With Silent Screams (22 page)

“No,” Galahad shouted at them. They stepped back, but kept watching me, a tense readiness in their stances.

“I’m not your personal assassin. I don’t kill for your political career. You came up with this plan to get me to kill for you, but it backfired and now there are two dozen dead. Today you’re responsible for the murder of innocent people. If you’d been honest with me, if you’d actually protected the people you were sworn to keep safe, Rean’s family might still be alive. You played at being this manipulator and, let’s be honest, you’re just not that good at it.”

“You think I like knowing that because I fucked up people died?” Galahad said as he got back to his feet. “It was meant to show that we would protect people. Simon escapes and we get to him in time. You kill the mayor for helping and I get to tell everyone that there’s no one untouchable. That even if my people can’t do it, I have those outside of Avalon or Shadow Falls who will do it for me.”

“Your plan was horseshit from the start,” I snapped. “All you had to do was be honest with me. That was it. I never would have left Simon alone if I’d known that you’d planned for his escape. I never would have left those wood trolls unprotected.”

“Wood trolls can take care of themselves,” Galahad said. “They’re not weak.”

“Yeah, those children were great at protecting themselves, especially from an attack in the middle of the night. By the time anyone knew what was happening, those who could have fought back were dead. Simon’s not a fucking idiot, he knew how to attack the colony to create the most fear and get the most dead.”

“Like you would have done, you mean?”

“I’m well aware of the innocent people I’ve killed or hurt. We’ve both lived a long time and killed many, many people. But I never thought you were the kind of person who would allow such a plan to go through.”

“I had to show people I was strong.”

“Yeah, well now you not only look weak, but you look like you can’t even protect your own people. Good fucking job there, your kingship. Are you going to mention in the story how you slit the throat of the mayor or how
…
?” I noticed the misericorde dagger on the ground; I must have dropped it when I was fighting the mayor’s bodyguards. I walked over and picked it up, throwing it at Galahad’s feet. “You had someone put this in my room. You wanted me angry, focused. You gave me a reason to really hate these people, as if all the murder and pain they’d caused wasn’t enough.”

“I was advised.”

“Fuck your advisors,” I screamed. “You’ve known me since we were children, we grew up together. You could have just come to me and said ‘I have a problem, I need your help.’ Instead, you tried to make me your own personal killer.”

“You’ve killed for worse reasons in the past.”

“Watch your fucking tongue, Galahad.”

“Go fuck yourself, you arrogant asshole. You think you’re above all of this, that there are no innocent deaths on your hands. I remember that battle with the Saxons. I remember you burying an axe in that soldier’s chest, finding out he was only twelve. I saw you sit with him until he died as a battle raged about you. Was he the first? How many innocent people followed him?”

I charged toward Galahad, picking him off his feet and dumping him on the ground, with me straddling his chest with a blade of fire in my hand. “You fucking cunt,” I snapped.

“No, stop,” Galahad called out to his guard. “He will kill you.” He returned his attention to me. “Isn’t that so, Nathan? That’s all you are, a killer. Are you going to kill me too?”

“You would use that boy’s death against me, you dare compare the heat of battle to your wretched attempt at manipulation? To your ability to follow a plan that you must have known would fail? You placed your secrets and lies above our friendship.”

“I’m a king,” he seethed. “I had no choice. Unlike you.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“You’re like a nuclear missile, you’re dropped somewhere and cause devastation all around. You’ve always been that way. And I figured you’d come here and just fucking destroy
everything
that stood against me, like you do all the time. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk you saying no, to the whole plan going out the window.”

I got off Galahad, who adjusted his suit, but didn’t bother getting back to his feet.

“Do you even know what Simon was here for?”

“No, although we will. A few years in a dungeon will loosen his tongue a little.”

“I never thought you’d be on the receiving end of my anger,” I said softly. “I always thought you’d be honest with me. That you knew how I felt after leaving Merlin, leaving behind the lies and manipulations. But I was wrong. You’re just shittier at it than he was.”

“I have more important things to do than lament whatever has broken in our friendship,” he said, anger leaking from every syllable. “I think you should leave this city and this state.”

“You’re having me kicked out?”

Galahad shook his head. “I’ll be putting Bill Moon in charge of the investigation into what happened here. We’ll make things more palatable for the humans living here, and then we’ll be taking Simon back to Shadow Falls.”

“And Rean?”

