I was utterly wrong.
Max, as he wanted to be called, didn't kill us. He just started us on a training regimen to build our muscles and to get them ready for when we got to play with real weapons.
Beca and I collapsed in our beds as soon as we got back to our room. Training from seven to nine was a good way to wear us out. Well, mainly me because I didn't play a sport. Beca had cheerleading so she wasn't as early as winded. That kind of made me mad then I understood what Max had been getting at.
I watched Beca as she jumped up and headed for the shower. That would be good for me because I could get some homework done and she couldn't copy it. She had been doing that a lot recently with all the things with Casey going on.
As I sat down at my desk and pulled out my stuff, the look on Beca's face resurfaced. Drew had broken up with her and that didn't seem right. From what I had been told when I first arrived at this school it was that their relationship had been rock solid. What was going on? What was Drew thinking?
I worked on my trig until she finished her thirty minute shower, ensuring there was no hot water. I looked at her as she paraded around the room in a towel. That was normal for her. What wasn't normal were the blue rings under her eyes. Those bothered me more than she could know. But I knew Beca. She wouldn't talk about it unless she was ready. She wasn't ready.
When she was dressed in her favorite PJs she flopped into her bed and pulled out a book. Obviously there was no homework for her. Honestly she hated homework and I couldn't blame her. Being juniors in high school meant we had harder classes. Biology and trig were our hardest classes this semester. Next semester it would be chemistry and pre-calculus. I was in for a doozy next year in general.
Beca was engulfed in her book and that gave me time to jump in the shower. I walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower, knowing full well it was going to be cold but maybe a cold shower would help me. I was pleasantly surprised to see steam coming from the curtain as I stripped and deposited my clothes in the basket. Stepping under the hot spray I sighed happily.
Standing there, I let the events of the last few weeks come back. My dad had died in a car accident that I assumed Darren didn't think was a car accident. I had inherited all of his possessions. I had come back to school after all of that and to top it all off I was the reincarnation of a woman whom King Arthur loved. I was tasked to find all of the Knights so we could defeat Morgan le Fay. That didn't put a kink in my socket.
But not only was that going on, but also Darren was grating on my nerves already. I had only been here a month and a half but having Darren Starland, blond god and most popular boy in school, after me made me feel a little more than self-conscious. It was also a reason I was being targeted by so many people and I didn't even know how I felt for the guy! This was all so confusing!
After washing my hair and scrubbing off most of the dirt, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a fluffy towel around me. It felt good to be clean. I ventured out to my room to gather clothes to wear for bed. Beca was still reading as I changed clothes and climbed in bed. I was so tired.
"Your phone went off," Beca said as I was snuggling down for the night.
I groaned and picked my phone up off the bedside table. I hit my text button and looked at the new message. It was from Drew.
Meet me at midnight. We have some things we need to talk about. It might help you.
Drew
I sighed angrily and nestled back in my bed. So much for cornering him. I did not want to meet him at midnight. It was too damn cold and I was already in my bed. The dummy wants me to kill him. Then again I haven't seen hide or hair for a few weeks. Maybe he had something important he needed to tell me. Grr! This was so frustrating.
I made up my mind that I was going to see him but I didn't want Beca to know. I faked like I was going to sleep by turning off the light and snuggling deeper into my covers. Around eleven, she closed her book, turned off her light and curled up on her side. I waited until I heard her breathing deeply before I climbed from the bed. I stuffed my feet in my furry boots and tossed on my jacket. I hated sneaking out on her but I had to see what Drew wanted even though I was pretty sure I already knew.
With my room key tucked in my pocket, I escaped the room and headed for the library where I knew he would want to meet. It was in the middle of campus and a safe spot from prying eyes.
Something was obviously wrong if Drew was pulling me out in the middle of the night. For all I knew the boy didn't like me. He hadn't said anything mean towards me but then again he wasn't overly friendly either.
I came to the library and pulled on the door. It opened easily, meaning someone had already unlocked the door. I walked in and let it close softly behind me. My feet were loud on the carpeted floor. It was odd being in the library so late.
"Maddie."
I yelped as Drew quite literally materialized out of the darkness. My hand had unwittingly flown to my chest as my heart raced. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry. Come with me."
I followed him deeper into the bowels of the massive library. It was so dark and he looked like a beacon. It seemed as if his skin were glowing.
He walked until we got to the AV room. Then he opened the door for me and ushered me inside, locking the door when he figured I was safely inside and not standing in the doorway. A light flickered in the corner then shone softly. Simon was sitting there with another guy.
"Simon," I said as I took a seat across from them. I nodded at the other guy. "Who's this?"
"His name is Sam. He'll be working with us from now on," Simon replied. Sam smiled at me. I noticed his eyes shone brightly in the light, so much so they looked as if they were swirling.
"There's got to be a reason for you calling me out at this ungodly hour and with it snowing too, knowing full well that I had to train with Max today." I watched as they all looked at each other. This must be something if both Simon and Drew were involved. "Are you going to tell me or are you going to leave me sitting here thinking I'm out of the loop?"
