Avalon and Maddock

Chapter 13: Avalon

I could feel the anger in Maddock as he stood next to me and we watched those three people -- an unholy trio who should not have been together -- talking seriously together at a table.

Three traitors plotting over lunch. 

Three traitors. Betrayers.

My father the biggest betrayer of all.

Maddock took a step forward, and I grabbed at his arm before he got away from me to wreak havoc. I could feel it when I touched his arm; he was literally shaking with rage.

"Stop," I pleaded with him. "We need a plan that doesn't end with you in prison on death row."

"Worth it," he snapped, clearly still in a red haze of fury.

"What are you planning to do?"

"Beat the shit out of three people."

"You can't hit a woman." Wait. Why was I protecting Salem? And when had we done this role reversal with me being the calm, logical one and Maddock being the one about to go nuclear on the threesome? This felt all wrong. Uncomfortable.

"She's an evil bitch, not a woman. Two different things," Maddock explained. "But I was planning on holding her by the neck and letting you beat the shit out of her once I finished with your father and Jared."

That sounded pretty appealing, actually. I pictured my fist hitting her face, her lips that she'd touched to Maddock's lips, her lips that had smudged lipstick on his collar. Then I realized that punching her repeatedly wouldn't be quite enough for me and wondered if Maddock had any T-ball bats in his car.

While I was pondering how long it would take to run outside and check his trunk, the bad situation suddenly became very bad. Like the kind of bad that makes you want to throw up, scream until you had no air left in your lungs, and then start tearing people apart.

My father, who was sitting next to Salem in the booth, leaned over and kissed her briefly on the lips. Not in a short, meaningless, friendly peck, but in a too-long-to-be-anything-but-gross-and-disgusting kind of way.

My father kissed the enemy because not only was he on the side of the enemy, he was apparently in bed with the enemy. I thought back to all the times over the past couple of months when I thought maybe he had a girlfriend, but he was playing his cards close to his chest. Being cagey. Now I knew why. Because of who his girlfriend was.

This time, Maddock grabbed me as I started forward with all the  forward force of a tank, ready to run right over whatever was in my way. Flatten these people who had caused so much of the destruction in our lives and marriage and had done so deliberately and with malice.

"No," he said to me, and this was the Maddock I knew. My husband was back in control, calm, ready to figure out the best approach to this situation while calming me down. Me, I was back to looking for a flame thrower and gasoline, ready to take everyone out.

"I don't want you to end up in jail, either, Avalon, so we're going to walk over there and stay calm but let them know we're aware. Our appearing right in front of them is going to shake them up. And when people are unsettled, they make mistakes. So while they're scrambling, we're going to keep our cool." His warning to me was clear because he knew who the hothead was in our family.

My mouth turned down. "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises if I happen to see a fork on the table and it's within reach."

Salem spotted us first, and she looked like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Then my dad spotted us and froze; Jared was the last to spot us and he looked wary.