Avenge (28 page)

“
Zander!” Cassie
admonished. “How could you even think she’d do that?”

It was Lola who spoke up. “Who would
have thought Amelia would have done what she did? I don’t think
it’s a bad thing to be a little cautious right now.”

I nodded, biting my lip to keep it
from quivering. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and turned to
the group. “He’s right. I don’t feel Max anymore. But I’d know if
he was gone too.” I clutched my chest. “In here. I don’t know how.
I can’t explain it, but if his soul weren’t here anymore, I’d know.
I would feel…like half a person.

“
When I talked to Alastair,
he said his goons were taking Max somewhere and would keep him
incapacitated so he couldn’t rush to be with me. I think Max is
still that way. Whatever they did to him, they’re still doing it.
But he’s down there. I know he is. And if I can get close enough
maybe I’ll be able to feel him again.”

Zander and Lola nodded in
understanding, but I wanted to clear everything up before we
continued. I looked them in the eyes as I spoke, praying they’d see
my sincerity. “As far as if I’m a spy now too, I get why you’d be
wary. And I don’t blame you for it. But you have two great reasons
to trust me right now. Jessica and Max. There is nothing more
anyone could leverage against me. So trust that I would do nothing
to risk them. Ever.”

“
And for what it’s worth,”
Marco chimed in. “I can vouch for her. She’s telling the
truth.”

They nodded, and Adam clasped them on
the back. “So we can do this now? I got a fantasy draft coming up
in the next few weeks, and I’d really like my best friend back for
it.”

Cassie rolled her eyes and
I chuckled, glad the mood was lightened. “Yes, let’s do
this.”

Chapter
Thirty-Three

We arrived in St. Augustine with a few
hours of daylight left. It helped knowing that as we searched, I
wouldn’t have to worry about battling vampires too. The only
problem was I had no clue where Max might be. I knew he wouldn’t be
at the fort, but the city was huge and he could be anywhere.
Splitting into teams of two, we hit the ground running. Marco and I
took the east side of the city, closest to the river, Cassie and
Adam took the north end of town and Lola and Zander went with James
to the South and West.

As Marco and I walked along the busy
streets, he left me alone to my thoughts, allowing me to
concentrate on Max.

After almost two hours of walking up
and down streets, alleys, and parking lots, frustration overtook me
and I plopped down on a wooden bench overlooking the
water.

“
I know how you feel,”
Marco began. He wasn’t looking at me, but out at the water instead.
The sun was setting, and the reflection of orange and yellow on the
water was beautiful. But I couldn’t enjoy it.

I rubbed my eyes, resting my head in
my hands. “I should feel him. I should know where he is and be able
to go right to him. I mean, I’m here. I’m closer to him than I’ve
been for weeks. So why do I have no sense of him at
all?”

“
You know, over the last
few months I tried to question Amelia on three separate occasions.
Each time, when I went to see her she had some excuse why she
needed to head in the other direction. It all seemed so innocuous
at the time. A cadet needed her, she was heading out on a jog, she
was eating and couldn’t talk. So I put her on the back burner. I
questioned those around her instead. I mean, I still read her mind.
Every time she was thinking about Elizabeth. I assumed she was
trying to use her mentor for inspiration, or was missing their
close bond. I never imagined…” He turned to finally look at me with
clouded eyes as he thought over everything before finally
continuing.

“
Well,
looking at it now I see my mistake. I see how when I was sure I was
heading in the right direction and had all the facts straight, I
was actually blinded by my own bias and assumptions. If I kept a
clear head and shoved everything I
thought
I knew aside, I might have
been able to stop all this.”

I rested my hand on his knee. “Marco,
no one blames you. You did the best you could. She lied to us all,
deceived us all.”

“
My point, Lucy, is that
you need to toss away all your assumptions now. You assumed they’d
keep Max here in St. Augustine because that’s where Alastair was.
But why did they come here to begin with? Why this city out of all
the possible places he could have gone?”

I sat silent for a minute and thought
about what I knew from my field trips. “The Castillo de San Marcos
is the oldest fort in the state, one of the oldest in the country.
And St. Augustine is the oldest city.”

“
And Max—”

“
Is the oldest soul in
existence.” I finished. “Maybe they were using him for something.
Something that they needed the ancient location to work as a
connection. A sort of sacred ground or something. A place that was
teeming with the energies of the past.”

“
So if Max isn’t here, one
of the oldest places in the country, where would they have taken
him?”

I sat straight up as the answer dawned
on me and grabbed Marco. “They’d need something even older.
Something where the original soul would have the strongest
connection so they could exploit that.”

“
Tasnim!” We both said in
unison. I jumped out of my seat, pulling Marco alongside me.
“C’mon. We need to get the others and get to Tasnim
immediately.”

Marco and I both began furiously
typing and texting messages to our team as we made our way back to
the realm door.

*****

There were no realm doors that could
take us directly from St. Augustine to Tasnim, and even if there
were, we couldn’t use them. It was a secure place, and required
special permission.

“
I don’t care who you have
to talk to James, you need to get us access. Now!” I stood pacing
the stone steps of a cathedral where Marco and I met up with the
rest of the team. They were a little more hesitant to believe that
Marco and I were on to something, and I wanted to scream out in
frustration.

