Queen of Avalon (Broken Throne Book 3)

by Jamie Davis

  “There’s been a bit of a backlash against the Assembly. Officially, we’re calling the demonstrations against deportations ‘peaceful town hall meetings,’ but they’re often contentious and the people want to know what’s happening to their chanter friends and neighbors. A good number of people aren’t buying the government bull.”

  “What about the reaction from the Department about the raids?” Winnie asked.

  “They’re not saying much, even in the Department’s official back channels,” Morgan explained. “Victor might be able to tell you more. He’s plugged into the leadership more than I am. But for street cops and Red Legs, it’s mostly out of sight, out of mind.”

  Winnie looked to Victor.

  He shrugged. “Like I said, everything is officially peachy at the camps. No problems at all. Unofficially, the city chief inspectors are questioning the entire process. Of course, they don’t know about the Harvesters, so they’re wondering about the need for camps at all. They felt it was better to keep chanters in the cities than ferry guards to some remote location in the middle of nowhere for weeks at a time.”

  Winnie saw her opening. “Looks like the unrest has set things up rather nicely. We’re in a good spot to move forward with part two of our plan. If we don’t expose Kane, he’ll just build another Harvester. We need to be proactive, not reactive.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Danny asked.

  “Artos helped us on our raids. He gave us the supplies we needed from his stash, aided us with planning and getting the resources to need to move forward. But he did that because he needs our help to expose Kane as a fraud.”

  “Yeah, but how do we do that?” Tris asked. “He’s holding all the cards.”

  “I know, but that also makes him vulnerable. Arrogance will be his downfall. Artos told me that Kane has always kept meticulous records about his various projects and plans. They’re quite detailed apparently, and would expose him as a chanter if released to the public.”

  “You’re telling me he kept a record of his plans and experiments somewhere we can get to them?” Tris pressed Winnie. “There’s something you’re not telling us.”

  “He keeps these records somewhere at the Department of Magical Containment in the capital, because that’s where they’re most secure.”

  Everyone spoke at once, spouting objections and concerns over the proposal.

  Winnie raised a hand to shush them. “I didn’t say it would be easy, but after our raid, I think we have the team here to pull it off.”

  “Don’t you remember how we lost Cait in that raid?”

  Winnie flinched at Tris’s comment as if it were a punch to her gut. “You think I’ll ever forget? I’ve spent hours since we got back second-guessing what we did.” She swallowed her bile, looking from face to face among the leadership team. “This is a war, people. We might have started as petty criminals, but we’ve turned into the only armed resistance willing to fight a genocidal maniac. We must be willing to take a few risks. Kane has foolishly kept proof of his true identity a secret from the Assembly. I’m sure a few of them know, but the bulk will be shocked. We have to stop him. We owe it to Cait, and every other chanter he’s killed. Whatever it takes.”

  Victor shook his head and looked up at Winnie. “It’s nearly impossible to get into the Department if you’re not a Red Leg or staff member. Even Assembly members are required to have escorts while inside.”

  “That’s why you and Morgan are going to help. We need Red Leg uniforms for the entire team, and for the two of you to gather all the intel possible on the building’s layout, and where Kane is likely to have hidden his secret files.”

  Everyone looked at the renegade Red Legs. Victor glanced at Morgan. She reached out to grab his hand.

  He sighed and turned to Winnie. “What did you have in mind?”

  “It’s going to be complex and require the whole team. I want to do it during Kane’s upcoming address to the Assembly on the state of the nation.”

  “That’s five days from now,” Victor cautioned. “Will we have enough time to get everything together?”

  “I think so,” Winnie said. “A lot depends on you getting the uniforms and IDs required to get us all inside. Can you do it?”

  Victor looked at Morgan.

  She shrugged. “The uniforms might be tricky, but I can pull off the IDs easily enough. I think we can do it.”

  Winnie nodded, then went over the plan, refining it until everyone knew what they needed to do. Afterward, everyone scattered, leaving Winnie alone. She walked outside and looked up at the moon, peeking through the swirling orange clouds above. Another five days and this would all be over.

  If everything went according to plan, Kane wouldn’t know what hit him.

  CHAPTER 34

  Nils sat at his desk and replayed the video again.

  He watched Winnie Durham crossing the open ground towards the Harvester building at the center of camp number one. He saw the moment when the Harvester became too much for her, and when she fell to her knees, drained. Somehow, she kept crawling forward, making it to the building’s entrance before collapsing outside.

  Then the feed went black as raiders inside the building broke through his defenses to destroy the Harvester yet again.

  He’d come so close to defeating her, and yet somehow, she and her gang of criminals had pulled off the impossible. He rewound the video to the beginning and played it again.

  The girl was so powerful. He’d checked the other videos — the other chanters in the surrounding camp areas had all been overcome by the Harvester. Several of the weaker chanters had died. But Winnie Durham was too tough for that. She pushed through no matter what he threw at her, and even succeeded when she, herself, was beaten. It was infuriating.