Simon sighed as Drew refused to talk and Sam just sat there smiling. "Drew thinks we should move you back to Dallas for your safety. Everyone back in Texas knows you and will help us keep you safe."
"What exactly am I running from?"
"Casey has a new friend. She's hoping he'll take you out the moment we have our guard down. You've already met him."
"I've met new people ever since I came here. That's nothing new."
"He's your roommate and boyfriend's cousin."
"First of all, Darren is not my boyfriend. The boy jumped the gun on that. I don't even know what my feelings for him are. Second, how do we know Nathan is on Casey's side?"
Simon looked over my shoulder. Drew was still standing behind me. This was interesting and getting better as the night went on. I turned around in my seat and looked up at Drew. He was looking down at me with his scarred eye and the good one glistening with knowledge. Finally he sighed and moved in front of me so I wouldn't be craning my neck.
"I know Casey has taken Nathan in as her second-in-command. Whatever that man says to you, don't listen. He's lethal and will do whatever it takes to get you away from us. I had to pull Sam in prematurely because we need his help no matter what Darren says."
I got mad at the thought. "Darren knows this already?" They nodded. That made my blood boil even more. I stood and kicked the chair I was sitting in. I didn't normally let my temper get in my way but this was way too much for me. "This is just shit!"
"It's not our fault. We had to keep it from you so you wouldn't freak out."
"How long has he known about this?" They all looked amongst each other. So they knew about it before tonight. "How long?"
"Since you've come back from Dallas."
I sucked in my bottom lip and chewed on it as I tried to get my temper in check. They knew this was going on while I was at my father's funeral and then when I came home. How stupid is that?
"You've known about this a week and you haven't said a word? That's not a very brilliant thing to do. It just pisses me off to no end."
"Maddie…"
"No, Simon. The fact that Darren knew this before we left is wrong. I should have been included in this decision. This is all bullshit."
I shoved past Drew and stormed out of the room. When I get mad, my mouth gets smart and I spout off all sorts of things. This was going beyond what the Knights needed to do. Deciding what I need to do without talking to me was something I wasn't going to handle at all. I didn't care what anyone said. I wasn't being pushed into anything.
I was out the front door by the time I heard someone following me. When I was calf-deep in snow, I turned around and stopped. Drew nearly ran into me as he slid to a stop. I stared up into his scarred face.
"Maddie, we're doing this to help you," he said as he zipped up his jacket.
"Help me? You didn't even include me in the decision. From what I heard you were to do as I say. Why can't you understand that?" I asked.
"You wouldn't have gone. You are strong willed and would have stood up to Casey until she killed you. Where would they be then? It would have been over. Darren's tired of these cycles. They're all tired of finding out who they are in every new life. They don't remember their past lives, only their lives as Knights in service to Arthur and protecting Camelot to defeat Morgan le Fay. It sucks for all of them. This will be the last time Camelot is reborn."
"How do you know? How do you know this will be the last cycle? You can't possibly know."
"I do and I know that you and the other Knights are the only ones who can end this cycle this time. If you don't, it's all over."
"You didn't answer my question, Drew. How do you know this is the last cycle?" I waited expectantly for him to answer. He looked at me with those brown eyes of his. Those eyes said he knew more than he was letting on.
I shoved him hard to get his attention. "How do you know all this?"
He shook his head, a pained look on his face. "Maddie, I can't. Not yet."
"Not yet? All of a sudden you tell me I have to go away because if I don't Casey will kill me and that this is the last cycle to get it right and you expect me to believe you can't tell me what the hell is going on? That's messed up, Drew. Totally messed up."
I turned away from him only to have him grab my wrist and jerk me towards him. I looked up into his warm brown eyes. He was looking at me with such intensity that it was unnerving. His hands were warm even through my down jacket. Sighing he pressed his forehead to mine in more of an intimate moment.
"Maddie, don't worry about it. We'll handle it. Just think about it. You need to be safe for all of this to work and you have to trust in your Knights. If you don't, it won't work. We will all fail," he said gently. He lifted his head and looked down at me. "This is going to be difficult for us all. Make it easier on us and listen to everything before you make any decisions."
I shook my head to get the fuzzy feeling out of it. "Who are you, Drew?"
He bit his lip and shook his head. "Not yet, Maddie. Go to bed."
With a slight push towards my dorm, he headed towards the seniors' dorms without looking back. Something was there between us and it made me confused. What did he break up with Beca and why was he trying to get me to leave?
I trudged back to my dorm, not even acknowledging the cold. I slid my key card through the automatic key lock and walked in through the lobby. I took the stairs to the sixth floor so I could warm up. When I got into my dorm, I looked around. Beca was still asleep so I shrugged out of my jacket and chucked off my boots by the door. When I finally slipped into my bed, my head was reeling with thoughts that I couldn't go to sleep.
Why did the others want me to move? I understood Casey wanted to kill me but I had to find the rest of the Knights before anything else. Obviously they were on this campus and I was the only one who could find them. Well, Merlin and I but I had no clue who Merlin was. I'd been told to wait for him to come to me but if things were getting too dangerous for me to do that, I needed him to show up soon.
With everything whirling around in my head, I fell into a fitful sleep.