Nate Garrett
I didn’t bother watching the rest of the video and left the office a few seconds later. No one tried to stop me or try to ask if I was okay; the expression on my face probably told them all they needed to know. I walked out of the reception area and into the night, where spotlights had been installed so that a cleanup crew could get rid of debris and bodies. I wasn’t sure if Olivia had called in some of her LOA—the Law of Avalon, who were essentially Avalon’s police force—people, or if this crew worked for Tommy, but either way they had a job I didn’t envy.
I found a secluded spot at the rear of the building next to a small pond. I sat on the wooden bench and watched two ducks swim across the water, seemingly oblivious to what had happened here. Tommy eventually found me and sat beside me without a word. We stayed like that for some time before he said anything.
“So, this has been a really bad day.”
I nodded. “You don’t have to humor me, Tommy. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
He turned to look at me, the shadows around his face hiding his expression. “You always do something stupid when you’re angry. You run after those responsible for revenge, or justice, or whatever reason it is. It’s in your makeup. See problem, punch problem, be the baddest. You don’t always have to be the baddest, Nate. You’re better than just using brute strength.”
I turned away and watched the ducks again. “They used my name, Tommy. They went after me, my house, my friends, and my name.”
“We’ll find out who it is.”
“Yes, we will,” I said, my voice hard as iron.
“You know the attackers today . . . They didn’t come here because of you, right? I know you’re popular and all.”
“I know. They were going to attack here no matter what. You help people who don’t want to go to Avalon, and with your connection to Olivia, and people like Diana here, you were always going to be a target. I imagine that Hera has wanted to send people to kill Diana ever since she refused to work for her.”
“They want you angry and not thinking clearly.”
“Pretty much. You were right about me needing to use more than my brawn, Tommy. I’ve spent a long chunk of my life just running in without thinking. I’m going to do something else this time. I’m going to do the same thing I did with Kay when he wanted me to run after him, and I stopped myself and changed direction.”
“You’re going to cut his head off?”
“Well . . . yes, actually. Eventually I’m going to kill Helios, or whoever he’s working for or with. But first I’m going to use my brain and try to stop these attacks. A lot of people are going to be scared . . . A lot of those will be human.”
“A lot of human terrorist organizations have taken responsibility for the attacks.”
“I figured they would. Most terrorist organizations would claim responsibility for starting anything that created some fear. This is too good of a chance to pass up.”
“Hey,” Diana said, running toward us. “You guys need to hear this.” She looked worried, an expression that I wasn’t used to seeing on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Olivia just got off the phone with some people in Avalon. As of now there have been two hundred and nine attacks. Untold thousands are dead the world over. Olivia has her people trying to run down leads, but there are about a hundred different human government agencies with her people working in them that are currently freaking out. There was no warning for this, no intelligence that anything was about to go down. It literally just happened all at once.”
“Shit,” I whispered.
“Some countries are deploying martial law,” Diana continued. “This just got a whole lot worse. Fiona has been recalled to Camelot. She refused. I genuinely don’t know what happens now. Whoever was wearing that mask must have a problem with you personally, Nate. Or at least a problem with Hellequin.”
“They could have been using the Hellequin name because they heard it,” Tommy suggested.
I shook my head. “No, that was deliberate. I’d put money on it. I genuinely don’t know where to start. It wasn’t Helios on the film—I know that much. Whoever it was is stockier than he is. On the other hand, we know that Helios is involved.” I rubbed my eyes. “Maybe I should reconsider my stance on being smart and go after him anyway?”
“You know that’s what they want,” Diana said. “If you’re right about them coming for you, then they’re making this personal. Which means they want you angry, they want you not thinking, and they know you’ll go running after them all the first chance you get.”
“I know. I just want to hit someone.”
“So, are you honestly okay?” Tommy asked me.
I nodded. “I’ll be fine.” I stood and stretched, spotting Fiona and Olivia jogging toward us. “I want to go see Irkalla. Hopefully we can figure out where we’re going from there. We have company.”
Tommy looked around. “I hear you refused to go to Camelot?” Tommy asked Fiona when they both reached us.
Fiona nodded. Olivia kissed Tommy on the lips and sat beside him. “Not sure what Avalon is going to do next, but I think it’s safe to say that they’re no longer going to be helping Fiona find her husband.”
“It wasn’t even a choice,” Fiona said.
Olivia hugged me. “Don’t do anything stupid. And you can’t go back to your old house. There are human police and fire-brigade people there. I might be able to keep you from having to talk to the human police, but it’s time and effort that could be better spent elsewhere. I’m sorry.”
I nodded. I’d expected to have to forgo seeing my house, but the thought of just leaving it all there for people I didn’t know to go through still stung. I waited until she was out of earshot before saying anything. “Stupid? Me?”
Tommy laughed.
“How’re Kasey, Chloe, and the others?” I asked him.
“I checked, and they’re all good. Nothing to report. But then only a handful of people here know where they are anyway. They’re safe.”
“Good. What about Tokyo and New York?”
“Both offices are good,” Olivia said. “No reports of attacks, but both are going to be on high alert.”
That was some good news, at least. “Hellequin is dead after this.”
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I figured you’d say that. For good this time?”
“Someone just announced to the world that Hellequin is responsible for thousands of innocent deaths. Even if I managed to prove otherwise, the Hellequin name would never be the same. Better for everyone that it goes away and stays there. This isn’t about clearing the name of Hellequin; it’s about stopping these bastards before they kill and hurt more people.”
Tommy sniffed the air. “Mordred wants to talk to you.”
“That’s weird and creepy!” Mordred shouted from somewhere in the shadows beyond. He stepped into the light and walked toward us. “Can I have a few minutes with Nate, please?”