Maddie
"What the hell are you doing?"
I was jolted awake by Beca's screeching. Opening my eyes, I looked over. She was standing over Parker with a book clutched in her hand. Her face was beet red. She was angry.
Parker simply looked at her but didn't say a word. Something about him was different. He was aggravated about something. Max sat beside him with a thoughtful look on his face. Something was up with that book.
I got out of bed and snatched the book from her. She gaped at me but didn't retaliate. I noticed Max stood and moved closer to me. I wasn't too concerned with him. My concern was what was in this book.
As I started reading, I realized this was a journal. This was Beca's journal of her past as a Knight. She was recounting everything she could remember.
I flipped through rather quickly but stopped when a passage caught my attention. I read it thoroughly, soaking up everything I could. My mind whirled as I looked up from the passage. I handed it to Max and let him read it as well. He snapped the book closed and tossed it on Beca's bed.
"What has she done?" he whispered.
"She's bound us together," I replied.
"Why?"
I shook my head as I dragged my hands down my face. "I don't know."
Parker frowned. "What are you talking about?"
I looked at Beca. "You explain it."
She swallowed hard. "Two hundred years ago Morgan le Fay was very powerful, even more so than she is now. Camelot was sixteen, so about your age. Sir Lionel's name was Lord Hurston, Earl of Hurston. Morgan le Fay bound Camelot and Lionel together, much to Arthur's anger. If something happens to one, the other feels it. But more importantly, Camelot and Lionel loved each other. That was what hurt Arthur the most."
Parker let the information sink in for a moment. "Max and Maddie are destined to be together. Not just as Knight and Damsel but as man and woman also."
Max and I looked at each other. Could this be the reason every time we touched our skin sparked? Could it be the reason why Darren was acting like a scorned child?
With that in mind, I turned and put my hand out. Max grabbed it instantly. There was one spark. It caught with such force for about two seconds then it died.
"Wait," I said. Everyone shifted nervously. "Why wasn't there one in the beginning? When my nose was bleeding?"
"There was one. You just couldn't see it because your head was tilted back," Max replied. "I didn't say anything because I simply thought it was static electricity."
It made sense. I looked down at our joined hands. It felt right. It was familiar and warm. It made me think of how my dad used to hold my hand when I was a kid. I know I shouldn't be thinking about it like that but I never thought I'd feel that way ever again. Undoubtedly happy.
"Maddie?" Beca whispered. I looked up at her. She was holding a tissue out to me. I took it and mopped at my eyes. "We need to talk about Darren and Casey."
That was a topic I didn't want to broach without Drew and Simon around. It would be hard to discuss. How would Darren take it when he found out that the curse was still in effect? Shouldn't he already know it would be in effect considering we were alive?
I pulled my hand from Max's and paced to the window. I could see the glint of the ladders as workers began to put the Forge back together. The sounds of hammers or nail guns were faint. School started tomorrow and the stables weren't ready for the horse science class.
"What do you want to do, Maddie?" Parker asked.
I didn't dare turn around to face them. None of them could know how shaken I was about this whole thing. Catherine was working for Casey, Casey was Darren's sister and Darren was acting like an ass. It felt as if we were falling apart.
"I'm going to talk to Drew first. He's Merlin. He'll know what to do," I replied. "Then I'm talking to Darren alone."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
I turned around and looked at them. They were shifting nervously from one foot to another. It was quite comical and I tried not to laugh. Beca looked more concerned than anything. Max on the other hand looked pallid. It was like he was already thinking the worst.
"I have to set him straight," I said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Beca repeated Parker's question.
I gave her a droll stare. "Are we playing monkey see, monkey do?"
She pulled a face at me. "It might backfire. We could lose Arthur."
"It could happen at any time."
"We're missing one main part," Max said. We all looked at him. "There's one person we're missing."
Parker began ticking everyone off. His eyes brightened then dimmed. "We're missing Guinevere."
Max nodded. "Exactly. There's not a story if she doesn't come. Someone has to betray someone because of her."
The other man bristled. "Don't look at me."
Beca caught the meaning. "It has to be you. In the original story, Lancelot betrayed Arthur. It has to happen in every cycle but I don't know how."
"It makes sense," he finally conceded. He frowned at me. "What are you doing?"
I moved around my side of the room collecting clothes; jeans and a tee and boots. I took them to the bathroom to change. It would give me time to think without hearing voices in my ears.
Parker had to betray Darren for the story to be real. As far as I could tell, Parker was upset that in his past life he had betrayed Darren. I understood why he didn't want to do it again. It made complete sense. But it had to be done. Guinevere had to do it as well.