  Nils remembered what Ellie had said when she had come to confront him. He’d done some checking on her claim that Winnie was his daughter. Though the timeline was right, he wasn’t convinced. He needed to meet the girl face to face again to confirm her identity. That wouldn’t be easy to arrange. She’d never accept an invitation to chat.

  After some consideration, Nils tried the one thing he’d been avoiding, the option he could only use once. The spell he’d placed in Daniel Barber had a hidden component, and Nils was still reasonably sure he could breach the boy’s mind to read his thoughts. But it would only work once, unless he got the chance to reinforce his connection.

  He leaned back in his padded leather chair, staring at the ceiling before closing his eyes. He drew in the magic required to power his connection to the boy and reached out with his mind, searching for Barber.

  The search took longer than expected. Nils was about to surrender when he a spark lit the darkness around him. Homing in on that light, he soon found himself inside the Barber boy’s mind.

  He searched his recent memories and soon found that there’d been a meeting of some sort. He peered through the hazy connection, replaying Danny’s perception of the event.

  The boy had spent most of the meeting with his eyes on Winnie — not surprising given their relationship. Then the conversation turned to talk of Kane himself, and the Director paid special attention to what was being said.

  Long moments later, Kane opened his eyes and looked around his dark office. So, they planned on coming here, right into his clutches. He’d been surprised to discover Victor Holmes working with Durham and her gang. He supposed that Bennett girl — the chanter’s supposed sister — had something to do with it. It would be a shame to try the chief inspector for treason, especially when Kane himself had promoted him. Still, it would be interesting to let them believe they were succeeding, then catch the whole gang, including Holmes and his floozy.

  Nils stood and crossed the room. He reached the wall of shelves behind sculpture, then reached up and removed the book The Magical History of Europe. There was a small lever behind it. He reached up and tugged it with two fingers.

  A faint click, then the latch released. A small sectio
n of shelves popped open to a small room. Stepping inside, Nils surveyed the stacks of journals set on the table. Years of research; experiments on unsuspecting middlings like Barber’s parents, in order to perfect his ability to control the ordinary humans around him. There was also the schematic he’d created to siphon magic from other chanters, the machine that had eventually become the Harvester.

  It was foolish to keep such records. Winnie was right — the revelations in this room could ruin him, politically and personally. But he was reluctant to destroy them, even knowing her plans. He wanted to leave a record of his achievements behind. Future generations should know who had saved the world. Nils would go down in history as mankind’s savior.

  Nils smiled, leaving his secret room intact, closing the bookshelf door behind him. He might even let Durham get that far before pulling the rug out from under her. It would bring such great satisfaction to see the look on her face when it all fell through and she knew without doubt that all was lost.

  CHAPTER 35

  Artos sat, watching the news reports on Kane’s recent activities. The reporter had unprecedented access to the Director and asked him during a walking tour of the Department Headquarters what he wanted as a result of his new reforms and the creation of the safety camps.

  “Sally, that’s a great question,” Kane said, walking alongside her down a long marble hallway. “My greatest hope is that we can somehow find a solution to our current troubles that allows our chanter neighbors to return safely to their homes. Many have depicted me as a terrible man who hates chanters. But nothing could be farther from the truth. My driving goal has always been the overall safety of our great nation. If we can somehow find a way to stabilize magic again, I want everything back to normal as much as the next man.”

  “Do you think that is possible?” the reporter asked. “Can the magic be stabilized?”

  “Time will tell, Sally. In the meantime, I’d like to show the public that we’re not the thugs we’ve been made out to be. We’ll be holding a three-day open house here at the headquarters building this coming weekend. Red Leg officers will be holding workshops, setting up exhibits to entertain and educate our visitors, young and old. I hope you and your camera crew will return to cover that event.”

  “I think we’ll have to. Why have you decided to open the building to the public? This seems a bit sudden.”

  “There have been many reports about the status of our safety camps. We’ve denied those erroneous reports, but many people still believe them. So, following my staff’s advice, we’ve created this event to prove that we’ve nothing to hide.”

  Artos picked up the remote and killed the TV. He was concerned about Kane’s sudden change. It couldn’t be a coincidence that this open house was happening on the same weekend as Winnie’s planned assault.

  Did Kane know? Could there be a mole in Winnie’s organization? Artos had never trusted Victor Holmes’s sudden change of heart, regardless of Winnie’s assurances.

  There were sources inside the DMC that only Artos knew about. He’d put them in place ago. They’d sworn to be ready, to serve him without question when the time came. He feared that time had arrived.

  Picking up his phone, Artos dialed a number he’d set to memory long ago, never thinking he’d use it. Once activated, Artos would never be able to use this person again.

  “Hello,” said a woman’s voice from the other end of the line.

  “It is time, my dear. The codeword to activate the sleepers is ‘talisman.’”

  “It’s been so long,” she said. “Are you sure it will work?”

  “It must. We have no choice. Watch for my call this weekend. I’ll have instructions then.”

  “Yes, sir. Talisman it is. Good luck, sir.”

  “Good luck, indeed.”

  Artos hung up and waved to Mr. Gunderson, standing nearby. His servant came forward with a freshly poured snifter of brandy. Artos sipped the amber liquid, savoring the fire as he swallowed.

