After a few yards through another concrete tunnel we reached an iron staircase that wound in small circles up several floors to the surface, to downtown Paris. The staircase shook and swayed with the weight of our mobilized battalion and I clung to the railing, not trusting anyone's magic but my own.
We stopped several times for Sebastian to catch his breath and rest. The climb was significant but not for an Immortal. For Sebastian, I wondered if it would go faster if one of his bodyguards would just carry him. But I kept my mouth shut.
Finally, we reached the door at the top of the staircase, leading into the lobby of an expensive apartment complex. White marble surfaced the floors and a luxurious sitting area decorated a small alcove next to four elevators leading to the upstairs rooms.
Titus, Xavier, Xander and Jericho sat crushed together on one couch, looking terribly uncomfortable and sinfully mischievous at the same time. They appeared to be unharmed and I could tell from their anxious energy they were just waiting for me to get there before the fun could begin.
“Well, gentlemen,” Xavier stood up and stretched his arms widely, as soon as I walked into the lobby; even completely surrounded by guards and unfairly outnumbered, he was confident of our plan. “It's been fun, like super fun,” he laughed, very sarcastically, “but it's probably time we get going.”
The other boys on the couch smiled at his brazenness and stood up as well. The attitude was catching and I found myself grinning, walking over to them with an air of premature victory.
“You don't really think we're just going to let you go, do you?” a confused, brutish Titan asked gravely.
“You can do whatever you want, but we're going to go. Uh, yeah, we're going to go,” Xavier continued with a hard edge to his voice.
The temperature of the room jolted into latent hostility and every Immortal stood to battle-ready attention. The magic buzzing about was wild and frenetic, angry and vengeful, from every side of the argument. We were trained and vetted fighters, disciplined for battle and well-prepared for moments like this. I was as prepared as any Titan in the room to lose my life fighting for the side I served.
“You are not going anywhere,” growled an imposing Titan standing a few feet from me.
“I told you, E; we should have brought the explosives,” Xander grumbled underneath his breath in good humor.
“Listen to me carefully, before you decide to blow each other up,” Sebastian stepped forward, commanding the attention of the room; he was immediately given it, even from my team. “Not one of you will harm these prisoners. I am going to leave with them now, that is my choice and you can do nothing about it. If any one of you tries to harm them, especially Eden, I promise that you will die. Everyone else that has crossed her has, and I swear to you, that you will be next. Do not make that mistake tonight.”
“What will we tell the Duke and Duchess?” a weary, skeptical Titan asked bravely.
“You will tell them that their son is dead and that the prisoners escaped,” Sebastian sighed wearily. “And if you do not let us go peacefully then it will be the truth anyway, only I will not be the only one that dies tonight. Is that clear?”
Sebastian's guard backed away from us slowly. It was obvious that none of them truly believed his every word. Instead, his instructions confused them; not many royal family members chose willingly to walk away with the Resistance, commanding their guard to stay put. Jericho, Titus, Xander, Xavier and I moved as one solidified wall towards the door that led to the outside and into the busy, crowded Paris streets.
“Eden, they have been warned. If they move against us, do what you must,” Sebastian said gruffly, walking without concern, past the five us that moved so carefully and out the door.
I stood up from a slightly crouched, protective stance a little befuddled. “Follow him,” I commanded to my team and they were through the door in moments.
I was the last to leave, wanting to give my team ample time to melt into the crowds and nightlife of the City of Lights.
Now that I was alone in the room with the team of fifteen Titans, they eyed me with less caution. They stepped towards me, hungry with violent greed and opportunistic eyes. I made a good catch, if they could take me down; no doubt the King would reward them gratuitously.
“Be careful now,” I warned, readying my magic with a flare of electricity.
“You're not so scary, all on your own.” One Titan stepped forward from the rest, his forehead marked with a long, jagged scar and his large, beastly hands poised for a fight.
I stood up, a little annoyed and waited for his attack. Immediately, he sent a wave as strong, but not debilitating of magic at me that I stopped with a simple hand movement. My blood pumped with the electricity of the last Oracle. Did he really think that would be enough to trouble me?
He sent another burst of magic and then his fellow Guard joined in. I stopped as many as I could with my own magic, but eventually I got bored with their arrogance. I stomped my foot on the floor, sending a ripple of magic shattering the expensive marbled floor and knocking all fifteen of them off balance.
I picked up the first Titan with magic, holding him precariously in the air before tossing him through the plate glass window in the front of the lobby. I could feel his magic surge to heal his body and I knew that it would only be seconds before he was back though the broken window causing more trouble.
Another Titan converged on me, hoping to have better results, and I held my hand out to him, blasting a lightning bolt of blue electricity into his gut. He tumbled across the broken marble, unconscious and groaning.
The first Titan returned back into room, and this time he hit me in the back with a harsh blast of magic that forced me forward and into the arms of his waiting team. I struggled against them, but their brutish arms pinned me down.
