Shades of Avalon (13 page)

An inappropriate loud laugh escaped my mouth. Amanda jumped but didn’t wake and settled quickly.

“What do you know about Camelot?” I inquired.

Samuel didn’t respond, not that I expected him to. My question probably came out of left field for him, so I went on.

“We’ve been joined by Guinevere Pendragon, and she is in possession of Excalibur.”

“I don’t understand.” His smooth and usually assured voice was riddled with confusion. Through the line, I heard wood scraping on tile followed by rhythmic footsteps when he began to pace.

“John’s sister and I were taken by surprise. It’s a long story, and I think it would be better if you saw for yourself.”

“Well we’ll be there as soon as we can, naturally.”

I scratched my temple and rubbed my jaw, considering my next request a moment longer. Asking Eila to accompany Samuel seemed necessary while at the same time, an added complication. She could get more answers from Guinevere, but her presence would set us all on edge.

“Will ‘we’ include Joshua and Eila?”

“No, Annice and myself. Why?”

“Her particular talents might be of use to us.”

“I’m afraid Eila is in Alexandria.”

“Egypt—what’s she doing there?”

Samuel forced out a weary breath. “She’s following up a lead. I suspect it will come to nothing, but it’s the only one we’ve had so far. Zeal’s been investing a lot of time searching for something, and Eila believes if we find out what he’s after, it might be the key to finding Caleb. Joshua is with her.”

“In that case, I hope the lead is strong.”

“We’ll see you soon. Give Triona our love.”

I tossed the phone aside and stretched my arms over my head. Caleb had been missing only a couple of days, but it felt like weeks since the morning I woke up in my own bed with my wife. I rubbed my thumb and forefinger into my eyes.

“Ben.”

I looked up to see Guinevere standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching me through the semidarkness. She wore a gray T-shirt and black yoga pants, I presumed borrowed, and had tied her hair in a messy top knot. The toes of her bare feet curled into the steps, and she pressed her hands against the wall on either side of her shoulders. She seemed younger, and her haunted eyes blinked as though startled.

I stood carefully and tucked the blanket around Amanda, smoothing her wild hair away from her face before I approached Guinevere.

“What’s happened? Are you okay?” I kept my voice low.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I wanted some water. I heard you mention Egypt.”

“Is that a question?” I suspected she fully intended to eavesdrop.

Her expression hardened, becoming guarded, and her hands dropped from the wall. “Yes.”

“Our friends are there. They believe Zeal may have been searching for something in Alexandria, but the lead isn’t strong, and it may not go anywhere,” I told her against my better judgment. Exhaustion bore down on my entire body, compressing me from every angle. Perhaps I wasn’t thinking as straight as I could be. Triona did say Guinevere was hiding something.

Guinevere pulled in a sharp breath. Her cheeks flushed, and from this close, I heard her heart race up to a rapid staccato beat. “I think I know what Zeal wants in Alexandria.”

“What?”

She stepped down and wiped her hand across her forehead, closing her eyes for a moment. I appreciated she needed a moment to process, but my own heart wanted to escape through my ears. My patience wore thin fast.

“What is it?” I asked louder and cringed at the volume. A glance at Amanda showed she heard nothing.

“There is a Sacred Cauldron said to possess certain properties.”

Memories of relevant stories flashed through my mind, snapped into place alongside stories of this woman and Camelot. I held my hands up in front of me to stop her. Guinevere lips pressed together.

“Wait up. Are we talking about the Holy Grail?”

She flattened her hand to her chest as though attempting to keep her heart contained within the walls of her chest. From the speed blood chugged through her veins, it might be a good idea.

“No,” she began. “At least, not as you might recognize it in the legends. This Sacred Cauldron at Knowth in Ireland had nothing to do with the Christian mythology associated with Arthur and the Grail. In fact, Arthur was Pagan. However, any person drinking from The Cauldron
was said
to potentially live forever.”

“You’re saying Zeal is after the fountain of youth?”

“Yes, but it’s not that simple according to Emrys. The Cauldon’s power was depleted thousands of years ago. It became nothing more than a symbol of a possibility.”

“A possibility of what?”

“The Philosopher’s Stone. The Cauldron was impregnated with it.”

“Wait up!” I whispered loudly, leaning into her. “As in Hogwarts, Harry Potter, and Nicholas Flammel? So we are back to talking about magic stones?”

“So you know alchemy is an ancestor of chemistry and what we often consider magic is mostly natural science we don’t understand yet.”

“You’re saying there’s no such thing as magic?”

“Of course I’m not,” she said dismissively. “You of all people appreciate magic exists—you’ve seen it. I’m saying there are some with the gift of real magic and illusion, but they are fewer than you might expect, and even for them, there are boundaries. However, most of the time what we mistake for magic has scientific explanation.”

“If we had the Stone and Zeal wants it, we could use it to exchange for Caleb.”

“No. You cannot allow Zeal to possess the Stone. It would be too dangerous in the wrong hands.”

“We’ll have to deal with that after we have Caleb back. If Zeal has him, we can’t leave Caleb in his hands either.” I shook my head to clear it and ran my palms over my face. “Where’s the Philosopher’s Stone?”

Guinevere’s face scrunched up in a scowl. She pulled out one of the chairs from the dining table and sat. “I have no idea, but it’s possible Zeal took your friend because he believes Caleb does.”

I sat down opposite her and leaned my elbows on the table tenting my fingers in front of me.
Circles
. I appeared to be wandering around in aimless circles and getting nowhere fast. Then something occurred to me. “If you have no idea where the Philosopher’s Stone is, what does Alexandria have to do with it?”

Guinevere’s jaw twitched and the tendons in her throat strained. She shook her head, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.

