A few more? Who do you have now? I asked, shocked that he would credit me with recruiting anybody.

Well, all the ones that you saved from the King’s Curse. And then Talbott…. Uh… not Talbott, I mean Sebastian says the one that is in charge of you, what’s his name? Avalon asked, and I could sense him feel flustered.

Jedrec? I asked, shocked that Sebastian would know anything about him.

Yes, Jedrec is very close…. Avalon trailed off.

Huh…. I pondered internally, trying to repress my curiosity with Avalon’s slip and why he wanted to hide his mistake form me.

“Eden!” Seraphina shouted and I snapped my head up to look at her. “Hello! I’ve only been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes!”

“Oh, sorry….” I apologized, internally saying goodbye to Avalon.

“I swear, if you weren’t my only option for a friend here…..” she mumbled and I almost laughed at her. “Will you send one of your guards to go check on the pizzas? They are taking forever!”

“Yeah, sure,” I jumped up and rubbed my hands against my cold arms. “I want to grab a sweatshirt anyway.”

I stood up and walked out into the hallway where the Guard waited for me looking bored. Jedrec tried to smile at me, but I could see the exhaustion in his eyes. This was a perfectly good waste of a Titan’s time.

“Hey, will one of you check on the pizzas in the kitchen for us please?” I asked casually.

A Titan about my age stepped forward eagerly and looked to Jedrec with hopeful eyes. Jedrec nodded his approval and the Titan seemed about ready to run down the staircase just for something to do.

“I’m going to go with him,” I announced clearly, lest they confuse my statement with a question. “I’m just going to grab my sweatshirt quickly and I’ll be right back.”

“Alex, go with her, but you can wait outside of the room,” Jedrec instructed, ignoring my silent command for alone-time.

“Jedrec, seriously! I’m just going downstairs for a minute. I will be right back, nothing can keep me from that pizza, I promise you that,” I contended sincerely.

“I believe that, Eden, but we have our orders,” Jedrec nodded to Alex and I gave in with a sigh.

We walked down the flight of stairs quickly. Alex didn’t try to make any conversation but the walk didn’t take long, so I didn’t worry about it. When we got to Kiran’s bedroom we both stopped short, mutually feeling the flare of magic alerting us that another Immortal occupied Kiran’s bedroom.

Alex waved at me to wait for him to open the door and check it out. I obeyed, curious more than anything as to who would be on the other side of the door. He opened the door carefully and then looked back at me even more confused.

I understood why when Dmitri Terletov stepped out of the room and gave me a welcoming smile. My blood heated to a fast boil and my electricity screamed warnings at me, but I couldn’t just turn around and run. No, I wouldn’t turn around and run. He was a thug and nothing more. He couldn’t intimidate me.

“Eden, I was just coming to find you,” he purred, his gloved hands clasped together in front of him.

“Well…. You found me,” I mumbled dryly.

“Yes, I have,” he agreed, giggling with glee. I shivered uncontrollably with disgust. “Will you join me for a walk in the gardens? There is something I would like to discuss with you.”

“No, thank you for the offer though,” I smiled politely. “I have to get back.” I looked longingly upstairs and then back at the sinister eyes looking over me with new interest. Next to me, Alex flexed with carefully harnessed strength and took a step closer to me.

“They won’t miss you. I’ll just keep you a few minutes. Your Guard is welcome to join us,” Dmitri gestured toward the robust Titan whose jaw tightened and fists balled.

“You know what? I’m not supposed to go outside without all of my Guards,” I explained weakly.

“Well, why don’t we wait here while this one goes to fetch the others?” he suggested and the thought of being alone with him made my skin crawl.

“Uh, I don’t think so,” In alarm I lost my manners. I needed to get back upstairs and in the protective care of the rest of the Guards.

I turned on my heel and Alex followed after, the sweatshirt forgotten. We made it to the stairs when I heard a sound like the air had been sliced with a knife and Alex fell to his knees next to me. In a panic I turned to see what had caused him to fall and my eyes immediately fell on the bullet hole in his white polo and the blood seeping from it, staining his shirt and spreading across his back. The bullet was perfectly placed where his heart used to beat.

“A bullet?” I demanded, kneeling down next to Alex and pressing my hand against the wound drawing out the blue smoke to heal him. Slowly it dawned on me that Dmitri was responsible for the silenced gun shot. “But that won’t kill him!” I argued, pointlessly.

“No, but it will knock him unconscious until we get out of here,” he answered menacingly and I realized what he intended to do. He wounded my one Guard so he could kidnap me.

I opened my mouth to scream, but his finger moved to the trigger before a sound came out. The bullet hit me in the chest like a fireball of anger. I flinched violently backward from the force and my hand instantly found the hole. If I could heal the wound before I lost consciousness I could still call for help. I crumpled to the floor, my body giving out uselessly from the blinding pain that seared through my torso. The blackness closed around me faster than my mouth could move and the ringing in my ears swallowed the rest of the world, while the pain in my chest sucked the breath from my struggling lungs. Avalon’s internal shouts accompanied me to the blissful silence and then there was nothing.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Darkness.