It was time to move on, I needed to end the fight and send a clear message. The Titan with the scar stood in front of me, his face happy with triumph and his eyes alight with greedy satisfaction. I decided to teach him a valuable lesson.
I picked him up again, shaking him violently in the air. I drained his magic without even moving a finger; the other Titans in the room felt it drain slowly from his blood. When nothing was left, I tossed his unconscious body to the corner of the room with a little bit of an over-dramatic flair and wiggled free from the now loose grasp, barely containing me.
“Wise decision boys,” I congratulated the Titans, walking away from the now open-mouthed Titans and feeling like I needed to have the last word. Then I was gone through the door and disappeared into the night.
The outcome of this mission proved easier than I anticipated. The outcome resulted far more favorably than I had hoped, and as I hurried to catch up with my team and our newly acquired prisoner I was filled with expectancy. I moved fearlessly through the streets. We had acquired a significant piece of this puzzle, and I was one more step closer to reaching Avalon. I would get what I could out of the suicidal Sebastian and grant him his wish. Then I would move on to the next step, to the next portion of this wearing journey. I would forget all about the original intruder and how he betrayed me alongside his cousin and caused the downfall of my family and the necessity to kill him in the first place.
It would be that simple.
Chapter Thirteen
I walked slowly down the townhouse-lined street. Paris finally quieted well into the night, the streets darkened, and the City of Lights went to bed. The river flowed quietly to my left and I used magic to direct me back to the safe-house.
I would be the last to arrive, the last one to make it back, as long as everyone executed his task safely. And as long as everything went according to plan. I expected more of a fight, more of a struggle to get away, and without one I instantly believed every member of my team would be safe.
Now that the black door was in front of me, I found my breathing labored and the familiar stabbing fears that warned something could have gone wrong. I had offered to be the last to arrive so that I could sweep the streets for other magics, and that I could, with absolute certainty, walk into the safe-house and know that it was not compromised.
I stopped in front of the stone-step stoop and swallowed. I stared up at the door wondering if I would ever be capable of unabashed bravery. My thoughts flickered to Avalon, and the moments before we walked into the hotel in Geneva so many months ago. He was never afraid, even though it was nothing more than what we were told it would be. Moments before we entered the room Avalon was convinced it was a trap. Yet, he barreled through the door ready for anything.
I cowered in front of what appeared to be safety, still terrified of the unknown. I searched deeply for the courage to move, for the resolve to banish the fear. At times, when my Titan skills took over, I was so sure of every move, confident that I could do anything. Now, in isolation and without adrenaline, I was frozen by nameless fears.
They swirled about inside my head, creating doubt and whispering foundation-less threats. I closed my eyes, fighting them, fighting the belief that I was destined to lose everyone I loved. What happened up until now was a tragedy, an evil phenomenon that would not repeat itself. Blinded and deceived before, my eyes were wide open now and I would not lose another loved one.
Not again.
It was there that the courage, the fire of vengeance, would supply my magic, and the spirit to be fearless. I just had to remember it.
I sprang up the stairs and through the door in seconds. Heads snapped to attention and the surge of adrenaline could be felt throughout the room. Titus, Xavier and Jericho stood over Sebastian who slept on the couch, not even moved by my entrance. Gabriel and Xander stumbled from the kitchen, clearly exhausted, but still up, waiting for my return.
“Finally,” Jericho breathed and I watched his body relax. I should have simply been grateful to see everyone; I should have stopped and breathed in the relief the rest of them felt, but I was worked up now. I remembered what happened to Amory and where Avalon was now and alleviation would not satisfy me.
“Move,” I commanded, walking past the team and to Sebastian's sleeping body. I stared at him, watching him breathe evenly in the peaceful nothing of sleep and I couldn't take it anymore. I picked him up with my magic, violently shaking him, startling him from his dream world. When he looked down at me with dead eyes that could barely be bothered to open, I lost my temper entirely and threw him across the room. He crashed into a decorative side table and smashed a delicate antique vase before sliding to the floor in a heap of helplessness.
He moved slowly, struggling to pick himself up out of the expensive wreckage and sat back on his hands, smiling at me.
“You've come to fulfill your promise so soon?” he said smugly, and then leaned to the side and coughed blood in speckled stains across the checkered marbled floor.
“You would like that, wouldn't you?” I asked, shivering with anger.
“Eden,” Jericho was at my side, laying a gentle hand on my forearm and whispering soothingly into my ear. “Maybe you should get some rest? The rest of us have worked out shifts to watch him, it's been a long several days for you, maybe you could try to sleep, hmmm....?”
I flinched at Jericho's reasoning, not wanting to listen, not wanting to hear him. I tore my eyes away from Sebastian, away from his lifeless, bruised and sunken brown eyes and focused reluctantly on Jericho. His light brown eyes speckles with green sparkled with life, with concern and with the energy of magic.