The Reluctant Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons) (19 page)

“Fine. I’ll let it go. For now.” Her face sobered. “I’m worried
about Sparks.”

“Me too.”

“She’s into something bad, Rebs. Something really bad.”

Since she sensed the change in Sparks as well, Rebecca saw no
need to deny it. “We’ll help her.”

“Promise?”

Rebecca nodded.

Megan bounced off the bed and followed her out of the
cabin.

In the courtyard, Johann was fussing with his fancy cell phone
as Gina and Sarita sparred with swords. Megan let out a delighted squeal,
grabbed a sword from where several were stuck in the grass and bounded into the
sandpit to join the other Amazons.

Rebecca couldn’t help but laugh. Watching the three of them
playing like kindergarteners in a sandbox, clashing swords as they laughed and
smiled, she could almost forget what they were supposed to be doing with those
weapons.

It all came crashing back down on her when Sparks stumbled into
the courtyard. The sparring came to an abrupt halt. The laughter froze in
Rebecca’s throat.

There were no visible wounds, but Sparks wasn’t herself. She
righted herself from where she had tripped, and then she shakily walked to
Rebecca’s side, looking to the world like someone who’d drunk too much.

“Sparks? What happened?” Rebecca reached out to touch her
friend’s hair. The small streaks of gray had grown to large stripes of
shock-white fanning from her temples to the end of her long red hair.

Megan joined them. “Since when did you start channeling
Bride of Frankenstein?
”

Artair came marching across the grass in long, angry strides.
“Where in the hell have you been?”

“Out.”

“You may not leave Avalon on your own. You know the rules, damn
it.”

“Fuck the goddamn rules. I need to find Helen.”

Rebecca noticed Sparks’s eyes and gasped. The warm brown had
been replaced with black, her eyes as dark as any she’d ever seen.

Artair planted himself in front of Sparks and grabbed her upper
arms. “What have you done?”

“What I needed to do,” she replied, her voice hard, her dark
eyes wild.

Artair knew something he wasn’t sharing. Gina, Sarita and
Johann had come to watch the show, but he would never open up with an
audience.

“I need some sleep.” Sparks jerked her arms away from Artair
and started walking like a drunk toward her cabin. Her typically cocky swagger
was gone, and Rebecca wondered for a moment whether Sparks would even
successfully make the trip across the courtyard. She arrived, but the journey
had been slow and painful to watch. The slam of the door echoed through the
compound.

“What’s happening?” Rebecca asked Artair. The other Amazons had
gathered behind her, and Johann had come to his side.

“I think Sparks has turned to Freyjr.”

“Freyjr?” Johann asked. “Freya’s twin brother?”

“Aye. He doesn’t follow the rules of the Amazons and the
Ancients. He may have lured Sparks to dabble in black magicks.” Artair shook his
head. Then he raised his gaze to meet Rebecca’s. “Did you see her eyes,
Becca?”

Rebecca nodded. “What did he do to her, Artair?”

“Seior.”

“She wouldn’t.”

How desperate did Sparks have to be to resort to using
Seior—something that could change her from good to evil?

The Amazons practiced simple spells like glamours and developed
powers endowed by their goddesses. Basic white magicks. Seior, however, could
give its practitioner stronger abilities. Some learned teleportation. Some could
master reading minds. Some might see the future. But it often spread like an
infection, making a victim hungry for power, wanting more, more, more. Only
Ancients could practice it without losing themselves.

“’Twas how she was able to leave Avalon and find her way back.
She has gone to Freyjr to find Helen, and he’s taught her Seior.” Artair shook
his head, anger and hurt clear on his face. “The lass didn’t trust us to help
her find her sister.”

“But she didn’t bring Helen back with her,” Rebecca couldn’t
help but point out. “The magicks didn’t work.”

“I don’t know what Sparks did while she was gone, whether she
searched for Helen or nae. I don’t think the Seior has entirely turned her yet,
but we best keep a wary eye on the lass.” He turned to the other Amazons. “We
must return to training. The day has wasted away. Get your weapons and go back
to sparring.”

He had to be insulted when Gina and Sarita looked to Johann
instead of immediately following his instructions as Megan had. Fire was already
in the sandpit, sword in hand before Johann nodded at his Amazons to join
her.

“There’s only room for one Sentinel,” Artair whispered, looking
at Rebecca with emotion in his eyes she couldn’t read.

