Avalon was parked in front of alarge two-storied farmhouse that looked as if it was just given a fresh coat ofwhite paint; the black shutters also looked new. A long porch wound around thefront of the house to the side and back where I couldn’t see. A boy and a girlthat seemed about the same age as Avalon and I, swung back and forth on a porchswing hanging from the ceiling.

A beautiful flower garden sat nextto the house and I could see a woman working strenuously in it to pull weeds.Down from the garden was a large modern barn made out of steel siding. Inoticed the green of John Deere tractors just inside the door. Behind the barnwas a large fenced in area where I could see horses milling about inside itsboundaries.

When Avalon jumped down from histruck, several teenage boys exited the barn entrance and made their way over tous. Avalon waved at me to come with him, and I obeyed, hesitantly. I tugged atmy school uniform, embarrassed for some reason to be wearing it here.

“Well, Eden, welcome to theResistance,” Avalon gave me a roguish smile and gestured widely with his armsas I took my place at his side.

“No way,” I said softly, butdisbelievingly. I didn’t know what I had expected the Resistance to look like,but a quiet farm, surrounded by all the beauty Nebraska had to offer, was notit.

The woman in the garden looked upfrom her work and smiled at Avalon. She took off her work gloves and sat themdown before joining the others. Avalon leaned against his truck smugly and Itook in the extraordinary view again. I was suddenly nervous and not sure whatto do with my hands.

“Welcome, welcome,” the womanreached us first. She walked straight over and embraced me. “We are all sohappy to have you here, finally,” she sounded as if they had been waiting forme to come forever. Magic buzzed all around and I could inwardly feel all oftheir Immortal power.

I hugged her awkwardly, musing ather energy. In fact, all of their magic seemed different than the magic atKingsley. Their electricity felt lighter somehow, weightless. I hadn’t evennoticed the heavy feeling at Kingsley before, but now that I was surrounded bythese people I felt a huge difference. It was almost as if their magic wassomehow made of light. I was overwhelmed by the sensation, but I felt at homeat the same time.

“We meet again,” a very familiarvoice greeted me next and I pulled out of the embrace of the woman realizingthat I hadn’t caught her name yet.

“Jericho,” I mumbled with mixedfeelings as I turned to greet the boy who was not that long ago trying to killme.

“Eden,” he mimicked with fauxmenace and I was able to pick him out of the gathering crowd.

He was definitely nothing Iexpected. Jericho seemed to be close to my age, maybe a year or two older. Hehad chocolate brown hair that hung roughly around his chin, a little bitshorter than Avalon’s. His large hazel eyes gazed into mine with an expressionI couldn’t read. His nose was a little crooked as if it were broken in a fightand his sinister mouth, curved into an amused smile.

Jericho reached out a long muscledarm to shake my hand. He was almost as tall as Avalon, and each of his muscleswere clearly defined underneath a white t-shirt. He was a little bit sweaty,evidence that he had been working in the barn. I took his hand tentatively,unsure what to expect.

He took my hand, firmly shaking itin his warm grasp. He smiled wider at me before giving me a playful wink andletting my hand go from his. My hand fell limply to my side as I stared at himwith mouth half opened. He tucked his hair back behind his ear and I couldn’thelp but find him completely adorable.

“Oh, brother,” Avalon sighed.

“You tried to kill me,” I accuseddefensively, covering up my initial reaction and replacing it with mockdefensiveness.

“No I didn’t,” Jericho was just asdefensive, but I saw the playfulness behind his eyes. I was suddenlyembarrassed at my outburst as the crowd around us stayed silent, listening toour diatribe. “I only tried to keep you out of the way so we could get the jobdone. It’s not my fault you needed a little extra discipline,” other boysaround him snickered and I felt the heat rush to my cheeks.

“Oh really? I’m the one who neededdiscipline? If I remember right you were getting your ass kicked,” I shot backout of pride and watched with self-righteousness as his tan cheeks coloredquickly to match the shade of mine.

“Enough. You’re both awesome,”Avalon interrupted, if not sarcastically and pushed me towards the barn. Iwalked silently, brooding next to him.

Once inside the coolness of thebarn, we took seats made of hay bales in the back, near the horses. A largewhite board was positioned on the wall with names and locations I didn’trecognize. I stayed close to Avalon, using him as a security blanket. Jerichosat across the semi-circle from me and I noticed a glance from him about everyfive seconds. I couldn’t tell if he was angry, or curious or what.

As everyone filed in to take theirseats, Avalon stood up from the hay bale we were sharing and took his place inthe front of the room. The woman from the garden filled his seat and placed herarm around my shoulders. At first I was uncomfortable with her closeness andthe unfiltered flow of magic between us. Not a very touchy person myself, herlack of a personal bubble was hard for me take.

“Alright, everyone, let’s give ourattention to Avalon,” the woman said authoritatively. She must have been in herseventies or eighties, but her hair was still long and flowed down in whitecurls from the low pony tail she wore. Her skin was hardly wrinkled, exceptnear her eyes and smile. Her frame was anything but frail, and I could tellthat she was strong despite her skinny bones.

“Thank you Angelica,” Avalon smiledat her with an emotion on his face that I couldn’t read. I remembered thatAmory told me after Avalon moved in with me that he was raised by someone namedAngelica after we were split up as infants. I realized this was her and Isuddenly felt more comfortable around her. “First order of business todayis Eden,” Avalon turned to me and waggled his eyebrows. I was nervous, what didhe mean me? “Well, this is it, this is the Resistance. Are you ready to join?”my mouth dropped open and I stood up instinctively.

I felt like I had just walked intoa trap. What did it mean to join the Resistance? Did it mean I had to help themmurder Kiran? Did it mean I had to plot against a King I knew nothing about? Iturned from my standing position and walked as quickly as I could back the wayI came. I could never hurt Kiran. Joining the Resistance was impossible.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“What is wrong with you?” Avalonasked half concerned, half pissed off.

He followed me immediately outsideand didn’t let me get nearly as far away from the barn as I would have liked.The sun was warm despite the cool autumn breeze of October. The treessurrounding the farmhouse had turned to brilliant shades of orange and red. Thefields had been fully harvested and made ready for the winter coming soon.

“I can’t be a part of this Avalon.I wish you would have given me some warning; maybe a head’s up, like ‘hey we’reon our way to dig your grave,’” I rolled my eyes and folded my arms defiantly.

“Ok, first of all. You would haveknown what we were doing if you would use your magic just an eency bit. Secondof all, it was nice of me to give you the option, but you don’t really have achoice. And lastly, if you don’t join this, then we are all going to die!”Avalon was animated in his very characteristic dramatic way, I fought back asmile and forced myself to focus on the fact that his surprise attack, reallyjust pissed me off.

“Stop being the self-righteousmartyr,” I quipped harshly.

“And stop pining over the one guythat you can’t have, the one guy who is only using you, the one guy whose solepurpose is to kill everyone you love,” I closed my mouth sharply, not realizingit had been open. Tears welled up in my eyes and I watched Avalon flinch fromremorse.