by Fletcher, MJ
“Okay,” he agreed grudgingly. “What do you want me to do?”
I flipped open my phone and showed him the text.
He rolled his eyes. “I should have known.”
I detailed quickly what I had in mind and then had him show me the map so I could use it to get to the library.
“Make sure you keep your phone on at all times,” I cautioned. “I’ll text you as soon as we have it, understand?”
“Yeah, no problem and you guys be careful, okay?” He grabbed me and gave me a quick hug before running out of the room, the click of the front door trailing behind him.
“Where’s Edgar going?” Jess asked as I joined them.
Slade looked concerned and Nightshade wore a thin smile.
“I told him to head home. I don’t want him getting into any trouble. He didn’t help us attack the DI’s so he shouldn’t be in any trouble.”
“I suppose your right,” —Jess bit at her lower lip— “but how are we going to get to the library?”
“He left me one of his maps, we shouldn’t have a problem getting there,” I said pointing to the table where Edgar’s map to the Infinity Library lay open.
“We better get out of here then.” Slade’s glance shifted over the mess we were leaving behind. “Other DIs are probably already searching for these guys.”
Nightshade activated a portal and he and Jess stepped through, Slade followed quickly behind and with one last, quick look around I stepped toward the portal ready to continue this crazy, weird adventure.
“I’ll catch you.”
I spun around to see that Emory had opened his eyes and they were focused right at me.
“Tell me something Detective,” I said with a hint of anger, “were you ever really my dad’s friend?”
“Yes, Chloe, I was and still am his friend and I am your friend too. I’m trying to help you.”
“Then why does it seem that you’ve given up on my dad?” I didn’t let him answer. “I haven’t and never will. I’m going to find him and I don’t care what the council thinks or does.”
“They’ll never let you join the Society if you push this,” he warned. “You’ll be kicked out of Paladin Academy. You’ll be completely on your own and I would hate to see that happen to you.”
For a moment I thought that he actually sounded like he cared what happened to me. But my choice had been made and there was no changing my mind.
I raised my chin and squared my shoulders. “I’d rather go down fighting with my friends and family than be part of a group that refuses to help my dad.”
I stepped through the portal, it closing behind me.
Chapter 28
Status: Don’t talk too loud in the library.
I stepped out of Nightshade’s portal into a cavernous room with massive ceilings that arched into a tremendous dome, on it a mural of the stars and dimensions moved and swirled in a constant state of chaos. I could have mistaken the room for a humongous lobby of some swanky hotel with its marble floors and plush furniture. Off to one side a large mahogany desk sat empty, the wood newly polished.
We walked to the desk and an Impossible Engineer Librarian whirred into action flipping open to greet us. It was as tall as an average person and made of brass with numerous steam pipes arching off its back while a set of gears sat where a stomach would be. Its face was an old fashioned TV screen with the image of a mousy librarian flickering on it. Its metal arms were full of books, which were quickly set aside as it awaited our commands.
“How may I serve you today?” The screen flickered and popped as the video librarian smiled at us.
Unsure what to say, I said the obvious. “I’m looking for Elijah Masters.”
“Elijah Masters, former member of the Doorknob Society, was here last week; he checked out three books and had one appointment.”
“With who?”
“Unknown. He used a private room with a Looking Glass model three twelve.”
“Which room did he use?” Slade asked.
“Room C, corridor twenty-five.” A map leading to the room popped up on screen.
“Let’s go,” Slade said and started off.
“You follow him. Jess and I will see what books he checked out.” Nightshade waved me off after Slade as he turned back to the librarian.
“What’s going on?” I raced to catch up with him.
“A Looking Glass is an Impossible Engineer device used to speak with someone in another dimension. If I can get a look at it I might be able to find out who your dad was talking too. The Impossible Engineers maintain the equipment here including the Librarians and Looking Glasses.”
“Really?” I was surprised and happy for once that we might have actually caught a break, which for our little group would be something of a miracle.
We rushed through the library with no time to take in the majestic scope of the place. We passed numerous mechanical librarians at work and finally asked one for directions and in seconds found ourselves standing before room C.
The room was small and rectangular with a leather sitting chair facing an oblong screen with numerous gears and pipes poking out of its sides. I turned to Slade and he wore the big smile of a kid about to open up his birthday presents. He swung his bag off his back and dug out some tools and went straight to work on the machine. I slid into the chair and watched him. He worked swiftly and surely, familiar with each twist and turn. I envied that surety, that ability to know your place in the universe.
Emory was most likely right. I would never be allowed to join DS after this, so where did that leave me? Dad wasn’t a member of a society anymore and seemed to do well. But over the last few days I had used doorknobs and felt the thrill of using my abilities. Then there was my other option, one I hadn’t wanted to consider until now. The path my mother had followed. In Paladin Academy when we fought the gremlin it hadn’t been Jess who had used her skeleton key to stop it.
It had been me.
