by MJ Fletcher
“I didn’t have a choice, we’re on a mission.”
“Who’s we?”
She looked my way and her eyes fell on the Skeleton Key around my neck, then focused on my face. She squinted her eyes as if trying to glance past the glasses and the dark hair, and then... she recognized me. Her mouth dropped open, and damn it I knew I was in trouble.
“You!”
Crimson light crackled as she pulled her Skeleton Key out and rushed at me attacking.
Chapter Twenty-two
Status: Why do I always make things worse?
Darla moved swiftly, her Key formed into a dagger, and she launched herself at me. I grabbed and activated the Key that Rosalita had given me. Crimson energy ripped from it, surrounding me. Darla smashed into the barrier, and then stepped back slashing her blade against it over and over.
I scrambled backward out of her range, dropped the shield, and created an energy whip. I spun it and cracked it between us.
Darla’s eyes turned wide and she took a hesitant step backward. “What kind of trick is this?”
“No trick.” DeAndre came up from behind her, his hands up.
“How is she doing that?” She pointed at me and I realized I was facing off with her using a Skeleton Key.
“She’s a Polymorph,” he said.
“Bullshit.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said stepping forward and deactivating my Key. I held it out to her. She stepped toward me, her own blade disappearing. She stretched her hand out and it hovered over the Key. I could sense her reaching out with her abilities and testing the Key to make sure it wasn’t some trick.
“You’re a Guilder?” She stepped back, a look of shock on her face.
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re still a bitch.”
“Right back at you.” I smiled and she sneered at me.
She turned to DeAndre pointing a finger at him. “Are you crazy bringing her to the Hollow?”
“Not my idea.”
“Yeah, that one was all me,” I chimed in and stepped next to DeAndre.
“Figures, only you’d be stupid enough to walk into the middle of a civil war willingly.” She huffed and motioned for us to follow her as she walked out of the courtyard.
“What’re you talking about?” I asked.
“Tower might be the head of the Guild, but that doesn’t mean we’re all following his lead. The Hollow is awash with revolution. I joined the Guild, not the First Kind. A lot of others feel the same way.”
While a civil war wasn’t what I had hoped for, it did give me an advantage if I was going to have any hope of getting the Guild on my side. I still had no plan on how I was going to do that. Yet knowing they weren’t following him blindly, gave me hope.
We crossed through several buildings until we found ourselves walking out of an alleyway into another courtyard, except this one had people standing all around. Everything seemed casual enough until I noticed each of them had their hands near or on their Skeleton Keys and were watching us like hawks.
“I take it things haven’t been going well?” DeAndre motioned to the cautious people.
“Tower has been consolidating power by locking up anyone who disagrees with his master plan. Those goons of his you ran into are part of the patrols all over the Hollow. Where the hell were you going anyway?”
“Grimm Hall,” he said.
“Not a good idea, that place is crawling with guards. I don’t know who’s staying there now but whoever it is, they don’t want visitors.”
I spoke up “We need to get in there.”
Darla looked over at me. “I can have our people scope it out and see if there is a way around the patrols.”
“Thanks,” I said since Darla and I had never gotten along and she didn’t exactly have to offer to help.
“Yeah, whatever, Masters.”
“One more thing,” —I took a deep breath and stiffened not sure I wanted to know the answer— “has anyone seen Nightshade?”
“Lose your boyfriend already?” She grinned. “He seems to have a nasty habit of disappearing on women he’s dating.”
I wanted to lash out, my usual reaction, but I kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t afford to lose my cool, not now, when I was so close to finding my sister. Darla was still bitter over Nightshade dumping her after he had regained his memory. And of course that he and I had been together ever since then.
“Have you seen him?” I asked.
“No, I haven’t.” She sneered and walked off.
“He could be in the Hollow, it’s not as if she knows everything going on in here,” DeAndre reassured me, though it didn’t help.
“Maybe.” I couldn’t help but worry about Nightshade, but I couldn’t allow it to interfere, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do what needed to be done. I rolled the Skeleton Key around in my hand, letting the warmth of the energy that emitted from it roll over my skin. It was more powerful in the Hollow surrounded by so much Guild power. It was the same in every Society’s dimension, though I had never thought about being a Guilder.
“You’re pretty good with that.” DeAndre pointed to the Key.
“Thanks, I think.”
“Have you practiced at all?”
“No, never really took the time. I’m so used to using my Doorknob.” I flipped the Key in my hand, still surprised by how natural it felt.
“If you’re going to be using it maybe I could show you a few things.” He held his hand out.
I nodded and handed over my Key.
He snatched it up and examined it with a critical eye. “It’s a good Key. Older, but very strong, it’ll hold up in a fight. Doorknob Society and Guild energy are similar but with slight differences. Guilders are always looking for a way to lock or trick someone with their abilities. If you give us a chance, we’ll lock you away in some dimension that you’ll never escape from. Have you ever locked a portal before?”
I shook my head, remembering the multitude of times people had locked a portal on me. “No, I’ve had them locked on me though.”
