Raffe nodded. “He’s got hidden depths, Alton does. He pushed himself beyond his limits to save us all.”
“Well, most of us, anyway,” Astrid murmured. I kept waiting for her to break down at the sight of her dad unconscious on the floor, but I guessed she and I were in the same boat. We were numb and hollow, missing some vital piece that made us feel anything.
“My parents are still there,” Wade said quietly. “Remington and the others, too.”
“And who knows what she’ll do to them if she catches them.” Dylan shook his head, getting a sharp jab in the ribs from Tatyana. “What? I was just saying what everyone’s thinking.”
“What have I told you about putting a filter on what you say?” Tatyana replied, but I could tell she agreed. It was written all over her face.
“Right now, those Elemental beings are dealing with Katherine, so maybe the others had time to get away.” O’Halloran stepped in. “And they wouldn’t have left the children if they spotted them.”
“Yeah, what were those things?” Garrett asked, leaning on the hilt of his sword now that the Fire had gone out. He’d been staring at Astrid this whole time, no doubt wondering the same thing as I was.
I glanced at him. “They were Gaia’s Children.”
“And they’re allowed to get involved like that?” Santana cut in. “I thought there was a whole rulebook that Chaos had to follow. Do those rules not apply in the otherworlds?”
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. But, right now, we have to just hope they’re keeping Katherine on her toes. In the meantime, we need to think about what happens next. Katherine has ascended, and it won’t be long before she gets out of that otherworld, since she’s still technically got a body that can carry her. So, here’s the big question—what the heck do we do next?”
Silence echoed back. Yeah, I thought so.
Forty-Five
Katherine
How’d you like them apples?
The towering Water monster was nothing but a puddle of sopping wet earth, and the Fire titan was sputtering its last a short distance away, setting the tinder of the flattened forests alight. Black smoke billowed every which way, making it hard to get a fix on the little bastards who’d come pouring in to try and weaken my army.
They’d be back, no doubt. Elements weren’t exactly destroyable. But they seemed to understand that their number had been called and their time was up. Even the winds had died down, and the Earth had given up trying to wrestle me to the ground with its spiky little vines.
I dusted myself off, on red alert for any pesky resurgences. Don’t you get that I’m the Mama now? These irritating Elements were still fighting for Gaia, even though she was nothing but a pile of petals and curling leaves on the ground. I’d make Gaia’s griping little kiddos bend to my will soon enough. Same as everyone else. Human, magical, Elemental—I’d have them all bowing and scraping by the time I was done.
At least I had the satisfaction of seeing a landscape littered with the bodies of my enemies. That took the edge off slightly. Most of the insurgents were dead, but not all. And I hated a half-assed job more than anything. I swept my hands through the air, clearing the black smoke to get a better view of what had once been the Garden of Hesperides. It looked like a wasteland now, but I wasn’t too bothered. I didn’t plan to spend much time here. It was nothing more than tearing down an ugly house to make room for something shinier.
Now, where have you gone, my pretties? My soldiers were picking themselves up and dusting off their shoulders. But there were too many of my enemies unaccounted for. How hard could it be to find them in a place that had nothing but flattened earth in a hundred-mile radius? Apparently, quite hard. And I knew they weren’t smart enough to be hiding without help. Gaia’s Children were trying to grind my gears again.
Frankly, it was infuriating. Chaos didn’t like the outcome, so it’d decided to change things up a bit. What right did they have to get in the way? If they didn’t want someone becoming a Child of Chaos, they should never have put the rituals out there in the first place.
Stop getting distracted.
I scoured the landscape. I should’ve been so much more by now. Sure, I’d ascended, but that didn’t count for jack until I had Harley’s supercharged body at my disposal. She was my loophole, my bridge, my gap between what a Child of Chaos used to mean and what I intended for it to mean. Until I had that, I was somewhat limited. Not a comfortable place to be in, to be honest. I wasn’t used to limitations. And now, that constant, itching, festering boil of a Merlin had disappeared. And my son along with her.
