Harley Merlin 8: Harley Merlin and the Challenge of Chaos

by Forrest, Bella

  I glanced at Davin, who was still standing perfectly still at the edge of the ongoing mayhem. He took a deep breath before he started running toward us. I guessed it wasn’t worth his life to disobey a direct order from the Queen Bee herself. As he broke into a sprint, I watched the Rag Team split off from the battle, emerging through the crowds and tearing across the open expanse toward the portal. Santana, Tatyana, Raffe, Dylan, Astrid, and Garrett, followed by Levi, O’Halloran, Remington, the preceptors, and the Crowleys. Only Nomura stayed in the fight, with the rest of the allies. I got the feeling he didn’t care if he survived or not.

  Come on, come on, come on… I didn’t want to know what would happen to my friends if they didn’t make it in time.

  Wade carried me through, but the portal stayed open, giving me a full view of Gaia’s otherworld. Remington was leading the pack, brandishing his black saber, catching up to Davin before he could pursue us through the portal. He leapt onto Davin’s back, yanking him down to the ground, where the two men wrestled in the dirt, and Davin tried to avoid the jet-black blade. Meanwhile, the others tore past them. Santana, Tatyana, Raffe, Levi, Dylan, Astrid, and Garrett jumped through with ease, joined by O’Halloran. The rest were so close.

  Before they could reach the portal, it suddenly snapped shut, Alton collapsing in a heap on the floor. Remington, the preceptors, and Wade’s parents hadn’t made it in time.

  I looked around in shock, unable to believe that I wasn’t in the Garden of Hesperides anymore. I couldn’t make sense of any of it. All I knew was, we were alive. Broken and battered, but alive.

  Forty-Four

  Harley

  I looked around at my new surroundings as I tried to stand on my own two feet, even though my knees were shaking and my body was more or less on its last legs. I’d expected to see some familiar part of the SDC, but this definitely wasn’t the coven, not unless it had a cabin I didn’t know about.

  The group was gathered in a large lounge with comfortable sofas facing a fireplace and two bookshelves full of well-loved novels. Windchimes made of shells and sea-glass and tiny silver bells tinkled as they began to still after being swept wildly by the air from the portal. And, to the far side, colorful, gauzy drapes covered expansive windows that looked out onto the sandy shores of a glistening lake.

  “Where are we?” I croaked, sinking down onto the arm of one of the sofas.

  Santana smiled. “This is my family’s cabin, deep in the heart of Mexico. We’ll be safe here.”

  “Is anywhere safe now?”

  “My family warded this place, mainly for privacy. The Catemacos are kind of a big deal in Mexico, so sometimes it’s nice to get away from it all,” she explained. “That’s why they built this cabin, to keep it hidden from everyone and everything.”

  “Even from Katherine?” I couldn’t believe that was possible, but she nodded.

  “She won’t find us here. Isadora made sure there was no trail for her to track. Maybe she’ll catch up to us at some point, but for now, we’re good. I promise.” She walked over and put her arm around my shoulders, giving me a tight squeeze. I leaned into her, grateful for the support—mental and physical.

  It was definitely peaceful here, with nothing but the sound of the small waves lapping the shore to break the strange silence. My head was still ringing with battle cries and sparking spells, making the quiet seem weird and somehow unnatural. It would take some getting used to.

  I glanced at Wade, opening my mouth to thank him for getting me out. I froze as I saw him, the words dying on my lips. He was staring into the space where the portal had been, shaking. I could hear his sharp, shallow breathing and knew he was in pain. His parents were still trapped in the Garden of Hesperides. They hadn’t made it.

  “Is there a way back?” He whirled around, staring at the limp, unconscious bodies of Alton, Isadora, and Jacob. “There’s got to be a way back, right? My parents are still out there. They came to help us. I need to get back. I need to make sure they’re okay.”

  O’Halloran slipped his daggers into his belt and put his hand on Wade’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, lad. We can’t go back.” He gave a heavy, defeated sigh. “The whole crew, everyone we brought with us—they’re all stuck there, too. And I don’t know that we’ll ever see them again.”

