Free The Awakening by Nicole R. Taylor

Helping them, helps
you find your own way. We've already got one out of three. Don't stop before
we've got the complete set."
    "Right."
    "Then it's psycho fairy ass kicking
time."
    The train pulled into the station and Nye lead the
way, pressing the button to open the doors. Only a handful of people got off,
and they began walking toward the exit.
    "There she blows," the spy declared,
pointing across the river.
    Hampton Court Palace was pretty unmissable. It sat
right next to the river Thames, it's red brick facade and gardens stretching
from the modern bridge backwards for as far as the eye could see. The building
itself wasn't that large, not like Zac'd been expecting, but the grounds went
on and on.
    They crossed over the water, walked through the
front gates and down the long driveway, tourists going in both directions.
There was a small building to the left that seemed to be the ticket office and
Nye strode in like he owned the place and Zac could only follow his lead. No
one else was waiting to be served, so the spy went right up to the counter,
startling a woman who'd been filing her nails.
    She looked them up and down, trying to hide a look
that said, ' What the fuck do you want to come here for?'  They did
look like a pair of thugs in their heavy black coats and boots. Combine that
with Zac's constant scowl and Nye's pretty face, they probably didn't fit in
anywhere, least of all Hampton Court palace and it's horde of tourists.
    "You gunna give us a ticket, love?" Nye
asked with a wink. "Or are you just gonna stare at us? I can give you my
number if you like? What time you get off?"
    The woman swallowed hard and said, "Two adults
is thirty-five twenty."
    "Thirty-five quid?" Nye exclaimed.
Leaning over the counter, he said, "How's about just giving them to
us?"
    She shook her head, looking bewildered and printed
out a pair of tickets and handed them to the spy. "Enjoy your visit."
    "Cheers, love."
    "Smooth," Zac drawled as they walked
outside. "We could've just compelled the guy at the gate. You didn't have
to scare the poor woman."
    "Too many people around and we're too
conspicuous, mate." He nodded at the gate that lead into the castle
grounds. People milled about the entrance, where a guy stood on one side
scanning tickets with a hand held gun.
    "The place closes in half an hour."
    "Good thing we got in before last
admission." The spy slapped him on the shoulder.
    They stood in the middle of the forecourt and Zac
scanned the facade. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but it was a weird
sensation standing inside something that was older than he was. Considering
he'd been born in another century, it was strange to think he could get any
older.
    "I suppose we need a map," he said,
watching tourists go in and out of different doorways and under archways to
what looked like another outside court. The light was fading fast, being the
dead of winter and all, but people still milled about, not bothered in the
slightest.
    "Don't need one," Nye said. "It may have
been almost five hundred years, but I remember a thing or two about this
place."
    "Sometimes I forget how old you are."
    "I'm an old musty man," the spy
proclaimed. "But not as musty as the Irish knight."
    Zac shook his head with a laugh. "Then where
do you think Rix would be? I'm sure a place like this has a lot of hidden
corners."
    "He spent a lot of time protecting the King.
My guess he would be around one of the passages leading from his apartments.
Underground, not up here with this rabble."
    "Okay, then. Lead the way."
    They made their way across the cobblestoned
courtyard and into a door that was marked with a sign reading, Henry VIII's
Apartments .
    "Once upon a time, in a land far far
away," Nye began as they walked through the first floor, "there lived
a King who couldn't keep it in his pants."
    "I'm sure it went another way," Zac said
as a few tourists turned to stare.
    "Who needs an audio guide, when you've got
me."
    "Probably people who want the