Avalon Tower

But where they belong is wrapped in each other’s arms.

All he can think about is what it would feel like to brush his lips against hers for the first time.

The agents of Avalon Tower weren’t allowed to have relationships with each other. He’d heard it a thousand times. Alix’s sister, Nivene, reminded him of that every time they met, as if he were an idiot who couldn’t get this simple notion into his thick head.

Nivene has a point, though. Because the current situation is one in which he spends endless hours imagining Alix’s naked body pressed against his, or kissing her thighs and listening to her gasp—such a fever pitch of obsession that he can’t think of anything else. Not his work, nor the war—not even this mission.

He tosses the stiletto at one of the crates. The blade thunks into the wood, and the hilt judders. Once this mission is over, things will change.

Alix will never resign. One of two Sentinels, she’s too important to allow herself to leave.

But Avalon Tower can easily carry on without Rein. He’s the one who must go.

In fact, he already told Sir Kay that he’s resigning. The old man was furious, lectured him about responsibility and loyalty, but Rein was adamant. He was done. All he wants is to wake up next to Alix.

He only agreed to go on this final mission because it had been planned for months. And when they return, he’ll tell Alix they can finally be free to be together.

He yanks the stiletto from the crate. Where the hell is Leia? She was supposed to be here with the fugitives an hour ago. Rein has their fake passports, their disguises. They’ll go through the Veil with the Cosaint Orb, and meet up with Alix on the other side. Gods, he can’t wait to see her…

But why the delay?

They’ve done it three times before, and it always went without a hitch.

His heart starts to race.

Something’s wrong.

Somewhere in the distance, he hears the unmistakable clunking of an armored patrol walking by. He shuffles deeper into the shadows between the crates, hand on his blade. The heavy footsteps slowly fade.

That’s the third time this morning—an unusually frequent number of patrols. His throat goes dry.

Frowning, Rein peers around the large crate’s corner. Sees the two lumbering fey guards as they march away. The safe bet is to wait here for Leia. But Rein’s gut feeling tells him that something is very wrong. Leia isn’t coming--and these troops are here for a reason.

Fear courses through his veins—not for himself, but for Alix.

He slides the stiletto in his boot, and stows the rucksack with disguises deep between the crates. Then, he strolls out of his hideout. He’s dressed in a clean black buttoned-up shirt, and baggy blue trousers—the perfect disguise for the valet of an important Fey noble. His outfit carries that unique aura of someone you can ignore but should not interrupt.

He walks down the street to the Wretched Wight--the local tavern--and casually steps inside. Nox, the tavernkeeper—a dark-haired Fey with a perpetual sneer--stands at the bar, filling a glass of mead.

This early in the morning, the tavern is blessedly empty—just a single woman drinking a coffee at a polished oak table, bathed in light from a stained-glass window.

With a quickening heartbeat, Rein crosses to the bar, and he pulls out a stool.

Behind the bar, a black-haired Fey narrows silver eyes at him. “Rein. Thought I told you never to come back here.”

Rein flashes him a smile. “I assumed it was just wishful thinking on your part. I can’t stay away from your classy joint. I mean, how could I do without all…” he gestures at the dusty bottles behind the counter and the cracked glasses. “This?”

Nox’s lip curls. “We don’t serve demi-Fey here. Get the fuck out.”

“Lot of troops around today,” Rein says, placing a silver coin on the counter. “Anything going on?”

“Beats me,” Nox answers, ignoring the coin. “I keep my head down, stay out of the king’s way. May his light shine brightly.”

“Right.” Rein nods. “May his light shine fucking brightly. You haven’t seen Leia around, have you?” He places another coin on the bar—gold this time.

“Haven’t seen her in weeks.” He focuses on a particularly stubborn smudge on the counter with his rag.

Rein nods. Then, in one swift move he grabs Nox’s wrist, and with his other hand, yanks out his stiletto and thrusts it through the bartender’s hand, pinning it to the bar with his blade. Nox screams in agony.

“Better lower your voice,” Rein suggests. “Wouldn’t want the king’s troops to come in here. I know your backroom is full of mead you never paid taxes on. May his light shine brightly, of course.”

“You fucker,” Nox says, his voice high-pitched. “I… my hand…”

“Yes, I’m afraid you and your beloved will spend some time apart,” Rein says. “You’ll have to be unfaithful and use your left hand for a while. Now listen closely, you useless cunt. You are a very bad liar. So I know for a fact that you do know why the troops are here, and you have seen Leia. Tell me everything I want to know, and you’ll get to keep both your hand, and these two coins that you really should have taken earlier.”

