Viktor was dragged away by Polina’s people and almost thrown into the back of a car.
“We’ll take care of him,” Polina said, offering her hand, which Mordred shook. “You are not what I expected.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot these days,” Mordred said.
“I hope you find Elaine, all of you,” Polina said. “Be careful in Siberia. There are places there where Avalon’s law is considered the enemy. Try very hard not to come back to Moscow anytime soon. I’m not sure we can take the excitement you bring with you. Besides which, there are rumbles of Avalon declaring open season on anyone who isn’t affiliated. I don’t want to give people an excuse to go after you for your past transgressions.”
Mordred watched Polina and her people drive away.
“I have a friend who lives near the Siberian-Chinese border,” Diana said. “She might not be thrilled about helping Avalon, but then she’s not thrilled about anyone these days. She’ll know the area.”
“My husband is in a Siberian gulag,” Fiona said. “Damn it all to hell.”
“We’ll find him,” Remy said. “Obviously, we’ll find him without the use of all those weapons we discovered. Thanks for setting them all on fire, by the way, Mordred. Very helpful.”
“I like to give you a challenge,” Mordred said. “Also, I forgot all about them. I was a bit angry.”
“It’s a good thing we’re awesome without them,” Remy said.
Fiona walked away without another word.
“She’s close to cracking,” Diana said.
“Do we have transport to this place?” Remy asked.
“Already being arranged,” Nabu said. “Another helicopter will take us as close as possible. We might have to hike some of the way, though.”
“That’s fine,” Mordred said. “Let’s just get going. I plan on finding these people before they can try to hide.”
“Are you okay?” Morgan asked him as everyone else bundled into the car beside them.
“I should ask you the same thing.”
“I’m fine,” Morgan assured him.
“I’ll be good once we’re there. I just want this done. Elaine knew I’d come after her. She knew that if she didn’t make our meeting in New York I’d track her down. I just hope we can get there before they decide she’s too much hassle to keep alive.”
“We’ll find her,” Morgan assured him. “Alive and well. She’s too valuable to kill.”
Mordred sat in the car without a word. He hoped that Elaine was too valuable to hurt. He needed to find her, not just because she was family, or because he cared, or even because she could help stop Avalon from falling into disarray, but because Nate’s life depended on her information about the prophecy. Mordred would gamble with his own life—he was used to it—but not with the lives of his friends. He’d go through hell to keep them safe, especially after having done so much to hurt them over the centuries. On the other hand, he was certain that Alan and Mac were not valuable. And if their captors had murdered either of them, he was going to bury those responsible. That’s the thing about Siberia: there’s an awful lot of places to make people vanish so that they’re never seen again.
CHAPTER 18
Nate Garrett
En route to America
We were over halfway from the Wolf’s Head compound to America when more details of the atrocity of what had happened in North Carolina came through to us. Several sorcerers had assaulted those watching an American football game, killing several hundred as the human police tried to stop them.
I watched the news on the BBC as it unfolded, with more and more information coming in about the terrorist attack. “The humans aren’t prepared for this,” I said. “They’re getting slaughtered.”
“Olivia sent me a message,” Selene said from the seat across the aisle from me. “Several off-duty LOA agents were in attendance and managed to stop the attack. If not for them, the death toll would be in the thousands, not hundreds.”
I rubbed my eyes. It had been a long few days. “Even so, the humans will be less than happy at having Avalon involve themselves. We’re meant to protect them—that’s sort of the first thing about them not knowing we exist. Now they know we exist, know we can kill them, and can’t do anything to stop us. I’m guessing they’re going to be clamoring to do something about it.”
“The human governments will calm things,” Lucifer said. “They’ll say the right things and let Avalon do its job.”
“You hope,” Zamek said, opening his eyes for the first time since we’d taken off.
“Avalon has to do something,” Sky said. “Otherwise what’s the point?”
“Not really sure how much worse it can get,” I said. “I know, it can always get worse.”
I looked out the jet window as time slowed and Erebus appeared sitting across from me.
He waved.
“Now?” I asked. “Seriously?”
“There are some things I mentioned you needed to know. Well, now is as good a time as any.”
“Fine,” I said, exasperated. “What is it?”
“You remember that your mother told you I was created by her and your father?”
“Yes. I remember asking you about it, and you dumping me back in normal time.”
“Well, now is the time. The information that has been gathering in my head has had time to settle, and I need you to know some things. Some things that might be important in the coming future.”
I looked over at Selene, who was seemingly frozen in place. “And what things are they?”
“The last mark on your body—it isn’t what you think it is. The hidden one, the one on your soul, that’s for another time, but that last mark needs unlocking. And it’s going to happen soon.”
“Why? Why now?”
“Because it is. Some things just happen when the time is right. And this is one of those things. I can feel the mark’s power ebbing away. I can feel what’s inside of me wanting to leave, wanting to join with you.”
“And then you’ll vanish?”
“Not for a while yet, no. You’ll need to have your full power, and you won’t have that at least until that last blood-curse mark on your psyche is gone.”
“Okay, so what is this last physical mark?”
“It’s what will unlock your last omega magic. But more than that, it contains information.”
“About what?”
“A lot of things. Information that will slowly trickle into your mind over the coming months. Information about the past, about people, about different ways of using your magic. There’s a lot in there, and it can’t all come at once. You’ll need to be patient.”
“So if this last mark unlocks my last omega magic, and it contains info, what does the one on my psyche do?”