“That would explain the numbers,” I said. “And why they sent people here to die. Most of the prisoners wouldn’t have been considered useful for anything but causing chaos. And sending them to die is a good way of getting rid of deadweight, while still sending a message of terror. Two birds, one stone and all that.”
“You think the sorcerers who have been turned into bombs didn’t know what was happening?” Tommy asked me.
“If someone can break a mind so that they can only say one thing over and over, it stands to reason that they can force them to blow themselves up. We won’t know more until we capture someone alive.”
“You think we’re going to get the chance?” Nabu asked.
I nodded. “Almost certainly. These attacks aren’t done. Even if a tiny portion of the attacks are carried out by these prisoners, there still seem to be plenty of people who are more than willing to die for the cause. Whoever is in charge of this cabal sure knows how to inspire loyalty.”
“You sound impressed,” Morgan said.
“Afraid more than impressed. I don’t know if this cabal is achieving that loyalty through fear, the promise of a better life, or money, but something is making people work for them. Hera is one of the most powerful people on the planet in terms of sheer manpower and monetary wealth, and she did that despite being a raving psychopath. As a rule, people—human or otherwise—don’t think of themselves as the bad guy. They rationalize, and create a narrative where what they’re doing is just fine. Everyone says they have a line they won’t cross, but when everyone around you is crossing it and making a new line further and further into the distance, it takes a strong person to say no and walk away.”
“So, what happens now?” Remy asked.
“Now we all get ready to go do what we need to do,” Zamek said.
“We get ready to fight,” Tommy said.
“Just us?” Morgan asked. “Because I don’t think we’re going to be able to go up against Hera by herself, let alone anyone she’s working with. Speaking of which, why isn’t Arthur going after Hera or her allies? We know she’s working with this cabal. Why doesn’t Arthur stop her?”
“He can’t,” Olivia said. “If Avalon officially goes after Hera, who is entrenched in London, she’ll turn that city into a war zone overnight. Hera and her allies have so much power, so much pull inside of Avalon, that it would start a civil war. All we know is that Hera, Helios, Baldr, Nergal, Siris, and Kay were working together. Kay is dead, so that leaves those five. We have no idea where Nergal and Siris are, Baldr is trapped in another realm, and Helios was in prison. I imagine that we’ll be seeing more of these cabal members in the near future, but until we know who we’re fighting, we’re limited in our response. Arthur’s power to deal with them is cut off at the knees until one of them does something brazen.”
“And Arthur’s trying to bring all of Avalon together,” I said. “He’s trying to find out who is and isn’t his ally. He needs information before he can strike against Hera and the cabal. Otherwise he’ll get stabbed in the back the first chance someone gets.”
“I’m going to contact my other branches in New York and Tokyo,” Tommy said, getting to his feet. “I want to make sure none of them are having similar problems.”
He left the room, and I wanted to go after him to make sure he was okay.
“Olivia, how long before we can get transport ready?” I asked.
“A few hours. I need to make some calls. I’m keeping this out of Avalon’s view for as long as I can. I spent a long time finding the traitors inside of Avalon, but I’m not convinced I found them all. So, I’ll be using as many of Tommy’s contacts as possible. At least until I can get ahold of Lucie and find out what she knows. It’s nearly midnight, so give me until dawn.”
I stood. “Then everyone has six hours to get some rest and prepare for what’s next. I’m going to contact Sky and Hades and go see my ruin of a home. That should keep me busy.”
“Nate,” Mordred called after me as he followed me out of the room.
I stopped and waited.
“What you said about some of those people being sent here to die. That might be right, but the guy who blew himself up next to me in New York—he was a fanatic. I saw the look in his eyes. I saw the hatred. He wanted to be there. I just wanted you to know. They might be using prisoners as expendable help, but some of those people chose to die for their cause.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“What if Hera is the head of the cabal? Or Merlin?”
“We both know it’s not Hera,” I said.
Mordred nodded. “Yeah . . . but it could be Merlin. Arthur has been back for three years, and everything is even worse now than it was back then. What if Arthur didn’t exactly live up to Merlin’s ideal, and Merlin finally gave up the pretense of helping?”
“I can’t see why he’d take so much time and effort to keep Arthur alive, just to throw that away by attacking Avalon.”
“Maybe that’s why he kept Arthur alive? He thinks that after all these years he’s finally twisted Arthur to his way of thinking, but Arthur wakes up and wants to make Avalon better. Not turn it into whatever Merlin wants. Merlin’s sidelined, finally loses that last shred of being a good person, and—”
“Murders a whole bunch of people,” I finished for him. “It’s possible. If it’s Merlin, we’re going to have to confront him at some point. Arthur’s appointing people he trusts, people who would push Merlin further away from power. He snaps. There’s merit there.”
“Nate, there’s something else. About the prophecy.”
“Mordred, you aren’t going to kill me. You’re not going to need to stop me from going full Darth Vader, or whatever Tommy would call it. Don’t worry.”
“But I am. I’ve stayed away from you for a year, because I thought distance was the answer. It isn’t. I’m going to find out how we beat this prophecy, but I’m done pushing my friends away to achieve it. I’m sorry about that.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be. I get it. I do. But the Fates have been wrong before, and they’ll be wrong again.”
Tommy burst out of a nearby meeting room door. “Nate, you need to see this. Now.”
Mordred and I followed him back into the office. He grabbed the TV remote from the table and pointed it toward the large TV on the wall, switching it on. The screen came to life, showing a female news reporter sitting in a studio. Tommy paused the TV and began rewinding for several seconds, until the screen changed to a man in a mask. The mask was black, except for a white streak that moved down across one of the darkened eyeholes, stopping just above where the mouth would have been.
“I had a call from one of my people downstairs. You need to watch this,” Tommy told me, and pressed play.
“I am responsible for the terror that has spread across the globe. Before I am done, you will bow down to me and my kind as your rightful rulers. My name is Hellequin.”
CHAPTER 6