Johann ended the awkward moment. “Give Sparks a little time to
cool down. If I’ve learned anything from working with the girls, it’s that a man
shouldn’t hover when they’re angry.” He nodded to Rebecca. “Let her friend talk
to her.” Grabbing a sword, he extended the hilt toward Artair. “Show me some
swordplay, MacKay?”

Artair took the weapon with a nod as Johann picked up another
sword, and the Sentinels headed to the sandpit to spar alongside the
Amazons.

Johann was right. Artair would just keep Sparks riled up. But
to keep the Amazons safe, they needed answers, and it was time she and Sparks
had a long talk.

Chapter Eighteen

“Don’t even come in here and start lecturing me,”
Sparks said as Rebecca shut the cabin door behind her. “You’re the charge and
I’m the Guardian. Not vice versa.” Sparks lay flat on her back on her bunk, her
face turned to the ceiling. She was pale. Despite the warmth of the cabin, she
trembled.

“Where were you?” Rebecca asked. “We were worried sick.”

“Listen, little girl, you’ve got no right—”

“I’ve got
every
right. You may be
Guardian, but you’re an Amazon too. We’re all in danger. Did you ever think that
we’d be frantic with worry, or did you even think about us at all?” When Sparks
didn’t answer, Rebecca’s voice changed to a shout. “Where in the hell were you?
Artair thinks you were with Freyjr. Did you really go to him?”

“So what if I did? At least he’s trying to help me find
Helen.”

“Through magicks? He taught you Seior, didn’t he? You know what
you said about using Seior, how it changes people. You’re the one who warned
Megan that the twins dabble in dark arts and might reach out to her—or even to
me. Didn’t you tell us there was
never
a reason to
use black magicks? That once you started down that path, there was no turning
back?”

Sparks sat up, staring at Rebecca with obsidian eyes that sent
a foreboding chill racing through her. Sparks was headed for a fall—a
potentially fatal fall—and Rebecca was helpless to stop her.

“Once you die, there’s no turning back, either. Maria’s dead.
Trishna’s dead. I have to save Helen. If I have to sleep with— “ She closed her
eyes and swallowed hard at her own harsh words. “If Freyjr is willing to teach
me a couple of dirty tricks so I can find her, that’s the price I’m willing to
pay.” She flopped back down, her pale face full of despair that told Rebecca
this wasn’t as cut-and-dry as she wanted her to believe.

“Then you found Helen? If Freyjr’s such a fantastic help and
Seior’s so freakin’ awesome, you found her. Right?”

Sparks didn’t answer.

“Did you?”
She couldn’t stop the
small ground tremor. With the myriad of emotions surging through her, she was
having a hard time controlling her powers. If she kept causing tremors and
whipping trees into a frenzy every time her feelings got the better of her, she
was eventually going to create a disturbance that the real world would
notice.

“He’s still looking,” Sparks answered, not sounding horribly
convinced of her own words.

“Oh, I’ll just
bet
he is. And what
else will he want you to trade for more information? You’re the one who warned
us about screwing around with the Ancients. You’re the one who told Artair to
stay away from Rhiannon. You—”

Sparks flicked her wrist in a blatant dismissal that made
Rebecca clench her hands into fists.

“That was different,” Sparks scolded. “Rhiannon only wants him
because he turns her down all the time. He’s nothing but a game to her, and she
doesn’t like to lose. No one, including Artair, takes her seriously. Freyjr
isn’t like that. He promised he’d help me find Helen—no matter what.”

“He promised? That’s all you’ve got to say? He
promised?
” Rebecca wanted to scream in frustration.
“C’mon, Sparks. You’re a helluva lot smarter than that. He promised what you
wanted to hear to seduce you. You’re an idiot, a damned idiot.”

Sparks sat up again and drilled her gaze through Rebecca.
Small, lazy puffs of smoke rose from her head in a pathetic show of power. “I
can still kick your ass, little girl.”

“Doubt it. You look like you’ve aged twenty years since
yesterday. You should see yourself. You’re like something the cat dragged in.
You could barely make it across the compound without collapsing. Kick my ass?”
Rebecca shook her head. “I guess screwing a god takes a lot out of you.”

“As opposed to fucking the Sentinel?”

“I’m not the one who sold myself for a handful of black magicks
that’ll bring nothing but misery.”

“Rebecca, I don’t want to hurt you, but so help me…”

The Sparks she knew would never have put up with impertinence.
The fact she was still sitting on the bed and not pinning Rebecca against a wall
spoke volumes as to what using Seior had cost Fire.

