Harley Merlin 6: Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris

by Forrest, Bella

  “Incoming!” Jacob yelled, knocking me to the ground as a gargoyle swooped low over my head.

  As I looked up, my hands covering my head, I noticed that the gargoyle wasn’t the only monster on the loose. They were all out, running wild in the Bestiary, snarling and snapping at each other in an attempt to gain supremacy.

  I got to my feet and pulled off the useless Cuffs. Closing my eyes, I drew in a deep breath. This was going to hurt my ribs, but that was better than the alternative. But first, I had to find the right emotions. I had to get them to feel what I wanted them to feel. With all the terror pulsing through my veins, that wasn’t going to be hard. Digging deep, I gathered up a ball of fear and the desire for them to stop and summoned my inner Chaos to boost it. I balled my hands into fists and opened my mouth.

  “STOP! Stop, right now, and return to your boxes! Stay there until I say otherwise!” The words boomed out of my chest, my lungs burning as the strange voice erupted from my throat. It wasn’t mine, and yet it was a part of me.

  Cautiously, I opened my eyes, just in time to see most of the monsters cowering back into their boxes. They looked almost as confused by the surreal scene as I felt. They didn’t know why they were doing it; they just knew they had to obey. With their heads bowed, they shuffled into their enclosures, many of them closing the door behind them. It had worked, right when I had needed it to.

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” Finch whooped.

  “Wow…” Jacob stared at me in shock, his face a reflection of the security magicals’, the ones who were still standing.

  Cheers for that, Katherine. If I’d never gone to the cult, I’d never have learned this skill. Although, it wasn’t a complete success. There were still countless boxes left empty, the monsters already gone from the Bestiary. My voice could only reach so far, and I doubted the missing monsters had been able to hear me.

  “We need to get to Echidna,” I said, already running for the back hall where her box was kept. Jacob and Finch hurried after me. Please let her be there, please let her be there, please let her be there… This was the sole reason Katherine was destroying the Bestiary. As I sprinted, I paused for a moment to shake Tobe by the shoulders. He jolted awake, startled.

  “What happened?” he asked, rubbing his head.

  “The Bestiary was attacked. I got most of the monsters back in their boxes, but you need to flip the switch to lock them.”

  He frowned. “How?”

  “There’s no time to explain.”

  He nodded and jumped to his feet. “I will ensure they remain confined.”

  Satisfied that those monsters wouldn’t get out again, I charged on toward Echidna’s private hall, with Jacob and Finch beside me. Behind me, I heard the echo of boots on the Bestiary floor, thudding through the air like the drums of war. Glancing back, I saw black figures running in. It would only be a matter of time before Levi, O’Halloran, and the security magicals got to Echidna’s box, too. Everyone knew what was happening here, and everyone knew why. I took one scrap of solace from their militant arrival—if they were here, then that meant the members of the Rag Team were safe.

  We powered through the doors to Echidna’s hall and sprinted toward the box on the plinth. I got there first, leaping up the steps to the side of her box. I froze as my hand rested on the open door.

  Echidna’s box was empty.

  “She’s gone!” Finch barked, smashing his fist into the glass.

  “Katherine did it,” I whispered, overwhelmed with a million emotions. None of them good. “She got Echidna and let the Bestiary fall. And yet people think she has the magicals’ best interests at heart. If they could see this…” I didn’t have the energy to finish the sentence. It spoke for itself. Even here, jagged cracks webbed out, showing glimpses of the outside world, the edges fraying as the Bestiary’s power ebbed.

  I turned as the hall doors opened, and Levi and his men thundered in.

  “Stop!” he yelled.

  I glanced at Jacob. “He’s not capturing us. Not at a time like this.”

  “Bigger fish, Sis. Am I right?” Finch flashed a worried smile at me.

  “Exactly. Much bigger fish.” I stared at Levi as he approached. He raised his palms to strike at me, sending a flurry of powerful Telekinesis at me. With anger burning up inside me, giving my Chaos an even sharper edge, I simply swiped it away with my own Telekinesis, which was far stronger than his. Meanwhile, Jacob worked on a portal.