Of course you were involved, you sad little cretin.
I should’ve known that leaving him to die in the SDC’s infirmary wouldn’t be the last I saw of him. He had a unique way of lingering like a bad smell and reappearing like that cockroach that simply wouldn’t be squished. At least it was manifesting a change of heart in me. As Eris, I couldn’t be weak in any way. And if that meant killing my own child, then so be it. I’d procrastinated over the issue for far too long. Next time I saw him, I wouldn’t hesitate. He’d had his chances, and I wasn’t feeling generous anymore.
You’ve only got yourself to blame, Finch.
The cult regrouped, all of them staring at me in awe. Well, that’s a start. They were mesmerized by my godly aura, and who wouldn’t be? I’d taken down titans of Water and Fire, and even managed to get the winds to stop. All on top of smashing a Child of Chaos to bits and leaving her in the dust. Who else could say that? At least this little inconvenience hadn’t altered their view of my almighty power. I’d lost a few, yes, but they could always be replaced. Everyone but me was an expendable commodity, even if they didn’t know it.
“Do not fear,” I said, in my most majestic voice. “Others will join our ranks, and, together, we will watch them swell until our army covers the globe. The cult will continue to grow, and all of you, who have proven yourselves today, will be at the forefront.”
“That was a remarkable feat, my divine Goddess.” Davin approached and sank down onto one knee in front of me. Nice touch. “We have all seen your strength and fortitude in action, and we will not falter as we join you in your endeavors. We will fight at your side. We will see your new world come to fruition.”
“I hope that you do.” I smiled down at him. Everything wasn’t quite as perfect as I wanted it to be, but I wasn’t done yet. I could still get to that pinnacle of awesomeness. After all, I’d only been reborn an hour ago, and even newborns had some trials to endure before they reached steady footing. But I had this whole new life ahead of me, and I’d be damned if I was going to let Harley ruin that for me. I still had some tricks up my sleeve.
“As we look toward the bright horizon of our interwoven future, the plan must continue to unfold, as I have foreseen it.” I ramped up the mystique, just to add some awe-inspiring flavor. They’d have no idea what I was going on about, but if it sounded intriguing, they’d follow me like sheep.
No one here knew what was in store, but when the time came, they’d have no choice but to understand and accept it.
Or die.
Forty-Six
Harley
Some minutes had passed, and nobody had answered my burning question.
Instead, we’d brought each other up to speed on any glaring gaps in collective events, though some things remained a mystery. Like how the Children of Gaia were able to react to their mother’s death without Chaos getting involved.
As it turned out, Isadora had managed to track me to Gaia’s world, which was how she knew where to portal everyone. I was pretty impressed by how quickly the Rag Team had mobilized once they’d realized what was about to happen. Despite that, they just kept going on about what a colossal failure this had all been, which I had no interest in whatsoever. A defeatist attitude wouldn’t get us anywhere, and as far as I was concerned, we hadn’t failed—we just had to rethink our offensive.
“We fought so hard for nothing,” Raffe mu
rmured.
An unexpected rush of anger hit me. “No, we didn’t. You all need to realize that this was always going to happen, like I said. Moping isn’t going to do a freaking thing, so pack it in, all of you,” I snapped. “Louella was standing right in Katherine’s face, telling her she would never win, even if she ascended, and she was seconds from death. Does that sound like failure to you? Because it doesn’t to me. She’d be kicking all of your asses right now if she could hear you. Make her death count, make the loss of Chaos those children suffered count—don’t wallow in what we could never control.”
The Rag Team stared at me.
“What? Would you rather I was in a ball on the floor, sobbing about the injustice of it all? Well, you’re not going to see that, so you can all stop waiting.” I balled my hands into fists. “I’m tired of feeling sorry for myself, when it serves absolutely no purpose. Do regrets change past events? No, of course they don’t. So we all need to stop it. If that seems cold, then it’s your tough luck.”
