"What do you want?" I growled, irritated more than scared at having to be put in this position…. again.
"Want? Why, will you give it to us if I say pretty please?" The man who brought me back asked sarcastically and a few of the other men just laughed.
I couldn't help but feel intimidated by the seven grown men standing in a circle around me. Fighting one grown man had been hard enough, and this wasn't a bunch of kids in a forest. These were trained Guard with a purpose.
"Listen," I cleared my throat, and forced courage into my voice, "if you let us go, I promise not to take every single one of your magics. I'll let you keep it, k? And we can walk away and just forget this ever happened."
A chorus of harsh laughter mocked me.
"Yeah, poor Becks," one man offered, clearly not taking me seriously.
"You don't really expect to be able to take all of our magic, do you?" the first man asked, stepping closer to me.
"Well, obviously that's why Lucan sent you. He's testing me. He doesn't actually expect you to succeed," I decided to stop playing games and just get to the bottom of this.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," another man spoke up. "We're just curious. We want to see what Becks was actually up against. That's all."
More evil laughter.
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," I mumbled before throwing Roxie's captor back against a wall, cracking the concrete blocks in the shape of his body, but releasing his grip on Roxie. He didn't have time to stand up before she had thrown him down the hallway making him pay for ever touching her.
The rest of the men closed in on me fast, one grabbing my arms behind my back, while the others tried to pick me up. I used my magic quickly with the guy holding my arms and threw him against the ceiling before letting him drop painfully to the ground. There were too many of them for me to focus on every one. While I was fighting off one of them, another would sneak up on me. I did my best, sending random blasts of magic behind me, trying to keep the others at bay while dealing with them one on one.
Unlike the team of four I drained of magic in the forest, these men were not leaving me alone to focus that much energy. Quick bursts were all I could work up and they were anything but debilitating.
Roxie was at the other end of the hallway, kicking some serious ass, but that was all she could handle at once. I was amazed, though, at how much power came out of such a little body; I gave her due credit for the attitude she carried. She was pretty much a bad ass.
The hallway was crumbling around our fight. Huge splits in the concrete floor and cracks up the walls would leave dangerous evidence of a super human fight. At the moment though, I didn't have a choice.
I was determined to drain someone's magic, hoping that if the rest of them witnessed the devastation, I could get my message through. But six against one was frustrating and exhausting and for some reason felt like I needed martial arts training.
I was losing ground and the six men were getting closer to stopping me. My magic needed more strength to get through. They seemed unstoppable; nothing was slowing them down.
I sent another man down the hallway, crashing into a clothes rack on wheels, sending metal hangers flying, but not phasing the man at all. He stood up and snarled, a sick smile twisting his lips. A look of pure enjoyment filled his eyes. I shuddered, while trying to dodge another Titan, this one diving at my feet and pulling me to the ground with a tight grip on my ankle.
I lay on the ground, with the six men, murderous intent written on their faces, above me. I took the moment of silence to gather my energy. Even if this was it, I would take the down time to gather my strength and bring as many with me as I could.
The door behind the men slowly opened and Jericho, Avalon and Lilly came walking nonchalantly through it, until the door closed behind them. They stood facing the men, ready to fight back. I couldn't help but smile. The cavalry had arrived.
"I told you it was a bad idea, Eden," Avalon announced, good naturedly. He hadn't been in a fight in a while; he was morbidly looking forward to this. "You should have listened to me."
"Avalon, Merry Christmas," I joked back, out of breath. "This is your Christmas present."
"Aw, you have such good taste," he joked before sending three of the Titan Guards flying in every direction and reaching over to help me stand up.
The real battle began at that point, Witches against Titans, everyone, except Lilly, who was pacing the hallway wanting desperately to change into her tigress form. The hallways of the mall, however, were not a place for a jungle animal.
Avalon and Jericho were nearly unstoppable. The Titans did not stand a chance against them. Roxie too, was finishing her fight off and I had finally gathered enough magic to do some serious damage.
The men wouldn't quit, they were weakening but were not going to stop. I wanted to finish this thing and go home.
Drain them. I sent to Avalon, who nodded in silent agreement.
We stood back to back against the four men we were fighting and started, drawing power off each other. The electricity moved freely back and forth between our blood and was quick to draw the magic out from the angry Titans.
The pull was easy. They continued to fight, but did not even try to keep their magic. Avalon and I drained them in seconds and they fell in crumpled heaps to the floor, gasping for breath, the twisted smiles still mocking me.
The other three Immortals, backed away slowly from Roxie and Jericho before taking off down the hallway in full sprint. Jericho started after them, but Avalon stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Let them go, we're safe for n-" Avalon stopped short before finishing his sentence and then doubled over, grabbing at his side.