I looked at myself in the mirror. How could I ask this of him? Darren and he were making leaps and bounds in their relationships. Who was I to destroy that?
I washed my face and pulled my head up. With one last look in the mirror, I left the bathroom. They tried to talk to me but I bypassed them. There was no way they were going to deter me from talking to Darren. It had to be done soon.
No one really argued as I walked out the door. They did follow me though. They were as silent as wraiths as they walked behind me. It left me with my thoughts, like how I was going to talk to Darren.
We found him arguing with Drew and Aaliyah. It wasn't anything new but this time he looked feverish. Something was wrong. He was acting like a trapped animal.
"Darren," I said quietly.
He whipped around and smiled at me. I tried to keep my composure as he came towards me. He threw his arm around my shoulders and tugged me to him.
"My love," he slurred.
It was at that moment I realized what was going on. I shoved him away slightly so I could wrap my arm around his waist. Max shifted closer to me but I waved him away.
"What'd she give him?" I asked.
Drew sighed. I got the feeling he was happy someone had figured it out. They were roommates after all, but some things a brother couldn't divulge. Some else had to guess.
"He's been hitting the fire brandy rather hard," he replied.
"Let me guess," Parker said. "Casey gave it to him."
"It had to be her. None of us know where to get our hands on it," Max added. He paused for a second. "Well, Drew, Simon and Aaliyah might know where to get it."
Drew looked at me and I stared right back. I had a feeling he was mulling something over. Since I couldn't read minds, I had no idea what it was. Finally he shook his head.
"Get him to his room," he said as he turned away.
"Drew," I started but he waved his hand.
"We'll discuss this later. Go on."
Parker stepped up beside me and forcefully tossed Darren over his shoulder. He was a pretty good distance from me when the thought crossed my mind. I had to run to catch up to him. I was surprised at how in shape I had become over the summer. I wasn't breathing heavily at all. Beca wasn't as in shape because she was out of breath and she was a cheerleader!
"Can we dump him in the tub?" Parker asked.
"If you want," I replied. I knew I was distracted because Stryker and a few of his pack were circling Darren's building. "What is going on?"
Max followed my gaze. He frowned after a moment of watching them. "I have no idea."
"Well, we're headed straight for it."
We were careful as we walked the remaining distance to the building. Stryker's head came up as we approached. His tongue lolled out of his mouth in a happy way but I wasn't convinced. My wolf knew something and I had no way of finding out.
The main door opened and one of the guys in my class walked out. After last year's crap, Simon made a new rule. We have the same dorm rooms for all four years of high school. It worked because some of us didn't want new roommates.
The guy smiled as he saw Stryker and tossed a bit of food to him. No wonder the wolf was nosing around. The wolf was hungry. I stroked the wolf's ears as we passed by. He nipped my palm then followed us inside.
Parker led the way upstairs. I was pretty surprised he didn't just drop Darren on his head a couple of times for good measure. He was angry at the situation but he wasn't going to take it out on a defenseless man.
Max and Beca followed silently as Stryker walked between them. I couldn't judge their moods because I was paying attention to where I was going. It felt like they had questions but I didn't know who they were directed at.
My mind returned to Beca's journal. Darren knew what had happened and hadn't said a word. Did he think it was just going to go away if he didn't say anything? I had a feeling there was something more under the surface. It could be the reason he was snapping off everyone's heads. What was it? Could it be…?
I stopped that train of thought as Parker opened Darren's door. He walked straight in, ignoring Bruce as he waltzed over to the bed. That's where he dumped Darren brusquely. I frowned at him when he looked at me.
He shrugged. "What?"
"I was proud of you up until that point," I replied. He gave me a cheeky grin. I looked over at Bruce. "Can you sober him up? Casey gave him fire brandy. I need to talk to him and it will be a lot easier when he isn't drunk."
Bruce raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure that's a good idea? He can yell more when he's sober. When he's drunk, it just comes out as a strange gibberish."
He was right. When Darren was sick or drunk, he tended to speak in a gibberish that only Bruce understood. It was like guy code or something. I wasn't too amazed because Beca and I had our own code.
I shrugged. "After what happened last year, I think I can handle just about anything but I need to get Darren on our side because if he's not here, this is all pointless."
He nodded. "I get it. I'll tell him to find you when he's awake."
"I'll be with Simon probably."
"All right. Don't do anything too stupid."
I stuck my tongue out at him, reveling in his laughter as we left his room.