Simon was miffed about something when we ventured into the administration building to find him. He was pacing back and forth in his office. Bianca was sitting quietly in her chair. She had been there a while due to the bored look on her face. They had obviously been arguing over something.
Bianca looked at us and stood. She dusted off her shorts and walked towards the door. "See what you can do with him." She cast one look over her shoulder then scowled before walking out the door.
I felt a hand land lightly at the middle of my back. Max smiled as he brushed past me. Parker and Beca fanned out around the office. It wasn't as if they didn't trust Simon. He was on the edge about something and that meant he lashed out easier. They would pounce on him in a heartbeat.
I took a seat and let Simon's agitation fester out. It was clearly visible. His shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily. He looked way younger than his thirty-three years. He finally sat down, his fists thumping on the desk rather loudly.
"Are you finished?" I asked.
He looked up. "Yeah, I'm done."
"Good. Thanks for the heads up about Casey and Darren."
His frown deepened. "You have to figure this stuff out on your own. I can't hold your hand in examining the legends. That's what you have to do by yourself."
I tapped my foot on the floor in time to the ticking clock. I had already known I had a piece together the legend. That wasn't the issue. Drew and Simon weren't telling us important things. Some of the information was trivial. The pertinent stuff wasn't being
"The two of you have to be more forthcoming," I ground out.
"Maddie…" Simon stopped talking and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Drew has his reasons. Some of the information I'm not even privy to."
"You're the oldest! You remember more of the lives than the rest of us!"
"Drew's older than all of us."
I threw up my hands in the air and tossed my head back on the back of the chair. "Well, excuse me. As the second oldest, you should help us. Merlin always has secrets. You shouldn't."
"She's right, Simon," Beca agreed. "We need any information anyone can give us. There's still a whole chunk of the story that's missing."
Since my head was tilted towards the ceiling, I couldn't see Simon. I could hear him moving from side to side in his chair though. It felt as if he was thinking deeply.
"Did Drew make you promise not to tell us?" I whispered.
"He wants you to be independent."
It made sense. Drew's secrets could make or break this entire thing. If he told us everything, the quest would be a moot point. I knew I had to find the Knights on my own but with the rest I needed help. Max, Beca, Bianca, Sam, Parker, and Simon were helping or attempting to help. Simon was on the outskirts at the moment and I didn't really know the new guys very well yet.
Taking great care not to sigh, I stood. I needed to do something to get my thoughts straight. It needed to be clear for me to understand everything.
"Where are you going?" Beca asked.
I turned away from them, walking slowly to the door. "I'm going to the archery range. I need to shoot something and preferably not at Simon."
Parker chuckled. "That would be too messy."
I heard a chair smack the wall. "I'll go with you."
I felt the instant connection the moment Max's hand slipped in mine. Something about this man fit me. He was calm and collected about my recent brashness. He could see the reason when my head was hot. He kept me sane in a way the others couldn't.
Without another word, I left the office.
Drew
Drew and Aaliyah sat under a tree near the administration building. They watched as Max and Maddie tromped down the steps and walked towards the other side of campus. The two wizards shared a knowing smile. This was going according to plan. It was too bad there was a wrench about to be thrown in it.
They heard many doors slamming closed and teenage voices. Casey and her crew were back. Drew stood and adjusted his shorts simply to lean against the tree. Aaliyah remained seated and watched the teens walk by them.
Casey found them instantly. Drew stiffened but didn't show it in his posture. There was no point in giving her the satisfaction. He kept up his conversation with Aaliyah. She smiled up at him, knowing exactly what he was doing.
They kept up the façade of ignorance when the group of thirty or so, led by Casey and Nathan, stopped in front of them. Aaliyah saw the anger glint in Drew's good eye and knew there was a possibility he could lash out. She stood and laced her arm through his. Casey sneered at the gesture.
"I love the way people's bodies say one thing but their expressions say another," Casey said to Nathan.