“Easy, tiger.” Finch stepped toward me and put his hand on my arm. “People are just a little freaked out at the moment. Not everyone turned into a human bulldozer when we came back through the portal.”
“Well, they should have.” I held the collective gaze of the startled Rag Team. “Who are your tears for, huh? Because they’re not for Louella, and they’re not for Isadora. They’re for yourselves, and if you say otherwise, you’re not being honest. Louella and Isadora wanted us to keep fighting, not bury our heads in the sand and just hope this all blows over. I’ve got news for you; it’s not going to.”
“Harley, you really need to calm down. You’re shouting.” Wade took a tentative step toward me.
“I am calm. Calmer than I’ve ever freaking been.”
“No, you’re not. Look at the state of you.” He held my shoulders. “You’re shaking.”
Sweat dripped down the back of my neck, my temples throbbing. “So what if I’m shaking? I almost had my bones broken and my cells blown apart, but you don’t see me giving in or breaking down. You didn’t see what I saw. If you had, you wouldn’t be wasting a second on your own egos. I could be at breaking point, and I wouldn’t stop. We’ve got too much to do, too many lives to avenge. You’re alive, aren’t you? So get over it, and let’s get on with it, while our hearts are still beating and there’s still breath in our lungs.”
“Just breathe, Harley. You need to breathe. Ease up a little. You’ve been through a lot. We all have, but you more than anyone.” He gripped me tighter, but I was losing it. That cool, calm exterior was morphing into something dark and ugly—a rage I couldn’t control.
“How about you ease up?” I yelled, pushing away from him. Everything around me vibrated wildly, glass jugs teetering off shelves, the windchimes clanging so loud I wanted to tear each one out of the ceiling. The rainbow drapes flapped like plastic bags in a storm, and even the sofas juddered as my raw anger pounded through every particle in my proximity.
“Harley, cut it out!” Finch yelled.
My head was spinning now. “Something’s wro—”
I gasped. Pain like nothing I’d ever experienced gripped my stomach, splintering out through my entire being like wildfire. A scream erupted out of me, and my arms flew wide. My muscles spasmed as something spilled out of my body. It felt syrupy and weird, oozing out of my pores like oil. Black smoke spiraled around me.
“She’s Purging!” Santana shouted.
She leapt over the back of the sofa and sprinted for a cupboard, snatching a jar. I guessed, for a magical family, having a couple of spare Mason jars was as normal as a human family having good china for when guests came around. She skidded into position to catch the giant cloud of black smoke, while Wade ran forward with a handful of entrapment stones. I didn’t know if they were the same ones I’d trapped him with, but the first flicker of guilt hit me as the Purge beast continued to pour from my veins.
The sudden headache… the nausea… It made sense now. All the warning signs had been there, I’d just ignored them, putting them down to fatigue and stress.
And I had no clue what was going to emerge from the smoke.
I sagged as the last of the Purge smoke evacuated my body, my legs almost buckling. I staggered back onto the edge of the sofa and gripped the fabric until my knuckles turned white, determined not to black out. Instead, I focused on the enormous cloud of black smoke that had filled the cabin lounge. It thrummed with an unsettling intensity. I could feel everyone’s panic hitting me in wave after wave as they scrambled to get the thing under control. I had a horrible feeling it might stay that way, just a hazy mass, like the Purge beast that had come out of Alton in the French church.
“What is that thing?” Dylan gaped.
“I don’t know, but it’s powerful,” Tatyana replied, her eyes transfixed. “Very powerful.”
“And dangerous,” Raffe added. “Can’t you feel that?”
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.” Krieger had stopped what he was doing to stare at it, as though it was sucking him in, somehow.
Levi was cowering in the corner of the lounge. “Trap it! For Pete’s sake, trap it!”
“Anytime today, Wade!” Santana yelped, unscrewing the jar’s lid.
His fist gripped the entrapment stones tight, his hand shaking as though he was trying with all his might to open out his fingers. But he couldn’t.
