The League of Skull & Bones

by MJ Fletcher

  “No, that isn’t true.”

  I laughed and shook my head. Mr. Slade had obviously deluded himself into thinking he was the wronged party. “Are you building the device or not?” I asked.

  He stopped pacing and ran his fingers over his chin. He was mumbling to himself, but I wasn’t close enough to understand what he was saying.

  “Yes, I am, but this isn’t right.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “They told me it was her, not you.”

  “Her?”

  “Your cousin Chloe. They said the device would be used to take the Artifact from your cousin not you.”

  “They lied. Chloe isn’t an Artifact,” I said even though it was only partly true. She did possess the Doorknob Society Artifact, but it was contained in an Impossible Engineer device.

  “That means—” he looked at me and his eyes got wider.

  “What did you do?” Ronan moved to my side. His voice bubbled with anger that surprised me.

  Mr. Slade looked at him for the first time, as if only realizing he was there. “No, this is all wrong.”

  “Where’s the device?” Ronan asked and took a step forward while Mr. Slade moved back.

  “You don’t understand; you can’t have it.”

  “Right.” Ronan clenched his hand into a fist and I clasped my hand over it, cutting him short.

  “We don’t understand what?”

  “The people I’m working for—you have no idea what you’re dealing with,” he said.

  “Well, why don’t you enlighten me?”

  “No, this is all wrong.” He stepped back shaking his head and spun around and started to run.

  I tilted my head shocked at what was happening. “Is he really trying to run away from us?”

  “It would appear so.” Ronan chuckled.

  We both took off at a sprint, chasing after Mr. Slade.

  He rushed through the small town with its houses and small shops on tree lined streets. It would have seemed ideal except for sitting on the edge of a nowhere dimension.

  Mr. Slade turned a corner and I cursed myself for not moving quicker. My senses shuddered as I felt powers activate, and I sprinted around the corner.

  Mr. Slade was standing in the middle of the road with an Engineer multi tool in his hand as he attempted to create a portal doorway.

  Impossible Engineer walls were constructing themselves, acting as a shield in front of Mr. Slade. Ronan rushed forward and pounded away at them with his crimson fists. The walls dented, bent, and finally cracked only to try and recreate themselves.

  Mr. Slade stood behind the walls patiently working on his portal. I knew from experience that giving an Engineer too much time was never a good idea.

  I stepped forward and pulled a small box from my belt with a simple button in the middle of it. I pointed it toward Mr. Slade and clicked the button.

  The air around us swirled into a vortex and rushed forward, slamming into the Impossible Engineer device. As it touched each of them, they fell into pieces in the street.

  Mr. Slade stood before me holding the tool, his mouth gaping open in shock. “How?”

  “A gift from your son,” I said.

  “Nice one,” Ronan said.

  We both moved toward him, and he backed up warily.

  “Give up the device and we can end this now,” I offered.

  “Do you really think you can defeat me?”

  “We already did, Mr. Slade.” I smirked at him and his eyes narrowed. He thought he had me figured out. He thought he knew what I was about. The fact was he had no clue, nor did most people who came up against me.

  “You arrogant, girl,” he said.

  “Arrogant? Look who’s talking. You turned against all of us and blamed everyone but yourself. You fought your own son,” —I stopped and stared at him— “your son. Does that even matter to you?”

  “How dare you!” He stepped toward me.

  It was all the excuse I needed. I swung a right cross that caught him on the chin and his eyes lost focus and rolled back into his head as he crumbled to the ground.

  I stood over him, wiping my hands together. I knelt down and ran my hands over him, checking to see if he had anything on him. I didn’t want any surprises when he woke up.

  “You got him?” Ronan walked toward me, his hands rubbing his neck roughly.

  “I don’t think he has it on him. We’re going to need to find out where he has it stashed before we can get out of here.” I had hoped that it would be simple. I wasn’t in the mood for an interrogation. It could get messy, and it wasn’t like we had a whole lot of time.

  “We’ll find it,” Ronan said.

  “We better do it quick or the people he’s working for might come looking for him.”

  “I’m sure we have time,” Ronan said.

  I dropped my head, placing my fingers on my temples and rubbing them in circles. “You had to say that didn’t you?” Before the sentence finished coming out of my mouth, I could sense the portal opening nearby. It was large and created by a very old Skeleton Key.

  “What?” Ronan asked.

  I stood and clenched my hands into fists. Crimson energy sprang up around me like a flame. “We’ve got company.”

  Chapter 31

  “Get up, now.” I shook Mr. Slade, my fingers curled around his jacket. Crimson energy rolled around me as I lifted him from the ground. He stirred, but not nearly enough.

  “We need to get him out of here.” Ronan slipped off his suit jacket and tossed it on the ground. He rolled up his sleeves and activated his abilities once again.

  A crimson portal shot out of the ground, forming into a doorway and swinging open. Three men ran out and came at us.

  Ronan raced forward, jumping into the air, his glowing fists connecting with the first man and bending him in half. He hit the ground at a run and spun around punching the next man in the gut. The air exploded from the man’s lungs, and Ronan grabbed his hair with his other hand and yanked him backward, tossing him into the last assailant before he could reach me.