“Well, with enough practice you should be able to open most locks. You’re already doing well using your Guild abilities. Most first-timers wouldn’t be able to create shields or coherent weapons.” He handed the Key back to me, and I smiled as I felt the current of power tickle my fingers once again.
“Let me show you a few tricks.” He pulled out his own Key and crimson energy permeated the air as he activated it.
I nodded in agreement, although all I could think about was that it should be Nightshade showing me how to use a Skeleton Key. It felt odd letting anyone else do it, but it wasn’t as if I had many options right now.
He took me through some basic techniques on how to defend against locks using a Skeleton Key. I found it curious just how similar it all felt to using my Doorknob abilities. Being a Polymorph, I’d found all the Societies’ powers had their own quirks, but the Guild and DS were more similar than the rest.
Next we worked on forming a stronger energy whip. My earlier version had been usable, but not nearly as effective as my Doorknob whip. I let the power fully invest itself in me, giving myself over to the crimson glow of the Guild. It consumed and filled my body with a warmth and familiarity that felt right. The whip uncoiled from my Key, rolling to the ground. Licks of electricity snapped off it and I could feel every bit, as if it were another of my limbs. I brought the whip up and snapped it in the air, the crack resounded off the buildings around us.
The Guilders who had been eyeing me suspiciously earlier were gathered in groups watching me now. They huddled together speaking in whispers. I turned to DeAndre and nodded toward the people. “What’s going on?”
“I doubt any of them have ever seen a Polymorph. Not to mention that you haven’t exactly been the most popular person among the Guild and now here you are using a Skeleton Key.”
“I get it.” I tilted my head and the energy whip dissipated to nothingness, and I slipped the Key into my pocket. I
didn’t need to cause myself any more grief than I already had.
“You are a quick study.” DeAndre laughed and sat down on one of the benches that dominated the courtyard.
“It runs in the family.”
“True, your cousin was the most talented apprentice I’ve ever had.”
DeAndre had taken on my cousin Jess as his apprentice before everything had gone to hell with the Societies.
“There’s a lot more to my cousin than just good looks.” I slipped onto the bench beside him.
“I agree. She cares about you a great deal.”
“I love my cousin to pieces.”
“She and Nightshade are both good and talented Guilders. They can teach you more about using your Guild abilities.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Darla appeared from the other side of the courtyard strolling toward us. She waved us up and we joined her as she walked with us out through another alleyway.
“I’m going to bring you around to the back of Grimm Hall. They’ve doubled security recently. Do you two have a way in?” Darla asked.
DeAndre looked my way and I nodded. “Yes, we just need to get close enough.”
“Follow me.” Darla moved swiftly through the Hollow, from one street to the next sticking to the shadows and back alleys as much as possible.
I had the sense the Hollow was large, but by moving around its underbelly it made me think that it was even bigger than I had considered.
We came out of one of the alleys onto a street where the buildings were old, though not as tall, but imposing in their own way. Across the street was a low craggy rock wall that ran the length of the block and surrounded a massive manor house that sat back amongst a series of trees, the tips of its roof peeking out above them. It dominated the area and looked as if had been part of the landscape as long as there had been a city.
“We’re here,” Darla pointed to the building. “Grimm Hall.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Status: Time to cause some trouble.
“What’s your plan?” Darla asked while we remained in the protective shadows of the alleyway.
“What’s the nearest portal someone can use to enter the Hollow without Tower’s goons being all over it?” I asked and Darla traced the coordinates in the air and waved them over to me.
“Our people keep an eye on that one and it’s only two blocks over. Who’s coming through?” Darla asked.
“You’ll see.” I pulled my phone out and tapped the screen bringing it to life and typed out the coordinates and hit send. I slipped the phone back into my pocket. “Now we wait.”
“No running in guns blazing, I thought that was your style?” Darla smirked at me.
“I have no problem with that, I just like making sure I’m ready when I do.” I winked at her and she sneered and looked away. She and I were never going to be best friends and I wasn’t about to take lip from her.
Darla turned back to look at me. “What’s so important that you have to get into Grimm Hall anyway?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m risking my neck. I think I deserve to know.” Darla spoke up.
“This is going to go either of two ways; you keep helping us or you leave. It’s that simple.” I kept my voice calm and my eyes focused on her. She looked from me to DeAndre. He raised his hands and shook his head, letting her know that he wanted no part of this conversation.
“This isn’t the Doorknob Society. You’re in the Hollow.” Darla’s voice grew louder as she stepped toward me. “You can’t talk to me like that?”
I didn’t hesitate, my hand shot out grabbing her by the throat and slamming her against the wall. I threw my body into her, knocking her off balance and used my other arm to block her flailing hands from reaching her Skeleton Key.
“You want to have a go with me, fine. When this is all over you and I can fight it out and I’ll kick your ass then. But right now you’re going to help us or,” —I dropped my voice to a whisper— “you’ll regret it. Understand me?” She made a gurgling noise, since I refused to loosen my grip on her neck. She nodded her head as best she could and I let her drop. Her hands went to her throat and she gagged and coughed as air returned to her lungs.
