Lost Avalon: A Finding Nolan Novel (25 page)

             
That was my fantasy. Only I couldn’t even fucking sell myself on it because the only image flashing in my mind was of my mother slashing away at the goddamned rose bush and Ava coming out to tame the demon for her. My mother had been harmless. Clearly, the greatest threat she ever posed was to herself, but look at what she’d done to her mark. She’d killed her.

Chapter 21

I
was standing
in the kitchen staring out at our driveway through the window. What little I had accumulated during my stay here was already packed and ready. I was simply waiting for my mother to come home from her job so I could thank her for everything and hit the road. If she got here sooner rather than later, I could probably get to Blaise’s place before him.

             
I checked the time again. It was already getting close to three. What was the deal? She was supposed to get out early on Tuesdays.

I was about to go dig my phone back out of my bag when I spotted him. Linus. He was running around the house, frantically pulling the curtains shut.

              “Shit.” I’d seen that kind of mania before. Part of me had always wondered if it was hereditary, but when both boys grew into men, I thought they’d dodged the bullet. Even after seeing Linus the other day I had held out a smidgen of hope that he was simply having a bad day. That he was just stressed. Or tired. Apparently, that hadn’t been the case.

             
I stood there, tapping my fingers on the counter for a minute, remembering the state Blaise’s mother had been in that day. Even as a kid I’d understood how scared she was of that fucking plant. I hadn’t understood why, but I’d certainly grasped that it was real for her. The fear had consumed her whole. If Linus was going through the same thing, there was no way I could just let him suffer through it. Not when I knew no one would be showing up to help him anytime soon.

             
Without giving it another thought, I grabbed the spare key to the Nolan house off of the hook by the door and made my way over to see Linus, just like I’d promised Blaise I would.

             
Given that his mental state was probably somewhat shrouded and confused at that point, I bypassed knocking and let myself in. Not wanting to startle him, I quietly moved around the house. I remembered vividly how engulfed their mother had been with whatever hallucination had been terrifying her. She hadn’t even been aware of my presence until I stepped in to help her slay the dragon. I just sort of assumed things would be the same with Linus. I was wrong.

             
“How did you get in?” His voice was so dark I hardly recognized it.

             
“I have a key, remember? I saw you were here and wanted to say ‘hey’. Were you able to secure that barrier you were working on the other day?”

             
His pupils were huge, making his eyes appear to be pitch black holes. He was sweating profusely, droplets forming on his scalp and gliding down the strands of his brown hair, but he didn’t seem to notice.

             
“Did they send you?”

             
I shook my head slowly. “No Linus. Of course not.”

             
“You’re lying!” he shouted.

             
This was definitely different from the rose bush. Or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it just felt that way because in this scenario
I
was the rose bush.

             
“Linus. You’ve known me your whole life. I wouldn’t lie to you. And they didn’t send me. Couldn’t have even if they wanted to. I would never help them find you. Ever.” Not that I had a fucking clue who ‘they’ were. But it was pretty clear it was in my best interest not to be associated with them.

             
His black eyes were boring into me with a hatred I’d never felt from him before. It chilled me to my core.

             
“That’s what they would say. They got you. They got her, too. Thought they could use her to get to me. But they were wrong.” He ran his hand through his slick hair, smoothing it back. Then he wiped it on his shirt. My eyes followed the motions automatically. That’s when I saw it. Blood. He had smears of it all down the side of his sleeve and more down on his pant legs.

             
“Linus, what did you do?” It was barely a breath. I hadn’t meant to say it out loud at all. It had just slipped out.

             
“I’ll show you.” He came barreling at me. I didn’t move. Capture would be inevitable and engaging would only result in more violence. My best bet was to stay calm and find some way to prove that I wasn’t a part of whatever conspiracy was out to get him.

***

              I waited until after I arrived at the house to call the cops. No way was anyone stopping me from getting inside if Ava was already in there.

             
Her mother was just coming out of their front door, looking around curiously. She waved when she spotted me.

             
“Blaise. I take it Ava is with you then?”

             
Fuck.

             
“I was really hoping she was in the house with you. There’s no chance you just haven’t crossed paths with her yet?” It was a ridiculous hope.

             
“No. Her bags are all packed and sitting by the door. I called her name several times and checked the room upstairs. She’s not there.” Her brow knitted as she studied me further. “What’s going on, Blaise? Where’s my daughter?”

             
“I think she’s with Linus. I already called the police. They’ll be here any minute. Please, just go inside. I’m going to go and get her out, okay?”

             
She was shaking her head, obviously perplexed. “What are you talking about?”

             
“I don’t have time to explain, I’m sorry. Just go inside and turn on the news.” I didn’t wait for her to ask me anything else. I just ran up to the front door of my old house. Fucking haunted mansion was more like it. Once this was over, I was setting fire to the damn place myself. My dad could do whatever he wanted with the lot. That cursed pile of rubble had to go.