I let out a scream of pain, feeling the same agonizing stab in my stomach. Before I could recover, another searing stab seized my leg and I reached down further, crying out again.
"What the hell?" Avalon yelled at the men still lying defeated on the floor.
One of them let out the cruel sound of malicious laughter. He could barely keep his head up, but the hatred in his eyes never softened. "The King's Curse!" he panted, struggling to breath. "We all have it."
Jericho let a string of curse words fly, kicking the man in the face and knocking him out. I screamed again, not believing that pain this severe existed. I fell to the floor in agony, wishing for death or at the very least unconsciousness. Avalon crumpled next to me, gritting his teeth, sweat pouring from his face.
"Lilly get on the phone with Amory, now!" Jericho yelled at her as she fumbled around for her cell phone.
The stabbing was back, burning my insides and terrorizing every molecule inside of me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think, all that existed was pain. The darkness started to close in and I welcomed it, whether this was death or sleep it did not matter. I had to escape the pain.
Chapter Thirty
The pain didn't stop. I was in and out of consciousness for what felt like eternity. I had no concept of time or location; everything around me was a blur of agony. I could feel myself scream, but couldn't hear anything in return. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe I was wrapped in searing pain. My body felt like I was being ripped apart and I decided that was what hell would feel like.
The worst part was the connection I shared with Avalon. Everything felt amplified, our shared misery echoing off each other's consciousness. I felt his misery and wished for death.
In the depths of despair and the blackness of pain I had nightmares of all the people I loved being trapped in the same disease. Amory, Kiran, Jericho, Lilly.... all chained to the unrelenting torture that was the King's Curse. I couldn't help them, I couldn't save them, there was only death waiting, but unreachable.
I knew we would die. I knew there was no coming out of the curse. Everyone had died from it. And Avalon and I would be next. The hopes of the Resistance would rot with us. Kiran's love would fade away. I would become a whispered rumor of what once could have been. My brother, the great leader that died too young.
It didn't seem fair for Avalon. Someone born with his potential should be given the greatness in life he demanded. I was the lost girl, the girl who dragged my brother away from his destiny and into a meaningless duty that would, in the end, be his demise.
I was at fault. Avalon was an innocent victim of the crimes I had accumulated. If I had made up my mind.... If I had said “yes” to the Resistance.... If I would have stayed away from Kiran.... If I wouldn't have wandered off alone.... If I would have left Avalon out of the fight and let the Titans take me away.
I was to blame. And I would die because of my sins. I wanted to die, rather than face Avalon again. I would never be able to make this up to him if we survived and the alternative was too much.
Hold on. Avalon demanded, through unquenchable pain. You cannot give up. It's not over yet.
I couldn't respond; I couldn't use the energy to talk back. But I held on to Avalon. I refused with what little willpower I still held on to, to fade away. I found hope where there had been none and pushed it forward, making the smallest flicker of light in the dark abyss of agony.
But the darkness still came. The blackness found me and swept me away to unconsciousness. I tried to hold on, but in the end, the pain was stronger than what was left of me and I let go.
"Eden, Love," the whisper of a familiar voice called me from the nothing. "Come on, I know you're still there."
I felt the pain again; the hot rippling of tendons and fibers, of blood cells and enzymes, but it was lessened. This was not the seventh circle of hell, this was less, something had happened.
"Eden...." the accented whisper called to me again and this time I felt a gentle hand against mine.
I felt a warm hand against my hand; I felt something other than pain. I came further out of darkness, aware that I was better. I could feel the bed and the pillow my head rested on. I felt the blanket that covered me and wanted to throw it off; I was on fire and didn't need any extra warmth.
I could feel Avalon too, awake and in less pain. He was breathing regularly and not screaming anymore. He was alive and in less pain and that was all I needed for the rest of my life; I just needed to know that he would be all right.
I opened my eyes, shutting them quickly again against the dim candlelight that felt brighter than the sun. Slowly, I opened them, realizing how desperate for water I was. I tried to lift my sweat-soaked head off the pillow, but wasn't strong enough yet.
The whisper was there then, in front of my face and smiling. Kiran looked down at me like an angel, an exhausted and gaunt angel, but an angel all the same.
"Oh, thank God," he whispered again, and let out a long sigh, giving me the impression it had been a long time since he had breathed. "Amory," he called, "Amory, she's awake."
My grandfather ran into the room, pausing in the doorway as if to make sure, before walking carefully over to me. Kiran let go of my hand and allowed Amory to sit down next to me. He brushed the hair off my forehead and looked at me in the ancient way he sometimes had, reminding me exactly who he was.
He reached over to the nightstand and picked up a glass of water with a straw. He held the water with one hand, while lifting me off of the pillow with the other so that I could drink.
