Lies Ripped Open (30 page)

CHAPTER
30

I
woke up in bed in the cavern where we’d met Felix. Ellie was on a chair next to me, dozing quietly, her feet propped on the end of the bed.

“Morning,” I said with a smile.

Ellie lazily opened her eyes and gave me a brief smile before looking at her watch. “Two hours,” she said. “I was expecting you to be out for longer.”

“Did I miss anything?”

“Felix is in his room, Alan hasn’t left him. Mortimer is in our old torture room, enjoying the delights of having Remy never shut up.”

“Corath is dead, I assume?”

“The griffin? Yep, very dead. I ended up using your sword to take its head off. The rest of the Reavers are in the same state, although most of those kept their heads. We managed to get hold of Hendricks on Avalon Island and arranged for a helicopter landing. Alan told him about Kelly and her group who are on their way. Alan said he knows Hendricks and vouched for him.”

“What did Hendricks say?”

“Kelly’s group isn’t there yet, but he’ll be on the lookout. He’s not sure who is and who isn’t a Reaver. Apparently Olivia and her people found the rest of the people on the list that Reaver gave you. All dead. They found Fiona’s supervisor too. Looks like he’s been dead for a while. Lucie thinks the Reavers killed him before attacking Fiona. Hendricks is going to stop people going through the realm gate, he feels that there’s a sudden need for the realm gate to undergo maintenance. It won’t be operational for a few hours yet. Probably start working the second we arrive. It means Hendricks won’t be able to get through to Avalon though; he can’t risk activating the gate and then having Kelly and her people see it working. Getting to Lucie and Elaine is going to be up to us when we arrive.”

“Mac is going to want to know about his father. They killed Lir to get to me. I don’t think the fact that we’ve killed Lir’s
killers
is going to be much solace to Mac. How long before the
helicopter
can be ready?”

“It should be an hour at the most; we’ve arranged for it to land on the field opposite this place up above.”

I swung my legs out of the bed and grabbed a clean T-shirt from the floor. I didn’t know where it had come from, and I didn’t really care, I was just glad to be wearing something not covered in dirt or blood.

“Felix or Mortimer first?” I asked.

“Felix. I don’t know how long he has left.”

I made my way through the cavern and found Felix lying on a bed with Alan beside him. “How’s he doing?” I asked.

Alan didn’t look away from Felix when he spoke, “Not good, Nate.” His voice contained none of its normal light tone.

“How about you?”

“Not even a little bit okay.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Alan, I reall
y am.”

“He taught me that there was a better way than how I’d been living. He was the one person who’d gotten through to me.
Without
him, I would still be running around trying to avoid being killed. He taught me how to be a better person. And that person managed to bag himself a wife like Fiona. Now she’s in a hospital bed in Avalon, and I’m here with Felix. He’s going to die. And I’ve wanted to stay busy since I found out about Fiona, but I’m so terrified that I’ll get back to Avalon and she’ll be dead too. I don’t want to think of her in a hospital bed, dying.”

There was nothing I could say to make him feel better. No words would have offered comfort, but I had to try anyway, “Fiona will be okay.”

“You don’t know that, Nate. But let’s say she is, let’s say I get to Avalon and Fiona’s okay. That she’s healed. I wasn’t there to help her. I wasn’t there to stop her being attacked. I agreed to go to jail in return for a full pardon of past crimes. And when this is over, I’ll be going back.”

“No, you won’t,” I told him.

He turned to me, surprise on his face.

“We’ll arrange for you to go free. I’ll call in some favors. You’re helping Avalon, it’s the least they can do.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“I hadn’t considered it.”

Alan laughed. “And people say I’m cocky.”

“I’ll come back in a bit, when Felix has woken up.”

“He’s going to die soon,” Alan said, his demeanor flicking back to somber.

“I know,” I agreed, and wished I could be wrong.

“We can’t get that damn sorcerers band off. If we could, he’d have a chance, but the venom . . . the venom is too much. I’m surprised he’s not in agony.”

“He’s strong, and he’s a fighter. The venom will soon begin to destroy him at a faster rate.”

Alan was silent for a moment. “Use the rune.”

“It might not work. It will almost certainly drain him of whatever energy remains.”

“At least he will die with his magic in use.”

“If this triggers the band, we’re about to learn how magical napalm feels.”

I created a shield of air between Felix and us, and Alan passed me a pen, which I used to draw the rune on Felix’s arm. The effect of the completed rune was immediate; Felix
’s ey
es shot open as blue glyphs shone across his arms. Water exploded from his palm, drenching the floor and wall opposite the bed. The glyphs quickly dimmed, and the magic stopped as Felix sat up.

“What the hell have you done?” he asked me, when he caught a look at his arm. He created a ball of water in his palm and was slowly rotating it. “I have to keep using this magic now, just long enough to keep the venom at bay. Is that how it works?”

I nodded.

“I had him put the rune on,” Alan said. “It’s better than dying in agony.”

“I’m still going to die in agony, you fool,” Felix chastised. “I can almost feel the rune feeding on my energy. Do you use th
is often?”

“No, only when necessary.”

“You’re more powerful than I’d imagined, Nate.” He closed his eyes and breathed slowly for a few seconds. “Nate, can you leave me and Alan alone to talk?”

I nodded. “I’ll come back in a little while.”

“Thank you,” Felix said.

I left him and Alan alone, setting set off toward Remy and Mortimer, an easy thing to do considering I could hear Remy talking about the time he first watched a television.

I entered the chamber and found Mortimer manacled to the floor. Whoever had put the manacles on had used the same ones that had held Remy. He was covered in bruises and cuts, but
otherwise
appeared to be okay.

