A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(65)

“And he’s your boss?”

“No. Merlin created Avalon, although he had help from many other people from mythology. The Greeks were the first to join, then the Romans, Egyptians, and so on and so forth. These days, most of the people from tales of myth either work for Avalon in some form or another or are dead. Few fall outside of those brackets.”

“So where does Avalon come from? What does it do? Who do you work for? How does it impact what’s happening to me?”

Olivia grinned. “Okay, each of those in turn. Avalon was created thousands of years ago after the Titan War between the Titans and the Olympian gods. Merlin, Zeus, and several others decided that it could never happen again. Merlin somehow managed to create it so that Avalon was in control of everything and changes were done through voting in a council.

“Over the years more pantheons came to work with Avalon, folding their power into Avalon’s. Things worked well until Merlin was forced to leave his position as head of Avalon, and it was passed over to Elaine Garlot. Although with Arthur wanting to take the reins back, things have become much more complicated than they’ve ever been before.”

“King Arthur?”

“Yep, the one and the same. He’s a really long story, but the short of it is: he was attacked and cursed to stay in a coma for a thousand years. Now he’s awake and wanting to resume where he left off. Most are happy about it, but some are fighting him. People don’t like change, even ones who live for millennia.

“Getting back to your questions. I work for Elaine. Only Elaine. I was the director of the south of England, and now I’m sort of still doing that job, which is why I have this office, but I unofficially give information to Elaine. There’s been too much uncertainty since Arthur returned. People are scared and concerned, and I want to make sure we’re doing things right. But none of that has anything to do with why you’re here.”

“So Avalon is like a large security force?”

“Not exactly. Avalon rules everything. The humans in charge of countries know we exist, and we mostly allow them to do as they please, so long as it doesn’t interfere with our plans and lives. Avalon is the real power behind the world and everyone in it. The LOA is the law-enforcement side: we monitor, investigate, and deal with crimes against humans committed by Avalon members, or crimes against Avalon members. We’re a little like Interpol or the FBI in terms of power within Avalon.”

“My father worked for Avalon?”

“No, but he was a special case. Umbra have been kept hidden from the majority of people for a long time, only recently coming to light. Your father’s abilities were kept largely secret, until three years ago, when umbras came to the forefront of Avalon’s investigations. Essentially, we discovered that there were a lot of umbras running around, and we had never heard of them. We didn’t even know if umbras could pass their powers on to their children, which is one reason why Tommy had Chloe keep an eye on you. Most powers for nonhumans don’t start until they’ve reached their teens, and with your mother dead, we needed to make sure you weren’t about to turn into a bomb or something.

“Turns out, they can’t, but you still became an umbra anyway. Not even Elaine knew that umbras existed until Chloe became one. I assure you, the fact that Tabitha and the LOA office she works for kept umbras a secret did not go down well. Your father is one of three umbras currently under lock and key. There are approximately five thousand in this world right now. And that’s just a best-case guess.”

“And, Tommy, you work for Avalon too?”

“I used to work for the SOA,” Tommy said. “They’re the . . .”

“Shield of Avalon,” Layla interrupted. “Sorry, the spirits’ memories bleed over into mine. The SOA is essentially Avalon’s MI5 and MI6 combined into one, yes?”

Tommy nodded. “I left a long time ago. Like I told you before, I run my own firm now. I’m completely separate, but obviously still have friends in Avalon.”

“Why’d you leave?”

“Things weren’t going in a way I was happy with. I wanted distance from the organization and the people who were trying to grab power for themselves. Avalon is like any large-scale organization: people—be they human or werewolf—still allow power to corrupt them. I decided to get out before I needed to deal with those who were attempting to use that power to further their own aims.”

“So, what you’re saying is that people are assholes everywhere, no matter what their species is.”

Tommy laughed. “That’s essentially it, yes.”

“So, if you don’t work for Avalon, why are you here? Why have Chloe—specifically her, instead of someone from Avalon—watch me?”

Tommy shared a look with Olivia that Layla couldn’t quite read, but it didn’t appear to be a good one. “I’m here because we don’t trust certain people in Avalon to deal with this situation. Chloe was given the job because I trust her. Olivia is here to give support. Officially, Avalon knows nothing about you, your abilities, or what’s happened.”

“Which means what?”

“It means you don’t exist on their radar, and I’d like to keep it that way. There aren’t many people who know that you exist, let alone that you’re the child of an umbra.”