As much as I tried to deny it, I was able to access SKG abilities. It had been the same when I found the keyhole in the doorknob Ms. True had given us. Could it be that I was really a member of the Skelton Key Guild? But how was that possible, I’d never heard of anyone having declared for anything but one of the societies? Not that any of this much mattered as I guessed DI Emory was right. When all this was said and done I would be kicked out of this strange world I had come to be part of and loved.
But my dad was what mattered most, as long as he was okay I didn’t care. I’d already lost one parent I wasn’t about to lose another, and there it was again. Mom. I tried to avoid thinking about her, where she was, what she was doing and why she had left us. What if I found her now? Would she even help me? Would she even care that Dad was in danger and I was on some crazy mission to save him? Or would she just walk away and not care at all, like last time?
“Chloe, can you hand me the sonic spanner in my bag?”
I snapped out of my funk and grabbed Slade’s bag and dug through it. Luckily I remembered from my time working with him which of the crazy tools was the spanner and handed it to him. He snatched it, our hands touching for just a moment, though long enough to send a faint spark through me and I smiled.
I unzipped my hoodie and pulled it off throwing it over the chair as I slid off it and onto the floor. I tucked my legs up to my chest and settled myself beside him as he worked. He was intent and determined and his ever-thoughtful self, trying to help me yet again. Even though I treated him badly and pushed him away most times, here he was at my side helping me. I’d called him my boyfriend when the HVO had attacked him, surprising myself, though at that moment I meant it.
Why was I always such a nutter about relationships? I know mom leaving when I was so young scarred me but that didn’t explain why I hated public displays of affection. Most normal people like that type of thing. I know Slade would have appreciated it since it seemed I pushed him away if he dared to kiss me in front of anyone. How did I explain when I couldn
’t understand it myself? It was so hard for me to feel normal. Instead I always felt as if people were staring at me, not to mention my knack for making a spectacle of myself.
“I found the transaction log. It’ll take me a few minutes to pull it up.”
“What’s that?”
“The machine keeps a log of all incoming and outgoing calls. We should be able to see who your dad was talking too.”
Slade hadn’t glanced up. He kept his head down and his focus strong, working on the device. I remained beside him.
So what if I wanted Michael Slade to be my boyfriend, I should be happy about that. Of course I would never hear the end of it from Nightshade, but why should he care? He had Jess to keep him company at night. Not to mention the girl in all those pictures that I found in his room, whoever she might be. It certainly seemed like he had more relationships then I ever did. He was so beyond frustrating at times, always giving me grief about Slade and just about everything else. I swear he could push my buttons just by looking at me. It was maddening, he and his stupid different colored eyes. My thoughts wandered to how he had looked standing in his doorway, his shirt off, his—
“Done.” Slade bolted upright.
I reached out, grabbing him and pulling him to me, kissing him hard. My unexpected action startled him and it took him a moment to return my kiss, but he did. I wrapped my arms around his neck and coiled one leg around his coming down on top of him. I wanted and needed to be close to him more than anything at that moment. He reached under my arms and pushed me back away from him, our lips parting.
“It’s okay, calm down,” he whispered softly then slipped his arms around me and tucked me close.
I rested my head against his chest and heard the steady sound of his heart beating. I lost myself in the comfort of his strength and the gentleness of his arms. All other thoughts drifted away as he held me. I closed my eyes, wanting to blot out the world and all my troubles, but I couldn’t. How could I seek comfort from him when I wasn’t even sure what was happening between us or wanted to happen between us? With reality rearing its ugly head, I pushed off him and stood up, turning away from him. I steadied my breathing trying to regain my composure.
“Chloe what was that?”
“Nothing, I’m sorry I just wanted to kiss you.”
“I want that too but it was like you wanted to... I don’t even know.” He reached out, his hand touching my shoulder. “I want to be with you, I won’t deny that. But I don’t want it to happen just because it’s a difficult time for you. I wanted you before this and I’m going to want you after it’s over.”
I wrapped my arms around my shoulders rubbing them quickly to warm up. I lowered my head and sighed. “I know, this is all just a lot for me. I’m not good at relationships.”
“I’m patient and I’ll never push you.”
“I know you won’t. I just needed to feel... close.” At least I thought that was what I wanted.
He slid his arm around me and eased me to him. I closed my eyes and let his tender warmth wash over me.
With a smile I’d come to love, he lowered his lips to mine brushing over them lightly before he kissed me gently. I wanted to grab him, yell at him, and tell him to run that I wasn’t worth waiting for because I’d screw things up like I always did. But I kept silent perhaps hoping this time it would be different and I would be worth it.
Then he hugged me tight and all I could think was that here was a great guy offering so much and all I could offer was a broken girl... and he deserved more.
Slade returned us to more important matters. “I got the list of last known contacts. There were three on the day your dad was here,”
“Did we get names?” I moved away from him, grabbed my hoodie off the chair, slipped it on, and zipped it up.
“That’s the odd bit.”
I turned to find him rubbing the back of his neck and not looking particularly happy.
“What?”
“One of the calls was to DI Emory.”
“Damn it, I knew Emory was holding out on me.”
