The Midsummer Wife (The Heirs to Camelot Book 1) Read online

  Kee-rack!

  All the windows on the third floor burst outward. Glass showered down, just missing them.

  “Oh, they think they’re game, do they?” Ron said. His knees were slightly bent, and he was hunched forward in a fighter’s stance as he swept the area with his gaze. Ava could feel his heart hammering and a mix of intense emotions roiling through his mind. When she attempted to send calming thoughts to him, she was blocked. How is that possible? He’s not an adept. Maybe the negative influence of the Helaites is stopping me. She didn’t press to reach Ron’s mind. She had enough to do.

  Ava looked over at Harper, who nodded. They went in, then up the metal stairs, which rang with their footsteps, no matter how carefully they trod.

  “So much for sneaking in,” Falke said.

  “Oh, I don’t think they’re surprised to see us.” It might have been the meditation or dealing with her grief directly, but Ava didn’t feel the agoraphobia or any impending panic attacks. She actually felt the way she did just after her consecration as High Priestess: powerful as hell, and likely to do anything.

  Then she felt a little squick—a shivery-sickly-sweaty thing at the base of her spine. The early sign of an anxiety attack.

  Okay. Maybe I’m not back to pre-Helmut-me after all.

  “Why don’t they run away?” Ron asked.

  “I believe you’d call this a ‘showdown,’” Ava said. “Morgaine wants to demonstrate her power to us.”

  They reached the third floor. There were few walls and fewer lights. The giant room was full of shadows. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Ava sang out. She wanted this confrontation. Needed it, down to her marrow. But as she had told Harper, it had to be about justice, not just vengeance.

  A sort of brooding hate hung over the room. It felt almost alive, a giant monster waiting for them. It was colder in the room than it should have been, and the air smelled foul, as if something dead was moldering on a meat hook just out of sight.

  Ava could hear whispered chanting.

  She turned to Harper. “Apparently they don’t want to play nice.” She reached out with her mind and joined her power with his. Together, they scanned the room.

  One of the Hela women was to the right, two to the left, and one directly in front of them behind a pillar. Pushing outward, Ava drove the combined power at all four women at once. The woman on the left shrieked.

  Harper gestured to Ron to go and get her. Falke took out the large plastic ties they had found in Drunemeton’s pantry.

  Ron returned quickly, dragging along a woman with blue-white hair dressed in black. She struggled against Ron’s hold on her—even tried to bite him—but said nothing. Ron held her while Falke bound her wrists behind her, then forced her to sit down. Ron fetched the next woman, and the next. Each woman showed weak auras of gray-brown, indicating high degrees of self-absorption and negativity.

  Not going to get me. Never going to get me. Too strong, too smart for you! laughed a voice in Ava’s mind.

  The Helaite was blocking her, but with Harper’s help, they could peer around the mental shield. Through the sight, Ava spotted the woman in the factory office to the right. She was taking something out of a desk. Ava focused their power and aimed it at her hand. There was a shriek of pain.

  “Ron, she’s in that office over there,” Harper said in a flat voice, not breaking his concentration.

  Ron ran to the cubicle and came back with the woman. She was holding her hand and crying. Ava could barely make out her features for the long, scraggly, black hair that fell over her face. Her aura was stronger than the others―gray-black, shot through with violet.

  This one is the most powerful, Ava told Harper in mindspeech. Watch her carefully.

  He nodded.

  Falke tied the woman’s hands behind her back and forced her to sit down.

  Ava stepped in front of the first woman and reached around to the right of the nape of her neck. Cradling the back of her skull, she combined her power and Harper’s to send a bolt of psychic energy into the woman’s hippocampus.

  The woman screeched, “NO!” Then collapsed at Ava’s feet.

  Ava went to the next woman.

  “You can’t kill me!” the Helaite yelled. “Your precious Sisterhood doesn’t allow that!”

  You’re right, Ava thought at her. Then she grasped the woman’s nape.

  Without a word, the woman fell into a heap.

