A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(28)

“Why?”

“Because one of us will become your teacher. Someone has to train you how to use your new abilities. We can’t have you running around without knowledge.”

Layla reached for the curtain on the nearest window, and Rosa leaned over to stop her. “Don’t. The barrier between my memories and . . . the . . . demon is weak. You don’t want to look out there right now.”

Layla removed her hand. “Demon?”

Rosa sighed. “This is all information for much later. For now, just sit back and enjoy the show.” The carriage roof vanished, replaced with a picture of what Layla’s body was doing, as if she were watching it on a giant drive-in movie screen. “These people kept you prisoner. Some turnabout is fair play.”

“You killed that blood elf.”

Rosa nodded. “This isn’t your old world. This isn’t a world where you get to leave your enemies alive. And it wasn’t human.”

“I’m not sure that matters. You used my body to murder someone. I’m not that person. I’m not like my father.” The anger that she felt at having her body used to commit murder was all-consuming. She couldn’t believe that the one thing she’d fought against for so long had happened without her even being in control.

“Your morals will have to wait until you’re in a more secure place.”

“Stop the carriage,” Layla snapped, her voice hard and cold.

Rosa shook her head.

Layla darted forward, grabbed hold of the curtain across one window, and shoved it aside just enough to see what was outside. She clamped one hand over her mouth and moved back to the far side of the carriage, still holding the curtain, pulling it free.

The carriage was in the middle of some woods, circling around a glade. In the center of the glade was a large cage, shrouded in darkness except for two eyes that burned red inside it. The occupant grabbed hold of the bars and screamed, as terrifying power tore across the clearing.

Layla opened her mouth to speak, but Rosa tapped her on her forehead and she fell into a deep sleep.

She will be mine, the creature in the cage said.

“No, she won’t,” Rosa told him without taking her eyes off Layla. “I’m sorry for this, but things will be easier when your emotions aren’t so high.”

She will never accept me. Never accept the darkness in her heart. I’ll take her, just like I took Gyda. Poor Gyda. She lost so much. Maybe she can sit around and cry about it with Layla once I’m finished with her.

Rosa shook her head. “Be gone, demon. Your power is limited here, your reach small.”

It won’t stay that way.

“No, eventually you’ll vanish into nothing, only coming when summoned to obey her commands for your power. You’ll become a small memory that will plague no one.”

The creature laughed, causing the carriage to reverberate as its power swept out across the glade. Rosa stared down at the sleeping Layla. “Please make me right. I would hate for you to become the monster we all have to fight against.”



Gyda had never taken control of a host before, but the link between spirits and host was weak when first established, and better her taking control than Layla getting killed. Or the demon freeing itself and slaughtering all before it. That would be much, much worse.

The blood elf that died in the scroll room was quickly forgotten. Gyda had been told about the blood elves’ destruction of her ancestral home. Even though it had happened hundreds of years after she’d died, she still felt a rage at being unable to protect her people’s way of life. She’d hated the blood elves for their part in that. Hated them then, and hated them now. Killing them was never going to be an issue for her.

She ignored the remnants of her past and left the scroll room, moving into the corridor outside. She found the next blood elf several minutes later. It was leaning against a wall, its back toward her. She used the metal on her arm to create a spear and threw it toward the blood elf. The spear impaled the elf through the heart, pinning it to the concrete wall beside it. She tapped the metal spear as she walked past, and the metal became liquid once more, returning to her forearm. She watched the creature crumple to the ground, and felt nothing but happiness that there was one less of them alive.

Gyda continued on through the tunnel system, but found no more blood elves to fight. By the time she’d reached the lift and pressed the button to bring it down, she’d seen no one else. She was beginning to feel like she’d gotten away with her escape. The noise of the lift as it slowly moved down the shaft echoed around the large tunnel.

The lift had just finished its journey when Gyda spotted a young man walking toward her. She searched Layla’s memories and found that his name was Shane.

“Now what do we have here?” he asked with a large smile.

“I’m leaving,” Gyda told him.

“Not on my watch you’re not. Reyes and the rest of those elves will be up here soon enough, so you should just give in, come back to your cell, and keep quiet. Just like a lady such as yourself is supposed to.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

The smile faltered, just a little bit, but Gyda saw the darkness in Shane’s eyes. She knew the type of man he was. She’d seen more than enough of them during her lifetime—killed more than enough of them too. One more wasn’t going to make much of a difference.