  “Don’t you dare!” Levi roared, but he was too late.

  With a grimace of contempt in Levi’s direction, I stepped back into the portal and watched it snap shut on Levi’s furious, ridiculous face. He’d forced me to do this. He was forcing me to abandon my team, and Wade. He was the one refusing to look at the bigger picture. The coven and the Bestiary were falling, and all he cared about was capturing me. He’d led me to desperation. Rage twisted like barbed wire in my stomach. If he’d just listened…

  Forty-Seven

  Harley

  I doubled over as I caught my breath, focusing on the wavering head of a daisy in the grass beneath my feet. My heart was still racing after what had just happened, and hatred burned in my chest. Katherine had managed to get her paws on Echidna, and she’d almost destroyed everything in the process. I had no words for just how much I wanted to end her.

  For as long as I lived, I never wanted to see the Bestiary like that again. All those people running for their lives, trying to avoid getting crushed to death… I could still hear their shouts for help, could still see the terrified expressions on their faces. And then there was Wade and the rest of the Rag Team. They were still there, at the SDC, dealing with the fallout. While we were… I didn’t know where, right now. I was still trying to get my breath back.

  Finch and Jacob were beside me, also looking a little unsteady. As I dragged fresh air into my lungs, tinged with the unexpected, mouth-watering scent of barbeque, I took in our surroundings at last. My stomach sank at the sight before me. Why did you bring us here, Jacob?

  Mr. Smith was manning the grill, while Mrs. Smith had been in the middle of carrying drinks out of the house. She looked as if she might drop them as she stared at us, blank-faced and stunned by our sudden arrival. Ryann was there too, a skull candy cookie halfway to her mouth, frozen in surprise. Plates of cookies covered a patio table, along with a huge cake decorated in bright colors, and flowers and skeleton masks were just about everywhere.

  We’d ended up, quite literally, in the Smiths’ backyard, slap bang in the middle of a Día de los Muertos celebration. The Smiths had no Mexican in them whatsoever, but they’d take any excuse for a good, old fashioned shindig.

  I didn’t know whether to sink to my knees in happiness or run for the hills. They’d clearly seen the portal we’d just tumbled out of, and they were going to have questions. Either that, or Mrs. Smith would think she’d put one too many shots of tequila into the punch. I doubted we’d get so lucky.

  I had no words. I shot Jacob a hard glare.

  He shrugged. “This was the only safe place I could think of!”

  “Why, where are we?” Finch muttered. “Mexico?”

  “Not quite,” I replied. This could only spell trouble. Not just for us, but for the people who’d taken me in and cared for me when I had nobody else. Memories of the Ryder twins bombarded my brain, but I couldn’t think about that now. I needed to get my crap together.

  Focus, Merlin.

  “Harley… is that you?” Mrs. Smith started to move toward us.

  “Mrs. Smith, hey.” I forced a smile onto my face.

  “Harley!” Ryann cried, running over. Did they see the portal or didn’t they? It was hard to gauge.

  I nodded. “Sorry I haven’t kept in touch lately. There’s been a lot going on.”

  “But you’re here now, and that’s what matters,” Ryann said, eyeing me suspiciously. I could see she wanted to say something about what she may, or may not, have seen, but she didn’t. Was she sav
ing it? Was she trying to figure out what had just happened, trying to make logical sense of it in her non-magical brain? “And who are your friends?” she asked, instead.

  “This is Jacob, and this is Finch.” I gestured to them, Finch hiding his Cuffed hands beneath his shirt.

  Jacob smiled sadly. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Smith.”

  “Have we met before…?” she replied, looking even more confused.

  “Yo, are those burgers I smell?” Finch glanced at Mr. Smith, who was absently turning patties on the grill.

  “You hungry? There’s plenty to go around.” Ryann was doing her best not to mention the portal. Perhaps they didn’t believe their eyes enough to mention it. I just had to hope it stayed that way.

