“Maybe Excalibur isn’t as absolute as everyone wishes you were.” I held out my hand. “Go on. See for yourself.”
Wilder slid his palm against mine and I felt his power reach out. The moment it connected, he jerked his hand away and stared at me, celestial Flame simmering in his eyes.
“Madeleine…”
“Scarlett saved my soul, but Mordred’s death didn’t eradicate my mutation. Out of all the Naturals who were altered, I was the only one who wasn’t completely taken over. Those that were, kept their souls, right?”
“It latched onto your soul when Scarlett…” Wilder shook his head in disbelief.
“You saved my Light when you killed Mordred, but the mutation never left. It lay dormant until they activated it—a precursor to the evolution we’re seeing now,” I replied. “Which means this is who I am, and it’s not going to change. Not even the mighty Excalibur can free my soul and return me to the Light.”
When it came down to basic DNA, I didn’t even think I was the same as Elijah. He’d been altered either through possession or in a laboratory, while an accident created me. Scarlett had the best intentions when she saved my life, but no one knew what would ultimately become of me.
I was a bridge between two worlds, a connection between night and day. One that could be used for good…or evil.
Elijah’s words from the road in the Highlands came back to me and I almost crumpled to my knees before the Inquisitor. He had been trying to force me to open my mind and evolve because he’d known what I was all along. I’d gotten a taste of it when I nullified Thompson’s barrier and now, I knew my soul had been irreversibly altered.
I was a shadow—neither Light nor Dark. If I could develop my power and evolve…then no one could stop me.
In the wrong hands, I had the potential to become a weapon of mass destruction.
“I’m left with no other choice.” Wilder held his hand out, palm up. “Hand over your arondight blade.”
“Do you understand what I’ve become?” I whispered.
“Yes.” There was a note of sadness in his voice, but he didn’t back down.
I slipped my arondight hilt from my belt and placed it in Wilder’s palm. If Elijah was right, I never needed it, but its loss was akin to losing a limb. “Do with me what you will but know I’m the only person who can help you find what the Dark is looking for.”
“The time for bargaining is over,” Wilder stated. “I will pass final judgment in due course.”
“Elijah was only looking for help,” I said. “Please don’t punish him for my insurrections. Remember that I came willingly.”
The Inquisitor’s expression gave away nothing. He lifted his hand and the dome shimmered and dissolved, returning us to the full view of Camelot.
Trent and another Natural emerged from a side alley and each took one of my arms, firmly holding me. I knew it was all for show. Wilder understood I could fight back and likely win, but if I tried to resist, Elijah’s fate would be sealed.
“Return Greenbriar to her cell,” the Inquisitor ordered.
I didn’t fight. They dragged me back to the stone room to await sentencing. Who knew what I’d face when they decided. Life imprisonment in the Glastonbury catacombs and stripped of my Light was the best I could hope for. Knowing what I’d become, I wasn’t even sure they could take my power away.
I caught Trent’s gaze, but there was nothing there. Empty words wouldn’t fix my betrayal of our friendship. He was lost to me, as were my people, my home, and my family.
There was nothing else to say as they slid the stone over the opening, closing me inside my prison.
Darkness of another kind took me, obliterating all hope from my heart.
16
I was alone.
My Light staved off the chill of my dark prison, but it didn’t warm my heart.
If they ruled me to be a threat to the balance, I’d be executed. I couldn’t see any other outcome. Imprisonment would be a kindness. In the current climate of increased demonic activity around Camelot, the Regula would want to take a tough stance against insurrection.
Stone scraped against stone and light flooded my cage.
Maisy stepped through the gap, a tray in her hands. The smell of hot food wafted in with the breeze, filling the small space to the brim.
“Maisy,” I murmured.
She looked down at me and set the tray onto a stone block. “I brought you something to eat.”
“Is Elijah…” I wasn’t sure if I should ask, but I was desperate to know if he lived.
Her eyebrows rose. “You want to know about your demon?”
“Yes.”
“He lives,” she said with a sigh. “Ramona healed his wounds and they have restrained him until the Regula can rule on his fate.”
“He’s alive?” I let my head fall into my hands and swallowed a sob. There was hope after all.
“What is it about him?” Maisy asked, distaste clear in her voice. “I was in the infirmary for two seconds and his Darkness made me sick to the stomach.”
I fisted my hands in my hair. How was I ever going to find a place amongst the Naturals if that’s how they looked at Elijah? He was a victim, but the way Maisy spoke about him made it sound as if he’d chosen to become Dark.
“If Elijah hadn’t rescued me from that Balan demon, I would’ve been forced to the Dark by now,” I snapped. “He saved me from a fate worse than death. How could I not repay that debt?” I looked up at her, disappointed that some of her old tendencies were showing.
“Why him?” she asked. “Why a demon?”
“Because I saw myself in him,” I replied. “They altered him against his will, just like me. He didn’t choose to be what he is. He just wanted to find a cure.”
“People are saying you’re a demon again. That it’s why the Inquisitor is here.”
I had nothing to hide anymore. Despite our rocky past and my betrayal, Maisy was my friend. I owed her the truth, even if it meant she’d walk out of this prison hating me.
