I sank to the ground on all fours, dragging air into my lungs like I’d almost drowned. I had to get myself together, but how was I supposed to do that when it felt like I’d been torn apart? I closed my eyes and focused on Wade, using the Euphoria technique to shift my concentration. He needed my help now, or I’d be saying a gut-wrenching farewell to him, too.
I couldn’t change what had happened to my mom. I couldn’t bring her back to life. This was the way it had to be, and by letting her go, I’d wrecked Katherine’s plans to complete the third ritual. We’d stopped her, my mom and I. Hester had been a badass to the end.
You’re not getting the last laugh this time, Katherine.
Slowly, I hauled myself back up and dusted the grass from my jeans, before turning to a silent Isadora. “We need to get Wade and Finch out of there.”
“Are you okay? Are you sure you don’t need another minute?” There were tears in her eyes again, making me realize that couldn’t have been easy for her, either. That had been her sister-in-law.
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. I need to focus on Wade and Finch right now. I can mourn my mom when we’re back at the SDC and Katherine is dead. Then, and only then, will this make any sense.”
Yeah, I’d stopped Katherine’s ritual, but two of the most important men in my life were still trapped in the dragon’s lair, and my Ephemera-given power was all out of juice. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but, until all of this was over, and I could retreat into my bedroom and cry my eyes out until I had nothing left, I wouldn’t shed another tear. That wasn’t what my mom would have wanted.
“Well, we need to think rationally before we do anything,” Isadora said.
I nodded. “You’re right. We need a plan. A good one.”
Thirty-Nine
Finch
“I bet you didn’t think we’d catch you, did you?” Kenneth said smugly, pacing between the two chairs where Wade and I sat. I watched Wade closely as Kenneth brushed past him. He reached up discreetly, his wrists still locked together with Atomic Cuffs, dislodging something from Kenneth’s belt and covering it with his palms.
“Wasn’t exactly a fair fight,” Wade muttered. An idea came to me. Kenneth was in peacock mode, and he was the only one in the room with us. The aquarium beasts had swum away, with nothing left to interest them, leaving just the three of us—Wade, Kenneth, and little old me. Two against one was a slightly fairer fight. Trouble was, I needed to get Wade on board without Kenneth catching on.
“Way to go, Crowley. No, really, this has got to be some of your best. Why didn’t you just portal right into Katherine’s bedroom, snuggle up real close?” I snarked. My leg jiggled as I sat in the chair, glaring at him in the one beside me.
Wade shot me a cold look. “People in glass houses, Finch.”
“What, shouldn’t wander around naked?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
I snorted. “You think I’m the one messing things up? Seriously? I’d be out of here by now if you hadn’t flubbed it.” I flashed him a discreet wink, but he missed it completely.
“Looked like you were getting backed into a corner to me.”
“I’m good at wriggling out of things. You, of all people, should know that. I was dealing with it.”
Wade laughed bitterly. “What, without your fancy disguise? Face it, Finch, Katherine figured you out, and you weren’t getting out of here any more than I am now.”
“Foolproof, you said. You said those button thingies were foolproof. Do you need a dictionary? Don’t you know what that means?”
“Hey, you can’t blame me because they didn’t work the way we thought they would.”
“A poor man blames his tools, Wade. And you’re the biggest tool I’ve ever met!” I shot back.
“Shut it, both of you!” Kenneth snapped.
I grinned at him. “Why, don’t you like what you’re hearing? I take it back. You are the biggest tool I’ve ever met!”
“I’m warning you,” Kenneth hissed.
Meanwhile, Wade was still focusing on me. “Who you trying to impress, Finch, huh? Mom isn’t here anymore, pal. You don’t need to act all big now that she’s stormed off.” He glowered at me. “Admit it, you were going to switch sides. Admit it!”
That stung, especially since the dimwit hadn’t caught on that this was a ruse yet. “Were you not listening? She can go stuff herself.”
“You won’t speak of Eris like that!” Kenneth glared at us, but Wade ignored him.
“You think I bought that? I know you, Finch. Everything you do is just for show.”