He lets out a strangled cry. “The troops have some information about fugitives coming through here,” Nox grunts. “They picked up Leia last night.”

“Where did they take her?”

“I don’t know.” Nox sobs.

Rein sighs and twists the stiletto left and right. Blood bubbles and drips down the counter. Nox shrieks.

“The warehouse at the edge of town!” He sputters. “She’s held there for questioning. Some big shot captain is coming to talk to her.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. I swear, Rein, I don’t know.”

Rein nods. “Okay. Now think carefully. Is there anything else I should know?”

“Um… I think there are six guards there. Heavily armed. One of them is Gralon. You know Gralon? My cousin’s neighbor? The one who had a three-legged cow?”

Rein massages the bridge of his nose as Nox spouts nonsense at him. If Rein had more time, he could do this properly. But they have Leia, and he needs to get her out before they question her properly. Leia isn’t an Avalon agent. She won’t be able to withstand torture.

He yanks the stiletto out of Nox’s hand. “Thanks Nox. You’ve been a great help. As always.”

“You’re a monster.” Nox cradles his hand.

“A popular sentiment, that.” Rein agrees, cleaning his stiletto with the discarded rag. “I’ll see you around, Nox.”

He steps outside, feeling nauseous. This is just the kind of thing that he won’t miss once he’s out, but he’d do anything to keep Alix safe.

The warehouse that Nox mentioned is a quick fifteen-minute walk across town, and Rein is already familiar with it--a large stone structure used to house cheap mead. Just one door in front, no windows. And, like Nox said, there are two armed Fey guarding the door. Auberon’s troops. Well-trained and deadly.

Thankfully, Rein doesn’t really need to go through the door to get inside.

He strolls past the guards, taking note of the emblem on their shields. Two red lions… which company is that? He’s bad at remembering those little details. Wrythe Pendragon always gave him shit about it back when Rein was a cadet, and he never thought it mattered.

And maybe it doesn’t--they have big pointy swords, and they’ll kill him if he tries to go past them. That’s the important bit right now. He strides past the warehouse, and nonchalantly slips around to the back.

Just a plain stone wall. No windows, just like he remembered. But for Rein, walls are a nuisance more than an actual obstacle.

He turns and faces the wall. Inhaling, he summons his magic. He feels it humming within him, like a horde of angry bees. His entire body thrums with his vibrating power…

A blink…

And he stumbles into the dark warehouse.

His head is pounding, as it always does, whenever he blinks away. When he just blinks a few inches, it’s not too bad. But when he blinks a few feet, it’s agonizing. Once, he blinked several yards, and he was sure his skull had split in two.

A handy magical power for a spy. Too bad he can’t blink past the Veil.

He huddles in the shadows of a few barrels of mead as he gathers his bearings. Wavering torchlight dances over wood and stone. Sure enough, he can see a few armored figures at the far side, sitting around a table, playing cards.

But where’s Leia?

A coppery scent hits his nose--one he knows well. Blood. He inhales, his sharpened Fey senses leading the way… there.

In the corner, not far from him, a crumpled figure lies in a heap.

Hunched, sticking to the shadows, he crawls over to her. It’s already clear to him that he’s too late. Blood soaks her ragged clothes, and her face looks bruised beyond recognition. Her fingers twist in gnarled shapes…

Bile rises in his throat. He forces himself to inhale, exhale. She’s still breathing. He reaches her. Touches her cheek softly.

She shrinks away, hissing in pain and fear.

“Shhh,” he whispers. “It’s alright. It’s just me.” He glances at the guards, but they’re too far to hear him, laughing uproariously about something one of them said.

“Rein?” Leia whimpers.

“Yeah. I’m here to get you out.”

“I can’t move. And… I’m bleeding badly. I don’t have much time.” She shifts her hand from her stomach. Crimson soaks her shirt.

He swallows. “Okay, I’ll get you out, and we’ll get you help—”

“How?” Leia asks softly.

He has no idea. He can’t blink with a person. He’s tried before. To get her out, he’d have to go through the four guards—then the two outside.

“Get out of here, Rein,” Leia whispers. “Get back and warn everyone. They tortured me. I… I’m sorry. I told them everything. About the fugitives. You. The meeting point with Alix.”