             
“Linus?” There was no point in holding back. I had no time to waste on sneaking around the house in hopes of surprising him. I needed to find Ava. Now.

             
“Linus? Answer me!”

             
“We’re upstairs.” Ava. Then a cry and thud.

             
My heart raced as I ran up the steps. Linus was lifting her up out of the corner he’d thrown her in just as I reached the top. In his other hand he was holding one of my father’s carving knifes from the kitchen.

             
“Let her go. Now!”

             
My brother turned to face me. I stumbled backwards by several steps. I didn’t even recognize him.

             
“I can’t.” He was eerily calm. “She’s one of them now. I can’t let her go.”

             
“You have to.” My eyes were locked onto his. “It’s Ava. You know her. Let her go.”

             
Linus laughed insanely. “You idiot. They’ve fooled you, too. But not me. This isn’t Ava. They killed her. This, this is an imposter. They sent her here to find me.”

             
“Why would they do that, Linus?” I wasn’t expecting him to see reason. Just entertain the conversation long enough for me to figure out a way to get Ava away from him safely.

             
“Because. They want it back. And I won’t give it to them.”

             
“What do they want back, Linus?” I could hear sirens approaching in the distance and horror coursed through me.

             
Linus’s eyes darted blindly around the room trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from.

             
“I need to get out of here.”

             
I wasn’t sure if he was announcing it for my sake or just telling himself. And I didn’t have time to question him any further. Our eye contact already broken, my gaze had immediately gone to Ava who hung helplessly at his side, a fistful of her hair gripped tightly in his hand.

             
He yanked her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s see how much you’re worth to your people.”

             
Grasping her firmly by the waist with one hand and strategically holding her into place with the knife held up to her throat with the other, he began to walk her forward.

             
Except I was still blocking his path to the stairs.

             
“Get out of my way, or I’ll slit her throat right here and now. Don’t think I don’t know how to kill your kind. It was harder than I’d thought, but I killed the other one. I can do it again.”

             
Slowly I stepped aside. “I’m moving Linus. You don’t need to hurt her.”

             
As soon as he was comfortable with the distance between us, he pushed Ava forward, forcing her back down the stairs.

             
I waited until he reached the bottom before I followed.

             
It was clear from the noise outside that the police were about to start piling up in front of the house. It was just a matter of time before Linus would completely self-destruct and take Ava with him.

             
I made myself meet her gaze, regardless of whatever fear she would see in my eyes, I needed to convey some sort of hope. Strength. My love.

             
I was about to plead with my brother, when the sound of an engine caught us both off guard. Before any of us knew what was happening, the wall behind them came crashing in, the blast from the explosion separating them. My brother was caught in the downpour of debris and knocked unconscious almost instantly, while Ava was thrust forward. I leapt toward her, catching her in my arms. She was safe.

             
No sooner was I holding her to my chest when I felt her arms reach around me, holding me tight.

             
“I thought I was going to lose you.” I breathed into her thick long hair, gently tucking it back, remembering how moments ago my brother had nearly ripped it from her scalp.

             
“I knew you would find me.” Her voice was tiny and muffled by my shirt where her face was still nestled to my chest.

             
Now that she was safe, I was able to see what it was that had caused the explosion.

             
“Mrs. Jennison? Are you alright?” Ava’s mom was carefully climbing out of the driver’s side of the pick-up truck now parked in our old dining room.

             
“Mom?” Ava’s head shot up from my chest. “What were you thinking?”

             
“I was thinking no way in hell is some maniac going to murder my daughter.”

             
A moment later the house was swarming with officers and paramedics, all arriving at the scene slightly delayed. Or just in time, depending on how you viewed it.

             
My brother began to come to, but was immediately sedated by the medics. I couldn’t even begin to consider what lay ahead for him. Nor was I ready to care just yet. Ava would change that later. She’d remind me that he was my brother and that he was sick. And that I couldn’t hold him responsible for his actions any more than I could my mother. Ultimately, she would make me forgive them both. And I would. But not yet.

             
Still huddled together, we stood out in the driveway waiting for the police to finish gathering their statements and release us.

             
“How did you know?” Ava’s hand reached for mine, twining her fingers in them for a perfect fit.

             
“It was one the news. He killed his girlfriend.” I kissed the top of her head repeatedly, still trying to erase the images of her at the hands of my brother. She had a hefty bruise already swelling up on her left cheekbone which would likely turn to a black eye come morning. Aside from that, there were just a few minor cuts and scrapes. Knowing that it could have been so much worse, didn’t make me feel any better about any of them.

             
“I still can’t believe any of this happened. This is so not how I envisioned the day playing out.” She was shaking her head, still in shock from it all.

             
“Your mother said you’d packed your bags. Where were you going?”

             
Ava tilted her head back to look up at me. “Home.” She pressed herself up onto her tip toes and kissed me softly. “I was going home. To you.”