“There.” Finch pointed up ahead to a wooden sign, which was swinging even though there was no breeze. Azarius. We approached it with the attitudes of the Mazinovs, adding a little swagger.
Stepping into the gloom of the dive bar, we headed straight toward the bar itself. It smelled of stale booze and sweat, combined with the acrid tinge of smoke. There weren’t too many people inside, but the whole place had a creepy 1700s vibe to it, complete with nooses dangling from the walls, ancient torture devices, and old witch trial announcements taking pride of place in rusty frames. There were paintings, too, of witches being burned at the stake. A stark reminder of a very dark time in magical history. From what Finch had told me, this was where a lot of criminal magicals were known to come and go about their evil business, so it was no surprise that Naima had chosen this spot to do her recruiting.
“Is she here?” I whispered as we sat up on rickety bar stools.
Finch smiled. “Do you see a tigress lurking anywhere?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Looks like we’ll have to wait.” He flagged down the bartender and ordered a drink. “Do you want anything? A Witch’s Brew, perhaps?” He scanned the list of drinks.
“There isn’t one called that.”
He smirked. “There is. Or a Hangman’s Delight, maybe?”
I eyed the dirty counters and moldering fridges. “Nah, I’m good.”
“Suit yourself.” A strange green-tinged drink arrived in front of him a few moments later, in a filthy glass that turned my stomach. He didn’t seem to care, taking a deep sip and leaning back in satisfaction. “It’s been so long, my old friend.”
“I keep forgetting,” I said. “I guess you can’t get these where you’ve come from.”
“They don’t exactly have a bar in Purgatory, no.”
We sat in awkward silence for a while as he contentedly sipped his drink and subtly tried to bob along to the heavy metal music blaring out of the speakers. “Does Mrs. Anker know what happened to you?” I figured it was a decent question to break the tension.
“I don’t know, to be honest. She sort of ended her duties with me when I turned sixteen.”
“Did you get along with her?”
Finch shrugged. “I guess. I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. My suspicion is, Katherine never wanted me getting too close to her, so she’d been told to punish me randomly, probably to stop me from getting too attached. The outbursts were always unexpected. She was nice enough, for the most part. Heavy drinker. Had a bunch of stories about some guy she used to love. Never married, even though she was a ‘Mrs.’ I think she wished she’d married that dude, so she conjured up a fantasy. She was odd, but never really cruel. She punished me, the way she’d likely been asked to, but she never went too hard on me.”
“How did you end up with her?”
“Random selection. Mrs. Anker didn’t know Katherine all too well. She was more scared of her than anything, for obvious reasons.”
“Would she be worried, if she knew where you’d ended up?”
He chuckled bitterly. “Worried? I doubt it. She probably doesn’t remember me leaving.”
“Still, that can’t have been an easy childhood, ferried between Mrs. Anker and Katherine.”
“Ease up, Dr. Phil. Both our childhoods sucked. End of story. But at least you weren’t indoctrinated from an early age.”
I smiled. “No, I guess not.” I paused, steeling myself. “There’s something I’ve been wondering about.”
“And I bet you’re going to ask me.”
“What was the point of you releasing those gargoyles? What did you want to achieve?”
He looked at me in surprise. “It was a power play, to show what Katherine could do—how easily she could bring down a coven and reveal the magical world to the human world. It was supposed to be a hefty warning, and the start of her world domination. She wanted the humans to discover a small fragment of our world so that the magicals would have to take drastic action to cover the mess. Action that needed Katherine, I guess. She wanted to rise from blood and destruction and chaos and be a savior.”
“Sounds like her,” I murmured.
“You know, her influence over those monsters has always creeped me out. She used to talk to Purge beasts all the time in her Bestiary and get me to watch. The gargoyles were always her favorite. The rest didn’t really listen to her so much.”
