Hecate wasn’t there.
Since it hadn’t been long since we’d been in the Library, I shouldn’t have expected anything else. But the keys couldn’t be used to travel directly from one place to another—we always needed to stop in the Library as an in-between. So it didn’t hurt to hope.
After doing a final look around to make sure Hecate wasn’t hiding behind any bookshelves, we returned to the tearoom in the Haven.
The guard stationed outside the door sent a fire message to Mary to alert her of our arrival.
Minutes later, Mary entered the room, with Mom and Raven at her heels.
“Where’s Harper?” Raven was the first to ask the question.
“She’s gone,” I said blankly, and then we sat down and told them everything that had happened in that room with the demons.
Mom was crying by the time we were done. Only a few tears—she quickly wiped them off her cheeks—but I didn’t think I’d ever seen her cry. Parents were supposed to be the strong ones, and Mom had always been stronger than most.
She’d also always been the one to take care of me and Mira. But now that Mira and I had magic, and Mom still barely had any, we were the ones who needed to protect her.
The role reversal couldn’t be easy on her.
“What’s your plan from here?” Raven asked once they were caught up on what had happened.
“We’re going to do everything we can to kill Lilith,” Ethan said.
“So you want to go to Avalon.”
“I thought Avalon only accepted the strongest supernaturals,” Mom said.
“Avalon accepts anyone who passes the island’s Trials,” Raven said. “Usually that means the strongest supernaturals and humans—so the humans can train to become Nephilim. But not always. There’s not an exact science behind it. But it doesn’t hurt to try.”
I glanced at the others, unsure what to say. Because since getting attacked in the cove, all we’d been focused on was learning how to use our magic and figuring out how Lilith was tracking us. We hadn’t thought about where we’d go afterward.
Where were we supposed to go?
We wouldn’t fit in at the café in Australia anymore. Going back there and pretending everything was normal would be impossible.
I’d started to think of Utopia as home—or at least as a place that could eventually be my home—but that had been yanked away when Utopia was destroyed.
Perhaps Avalon was a good choice.
But what if all four of us didn’t pass Avalon’s Trials? Then I wouldn’t be able to stay. Because I wouldn’t feel at home without Mom and Mira… and without Ethan.
Of course, that was assuming I’d pass the Trials. Maybe I’d fail.
“It’s something to think about,” Ethan finally said. “But first, we have some questions we need answered.”
“No better place to get questions answered than at Avalon,” Raven said. “We don’t have anyone on the island with dragon magic. I’m sure Annika will be happy to sit down with you and chat.”
Annika—the only full angel that lived on Earth. They called her the Earth Angel. She was also the Queen of Cups, which meant she could use the Holy Grail to turn humans into Nephilim. And she was the leader of Avalon.
She was probably even more intimidating than Raven.
“I thought Annika didn’t know anything about the Dark Objects?” I asked.
“She doesn’t,” Mary said. “According to Annika, the Dark Objects aren’t supposed to exist. She was more surprised to hear about them than I was.”
Raven turned back to me and Mira. “By coming to Avalon, you’ll be part of Avalon’s Army,” she continued, and then she focused on Ethan. “What better way to help us kill Lilith than that?”
“Dragons are strong fighters. I can help kill Lilith by freeing my people,” he said. “And we can’t do that from Avalon.”
“You can’t do that from here, either.”
“I never said we intended to get our questions answers here.”
“Then how do you plan to get them answered?”
“By using this.” Ethan pulled his key out from under his shirt. “I’m going into Hecate’s Eternal Library every morning until she shows up and tells me what I need to know.”
Raven blinked, her eyes blank.
Mira fiddled with the chain around her neck.
“Raven,” Mary said gently, and Raven looked to her, as if she hadn’t heard a word Ethan had said. “The four of them have been on the run to stay alive for weeks. Give them time. This isn’t a decision that needs to be made this exact second.”
“I don’t know about that,” Raven said. “Even though Lilith doesn’t have a vampire who tracks dragon magic anymore, she’s not going to stop coming after the twins. And Avalon is the safest place in the world. Not even the Dark Wand can break through Avalon’s barriers.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Because if it could, Lavinia would have used it already. Just like she did on Utopia.”
“Unless Lilith has a bigger plan.”
“A bigger plan than taking down Avalon?” Raven scoffed. “I highly doubt that.”
“Raven,” Mary said sternly. “We’re tabling this discussion for now. They’ve been through a lot these past few days. Give them time to process.”
I relaxed slightly, since Mary was right. The past few days felt like they’d happened in a blur. We needed time to think.
And time to talk to Hecate.
“Fine,” Raven gave in. “Take time to think. But during that time, we’re going to continue our training.”
Mira groaned, and I couldn’t blame her. Raven’s sword fighting lessons were exhausting.
“Not as intensely as before, since I’m assuming you’ll also be practicing using your elemental magic,” she continued. “But you still need to train to fight. Because even though you can use your magic now without being tracked, it doesn’t change the fact that the only way to kill a demon is with a holy weapon. Which means you have to get as good at using them as possible.”
4
Gemma
My thoughts were so consumed with my memories of Ethan that I couldn’t fall asleep that night.
No, not memories.
Of my dream of Ethan.
Or my drug-induced hallucination of Ethan.
Whatever it was.
But even though he’d remembered, his memories had slipped away.
Maybe, if we kissed again, they’d return.
But what if they disappeared every time? I’d have my Ethan back for a few minutes, and then he’d disappear, over and over and over again.
It would be torture. Self-inflicted torture.
Maybe it would be worth it for those few minutes of happiness.
Maybe his memories would come back stronger each time, until they were ingrained in his soul as permanently as they were ingrained in mine?
But I’d never find out. Because what had happened in that room could never happen again. We’d both agreed on it.
I couldn’t do that to Mira.