Hopeless Magic (16 page)

Eden the most looking after her. Do you understand?"

Ryder nodded, a steely look in his crystal clear blue eyes. He looked like a leader, tall and thin, but every muscle etched to perfection from head to toe. His head was shaved and his skin tanned.

Everything about him screamed discipline and commitment. I realized Amory had to make it very clear to him how to take a back seat because it would not be something he could do easily.

I noticed Jericho's hand leave my shoulder and I glanced over at him, missing his touch. His cheeks were flamed red and there was a spot on the floor that suddenly needed his undivided attention.

I knew he had feelings for me, but I supposed he didn't want the rest of our community informed.

A pang of guilt punched me in the stomach, as I realized how much I was hurting him. I decided we needed to have a talk. I liked him too much to let our friendship die because I was in love with somebody else, and he was embarrassed.

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"Titus Kelly, Xander and Xavier Langley and the Australia team will join you once on the ground in Bangalore from their positions in London,"

Amory continued addressing the six members of Ryder's team and Avalon and Jericho. "If all goes as planned, Caden's team from Morocco and Alina's team from Switzerland will already be in place in Ooty and the surrounding jungle.

Avalon, Jericho and Ryder, you will follow Eden's progress from the airport to the Ooty Palace at a distance, at a very long distance."

What's Ooty?
I sent a quick thought to Avalon, feeling lost.

It's the name of the town nearest to the Kendrick
Palace. It's a touristy area of India in the mountains.
Avalon answered my question quickly and robotically before tuning back in to Amory.

"Eden and Avalon's twin connection should enable the teams to keep a safe, undetected distance while still maintaining contact. We have yet to test the boundaries of their connection, but in Romania they seemed to have no trouble despite the 238/711

distance of the Citadel and Sighisoara. They will not be that far apart in India," Amory was answering a question when I tuned back in. "Once she enters the Cave of the Winds, she will have to sever that connection, however, and Eden," he turned his attention on me, "you will be the most alone inside there."

Everyone in the room turned to look at me, and I felt as if they could all hear me swallow. I tried to put on a brave face, but I could internally feel the crazy look in my eyes.

"Once the Eternal Walk begins, all we will be able to do is wait. Lucan and his advisors will be in the Watching Place to observe, and I expect the full traveling Titan Guard will be there as well. There will be nothing we can do until her Walk is completed and she exits the cave. During this period I will not have any teams nearby.

Avalon alone will run surveillance without magic." When the entire room began to protest he continued quickly, "With the quantity of Titan Guard available for Lucan and the uselessness of 239/711

standing in a humid jungle just waiting, I find it unnecessary to alert Lucan of a magical presence outside of the Caves and risk any of your lives when Avalon can do the job by himself. I have faith in my grandchildren. Eden will leave the cave and Avalon will not be found, but what happens after Eden has left the cave is more important than what happens while she is in it."

The crowd seemed pacified, or at least calmed for the moment. I glanced over at Avalon bouncing energetically on his heels like usual. He gave me a confident smile. I smiled back, despite my growing anxiety. My brother was a bad ass.

Amory was right;, nobody needed to worry.

Avalon was not going to let anything happen to me.

"What do you expect to happen after the Walk?"

Fiona Thompson asked.

"I am not sure what to expect. Eden and Avalon have been working on a few different techniques, but we are not sure what will happen once Eden is alone in the cave. Either Eden will leave the 240/711

cave by herself and be taken back to the palace, or she will leave with the Titan Guard in handcuffs. Obviously, the latter scenario will not do, and at that point Avalon will reconnect with Jericho and the other teams to extract Eden. If she is taken back to the palace, that still does not mean she will be safe. Lucan might be biding his time, or deciding what to do. Either way, recon-naissance will continue until she is back home in Omaha, safe in her own house."

"What about the Stewards?" Conrad called out, his hand on his chin, he was clearly deep in thought.

