“It’s a long story. You up to hearing it?” she asked.
I nodded, and she told everyone to leave the room. When we were alone, she took a chair and sat down in front of me. “A few months before this all kicked off, I found out that maybe Gawain wasn’t as innocent as we all thought. I was digging into the prophecy about you and Mordred and discovered that it was fake. I also discovered that while Hera and some of her people had been the ones responsible for the fake prophecy, there was evidence to suggest that Gawain was a regular visitor at Mars Warfare. I found someone who used to work there. She ran after Mars Warfare folded, but I managed to track her down and question her. She gave me information about Arthur and Merlin. And about Abaddon. And about the ritual that was used to create you and Mordred. Hera and her people were looking into ways to re-create it. It’s why they were using children in the Harbinger trials.”
“I remembered that well. A lot of kids had died because of those trials.”
“You killed the doctor responsible.”
“Can’t even remember his name, but yes, I did.”
“Well, my contact told me all about the meetings between Gawain, Abaddon, and Hera. She revealed that Arthur was created like you and fed Asmodeus’s soul and blood.”
“I know. Gawain told me.”
“He didn’t tell you of the horrific things that Arthur did before he was injured by Mordred. Arthur has Asmodeus’s spirit inside of him, and his power level. He’s not a vampire, and he doesn’t have his personality, but essentially Arthur and Asmodeus are the same. Arthur wasn’t an unwilling victim of Gawain; he was the one who began to turn Merlin. Arthur was the one who corrupted Merlin during his time in a coma.”
“But Gawain said that Arthur needed to be changed to work with them. I saw Arthur’s face when they kidnapped him—that wasn’t one of happiness. He was afraid.”
“You were set up to think that. Arthur is My Liege. He’s been the one commanding people from his coma for centuries. He had a mind link with Gawain and Abaddon, who would deliver orders to those who needed them.”
“How? Arthur came to me for help. I sensed no deception in him.”
“Lucie found out. That’s why they took her. She was distrustful of Arthur and started looking into him. She discovered the burial pit where a hundred people were tossed after they were used to help Gawain and Merlin place a blood curse on Arthur. A modified version of the same curse that Mordred tried to apply to you all those years ago, the one that made you lose your memory.” Elaine took a USB stick from her pocket. “This contains film of the blood-curse ritual, along with files detailing what happened and what they planned to do. She got it all from someone within Avalon who was working closely with those responsible.”
“Who?”
“Hephaestus.”
“Aphrodite’s ex-husband?”
Elaine nodded. “He’s been passing information on about Hera’s activities for centuries. He’s not exactly a fan, and he knew about the ritual, so he went along to check it out. He also knows that Hera records every meeting she has for blackmail purposes. He gave that information to Lucie.”
I stared at the USB drive. “What was their plan?”
“Arthur’s memory of his involvement with Abaddon and Gawain was wiped. And new memories were installed when he went to you for help. They couldn’t risk you figuring out his involvement, or one of your friends being able to read his mind, so he had it changed. Once he was kidnapped, they changed it back. Arthur went on the news a few months ago to announce that he’s going to be in charge of a task force dedicated to hunting down Hellequin’s friends and allies. He’s had countless people murdered since then.”
I went to a nearby laptop, plugged the USB drive in, and watched the videos it contained, feeling my anger grow as they showed Arthur butchering people for their blood and spirits before the blood curse was activated. It made me feel sick that I’d been in the same room as him, called him a friend, when in reality I should have killed him.
“What happened to the woman in Mars Warfare?” I asked.
“They killed her soon after I spoke to her, and two days later I was abducted and my people killed. Arthur wanted to use his mind magic on me to twist my brain and make me forget what I knew. He tried to change my memories so that he could send me back to you with information that Galahad and Shadow Falls were behind it all, but I was too strong for him, and it didn’t take as quickly as he’d have liked. That’s why certain things triggered the return of my memories. When I saw him up there in front of the UN, my memories flooded back, and I fell into a coma.”
I looked at her, concerned.
“I’m fine,” she assured me. She opened the door, and beckoned the others back into the room.
“So, what happens now?” I asked.
“Right now we’re in no position to fight him,” Remy said. “Arthur has started taking control of governments the world over. He’s still in the process of removing those who are against him. A lot of Avalon employees are in hiding. We’re trying to help them as best we can. That’s our main focus at the moment. We can’t go after Arthur until we know who is and isn’t working with him.”
“Saving lives is the best we’ve got until we can organize some sort of resistance,” Olivia said.
“A rebel force, if you will,” Tommy said, making me laugh.
“How long have you wanted to use that one?” I asked him.
“Years,” Tommy said, hugging me again. “I’m sorry this is a fleeting moment, but you need to go. You need to be safe, and when you’re healed, we’ll fight Arthur. But we need to find those other four weapons like yourselves. And the Norse and Japanese gods contacted Mordred, asking for help. It looks like the Norse went to the Japanese pantheon a while ago looking for allies. They agreed, but Arthur’s forces have broken into Asgard through the dwarven realm.”
“We’re fighting a war on several fronts,” Diana said. “And until we’re a united force, we’ll always be one step behind. We need you back, Nate.”
“But at full strength, not human Nate,” Remy said. “Human Nate sucks.”
“Really?” I asked. “It’s good that you’re so supportive.”
“Would you prefer if I gave you a back rub and told you you were a special little boy who just needs to try real hard?”
“That’s the creepiest thing you’ve ever said,” Tommy said.
Remy thought for a second. “Yeah, I’m going to pretend I didn’t say that.”
“We’re all going to be doing that,” Diana said.
“While you’re gone, Wei told me she’ll try and help me see if I have any other powers,” Remy said, rapidly changing the subject. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
Hades placed a hand on my shoulder. “We have to go,” he said.
I said my goodbyes to everyone before kissing Selene. “When I’m healed, I’ll come find you,” I said.