The Natural jogged past us, never breaking his stride. His gaze fixed ahead and never strayed towards us. It was as if we were invisible.
Elijah groaned, but the soldier was already far enough away from our position that he didn’t hear.
Across from us, a tent flap swung open and a woman slipped through. She hefted a box in her arms and her gaze swept past us like my ability encased us in empty air.
No one could see us.
But that was impossible. Naturals could see through a cloak and so could demons. Something wasn’t right about this, but I wasn’t going to take it for granted.
I understood whatever I was doing was a unique ability, one the Naturals wouldn’t take kindly to—impervious to Light, immune to Dark. I hoped my current theory was wrong.
I cursed and shook my head. I was already referring to my people like I wasn’t one of them anymore. What was I now that the enemy had awoken my Dark side? A hybrid, I supposed.
Anchoring Elijah against me, I held him steady with my Light and forged through the camp, no longer worried about being seen.
Dragging Elijah into the infirmary, I saw Ramona sitting at the opposite end of the tent, bent over a microscope.
“Ramona.”
At the unexpected sound of my voice, she shot to her feet and stared at us. “What the…”
I eased Elijah onto the closest bed. “I need your help. His wounds are infected and—”
She strode across the tent and pushed me aside, dragging me away from the bed. “What have you done?” she demanded. “Everyone is out hunting you. If they—”
“Ramona,” I snapped, “he’s dying.”
She blinked and looked down at Elijah as I eased him out of his T-shirt. He was barely conscious, pain the only thing keeping him tethered to life. The trek here had only been a few miles, but the toll had been high.
“A demon attacked him,” I told her as I uncovered my hasty bandaging. “If it was a Balan or one of those things that captured me, I’m not sure. He didn’t say.”
“How long has he been like this?”
“Since last night.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “How is he still alive?” Clucking her tongue, she leaned over Elijah and pressed her palm against his brow. The moment her skin came into contact with his, she snatched her hand away as if it had been burnt. “He’s—”
“A demon,” I finished for her. “Though his humanity remains.”
“How did you find him?”
“It’s a long story,” I muttered.
“Long enough that you never reported it, I assume.”
“No one would have believed my intentions were for the Light, even if I did.”
“Madeleine, that’s no excuse for lying on your mission reports!”
“What did you expect?” I exclaimed. “Everyone treats me like I’m a leper! Of course, I’ll keep it a secret! Do you realise how this looks for me?”
“After all we’ve been through, you could have come to me.”
I bristled, barely holding onto my frustrated tears. “I couldn’t and you know it. I tried to convince him to come, but he wouldn’t step foot inside Camelot. You know why? Because he knew he’d be carved open and studied. People like us will always be outside the Light, no matter how much we want to be a part of it. Human Convergence stole my life and it stole Elijah’s.”
“It’s not that simple, Madeleine,” Ramona argued. “The Dark is all-consuming.”
“He saved my life,” I said, seething. “What was I supposed to do? Leave him to die? He was attacked because he helped me escape from Ben Nevis.”
Ramona sighed. “Ethically, maybe you were right. But you conspired with the enemy, Madeleine. The Codex is clear about our stance towards the Dark.”
“He’s a victim, Ramona, just like I was. You can’t tell me you didn’t feel it when you touched him. The line isn’t as clear cut as it used to be.”
She lowered her gaze and studied Elijah. “What’s the end game here, Madeleine? What does he want?”
“A cure.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes!” I threw my hands into the air. “Are you going to help him or not? While we argue about stupid ethics, the infection is killing him.” Unbidden tears welled in my eyes. “Ramona, please.”
She stared at me open-mouthed. “You care for him. A demon?”
“Crucify me later,” I pleaded. “Please, help him.”
Scowling, she pushed me aside and began to inspect Elijah’s wounds. Without a word, she began to administer her Light, searching out the limits of the infection.
“It’s not good,” she told me. “But I don’t think it’s too late.”
I sighed in relief and sank onto the neighbouring bed. Exhaustion was tugging at me beyond the reaches of my Light and I was long past caring what Ramona thought of me. Admitting I felt empathy for a demon was one of the worst things I could admit to, but it wasn’t all of Elijah. She’d see.
“I can do some non-invasive preliminary tests,” Ramona told me as she prepared to treat Elijah’s infection, “but I can’t hide you both for long.”
“Do what you can.”
I watched Ramona’s every move as she administered antibiotics to combat the poison that was leeching into Elijah’s body.
She conducted her tests while we waited for the medicine to do its work. She took some of his blood and peered at it under a microscope, then used her Light to manipulate the cells before looking again.
She returned to him several times, checking on his infection and to take scans and make other assessments. I did not understand what half of them were, even though I’d likely gone through the same process as a teenager.
“Can you help him?” I asked when I couldn’t take it anymore.
Ramona shook her head. “I’ve tried multiple simulations, but I’m afraid the mutation has taken over.”
“It can’t have,” I argued. “I could see him switch between two different halves…” I looked up at her, pleading. “I saw it, Ramona.”
She turned back to the tablet, but it was only a tactic to stall so she could gather her thoughts.