"I have thought through our options with them,"

Amory resonded. "They, on one hand have taken a vow of silence that cannot be broken; on the other hand, their allegiance lies with the general monarchy and not with the Immortal population.

My instinct tells me to leave them out of it all together. They are after all humans and I cannot in good conscience risk any of their lives for a fight that is not their own."

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Conrad, as well as several others nodded in agreement, satisfied with Amory's wisdom.

"I think that is everything for now," Amory continued. "There are smaller details that need to be ironed out, but the most important thing to remember is that until Eden is physically harmed or threatened, we are simply running a surveillance mission. The last thing I want to do is send red flags Lucan's direction. We have to proceed with the utmost caution and vigilance. For this mission we must assume at the very least Lucan recognizes Eden and has put the puzzle together. We must also assume that if any Resistance member is caught, after our success at the trial in October, that there will no longer be trials held for traitors.

We must assume that Lucan will have anyone opposed to the monarchy murdered on the spot, that his end game is Justice and Delia, and that he will do whatever it takes to get them. In that respect, even though I say this is a surveillance mission, Eden has never been in more danger."

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Amory's black eyes settled on me, his expression set in pure determination. In that moment I understood Amory more than I ever had. Lucan had taken his only daughter from him; because of Lucan she was forced to leave and no one knew what had happened to her. Avalon and I were the only family he had left, and the future for his beloved people. He would not let Lucan take the ones he loved from him again. I felt his resolve in my very soul and a soaring feeling of confidence came over me. India was uncertain, the Eternal Walk was uncertain, the future was uncertain.

But I knew with all that I was, Amory would die before anything happened to me or my brother.

And so far, that had been proven to be impossible.

My grandfather, the last Oracle, who was thousands of years old, who had walked this earth longer than any other living being, was my pro-tector. And I found that was all the encouragement I needed to brave India. Come what may, I had the most powerful man alive on my side and 243/711

the hounds of hell would not be enough to stop him, let alone Lucan.

16.

"Eden, I know you are going to feel a little crowded with everyone here, but I really think it's for the best," Amory pulled me into a hug by the front door on his way out.

"I trust you," I smiled up at him. He was right.

Things would be overly full with everyone staying here and I couldn't say I was happy he picked Roxie to join the rest of us, but I did trust him.

That much I knew for sure.

"Well, good," he stumbled through an easy response, no doubt expecting he was going to have to fight with me. He kissed the top of my head and walked out the front doorto his black sedan.

I closed the door behind him and leaned back heavily against it. The India meeting had gone much longer than I had expected it to. Everyone seemed to want to hang around and offer words of encouragement to me.

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I appreciated the warm words and pleasantries, especially since during my last visit to the farm I had felt sorely out of place. Really, I felt out of place, not just on the farm, but in the entire Immortal world. I didn't fit in at school. I didn't fit in on the farm. The majority of Immortals would gladly give me up to Lucan if they knew my true identity. The other part, the Resistance, wasn't happy with who I really was either. They wanted me to be someone else entirely, someone I could never be.

I was out of place, with no where to belong.

Eternity felt much longer than forever, thinking about it like that. I sighed, exhausted from a future that hadn't even happened yet.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and help us clean
up.
Avalon scolded me telepathically from across the room.

I thought he was in deep conversation with Roxie but when I looked up at him, he rolled his eyes. I couldn't tell if it was for me or for Roxie, but I 246/711

didn't feel like getting to the bottom of it right then.

I grabbed a few plates of left over food on my way into the kitchen to find Lilly and Aunt Syl.

They were talking and laughing over the dishes while Jericho was tasked with putting the food away. I dropped my plates off with Lilly before grabbing the broom and making my way around the kitchen floor.

"So where is everyone going to sleep?" Jericho asked when there was a break in conversation.

"Lilly can move in with me," I said excitedly before Roxie got any ideas, "and I suppose Avalon will have to move down with you so Roxie can have her own room."

At the mention of their names, Roxie and Avalon entered the kitchen carrying the last of the littered trash from the living room.

