The Relentless Warrior (11 page)

Instead of getting annoyed with me or angry, he smiled. “Olivia, you are quite the
surprise.”

“I don’t want to be. Honestly, I just want to get my sister better and go home.”

“Alright,” he conceded.

“Thank you.” I turned away from him and opened the door.

“But if you change your mind,” he started slowly. I whipped around to glare at him
and he finished with, “I’m single too, you know.”

I just rolled my eyes and slipped into the quiet room. I knew he was joking, or at
least I assumed he was joking.

It didn’t matter either way; the outcome was the same. I allowed myself a small smile
at Sebastian’s playful side and then focused on my sister.

The room wasn’t as empty as I was hoping it would be. Eden was sitting in the corner,
on the couch I used as a bed. There were three guards standing around the room and
two girls standing on either side of O’s bed. One was tall, with blindingly bright
blonde hair. She was willowy, with a perfect body most girls would die for. Her stance
was casual, one hand cocked on her hip, the other dangling at her side in a way that
screamed super-model-posing-for-a-cover-shoot. I instantly had my guard up against
her.

The other girl was significantly shorter, with tumbling golden brown hair that hung
around her shoulders. She wore a dainty golden crown on her head, and her petite frame
hovered over O’s body like she could figure out what was wrong with my sister if she
stared long enough.

I had to admit that I was intimidated, walking into a room full of beautiful women.
I didn’t have many friends outside of my family. Okay, I had no friends outside of
my family. School was too competitive for me to take time to befriend one of my classmates
and besides I didn’t live on campus, so there wasn’t really an opportunity for me
to get to know anyone outside of class. And high school was a completely different
story, but sadly the source of all my issues. Now, or before this fiasco, my life
revolved around school, the part-time job I’d quit right before O and I left for Peru
and my family.

I wasn’t good with people anyway, and these girls screamed “in crowd.” I didn’t just
want anything to do with them except to get them out of my sister’s room now.
Right now.

I swallowed down whatever insecurities their obnoxious beauty had plagued me with
and cleared my throat. “Hello?”

Eden whirled around immediately and smiled at me, “Hey, Liv.”

I swallowed against the urge to correct her. We were definitely not on a nickname
basis yet. “Hey. How’s my sister?” I tried to tone down the territorial tones in my
voice, but it was a losing battle.

“Oh, sorry.” Eden stood up and walked toward me. “Mimi just arrived and was desperate
to check in on you two. She was with Jericho when he found you. She was at Machu Picchu.”

“Oh,” I answered a little deflated. I felt bad giving her attitude if she was one
of the people that rescued us.

The short brunette marched forward next and offered her hand. In a crisp British accent
she introduced herself, “I’m Amelia. Uh, Mimi. Mostly everyone calls me Mimi. And
this is Seraphina.” She gestured toward the tall blonde who was watching me with one
perfectly arched eyebrow raised contemptuously.

“I’m Olivia.” I shook Mimi’s hand and then offered Seraphina a small wave.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Mimi continued. “I’ve just been so worried about you two.
I knew you’d recovered, or, er, at least woken up. I had hoped your sister would have,
too, by now.”

“Me, too,” I croaked through the emotion lodged in my throat. “So you were on the
mountain? I just, I don’t really remember.”

“Yes,” Mimi answered.

Awkward silence fell on the room and we all shifted uncomfortably. I looked longingly
at my sister, wishing these other girls would just disappear. I usually convinced
the guards to wait on the other side of the door if I was alone. And that was what
I desperately needed, to be alone.

“So you were really changed?” Seraphina broke the silence first. She didn’t sound
like she believed the rumors and I was in no hurry to put on a show for her. She could
believe whatever she wanted; it didn’t matter to me.

“Yep,” I answered shortly.

“I can feel your Magic,” Eden told me. “Your current is getting strong by the day.”

“That probably means it’s getting more permanent too, right?” I felt my shoulders
sag with that news.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Eden said. “It won’t matter though. We’ll figure out a way
to reverse this.”

“Wait,” Seraphina piped up. “You don’t want to be Magic? Why not?”

“Sera!” Mimi scolded her. “Stop being rude.”

“I didn’t want Magic either when I first found out,” Eden pointed out.

Seraphina snorted and said, “No, you wanted it, you just didn’t know how to use it.
Or was that just your ploy to get my boyfriend’s attention?”

“Oh my gosh!” Eden gasped. “We are
not
going back there!”

“No, that sounds fun!” Mimi giggled. “Let’s go back there. Let’s hash out all the
sordid details of when Kiran dated you both!”

Both of the other girls groaned and I wished I had a bowl of popcorn. This was ridiculously
entertaining.

