There were three blood elves in the large room with me and Abaddon, and Ares stood in the corner by the sturdy metal door, his arms folded over his chest. Okay, so escape was going to have to wait. I glanced down and realized I wore only my jeans. Someone had taken my shoes.
“Can I at least have a chair to stand on?” I asked. “I assume if you wanted to torture me, you’d have woken me up a while ago.”
“Get him a chair,” Abaddon told Ares. “And tell Merlin he’s awake.”
Ares huffed but did as he was told, slamming the door behind him as he left.
“He really wants you dead,” Abaddon told me. “Deimos, too.”
I looked over at Deimos, who was leaning against the far wall, and winked. “Hey, dipshit.” I turned back to Abaddon. “They both really should get in line. I think I’ll be busy with every other fucker for a while yet.”
“I think it’ll be sooner than you’d like.”
“If you can’t tell, I’m shrugging.”
Abaddon laughed. “I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time. I’ve lived in this realm for thousands of years, never using my abilities, keeping under the radar, but I’ve heard about you. I thought you were just a nobody when we met in Tartarus, but I was wrong. You’re quite famous. Heard what you’re capable of. Merlin thinks you’d be a great asset in what we plan to do. I think you’re going to be killed before then.”
“Both excellent options. Any chance I could have a drink of water? Not water thrown at me, but an actual drink?”
Abaddon picked up a glass and jug from a table beside her and poured some of the water from the jug. She walked toward me, and paused as Ares opened the door, bringing in a metal folding chair. Abaddon took it from him, unfolded it, and placed it in front of me not close enough for me to stand on while she let me drink the cool water.
“Thanks,” I said.
Abaddon laughed. “Not exactly a word I was expecting to hear from you.”
“Just because I want to tear your throat out isn’t exactly a reason to be rude.”
Abaddon smiled and placed the chair under my feet, allowing me to take some of the strain off my arms. “See, being nice does have benefits.”
“I’ll show you how nice I can be,” Deimos said from beside me. He punched me in the ribs hard enough for them to break, and I swung to the side, my feet slipping off the chair. It took a lot of effort to stand back on it, as the side of my torso burned with pain.
“Enough,” Abaddon said. “Know your place, Deimos.”
Deimos huffed again. “I’ll get you soon enough,” he told me before turning and leaving the room, almost walking into Gawain as they passed one another.
“He really does not like you,” Gawain said, placing another chair close to me and taking a seat. “‘Hates’ you is probably a better word. And I don’t think you were friends before you stole his wife.”
I stared at the man I once called a friend, and fought the urge to kick him in the face.
“You really want to hurt me, don’t you?” Gawain said with a smug grin.
“Yes,” I admitted. “That would make me very happy.”
“But then you wouldn’t get to listen to my story.”
“You’re an asshole. Merlin is behind everything. You all want to rule the world and all the realms, and you’re working with Hera and her clan of psychotic idiots. The thing I don’t get is, why not do this when Arthur was in a coma? Why wait?”
Gawain laughed. “The last time we saw one another, Merlin really lost his temper, and he shouldn’t have. But you ruined some plans, and then, well, you just pissed him off so damn much. Or pissed me off, depending on how you look at it considering Merlin isn’t exactly in control of his own faculties these days.”
It dawned on me. “You have mind magic. You’re controlling him? How long?”
“Oh, we’ll get to the hows and whys soon enough. Actually I want to offer you a job. Head of the SOA. Ares is the head of the LOA. Did you know that? I promoted him after firing Olivia. I’ll track her down and her mutt of a husband and deal with them later. I don’t think they’re ever going to see my way of thinking.”
“Good luck with that. I really don’t think you understand just how much hard work it’ll take to kill Olivia and Tommy. They’re not pushovers.”
“Everyone has a weakness, Nate,” Gawain said. “Theirs is their daughter, Kasey. I know Tommy is hiding her, and a lot of her friends, too, but I’ll find them eventually. Kids are such good bargaining chips. It’s amazing that people in their line of work would ever have them, would ever allow themselves to create such a massive weakness that people like me could exploit.”
There was little point in demanding that he leave them alone. I wasn’t really a credible threat. A thought came to me, and I turned back to Gawain. “You want to offer me a job?”
“That’s the plan. I don’t think you’re just going to agree and come work with us, if that’s what you think. I think you’ll need some persuasion. I’ve thought that maybe I could use your friends to get you on my side. I’ll leave them alone if you agree to help me.”
“Help you kill innocent people?”
Gawain laughed. “Oh, I fear I should start from the beginning. My plan isn’t to kill innocent people—well, not long term. Short term, yes, some people will have to be eliminated, or sacrificed to the greater good, but long term, those who survive will be better off.”
I stared at Gawain for several seconds. He looked like his younger brother, Mordred, but for the first time I saw the cruelty in his eyes. “What did you do with Asmodeus’s soul jar?”
He laughed again. I was beginning to hate that laugh even more than I already hated him. “You think I cloned him?”
“Thought had crossed my mind.”
“I know of a few people who can clone themselves. They tend to be a bit broken in the head, though.”
“Because you’re the very model of sanity.”
Gawain’s eyes grew hard. “You really should watch that mouth of yours. It’ll get you into trouble. I’m trying to be nice. I’m trying to bring you into something wonderful. I’m trying to explain things. My brother is the broken one.” With each sentence his voice got louder, until he was on his feet shouting at me. He moved his hands toward me, and a torrent of magical air smashed into my body, knocking me back, causing me to gasp for my breath.
He picked up the chair and placed me back on it. “Behave, Nate.” He raised his hand toward me, showing me a bracelet that looked a lot like the ones that Tommy used. “We copied Tommy’s security. You can only use your powers here if you’re wearing a bracelet. They’re not made for each person individually, though. I didn’t really see the point.”
I looked over at Abaddon and saw the bracelet on her wrist. I hadn’t noticed it before, as I was too groggy. “Why are you doing this, Gawain? I once thought you were a good man. I thought you were my friend.”
“Well, you were wrong on both counts,” Gawain said as he retook his seat. “Asmodeus was captured by the shadow elves and executed, but his blood and spirit were kept in vessels. Vessels that Abaddon, at the time, obtained and stowed away with a few well-placed bribes.”