“Bullshit,” Rebecca growled. “You’re bringing danger to Avalon.
You’ll hurt us all. Some dumbass demig’s going to trace those magicks right to
us, right to our front door. You taught me that, remember?”

“I did what I had to do to find Helen. And I’d do it again.
You’d understand if you’d lost a sister. I’ve lost
two.
”

“I would never whore myself out to some sex-crazed god for
Seior. I sure wouldn’t give myself over to some Ancient like a brainwashed
priestess. Freyjr won’t help you. He’ll use you, then he’ll leave you to deal
with the consequences.”

“You’re always so damned melodramatic. It’s just a little black
magick, just a couple of dirty tricks to find Helen, that’s all.” She flipped
the back of her hand to shoo Rebecca away and lie back down. “Go on. Go train.
I’m exhausted.” Sparks closed her eyes.

Rebecca heaved a weary sigh. “This isn’t over. Not by a long
shot.”

Sparks folded her hands over her chest, looking like some fresh
corpse awaiting burial. The image of Trishna’s body prepared in just such a
fashion sent chills racing through Rebecca. A premonition? She brushed the idea
away and left, slamming the door as she left.

* * *

Standing in the sandpit as he sparred with Johann,
Artair eased up when Rebecca exited Sparks’s cabin. He held up a hand and
brought Johann to a halt mid-swing. “I must talk to…her.” Artair inclined his
head toward Rebecca.

“Go on, MacKay. See what
Rebecca
found out.” Johann’s lopsided grin reminded Artair of the mischievous smile his
brother Darian had worn on many an occasion.

The man was more astute than the girls knew. Perhaps the game
just got a bit more interesting now that the scales had tipped the other
direction. “How long have you known?”

“Since the moment I saw their faces on my screen. There wasn’t
anything
Earth
about Megan. She’s Fire through and
through. I know not every Fire’s a redhead, but one look at Megan? How stupid do
they think I am?”

“A fair amount, lad. Do you wish to let them know yer on to
their wee farce?”

“Nah. Let them think they’ve put one over on me. I’ll trap them
soon enough and hopefully teach them a lesson in the process.”

“’Tis good you have a sense of humor about you. Amazons are
full of mischief, and the faster you learn to tolerate it, the better off you’ll
be as their Sentinel.”

Johann chuckled. “When I went with Ix Chel to get Gina, she
told me to take a hike and shot me with a paintball gun. Sarita laughed in my
face, threatened to call a security guard and had one of her trained seals chase
me around SeaWorld. If I didn’t have a damned good sense of humor, I wouldn’t
still be here.”

Artair slapped Johann on the shoulder and followed Rebecca to
her old cabin.

The change in the place was amazing. Beagan and Dolan—efficient
as ever. The cabin that had been awash in Becca, colored in earthy tones and
full of her things, like brushes and hair ties, was now stark. All of her
belongings were gone, and nothing remained but a bed and a dresser. No doubt he
would find her personal things in his own cabin.
Their
cabin. He glanced over to see her wringing her hands as she
nibbled on her bottom lip. “Your things are surely in our cabin.”

“It’s not that.” Rebecca shook her head, refusing to give him
her gaze. “I’m a hypocrite, Artair.”

“Lass?”

“Sparks is right. I’m a hypocrite. It’s fine for me to—you
know—with you. But if she…”

“Freyjr, aye?” He couldn’t keep the disgust from his tone.

She nodded.

“’Tis not the same, Becca mine. What we share isnae what Sparks
wanted with Freyjr. Nor is it what he wanted with the lass.”

“She sacrificed herself to save her sister. That’s more noble
than—”

“Than what we share? Nay. Sparks chose the wrong path. What she
did was the wrong thing for the right reasons. It has nothing to do with us.”
She turned to him and started to say something, but he cut her off. “Becca, you
cannot blame yourself.” Her eyes flew wide. “You thought I didn’t know? You
thought I didn’t see you struggling to reach your powers out to find Earth? I’m
your Sentinel. I know all my Earth does.”

“Sparks told you I was trying to locate Helen.”

“Aye, lass. Sparks told me.”

“I failed. I couldn’t even get Helen to appear in my thoughts.
I’m never going to be an Amazon.”

“Becca—”

“I’m Earth. I should be able to find another Earth.”

He shook his head. “Not if she doesn’t want to be found.”

“Why wouldn’t she want to be found?”