"Avalon doesn't need to move downstairs; we can share a room," Roxie offered, sounding more casual than I believed her.

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She's just being nice, knock it off.
Avalon interjected my thought train.

Nice is not the right word.... Ho-bag. That's the
right word.
I replied sarcastically, narrowing my eyes suspiciously at the tiny Latina I was deathly afraid of.

"Eden's right," Avalon blurted out, embarrassed by my remarks and forgetting we were having a conversation no one else could hear. When everyone turned to look at him with confused expressions he fumbled for a better response, "I mean, what she said before; I mean, about me moving down with Jericho," his cheeks were bright red and Roxie was giving him a coy look that I did not like.

"My house has never felt so small!" exclaimed Aunt Syl, turning around from the sink and drying her hands on a dish towel. She looked extra tan in comparison to the porcelain Lilly, standing next to her. "This is what's going to happen, Eden is going to move in with me and Lilly and Roxie can share her room. Avalon, you can stay where 248/711

you're at and Jericho, I'm sorry, you can still stay where you're at," Aunt Syll gave Jericho an apologetic look, having felt bad for him for having to stay in the living room since the beginning.

"No!" I shrieked, "Aunt Syl, you have given up enough of your life for me already, there is no way I am going to make you give up your bedroom too!"

"Eden, don't be ridiculous," Aunt Syll said quietly. "I want to help in any way that I can."

"No. I'm serious Aunt Syl, I have totally taken over your life. You can't give up your sanctuary too," I said firmly, reminding Aunt Syll that her bedroom was the only place she had to get away; even before the whole Immortal and Resistance thing, Aunt Syll had always treasured the peacefulness of the master suite.

"Oh Eden, stop it!" Aunt Syll turned her eyes intensely on me in a look I knew all too well. She was serious and it was time to pay attention.

"When Amory brought you to me, when you were a baby, I knew full well what I was getting 249/711

into. I knew just exactly what I was giving up and believe me, I knew what would happen to my life. Eden, it's worth it. And if all that's being asked of me right now, is to give up my bedroom, I will gladly do it. Besides, I'm never here to sleep in it anyway." She paused for a moment, waiting for me to respond, but I was too choked up to fight back. She was right and knowing so, she continued, "So, it's settled. Eden will move in with me, Lilly and Roxie can have Eden's room and Avalon and Jericho can stay where they are at."

"Wow, Sylvia, taking charge! That is so hot."

Avalon declared.

"Gross, Avalon!" I turned around and hit him in the leg with the broom I was still holding.

"What?" he threw his hands up in self-defense, laughing at all of the girls standing around him appalled.

"And on that note, I think it's time for bed," Aunt Syll turned the intensity of her look on Avalon 250/711

and sent him retreating up the stairs and into his room.

I led the way up the stairs after him, with Lilly and Roxie following behind. They carried suitcases of their belongings and I grabbed an empty laundry basket to haul the most important of my things into the master suite.

More than taking Aunt Syl's bedroom away from her, I was disappointed at not getting to share the room with Lilly. I had been looking forward to catching up with her and having time to ourselves. And besides that, I felt bad leaving her alone with Roxie.

"Thanks girls, for staying here," I said while grabbing clothes and underwear and my favorite pillow. I was more thanking Roxie than Lilly, I had been planning on making Lilly move in with us for a long time now.

"Of course," Lilly said in her bubbly way.

"Sure," Roxie mumbled. "Hey Eden, listen." I turned around to face her. She had taken her silky black hair out of her usual pony tail holder and it 251/711

overwhelmed her tiny frame, hanging down to her waist. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, I can be.... I know I can be a little difficult," she sounded sincere and half smiled at me.

"No, it's not you," I apologized in return, understanding that it wasn't all her. "I get that I don't make a whole lot of sense to most people," I smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "So lets just start over, yeah?"

"Yeah," Roxie smiled wider and forcefully reached out her hand in a businesslike fashion.