“I wonder why.”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe they sense something in her that they like.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the sound of the door opening. A figure walked in, but he wasn’t anyone special—a gruff-looking dude in need of a drink. He came to the bar and ordered, taking his drink and striding over to a secluded spot in the shadows. Through the foggy haze of bluish smoke, I noticed another figure I hadn’t seen before. They were sitting in the farthest corner, tucked away behind the leather arm of a booth. They wore a hood low over their face and were drinking alone. I watched a waitress approach to ask if they wanted another drink, but the terror drifting off her was overwhelming. The waitress was scared of the hooded figure, whoever they were.
I opened out my Empathy and sent it toward the hooded figure in the hopes of gauging their emotions. The feelings that came back were vague and diluted, but they were definitely there—insecurity and humiliation, but also a whiff of affection and a strong current of determination. I hadn’t expected those kinds of emotions from someone who had the waitress running scared. There was something else, too—a distinct sense of toxicity. It was a familiar sensation, and one that I’d experienced before, in the Bestiary. The figure felt like a weird version of a Purge monster. It reminded me of Tobe, in terms of intensity.
Naima.
“She’s over there,” I whispered. “At least, I think it’s her.”
Finch smirked and set down his drink. “Well, there’s only one way to find out. Just be ready to back me up if this goes south. We might need to make a run for it.”
“What?” I tried to protest, but he’d already gotten up from his stool. To my surprise, he wasn’t headed for the hooded figure. Instead, he made a beeline for two men sitting at a nearby table, minding their own business.
“Hey, we don’t want your kind in here!” Finch barked, and he launched two blasts of Fire at the two men, forcing them to jump from their chairs to the floor. I gaped at Finch. I had no idea why he’d targeted those guys.
“Are you out of your mind?” one of the men wheezed up at Finch, who held a burning ball in his hands.
“Security magicals have no place here.” Finch launched another attack. One burst of Fire hit the bar floor, scorching a hole in it.
“We don’t want trouble. We’re just here to drink,” the second guy shouted.
“Find somewhere else!” Finch sent out another fireball, while I sent out a vibration through the floor that shot up in a tree. It knocked aside the table as it exploded through the hole I’d already made. If Finch is trying to get all eyes on us, it’s working.
“Stop before you do something you’ll regret!” the first guy warned.
Finch grinned through Pieter’s face. “When the end of the world comes, those who follow the system will be the first to fall. When Katherine rises, you will suffer. She will soon reign supreme, and I’d rather be on the winning side than end up dead in the dirt with you losers.”
I cast a subtle glance at the corner and found that Naima was watching us, though she remained in her seat. Her amber eyes flashed with curiosity.
“Don’t say we didn’t warn you,” the first guy hissed as he ducked out of the way of the Water tornado. He held his phone to his ear, evidently calling for backup from any security magicals in the area.
Finch turned to me. “Run,” he whispered.
Turning tail, we sprinted for the door, down the cobbled street, and up the stairs through the kiosk, with Finch sending a couple of magical smoke bombs over his shoulder for good measure.
Fifteen
Finch
Harley and I ducked down a side alley between two buildings. Up the street, our followers pounded the sidewalk and missed us completely. They looked pissed. And they’d be calling for their pals to come help.
We pressed up against the wall. The shade from an oak tree cast its darkness on us and kept us out of sight. It had been a bold move, but it’d definitely caught Naima’s attention. As I peered up the alley to see if anyone was doubling back, laughter burst from my throat. I couldn’t help it. It hit me like a punch in the stomach. I sank down onto the ground, howling.
“Ah man, I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.” I wrapped my arms around my chest as I collapsed in hysterics.
Harley stared at me as if I’d lost my mind, a faint hint of a smile on her lips. She was dying to laugh. I could tell. She had to see the funny side of this. We’d just smoke-bombed two off-duty security magicals for the sake of getting into the Cult of Eris. It was insane. And hilarious.
“Oh come on, you’re allowed to laugh.” I jabbed her playfully in the leg. “Stop being such a coven drone.”
She snorted. “A coven what?”