“Helen might nae want to be an Amazon any longer.”

“You mean she walked away? She could do that?”

Artair sat on the bed and tugged Rebecca down beside him. He
cradled their joined hands in his lap. “Once Chernabog was gone, we figured the
age of the Amazons had passed into history. All four lasses survived. They
brought down the threat to humanity, but the world had changed. They felt their
work was done.”

Rebecca squeezed his hand. “They went back to their lives.”

“Nay. Their lives could never have been the same. They had come
too far and changed too much. They stayed at Avalon for a while to be sure the
danger had passed. But as the years slipped away, they grew restless. Helen was
the first to leave. She was a teacher for a while, much like you. Trishna and
then Maria followed. Each to a career, a life, but none married. No Amazon has
ever taken a husband. It was forbidden, but once they left, they could have done
as they pleased since no one was watching. Perhaps they stayed alone because
they could outlive a husband, or perhaps they feared abandoning them if duty
called. Sparks was the only one to stay near Avalon, though even she left for a
while. She’s the reason I’m still here.”

“You know, she says she didn’t want to be the Guardian, but
that’s what she was anyway. Wasn’t she?”

Artair nodded. “Maria kept the power to summon the next
generation, but Sparks stayed nearby. I think she knew in her heart it wasn’t
over. Not yet.”

“Just like you did.”

“Aye, Becca mine. I never held the hope the lasses did that
evil had simply died in this world. Evil will always be, just as good will
always be.”

She reached up to brush her fingertips across his cheek. “Then
why are you leaving?” Another small word was missing from the end of her
question—the word
me.

“Because I knew I couldn’t face losing any more friends. And
yet, I have. I’ve lost Maria and Trishna.” She tried to interrupt, but he
stroked his thumb against her soft lips. “I didn’t like how hard I’d become. I
needed to reclaim my humanity, and you’ve helped me do that. You’ve brought life
back into my world.” He leaned over to press his lips against hers.

When Artair had meant nothing more than a quick brush of his
lips across hers, Rebecca changed the rules. Looping her arms around his neck,
she pulled him to her. She was the first to deepen the kiss, slipping her smooth
tongue past his lips to stroke his mouth until his tongue chased hers. A growl
of need rose from his chest, echoed by her moan.

He would never be able to get enough of her taste, her touch
and her affection. With great regret, he eased back, knowing the others were
waiting. He sighed, and she nodded, clearly understanding why he didn’t
immediately strip her and make love to her as he longed to.

He took a couple of deep breaths to bring his body back under
control. Her cheeks flamed, and her breathing sounded a bit labored. “We shall
have tonight, Becca mine. And every night.”

“Until you leave.” She marched out of the cabin without a
backward glance.

He should go to her and soothe her. But what would he say?

The flash wasn’t unexpected. Artair had known Rhiannon would
soon make her anger over his taking Rebecca as a lover known. The goddess sat in
the same spot on the bed that was surely still warm.

He talked about business instead. “Have you found any trace of
Helen?”

“Nay.” The goddess sounded discouraged. “I fear you may be
right about her fate, Arthur. Just as you were right about Fire turning to
Freyjr. What will you do to bring your wayward Amazons back into line?”

He let the slip of his name pass, knowing she was seeking
attention. “I must think on it for a spell.”

The goddess ran her index finger down his arm, scraping her
long fingernail against his shirt. “I think you have no plan because you are too
occupied finding your…amusements with my Amazon.” Her gaze settled on him as she
folded her arms over her breasts and frowned. “You bedded her. I should punish
you both.”

“Nae the lass. ’Twas not her doing. I went to her.”

“Ever the gallant Sentinel, putting your head on the chopping
block for one of your charges. I should send her away.”

Exactly what he’d been afraid of hearing. “Nay, you cannot. The
Amazons face trouble. Earth must fight alongside them, or they shall be too weak
to win.”

“She disobeyed me.
You
disobeyed
me. After everything I have done for you. Ungrateful wretches, the pair of you!”
The ground rumbled with her anger. “Aye, ungrateful.”

If she meant to make him feel guilty about what had happened
between him and Rebecca, she was failing miserably. The Lady of the Lake’s
childish tantrum only showed him even more why he loved Rebecca, why he loved
her grace and charm. “I promised to serve you, m’lady, and I have. I’ve given my
best for you and the Amazons for so many years, you’ve nae right to tell me who
I may take as a lover. My service was pledged to you, but my life is still my
own.”