Bryce motioned for me to go sit beside Antonio, but he refused to move aside as I walked toward my friend, and he smacked his shoulder into mine as I stepped around him. A stupid, childish way to tell me he was tougher than me. I sighed, put on my best smile, and sat next to Antonio.
“So are you both Nazis, or are you just freelancing?” I asked.
No one answered.
“Guys, I’m just making conversation,” I said.
“Can you not piss off the people with guns?” Antonio asked.
“Ah, they’re okay,” I told him. “The gun is only so we don’t do anything stupid. I just want to know a bit more about our Third Reich–loving friends here.”
Bryce punched me in the jaw, knocking me off the bench. “I told you to shut up,” he snapped, giving me a kick in the ribs for good measure.
“Enough,” the hulking Aryan wannabe snapped. “Damn it, Bryce. Enough.”
“He’s asking too many questions, Jackson,” Bryce said. “He needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.”
“Help your friend up,” the man called Jackson said to Antonio, who offered me his hand and assisted me in getting back on the bench.
“I meant absolutely no disrespect,” I said, with no sincerity. “I just figured talking would be better than awkward silence.”
Bryce got into my face. “When the time comes, scum like your friend here will be turned to ash. And those who stand beside the lower born will be right beside them. Got it?”
“Riiight,” I said and spotted Jessica walking alone across the field toward us.
Bryce moved away and looked over at her.
“You both got off lucky this time,” Jackson warned us. “We might not be so hospitable next time. You need to mind your manners. I thought you Brits were good at that.”
“Mostly we just drink tea and live in castles,” I told him. “Doesn’t leave a lot of time for manners.”
The man shook his head as Bryce walked off to intercept Jessica, putting me on edge. “A word of warning,” he said. “Don’t piss Bryce off again.”
“No shit,” Antonio said.
“Was I fucking talking to you?” Jackson snapped. “Your kind speak when asked to. Your kind come into our country, taking our jobs and dirtying our bloodline.”
His sudden move from calm to rage surprised me. “Okay, no one needs to lose their cool here,” I said. “We get it: Nazis hate everyone who isn’t a Nazi.”
“KOA,” he said proudly.
“What?” I asked, confused and wondering whether I’d missed a giant part of the conversation. Before he could answer, Bryce and a worried-looking Jessica returned.
“You okay?” I asked Jessica.
“Yeah, we can go now,” she said, not looking up.
“She knows where she stands now,” Bryce said smugly. “Hopefully we won’t need to have a second conversation. A meeting between you and Robert will be arranged. I advise you not to miss it.”
There was a wealth of questions in my mind, but now was not the time or place to ask them.
“You can go,” Bryce said. He made a gun from his fingers and pointed it at me. “I’ll be seeing you again, boy.”
I ignored him.
“What’s the KOA?” I asked Jackson.
“The Knights of Avalon,” Bryce answered. “We’re going to take back this country of ours. We’re going to make it pure again.”
I nearly made a smart-ass comment about giving it back to the Native Americans then, but I decided that being a smart-ass wasn’t as important as not getting anyone shot. “You’re part of Avalon?”
“Let’s go,” Antonio said from beside me.
“That’s right—go on with your friends, boy,” Bryce called after us as we walked away.
It took every ounce of self-control not to turn around and beat the ever-loving shit out of the two of them. We stopped in the car park of the diner.
“You want to tell us what that was about?” Antonio asked Jessica.
“Not really,” Jessica said, looking miserable. “I’ll deal with it; they won’t be coming back. I’m sorry for what happened today.”
“Take the rest of the day off,” Antonio said and rubbed his jaw. “Been a long time since someone threatened me with a gun and I didn’t break his arm for it.” He looked over at me. “How’re the ribs?”
“Sore, but I’ll live,” I said.
“We should really tell the sheriff,” Antonio said.
“No,” Jessica snapped. “You can’t. It’ll just get worse.”
“Jess, no offense, but there are literal Nazis with guns in town,” I told her. “I’m not sure that’s something we should keep from the sheriff.”
“Look, I promise I’ll sort it out. Please, just give me a few days.”
I nodded and looked over at Antonio, who sighed and said yes. Jessica hugged us both and walked over to her car.
“Any idea what the hell that was all about?” Antonio asked. “Nazi fucks.”
Jessica drove out of the alleyway and turned onto the road before I spoke again. “Knights of Avalon,” I said, almost to myself. “That’s not good.”
“What’s not good? Avalon?” Antonio asked. “Those bastards are taking over the whole world. You see on the news at the demonstrations about them, about the people who are alleged to have gone missing? It’s not a conspiracy theory, my friend; it’s a fucking fact.”
“I know,” I said. “Look, I’m sorry about the food, but I need to go see the doc. I think I may have busted a rib.” It was an easy lie, but I did need to see someone. I took a ten-dollar bill from my pocket and offered it to Antonio.
He shook his head. “Buy me a beer at the game tonight. Go get checked out.”
I smiled, but inside concern gripped me. Avalon was in Clockwork. Were they here for me? Or for someone else?
Chapter Two
NATE GARRETT
The list of people who liked to see Nazis in their town was a short one and consisted of only other Nazis. But my concern wasn’t so much with the two Führer-loving bags of dicks but with the knowledge that Avalon had come to town. Avalon was everywhere these days. After Arthur had told the world of the existence of nonhumans two years ago, he’d then set about exterminating everyone who disagreed with him. He’d taken control of most governments on Earth and then started making war on the rest of the realms.
Arthur was meant to have been the hero. The literal knight in shining armor. He’d been comatose for the better part of a thousand years, and everyone had hoped that when he woke up, he’d help build a better world. He hadn’t. Instead, it had turned out that Arthur had been born to dark blood magic, and the fact that he’d been comatose had just delayed his plans of ruling over everyone.
I was in Clockwork to hide. Having lost my powers and needing to regain them, I’d been warned to stay out of the limelight and ensure that none of Avalon’s many goons saw me, put two and two together, and ended my life before I was back to full strength and could help the resistance fight back.
In the beginning, humanity had accepted Arthur and Avalon with open arms, but the last two years had shown many the truth. Avalon’s secret police had hunted and executed anyone who was deemed a threat.