  The next woman struggled to her feet and tried to run away. Ron caught her as she thrashed about, trying to kick Ron and Falke.

  “Nonononononono!” the woman shouted.

  Ron grabbed her by the hair and pushed her head forward so Ava could get her hand on the back of her neck. The Helaite went limp.

  The woman with the black hair cackled. “You have no idea of our power! You don’t understand what we can do—what we have done! We’ve made it possible for you to be who you are!” She scootched backward as Ava approached.

  Ava took a deep breath and summoned her deepest powers. Placing her hands on either side of the woman’s head, Ava tried to ignore the filthy hair that felt like wet, thin snakes. She focused deep within the woman.

  There was a surge of hate. Ava knew it wasn’t from the woman. It was from another source.

  Ava dove deep within that “other” mote of consciousness and thundered: Morgaine, hear me! Your minions are defeated, and we did it easily. Enough of this. You cannot harm us. You only make us stronger! Prepare yourself for the call of the Oathstone. You will be summoned to the Healing soon. Once you have accomplished your task, you will be released from the long wait. Do not dare to disobey. The Goddess is already displeased with you. We will meet soon!

  Then Ava slammed closed that part of the woman’s mind. She said out loud, “In a moment, I will remove all your powers. When you wake up, the police will be here. You’ll admit that you and the others started the fire in Glastonbury, and that your aim was murder. Do you understand me?”

  “You…you can’t make me!” the woman said breathlessly, but it was almost a question rather than defiance. And there was something else in her attitude. A bit of smug glee.

  Have I missed something? “Yes, actually I can.” With Harper’s assistance, Ava sent the bolt into her mind, using greater force than with the others. The woman slumped to the floor.

  Ava nodded to Harper and felt his mind withdraw.

  He staggered back, blinking. “Well, that was exciting,” he said a bit breathlessly.

  Ava put her hand on Harper’s chest. “You’ve stood for justice today. They’ll go to jail, and likely never leave it. Their minds were controlled. They might have been unbalanced people to begin with, and Morgaine warped them to do her bidding.”

  He closed his eyes a moment. “I saw their thoughts. Killing them would have been pointless. They weren’t in control of themselves.”

  Relief that they had passed the first test—and that they hadn’t lost Harper in the trial—swept through Ava. All at once, she could barely stand up.

  Ava felt Ron’s arms around her. “Are you all right?”

  “Tired. So tired.”

  “Let’s go back home,” he said, helping her to the stairs.

  “Falke, were you able to do that thing you were talking about?” Harper asked.

  “Yeah,” the teen said, fingers flying on his wrist comm. “I put in an anonymous report to the police that anarchists who’re threatening to bomb the city are up here. They won’t be able to trace the link.”

  Harper whirled on his son, “That wasn’t the message we agreed should be sent!”

  Falke shrugged and started down the steps faster. He yelled back, “They killed my mum!”

  Ava chuckled tiredly. “Definitely your son.”

  She fell asleep almost as soon as she got back into the car.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ava woke up when Falke tapped her arm. They were in front of Drunemeton House.

  “Nice nap?” Ron asked, giv
ing her a concerned look.

  “Very refreshing. I could use ten or twelve more hours, though.” And strangely enough, Ava did feel quite good. She got out into rain that was coming down in huge stinging drops and ran into the house after the others.

  “I think we should have some lunch,” Harper said.

  “I think we need a drink,” Ron said, going into the office.

  Harper said, “We have an alcoholic for a king.”

  “Anyone who isn’t drinking heavily by the end of this has failed entirely to grasp how bad things truly are,” Ava replied.

  Harper laughed. They all went into the office. Ron poured brandy for everyone, including a very short ration for Falke. “Here’s to dispatching Morgaine’s crew without hurting anyone.” he said as a toast. They clinked glasses.

  Chessie walked in. “Ah, you’re back. Shall we start lunch?”

  “Yes, please, Mrs. Paterov,” Harper said. “Are you and Mr. Paterov all right?”