I struggled from oblivion gasping for breath, clutching at the searing pain twisting at my chest and retching from violent nausea. I forced myself to sit up, and vomited again on the hard dirt floor. I reeled from the pain; the aching agony that spread across my chest like bars of a cage constricted my breathing and coaxed me toward the blackness, the deep void of unconsciousness again.

I sent the magic rushing through my blood in a ferocious attempt to regain my senses. The electricity heated my shivering body to a manageable temperature. My head stopped pounding and I inhaled a deep breath for what felt like the first time in a long time. My magic worked quickly against the fighting exhaustion and throbbing discomfort.

Finally, I came back to myself, back to reality. A puff of blue smoke exhaled from my body, wrapping me in its wispy healing powers and extracting the bullet from my heart. The smoke with finger-like tendrils reached into the bloody wound and pulled a small, iridescent pellet from my chest. The bullet dropped to the floor next to me.

My heart.

He shot me right in the heart.

Son of a-

Eden! Holy hell, Eden, you’re Ok! Avalon shouted into my mind. I covered my ears impulsively and sent more magic to the last of the sore limbs of my body.

Am I Ok? I asked sarcastically, realizing I was shaking with rage. That bastard shot me! I screamed at Avalon. He shot me!

Where are you? Kiran is coming after you. Do you remember anything other than being shot? Is there anything in that room that will help us find you? Avalon spoke calmly, soothingly, trying to bring out the reasonable part of me. But I could feel in his very blood how panicked he felt and how he surged with the same anger I did. He couldn’t see anything in the room, until I looked up, even with our shared consciousness and that frustrated him. At the same time though, he could finally breathe again, knowing that a bullet wasn’t enough to seriously injure me, even a bullet straight to the heart.

Kiran? Where are you? I demanded. A wave of relief washed over me that the cavalry had been sent out, but I wanted Avalon. He would know where to find me, and I wanted his magic here with me when I confronted Dmitri Terletov for shooting me.

He didn’t need to answer me. I felt him then, far away. Too far away to be part of a rescue mission. He was traveling, well on his way. But Kiran would be here first. Long before Avalon even arrived on the same continent as me.

Am I still in Romania? I asked, trying to piece together what happened.

No, Latvia. Avalon answered.

Latvia? I gasped. What in the world? What does he want with me?

What everyone wants…. Your magic. Or revenge on Lucan. Honestly, we don’t know a whole lot yet. You’ve only been gone for…. Almost eight hours. He admitted reluctantly.

Only eight hours…. I echoed, feeling the memory of every cop show, every missing person special I had ever seen rush through my blood, reminding me that the first twenty-four hours are the most important.

Eden, relax. You have me; I know how to find you. He lied and it took me a second to realize that he didn’t know where I was.

Avalon, why don’t you know where I am? I demanded. I steadied my breathing and focused on the room. I sat in complete darkness, so I used magic to heighten my vision and recognize a basement with dirt walls and a dirt floor empty except for me. In the corner, a rickety, wooden staircase led to a heavy metal door with a panel of locks that ran the length of the door.

Good. Avalon coaxed, taking in the room with me. Now explore a little, tell me what else there is.

Avalon, you’d better answer my question. Why don’t you know exactly where I am? I stood up, a little weakly, and so I sent more magic rushing through my veins. I ran my hand along the cold wall as I walked the perimeter of the room looking for anything besides dirt and more dirt.

I don’t know why, Eden. As soon as you lost consciousness I lost the ability to find you. I could still feel you, I just couldn’t find you. It took me several hours to pinpoint Latvia. Terletov has several estates there, so Kiran took off for his most rural and I’m supposed to call him when I can identify your exact location…. It’s just that…. Something seems to be blocking me from a total connection with you.

I felt it too, once he explained it. I could feel how far away Avalon was, but I had no idea where he that was. Frustration threatened to cloud all of my reason and judgment, but I swallowed it, forcing myself to think levelly, to prepare to fight.

I think he used special bullets. I explained, finding the shining silver bullet on the ground when my exploratory walk came full circle. It glimmered in the darkness, shimmering with magic and reminders of how painful being shot was.

I think you’re right. As soon as you got that thing out of you, I could read your thoughts again. Before, when it was lodged in your chest…. I couldn’t hear you, I couldn’t…. I didn’t know what happened. Avalon admitted with the softest tone of agony that made me smile with affection.

That’s how it was for me when I had all your magic. It was awful…. I…. Don’t feel bad, this is not your fault. I lectured, hating that he had to go through even a tiny bit of what I did.

I don’t feel bad. I’m just pissed. What is this guy’s game plan? Avalon growled in my head, ignoring my sympathy.

No kidding! I shrieked. And why did he have to shoot me? I added, my hand finding the hole in my blood-stained shirt where the bullet ripped through.