“I can’t be saved, Maisy.” I shook my head as a tear rolled down my cheek. “My mutation never went away. A small piece of it latched onto my soul and… The Dark activated it when they captured me.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “What are you saying?”
“I’m not a demon or a Natural. I’m… Well, I don’t know what I am exactly. I’m half and half. A hybrid.”
“That’s how you escaped?”
I nodded. “I walked through Thompson’s barrier like it wasn’t even there.”
“That means…” she trailed off, but she didn’t have to finish her thought. She understood that I could get up and walk out of Camelot any time I chose. “Then why are you still here? After the way we’ve treated you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you left.”
“The Naturals are my people,” I replied. “Well, you were. This was my whole life. Everything I was, everything I dedicated myself to, was to the Light. I tried to get past what happened at the Academy, but I think a part of me always knew there was no going back. The bullying, the taunts, the loneliness, the struggle… Everything they said about me was true, but I never worked for the Dark. How could I?”
Maisy sighed and looked through the opening of my prison to where Camelot stood silent vigil.
“I’m sorry for what happened to you, Madeleine,” she murmured. “I really am. I know it wasn’t your fault.”
“What’s going to happen to me?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. After Wilder spoke to you, he went to the castle and hasn’t returned.”
That didn’t bode well.
“Tell Trent I’m sorry for hitting him,” I murmured. “And tell Aiden I’m sorry for… Well, tell him that I’m just sorry for everything.”
“Me too,” Maisy said, turning away. “And Madeleine?”
I looked up to find her lingering at the door, silhouetted by the sun.
“Are you still in there?” she whispered.
&
nbsp; “Yes,” I told her, “I am.”
She smiled. “Then never forget it.”
* * *
Chicken drumsticks, string beans, and boiled potatoes. Maisy had brought me decent food considering my predicament, but no knife and fork. I snorted at the irony.
My eyes were adjusting to the dark like they never had before. It was unnatural and slightly worrying, but handy considering I was locked in a lightless stone room. I wondered what else I could do if I put my back into it. Elijah kept hinting at evolution, but I wasn’t sure this was what he had in mind.
I picked up a potato and threw it across the room with a frustrated cry. The old Madeleine Greenbriar would never sit here marinating in her melancholy. She’d get up off her sorry arse and flip the bird at the nearest authority figure, then do whatever it took to get the job done.
I was as good as dead, so what did it matter? Nothing was stopping me from walking out of this stupid city, nothing at all.
If I stayed here, I’d be locked away forever. If I had the power to stand against the Dark, maybe I could make a difference before the shit hit the fan. They wanted to take Camelot back and with Elijah’s help, we could figure out what they wanted before it became a problem. I was the only person alive who could walk into the Balan’s lair and stop another war from erupting.
Despite what I’d become and how my own people had treated me, I was still on the side of good and that had to count for something.
I stood with renewed hope and pressed my palms against the door. The catch was I had to do it without tipping too far into the Dark. And not get caught. And not hurt anyone—at least not too much.
After all those years at the Academy listening to lectures about ‘the balance’, and trying not to fall asleep with boredom, here I was relying on the fine line between good and evil more than ever. Oh man, I wished I’d taken more notes.
There was only one way to find out if this was going to work, so I took a deep and let go.
My mutation rushed outwards and I lashed at it with my Light. Silver tendrils wrapped around the red fingers of Darkness, fusing them together.
Sweat beaded across my forehead and I moaned softly, scraping my fingernails against the stone wall. Was this what accepting fate felt like? My mutation had been reaching out all this time, wanting to join with my Light, except I couldn’t keep calling it ‘my mutation’.
The two energies flowed together—it filled my limbs and mixed with my blood. I was being born again, my soul accepting what it had become…all so I could save Elijah’s life and stop the Dark.
I opened my eyes, my heart filled with renewed purpose, and I pushed aside the stone that was blocking the entrance to my prison.
As I stepped into the square, the guards drew their arondight blades, sparks skidding across stone. They were watching the opening behind me as I approached, unaware that I was already before them.
Knowing I couldn’t leave them conscious, I slipped between the two men and struck—they never stood a chance. With two quick blows, they slumped to the ground, their swords clattering against stone.
Leaving them where they lay, I walked through the lower city, my gaze darting around as if I was seeing life for the first time.
I wasn’t far from base camp. I could feel the ebb of Light from here, the concentration of Naturals creating a beacon. Strange, I hadn’t noticed it before.
Shrugging it off as a side effect of levelling up my power reserves, I made my way towards the camp where Elijah was.
The mood in the little khaki-coloured city was sombre as I walked unseen through the tents. Conversations ebbed and flowed, all of them talking about me and Wilder’s appearance at Camelot. Maisy was right—he’d gone up to the castle the day before and hadn’t returned.
I was concerned, but he was our leader—not to mention one half of the most powerful duo our kind had ever encountered. He’d be fine.
Two guards stood outside the infirmary, standing watch over their prisoner within. I approached them, willing myself into a pocket of space beyond their vision. Then I simply walked past them and into the infirmary.