“Another was to Doorknob Society Manor and the last one I’ve never heard of before.”
Who would Dad be talking to at DS Manor? I’d only been there the one time when I met Jordan. Maybe he had a friend there, someone who might be able to help us?
“The one DS, how long did it last?” I asked.
“Twenty minutes.”
“Call it.” I turned to the machine determined to find out what my father had been doing.
“Chloe, we have no idea who it is. They could track it and find us.”
“I don’t care. I want to know who in DS my dad was talking to. Call it.” I kept my voice steady even though I didn’t feel anywhere near calm.
“I don’t think we should. They’ll find us,” Slade urged trying again to dissuade me.
“No they won’t.” Nightshade said.
Slade and I turned to see Nightshade and Jessica standing in the doorway holding the books they’d found.
“What are you talking about?” Slade snapped.
I didn’t think the two would ever stop rubbing each other the wrong way.
“Your dad was worried about the phone call being tracked, so he figured out what to do to make sure that it didn’t happen.” Nightshade held up a book, The Technical Specs of the Looking Glass. He flipped through the pages until he stopped at a dog-eared page and spun it around to hand to Slade. “He figured out how to rig the machine so they couldn’t track him.”
“Damn, that’s impressive.” Slade said and eagerly began reading.
“What about the other books?” I asked and looked to Jess. I avoided looking at Nightshade, foolishly believing if I did that he would know what had happened between Slade and me. And I wasn’t about to give him anything else to comment on.
Jess walked over to me and as she handed me the other two books, she whispered, “Is everything alright with you and Slade?”
“Yeah, um I think it is.” Though I really wasn’t sure what Slade and I were at the moment.
“Are you guys fighting?”
“Disagreeing is more like it. He gets so stubborn sometimes,” I said rolling my eyes.
“You guys will work it out. You have to. You make a cute couple.”
“You and Nightshade don’t seem to argue that much.” I nodded toward Nightshade who was leaning against the opposite wall watching Michael work on the machine.
Jessica blushed a deep crimson and lowered her eyes along with her voice. “It’s nothing like that, we’re just friends.”
“But, I thought you were a couple. I mean he stayed in the room with you last night.” The words poured out of me before I could stop them and Jess turned an even deeper shade of red.
“He just wanted to make sure I was okay. He slept on the floor. We’re nothing more than good friends. James hasn’t been with anyone in a while.” She glanced at him and tears had welled in her eyes by the time she turned back to face me. “You’re lucky you found such a nice guy, cuz.”
“You haven’t called me that since we were kids?” I smiled and tried not to think about the fact that Nightshade had lead me to believe they were involved, yet another reason to want to strangle him. And that he had been able to bring my hard-nosed cousin to the edge of tears. I didn’t know which made me angrier.
“Being chased by madmen and monsters will do wonders to bring a family closer together, besides we’re the only family we’ve got.” She smiled.
I grinned.
At least not everything in the world sucked, I had reunited with my cousin and I was happy to have her back in my life. If you had told me two days ago that would happen, I would have laughed in your face.
“So what’s the deal with these books?” I glanced down at them in my hands.
“One is about the lost groups of three and the other is a really old mapmaker’s book. It’s like falling apart.” She took the decrepit thing from me. It was in total disrepair; its bindi
ng cracked and falling apart and numerous loose pages had been randomly stuffed back inside. The title was barely legible on the pockmarked and weather-beaten cover.
Origins: An Account of the Founding of the Mapmakers Union
“Any idea why your dad would want these books?” Jess attempted to fit he loose pages into the book but failed and placed them just inside the cover.
“I imagine that whatever he was looking for might be linked to them. Maybe it was an artifact of the Mapmakers. The other one I’ve got no idea.” I shook my head glancing at the two books.
“I think that about does it for modifications.” Slade wiped the sweat away from his brow and stood back from the machine.
“So now they can’t track us?” Nightshade questioned.
“If Chloe’s dad was right it should send their tracking system into a loop right back to them.”
“Make the call.” I stepped in front of everyone and stood before the oblong shaped screen.
Slade twisted one of the dials and pulled down on a lever, the gears on both sides turned and waves of energy trickled over me from the device as it powered on. The screen shifted like a drop of water in a pond; it shimmered and rippled.
It formed into the shape of a man sitting at a desk. He turned his head to face the screen and smiled and my stomach turned.
“Well, if it isn’t the infamous Ms. Masters. I should have known that you would be as much of a troublemaker as your father.” Mr. Jordan said with a sneer.
“You talked with my dad from this very room,” I said keeping my anger under control when I would have much rather have wrung the man’s scrawny neck.
“So I did, but what difference does that possibly make? Your father was drummed out of the society and no amount of grandstanding was going to get him reinstated.”
“What did he tell you?”
“It makes no difference, Chloe,” he said dismissively. “After what you’ve done, you’ll never be permitted entrance to the Society. I also will make certain that you are expelled from the Paladin Academy as well. And know that this is all because your father is a liar.”