“Wade, the stones!” Santana howled, although she seemed to be struggling too. Her arms were trembling, like she was doing everything within her power to keep the lid off the jar. Meanwhile, the mist swirled closer in front of Wade, strengthening the strange hypnotic power that it seemed to have over him. I could see him fighting it, but whatever this beast was, it had a firm grip, stopping him from scattering the stones across the ground.
“Obey me!” I shouted, with what little air I had left. Naima had obeyed Katherine, and Tobe had obeyed Selma. Maybe this thing wasn’t anything like them, but even gargoyles and imps listened to the person who’d brought them into existence. The feathery snake that Santana had Purged still bristled excitedly whenever she got close to it, like it knew who she was and understood their bond. My Purge beast couldn’t be much different. But it wasn’t behaving like any Purge beast I’d ever seen.
The mist whipped around. Though it didn’t exactly have eyes to show where it was looking, I just knew it was focusing on me. My body stiffened as it held me in its power, putting me in that same state of hypnosis. I couldn’t fight it.
Wade broke out of his trance. Without hesitation, he tossed the stones at the black smoke. The red ropes shot out, crisscrossing so tightly that they formed a net to cover the mass. They thrummed, creating a forcefield to keep the creature in. Santana snapped out of her trance and lunged forward, sliding the Mason jar toward the beast. The black smoke trickled out, the forcefield controlling the steady pour. The wisps were sucked straight into the jar, and the charmed glass glowed. Within seconds, it was over—the Purge beast was inside the jar and Santana had dived for it, screwing the lid back on tight. The smoke creature slammed against the glass, twisting in a tiny vortex. But at least it wasn’t getting out.
“What the heck was that?” Santana gasped, as she sat back against the sofa, wiping the sweat off her brow. “I couldn’t friggin’ move when it looked at me.”
Wade shook his head. “Me neither.”
“How do you know it was looking at you? That thing didn’t even have eyes!” Finch stared at the jar.
“I can’t explain it. I felt as though it was looking at me, and I froze.” Wade glanced in the same direction, panting heavily.
“Is anyone else disappointed?” Finch grinned, clearly trying to lighten the mood. “I thought it’d be something cool, like Tobe. A big, smart, suave-as-heck monster, not a big blob of black mist. No offense, Sis.”
“None taken.” I sank back, totally spent, but feeling weirdly triumphant. I survived my first Purge.
“That was rem
arkable,” Krieger murmured, mesmerized.
“Yeah, remarkably dangerous,” Raffe shot back.
Krieger frowned in thought. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. All I know is, I’ve never seen anything like it before, and I have seen a great many Purge beasts in my time.”
“Tobe would know more about this stuff,” I said. “Speaking of which, where is he?”
“He had to deal with the Bestiary and separate it from the SDC when Katherine put that spell on the place,” Krieger replied. “But you’re right, he may know more about this. We should find him.”
I was about to agree, when my body finally gave way. I collapsed, fighting to stay conscious. A shadow loomed over me, and I felt arms holding me tight, pulling me into a firm chest, filling my senses with a scent that was more familiar to me than any other in the world. Wade… He held me close, sitting down on the floor and moving me into his lap, his hand smoothing back the sweat-soaked tendrils of my hair.
“You didn’t know that was going to happen, did you?” he said softly.
I shook my head. “No idea.”
“Well, I guess now we know why we were all getting a stern talking to.” Finch was teasing me, but there was an edge of sadness in his voice. It made me feel even guiltier about all the things I’d said during that outburst.
“It’s no wonder you didn’t feel it coming,” Santana chimed in. “You’ve had so much on your plate. And so many emotions. I’m just glad we were here to help catch that thing.”
“But I didn’t even do a spell,” I murmured. “Can that happen?”
“Are you forgetting about the uber-complicated Hidden Things spell you did?” Raffe smiled, coming to stand in front of me.
Harley Merlin 8: Harley Merlin and the Challenge of Chaos Page 38