“He has refused my aid and vanished with his remaining colony into the woods. Nine out of twenty-two died today, I doubt he wishes to involve himself with the affairs of anyone other than his colony.”

“You lost two allies in space of a day and damaged your reputation as a ruler who takes care of his own. Congrats. You must be very proud.”

“I think we’re done here,” he said and got back to his feet once more.

I took a step toward him and I noticed something in his expression. Fear. But not fear of me, Galahad would never have been scared of me, but maybe the fear of what had been lost between us, and my anger evaporated, replaced with sadness. “Galahad, you should know something,” I said, gaining his attention as he walked off toward the house.

He stopped at the open door and glanced back at me. “Wha
t is it?”

“I’m not a nuclear bomb, I’m a scalpel. I cut away the tumors and diseased flesh that threatens to consume everything. So, you need to be very careful that during your reign, you don’t become something that requires
my
utmost attention.” And with that, I turned and walked away.

CHAPTER
24

Portland, Maine. Now.

O
n the journey from the top-floor office to the basement of the Mill, I managed to fill Caitlin in on what had happened between Galahad and me through whispers and the occasional hand
gesture
. Rebecca walked several paces in front of us, so didn’t hear us. Which was good, because I was pretty certain that if she had, it would have just started another row. And I had precious few desires to get punched again.

Once we reached the basement, where the number of very tough-looking restaurant staff increased exponentially, Rebecca led us to the far end and placed her hand on the palm reader before entering a five-digit code into the numerical pad next to it. Runes were etched into the door along the top and bottom; I didn’t want to find out what they did, but I was certain it wasn’t good for anyone forcing the door open. The door clicked loudly and moved aside. Rebecca took one step inside and the whole place lit up immediately, showing the lengthy staircase that
spiraled
down several dozen feet.

“Have you been here before?” Caitlin asked. “To Shadow Falls, I mean?”

“Once, about a hundred years ago. The security here has been upgraded a lot since then.”

“The old security was insufficient,” Rebecca said. “Anyone could come and go.”

I assumed that meant me, but let it go. I’d punched her king and humiliated his guard by preventing them from interfering. If circumstances were swapped, I’d be pretty pissed off too.

After descending the fifty or so steps, and walking down a short hallway, we ended up at a second door, which Rebecca opened, motioning for Caitlin and me to enter.

“No security on that door?” I asked.

“If anyone has managed to get past the guard upstairs and then through the door without killing themselves and everyone else with them, I think any security measures we have left would be sort of moot.”

The room inside turned out to be a long corridor, about half the length of a football pitch, although nowhere near as wide. A dozen or so doors led of each side, most off which I discovered were closed as we made our way along the marble-floored hall.

“This hall is probably worth tens of millions of dollars,” I said as I recognized some of the incredible art that adorned the walls in between each door.

“What happens down here?” Caitlin asked, which was just as well as my curiosity was hitting fever pitch, and I doubted Rebecca would have told me.

“We have rooms for those who have made a long journey to get here. Most people like to be rested either before or after the trip, there are beds on the other side too, if you feel the need to take some time.” She glanced at me. “Although some people may not be offered them as easily as others.”

“Yeah, we get it, you’re all pissed off at me,” I snapped. “
Galahad
was the one I hit, not you guys. So, let’s all move on, shall we?”

Rebecca took a step toward me. Part of the floor moved up her body to her hands, where it became a very sharp looking
dagger
. “You have no idea what you did that day? Do you even care? You made my king’s guard seem impotent. Worthless. The king told them not to touch you, that you would kill them
without
a thought. The king’s fear of your actions forced them to stand by while you spoke to him as if he were a common traitor. As if he were nothing. It is not something we can just ‘move on’ from, as you eloquently said, it’s something that we have spent thirty years ensuring never happens again.”

“I’m not going to attack Galahad,” I said. “You do know that he hired me, yes? That he set
me
up and tried to manipulate events so that I’d
murder
people for him. You are aware of that, yes?”

“Yes, I know exactly what happened. I’m one of the very few who do. I may not disagree with your reasons for striking him, but he’s my king. Your reasons don’t make it any better that it was
allowed
to happen.” She dropped the dagger, which vanished into the floor, before turning and striding off.

At the end of the corridor, Rebecca opened the door and ushered us both inside. There were half a dozen people inside, all of whom were seated at computers, typing away. Another five stood next to the door, all of them in uniforms of blue and black and carrying rifles.