  I had to admit he was impressive. He took down three men in less than thirty seconds and hadn’t even broken a sweat doing it.

  “You get him back to the Guild, I’ll cover you,” he shouted.

  “You think I’m going to leave you here? To what? Die?” I shook my head, not believing that he thought I would desert him. He might be skilled, but I wasn’t someone who abandoned her partner.

  He turned to me and smiled widely, his raised hands giving his face an eerie red glow. “Did I say anything about dying? This is my element.”

  “What?”

  “I’m a member of the League of Skull & Bones, this is what we do.” He turned quickly and raced forward.

  I felt the power of Skeleton Keys all around us and suddenly portals were opening all along the street. People jumped out of each, attempting to attack Ronan, but he moved with a grace and speed that was amazing to watch. His hands were a blur of motion as one after the other he either blocked or attacked, in each instance taking out his opponents in quick order.

  Like a buzz saw making kindling, he tore through a multitude of assailants. I was a bit surprised. I had heard stories of League members, but nothing ever like this.

  He reached the end of the street and one final portal opened. A shadow crossed in front of the portal and Nyla Foxglove stepped out. Her black hair was pulled up in the style of a 1940’s pin up girl with skull clips holding it in place. A spaghetti strap t-shirt hugged tight to her full chest and her right arm was covered from wrist to shoulder in tattoos. Her movements were fluid and graceful. She was in complete control of everything around her, and she knew it. My senses jumped into overdrive. She exuded power unlike anything I had experienced since the war.

  “Going somewhere, Jess?” she asked staring at me from across the distance.

  “Jess, get the hell out of here. I’m taking care of this,” Ronan yelled.

  “Yes, by all mea
ns, Jess, let another of your friends suffer damages that should rightfully be yours. How is young Slade doing anyway?” She smirked and I clenched my fists, the Artifact activating and coursing through my body like a drug.

  “Nice work, Ronan, isn’t it? But that was amateur hour next to me, and you know it,” Nyla said.

  “You want a shot at me, Nyla?”

  “Yes, Ronan, I do.”

  “Your move,” he said waving her on.

  “Jess, you might want to watch this; it’s going to be fun,” Nyla called out goading me once again.

  I wanted to race across the space between us and attack her. But I had to stay on mission and right now that was getting Mr. Slade out of here. I didn’t like it, but what choice did I have?

  I gave Mr. Slade a couple of slaps across the face to bring him to.

  He stirred and blinked. “What’s going on?”

  “Time to get up and out of here.”

  I twisted my wrist and attempted to open a portal but was unable to turn any further. Something was wrong. I reached out with my abilities and felt the flow of power all around me. But there was something different about this area. I could open a portal if I tried hard enough, but without a Mapmaker to show me the way, I could end up anywhere.

  I kicked at the dirt frustrated, sending up a small dust cloud. I grabbed hold of Mr. Slade’s collar and yanked him to his feet and shoved him forward. “Move.”

  “Having a problem, Jess?” Nyla called out behind me.

  “Get out of here, Jess, I mean it,” Ronan yelled as they paced around one another.

  “Ronan, I’m surprised at you. I thought you would be smarter than this?” Nyla taunted him.

  “Nyla, you talk too much.”

  Ronan moved in swinging his crimson fists at Nyla who jumped away, avoiding the attack. She flipped backward like a gymnast doing a dismount, landing in a defensive pose. She smiled and pulled her Skeleton Key out. A bright glow surrounded it and an energy whip fell like an angry snake from it. She cracked it on the ground, and Ronan circled around her.

  “You won’t stop me,” Nyla said.

  “We’ll see about that,”

  I shoved Mr. Slade, forcing him from the street. I wanted to stay and take care of Nyla, but Ronan seemed capable of handling himself. Not to mention I needed to figure out how the hell I was going to get out of this dimension.

  The sounds of battle echoed after us as I pushed Mr. Slade into an alleyway further away from the fight.

  “You’re going to bring me to the device that you’re making for Nyla Foxglove.”

  “You’re in a much more dangerous game than you imagine, Miss Grimm,” Mr. Slade said.

  “Don’t bother trying to talk your way out of this crap. Where is it?”

  “If you help me, I can help you with your problem.” Mr. Slade turned to face me and glanced down at my forearms “They wanted a device that could take those from you. I can use it to stop it from killing you.”

  “Let me guess—all I have to do is let you go?”

  “I’ll tell you where it is.”

  “No, you’ll show me.”

  “Does that mean we have a deal?”

  “Yes,” I said taking a deep breath, “now get me to this device.”

  Chapter 32

  We moved through the town quickly. A green Victorian era, three story home with gingerbread trim and stained glass windows in the attic was where we stopped.

  “Living in squalor I see.” I smirked as we walked up the cobblestone path to the home.

  “I knew working with the First Kind could be dangerous, so I planned for every outcome.”

  “Including your family hating your guts and wanting to hunt you down?”

  “We have a deal, Miss Grimm, don’t make me regret it.”

