A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(37)

“Is that permanent?”

Rosa shook her head. “No, he’ll let you back in when he’s done. But while he’s out—” She glanced away across the park and took a deep breath. “Let’s just say you don’t want that to happen.”

Layla wanted to ask more about what Rosa had experienced, but she got the impression that while a spirit couldn’t lie, that didn’t mean they would want to tell her. Besides, if what Rosa said was true, she would soon know anyway. The thought worried her. “Anything else I should know?”

“The next few days are going to see changes happen to you, to what you know, to what you can do. It might feel overwhelming. It might feel like everything in your life is crashing down around you. I promise you, it gets better.” Rosa stood and stretched. “You probably have time to go see one of the other two. You need to pick one of us to be your main contact as quickly as possible. The one you have a stronger affinity with than the others.”

“So, once I pick one of you, I can’t speak to the others?”

“No, you can talk to any of us at any time, especially once you’re bonded, but while you’re learning, it’s helpful to just have one point of contact. Makes life easier on you. It was easier for me—I only had two people to choose from.”

“Who did you choose?”

“Servius. I just felt like he was the right choice for me, just like whoever you pick will be the right one for you.”

Layla nodded. “So, what happens now?”

“Now, you get to see a pivotal moment in my life. It’s the one where I decided that I needed to change what I was becoming. Stay here and don’t move.”

“What were you becoming?”

Rosa didn’t bother answering. Instead she set off across the perfectly mown grass toward the group of women. She stood beside them, looking as if she was waiting for someone, while Layla wondered exactly what she was doing. Eventually, a middle-aged man walked over to the group, ignoring Rosa, and began talking to one of the women. Another of the group laughed at something the man said, but Layla was too far away to know if it was genuinely funny, or if they were just being polite.

Rosa moved smoothly and with incredible speed. Stepping up behind the man, she reached around his neck with one arm, her hand holding a blade. Another blade appeared in Rosa’s free hand and she repeatedly stabbed the man in the back. Layla tried to shout out, but found she wasn’t able to. Rosa released the man and stepped away as screams filled the air.

The man turned as he collapsed to his knees, and Layla saw the cut across his throat. People ran over to him, trying to help him, shouting for help, and in the commotion Rosa just walked over to Layla.

“In reality, I was running at this point,” she said to Layla.

“You murdered him.”

“Him and people like him, yes.” Her hands were red and she dropped two daggers onto the grass beside Layla.

“You’re a killer.”

“An assassin. I worked for Queen Victoria. I removed people who needed removing.”

“And what was that man’s crime?”

“He was a wealthy man with a lot of influence, and someone who met a young woman by the name of Elizabeth. A woman he and his equally rich friends forced into prostitution. This group were hurting a lot of people in London at the time, and I was tasked with the removal of each of them. Eighteen in all. He was the first. He had no idea what was about to befall the rest of his comrades. He thought the group untouchable. He was wrong.”

“You murdered all of these people for the queen?”

“It was my job, yes. I didn’t enjoy it, but they certainly deserved it. They needed to be removed from this planet. They were too rich, powerful, and influential to be simply exposed as the vermin they were, so a more permanent solution was required. Prostitution, drugs, the murder of anyone who investigated them—they were responsible for a lot of awful things happening. I believe one of the people they hurt was the sister of one of Victoria’s maids, and that was what started this whole thing, but I have no proof of that.

“You think because your father murdered all of those people that it’s either black or white, you either kill or you don’t. That’s not how things work. Some people need to be threatened, some need to have their crimes exposed, and some need to be expunged from the face of the earth in such a way that it sends a message to anyone who might cross you. I understand your need to see things so distinctly, but they’re not that easy to tell apart. Your father’s crimes, crimes I only know because you’re thinking about them, were committed because he wanted to satisfy his own need to administer punishment. I killed for queen and country. I killed because leaving them alive meant more lives ruined.

“This was a pivotal moment in my life. Before this, I killed bad people, I ruined bad people, but this group stretched out across London, across the entire world. This group needed to be stopped. This was a turning point for me. It was the time I decided I wanted to do some good, to care about more than just me.”

“I get that. I get that sometimes killing is necessary. Self-defense for one. I just don’t know if I can do that. My father did it so often that . . . what if I’m the same? What if I kill someone in self-defense, and then I’m on the road to becoming him?”

“I was a soldier in a war. It might have been a hidden war, but it was a war nonetheless. It wasn’t just me; there were several of us. Most died before the task was completed. I was one of the few who lived through it. I even outlived my queen. A month after what happened here, I discovered the spirit scroll you now possess. It changed everything about my world. About my life. I found it in the safe of one of my victims; he had no idea what it really was. Probably best for everyone.”