“Guinevere?”

She lowered her chin, wearing a resigned expression. “I know a man who lived there a long time ago, and he knew more about the Philosopher’s Stone than anyone. He would never help anyone from the Council, but Zeal might have been looking for any clues he left behind.”

“Will this man help us?”

An almost smile played at Guinevere’s lips. “There’s only one way to find out, and I know exactly where we can unearth the old fossil.”

Chapter 10

Twin Flame

I S
AT
D
OWN
A F
EW
F
EET
away from Amanda, hoping not to disturb her, but she woke anyway. Dragging the blanket with her, she whined and twisted toward me on the couch. She curled around my chest, wrapping us both in the warmth of the blanket. I ran my fingers across the place where her skin was scared and thought about our early days together, before shining swords, magic stones, and supernatural creatures…

We met when Amanda was six. She was a year older and just a tiny bundle of energy in pigtails. There was something between us right from the beginning—always an excitement to see her in school that I didn’t understand. I got a thrill out of teasing her, seeing her cheeks redden, and the way she always had a smile for me. When we got older, she had sleepovers with Triona in the next room. I’d lie awake and listen to them giggling through the walls.

It almost killed me when she went out on her first date with one of the guys from our English class. I hid around the corner from her house, peering through a hedge, terrified someone would see me. She was sixteen years old, and she was already acting embarrassed and awkward around me. Once we got together, she told me she’d fought this connection between us. She couldn’t make sense of it. Not being together made us both miserable, because as much as we couldn’t stay away from each other, we also didn’t
want
to be apart.

That night I sat on the grass behind the hedge outside her house. I waited the whole time she was gone, until the car that had taken her away pulled up, and she got out. I desperately wanted to look away. It was unbearable that he might kiss her on the steps of her house—that someone else would be Amanda’s first kiss.

His mom drove because he didn’t have a car, and he didn’t walk Amanda to the door. I wanted to rip his head off for not treating her how she deserved.

When the car pulled away, Amanda walked straight over to where I was hiding, and she ordered me to come out. She didn’t appear angry but sort of embarrassed and hesitant. I stood with hunched shoulders and my hands shoved deep into my pockets. Amanda picked threads from the arm of her red sweater and repeatedly pushed her bobbed hair behind her ears. Eventually she seemed to give up waiting for me to say something and sighed, shaking her head as if she had given up.

For a moment I panicked. I’d missed my chance, my opportunity to do something…anything to make everything okay between us. I did nothing.

However, she didn’t walk away—she didn’t turn. She stepped forward, licked her lips, and fixed me with her penetrating, brown eyes.

“Ben Pryor, if you tell your sister anything about what I’m about to do, I will never do it again. Understand?”

When I didn’t answer, she stomped her foot and scowled. “I mean it, Ben. I am not one of the groupies who bat their eyelashes at you in school, and I won’t become one of them.”

I had no idea what she was talking about because I’d never looked at any other girl in school. I’d never dated or even kissed anyone. My teenage hormones just about burst into overdrive wondering what she planned to do. My stomach flopped around inside my belly like an out-of-water fish. My heart escaped my chest and was bounding around inside my skull. I nodded mutely, staring into her wide eyes. Her fingers trembled as she fisted her hand into the fabric of my sweeter and pulled me toward her.

Our lips crashed together and blood ran like molten lava through my veins. Her lips were soft and warmer than I had imagined. Amanda held me there. I inhaled her scent, the strangest sensation progressing through my entire being. I was a half-empty vessel suddenly filled to overflowing. It was all so overwhelming and completely natural at the same time.

After a moment or two, the sheer, thrilling joy of finally getting to hold Amanda began to replace shock, and I realized I wasn’t holding her. My hands were still in my pockets. Very slowly, I unclasped my fingers from my jeans and wiped them inconspicuously on my hips.

Our lips were still frozen together, and I was totally failing at kissing. I’d seen movies. I knew the mechanics. Knowing and achieving without making a fool of myself, were two different things. Very carefully I brushed my lips sideways across Amanda’s—it felt good. Her grip on my sweater loosened, and her lips relaxed. So, I brushed my lips back the other way, sliding my hands slowly up her neck to cup her jaw.

Amanda sighed quietly, and her lips parted a little. Her warm breath ghosted into my mouth until I tasted her inside me. I was sure my heart would pound itself to a halt. Agonizing and euphoric sensations trickled through my limbs, even more beautiful because I had wanted to kiss Amanda for so long. A voice in my head told me we belonged together. As sure as night flowed into day, I’d always belong to her and her to me. I wanted more.

I parted my lips gently, just as she had done. We fit together. My lips molded to hers naturally and moved against her mouth like we had been kissing each other our entire lives. Her hands snaked up, curling into the hair at the nape of my neck, pulling me closer. I only stopped when our breathing grew so ragged I feared Amanda might pass out. My hands settled around her waist. I didn’t let go and she didn’t try to pull away. We stood there panting and flushed, staring at each other with goofy grins.

“I kissed you. That was my first kiss,” she said with a note of surprise.

“Yes.” I grinned back at her, beating down a foreign desire to tell her she’d never kiss anyone else. I would have never presumed to tell Amanda what she could and couldn’t do, although I wanted to.

“Don’t kiss anyone else, okay?” Apparently Amanda had no such difficulties. “Just give me some time to tell Triona. I don’t want her to be weird about us being together.”

I smiled again, certain without any reservation that I would never kiss anyone else anyway. “Amanda, I don’t care who knows or doesn’t know, as long as I get to have you.”

Her eyes narrowed accusingly, and her fingers played in my hair, making warm shivers sweep down my spine. “You’ve always had me, Ben. I think you already knew that.”