  “Yes, help yourself to food and drinks.” Mrs. Smith nodded, her eyes fixed on the spot in the air that we’d fallen through. I could see the cogs whirring, like she was still trying to make some sense of it. “Did you just come from—”

  “Can I just head to the bathroom real quick?” I cut in. “I’m desperate.”

  “Of course, Harley. You know where it is,” Mrs. Smith replied, her tone distant.

  “I could use a trip to the little boys’ room, too.” Finch smiled tightly. He needed to get those Cuffs off before someone noticed.

  “Yeah, me too,” Jacob added, his eyes fixed on Mrs. Smith. Poor guy.

  As a trio, we headed into the empty house. Halfway to the bathroom, I dragged them into the living room, my palms sweating. All around us were the memories of the two years I’d spent here. The comfortable, gray velour couch and the striped blue cushions with the yellow buttons. The TV on the wall, where I’d spent Sunday afternoons watching football with Mr. Smith and Ryann. And the photographs that filled every available space. Me in my high-school graduation gown, a scroll in my hands. Me with Ryann in the backyard, about a week after I first arrived here. Me with all the Smiths, lounging on the beach in the Bahamas. They were happy snapshots of simpler times.

  “No offense, Harley, but this doesn’t look like the bathroom to me,” Finch said.

  “Come here.” I snatched at Finch’s wrists and put my palms across them. I pushed crackling Chaos energy out of my hands and into the Cuffs, fighting against the surge of their power. I pushed more and more into the metal, overwhelming the connectors until they broke with a satisfying clink. I opened my eyes to find Finch and Jacob staring at me. That seemed to be all anyone could do lately. I was like a circus performer.

  “You can seriously break these things,” Jacob gasped.

  “We’d have been pretty screwed if I couldn’t,” I replied. “Now, Finch, take those off and hide them somewhere.”

  He did as he was told, sliding the broken Cuffs off and tucking them into his jacket. With a moment to breathe, I fought to gather my senses. “So, boys and girls, here’s the pickle we’re in. Katherine just completed the third ritual, and now she’s dangerously close to completing the fourth, since she just waltzed in and stole friggin’ Echidna. Shinsuke Nomura is dead. Thessaly Crux, the mole who was actually helping the National Council, is dead. Levi wants us all locked in a box. Tobe nearly died. The Bestiary is collapsing in on itself and taking everything with it. I watched a man get crushed to death like a pancake, and we have no idea where Katherine is. Oh, and my adoptive family is watching us right now, probably thinking I’ve lost my mind. Did I miss anything?”

  Finch smiled. “You missed the part about setting your mom free.”

  “This is just another day at the office for you, huh?” I didn’t know whether to smack him or hug him. He was taking everything so lightly that I couldn’t help but feel irritated. Why wasn’t he more upset? The covens were crumbling! The magical world was being razed to the ground, fragment by fragment. Unless this was his way of coping with high-pressure situations. Make a joke out of them, and they wouldn’t seem so bad, that sort of thing.

  Jacob peered nervously at us both as the silence stretched. “Hey, at least the three of us know we’re definitely not going to Purgatory. That’s got to be a silver lining, right?”

  “A very, very thin one,” I muttered.

  Finch chuckled. “See, Sis? Your determination to get me back into Purgatory got you a one-way ticket there, too. Either that, or you just couldn’t bear to be without me. Is that what this is about?”

  “One more word out of you, and I’ll have Jacob portal you there myself.” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he knew I wasn’t kidding. I could see the flicker of concern in his eyes.

  “At least we make a good team,” he said, daring to say one more thing.

  I sighed. “Let’s hope so.”

