“I refused him then. I told him tradition was the most important thing that elves had…but I was wrong. I was wrong.” His voice was low, almost a whisper. “The most important thing is love. I loved your father, my son, with all of my being, just as I love the two of you. And that love is more important to me than any royal tradition.” Autumn felt her eyes fill with tears. “So, you have my permission to love whomever you choose, to be bound to whomever you love. This is a year of change, and it’s all because of the two of you.”
The tears spilled down Autumn cheeks, but she didn’t wipe them away. She was too entranced by Olympus’s gentle voice.
“You know, the creatures of the Underground have this idea that humans are simple-minded, naïve beings, but I think they have it wrong. Humans are able to see things differently than us. They’re able to open their minds enough to accept that change happens, that it’s a natural consequence of passing time. The two of you may very well be the catalyst the Underground needed to get the creatures to open their minds, as you have opened mine.”
“Thank you,” Autumn whispered through her tears.
“No. Thank you,” Olympus said seriously, pushing up on the arms of the chair to stand. He approached Autumn and Luke, resting a hand on each of their shoulders. “I am endlessly proud of you. Both of you.”
Autumn and Luke left their grandfather’s living quarters in amazed silence.
“This is crazy,” Luke said, shaking his head.
“What?”
“Well, I’ve always thought of myself as way more important than I really am. But now I’m even more important than I thought I was.”
Autumn shot him an exasperated look. “That is what you got from all of that? That you are more important than you think you are?”
“Yeah. What else was I supposed to get from it?”
“Oh, I don’t know, that now you can be bound to Crystal.” Luke’s sarcastic smile fell and turned to a worried frown. “What?” Autumn asked.
“What if she doesn’t want to be bound to me?” he said quietly.
Autumn let out a loud squeal and Luke jumped about a foot in the air. “I knew it! I knew you loved her!”
“Would you shut the hell up?” he said through clenched teeth. “You sound like a rabid chipmunk. And, believe me, you and Avery will be bound to each other way before Crystal and me are.”
Autumn’s face fell at this and her heart clenched. Avery. She needed to talk to him. But she knew he needed his space tonight.
AVERY crouched into his fighting stance. “You,” he growled, ready to pounce when he felt his body go still, collapsing to the ground, unable to move.
“Yes, me,” Vyra simpered. “My, my, you are handsome. I can see now what the little Oaken brat sees in you. That golden hair, those startling gray eyes, that muscular physique.” She clicked her tongue and released a high-pitched cold laugh. “Still. You aren’t quite as handsome as my dear brother.”
Avery struggled to move, straining every muscle in his body, but it was useless.
“I believe you’ve met my brother,” Vyra continued, walking along the trunk of the fallen tree. “Not very fond of him are you? After all he’s taken from you. I wonder if he can crush your windpipe as easily as he crushed your sister’s.”
Avery tried to yell out, tried to stand so he could attack her, but his body wouldn’t respond.
“I imagine you’re trying pretty hard to hurt me right now. Well, I’m afraid that isn’t going to happen, you see, because you will only be able to move when Victor wants you to move.”
At the mention of Victor’s name, Avery stopped struggling, or trying to struggle, and his eyes—the only part of him that could move—turned back to Vyra.
Vyra laughed and Avery’s stomach churned with nausea. “Would you like to see him? It’s been quite a while since you pierced him through the chest with that arrow. I suppose you’ve figured out by now that killing an Ellock like him will take a bit more than that.”
Vyra hopped lightly off of the fallen tree with the feline grace of a jungle cat. “Victor?” she sang over her shoulder. “Don’t you want to reunite with your old friend?”
There was a rustling of leaves and a dark shape appeared on the path, with eyes of emerald reflecting in the moonlight.
The Wards Will Crumble
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Where’s Avery?” Luke asked when Autumn joined him and Crystal at the breakfast table.
She shrugged. “I figured he’d be down here already.”
“Y’all have another fight last night?”