  Katherine will kill them all. I didn’t dare say it out loud. Wade was already struggling, and I wasn’t going to be the one to kick him while he was down. But the stark fact remained. Once Katherine dealt with Gaia’s Children, she’d move on to everyone who’d waged war against her army. And, with no way of escaping, it didn’t seem likely that any of them would get out alive. Not Remington, not the preceptors, not Nomura, and not Wade’s parents. And the children who were still there, alive but unconscious… If Katherine managed to regain control, they’d all be going from the frying pan into another raging fire.

  “They knew… they all knew what they were getting themselves into,” Finch said quietly, saying what I couldn’t. “There were never any guarantees.”

  “Nevertheless, we will find a way to save them or avenge them. This was a dangerous leap of faith, and that deserves due diligence and respect,” Levi chimed in, his voice thick with emotion.

  His eyes weren’t red anymore, which was comforting. The djinn didn’t care much about losses or collateral damage, and we needed all the humanity we could get, to remind ourselves that the game wasn’t over. As long as we had our humanity, we still had a chance. I was surprised to see it again in Levi. He hadn’t shown emotion like this since President Price died. Sure, he was a coward, and we’d never see eye to eye on most things, but he’d joined the battle against Katherine, when he could have stayed put. That counted for something, as far as I was concerned.

  My gaze shot away from Levi as Isadora’s eyes flew open, a raspy breath escaping her lips. I ran to her, not caring about the pain that threatened to floor me. Skidding to my knees, I grasped her hands, even though my wrists were still bound, lifting her into a sitting position. Her lips were blue, her skin sunken, her eyes covered in a milky film. Somehow, she was still alive, even though Alton was on the floor behind her, comatose, barely hanging by a thread. Krieger was already seeing to him, in full doctor mode, trying everything to get him to wake up.

  “Isadora? Isadora, can you hear me?” I asked urgently.

  Her eyes blinked slowly as she gazed up at me. “There you are… my sweet niece. There you are.”

  I nodded. “I’m here, Isadora. Just hold on, okay?”

  “I can’t, Harley.” She smiled sadly. “I’m tearing Alton up inside, just by staying here. If I stay, he’ll die.”

  “Please don’t go.” I held her hands tighter, pressing them to my face.

  “I was ready to die a long time ago. I should’ve died when Hiram did.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “I held on for you, but you don’t need me anymore. I’m sorry I won’t be able to stick around to watch you kick Katherine’s ass.”

  I choked out a laugh. “I love you, Isadora. I couldn’t have done any of this without you. None of us could.”

  “I’m going to miss you all.” She stared at the others as though she couldn’t quite focus. “You’re going to pull through this, Harley. You’re going to do it. It was always your destiny. And I know you’ve got it in you. I love you, sweetheart. I love you, but I’ve got to go now. They’re waiting.” Her eyes turned toward an empty space in the air, a smile spreading across her lips.

  “Please don’t… please don’t go.”

  “Wreck her, do you hear me? Wreck her. Do it for all of us who haven’t made it. And… And tell Jacob that I said goodbye, when he wakes up.” Isadora brushed her thumb across my cheek, only for her hand to fall limp a second later. The light sputtered out of her eyes, and she started to fall backward. Krieger lunged and grabbed her, laying her gently down on the floor as Death claimed her for the second, and final, time.

  I sank down onto crossed legs and lowered her lids over her eyes. I’d al
ready said my goodbyes to her body in the Crypt, but I still felt like I hadn’t said enough—like there were a million more things I wanted, and needed, to say.

  “I told him not to do this,” Krieger murmured, his voice dragging me away from total collapse.

  “Is he okay?” I stared at Alton’s apparently lifeless body, fearing the worst. The Rag Team gathered around in an unsettling vigil over his unmoving figure.

  Krieger shook his head. “I’ve been struggling to keep him steady since he came back from France. Davin left him for dead after a fight in the church, by all accounts. He hid from Davin and waited until he’d gone, and then proceeded to exhaust himself further by trying to get the stolen bodies and the ghoul bones back to the SDC through a chalk door. Presumably, he needed to gather the bones to awaken Isadora. I’m surprised he’s still breathing, in all honesty. He was already far too weak, and then he went and did this. I was coming back from his office to collect some medication when I was apprehended by Katherine et al in the infirmary.”