“Not everything, although some things are,” I replied, with a roll of my eyes that screamed, “Get with the program, Wade.” This time, he caught it. A small smirk turned up the corners of his lips. “As far as I’m concerned, Katherine can take a very long walk off a short cliff. Call me Captain, ‘cause I’m going down with this Titanic mess, same as you. Cheers for that, by the way.”
Wade huffed out a labored sigh. “Oh yeah, because it’s all my fault?”
“You got caught by Kenneth freaking Willow, Wade! You might as well have been caught by a damned Jigglypuff.”
Wade rolled his eyes. “Geek.”
“Idiot.”
“Nerd.”
“Spineless!” This was gathering a bit of heat. Good. I landed a sharp kick to Wade’s thigh. He glared back and kicked out his leg, landing a blow to my hip. I sensed there was a bit of actual frustration coming out of him, but what the hell. I kicked him again, trying to scoot my chair closer. He kicked back, his cheeks red.
Private Predictable rushed forward and dragged me out of my chair, just before it started to get interesting. Kenneth actually growled. I wanted to laugh in his face. Who did this kid think he was? Still, this was my shot. I lurched back and threw him off balance.
“You bastard!” Kenneth gasped, flailing wildly.
“Yeah, blame my mother.” I swiped my foot at his ankle, and he went down like a sack of spuds. The thud he made when he landed was satisfying. The pathetic little yelp was pretty good, too. I stomped my foot down on his chest as he groaned, pinning him there.
“You won’t escape. We’ve got you now!” Kenneth wheezed as he struggled to get up. I stomped down again, for good measure.
“You want to get on with those Cuffs, Flyboy?” I cast a look back at Wade.
He nodded and hurried to remove his Cuffs, with his hands behind his back. I’d seen him swipe the keys from Kenneth earlier. So I had to give him that nugget of skill. He clumsily slotted the keys into the lock and removed the Cuffs. They fell to the floor with a hefty clank.
“You won’t defeat me!” Kenneth howled. I jabbed my foot against his throat, sick of his whining.
“Really? Looks like that’s exactly what’s happening to me.”
“No! I refuse! You’re unworthy!” Katherine’s guard dog was trying to slip his hand into his pocket. No colored puffs today, sunshine. I tried to shift my weight and stamp on his hand, but it was too difficult. If I moved, I’d lose my balance, too. He had opened his mouth to call out a curse when a figure whizzed past me.
Wade knelt down and punched Kenneth right in the face. I heard the crack as it impacted. A second later, the kid’s eyes rolled back. Wade had knocked his lights out.
“Nice one!” I whooped. “Now, get these things off me.”
Wade grinned. “I’ve been dying to do that ever since I met the punk.” He stood up and unlocked my Cuffs, then ducked back down to clap them on Kenneth’s wrists.
“Is it wrong that I’m a bit jealous?” I asked, rubbing my wrists.
“Of what?”
“Of you knocking Kenneth clean out.”
He chuckled. “No, I bet you’re at the back of a pretty long line.”
“Yeah, I bet even Katherine’s standing in that line.” I looked toward the door. “Right, we need to get out of here ASAP. I know a way.”
Wade nodded. “I just need to make a ca
ll first.”
“Now?”
“It’s related,” he shot back. Ah, so there was some real bitterness back there? He took out his phone and punched in a number before lifting it to his ear. “Isadora? Is Harley with you? Thank God! Should we come to you or do you want to come to us? Yeah, we got stuck in Katherine’s office… no, she’s not here. She’s gone to find Harley.”
I rolled my eyes. “Speed it up, this isn’t a social call!”
“Okay, we’ll stay here. But hurry, I don’t know how long it’ll be until she’s back.” He hung up and cast me a withering look. “That was important.”
I grinned. “Oh yeah? You buckling up, Crowley, now that your girl is coming to pick us up? I want her back by eleven. And no funny business. If I see a hickey, I’ll come ‘round your house with a shotgun.”
Wade spat out a laugh. “They’re on their way, yeah.”
“And Isadora said Harley is okay?”