“
I don’t see how they could
have gotten there. I can’t even go there without approval first,
Lucy. You need to understand, there’s a special password that the
office of the Alpha will embed into your bracelet, and then and
only then are you granted access to open that realm door.” James
was trying to be calm and rational about this, which usually I
didn’t mind. Today, it was killing me.

“
We already know they
hacked into my bracelet. It could have been just as easy for them
to hack into Max’s and get the password put on there and take him
there. He already had the password once from our trip. It makes
sense. It’s where he has to be.”

“
Even if
they did hack it, the only realm door that takes you there is on a
Patronus realm. They’d have to hack the password
and
sneak onto our realm.
It’s not possible. I really think we should keep looking here in
St. Augustine. Maybe there is something we overlooked at the fort.
We should go back and check again.”

I struggled to keep the bite of anger
and frustration out of my tone. “Please, do this for me. Get us the
access. What could it hurt if I’m wrong? I really believe that is
where we’ll find him. I’m sure of it.”

James’ stare met mine. Doubt swirled
in his eyes, and I hoped he could see the resolve in mine.
Scrubbing his face with his hands, he looked over at the rest of
the team who were silent observers of our conversation. I joined
James’ gaze and saw the pleading in their faces. They were on my
side! There was no way James could turn me down now; he was
outnumbered.

“
All right. But here’s what
we’re going to do. Marco, Zander, Lola, and Adam—you stay here and
keep looking. I still think he couldn’t have left the state that
quickly. Lucy, Cassie and I will go to the Alpha’s office and then
to Tasnim. If you find anything—anything at all, I want to hear
from you immediately and we’ll be back here ASAP.”

Frowning at his obvious lack of trust
in my gut instinct, I couldn’t help but reply, “And as soon as we
find him, I’ll let you know so you can come back.”

James shot me a look, but I was
already turning around and started running toward the realm
door.

I was getting Max back! Nothing could
bring me down from this high.

*****

I stood in the waiting room of the
Alpha’s office pacing as obnoxious elevator music played from
recessed speakers, grating on my every nerve. James was inside,
working his magic while Cassie and I waited. I knew I was wearing a
proverbial hole in the carpet, but I was too nervous that they’d
say no for some reason.

“
You need
to sit down, Lucy. You’re making me nauseated,” Cassie started,
lounging on the couch where she picked up an ancient copy of
Better Homes and Gardens
that promised housewives hours back from their day with a
brand new device called a Microwave Oven. “It’s going to be fine.
They won’t turn him down. He’s been doing this a really long time
and has earned a lot of trust with the Alpha’s team. If he asks,
they’ll believe him.”

“
But he barely believes
me.”

“
And yet he’s still in
there. So sit down already.”

I plopped onto the worn
leather sofa and a broken spring and jabbed me in the
bottom.
Great, sitting is as big of a pain
in the ass as pacing
, I thought
ironically.

A few very long minutes later, James
came out of the inner office. He didn’t stop to talk to us. He kept
walking and flicked his wrist for us to join him as he headed for
the door. We scurried out of our seats and hustled to catch up with
him.

“
We can’t waste any time.
They granted us permission, but only for tonight. And since it’s
already after dark, we need to hurry.”

A wave of relief flowed through me at
hurdling this obstacle. I practically ran through the Commons and
past the meadow to get to the realm door.

We reached Tasnim minutes later. It
was so different from the last time I was there. Instead of being
welcomed by the warm sun and white sand beaches, we were plopped in
a dense jungle like area with only moonlight to guide
us.

“
Are we in the right
place?” I asked no one in particular.

“
Yes,” James replied. “But
we’re in the center of the island farther away from where you all
stayed.”

I nodded in understanding and took in
my surroundings. Thick brush and tall palm trees made it difficult
to see much around me, but I could smell the salt in the air and
hear the roar of the waves in the distance. I wasn’t sure how big
the island was exactly, but I knew we couldn’t be that far from the
shore.

“
So where do we look
first?” Cassie asked, walking in a giant circle to try to get her
bearings.

“
I’ve actually been
thinking about that since James was meeting with the Alpha. They
wouldn’t have stuck him on the beach or in a cabin. They were going
to use him for something very important, and simply being here
wasn’t enough. Remember what I told you Alastair said—chess not
checkers. They’d want him to be somewhere special. So, James, you
know this area more than me. Is there anywhere like that here on
the island? Somewhere that has some sort of special significance or
meaning?”

James thought for a moment before
answering. “What exactly do you know about the island, Lucy? Do you
know any of the history?”

“
I know that it’s rumored
to be where the Garden of Eden had been moved after the fall. Is
that true?”

“
No one knows for sure, but
I wouldn’t be surprised. If they were looking for somewhere with
symbolism or meaning, it would be there.”

Cassie scrunched her face up in
confusion. “Adam and I explored the island on a hike one morning.
It’s not like there was a sign somewhere that said ‘Eden this way.’
So where exactly would we even begin to look?”

“
No, you’re right. There
isn’t anything that stands out. They’d need to know where to look.
And the only way they could have known about any of this is if
Amelia told them.” James balled his hands into fists, obviously
thinking about her betrayal. I knew it hurt him most of all when
she was revealed as the spy, but he kept his emotions in
check.