  “Quite, thank you, Your Grace,” she replied. “The fire only got the back room. We’ll miss our favorite spot for watching shows, but the rest of the house is fine…”

  While Chessie was talking, Ava felt a familiar suffocating feeling rise in her. Sweat was standing out along her spine.

  Staycalmstaycalmstaycalm.

  “Excuse me, I need to wash up,” Ava muttered. Without seeming to hurry, she went into the bathroom and leaned against the door, angry with herself. For a moment, she had actually felt good. She wanted to feel that way all the time.

  Knock it the hell off, she told her panic. I am not interested.

  While she peed, she centered herself and delved into the peace she got from the Goddess’ words. It helped. By the time she got up and washed, she felt more in control.

  Ava emerged just in time for lunch. She took the seat Ron was holding for her, charmed all over again at his antique manners. “Thank you.”

  They were served a fine quiche and salad, which was perfect for Ava.

  “No meat today?” Ron asked Chessie.

  “I’m sorry, my lord. Duke Drunemeton asked us to divert most of our proteins to the refugee camp,” Chessie said.

  Ron looked distinctly disappointed.

  Once the servants left, Ava explained about the appointment with the new Prime Minister Pro-Tem she had set up in Cardiff the next day. “We’re to take all the relics and submit them for inspection by some high-level government-types,” Ava finished.

  Harper put down his wine glass a little hard. “I’m not too thrilled with having strangers tear into artifacts my family has guarded for sixty generations!”

  “I quite understand. I’ve no doubt you’ll all find this a rather unsettling experience,” Ava said. She wondered if that was the source of his weird control thing in the Grotto the previous day, when he wouldn’t show her the tapestries.

  “I just had the most horrid picture in my mind of mad scientists cutting big holes in things,” Ron said.

  “I’m sure they’ll try to take better care than that, but I expect they’ll want small samples,” Ava said.

  Harper shook his head.

  Before he could speak, Ava said, “What did you think these things had been saved for? Mother Anya collected these relics to establish your identities. Ron said the box with the bandage was probably to prove his DNA and Arthur’s match. Do you think they’re just going to look at it? Or don’t you think they’ll have to open that box and scrape some blood off the enclosed cloth?”

  Harper sat back, blinking.

  Ron looked pained. “I’d just as soon they drained me of blood.”

  “I would object strenuously to that,” Ava said.

  Ron smiled wanly.

  She said, “We will, of course, watch over everything they do. We’ll make sure they don’t harm anything more than they absolutely have to. But then comes the harder part for you all.”

  “And that is?” Harper asked, looking pained.

  “They will never be yours and yours alone, again. They’ll belong to the people of Britain. You’ll be permitted to wear them as appropriate, but they won’t be your possession. I suspect that will be the most difficult part for you, Harper.”

  He swallowed hard. “Yes. I…I actually feel rather sick about taking them out of the house.”

  “Tomorrow will be a hard day in many ways,” Ava said.

  “Ava says the woman who agreed to this meeting is rude and uncooperative,” Ron supplied.

  “Didn’t your Sisterhood put you together with her?” Harper asked.

  Ava described the difficulties she had with Vera Jeroslaw. “So we have an ‘in,’ but we don’t have a friendly audience. We must do all we can to be as accommodating and calm as we can.”

  Everyone was silent for a while as they considered the implications. Finally, Harper said, “Well, the only good I can see coming from this is that I can take the old Merc for a long run. I’ve been dying to really go for a goodly ride.”

  “Actually, I was thinking the Rolls might be a better idea,” Ava said.

  “You’re becoming quite attached to that car,” Ron said.

  “It’s true.” Ava chuckled at her attachment to a thing. “But also, we’re bringing the new King of Britain to meet the government. Appearances are everything, from the clothes we select to wear, to the car in which we arrive.”

  “I have to dress up?” Falke asked, sounding every bit a fifteen-year-old.

  “I’m afraid so,” Harper said. “Our queen is right. A certain respect for the proper way to do things will be required.”

  “Please stop calling me that, Harper.”