The guy nodded his head with his eyebrows raised. "I agree, except in this situation, I wish I could read minds. That would be fun." He dropped back and let his arm rest across a girl's shoulders. "You know who this is, don't you?"
Drew let his gaze fall on the dark headed girl under Nathan's arm. He knew what was about to happen. He knew Darren was going to be put in a compromising position and he couldn't stop it. It always happened in the cycles and it had to happen to finish this. He really felt sorry for Maddie. Darren was being an ass and this was about to make it worse.
The posse made snide comments and disappeared around the last set of buildings. There was a week left until school. Why couldn't they be normal students and not want to come back?
"Drew, you have to tell them that this is all there is," Aaliyah said. "The rest of the Knights won't be joining them because they no longer exist."
Drew blew air out of his mouth slowly. When he reincarnated everyone, he'd forgotten to take into consideration what would happen if a knight was killed before he found Camelot. He'd built into his spell a limited number of resurrections for them -Merlin, Arthur, and Camelot. Fifteen hundred years was what he could form, but that apparently hadn't been the same for the knights.
He'd noticed several centuries ago one or two of the Knights didn't reincarnate. He'd thought it had just been because his magic wasn't as strong for them. Held lost some of his edge as the years rolled in, but the reincarnation was absolute and not reversible. Everyone should come back. Or so he'd thought.
He'd started researching. He'd had to go back to the past. He remembered everyone's names so it was easy to figure out who was missing. It started off with just one person. Drew had to figure out how he'd died. In the third to last life, he'd been stillborn, but in the last two lives he'd been killed.
Drew hadn't thought anything of it until he noticed in the last cycle two more didn't show up. He'd searched their pasta and noticed the same thing; they'd been killed in two previous cycles. He'd found his magic couldn't stop that from happening no matter how hard he'd tried, but he hadn't told anyone about it either. Except Aaliyah, but she knew everything he did. She wasn't part of his spell, but she'd somehow figured out how to show up when needed.
As it was, seven people were no longer with them. Camelot had known these people and had even helped choose them. She would have noticed their absence. Now that Maddie knew who she was, she would begin to look for them. He had to tell her. He had a lot to tell her actually. There was so much he hadn't had a chance to tell her over the years, and it had built up that now he was concerned. If he didn't tell her, he was afraid that something worse would happen.
"What are you thinking about?" Aaliyah asked. She knew to sit quietly when he was deep in thought. He looked somber when in reality he was usually centuries away.
"My life is going to get hectic," he said.
She laughed. "About to get? Wasn't it already?"
He didn't find her laughter amusing. "Yes, but before now I could manage it. I didn't feel as if everything was out of control."
"And now?"
He finally looked at her. "I'm unsure of which future we're leaning towards. Before, I was at least able to guess and act accordingly. Now, I have no idea what Maddie and Darren are going to do."
She bummed at him. "Maybe you can't see it because it's the last cycle."
"I don't know but it's overwhelming. I'm unsure what will happen after this is over."
Aaliyah crossed her arms. "Maybe you don't need to know. It may be easier on you in case someone does die, especially if it's Arthur."
Drew knew what she meant. Arthur and Mordred basically killed each other in battle. Up until now, Arthur hadn't survived long enough for a final battle with Mordred. Maybe this was what was supposed to happen. He didn't want to lose a friend, but if it happened, he'd be ready.
"Maybe we should feed ourselves," he offered.
Aaliyah laughed and jumped up. "Coffee sounds so much better."
He scoffed then stood. "You would die with coffee if given the choice."
"Of course I would. It tastes so much better than water." She exaggerated the last word and made an awful face to go along with it.
Drew followed behind her as she marched happily across campus to the coffee shop in the cafeteria. He would follow her lead for the time being. She wasn't as close to everyone as he was, so she had a different outlook on things. He hoped when things got rough, she was as steady as she was now. If not, he would surely fall apart. If that happened, he wasn't sure if he could come back from it.