“Don’t start with me, Amelia Catherine Cartier-St. Andrews,” Eden warned. “Or we can
also talk about Avalon’s little crush on Sera.”

“Avalon was into me?” Seraphina asked, sounding a little stunned.

Mimi groaned, “Not like into you, into you. He thought you were hot for just a bit.
That was before you started dating Sebastian.”

“You’re dating Sebastian?” I asked dumbly.

Seraphina leveled me with an angry glare, “Not anymore.”

Yeesh, this was like a season of
Gossip Girl
all packed into one tiny conversation.
Who were these people?

“Got it.” I held my hands up and walked over to Ophelia’s abandoned side.

The girls continued to talk in the background. “Have you seen him since you’ve been
back?” Eden asked Seraphina.

“Briefly,” Seraphina answered quickly. “Trust me, we’re over. That is a bridge that
has been well and fully burned. No offense, Mimers, but your brother is
such
a douche when he wants to be.”

“Says the girl who’s madly in love with him,” Mimi quipped in return.

I sighed and sat down next to O. I brushed her tangled hair out of her face and pressed
my forehead to hers. She was warmer today. I could feel the rise in her temperature
easily. It wasn’t like she was feverish or anything, but she was further than being
the temperature of cold death than she had been since she fell into her coma. I breathed
her in and allowed one small tear of thanksgiving to slip from my eye while the girls
prattled in the background.

Couldn’t they take this somewhere else?

“We’re being insensitive,” Eden announced firmly.

I shook my head, but couldn’t find the energy to argue with her. I just wanted my
sister. I was so tired of being in the unfamiliar, of everything feeling strange and
foreign, even my own body. I just wanted to curl up next to her and hold her.

“We’re sorry, Olivia,” Mimi called from where they stood, but I still didn’t look
up at them. “We just haven’t been together in a while. We shouldn’t have intruded.”

“It’s fine,” I sighed. “I’m just tired and worried about O.”

There was some whispering in which I heard Eden explain that O was short for Ophelia.

“Well, we’ll let you get some rest then,” Eden finally announced.

“Thank you,” I forced myself to be polite and crawled up next to O before they’d even
left the room.

I felt their curious gazes on me as I tucked myself into her, wrapping a protective
arm around her slim waist and burying my face in her shoulder length blonde hair.
The door opened and closed again, but my eyes were already shut and I let my exhausted
mind drift into the sweet oblivion of sleep.

Finally.

Finally, these strange people would leave me alone. Finally, I would get some sleep.
Finally, I would get to hold my suffering sister and will her to get better.

There were other things going on around me- important things, mundane things, strange
things. But the only thing I cared about was getting Ophelia better. Terletov, revenge,
my own cure, even Jericho faded into the background of what was truly important. It
wasn’t until this last moment, where I hovered between unconsciousness, tangled in
the concerns of my new reality that I realized how unimportant everything else was.

Everything else was just distraction.

Especially Jericho.

Especially a boy who made my heart flutter and my skin tingle. I had no room in my
life for him and no room in my heart.

I just had to remember that.

Chapter Nine

Jericho

“God, you’re
such
a bastard,” I groaned as soon as I saw the bastard in question face to face for the
first time in months.

“Who me?” Avalon asked innocently.

“I had to walk all the way around the wall. All the way around, Avalon!”
 
I shouted at him. We were in the Throne room. Everyone had convened here for a meeting.
And while I was happy to see Seraphina and Amelia return to the castle, that brief
joy was eclipsed by my outrage at my idiot friend.

“Why didn’t you just climb over it?” he asked but couldn’t completely disguise his
laughter.

“You know why I couldn’t
climb over it
! There’s enough protection spells on the Citadel wall to send it into another realm!”
I rubbed a hand over my face, trying to hold back my rage. “You locked me out!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Avalon was avoiding the Thrones- as usual-
and hovering around Amelia while she chatted with Angelica.

“You’re telling me Olivia figured out how to change the lock?”

“Maybe. Did she have a reason for wanting to keep you out?” He stared at me with his
blazing green eyes and waited for my honest answer, an answer I would never give him
in a room full of people.

I groaned.
Did she?

Yes.

“She’s not your biggest fan, Jericho,” Avalon pointed out.

“
Jer
,” Kiran added helpfully. Bastards. All of them.

“We’re fine,” I mumbled.

“Why wouldn’t you be fine?” Seraphina asked. “Are you like, a thing?”

“No.” I could have toned back my enthusiasm, but it needed to be known. Not only didn’t
I want rumors starting, but I didn’t want Olivia to have to deal with this lot. I
loved these people, I really did. Of course, it was harder to remember that when we
were all together and I had to deal with them.

Seraphina laughed and Kiran shot Avalon an I-told-you-so look. This was all very irritating.

