decency. Regardless, Paton had given me some of my most comfortable memories.
“Thank you, Paton. For everything.”
He flushed, his pale skin looking almost as red as his hair as he dipped his chin.
“Sorry it couldn’t be more.” He gave a lopsided grin, and I remembered why a younger version of me fell into bed with him.
“If they ask, I’m going to say you had one of your boyfriends knock me over the head and stole them, though. ”
I laughed. “Understandable. I’ll be seeing you.”
Hayle snorted an incredulous sound, and I reached around to tweak his nipple. I’d never seen him really territorial; he’d taken to both Vox and Lierick with ease. However, something about Paton was turning him into a knuckle-dragging beast.
“Hush. He didn’t have to help us.”
Hayle didn’t say anything, and we left out the side gate behind the stables. Alucius and Braxus ran ahead, and even Quarry appeared from the trees, cawing loudly.
“How is he?” I called over to Lierick, who shook his head.
“He’s getting clammier. We need to move.”
Hayle let out a loud clicking noise, and our horse picked up speed, cantering along the trails it had known since it was a foal. Roads I knew. It would be about forty minutes at this pace to the next village, and it would take us Goddess-knows how long to track down a healer.
I didn’t like this at all. At least I could feel my magic buzzing back along my skin, the further we got from Rewill.
I choked down the panic that was beginning to rise up. My father hated me, but I’d always thought he hated Feodore Vylan more. Apparently, his hatred had festered without an outlet, while I was away at Boellium.
My skin prickled. The road was quiet. Too quiet.
There was a sharp bark, followed by another, and an alarmed call from Quarry. But it was too late.
First Line soldiers poured from the trees, and Hayle swore.
“Go! Lierick, go!” he shouted, kicking Cirrius into a gallop, and the horse didn’t need any further suggestion.
Whatever Hayle was saying in the minds of the horses was making them move faster than I’d ever seen any horse move.
I held on tightly to his waist, crushing Epsy between us so he didn’t fall off, though his little claws were lodged firmly in my shirt.
Then I was wrenched from the back of the horse, as was Hayle, landing on the ground with a lung-rattling thump. Winded, I tried to suck in air as I scrambled to my feet. Lierick had whirled around, but I screamed, “Go!”
It was filled with pain and panic, and Lierick hesitated only a moment more before he took off into the trees, Iker at his back. Vox would die if he didn’t get to a healer, or Baron Vylan would just cut his head off to finish the job. Either way, they needed to be gone.
Within moments, I was suspended in the air, my feet kicking as my arms were stretched above my head and shackled with the elements.
Freezing bands of ice burned against the skin of my wrists, making me whimper.
Hayle kicked out toward me, but they’d wrapped him in some kind of chains. Physical chains.
“Show yourself, you fucking coward!” Hayle roared, and I whipped my head from side to side. My eyes finally snagged on a figure who swaggered out from between the trees, like he was on a leisurely stroll.
I’d never met Feodore Vylan in the flesh before now. If I’d thought he might be anything like his son, I’d have been sorely mistaken. He looked like death personified, some primordial part of my brain already knowing that this man was how I died.
He smiled, and unfortunately, that was the one feature like his son—the same dimple, the same sharp edges. I hated it.
“Ah, the little Halhed girl. The one who turned my son against me. Your father was desperate to sell you to me, but I guess finders keepers, no?” He looked me up and down.
“Though I’m not sure what my son sees in you.
You aren’t much to look at. Maybe it’s your tight little cunt that keeps him so enamored? I’ll test the theory tonight.”
My eyes felt too wide. I searched desperately for my magic. Dipped into the well, but whatever powerful tal we’d been trapped under in Rewill had made my magic retreat so deeply, it was still only trickling back out.
Hayle hissed, and I could see his skin sizzling beneath the chains. Were they heating them? “Stop this!” I implored the Baron.
He threw back his head and laughed. “I don’t think I will. I’m not going to let you scuttle off like rats, hiding beneath rocks until you gather enough other rats to overthrow me. Better to exterminate you now.”
There was a yelp from behind us, and Hayle grunted like he’d been struck. “Alucius,” he whispered.
No. This couldn’t happen. I tried to go back, but I still couldn’t grip enough of the magic. Next to it was something else, though, a different kind of reservoir. Screaming, I reached inside and pushed it outwards.
I felt Baron Vylan’s magic fall from my skin, and I dropped heavily to my knees, jagged rocks cutting the skin of my legs. Reaching for Hayle, I pulled him to his feet, while everyone stared in shock.
I didn’t have time to wonder why they didn’t grab us again. We had to run. If we could make it to the safety of the woods, maybe we could get the horses, or Iker might have doubled back, or fucking anything.
I wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“Go, Avalon!” Hayle shouted, but I couldn’t leave without him. I spun back toward him, but I should have known that Feodore Vylan wouldn’t play fair.
He lifted a gun, pointing it at Hayle. A flashback of another life flitted through my mind, but the gun moved from Hayle to me.
Feodore Vylan, Baron of the First Line and ruler of Ebrus, shot me in the heart. Muscle shredded, and bone splintered.
Then there was nothing but death.