“A try-hard. Someone who takes covens too seriously. Wade’s the perfect example. He was born a drone, poor sucker.” I grinned at her. Let’s push some buttons. My favorite pastime.
“Hey, Wade isn’t a drone!” she protested. “He’s broken his fair share of rules and done plenty of things you’d probably go crazy over. He helped break you out of prison, remember?”
My laughter subsided to a wheeze. “You got me there. He did good.”
“Yeah, well, don’t call him that again,” she said, catching her breath. The smile remained on her lips. She was amused, she just didn’t want to show it. Hell, she probably agreed with me. Wade was the epitome of the upper-class elite. He’d been as indoctrinated as me, learning how to stand in line and obey. Maybe Harley was good for both of us. You’re getting soft, Finch.
“Fine. I won’t call your boy a drone.”
“Much appreciated.” She looked down at me, and her smile widened.
I laughed. “You totally agree with me.”
“I mean, he’s getting better at bending the rules…”
“Must be your good influence.”
She rolled her eyes. “Now I know you’re mocking me.”
“Only a little.”
“How’s your Ephemera?” She nodded to my pocket.
I took out the small orb. The gem inside was still glowing brightly. “All good. Looks like Krieger did a good job ramping up their power. I reckon I’ve got a couple more uses.”
“Well, don’t go overboard.”
I grinned. “Yes, Mom.”
We both turned as footsteps approached, and a dark figure cast a shadow down the alleyway. For a second, I worried the security magicals had come back. They hadn’t. It was the same hooded figure from the bar. Naima, for sure. I’d have known that face anywhere. For a moment, I forgot I’d shifted into Pieter Mazinov and wondered why she didn’t look shocked to see me. And then I remembered she had no recognition of this face at all. Good.
During my time in the cult, nobody had messed with Naima. Her temper was short and always leapt toward violence before anything else. Right now, she stood as imposing and fearsome as ever. Terror gripped me unexpectedly, in case she had somehow figured out what I was doing here. She’d finish the job that Kenneth Willow hadn’t been able to, in an instant, if she sensed who I really was. The only thing keeping me from making a run for it was Harley. She’d told me that they’d overpowered Naima twice before. With her pumped-up powers, I hoped she could again, if she had to.
It changed my view of Naima completely. As I looked at her with fresh eyes, I realized she didn’t frighten me anymore. Instead, I felt sorry for her. Katherine was her world, and Katherine didn’t give a damn about anyone but herself. Naima was trailing after the impossible. If she kept on trying to seek validation and affection, it’d destroy her, too. Katherine wasn’t capable of returning such feelings. I doubted she ever had been.
“Who are you?” Naima cut straight to the point.
I got up and dusted myself off. “Pieter Mazinov, and this is my sister, Volla.” I stuck out my hand for her to shake. She eyed it but didn’t take my hand. All people, aside from Katherine, were beneath her.
“I know of you. I thought you were mauled to death by polar bears.”
“That was the story. The heat on us was too much; it was the best thing we could do to get the bounty hunters off our tail.” I didn’t miss a beat. “We’ve been keeping a low profile, to keep up appearances. But then we heard about Katherine and her cult, and we had to come out of hiding. We want to join.”
Naima flashed her fangs. “Why?”
Harley stepped up beside me. “Because of Katherine’s success so far. I don’t see anyone else actually doing something about the state of the system. She’s a total badass. She’s actually getting stuff done. She killed the freaking president of the UCA!” She wore a twisted smile on her new face. Attagirl. “If there’s a reckoning coming, we want to be on the right side. We’d be idiots to stay on the sidelines when she could bring people like us to glory.”
“I was rather impressed with the way you handled yourselves in there,” Naima said after a short pause. “But that is not enough to gain access to the Cult of Eris. We have had a great deal of trouble regarding moles sent from the magical authorities, and it is very tiresome to have to execute them. We will not be making similar mistakes again.”
