Page 131 of Avalon Tower

Two days later.

With my bow and quiver of arrows strapped over my back, I stare at the horizon, the salty wind whipping at my face, eyes squinting with effort. Morning is breaking over the Strait of Dover. In the dawn light, the famous white cliffs are a rosy-gold streak across a periwinkle horizon.

Our little ship is racing toward England’s shoreline. I keep searching for the smoke and debris that would signal death, or Fey ships clustered around the Port of Dover, but there are no signs of battle yet, just the honeyed sunlight dancing over the sea.

A calm, tranquil morning, which is ironic considering what’s about to happen.

“How’s your stomach?” Tana asks, joining me at the ship’s rail.

I grip the rail hard. “I’ve been worse.” It’s been a long two days. Before we got on the boat, we managed to gather a few other members of the task forces that had been sent to assassinate the veil mages. Freya, Serana, Nivene, and Tana got on board with us. There aren’t nearly enough of us, but it’s better than nothing.

The cold breeze whips at my hair, and dread settles in my stomach.

“Can you see anything new?” I ask. “Any future glimpses into what’s going to happen to Dover?”

She shakes her head. “It’s always hard to see through battle fog. The future is now as unknowable to me as it is to you.”

“Do you hate that?”

“Not as much as you’d think.”

I take a long breath and try to calm my roiling stomach.

“We’re almost there,” Tana says softly.

I see houses in the distance, the breakwater jutting out into the sea. I squint, searching for smoke, for wreckage. “Are we too late?”

“I don’t think so,” she whispers, handing me a pair of binoculars. “We might be just in time.”

I peer through the glass. Things look still, and the cranes aren’t moving. No vessels coming or going, and I don’t see any sign of Fey ships.

British troops are deployed around the port, carrying rifles.

Maybe MI-13 were able to get through to them, even if we weren’t. I let out a long, slow breath.

The sun is rising higher, bathing the coast in gold as we race to the port, a network of piers and docks that jut out into the sea, dwarfed by the towering, dawn-kissed cliffs. Seagulls swoop overhead, shrieking into the autumn wind. As the ship starts to slow, we maneuver into berth, the engine purring. An old stone castle looms over the cliffs, bathed in a golden hue. The Union Jack and the Port of Dover flags fly from its turrets, snapping in the wind.

Nausea is making my stomach churn and my mouth water, and I’m desperate to get off the boat onto steady land. The moment it docks, I rush onto the pier and lean over, bracing my hands on my knees.

Here I am, the great Avalon Steel agent, trying not to hurl on the pavement because I can’t handle a few waves.

When my nausea subsides, I straighten and see an army officer with a fully gray beard striding up to Raphael. The officer is flanked by four armed men. “Who the hell are you?” he barks. “The port is closed.”

“I’m Agent Launcelot, Secret Service,” Raphael says, and flips an ID card at the man. “I need to talk to the person in charge.”

“You can talk to me,” the man answers impatiently. “I’m Captain Atkinson. I’m in charge here. Secret Service, you said? Which section?”

“Atkinson, the veil is down,” Raphael says, ignoring his question. “And the Fey are about to invade England. We need to—”

“I’ve been told all this, but it’s no longer a concern,” the man snaps. “We’ve been getting ready for the past two days, but the threat is controlled now. Yesterday, there was a battle between British forces and the Fey in the south of France. A platoon of tanks with iron ammunition wiped half of them out in an hour. They’re not going to make it here.”

My stomach drops. “No, that assault is a feint,” I interrupt. “The real force is coming this way. They’re going to land here. Soon.”

He raises an eyebrow at me. “I’ve been told they will not make it out of France.”

“Did you evacuate the city?” I ask.

“I’m not going to panic people for no reason. Like I said, they’re not going to make it here. It’s being handled in France.”

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