Rein’s stomach drops. If they know about the meeting point with Alix… There’s no way he’ll get back to warn her in time. Now, his blood roars in his ears.

“How long ago?” he asks. “When did you tell them?”

“I don’t know… An hour?”

“Who heard you?”

“Just the people here.”

Which means that if he kills them, maybe he can still keep Alix safe. Four guards in here, two outside. Six of Auberon’s men. Pure Fey, armed to the teeth. All he has is a knife. Impossible.

And yet he has to do it to save Alix.

“Wait here,” he whispers. “Stay quiet. I’ll come back for you.”

He starts creeping alongside the wall toward the guards.

“…Still think we should have gone after those demi-Fey traitors,” one of them is saying.

“You heard the captain,” another grunts. “The runaways won’t get far. The dragons will find them. The real prize is the two Avalon knights. Maybe more, if we find the ship they were planning on using.”

“Should have gone with the captains,” the first one says.

“You saying the captains can’t handle one demi-Fey by themselves?” a third one guffaws. “You really think they need your help?”

The captains. They must have gone to grab them from the information they tortured out of Leia. Damn it. And dragons by the border looking for the refugees? He needed to act fast.

“I’m just saying—” the first one says, then chokes as Rein’s stiletto sinks into his throat.

The rest of them roar and stumble to their legs, but by that point, Rein already has the guard’s sword in his hand. He thrusts quickly, in and out, a strike that would make Viviane proud. The next guard crumples to the floor, dead.

The two remaining guards lunge at him, and Rein kicks the table at them, coins and cards tossing in the air. One of them sweeps his blade. Fast--too fast to avoid.

But Rein isn’t there anymore.

He reappears behind the two guards. They stare ahead in surprise, searching for the man who’d disappeared in front of their eyes. He doesn’t give them time to figure it out. Another thrust – this time a bit sloppy because his head is pounding, his vision blurry. He never blinked away twice with so little time between.

Still, his sword sinks into something, and he grits his teeth with satisfaction. The guard stumbles away. The fourth one swings. Rein parries, the sound of metal clanging echoing in the large warehouse. Behind him, the large door creaks open as the guards from outside race in. Now, he’s surrounded.

He inhales, and…

Blinks.

This time it’s not as bad as earlier. Maybe his body is adapting, or the adrenaline is dulling the pain. Now, his senses are sharpened. The guards are whirling around, looking for him, and he slashes, feels the sword cut, and before they can react he…

Blinks.

Thrust. Slash.

Blink.

Parry. Riposte. Duck.

Blink.

Another slash. And… and…

He stares around him in amazement.

They’re all dead. Six of Auberon’s troops. He killed them all.

Raphael once told him that emotions and passion can fuel magic, but Rein never really managed to make it work for him until now.

But with Alix’s life on the line--

“Did you see what he did?” A delighted high voice calls out.

Rein whirls around to face the speaker. A woman, clad in armor and a red cloak. Easily seven feet tall, wielding two battle axes. Beside her an even taller man, dressed the same, and brandishing the largest sword Rein has ever seen.

He knows who they are. Two red lions, he should have recognized the emblem. The twins. Maertisa and Vidal.

Maertisa grins “He bounces around like… like… I don’t know.”

“Like an electron,” Vidal rumbles.

Maertisa blinks. “A what?”

“I read it in a human book. Really small dust bits. They bounce around.”

Maertisa glances at her brother pitifully. “Don’t be ridiculous. That’s not a thing.”

Rein inhales. He can fight them. Once they’re dead, he can get back to Alix, make sure she’s safe.

“You know what I think?” Maertisa says. “I think he’s the guy we were looking for. How considerate. We thought we’d have to go look for him, but he’s already here.”

“That’s nice,” Vidal agrees. “Do you think the other one is here too?”

“No. The woman is waiting for him beyond the veil, on the human side. One of the two sentinels. Well… she was one of the two sentinels. I suppose there’s only one left by now.” Maertisa’s smile widens.

Rein roars like a wounded animal and charges them. Vidal swings his sword, but Rein isn’t there anymore. He…

Blinks

And when he reappears, something thuds into him.

He looks down in shock. Maertisa’s axe is stuck deep in his chest.

He can’t breathe.

Toppling to the floor, he thinks of Alix.

She’ll be so happy, when he tells her that he’s out.

Now, at last, they will finally be together.