  I wanted to scream so loud that it would bring the men in white coats. I wanted to pound my fists into the wall until I didn’t hurt anymore. I wanted to portal right back to the crumbling SDC and bury myself in Wade’s chest. But I couldn’t do any of that, not now. I had to focus on the task at hand and take it step by step. As Finch kept saying, we had much bigger fish to deal with. Levi would get Wade and the others out, if only to save his own skin. It was just what happened to them after that, that worried me. Plus, Tobe was up and alert, which hopefully meant he could do something about the Bestiary. We wouldn’t know for a while whether it had been totally secured, but I vowed to check all the news channels for any talk about something happening in Balboa Park.

  If we went back now, we’d be captured. The three of us were wanted criminals now. That mark would be on our backs wherever we went, but that wasn’t going to stop me. Katherine had threatened everything the magical world had built, and she’d tried to crush everything I held dear in one fell swoop. Just the way she promised.

  But I’d made a promise, too. A promise to all those kids, and magicals, and innocents that Katherine had murdered. A promise to my mom and my dad. A promise to Tess, and Shinsuke. And a promise to the friends I had, whose lives were on the line.

  I am coming for you, Katherine. And when I find you, my face will be the last thing you see before I kill you. She hadn’t beaten me yet. I was going to keep fighting until I had nothing left to give.

  I snapped out of my private thoughts as Ryann ran into the living room, looking worried. “I knew you weren’t going to the bathroom.”

  “It’s not what you think,” I replied.

  “So you didn’t just fall out of the sky, then? Did I imagine that?” Ryann looked frantic, like she’d just learned that the laws of physics were a lie. Which was kind of true.

  I burst into a fit of sudden hysterics, the laughter bubbling out of me in an unstoppable torrent. Oh, where on earth do I begin?

  * * *

  Ready for the next part of Harley’s journey?

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris. I hope you enjoyed it!

  I’m excited to announce that Book 7 - Harley Merlin and the Detector Fix - releases April 10th, 2019.

  I’m looking forward to getting into the head of one of my very favorite characters. Other than that, all I’ll say for this book is… expect the unexpected. ;)

  Pre-order your copy now for convenience and have it delivered automatically to your reading device on release day!:

  US store, tap here.

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  I’ll see you there…

  Love,

  Bella x

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  Read more by Bella Forrest

  HARLEY MERLIN

  Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven (Book 1)

  Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins (Book 2)

  Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals (Book 3)

  Har
ley Merlin and the First Ritual (Book 4)

  Harley Merlin and the Broken Spell (Book 5)

  Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris (Book 6)

  Harley Merlin and the Detector Fix (Book 7)

  THE GENDER GAME

  (Action-adventure/dystopian/romance. Completed series.)

  The Gender Game (Book 1)

  The Gender Secret (Book 2)

  The Gender Lie (Book 3)

  The Gender War (Book 4)

  The Gender Fall (Book 5)

  The Gender Plan (Book 6)

  The Gender End (Book 7)

  THE GIRL WHO DARED TO THINK

  (Action-adventure/romance. Completed series.)

  The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)

  The Girl Who Dared to Stand (Book 2)

  The Girl Who Dared to Descend (Book 3)

  The Girl Who Dared to Rise (Book 4)

  The Girl Who Dared to Lead (Book 5)

  The Girl Who Dared to Endure (Book 6)

  The Girl Who Dared to Fight (Book 7)

  THE CHILD THIEF

  (Action-adventure/romance.)

  The Child Thief (Book 1)

  Deep Shadows (Book 2)

  Thin Lines (Book 3)

  Little Lies (Book 4)

  Ghost Towns (Book 5)

  Zero Hour (Book 6)

  HOTBLOODS

  (Supernatural romance. Completed series.)

  Hotbloods (Book 1)

  Coldbloods (Book 2)

  Renegades (Book 3)

  Venturers (Book 4)

  Traitors (Book 5)

  Allies (Book 6)

  Invaders (Book 7)

  Stargazers (Book 8)

  A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES

  (Supernatural romance)

  Series 1: Derek & Sofia’s story

  A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)

  A Shade of Blood (Book 2)

  A Castle of Sand (Book 3)

  A Shadow of Light (Book 4)