“Aren’t we here for a reason?” I asked dryly. Avalon, Sebastian and Kiran broke down
into laughter.

“Yes,” Eden spoke up. “And leave Jericho alone!”
“Oh, here we go again,” Sebastian exclaimed. “Eden’s taking Jericho’s side again.
I thought we

were all over the love triangle?”

Avalon choked on his laughter.

“You’re such a wanker,” Kiran growled.

And I had to agree. I knew Sebastian was just trying to get us to react, but this
felt so much more like grade school than an adult meeting of the minds. We were supposed
to be discussing Terletov, not my love life, or lack thereof.

“This is a waste of my time.” I took another step into the Throne room and met Avalon’s
stare. “We have more important things that need to be discussed.”

“You’re right,” he agreed easily. His expression grew serious and he slowly put on
the persona of King. Pointing a finger at me he said, “But this isn’t over.”

“Of course not,” I answered sarcastically.

Avalon stepped up to the platform the solid gold Thrones were set on and clapped his
hands together. We were already paying attention, but tension in the room notched
up about a hundred degrees and we all put on our game faces.

“We all know why we’re here. Terletov is destroying my Kingdom one city at a time.
He’s so far managed to always stay ahead of us. We’ve picked up clues only to have
them lead to a dead end or go cold. We’ve found secret lab after secret lab, but abandoned
and empty. He is managing to kill my people and stay completely off radar. This cannot
go on any longer. Our friends are at risk, my people are at risk, and now we know
the human population is in just as much danger. If this continues, they will start
to pay attention and they will start looking for answers. But most importantly, we
need to end this before any more lives can be taken. I need to stay here. Mimi and
I are moving home permanently. Eden and Kiran will be staying here full time, as well.
At least until the, uh, until the baby is born. Talbott is investigating Jericho’s
parent’s places. As I’ve understood it, you think there could be a lead there?” I
confirmed with a firm nod. “And Gabriel has gone off on his own mission. There are
other teams around the world, but this is our strongest lead. I’m going to leave it
up to the rest of you to decide what you want to do. You’re welcome to stay here as
long as you want. Or if you’d rather take off, no one will hold that against you.
You’ve all done your share. You’ve all fought a war before. I’m not asking you to
be a part of this one unless you want to be.”

“And our other option?” Sebastian demanded.

Avalon hesitated, but finally he said, “Talbott is waiting for you to join him.”

“Then that’s what I’ll be doing,” Sebastian declared.

“Me too,” Seraphina echoed.

“Oh no, oh no. No, you’re not,” Sebastian argued. “I already said I was going. You
can’t follow me over there, Sera. It won’t work.”

She scoffed with so much attitude that even I felt wounded. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“So you’re not volunteering for this mission in some desperate attempt to gain my
attention?” Sebastian was being more than a little harsh, but Sera could give as good
as anyone. I was still surprised that their breakup had been so volatile. When it
originally happened they seemed kind of amicable, but over the months, Sebastian had
been growing steadily more bitter and Seraphina couldn’t seem to hate him more. They
were strange. They’d been an odd couple when they were together and now they were
a series of explosive confrontations that could be dangerous to bystanders.

“Ugh!” Seraphina’s voice dripped with acid. “You’re so full of yourself it’s disgusting!
Lilly is my friend. I care about what happens to her. Stop being a selfish prick and
let me do what I need to.”

“Selfish prick?” Sebastian demanded. “That’s hilarious coming from you!”

“Enough,” Avalon growled. “Work out your sexual frustration later. Much, much, much
later. Seraphina you will stay behind, just so I don’t even have to listen to this
again.” Seraphina turned her fury on Avalon but he held up a warning hand. “Besides,
Eden and Mimi need you here. We’ve shut down every upcoming event or gathering in
light of Terletov’s activity, but we’ve opened the Citadel up to those who might feel
in danger. The town is going to be flooded in a few days, and the girls need you to
help organize.” She seemed just barely pacified by this, but wisely stayed quiet.
Avalon’s irritated gaze swung to me and he demanded, “What about you Jericho? Are
you in or what?”

“I’m going,” I said. “I’ll meet Talbott.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.” I shifted on anxious feet. Now that departure was within my reach my
body hummed with excitement for action.

“And what about Olivia?” Eden demanded.

My overly enthusiastic body lurched at the mention of Liv. My excited energy quickly
turned to nausea and I felt my entire aura revolt at the idea of leaving her here
by herself. And this time it honestly had nothing to do with my lustful feelings for
her. I was the only stable, familiar thing she had here; and I was abandoning her.

She trusted me more than anyone else and I was choosing to leave her behind.

That pummeled my chest like missiles of inadequacy. What kind of guy abandoned a girl
like that when she needed him?

