A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(54)

The shop door opened, making a small chime that Elias hadn’t noticed when he’d first come in. He turned and saw a young woman take a step into the shop and freeze as she laid eyes on him. The smile on her face melted. Elias wondered how this person knew him.

She walked over to Elias and nodded to the woman who had served him.

“A friend of Layla’s,” the barista said.

“Thanks, Sam,” Chloe said, with every appearance of happiness. “Hello, Elias.”

“Do you have a few minutes?” Elias asked. “It’s about Layla.”

“I know.” She glanced around her at the other patrons. “Let’s go out the back, we won’t be disturbed there.”

“Glad to hear it. Lead the way.”

Chloe turned to Sam. “Can you deal with everything here? We’ll only be a few minutes.”

Sam nodded, and Chloe walked off, pushing open a door at the far end of the coffee shop and walking down a small corridor. Elias followed close behind, until they’d left the shop and walked out onto a footpath behind the building. The path was next to the water, where several boats moved gently on the waves. A wooden bench overlooked the serenity of the area, and across the marina was a construction site. There would be no one around to see what happened next.

Chloe stopped walking when she reached the black railing that separated the footpath from the water below. She turned around to face Elias.

“So, how long have you worked for Tommy?” Elias asked. “I only mention it because he put a security detail on your friend Harry, and I know for a fact there’s one at the General Hospital. That is where Layla is, right?”

Chloe said nothing.

“Anyway,” Elias continued, “I wondered why Tommy hadn’t put anyone to keep an eye on you, but after the way you behaved in the shop, I’m guessing they think you don’t need protecting. Their mistake. Also, you knew who I was, and you shouldn’t have. Not unless someone showed you a picture.”

“What do you think is going to happen here, Elias?” Chloe asked. “You’re going to kill me?”

“Actually, no. You’re going to come with me, and together we’re going to convince Layla to help me. Or I’ll start skinning you in front of her. That should get her attention. Does she know you work for Tommy? I imagine not. Which does leave one question: were you sent here to keep an eye on her because of who her father is? Or is this all a happy coincidence?”

“Are you going to try to kidnap me, or talk to me until I fall into a coma?”

Elias removed his hat and placed it on the nearby bench. “Don’t want to get it dirty.”

He turned and rushed toward Chloe, channeling his power into speed and strength. He threw a punch at Chloe, who dodged aside, striking out with one of her own. Elias easily avoided the blow and moved back a few paces. She was faster than he’d anticipated, and if she was working with Tommy, it was unlikely that she was human.

He darted back toward her, feinting with a right hand, and then kicking out with his left leg. She blocked both blows, but Elias stepped in and punched her in the kidney, making her gasp in pain. He grabbed the back of her head and drove his knee into her stomach, once, twice, and a third time, before letting go of her and kicking her in the chest, sending her sprawling on the concrete path.

“Not as good as you think you are,” Elias said, walking toward her.

The second he was within reach, Chloe grabbed hold of his legs, lifted him up off the ground, and dumped him on the floor, bouncing the back of Elias’s head off the concrete.

She grabbed his arm and locked the elbow, wrenching back on it, trying to break the joint. Elias rolled toward Chloe, and punched her in the face with his free hand, but Chloe didn’t release the hold until a second punch. She head-butted Elias on the nose and kicked him away, rolling over and getting back to her feet. Blood streamed from her broken nose, and a cut on her lip caused her to spit blood onto the pavement.

Elias cradled his arm. It hurt like hell, and he hadn’t expected Chloe to be so proficient at defending herself. He used some of his power to heal his wounds and was back to full health a few seconds later. He knew he didn’t have enough reserves of power to continue that course of action, though. He needed to end this.

“I expected more of you,” Chloe told him. “Elias Wells was a name people told me in whispers. You scared people. Humans, I’ll grant you, but still, I expected better.”

“Not up to my full strength, I’m afraid. Instead, I brought help.”

Chloe glanced behind her, before looking back at Elias. “Three blood elves and, I assume, Dara. All for little old me? I’m flattered.”

Elias watched Dara and the elves continue their steady walk toward Chloe. There was no point in hurrying it, it wasn’t like she could escape anywhere. “Just make this easier on yourself. You might actually survive the experience.”

Chloe laughed. “That’s your sell? I might survive?”

“Might is better than won’t. Which is what will happen if we have to take you by force.”

“Please, Elias. Come take me by force.”

She turned toward the nearest blood elf, who’d started to run toward her, and raised one hand. A blast of yellow power left her palm, slamming into the blood elf and throwing it back against the wall.