“Why the rifles?” I asked.

After a few moments of awkward silence, when it became clear that I was certainly not welcome in the room, one of the guards spoke up. “Sometimes unfriendly people come through the gate,” he said. “And sometimes they come this way. We’re here to make sure nothing bad happens on either end and silver bullets do that job pretty well.”

“Thanks,” I said to him, receiving a curt nod in reply.

“What the hell is that?” Caitlin said and walked to the far end of the sizeable room, staring at the huge archway in front of her. It sat about twelve feet away from anyone else in the room and was nowhere near any walls or doors.

“It’s a realm gate,” I told her.

All realm gates are the same in terms of composition: a mixture of wood and rock and metal, although no one really knows how they’re created or where they came from. They’re all different shapes and sizes; the one before us was about fifteen feet tall and ten feet wide. Each gate has runes carved on its surface that give the gate its color. In the case of Shadow Falls it’s a dull purple glow.

“It’s beautiful,” Caitlin said.

“I remember the first time I saw one,” Rebecca told Caitlin. “I was mesmerized. Even after all these years, it’s hard to believe that such a simple-looking structure is a gateway to the closet thing to heaven many of us will ever see.”

“So, Shadow Falls is a paradise now?” I asked. “Looks like Galahad did good.”

“You’ll see,” Rebecca said with a sly smirk.

“How does it work?” Caitlin asked.

Rebecca nodded to one of the other people in the room who walked up to the realm gate and placed his hand on the gate. The runes on the side of the realm gate exploded to life, the dull purple glow now bathing the whole structure in light. The blank space that had occupied the middle of the gate changed, becoming a mass of swirling colors. The man touched the runes on the opposite side of the gate and the swirling colors changed to a picture of a room. Several people were inside, all of them wore leather amour and had swords at the ready. They saw Rebecca and relaxed.

A huge man appeared in the image, his long almost orange hair tied back. “Rebecca, I was not aware of anyone coming here today.”

“I’m sorry, Harrison,” Rebecca said, “but these people must speak to the king.”

“And, who are
these
people?”

Caitlin waved at the large man, but he saw me and reacted as if he’d been struck. “
Him
!
He
will not come through.”

“Harrison, he must speak to the king. It’s urgent. And, no, you can’t do it for him. It has to be Nathan. I’m not happy either, but his case is solid. Simon is killing again.”

Harrison laughed. “Simon is in a cell.”

“That hasn’t stopped him,” I said. “I just need to figure ou
t how.”

“If you step out of line, I will kill you.”

You’ll try
, I managed to bite down. “I’m not here to start trouble, just stop people dying.”

Harrison spoke in whispers to his colleagues around him. “We will arrange transport to the king,” he said. “He will not leave our sight.”

“I need to go to see someone else first.”

“Who?” Harrison snapped.

“The person who built the prison.”

Harrison smiled. “That won’t be a problem. Maybe one of his inventions will blow up and we’ll be spared your existence.”

“So, can they come through?” Rebecca asked over Harrison and his friends’ laughter.

“Yes, send them over. We’ll get them to where they want to go. They have twenty-four hours, after that I’m opening the gateway and throwing them back, job done or otherwise.”

“Deal,” I said.

“Are you both ready?” Rebecca asked us.

I nodded.

“If you have weapons, you must leave them here.”

Caitlin and I shook our heads, but the guard still patted us down. I assumed it was nothing personal, but the man who decided to check me for weapons was a little more aggressive about it than necessary.

After the checks had been completed Caitlin and I walked up to the gateway as Harrison stared at me from the other side.

“Nervous?” I asked.

Caitlin nodded.

“Don’t be, it’s just a tear in reality.”

We both stepped through together. The trip was instantaneous, although Caitlin tripped once in Shadow Falls, falling to the ground.

As one of the guards helped her to back to an upright position, Harrison towered over me. “If you step out of line, I will kill you.”

I waited until the guardian had switched the gate off before replying, it would take time for them to recharge and be able to open it again. “Anyone ever told you, you’re a colossal dick?”

Harrison appeared flustered, but then bent toward me, so his face was only an inch from mine. “I really hope you step out of line.”

I smiled. “Take us where we want to go, or get out of the way. But every second you stand there and flex your muscles at me is time I could be doing something much more important.”

Harrison almost growled, but stepped aside, allowing Caitlin and me to walk out of the gigantic temple where the realm gate was kept and into the vast city beyond.