Elijah lay in the bed where I’d left him days before. Standing over him, I noticed his colour was better and though his wounds were bound, the bandages didn’t show any signs of blood.
It also didn’t take a rocket scientist to see they’d doped him up to the eyeballs. I pulled back the bandages and found three red scars slashing across his chest from shoulder to ribs. Ramona had lived up to her promise and spectacularly, too.
Elijah began to stir, sensing my touch.
“Hey,” he rasped through the fog of sedation, “pretty Natural.”
“Thank the Light you’re not dead.”
“Your friends did a good job,” he murmured, his eyes drooping. “They also know how to incapacitate a guy like me really well. Give her a gold star.”
“Still a smart arse, I see.”
“Imagine my surprise when I woke up in Camelot,” he drawled. “You promised not to bring me here.”
“I did no such thing.” I wrapped my hands around his head and circled my thumbs over his temples.
“Mmm…” he murmured. “Am I at a day spa?”
I rolled my eyes and concentrated. A sedative Light manipulation was wrapped around his mind like a blanket that locked away his Darkness, but it wasn’t the only thing that kept him subdued. Someone had tethered him to the infirmary—most likely Wilder. It wouldn’t be pretty if Elijah left the boundary.
The Lady of the Lake gave the Naturals their power. She was the same celestial being who’d gifted Excalibur—otherwise known as Wilder Pendragon—and Arondight theirs. We were all made of the same energy, just in different quantities. That meant I could nullify my way through Elijah’s sedation and get us out of Camelot, just like I’d gotten us in.
I reached out, my power merging with the sedation. My fingers began to tingle as the Light dissolved around Elijah’s mind. Then, it was gone.
He jerked upright, wide-eyed and alert. “Madeline.”
I looked into his steely eyes and was glad to see him return to his old self.
“You’re breaking me out?” His lips tugged up at one side. He really was roguishly handsome.
“Stay with me and no one will stop us,” I told him.
He stilled, his gaze piercing mine. “You know, don’t you?”
“The truth about my mutation? Oh yeah, do I ever.” He slid his legs out of bed and I dumped his clothes next to him. I pulled his socks onto his feet as he fumbled with his T-shirt. “You knew all this time and couldn’t tell me?”
“I suspected,” he replied, his voice muffled by the fabric as he dragged his T-shirt over his body. “But I had no way of knowing for sure.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said as I handed him his trousers. “Get dressed before someone comes.”
“Madeleine,” he grabbed my wrist, “if you do this—”
“I won’t be able to do anything strapped to an autopsy table, Elijah,” I interrupted.
“If we leave, then what?”
“We stop the Dark from coming back to Camelot and we find your cure.” I wrenched my arm away. “Now finish getting dressed.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Of course, you do. Just admit you want to help Camelot as much as I do.”
He snorted and shoved his legs into his pants. “I’ll never admit anything, not after the scars your fancy doctor friend left me with.”
I threw his boots at him. “Chicks dig scars.”
“I assume you have a plan,” he said as he laced himself in. “I like chaos as much as the next mutant, but not when we’re surrounded by a hundred Naturals and a magical sword.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled him close. “First of all, Excalibur is a person. And I don’t need a plan.”
He whistled. “You talk a big game.”
“Just you wait.”
I grabbed his hand and drew his presence against mine. The mo
re I tested my limits, the more they seemed to expand. Piece of cake.
We stood at the opening in the tent with Wilder’s barrier clearly visible. A transparent silver veil covered the exit, one that I hadn’t seen when I’d walked in.
“Are you sure?” Elijah asked. “After everything I’ve been through, I don’t want to turn into a pile of ash.”
“I’m sure.”
He screwed up his nose at the two Naturals who were standing to attention with their backs to us. “What about the guards?” he whispered.
“I told you. Stay with me and no one will stop us.”
He grunted and narrowed his eyes in challenge. To prove my point, I dragged him out of the infirmary, past the guards, and down the row of tents until we reached the outer edge of the camp. The outer wall loomed before us and all we had to do was keep walking and we’d be free.
“Stop,” Trent called after us and we froze.
“I thought you had this invisibility thing down,” Elijah hissed.
“Uh, I guess not.” It was far more likely that deep down, I desperately wanted Trent’s forgiveness, just like I secretly wanted him to see me back in the village. What unfortunate timing for a loophole to reveal itself.
We turned to find Trent a few paces behind, with his arondight blade drawn. The sword glowed with silver Light as he pointed the tip at us. His warning was clear.
I stepped in front of Elijah, shielding him from my friend—at least I hoped he was still my friend somewhere underneath all that anger.
“We just want to be free,” I murmured. “We don’t want to cause any trouble.”
“You made your choice, Madeleine,” Trent spat. “You chose a demon over your people.”
I shook my head. “I helped an innocent who risked his life to save mine.”
He scowled and stepped closer, the point of his blade pressing against my throat. “You betrayed us.”
Elijah hissed and I grasped his hand, silencing him.
“I may have gone about things the wrong way,” I said to Trent, “but I was trying to save a life.”
“And she found out who she really is,” Elijah snapped.
Demon Bound: The Camelot Archive - Book One Page 13