A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(107)

The ogres and Elias were dead, but as Layla looked around at the dead and injured, she wondered what it had cost.

“We lost good people here today,” Tommy said as he walked over to her. “Are you all okay?”

Layla nodded, and Chloe gave the thumbs-up.

“Jared . . .” Layla began.

“The woman the ogre killed was his friend and one of my employees. A good person, one of many we lost today. Thank you both for your help.” He walked over to Elias’s body and kicked it. “Just making sure.”

“Is it finally done?” Layla asked, slightly surprised at the tension in her own voice.

“No,” Diana said. She’d changed back into a human, but was still covered in blood and dirt. “Not while Nergal lives. Not while his allies make plans against us, but for today it is over. You can rest.”

Layla remained seated next to Chloe. Remy walked over and sat with them, and Kasey soon after. “I did not enjoy that,” Remy said.

“Liar. You enjoyed it a little,” Kasey contradicted.

“I got bounced across the ground like a pinball. Not a lot of enjoyment there. Glad to see no one else had to die, though. How many did we lose?”

“Five,” Kasey said. “Four more will need serious attention.”

“Speaking of which,” Remy said, pointing across the field as Grayson walked toward them, accompanied by half a dozen others with medical equipment.

“You took your time,” Kasey shouted with a smile.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” Grayson said. “My being here would have made things worse, and I needed to ensure we had a big enough medical team to tend to the wounded. I’d hoped you’d have been able to make it back to the mansion for treatment, but Tommy told me about the ogres and I got here as soon as possible. Do any of you need help?”

Everyone shook their head. “Go help those who need it,” Remy said.

Grayson hurried off, and Layla and the others were soon ushered back to the cars, where they found Diana.

“Where’s my dad?” Kasey asked.

“He’s helping the wounded,” Diana told her. “He won’t leave until it’s done, you know that. You all did good today.”

“Thanks,” Remy said. “But I always do good.”

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Well, fine then. Shove that up your arse.”

Diana smiled and shook her head in disbelief, while Remy opened the car door and vanished inside.

Chloe and Layla were next in, but Diana stopped Layla. “Seriously, good job. That can’t have been easy.”

Layla looked at Diana, who had put on some clean clothes, and hugged her. “Is it always like this?”

Diana smoothed Layla’s hair in a soothing fashion. “Not always.”

Layla nodded as exhaustion began to take hold. Diana helped her into the car, before leaving to continue cleaning up.

It’s been a tough day, Rosa said in Layla’s head.

Layla could do nothing but nod.

Rest, Layla. Sleep, and when you wake up, maybe things will be clearer.

“Do you really believe that? I could have killed Elias and the ogre today. I wanted to.”

It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you and yours are safe. All that matters is that you continue to get stronger and stay safe. You have learned so much, so quickly, but there’s a long way to go. If you’re willing to take that road.

Layla nodded again. “Yes. I want to help people. I don’t want Nergal or his people to ever hurt anyone again.”

Rosa’s image vanished from Layla’s mind, replaced with Terhal.

You did well. Better than I’d expected. You are a strange one to me, Layla Cassidy. You are not what I expected.

“The feeling is mutual, Terhal.”

The drenik laughed. It was a peculiar sound, almost songlike, but with a tinge of menace about it. Layla did not trust Terhal—she did not trust anything that had spent so long trying to break her—but she got the feeling that Terhal didn’t trust her, either. She hoped their truce would last, but she wasn’t convinced. All she knew was that her acceptance of Terhal and the other spirits had given her immense power. Power she would put to good use. Power she wouldn’t let corrupt her.

She lay down on the car seat and closed her eyes, intending only to rest for a moment, but when she opened them again the car was moving, and the motion caused her to fall back to sleep.





40

When the group returned to the mansion, they found that Masako had fled the area, but not before she’d torn out Shane’s heart and eaten a part of it. She had written goodbye in his blood, and left. Tommy had been right; she hadn’t hurt a single person who worked for him.

Two weeks later, and after no more craziness, Layla found herself in the mansion study going through her university work. She’d put it off as long as she could. She knew it needed to be finished, but she’d found the practical applications of her power a lot more interesting and fun than reading about things in books.

Fifteen days after Elias had died, most of Tommy’s staff had moved out of the mansion, leaving only a skeleton crew behind. Tommy had explained that the building was to be used for another purpose and his people wouldn’t need to be a part of it. There was a lot of sadness among those who worked for him. They’d lost friends and comrades in their fight against Elias, but all of them appeared to be glad that they’d helped stop him.