“So you won’t let us join?” I narrowed my eyes at her.
She shrugged. “You are not on my list of potential candidates, who have been personally headhunted by Katherine herself. So, no, you will not be permitted to join her ranks. I imagine you have no way to prove that you are not spies, and so you are not worthy of our time.”
Well, that didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. I’d seen plenty of people brought into Katherine’s ranks who were way less useful than the Mazinov siblings. I was totally stumped. How were we supposed to convince Naima to let us in now? I’d had one route, and she’d blocked it. Not that I was giving up. I was itching to see Katherine again, and not in a good way. Nothing would stop me from succeeding in my mission. I guessed that grim determination still ran deep in both of our veins.
Sixteen
Harley
No way, beastie.
I hadn’t come all this way just to fall at the first hurdle. The National Council hadn’t done us any favors, pushing their agents into the cult and getting themselves found out and killed. Naima’s suspicion of us was palpable, disguises or no disguises. I realized pretty quickly that we’d have to do something drastic to win her trust.
“I guess all of those spies said the same thing, but we aren’t traitors.” I sucked in a breath. “In fact, we’ve got intel you might want. See, there’s already a mole inside the cult. That’s why we’ve come to you. The authorities are getting too close to Katherine, and we want to stop them from worming their way in.”
Naima flashed her fangs in annoyance, while Finch shot me a what-the-hell-are-you-doing kind of look. I ignored him, keeping my focus on Naima. She was our only safe way into the cult, and if we didn’t make this one shot, we might as well have gone home right then.
“I’ve got contacts in the National Council—rebels who hate the system just as much as we do. Someone is giving them information from inside the cult. We just don’t know who. My brother and I hoped we could help.” I kept up the play, more determined than ever. It felt a little strange to call him my brother out loud. Even with the disguises on and our fresh identities, it was pretty much the truth. Half-brother, I had to remind myself, to keep some distance between us.
Finch nodded. “The authorities have never done us any favors. If they’ve got someone inside the cult, we want to expose them. For Katherine’s sak
e. If she’s going to create a new world order, we can’t have anyone getting close enough to take her down.”
“Our source inside the National Council kept us under the radar for a year after that ‘accident’ with the polar bears,” I continued, bouncing off Finch. “They created the story to keep the do-gooders off our tail. He’s trustworthy, our guy. We’ve got no reason to doubt him or the intel he’s given us.”
“Yeah, and if Katherine’s game, we can provide her with the National Council’s intel directly. If that’s what it takes to prove we’re here solely to serve her, then we’re more than willing to give up what we’ve got,” Finch added.
Naima said nothing for an age. “What intel, exactly?” she purred at last.
“Our source told us that the Librarian had been taken by Katherine but had managed to escape. They discovered where the Librarian went after she escaped Katherine, at our request. We were planning to go to the Paris Coven ourselves to finish the job, but then we heard someone had beaten us to it and killed her in the infirmary,” I said, not missing a beat.
Naima smirked. “Apologies for that. Time was of the essence. I had to complete the task before she could recover from the addling that had jumbled her mind into nonsense.”
“You did it?” I kept my expression amazed, not wanting her to see the anger that bubbled beneath.
“Naturally.” She flashed a proud grin, baring her fangs. “Katherine gave me the mission personally, and I could not disappoint her. It was so easy, in the end—like cutting through butter. I confess, I left a bit of a mess, but at least the job got done.”
“I doubt we’d have made a cleaner job of it. My sister here can get a little volatile when she wants to. I’ve seen a man explode after she filled his veins full of water. Not pretty, but totally cool.” Finch gave a wry laugh. I forced a twisted smile onto my face, even though I wanted to make a mess of Naima right there in the alleyway. You killed her, you heartless bitch. I vowed to remember that so I could take my revenge when Katherine was out of the picture. I’d made a promise to Odette, to protect and save her, and Naima had made me break it. I’d break her for that.
Harley Merlin 6: Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris Page 12