“Ummm . . . Remy, why are you telling him about your TV watching?” I asked as he sat a few feet away from our prisoner.

“I was told not to hurt him physically. Figured I’d try boring him. I’ve so far discussed broccoli, the use of corpses in siege weapons, how to shoe a horse, and now my first experience with television.”

“Make him stop,” Mortimer pleaded. “He just won’t stop.”

“I’m quite parched,” Remy admitted. “I guess I should go get a drink.” He stood and stretched. “I assume we’ll be goin
g soon.”

“Soon,” I told him. “Dealing with Mortimer and Felix first. Be ready to go in about forty-five minutes.”

“I’ll keep myself busy ’til then.”

When Mortimer and I were alone, I sat beside him. “You know I’m going to kill you in here?”

“I figured as much. You’re mad about the Williamses.”

“About a lot of things. That’s just one of them. You shouldn’t have killed them.”

“They betrayed the Reavers. They were always going to die. Liz’s refusal to give you up just sped up the timeline a little.”

“Oh, I understand why you killed them. But you shouldn’t have. Shouldn’t have involved me either. The second you came after me, I was going to destroy you.”

“It was a risk that Kelly decided to take. In hindsight, maybe we should have sent more experienced people after you. Kelly wasn’t exactly swimming with first-class killers.”

“Cannon fodder.”

“That’s pretty much it, yes. Only a handful of us ever went through the Harbinger trials. The griffin hadn’t either. He just really didn’t like you.”

“Why?”

“He hated Hades, and his control over Tartarus. He was never going to get to Hades or his kin, so you were the next best thing.”

“Who is in charge?”

“I don’t know.” He quickly raised his hands. “No need to torture me, I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

“I know you all work in small sects, I want information abo
ut them.”

“There are a few dozen of them. Most consisting of a few actual Reavers bulked up with raw recruits. Each only knows the hierarchy for their sect. Only Kelly knows who she answers to. The rest of us answer to her.”

“And you don’t know who Kelly answers to?”

“Someone big,” he told me. “Someone very high up the food chain. But she’s not going to say more. And I certainly do
n’t know.”

“Why are you being so cooperative?”

“Why not? You caught me. I either talk or I get tortured and then talk. Besides, even if you bring down Kelly, there’s still plenty more Reavers out there. Plenty more killing our enemies, while we wait for the chance to take back Avalon.”

“Killing Elaine is the main aim then.”

“Elaine, and those who support her.”

“Merlin?”

“Merlin doesn’t support Elaine; Merlin can barely stand to be in the same city with her.”

“Is he involved in this?”

“I don’t know, I don’t answer to Merlin.”

“So, that’s it? That’s all you know.”

“I’m a soldier. And apparently not a very good one, since you captured me. What more do you actually want to know? Because I’ve now told you everything. Anything else I say will just be a rehash of what has already been said. Kelly is in charge, she’s going to kill you. If she doesn’t, there are plenty of people still out there who will. How’s that for a summary?”

“You didn’t need to kill Lir.” I stood and stretched.

“
I
didn’t, the griffin did.”

“You didn’t try to stop him though.”

“No, I wasn’t going to fight a griffin over some drunken
stoner.”

“Anything else?”

“For months we tried to break Alan. We had that guard threaten him, his wife, people he loved. Then his wife began investigating, and she wouldn’t stop. We had to punish her, but it was difficult to do. She’s very powerful and has powerful allies; it had to be done just right. We also needed to send Alan a
message
to tell us what we wanted to know. Unfortunately that sort of backfired.”

“Do you know who attacked Fiona?”

“Nope. My guess is someone important. They wouldn’t have sent low-powered people after her. She’d have turned them to pulp. Now are you going to kill me or not? Because I have nothing more to say.”

I sighed and plunged a blade of lightning into Mortimer’s head. He died silently and quickly, and with less suffering than he probably deserved.

“So, none of them knew anything,” Remy said.

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough, I’m pretty good at staying hidden. Even if we destroy this group, there are others out there.”

“One thing at a time. First I’m going to see Felix. Then we’ll go back to Avalon and deal with Kelly and any remaining
Reavers
.”

“I want the ones who attacked Fiona. That’s all I ask. I want to make sure the rest of these bastards know who they’re dealing with. I want to make sure no more of these Reavers think to come after any of us.”

Felix was sitting up in his bed when I returned. Alan was nowhere to be seen, and I wondered what had happened between the two of them.

“You came back. Good,” Felix said, his voice raw. He looked even worse than when I’d last seen him. “Your little rune is killing me. I might have been able to keep it going if I hadn’t already been injured, but in the state you found me, I’ve no chance. I’m not complaining, I’d rather die this way than crippled with pain while I vomit up my own lungs.”

I wished there could have been another way. “I’m sorry about the Reavers. They managed to get hold of you twice. I shouldn’t have let that happen.”

“Oh shut up, you sound like Alan. You weren’t around the first time, and you were unconscious the second. I have some things to tell you, so no interruptions. Firstly, you need to see Merlin.” He held up his hands. “Don’t complain, you need his help. There are a large enough number of Reavers out there that if something isn’t done about them they’ll become a serious threat. Avalon will need to deal with them. Elaine will need backing to do this. Merlin is the only person who can ensure that she has enough backing. Without him, it’ll always be Elaine trying to push through an act that arrests Avalon people. With Merlin, it’s an act of defense. You need him on your si
de, Nathan.”

“Why me though? Why do I have to be the one who talks to him?”

“Because if you go, it won’t be seen as pressuring. You go to him, you apologize for whatever happened between you, and you get his help. And yes, I said apologize. I know he did wrong, but this is the bigger picture.”

I seethed internally, but accepted his point. “I can’t guarantee he’ll even see me.”