Me? Was that the kind of guy I was?
Most of me wanted to say no. I stuck around, sometimes for too long. I didn’t let
people down. I was loyal to a fault.

But then why was I in such a hurry to get away from Liv?

Yes, I wanted to be back out in the field, but Olivia was important too.

Was she simply not important enough?

I didn’t have the answer. Or maybe I did, but it was too scary to admit it to myself.
Because maybe it wasn’t that she
wasn’t
important, but that she was
too
important.

And if I stuck around much longer, than I wouldn’t be able to ignore those obvious
feelings anymore.

I shook those thoughts off and forced myself to sound level, “She’ll be fine. She
has you guys. Eden can still work with her. Her sister has been showing signs of improvement
lately. She’s not going to be here much longer, anyway.” Geez, that was like ten answers
for one question. Pretty sure, I couldn’t get more obvious than that.

The room just stared at me, silently letting me decompress from my overeager answer.

Avalon cleared his throat and said a little dazedly, “Well, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” I answered quickly.

A knock on the door drew our attention and we remained silent while a pair of Titan
Guards entered the room in their relaxed uniform.

They both bowed in their stiff, military-style and then one of them spoke up, “Sir,
the Gypsy Queen is here to see you.”

Avalon tried to suppress a smile, but he couldn’t quite manage to dim the curiosity
in his eyes. Even Eden and Kiran started whispering animatedly.

Avalon looked around at us and waggled his eyebrows. “Illeana has never been here
before. This must be a big deal.” Then assuming the look of Lucifer himself, Avalon
told the Guards, “Tell her I’ll be with her in a minute.”

The Titans shifted uncomfortably and then one cleared his throat, “She said to tell
you to stop stirring mischief and to thank you for gathering everyone for her benefit.”

Avalon’s smile grew, “Fascinating. Alright, show her in.”

The Titans turned on their heels and marched from the room. I had been ready to bolt
just moments ago, but was just as guilty at succumbing to curiosity as Avalon.

She really had never been to the Castle before. She always waited for Immortals to
visit her. Of course, before us, she had never been welcome here. Although, I didn’t
think that bothered her. She didn’t want anything to do with the Citadel or reminders
of a Monarchy that killed her parents and treated her like an outcast.

I didn’t blame her.

But what could she want now? Hopefully information regarding Terletov and where to
find him.

Avalon looked at me and asked, “Do you think she’s pissed I haven’t been down there
to visit her again?”

I refrained from laughing and said, “I hope so. I hope she beats you with a stick
again.”

“How about I beat
you
with a stick this time, General,” Ileana’s scraggly voice sounded from behind me.

I had to assume she was talking to me. I jolted to attention and offered her a genuine
smile. “Hello, your Highness. You’re looking lovely as usual.”

She snorted loudly at that and rolled her violet eyes. “You can’t charm me, Jericho
Bentley. In fact, from what I’ve heard, you’re having a hard time charming anyone.”

I felt my face heat from uncharacteristic embarrassment. It was one thing to be ribbed
about my failures from my friends, but that the Gypsy Queen had found out or foreseen
my screw-ups was an entirely elevated degree of humiliation.

Avalon burst out laughing until Ileana leveled him with a ferocious glare. “Enough,
young King, your own journey to matrimony was equally difficult. But that is not why
we’re here. We have important matters to discuss and then I want to meet her.”

“Meet who?” Avalon asked carefully.

“The Immortal human. We are so much alike.” She looked around the room, her tiny frame
somehow filling up the room with her presence. She wore a purple bandana tied tightly
around her head, but her gray curls still escaped in chaotic wisps around her face.
Her nose was pierced with a large golden ring that matched the three sets in her ears.
Her clothes were layered rags that puffed her up to four sizes larger than she really
was. But it was winter, and she lived in a hut, so she did what she had to in order
to stay warm. And her nails were as dirty and chipped as ever. She did not look like
a queen per se, but she chose this life, she chose this style and anyone that knew
her realized how much respect she demanded. She cleared her throat and said, “But
there are two Immortal humans, aren’t there? One with an eternal life and one in an
eternal sleep.”

My heart twisted inside my chest and my Magic jolted in my blood. “Are you saying
that Ophelia won’t wake up?”

“Who is Ophelia?” Ileana asked in her thick Romanian accent.

I growled under my breath.

“He won’t be found until he wants to be,” she declared and we scrambled to keep up.

Terletov.

We settled in around the room. Eden, Kiran and Mimi took seats on their Thrones while
Avalon stood next to his wife. There had been talk of commissioning a third Throne
so that both sets of king and queen could sit, but Avalon had been dragging his feet-
big surprise. Truthfully, I didn’t think either couple wanted to reside together at
the same time. But they couldn’t change that for the moment. The Kingdom needed them
to stand together.