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “Should we aim to leave from Drunemeton about nine-ish? I’m told it will take about ninety minutes to get to Cardiff from here,” Ava asked.

  “Given what we saw on the road to Bridgewater, I’d say it’ll be more like two to two-and-a-half hours,” Harper said.

  “Then maybe leave at 8:30?”

  “Should we get a moving company for those big tapestries?” Ron asked. “They certainly won’t fit in the car.”

  “Oh, I know just who to call,” Harper said.

  “Can we talk about what happened today?” Falke said, looking angry.

  Ava had been waiting for Falke to boil over. “Of course. What do you want to say?”

  His eyes bugged out a bit, and he looked as if he was going to scream. “Glass was exploding, people shrieking and passing out. What the hell happened?”

  “Falke, please lower your voice,” Harper warned. The young man sulked.

  Ava folded her hands in front of her. “Things went pretty much as planned. Your father and I were able to temporarily stun the women of the cult before they could hurt us. Then we turned off their psychic abilities—which is why they passed out.”

  “Actually, you didn’t need my help at all,” Harper said.

  “That’s not true. Linking with you helped me take care of many people at once. I’ve never had to deal with more than one person.”

  “Permit me to say I found myself somewhat redundant,” Harper said.

  Actually, he was right. Ava could have done that in her sleep. At least, she could have prior to Helmut’s death. But with the agoraphobia and panic attacks and general all-around fear tracking her every move, she had to make concessions to the fact she was not reliable. When she came up with the idea to combine her power with Harper’s, her worry was that a passing anxiety would cause her to break concentration in the middle of manipulating those women. The results could have been catastrophic. Working with Harper helped Ava keep all her attention on the tasks at hand.

  But she didn’t want to tell anyone that.

  “At least you weren’t an errand boy,” Ron snapped.

  Not you, too. “I’m sorry you felt ill-used, Ron. I thought with your military training, you’d be able to subdue the women without harming them unduly. And you did a fine job. Falke was very helpful, too.”

  Ron didn’
t look convinced. “What happened to that one woman’s hand?”

  “She was reaching for a gun,” Harper said.

  “And we made it too hot to handle,” Ava finished.

  “But what did you do to her? When you were grabbing her head?” Falke asked.

  “The woman with the black hair was the leader. She was the one with the direct mental link to Morgaine. I accessed that part of her mind and spoke to Morgaine,” Ava said.

  “You what!?” Ron exploded.

  “That seems risky,” Harper said. “Somehow I missed that part.”

  It had never occurred to Ava to ask anyone’s permission in that moment. “What should I have done? I had the opportunity to speak to our adversary, and I took it. Then I closed the link, so Morgaine can’t access that particular woman again.”

  “What did she say?” Ron asked.

  “I didn’t wait for a reply.” She told them what she had said across the mental link. “Morgaine needs to be aware that we know about her and her plots.”

  Harper sat back. “Forgive me, but don’t you think it would have been wise to discuss this before it happened?”

  “I didn’t expect that I would find a connection to Morgaine.” The men looked at her skeptically. “Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen any more than you do. I’m here to deal with things as they come up. That seemed one of the things I should address. Do you think I did wrong?”

  Ron blew out a breath. “Don’t you think she’ll just change her plans now?”

  “I think her plans are pretty well set. Our job—as created for us 1,460 years ago—is to extract her cooperation to assist with the Healing. I’d rather push her to deal with that than have her try to kill us before we get there.”

  “But it was so easy,” Falke said. “If it’s going to be as simple as it was to defeat her cult ladies, you’ll take out Mor—”

  “It most assuredly will be much, much harder,” Ava interrupted. “Depend on that. Those women were quickly overcome because they’re weak vessels, controlled from the outside. Derivative evil is always simple to defeat. It’s just that it often takes a long time to discover where the negative energy is coming from. In this case, we each thought our families were terribly unlucky—all those odd deaths. It wasn’t until the Goddess connected the dots, as it were, that we could see the whole pattern.”