Anew: The Archers of Avalon, Book One (12 page)

Gabriel watched as Scarlet strode to the front door, her blue eyes wide and glossy.

She looked scared and overwhelmed, and Gabriel felt helpless. In a panic, he started to follow her out, “Scarlet, wait.”

Tristan shot him a warning look and shifted his body to stand in his way.

Gabriel let out a frustrated sigh, but let Scarlet go.

If she needed some space, he could give her that.

At least for now.

Scarlet silently opened the front door and disappeared outside, the large door slowly falling shut behind her.

A moment of tense silence passed between Gabriel and Tristan.

“Well…
that
went well.” Tristan crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Gabriel shook his head. “Don’t start.”

“You’re an idiot,” Tristan started.

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“No, you really are,” Tristan said. “First, you go and introduce yourself to her when we
specifically
agreed to let her live in peace until the curse was broken. Then you jump into her life so she tracks me down in the woods where—
surprise!
—she learns Gabriel has a twin brother and she’s going to die. Epic fail, man.”

Gabriel shook his head. “I tried to keep her away, I swear.”

“It doesn’t matter, Gabe. She’s smart. She probably would have found out anyway.”

Gabriel exhaled, staring at the cabin door. “She freaked out.”

“What did you expect her to do? Jump for joy? We just told her she was doomed to die.
Again
.”

“Yeah, but she usually remembers everything once we tell her when she was born. What happened? Why didn’t she remember this time?”

Tristan shook his head. “I don’t know. But this is exactly why I didn’t want you to meet her. She’s scared, and we’re screwed.”

A moment passed.

Tristan said, “You left out a few details, you know. You didnh’t tell her what the curse actually was?”

Gabriel shook his head. “What was I supposed to do? Tell her she’s my only chance at true love? That would’ve been awkward.”

Tristan said, “But you didn’t tell her about me, either.”

Gabriel shrugged. “I didn’t want to freak her more than necessary. And I didn’t want her to be afraid of you.
Sorry Scarlet, but when you’re around Tristan your heart condition gets worse. He basically breaks your heart in half with his presence
. No. I didn’t want her thinking you could kill her.”

“But I can.”

“But you
won’t.
And that’s what matters. You haven’t made her sick yet. We’re fine.” He exhaled.

Tristan flexed a muscle in his jaw. “You need to tell her to stay away from me.”

“If she starts to get sick, I’ll make sure she knows to stay away from you. Until then, I don’t want to add to her fear.” Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. “She’s so scared. What do I do?”

“Nothing,” Tristan said, shaking his head. “Just…give her some space and let her process everything you told her today. You can’t just expect her to trust you immediately. You told her things that probably sound insane. Let her be for a while. When she’s ready, she’ll come back.”

Gabriel shook his head. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing while she’s freaking out about dying. I have to find a way to comfort her. I have to
do
something.” Desperation came over him. He looked around the room for a moment before looking back at Tristan. “I have to find a way to break the curse immediately. We have to find the fountain.”

Tristan rolled his eyes.

“There has to be something we missed before—”

“No, Gabriel. We’ve looked everywhere. The fountain is a dead end.”

“No.” Gabriel shook his head. “I refuse to give up. I
will
find it. For Scarlet.”

Tristan sighed. “Good luck with that. In the meantime, I’ll be pursuing murder so we can
really
break the curse.” He moved toward the back door.

“Where are you going?”

Tristan didn’t turn around. “Target practice. It’s been a rough day.”

Tristan went out the back door as Gabriel headed upstairs to go back through his research on the fountain of youth.

Tristan’s plan
might
work, but Gabriel didn’t have time to wait around for his brother to come home with a corpse.

Scarlet was probably scared out of her mind and needed reassurance—something Gabriel was determined to give her.

Scarlet’s pounding heart seemed to quiet as she paced away from the cabin.

She thought she’d be balling by the time she stepped off the cabin porch, but no.

She was too numb for tears.

Air flowed in and out of her lungs, but she felt nothing.

She walked toward her car without a plan. What was she supposed to do? Go home and have dinner with Laura like nothing life-changing had happened today?

Uh,
no.

I’m going to die.

The curse had existed for hundreds of years and no one had been able to break it. It was hopeless.

Scarlet’s heart was going to kill her.

Oh, she would come back to life again, but not without the same horrifying, confusing, unfair memory loss she’d experienced two years ago.

Her life? Screwed.

When she reached her car, the schoolbooks on her passenger seat reminded her of the “normal” life she had back home.

She wasn’t ready to re-enter “normal” life yet.