  We walked up the steps to the house, and I quickly raised my hands as Mr. Slade pulled a key from his pocket and slipped it into the door. He twisted it and my senses felt the tumble of the rollers as the lock turned. Power flowed through them and a line of energy shot up through the frame of the door.

  He pushed the door open and gestured for me to enter. I took a step forward, but instead of entering I reached out, grabbing the back of his neck. I yanked him forward and slammed his face off the doorjamb. He grunted and stumbled as I brought my forearm around from the other side and cracked him in the cheek, knocking him on his ass.

  “Why don’t you go first?” I reached down, grabbing the hem of his pants, and dragged him toward the door. He was groggy, but scrambled and clawed at the floor of the porch.

  “No!” he yelled.

  I pulled harder, my arms straining and tightening at the exertion. I kicked out, hitting him in the stomach and forcing him to release his grip on the floor.

  “Why, Mr. Slade, it seems that you don’t want to be the first through the door. Why could that possibly be?”

  I held onto his leg and lifted my other arm. Crimson tendrils of energy rolled around my arm as I pointed my finger at the entrance. A stream of power shot forward as soon as it connected with the entrance way and a flash of light exploded like fireworks. The doorway shifted, and I saw a multitude of landscapes flash before me. They all swirled together until they formed the grey expanse of the In Between.

  I increased the scope of my abilities and reached out, feeling the edges of the trap. It was an intricate trap and one that would catch most Old Kind. Even a Guilder might fall for it, thinking they could overcome its multiple levels. I didn’t bother with that, instead I applied brute force.

  Using my power, I enclosed the trap with my abilities and crushed it as if snuffing out an ant between my fingers until it finally puffed out of existence. Mr. Slade watched, his eyes growing wider as his design was consumed.

  “How is that possible?” he asked his lip quivering.

  “You have no idea what I’m capable of,” I said. I walked into the house, dragging him by his leg after me. I didn’t drop his limb until I was satisfied there were no more traps.

  “That trap should have caught even you,” he mumbled as he got to his feet and dusted himself off.

  “Now that your plan failed, where is the device?”

  “Do we still have a deal?” he asked with a tremor in his voice.

  “You really are an idiot. You think I would honor a deal after you tried to trap me in the In Between?” I shook my head, laughing. I’d never planned on honoring our deal. I just needed to get away from the fight and find the device. If he wanted to believe I would let him go, that wasn’t my problem.

  “I can help you,” he pleaded.

  “You keep saying that, prove it.”

  “Follow me.” He waved his hand and opened a white door with stairs leading down into darkness. Flicking on a light, we descended into the basement. Tables filled with half created machines rested against every wall, which were themselves covered in schematics and designs for a plethora of devices. A tool bench that I imagined half the men in the universe would kill for was covered with every type of gizmo.

  He hurried across the room and rifled through the mess until he grabbed a small rectangular box off the table and lifted it up. It was about the size of a smart phone and made of gold and steel and had intricate designs etched over its exterior.

  “This is it?” I asked unimpressed. “Does it work?”

  “The concept is sound, but…” his words trailed off.

  “What?”

  “The way you handled my trap, I think I may have underestimated the power of the Artifact. It may not be powerful enough to fully remove it from you.”

  “What would happen then?”

  “I’m not sure. It might be able to remove a portion of the Artifact or hopefully all of it. I really cannot say for sure.”

  “What will it do to me?”

  I held my hand out to him and he pulled back, hesitating. He didn’t want to hand me the device. Taking a deep breath, his shoulder drooped and with reluctance he placed it in my hand. A spark
of power ran up my arms and I knew this was a powerful device.

  “They didn’t care what happened to you. They only wanted the Artifact intact.”

  “So I die—” My heart caught in my throat. I had let myself believe that there might be a way out of this alive, fool that I am. “—either way?”

  “Not necessarily. I based the device on ancient designs. If it is done properly, you might be able to survive.”

  “But you’re not sure,” I said.

  “No, but if I had time to work on it, I might be able to correct any errors.” He choked out the words.

  “You think I’m going to kill you, Mr. Slade?” I asked blankly.

  “That’s why the League exists. They do the Guild’s dirty work, and your reputation precedes you.”

  “Is that so?”

  “You forget I was on the Council. I know how things work. Everyone is playing an angle. If the Engineers had truly wanted me, they would have found me. They are letting the League come after me, knowing what you’ll do. It keeps their hands from getting dirty.”

  “Is that how it is?”

  “It’s what I would have done.” He dropped onto the stool beside his work bench, his chin drooping until it nearly rested on his chest. The weight of the worlds seemed to weigh on his shoulders.

  “You betrayed everyone. Do you think you deserve any less?”

  “I don’t know anymore. I have played this game for so long that I’ve forgotten why I started it in the first place. They’re just starting with you and, with the power you have, it won’t end any time soon.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your own Guild and the Council will try to use you in any way they can. I’m sure they already are since everyone has their own agenda. If I were you, I would be very careful who you trust.”

  “Are you saying I should trust you?”

  “Not at all.” He laughed.

  “Then who?”

  “Those who’ve bled with you.”

  “Your son?”

  “How is he?”

  It surprised me that he sounded concerned. “He’s good. The other Engineers look up to him. He’s good at what he does.”