A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(68)

“The redcap is able to create some sort of small realm inside the hat where the souls and blood go. There’s no blood inside the hat. They can only open the realm to feed once back at their home. It means that over the years they get weaker and weaker, and then in the next second, incredibly powerful. They can feed a small amount outside of their home, but it’s just to tide them over. Unfortunately, trying to capture one after they’ve fed properly is incredibly hard work.”

“Where is Elias’s home? Can’t you just find it and burn it down?”

“Elias was born in England. We know that much. We don’t know where or exactly when, though. We also don’t know where his family home is; it’s information that any redcap will go to great lengths to keep secret. Destroying the home would be difficult—the spells around it are set up so that it can’t be destroyed. Even the smallest piece of land left would allow him to recharge. But stopping him from recharging in the first place would mean he’d just wither away and eventually die. Obviously that’s a lot more complicated than it sounds.”

“He said he was a big fan of my father. He admired him.”

“Your father’s crimes were big news in the human world when he first committed the murders, although Tabitha saw to it that most of the details were kept from human eyes. His fame only increased three years ago when it was leaked what he was: a human who became an umbra accused of killing lots of humans. It was big news. Murdering humans isn’t exactly encouraged, and the fact that he’d killed so many and wasn’t executed for it intrigued people. Some people don’t see what he did as being wrong. Some probably want to do something similar.”

A phone on Olivia’s desk went off and she answered it, spoke for a few seconds with whoever was on the other end, then replaced the receiver and sighed. “We’re ready to go. You’ll be safe with Tommy and his people. And I’ll keep an eye on things from here. I’m sorry I can’t be more involved, but I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you,” Layla said, and got to her feet. “It’s all so confusing, but I think things are beginning to make sense.”

Tommy got up. “I’ll see you outside, front parking lot.” He left the office, leaving Layla and Olivia alone.

“He’s upset that you’re angry with Chloe. He didn’t put her there to hurt you.”

“I know. I just don’t like being lied to. And I don’t like feeling as if our friendship was all a plan from the beginning. My father lied to me for a long time, and while I’m not equating her with a serial killer, it still hurts all the same.”

Olivia walked around the desk. “Give her a chance. I know it hurts. A few years ago Tommy and Kasey were kidnapped by a monster. A creature of immense power, who wanted to use their torment to hurt me. Up until that moment, I’d been working with a friend of Tommy’s under the assumption he had been ex-Avalon. After they were taken, he told me the truth about who he was, and what he used to do for a living. I was horrified, hurt, and angry that anyone had kept such things from me.”

“What was he?”

“An assassin for Avalon. He worked for Merlin, did bad things to bad people, but that didn’t make it better. If anything, it made it worse. It felt like the friendship we’d formed was based on a lie.”

“What did you do?”

“Honestly, I sucked it up and got on with it. I needed to get Tommy and Kasey back, and that was more important than my ego. Also, he was able to do some questionable things to some awful people to get answers about where they were being kept. I couldn’t really hold who he was against him, when he was helping me get my family back.

“It’s not exactly the same situation as you’re in, but I get it. Chloe isn’t the kind of person to fake a personality to get close to someone. She made friends with you because she cares about you. Simple as that. I doubt she lied about her family or her past. She’s not much of an undercover operative. That was never why she was put there.”

“Why was she put there? Why her, I mean?”

“Her mother was responsible for sending her and my daughter to a nightmare world. One where the blood elves number in the hundreds of thousands. Chloe got sick, almost died, and had to be given a spirit scroll to heal.

“Turns out Chloe’s mum had also sent her ex-husband—Chloe’s father—to the same world. He died trying to get his daughter home to this realm. Chloe’s mother was arrested, and currently resides in a deep, dark hole. Chloe lost control of her power, almost hurt a bunch of people, and decided that she wanted time away. We granted it. While here, we asked her to watch over you. It wasn’t only about wanting to see if you’d develop powers like your father. We were worried about you.”

“Why?”

“Your mother’s death. We weren’t sure it was an accident. Still aren’t, to be honest. We knew that Nergal would have preferred to get hold of her rather than you, but obviously she died before that could happen.”

“You think my mother was murdered?”

“The investigation never uncovered conclusive evidence proving murder. When all of this is done, I’ll be happy to find the file for you. You can look for yourself.”

“Thank you.” Layla’s mind reeled from the possibility that her mother hadn’t actually died by accident, that someone had intentionally caused her death. “All this death because my father caught the attention of Nergal.”