Autumn didn’t answer him, but ate a mouthful of toast instead.
“I take that as a yes,” Luke muttered to Crystal, who gave Autumn a sympathetic look.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Autumn said. “Besides, Crystal hasn’t heard the news.”
Luke shot Autumn a warning look.
“What news?” Crystal asked, perking up in interest.
Luke stuffed an oversized bite of pancake into his mouth so he didn’t have to answer.
“Luke and I talked to Olympus last night,” Autumn said with an amused smile.
“About what?”
“About us being bound to those two Wellington brats.”
“Oh, really?” Crystal said, trying to sound indifferent as she popped a strawberry in her mouth. “What happened with that? Did you get in trouble for making that Christine girl mad?”
“At first I did, but then Luke and I told Olympus how we felt about it and that we just wanted to be able to have a say in who we are bound to, and Olympus finally agreed.”
Crystal’s eyes went wide, fixing on Luke, who was looking at his plate intently.
“Wow, I can’t believe he changed his mind,” Crystal said. “Hey, now you can be bound to Ember, Luke.”
Luke’s eye shot up to her. “What?” he said incredulously.
Autumn and Crystal exchanged a sidelong glance and burst out laughing. Luke watched them with a bemused expression and muttered something about “girls.”
Avery never showed up to breakfast, so Autumn assumed he was still pretty mad. It was her own fault, she knew, and she swore to herself to never keep another secret for the rest of her life.
Autumn, Luke, and Crystal left for the training field to work with the young warlocks and elves again. She figured that’s where Avery would be, but when they arrived he was the only Warrior absent from the training grounds.
Luke’s brow furrowed. “It’s not like him to miss training.”
“Maybe he’s with his mom,” Crystal suggested, noting Autumn’s troubled expression.
Autumn scanned the packed training field with a growing sense of unease. “Maybe.”
Jastin and Charlotte joined them, looking cheerful. “Hey!” Charlotte said brightly.
Crystal laughed. “What’s with you two?”
“Oh, nothing. Jastin just gave me a diamond rose last night,” Charlotte said with a smile so wide it looked painful.
“Congratulations!” Crystal squealed, wrapping Charlotte in a tight hug.
“Wow. Congrats, man,” Luke said, clapping Jastin on the back. He looked happier than Autumn had ever seen him and couldn’t seem keep his eyes off of Charlotte.
“That’s great, Char,” Autumn said, trying to put on a genuine smile, but she knew it didn’t meet her eyes.
Charlotte didn’t seem to notice, though. “Thanks, guys.”
“So, when will you two exchange gold roses?” Crystal asked.
“Oh, not for a while,” Charlotte said with a wave of her hand. “A few years maybe.”
“Or just a year,” Jastin interjected.
Charlotte shot him an adoring smile.
“Ugh. You two are making me sick,” Luke said, holding his stomach.
“Whatever, Oaken. You know you’re just jealous,” Charlotte said as Jastin pulled her to him, kissing her on the top of the head.
“You know me too well, Locke.”
Crystal looked slightly downcast at Luke’s sarcasm.
Atticus told everyone to split back into their groups, saving Autumn from having to listen to Charlotte talk about her diamond rose. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for her and Jastin—she was—it was just difficult for Autumn to hear about their relationship moving forward when her relationship was such a wreck at the moment. She didn’t even know where Avery was. That couldn’t be a good sign.
Autumn decided to combine their group with Luke and Crystal’s so they could all three train with the young fighters, which ended up working out for the better. Luke taught his section about weapons, Crystal taught hers about blocking, and Autumn taught hers about fighting, and then they rotated out.
When they were dismissed for a short lunch break Autumn rushed back to the castle to look for Avery. Her first stop was her branch on the off chance that he might be there waiting for her. As she suspected, her branch was completely empty. Next she traveled up to his branch. She knocked a couple times, but there was no answer.
She opened the door hesitantly.
“Hello?” she called out in a soft voice. “Avery?”
No answer.
