Darren
"What did you tell her, Drew?"
He was mad and that couldn't be helped. He had just heard that Maddie didn't consider him her boyfriend. That had cut him deeply and he assumed Drew had been the reason for it. So when he was certain Drew would be alone, he confronted him, cornering him in his room when Parker went out.
Drew turned around with his eyebrows raised. Darren had never been this mad before. Of course he'd been mad but not like this.
"Who are you talking about, Dar?" he asked cautiously. Darren was already skittish. There was no point in making it worse when it didn't need to be.
"Maddie. What did you say to Maddie?" Drew simply made a motion for more information. "I saw you talking to her earlier today. Then when I went to talk to her about it and she told me she wasn't my girlfriend after firing a fricking arrow at me. What did you say to her?"
"She knows who I am, Dar."
That one sentence told him everything. Drew had taken it to extremes to keep who he was a secret, so much so he hadn't shown his face for three days after they returned from Dallas. He had done everything he could to make sure Maddie had stayed away from him until the right time.
He sat on Parker's bed. "How did she find out?"
"She never told me but I assume she saw something and it all clicked into place. She cornered me in the gym while I was working out with Sam."
"She is a very bright young woman."
"That she is."
"But why would she tell me that I wasn't her boyfriend?"
"Because you're not." Darren cast him a look. "Think of it this way. You forced yourself on her when you found out she was Camelot. Do you think that's fair to her? I watched her every time you kissed her or held her hand. It confused the hell out of her and yet you couldn't figure it out. Darren, you're supposed to be Arthur. How did you not figure that out, especially since you went to Dallas with her?"
Darren jumped up and invaded his best friend's personal space, something Drew
hated since the night he had been disfigured. "I love her."
"Is it her you love, or the woman from whom she was reincarnated? Maddie isn't Camelot and until you figure that out she will never be your girl." Drew grabbed his bag and slammed out of the room.
Darren stared at where his best friend used to stand. Maybe he was right. Maybe he was just seeing Maddie as the woman she used to be. She had asked him not to look at her that way but in all honesty he couldn't help it. Camelot had been his everything and when he lost her, it felt as if everything else had been lost. He had married Guinevere and then had his heart broken when she was taken from him by Lancelot. If Camelot had been there, he would have married her. Then Merlin had told him she would be reborn with her memories.
That had been thirteen centuries ago and he was still searching for her because he wanted her for his own. He had found her a hundred years ago only to have her ripped from him. Since then every time he'd find her something would happen. In the last fifty years, she had been born six times only to die at the age six. With this seventh time, he was relieved she was alive but it was not going the way he wished.
Maddie
I trudged through the snow at nine that night, bringing my archery equipment with me for some odd reason. It was colder than it had been two nights ago.
All afternoon my mind had been whirling with the thoughts of the meeting. I knew I had to figure out a way to stay safe from Casey and yet find all of the Knights to defeat her. If I knew anything about Casey, it was that she wasn't going to leave me alone long enough for me to do it, even if I left the school. Her influence was extensive.
I noticed Drew standing in the full moon. His red hair glinted in the silver rays, forcing me to remember the night Camelot's spirit was sent away. It never ceased to amaze me that that young man had enough power to do that. I also wondered if he had enough power to defend us all.
As I walked up to him, I noticed Sam behind him. I knew his name by instinct but I couldn't call it unless he vowed fealty to me. He was Drew's right hand man, more so than Darren was. He was probably the one Drew told everything.
Drew opened the door for me as I walked up but didn't say a word. I knew where the room was so I headed there, stripping out of my coat as I did so. Sam walked behind the two of us silently, but I knew he had that same unnerving smile plastered on his face. It made me want to jump him and tickle the information out of him.
Simon was seated in the same place he had been the first time I came in here. He had a small smile on his face as he motioned me to sit down. I did and then Sam sat beside me, throwing his arm over the back of my chair. Drew smacked him in the back of the head and he removed his arm.
"Did Drew tell you about the meeting tonight?" he asked. I nodded. "Good. Now tell me why you think we should remain here."
"Do you think Casey won't find me wherever I am? It doesn't really matter where I go. Her level of influence is massive and she can obviously bribe people into giving her information of my whereabouts. I'm not afraid of her, but Drew's told me what will happen if she gets her hands on me and I don't plan to allow her to do as she pleases," I replied. I made direct eye contact, knowing full well that my mismatched eyes would unnerve Simon as they had countless others, except Drew. He was the real conundrum.
Simon smiled at my assumption. "So you know what could possibly happen should Casey get her hands on you?"
"Not possibly, Simon. She knows what would happen should Casey get her hands on her. It'll be the end of this," Drew said.
I turned in my seat. "Drew, do you know where all the Knights are?" He looked at me levelly, which was answer enough. "That's what I thought."
Simon lifted his gaze to Drew. "Have you told her yet?"
Every muscle in my body went on red alert. For some reason, I thought they were talking about something else besides the matter at hand. Obviously Drew shook his head because Simon sighed.
"You need to tell her. It might make some things easier for her."
I turned in my seat to look at him. Drew's gaze zeroed in on me and the look was so sad. I knew it was bad just by looking at him. He was so silent it was scaring me.
"Drew?" I asked, somewhat afraid of what he was going to tell me.
He took a deep breath. "I looked into this and waited until I knew it officially from my contacts at the morgue and on the police force." His frown deepened as he watched my face fall. I knew what he was going to tell me. "Upon looking further into the case, it was proven that your father didn't just die in a car accident. Far from it. The break and fuel lines had been cut, so when he tried to slow down he couldn't and when he slammed into traffic, it caused his car to explode." He looked at me squarely, pain plastered in his brown eyes and all over his face. "Maddie, your father was murdered and the police don't know who did it."
A sob escaped me and Sam immediately wrapped me up in his masculine warmth. This couldn't be happening. I could handle my dad dying in a freak car accident. That was tolerable but murdered? That wasn't possible.
"Do we know who did it?" I asked into Sam's arm. They were silent. "Who did it!"
"We think it was Nathan," Simon said. I sucked in a breath and held it for a few moments. "We found out he was in Dallas at the time your dad died. That's the reason we want to move you. If he really did kill your dad, we have to get you away from him. He's Mordred and he'll do anything to hurt Arthur. To do that, he has to hurt you. He's done that by killing your father."
I sniffled a little then sat up. After a moment, I stood and walked to the other side of the room. Chewing on my bottom lip, I thought of what I could do. The only answer slammed into my head.
"What do I have to do?" I asked.
"We'll move you when we have your consent."
"Give me until tomorrow at noon. I'll give you my answer then. Don't annoy me until then."
"Very diplomatic. I think we can agree to that."
I nodded and headed for the door. I heard Drew and Sam mumbling behind me as I slunk towards the door, so unhappy that I had to find out what happened to my dad this way. Why couldn't people just leave me alone so I could graduate school then go to college to become a lawyer? It was because I was the reincarnation of someone important. That bummed the hell out of me.
When I was outside, the wind smacked me in the face. I heard Stryker growling by the building. He rarely growled unless it was something dangerous.
"Maddie, move!" I heard Sam yell behind me just as pain exploded across my right temple.
Everything went black.