“This looks like fun.” A silhouette of a woman stood before us and for a moment I thought that I was seeing myself in a mirror, standing with a hoodie covering her head and combat boots on her feet was my cousin Jess looking back at me.
I threw my arms around her and we hugged tightly. She patted my back and stepped into the alley beside us, pulling the hood off her head and letting her blond hair flow down her back.
“Jess, were you spotted? The First Kind has had people looking for you for weeks,” DeAndre asked smiling with concern.
“I took a portal. Chloe sent me the coordinates and no one stopped me. Besides, my appearance isn’t exactly what they would be expecting.” She waved her hands over her outfit.
She was right. She looked more like me than herself. We could have passed for sisters, except of course for the jet black hair I was sporting as a disguise.
“Any word on my dad?” she asked,
I shook my head, wishing I could tell her something different. “No, sorry.”
Her jaw tightened and she nodded in grim acceptance.
“Jess.” Darla stood rubbing her throat.
The two of them had been friends when Jess and I reconnected, but since then things had gone badly. Mistrust had led them to fighting each other the last time I had seen them together. I stepped away, letting them talk while I scoped out Grimm Hall to determine what we were dealing with.
“Darla, what are you doing here?” Jess asked.
“Helping these two not get killed.”
“That so?” Jess asked turning my way.
“Yeah.” I nodded in agreement.
“So you’ve stopped fighting true Guilders and finally started fighting the real enemy?” There was an edge to Jess’ voice.
I held my breath. This confrontation was something that had been a long time coming.
“You sided with a DS member over me,” Darla snarled.
“I sided with my cousin, my family, and what did you do, my supposed friend? You turned on me like an animal, more than ready to throw me under the bus if it helped you to be in good graces with the rest of the Guild. It seems to me like I made the right choice.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“No? Then do tell me, Darla, what was it like?”
“Masters was a DS member and you just deserted me—all of us— for her. One day you were there and the next you were gone, off with your new friends. I barely saw you again. What was I supposed to think?”
“Maybe if you had taken a moment and thought to ask me, I would care what you think. Chloe, is my family, my blood, I would do anything for her. You were my friend and there was a time I would have done the same for you. But instead of trusting me like friends do, you threw that away like it didn’t matter, like it never existed, so don’t try and lay the blame for it on me.” Jess stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, as if trying to contain her anger.
Darla dropped her chin and looked to the ground. “I’m sorry, Jess.”
“Whatever.” Jess looked up and down the alleyway. “How many guards?”
“I counted three on each corner, not sure how many on the other side of the wall,” I said, knowing this was far from over between the two. “You have a way in?”
“We used to spend time here when we were kids, do you remember?” Jess turned my way.
I shook my head in the negative. “Not at all.”
If I had spent time here it must have been when my mom was still around, which meant I was very young. Most of my memories from that time were vague, if I could recall them at all.
“Well, there are more than a few secret entrances to this place and you and I used to play in all of them. I doubt that the First Kind is aware of every one of them
. So... time to play like when we were kids.” Jess smirked and headed back down the alleyway with the rest of us following her.
We crossed over two streets and made our way down a set of rickety old stairs that were thick with dirt and quivered as if they might collapse at any moment.
At the bottom of the stairs was a metal door with no handle, only a key hole. Jess slipped her Key from around her neck and into the hole. It glowed crimson and clicked, and the door swung open with a long cringe-inducing squeal. I gritted my teeth and shook my head, if anyone was guarding this entrance they had to have heard that. We each took out our Skeleton Keys and entered the darkness.
Mice, or worse, squeaked as we passed through the dark, dank tunnel that led under the streets of the Hollow. Jess was in the lead followed by me, Darla, and DeAndre brought up the rear.
We came to an intersection and at the turn a faint light illuminated one of the paths. I stepped close to Jess and whispered, “Let me guess, that’s the way we have to go?”
“Yup.” She nodded.
“How do we play it?” Jess asked.
“We go in silent at first. If we have to use our Keys fine, we’ll have no choice, but I want to keep this quiet as long as possible. I don’t want to give them a chance to get my sister out before we get to her.”
“Agreed.” Jess slipped ahead of us moving silently and quickly into the lighted corridor. She stopped and pressed herself against the wall before it opened up into another intersection at the sounds of approaching footsteps.
I tensed and stilled my breath waiting to see what would happen.
A silhouette preceded the guard before he stepped into the corridor. Jess moved like lightning, her hand shot out punching him hard in the jaw. He stumbled to the side and Jess kept up the barrage, her knee coming up into his midsection and doubling him over. She brought her elbow down on the back of his neck with such a resounding thud that he dropped limp to the ground. She waved us toward her and we rushed forward. DeAndre grabbed the guard and pulled him back down the hallway. The crimson light of his abilities illuminated the area as he secured the guard with a chain lock.