Autumn opened the door a little wider and walked inside. The living room was completely untouched, all of the pillows and cushions in order. It felt colder there somehow, unlived in. She moved past what she knew was Avery’s mother’s room and further into the branch to Avery’s bedroom. The door was propped open, and she pushed it a little further. His bed was made and everything was in its proper place, but something didn’t feel right.
She opened his balcony doors, but was once again disappointed. Where the hell was he?
Traveling back into the branch to leave, she hesitated at his mom’s door. Autumn highly doubted he was in there. He tried to avoid it as much as possible because of his mother’s frequent outbursts. But it couldn’t hurt to just see.
The door creaked a little as she opened it. The room was musky and the air was thick, the way a room smells in the morning when a person has slept there all night, only stronger.
“Avery?” Autumn whispered.
Silence.
Autumn sighed and went to close the door. “Avabelle?” a frail voice said from the depths of the room.
Autumn contemplated ignoring her, but couldn’t bring herself to just leave.
“No. I’m sorry, Mrs. Burke. I was just looking for Avery.”
The woman in the bed gasped a loud, rattling sound, making Autumn jump. “Not…here…” she said in the same strangled voice.
“I know. I’ll look somewhere else—”
“No!” she shouted. Autumn’s eyes widened in surprise. “Avery,” the woman repeated.
“He isn’t here,” Autumn said.
“They—have—” Autumn strained her ears to hear the woman’s scratchy voice. “—him.”
“They have him?”
“Yes.”
“Who?” Autumn said urgently. “Who has him?”
His mom was silent for a long time, like she was trying to gather her strength to say her next word.
“Vaun,” she said finally.
Autumn’s heart dropped. “Vyra and Victor have him? How—how do you know?”
“Dreams,” she whispered, drawing out the s.
Then Autumn remembered Avery telling her that his mother’s Power was Dream Communication. She must have reached him in his dreams.
“Where is he? Where can I find him?”
“Avabelle!”
“No—no, I’m not Avabelle. Where’s Avery, Mrs.—”
“Avabelle! Avabelle!”
“Mrs. Burke, please. Tell me where Avery—”
“Avabelle. Avabelle!”
Autumn jumped back and rushed out of her room. She slammed the branch door behind her, but she swore she could still hear Avery’s mom shrieking her daughter’s name.
“Wait, wait. Slow down,” Luke said, holding up his hands. “What do you mean Victor has Avery?”
“I told you!” Autumn said in a rushed voice. “Avery’s mom told me—”
“Autumn,” Crystal said in a quiet voice. “You know how Avery’s mom is.”
“Yeah. She’s a total nut job,” Luke said, earning a harsh look from Crystal. “No offense,” he added.
“I know how she usually is, but when I was in there she talked to me, not to her husband or daughter. Well, except for the end of the conversation. She only really said bits and pieces, but I heard enough.”
Luke gave her an unconvinced look. “How could she know that Victor has Avery when she hasn’t left her room for years?”
“Her Power—”
“Dream Communication,” Crystal said, a look of comprehension dawning on her face.
“Yes,” Autumn said. “Please just trust me. Avery needs our—”
Her words were cut off by a sound as loud as an explosion, shaking the walls of Arbor Castle and causing the wooden goblets to topple off the tables and clatter to the floor. The dining room’s inhabitants exchanged petrified glances, and some dove to the floor. A few workers rushed to the windows, peering down at the town and City Circle.
They gasped and turned to the waiting dining room.
“They broke through the wards,” a woman called out in a terrified voice.
“Which creature?” someone asked.
“All of them.”
Luke and Crystal immediately jumped out of their seats and headed for the spiral staircase with Autumn trailing behind.
“Wait!” she called after them. “What about Avery?”
“Arbor Falls is under attack,” Luke said as they flew down the stairs. “I’m pretty sure that takes precedence.”
“But—”
“We’re Warriors, Autumn,” Crystal said. “This is our duty.”