  “I’ve got some gaps in what happened,” I admitted. “I don’t remember much after Zalaam knocked me out. Thanks for that, by the way.” I shot a cold look at Levi, who had the decency to look sheepish.

  “My apologies, Harley. I had no control over the djinn at that point, though I believe he was only acting in order to fulfill a deal he’d made with Katherine—a deal that would save Raffe and Kadar. I had no say in it.”

  I turned back to Krieger. “What happened, Krieger? Tell me all of it.”

  “Well, Alton had returned and called for me, after collapsing in his office. As I was tending to him, his phone went off. I answered it, and Wade was on the other end, calling from Montana. He explained that you’d run off, and he didn’t know where you were, but he was worried you were in danger. He said he was going to try and track you down. In the meantime, I needed to fix Alton, so I went to the infirmary. Finch was already out cold, and so were you. It all happened too quickly for me to stop it. I was knocked out, just as the infirmary began to collapse around us. Next thing I know, I’m being woken up by O’Halloran and a team of security magicals, who’d come to investigate the disturbance after seeing something worrying on the CCTV. They got Finch, Levi, and me out. With Zalaam’s help, Finch immediately went after Wade, using a chalk door to get him back from Montana. While he was doing that, I rallied the Rag Team to explain everything, and Santana called her parents to arrange our use of this cabin. We mobilized this entire operation from there, working as quickly as we could.”

  Wade nodded, his expression strained with worry. “Finch and I gathered everyone we could think of and had them call in as much trustworthy backup as possible—Remington, the preceptors, the security magicals, everyone. Remington suggested we raid the SDC’s museum for ancient artifacts, which is where Garrett got the Avenging Angel, and where O’Halloran got those magical daggers.”

  “The Avenging Angel?” I raised my eyebrows.

  “Big fiery sword,” Finch replied. “And then djinn boy decided to give Levi back to us. Apparently, they came to a bit of a truce after knocking you out, Harley. Levi told us everything he’d learned from Zalaam about the deal he’d made with Katherine, to save Raffe in exchange for a favor. Knowing what would happen next, more or less, since you’d been nabbed along with your fancy book and stuff, we had no choice but to go full Rambo. Alton was the one who suggested his Necromancy voodoo, so we’d have a way in with Isadora’s Portal Making. I mean, it worked, right? Chaos came through, finally. Better late than never.”

  I should’ve been crumbling, totally broken by everything that had happened and everyone we’d lost, but I wasn’t. I didn’t know if I’d seen so many horrible things that I’d somehow managed to numb myself completely, or if I’d simply gone past the point of feeling anything, but my insides were hollow, my brain perfectly alert and steady. I might as well have been catatonic, because I was way too calm and composed considering what had just gone on, and what was still happening in that war-torn otherworld.

  “I already saw this coming. In a way, we all did,” I said, my voice eerily matter-of-fact. “Fighting against every step of Katherine’s mission was a reflex. It was the only thing any of us could do, really. But I knew she’d make it, no matter what we did. She tore the Chaos straight out of all those innocent children, right in front of my eyes, and it was like I was seeing a nightmare that I’d already had. Micah, Marjorie, Samson, Sarah, Cassie… Louella.” I glanced at them all. “Louella didn’t make it. The ritual couldn’t hold her in the right trance that would’ve protected her, and Katherine killed her.”

  A gasp of pain rippled around the room.

  “She’s gone?” Krieger’s eyes glistened with tears.

  I nodded. “The other children were still alive after she’d finished, but I don’t know what’ll happen to them, with that battle raging.” I lowered my gaze again. “There was never anything we could do. I think I finally understood that all our hard work had been pointless when Katherine revealed that she’d been Imogene all this time. Her web was so tightly wound that we’d never have been able to unravel it, even if we’d had years.”

  “Harley…” Finch took a step toward me, but I stepped back.