Her feet began walking into the woods and she followed their meandering trail. Through the dense forest and fallen leaves she paced, not seeing anything around her, not feeling anything inside her. Just…walking.

The sun was low in the sky and night would come soon.

Crunch, crunch.

Dead leaves and small twigs broke beneath her footsteps.

Scarlet was alone.

Alone in her fate. Alone in life.

She had no one to turn to, no one to lean on.

She had nothing.

Except a broken heart—
literally
.

Agh.

She ducked under a tree branch and found herself in a small clearing. Realizing where she was, she froze.

It was the exact spot where she’d awakened two years earlier.

She remembered it perfectly.

Scarlet’s eyes roamed the clearing for a moment.

It seemed fitting to have absently arrived at the origin of all her confusion and fear, since she was more confused and fearful than ever.

With a numb body, she sat on the damp earth and closed her eyes.

She wanted to feel the wind kick at her hair.

She wanted to feel the cold air of the forest and shiver.

She wanted to feel something.
Anything
.

And she wanted to cry.

Tristan lined up his first arrow and aimed at the target in the distance.

Whoosh.

Bull’s-eye.

When Scarlet left the cabin, his insides tightened in her absence, making his breathing labored and painful.

Which was nothing new.

But, for some reason, it hurt more than usual.

And, on top of that, he was stressed out.

He drew back another arrow and let it fly, hoping to relieve just an ounce of tension.

Whoosh.

Bull’s-eye.

No relief.

If anything, he felt more anxious. More helpless and afraid.

Today had been a disaster.

Scarlet meeting him…her not remembering the past…Gabriel telling her about the curse—or at least,
part
of the curse….

Disaster.

Sighing heavily, he drew back another arrow and loosened his fingers to release it.

Something caught his eye.

Through the thickness of the tall trees, Tristan saw movement. It was brief and shapeless, but he immediately knew what it was.

Scarlet.

What was she doing in the woods?

He blinked a moment, before shaking his head. He drew the arrow back again, trying not to think about her.

Whoosh.

The arrow missed the target completely.

He paused for a moment, wrestling with his instinct to go comfort her.

He was drawn to her physically and supernaturally, that he knew.

But what he was feeling at that moment wasn’t supernatural.

It was something old and deep, something he’d never been able to part with.

He shook his head again, shoving the warmth in his chest back into the frigid pools of his soul where it belonged.

Gabriel was her boyfriend.
He
should be the one to go console Scarlet in the woods.

And besides, hadn’t Tristan just lectured Gabriel on giving her space?

Tristan shook himself.

No. He refused go over to her—even if it hurt to stay where he was.

Which it did. Very much.

Tristan drew another arrow and lined it carefully against his bow.

Whoosh.

Another miss.

He waited a beat before lowering his bow and cursing.

Not because his arrows had gone astray.

But because the missing piece of his soul—the blood that belonged to him but pulsed inside Scarlet—was huddled down somewhere in the deep woods, sad and afraid.

Tristan dropped his bow to the ground and started walking into the thick forest.

He couldn’t see Scarlet, but he could feel her.

And that was all he needed to find her.

A single tear was all Scarlet was able to pull from the numbness inside her. But it was enough.

She let the tear well up against her lowered eyelid before spilling out onto her cheek.

I’m going to die.

Alone.

The tear slid down her face as a cool breeze drifted across her skin, and the trail of wetness chilled against her cheek. Numb everywhere else, Scarlet reveled in the cold feeling on her face.

If only she could conjure up another tear to trickle iciness down her skin.

She tried, but no additional tears came.

Unanswered questions in her head blurred inside the numbness.

She inhaled deeply, her thoughts a repetitive mantra.

I’m going to die.

Alone.

What was the point of living if only to die? Her eyes still closed, Scarlet listened to the forest.

Crunch, crunch.

More leaves being broken, their forms fragmenting beneath the weight of something real, something heavy. Something coming her way.

Crunch, crunch.

A squirrel? A bear?

Scarlet didn’t care.

Let the bear eat her, she had nothing more to live for.

Because I’m going to die.

Alone.

Scarlet tilted her head as her heart began to pound.

She heard someone inhale and, for a moment, the sound filled her with hope. Like she had a reason to breathe.

A soft exhale, slow and steady, drifted into her ears.

She opened her eyes and saw Tristan standing above her.

Her heart perked up even more, beating wildly.

Almost as if it recognized him.

And maybe it did.

Maybe Tristan’s blood, resting in the center of her chest, knew he was nearby and responded to him.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.” Her voice was small.