“It must be a different strain,” she mused, flicking her finger across the tablet screen. Numbers and diagrams flashed past, but they meant nothing to me. “But I can’t see where it differentiates between what he once was and what he is now in the results. This thing has completely taken over. That’s the only conclusion I can come to, or—”
“Or what?”
“Or he wasn’t human to begin with.”
A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed hard. “If he wasn’t human, then what was he?”
Her gaze met mine, troubled. “I don’t know.”
If she was right, then that’s why he wasn’t cured when Mordred died. It just didn’t add up. Our world was comprised of Naturals, demons, and humans. Nothing else remained after the cataclysm.
“I think it’s time you told me everything, Madeleine,” Ramona said, setting down the tablet. “And leave nothing out this time, because I know you’re still not revealing everything.”
I gritted my teeth. She was right, but a small part of me hoped that when the Regula was called to haul my arse to prison, they wouldn’t detect my mutation.
“Will he live?” I asked, lifting my gaze.
She nodded. “Yes, but I cannot guarantee his ongoing safety.”
“I understand.”
I watched the rise and fall of Elijah’s chest as he slept. His wounds looked better already. He’d bear the scars for the rest of his existence, but I hoped he’d agree it was a small price to pay.
Ramona sat beside me and placed her hand on my shoulder, her Light rippling through me. “Oh, Madeleine…”
And with that simple touch, she knew the truth about me.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I wish I could help you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my brow creasing.
“I know your mutati
on,” she murmured. “We spent all that time together, working to stop it from spreading. I studied it for a year trying to find a cure. I synthesised every scenario I could before Mordred’s death.”
I sucked in a shaky breath. “There was never going to be a cure for Human Convergence, was there?”
“No, but…”
“But what?”
“I don’t need to do a test to know your mutation has changed.” She turned so she faced me. “Madeleine, your mutation has fused with your soul.”
I jerked to my feet and shook my head. “You’re lying.”
“Thirty years of studying soul medicine has taught me how to diagnose with a simple brush of Light. I can feel it in you.”
“No.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her eyes misting with tears. “Madeleine…there is nothing that can cure this.”
I collapsed next to Elijah and took his hand in mine. He was completely out to it and not even my touch stirred him.
“What about him?” I demanded.
“Perhaps, in time, he can return to what he once was.”
I knew when I walked into Camelot, there was no leaving, but I attempted to hatch a plan anyway. Elijah might not get his cure, but we could escape this place with both our lives intact. The world awaited us, just like he’d said. We could still go.
“Promise me you’ll help him,” I said to Ramona.
She stood beside us. “You know I can’t. If the Regula judge him to be an innocent, then I will do whatever I can to help him. Until then, I can only see to his wounds.”
The Regula wouldn’t do shite for Elijah if my experience was anything to go by. They’d look at him and see Darkness, disregarding what he was before. I saved his life, only to condemn him to his worst fears.
Ramona stirred behind me. “You love him, don’t you?”
I sniffed, holding back a flood of tears. “I don’t know what love is,” I whispered. How could I when I didn’t know who I was?
Who am I?
I was the Light in the dark and the Dark in the light. The Codex—the book that decreed all Natural law—didn’t allow for shades of grey. That’s what I was now…a shadow.
“And so, the battle lines are drawn,” I whispered.
Stomping boots thundered into the infirmary behind me and I tightened my grip on Elijah’s hand.
“I’ll come back for you,” I whispered, my Light brushing against him. “I promise. Then we’ll be free, just like you said we would. I understand now.”
“Madeleine Greenbriar,” Caleb Thompson bellowed, “you’re under arrest.”
15
They found a more secure place to lock me up this time around.
A windowless stone room somewhere within the boundary of Camelot was my prison—cold, damp, and cut off from the outside world. I lost all sense of time. Day, night, who knew how long I’d been here. It could have been few hours or a few days for all I knew.
I sat in the far corner, my head resting against freezing stone. My fingers stroked a clump of moss beside my boot, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop the voices in my head.
Darkness was in my soul.
It taunted me, calling out to my despair. Playing on my guilt. Tempting me to fall into its all-consuming blackness.
I wouldn’t give it the satisfaction.
My hand found the hilt of my arondight blade, surprised they hadn’t taken it away. It could only mean Ramona hadn’t told them about me yet, and I was thankful for the small kindness. I’d tell Aiden and Thompson the truth on my own terms.
A drop of water slapped on my head and I swiped my hand through my hair. Another cage. At least this one didn’t come with a meat closet.
I slid to the side, manoeuvring out of the drip-zone.
Ramona’s diagnosis was a shock, but it explained why I could get through the camp unseen, but not how Trent had spotted me in the village. Maybe he could pierce my cloak because deep down, I wanted him to see me. He’d fought for me after all . . . and I’d repaid him with a fist to the temple.
Elijah…
I didn’t know if he lived, if he was free, if he’d been granted asylum, or if he’d escaped. He hadn’t tried to contact me via our bond at all.
I’m sorry. I tried to do the right thing. I didn’t want you to die. I wanted to give you a future.