  “No, hear me out.” I took a breath. “She might have ascended, but it’s not over yet. Katherine wants to be more than any Child of Chaos that has gone before. Children of Chaos are generally kept to their otherworlds, only intervening in the real world when they’re called upon. Katherine needs a loophole that will allow her to walk between worlds, giving her omnipotence no matter where she is, power that isn’t restrained by any rules. Otherwise, she’ll be fighting against Chaos for the rest of her existence, in order to achieve what she wants to achieve. I’m the loophole.”

  Wade frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Katherine needs me to read out some spells in the Grimoire that will make me a suitable vessel to hold all of the energy she’s acquired by ascending. She needs me in order to bridge that gap. Before you arrived, she was torturing me to try and get me to read the Grimoire pages to her.” I paused. “I was so focused on using the Grimoire to prepare for stopping Katherine’s ascension, rather than focusing on what might come after, and how to deal with that. But… I knew, deep down, that she’d make it that far. I’d be a liar if I said otherwise, even if I never fully admitted it to myself.”

  “Here. You look awkward as ass in those things.” O’Halloran walked toward me and took out some keys, sliding them into the lock on my Atomic Cuffs to release them. They might’ve been supercharged by Katherine, but there was no magic quite like good, old-fashioned technology.

  I rubbed my wrists. “Thank you.” I glanced at him. “And you’re okay? Not under Katherine’s spell anymore?”

  He smiled awkwardly. “I realized my water tasted weird, so I stopped drinking it. Katherine must’ve been putting something in it, because the effects wore off pretty quickly. My head’s all clear again. I can talk about Echidna and Katherine without flailing about like a fish. Sorry for all the hassle before. Never take anything from strangers, right?”

  “Right.” He really did seem like himself. And there was no way he would’ve been out on the field with the others if he’d still been under Katherine’s spell.

  “You know this isn’t your fault, right?” Finch eyed me.

  I shrugged. “I keep trying to tell myself that.”

  Santana raised her hand. “I’ve got a question.”

  “What is it?” I replied.

  “Why did you try and push us away?”

  I’d been wondering when this would come up. After all, if they knew everything, then they knew what I’d done to Wade, and what I’d done in the church in France with only Alton to help.

  “I made a promise to the Chains of Truth—that I was willing to sacrifice anything, even my friends, to defeat Katherine.” I lowered my gaze. “I couldn’t live with that, because you’re all too kind and too loyal for your own good.” I
forced a smile. “The only way I could make sure nothing happened to you was by pushing you away and trying to do this on my own. Didn’t really work out though, huh?” I thought of Louella again. I hadn’t been able to save her. Even if I could have managed to get her through the portal, somehow, there was no way Alton would’ve been able to do anything for her. Not now.

  “The Chains of what now?” Santana frowned.

  I sighed. “They were keeping the doors to the New York Coven closed. We all had to answer questions to get inside. Mine involved all of you. I was so scared it was more than a promise—that it was, somehow, a premonition—that I made the decision to keep you all out of it, just in case.”

  “Is that why you left me?” Wade’s voice broke my otherwise numb heart. On top of worrying about his parents, stuck in the otherworld with Queen Psycho, he had this revelation to deal with.

  “I’ll make it up to you, like I promised I would. But now isn’t the time,” I said. My head was starting to bang, my stomach churning with sudden nausea. I pushed myself too hard again.

  “I understand, I really do,” Wade replied, his tone edged with sadness. The uncertainty surrounding his parents was clearly never far from his mind. “We need to keep looking forward, in whatever way we can, and worry about the rest later.”

  I looked around at the Rag Team, who all nodded at Wade’s words, wearing empathetic expressions. I was unbelievably relieved to have my friends around me again.

  “How did Alton even resurrect Isadora? I thought her body had been tampered with.” I glanced at the group for answers.

  “Alton forced himself to do it,” Finch replied. “He went all veiny and crazy, pushing all kinds of boundaries. Nothing was working, but then he cried out that you needed help, and the lock just kinda broke. No idea how, but Isadora’s skin did this creepy rippling thing, as if something he’d done or said had broken Katherine’s magic. And then, bingo, she was awake and portaling her heart out.”