“Seems like it.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “That’s good. That’s really freaking good. I gave her some vague clue about getting into the library, and I had no idea if she’d figure it out. Then again, she’s a Shipton. We always figure stuff out.”
He smiled. “Sounds like you were worried about her.”
“No, I was worried for myself—that we’d never get the hell out of here. I didn’t want to count on her. I was worried about getting this nightmare of a mission finished. Never again, by the way. You people are all liabilities.”
He smirked. “Correction: you were very worried about her.”
“I’ll die before agreeing with you, Crowley.” A small smile crept onto my lips.
“Close enough.”
Weirdly, the tension between us seemed to be dissipating. Ooh, could this be the start of an oh so awkward friendship? I had no idea. It didn’t seem likely, but it had felt really friggin’ good to stick it to Katherine in front of her precious cult members. And Wade had been my enabler. Maybe that’s what he’d be—my enabler. Plus, it looked like we were both going to spend a decent chunk of our lives worrying about Harley. I guessed that gave us something in common. Although, I’d meant it about the shotgun. Now that I had a sister I gave half a damn about, I wasn’t going to make it easy for Crowley. Mostly for my own amusement.
A few minutes later, a portal tore open a hole in Katherine’s office. Papers and books went skittering everywhere. The aquariums cracked, fissures forming in the glass, but not breaking it enough for the water to gush out. Oh, she’s going to love that. Isadora and Harley stumbled out. I was about to run forward to hug Harley, but Wade brushed past me and wrapped his arms around her. That was probably a stupid idea anyway. I had a reputation to uphold. And that didn’t include hugging my sister. Even if I was glad to see her in one piece.
“What happened?” Wade asked as he held Harley close. He caught her lips in his and kissed her hard.
“We don’t have time,” I snapped, tapping my wrist. “We’re still in Katherine’s office, in case you forgot. And, seeing that you’re back to your usual scruffy self, Harley, I’m guessing your Shapeshifter energy ran out of gas? Let’s scoot!”
I guessed it was sort of sweet, but there was a time and a place for emotional PDAs. Plus, it served as an unwelcome reminder that I didn’t have anyone waiting for me. Not anymore. She was dead. And I couldn’t get her back… not after I’d shoved Katherine’s offer right back in her face. It still stung a little, to know that I’d had one shot to have my own reunion, slurpy or otherwise, and I’d given it up through some new sense of morality. It didn’t stop me wanting her, even though I knew I’d done the right thing. I couldn’t even put her in a jar and keep her on my shelf.
Harley started speaking rapidly as we gathered around Isadora, bringing us up to speed in the span of a few sentences. She was obviously excluding a ton of details, but it was enough to give us the gist of what happened in the tunnels, with the ghosts, and her mom, and the eventual release. I felt sorry for her, after hearing that last bit. It couldn’t have been easy to do that.
Wade mentioned what had happened in here and why Kenneth was blacked out on the floor, while Isadora lifted her hands to form another portal.
“We can celebrate once we’re back at the SDC,” Isadora said, sending bronzed tendrils swirling into the atmosphere.
Then the door burst open.
For the love of Grayskull, what now?!
Shinsuke stepped into the room with another magical at his side. My heart sank. I knew him well. Bakir Khan. Not the swiftest or strongest of magicals, but he had a sharp head on his shoulders, which might present a problem. Clearly, they’d been sent to bring Wade and me to Katherine’s private quarters for another round of threats that’d cost me thousands in therapy.
“What the—” Shinsuke glanced at us, confused.
Bakir, however, was gearing up for a fight. And I was in the mood for a little exercise.
Forty
Harley
The magical who had come along with Shinsuke lunged forward to strike. Wade ran at him, full pelt, knocking him flat. The poor guy had barely managed to get his Chaos together. It fizzled out in his palm as he lay still, unconscious.
“Wow… That was surprisingly short-lived,” Finch said, lowering his hands.
Judging by the state of Kenneth, too, Wade had some frustrations he was working out. But I was so glad to see him again. I couldn’t even put into words how happy I was to be able to hold him and kiss him.