I pressed my forehead against my knees and swallowed my tears.
Stone scraped against stone, rousing me from my shame spiral and I rose to my feet, searching for the source of the sound. My limbs were stiff and my body felt chilled all the way through. Hunger tugged at my stomach, but I wouldn’t allow physical discomfort to become a weakness.
Light shone through a gap in the wall, and another scrape opened the crack farther. Then a familiar face peered into my prison.
Aiden.
He looked at me as if he’d just arrived at my funeral. Saying nothing, he gestured for me to come, stepping back as I approached. So this was how it was going to be now. I’d lost everyone who’d ever fought for me. I looked within and there was nothing inside me.
I emerged into the day, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight, ready to face whatever awaited me with my head held high.
I felt his presence before I saw him.
Wilder stood in the centre of the square, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his black overcoat. The Inquisitor was the picture of bureaucratic power in his fancy clothes, but the collar was flipped up as a nod to his former self—the rebellious Natural who’d fought against authority. Now, he was every part a Pendragon. All that was missing was a crown to call him King.
A dozen Naturals had lined up behind him, their arondight blades in their hands. I stared at them, shock sending a coldness through my veins. What in the Light did they think I was going to do?
Wilder’s presence was overwhelming, and I almost lowered my gaze under the pressure of his. The Inquisitor’s silver eyes weren’t the same as Elijah’s. I was looking at the Argent Flame, Excalibur, and right now, he was barely holding onto his rage.
What a disappointment I must be to him.
Aiden stepped forwards. “Wilder, I—”
The Inquisitor held up his hand, silencing his protests. “Leave us.”
I caught Aiden’s eye and nodded. I’d sacrificed myself to save Elijah and this was my moment of reckoning. I had to face it alone.
The Naturals retreated, leaving the square. Wilder stepped towards me, the air shimmering in his wake. As he loomed over me, silver Light fell around us in a curtain.
I breathed deeply, crippled by an influx of emotions—guilt, temptation, shame, desperation.
“Madeleine,” Wilder said, the sound of his voice reverberated against the sparkling dome around us.
My bottom lip trembled as I tried to contain my shadow.
“You’ve broken almost all the covenants in the Codex,” he seethed. “Even Scarlett wasn’t this reckless.”
“Maybe those bigots were right,” I told him. “I’m a perverted demon-hybrid who’s going to kill us all.”
“Madeleine.” His brow creased as he paced back and forth within the dome. “I can scarcely count the number of insurrections you’ve committed since your arrival at Camelot. Your capture was unfortunate, and leaving the boundary of Camelot could have been overlooked as a side effect of your echoes, but attacking a fellow Natural…” He hissed, his Flame simmering. His skin crackled with white-hot sparks as he stared at me. “You escaped your confinement, attacked a Natural in a human village, and returned with a mortally wounded demon.”
“Elijah is a victim,” I snapped, my power wrestling against my control. “He’s not the enemy. He saved my life more than once. I’ll say the same thing I said to Ramona—I couldn’t repay his sacrifice with death.”
“He’s a demon, Madeline,” Wilder stated. “Demons manipulate and lie to get what they want. He’s using you to get into Camelot.”
“How do you know?” I demanded. “
Have you spoken to him?”
“I don’t need to. There’s only one thing he can be.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I can feel his presence. He’s not possessed, and we eradicated Human Convergence with the death of Mordred.”
“You didn’t.”
He strode across the uneven ground and stopped in front of me. “Are you questioning me?”
“Someone has to,” I replied, jutting out my chin. “Power has gone to your head, Wilder. I don’t even recognise you anymore. You look tired, you know.”
His lips thinned and I knew I’d hit one of his carefully guarded buttons. My mutation gurgled, excited by the prospect. His power wasn’t infinite.
“What details did you leave out of your capture?” he demanded.
“I can’t be sure of my allegations, but I believe the Balan wants something inside Camelot,” I replied, compelled to answer as a Natural. “I assumed they would use me to get to it, but Elijah helped me escape before they could torture me into compliance.”
“And what was his reasoning for helping you?” he demanded. “Demons always have a price.”
“Elijah’s conditions were to assist him in finding a cure for his mutation. Nothing more.”
“And why didn’t he come to us?”
“Because he believed we would treat him with open hostility and cut him up into little pieces to study exactly what he is.”
“We always help those who seek out the Light,” Wilder stated, quoting the Codex.
“His fears are my reality,” I snapped. “You of all people should understand. You faced a lifetime of prejudice, but you turned out to be Excalibur. I didn’t.”
“This isn’t the same. That demon is in full control of his actions. You weren’t.”
“That’s shite and you know it,” I exclaimed. “Our world isn’t just Light and Dark anymore. They’re evolving to survive.”
“What are you saying?” Wilder demanded.
“I’m saying that Elijah and I are the same. The haters were right about me, I just didn’t know it until they captured me.”
“You’re—”
“A demon-hybrid.”
“Impossible.” He shook his head, shocked. “If you had a live mutation, I’d be able to sense it.”
Demon Bound: The Camelot Archive - Book One Page 12