He fixed his green eyes on her face, studying her for a minute. “So, today sucks.”

She breathed out a humorless laugh. “Yep.”

His eyes trailed across her body, seated cross-legged on the broken leaves and dirt. “Aren’t you cold on the ground?”

Scarlet shrugged. “I like being cold.”

She didn’t like being cold, but the chill—and the forest air passing in and out of her lungs—were the only things she could feel at the moment.

And she was desperate to
feel
.

He hesitated a moment, then slowly took a seat beside her on the dirt. “I like being cold too,” he said, his body heat tickling the side of her arm.

Scarlet stared straight ahead and nodded.

She was sure he didn’t like being cold anymore than she did.

But still he sat beside her.

Several minutes floated by, fading into the air along with the setting sun. Neither of them said anything as they sat together.

Breathing.

A bird chirped, a few leaves fell, and the wind rustled gently through the trees.

Otherwise, there was silence.

Scarlet turned her head to look at the boy next to her. He was handsome and strong. Exactly like Gabriel but…not.

He turned and looked directly at her, their faces just a foot apart, and gently said. “Everything is going to be okay.”

She looked at his face, and her heart softened as a realization came over her.

She wasn’t alone.

She was scared and overwhelmed, but she wasn’t alone.

She had Heather, who made her feel normal and loved.

She had Laura, who’d given her a home and stability.

She had Gabriel, who’d cared about her for centuries, apparently.

And she had Tristan, who…well, she didn’t know what Tristan’s role was in her life. But he was there, in the cold forest with her, and that was enough.

Something about him brought her peace. And she needed peace.

Because she was going to die.

“I’m scared,” Scarlet said absently.

Tristan looked up at the trees for a moment as the wind blew softly. “I know.” His voice sounded sad.

Because she was afraid and because she wanted to vent, Scarlet mused, “What’s the point of life if you live only to die? If I have no past, and I probably won’t have a future, then I have no real…meaning, right? What’s the point of all that?”

Tristan was silent for a few moments, looking at the leaves before them. “Life isn’t about the past and the future. It’s about today.” He paused. “It’s about five minutes from now and two seconds ago. It’s moments, you know? Not years. Years aren’t what define us.”

Scarlet wrinkled her brow. “But…if you know your moments are numbered, are you really living at all?”

“Oh, yes,” he said seriously. “Even more so than those of us who think we have endless moments. Knowing death is nearby gives you a chance to live…deliberately.”

Scarlet watched a leaf fall to the ground, lying dead among the other leaves on the forest floor. “A brief life seems pointless.”

Tristan thought for a moment. “Isn’t that what life is, though? A brief opportunity to exist? A short gift?”

Scarlet inhaled. “Maybe. But I’m still scared. Of death.”

Tristan’s hand brushed across the broken leaves in front of them. “Death,” he said, looking up at the trees, “is only scary for a life without meaning.”

Scarlet looked up at the trees as well. “But that’s just it…my life
has
no meaning…it’s…empty.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw a sad smile tug at Tristan’s mouth. “Your life has had more meaning than a thousand lives put together.” A few more leaves fell. “You don’t remember how beautiful your life has been…but someday you will. And…I,” he cleared his throat, “
Gabriel
and I…won’t let you die this time…. So,” he turned to look at her, “you have nothing to be afraid of.”

Scarlet turned her eyes to his for a few moments.

A breeze swept past, sending a shiver through her.

Scarlet eyed him, feeling the depth and sincerity of his words rest against her failing heart.

She wasn’t alone in this vicious cycle of life and death.

She wasn’t alone at all.

In that moment, staring into the green eyes of a familiar stranger, something grew inside Scarlet.

Something full and hopeful and brave.

Her chest tightened and her heart pounded harder, as strength filled her soul.

Her fear was gone—smothered by Tristan’s words, by the cadence of his voice, by the warmth of his body next to hers.

Everything
was
going to be okay.

Not easy.

Not perfect.

But okay.

The last rays of light, in brilliant hues of orange and pink, began to slip into shadows as the sun fell behind the distant mountains. The cold blanket of night fell against the trees and crept along the woodland floor but Scarlet wasn’t cold anymore.

Tristan’s body heat seeped into her skin and curled around her chest, warming her very core.

Sensation returned to her arms, legs, fingers and toes, as the cold wind lifted and twirled her dark hair behind her. Once again, she inhaled deeply, a sense of renewal filling her lungs along with the crisp air.

Scarlet was alive and ready to take on her world—no matter how dark and unfair that world may be.

Because she wasn’t alone.

And she could feel
everything.