“Avery is a Warrior too,” Luke added. “Do you really think he’d want us wasting our time looking for him because his mentally unstable mother said a couple of words that may or may not mean he was taken by Victor when we could be saving people’s lives?”
They crashed through the castle doors and were met with a chorus of different pitched screams and every creature in the Underground swarming the area. Centaurs towered over the elves and warlocks, who were cringing away from their glinting swords. Vampires flitted around the shadows of the trees, fangs exposed. Giants trampled over bushes, small trees, elves, and warlocks that were unable to jump out of their way quickly enough. Trolls chased after stray elves and warlocks, and Leprechauns cackled with mad laughter as they threw dagger after dagger into the swarming crowd.
But the elves and warlocks fought back. Spells flew through the air and elves used their Powers in whatever ways they could to take the creatures down. One elf was repelling three giants with jets of lava, another was deafening a group of leprechauns with a high-pitched ringing sound.
“Autumn!” a voice called to her left. It was Kyndel, flanked by Ember and Forrest. She realized that she was now standing alone, Luke and Crystal having left her side to join in the fight.
“Here!” Kyndel shouted, tossing Autumn a quiver of arrows and a bow. She slung the quiver over her shoulder and readied the bow with an arrow, scanning the scene for an open target. A vampire stood between two widely spaced elm trees. Autumn aimed for his heart and pulled the arrow back, ready to release…but she couldn’t. She recognized the vampire as one of the researchers who had interviewed her in Blood Valley.
Autumn’s hands shook. That never happened to her in battle. It had always been so easy to take down Shadow after Shadow, even Atrums were easy for her to kill now, but these creatures were neither Shadows nor Atrums. They were creatures with families and morals and lives that she didn’t have the right to take away. She let her arm fall to her side.
Autumn looked hopelessly around at the massacre, and then her eye was caught by the shimmering waterfall boundary set high above the town. A handful of dark shapes moved in front of it. Squinting her eyes, she tried to make them ou
t. Suddenly comprehension washed over her like a thundering wave.
Avabelle. That’s what Avery’s mom had meant. She wasn’t calling Autumn by her daughter’s name. She was talking about the place where Avabelle had been killed. Right in front of the shimmering waterfall. That’s where Avery was—where Victor was.
Leaping off of the castle steps, Autumn sprinted up the path that wound up to the boundary.
LUKE and Crystal battled through the onslaught of magical creatures swarming the area. Crystal leaped over a fallen troll with the grace of a gazelle and Luke stared after her in adoration. When she landed, she turned back to look at him with a questioning glance.
“What’re you doing?” she called.
He shook his head and pulled out his bow, shooting a leprechaun that was creeping up behind Crystal with a jagged dagger in his hand. Crystal looked down at the leprechaun in surprise. Luke jumped over the fallen troll and landed beside her.
Suddenly a mass of centaurs charged at them, swords swinging high above their heads like deadly batons. Crystal sent a wave of ice at them while Luke conjured up a lightning storm. The centaurs lost their footing on the ice and their swords clattered to the ground as the lightning sporadically struck the slick earth, creating cracks and fissures in the thick ice.
Luke and Crystal traveled through the sea of magical creatures, fighting anyone who crossed their path that wasn’t a warlock or elf until they reached the edge of City Circle, the heart of the battle. Luke spotted a group of young warlocks and elves fighting against a twenty-foot giant. He wished Autumn were there to see this. She’d have been so proud of their teamwork. On the other hand he wondered how his sister was feeling about this battle. Probably not very good. Then, as if on cue, Luke saw Autumn sprinting up the path that led to the waterfall boundary.
“What the—? Rose!” he shouted after her, but she didn’t hear him, or if she did, she didn’t acknowledge him. “Hey, Crys—” Luke turned to ask her if she had seen what he had, but she was no longer standing by his side. His heart dropped into his stomach. He scanned City Circle for her platinum hair, a beacon of light, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Ash (The Underground Series Book 2) Page 24