  Talisman was activated. He’d just placed all his chips behind the slim chance that Winnie Durham was the one he’d been waiting for.

  If he was wrong, then the world was over.

  CHAPTER 36

  Victor lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Morgan rolled over to throw her arms across his chest, then she stretched up to kiss him tenderly on the lips.

  “You should get some sleep, Victor,” Morgan said, stroking his chest with her fingers. “There’s a lot happening over the next few days. Winnie’s depending on us.”

  “I know.”

  “Are you having second thoughts?” Morgan propped herself up on one elbow. “So much of what Winnie’s planned hinges on us.”

  “They’re not second thoughts in the sense that I don’t want to help her. Things have come too far to turn back now. We know that Kane’s a monster, and that we have to stop him no matter what. I used to have everything planned. I knew what I wanted and how I’d get it. Then Winnie came into my life and everything went out the window.”

  “But you’ve come so far. We’ve come so far, Victor. Do you regret us?”

  “No.” Victor softened as he stroked her cheek. “I would never have met you if not for your sister. I don’t regret that at all. If only my whole life before that hadn’t been working so hard to defend a lie, maybe I could’ve stopped all of this from happening to begin with.”

  “Victor,” Morgan said, her tone sharp. “You had no way of knowing you were following a crazy man. Kane has everyone fooled. You learned the truth and followed your conscience. You kept working for what you thought was right. You’ve saved lives with your hard work. And you’ll save more when you help Winnie.”

  “Then what?” Victor disentangled himself from Morgan, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and sat up. The cold hardwood kissed his bare feet.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that once we help Winnie, we’re out,” Victor said. “Out of a job, out of this apartment, out of options. Up until now, I’ve had a plan. I’ve set goals and reached them all. But there are no more plans or goals after this. We’ll be beholden to Winnie and her crew for everything we need going forward.”

  “You don’t know that, Victor. We’ll be part of the crew, not outcasts begging for charity. Besides, once we expose Kane, you might be recognized as a hero. You might even be able to remain a chief inspector.”

  “That’s a bit optimistic, isn’t it?”

  “I’m always optimistic when it comes to you. You know how much I love you. And no matter what happens, I’ll stay by your side. We’ll find a way through. I have faith in you. And us.”

  Victor didn’t immediately respond, thinking about how much his life had changed. He’d been used to living a life on his own. Now he had her beside him, every day, offering support and cheering him on. Even now, after being a couple for over a year and a half, he still thought it might all slip away in an instant.

  It didn’t matter. He could swallow his fears of being abandoned, or of losing Morgan. It didn’t change his charge as Winnie’s protector by the Lady of the Lake. She’d given him his marching orders and he had to follow through no matter the outcome. He had to believe there was a reason for it all in the end.

  Victor pulled Morgan to him and kissed her passionately. “Thanks,” he said, releasing her from the embrace.

  “What for?”

  “For being by my side, and being my compass.”

  “That, my dear, is all I want to do. I’m here for you.”

  Victor checked his watch. “We have to be moving in an hour if we’re going to meet Winnie for the final planning session. Should we get moving?”

  Morgan gave him a mischievous glance. “I’m sure we can find a way to occupy ourselves for an hour.” Morgan pulled his face to hers.

  Victor smiled, swung his legs up, and got back into bed. He fell back into Morgan’s embrace, thinking about how much he loved this woman, enjoying their final hour before they started off to help Winnie on
her quest to stop Kane once and for all.

  CHAPTER 37

  Winnie spent the final day before the raid making sure the teams were ready and looking in on the few who were staying behind to keep things ready for their return. Two of those remaining behind had become dear to her. Jacob and Fiona had settled into their routine at The Pike and had even tried to help when asked. Elaine had taken over childcare duties, freeing the rest of Tris’s team to focus on what they needed to carry out their part of the plan.

  Winnie stopped by their room and saw them playing with her mother. Elaine had apparently found a small rubber ball and was teaching them jacks with the ball and a handful of paperclips.

  The children laughed as she entered. Without a flash, sound, or any sort of fanfare, Jacob extended his hands to reveal a pile of small, shiny metal jacks. Elaine laughed aloud. Winnie couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen such a genuine smile on her mother’s face.

  “I’m glad to see the three of you getting along. How do you two like my mom?”

  “She’s tons of fun!” Fiona said. “She has lots of stories.”

  “She’s tried them all on me first, so you’re only getting the good ones.”

  “Who knows,” Elaine laughed. “I might even tell you some stories about this one when she was younger.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Winnie said in feigned shock. “We shouldn’t corrupt the children with stories of my misguided youth.”

  “Not all of your stories are so bad. And besides, if I’m like the grandmother here, well, then that means I get to spoil them.”

  “Don’t go spoiling them on my account. It looks like they’ll be staying with us for a while. We should set up some long-term rules when I get back.”

  “Where are you going, Winnie?” Fiona asked.

  “I have to try and stop the bad man who put everyone in that camp. We’re trying to find the things he’s hiding so we can show the world all the awful things he’s done.”