Shinsuke looked like he had no idea what to do. He could fight and stay on Katherine’s good side, or he could let us go. The only trouble was, his face was totally unreadable. His emotions were in turmoil, too, giving me little clue which way he was going to swing. But I couldn’t risk letting him make the wrong choice.
“Shinsuke, don’t fight us,” I said, putting up my hands like I was a negotiator trying not to get shot. “Come back to the SDC with us. This might be your only chance to get out of here, and it’ll definitely be your last chance to see your father before he gets taken to Purgatory. If you stay here, you’ll wind up dead.”
“Who are you?” He narrowed his eyes at us. Ah, yeah, I’d forgotten about that. I wasn’t Volla anymore, and Finch wasn’t Pieter. I mean, he definitely recognized Finch, but he had no idea who I was. Our paths had never crossed.
“I’m Harley Merlin. I’m from the San Diego Coven. Finch and I were disguised as the Mazinovs so we could try and stop Katherine from becoming a Child of Chaos,” I explained at a rapid pace. “Finch, you want to give me a hand here?”
Finch stepped forward and morphed into Pieter for a moment, just to prove the point. “Not too shabby, right?”
“I was using some Shifter energy through an Ephemera, but it’s stopped working. But I promise you I was Volla this whole time,” I said urgently. “We’ve been fighting to bring Katherine down, and you can help us. But you have to come with us now. This is your only shot. If you won’t do it for anyone else, just think about what she did to your dad. He’s going to Purgatory because of her. Now, what do you say?” The clock was ticking, and we were leaving either way—with him or without him.
Shinsuke paused. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Katherine is very strong, and she doesn’t take kindly to deserters. I would be putting myself in the line of fire if I went with you.”
“You really want to stay here, with a psychopath?” I had to put it bluntly.
“No, but that doesn’t mean your way is any better. At least here, from the inside, I might be able to help.”
I shook my head. “You saw how well that worked out for Tess. If you stay and take up her position as the mole, then Katherine will sniff you out. She’s looking for betrayers now. How long do you think you’ll have before she comes for you?” I felt a fresh sense of guilt about what had happened to Tess, and I really didn’t want that happening to Shinsuke too. Despite his blank face and mixed emotions, I knew he wanted to join us. At the very least, he didn’t
want to be here anymore, and that was good enough for me.
“I know this entire organization is wrong. I’ve sensed it. And I no longer wish to be a part of it, but—”
“No buts, Shinsuke. Either you stay here and you die, or you come with us and you help.”
He dipped his head. “I would like to see my father again. And I would like to help you, but…”
“Shinsuke, get these off me!” I whirled around to see that Kenneth had woken up from his little snooze and was writhing frantically to get the Cuffs off. Not that wriggling would do him any good. He couldn’t even cast a curse with those things on. At least, I hope he can’t.
Figuring it was best not to risk it, I sent a pulse of reverse Empathy toward him, gathering up a bunch of sad emotions to feed into him. My specialty. He suddenly stopped wriggling, his face crumpling into a mask of misery. A moment later, tears were streaming out of his eyes, and his chest was heaving as he sobbed uncontrollably, like a little kid who’d had his favorite toys taken away. There was nothing he could do to stop it as he covered his face with his hands and wept like he’d never wept before, heaving out ugly, gigantic sobs that bellowed through the room.
“Hey, Finch, you were right,” I said.
He frowned. “Huh?”
“Weeping Willow wasn’t a bad nickname after all.”
He grinned. “You doubted me?”
“Isadora, can you get us out of here now?” I shifted my glance to her. “Shinsuke, it’s now or never. Are you coming with us or not?”
He still didn’t seem sure.
Finch rolled his eyes. “We haven’t got time for this. Do you want this kid back at the SDC?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Great, then he’s coming.” Finch sent out a lasso of Telekinesis and wrapped it around Shinsuke, tugging him closer. With one swift punch to the side of the head, he knocked Shinsuke unconscious, the guy lolling in Finch’s arms. “Happy?”
Harley Merlin 6: Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris Page 31