Oh, you’re clever. Very clever. If she weren’t a colossal, murdering, psychopath bitch, I might have admired her.
Channing darted toward Katherine, using his Earth abilities to shoot up small blockades of stone to protect himself from her powers. She tried to attack him, but he kept ducking down behind the cover he’d created. Soon enough, he found himself standing in front of her. He lifted his hands to strike her down, but she moved like lightning. A blow of ferocious energy—Telekinesis and Fire combined—slammed down on him from above, knocking him to the ground.
She smiled at him, her eyes cold. Keeping her gaze fixed on him, she raised her hands again, gathering a storm of combined elements above his head to execute the finishing blow.
“Stella, NO!” I roared, as she leapt forward with startling speed and knocked Katherine to the side. The blow intended for Channing powered into Stella’s shoulder, deflecting the hit from Channing and sending it toward the far wall. It exploded in a burst of stone and metal. Stella stumbled backward, dragging Channing away from danger.
As Katherine got to her feet, shaking off the indignity of being knocked over, Wade sent a ball of fire toward a rotting beam overhead. It went up in flames instantly, a lick of fire spreading across the ceiling. Manipulating the fire he’d created, he brought it down in a thick curtain of searing hot inferno, separating us from Katherine momentarily. I couldn’t even see her through the sheet of fire.
Wade kept one hand trained on the fiery divide as he ran toward an unconscious Garrett. He managed to drag him upwards and hurl him over his shoulder with his spare hand, then headed for the exit. The adrenaline must’ve given him some kind of Herculean strength.
“Dylan, the door!” he shouted.
Dylan ran toward it and tore it away once again. “Should we follow?”
Wade nodded. “Get after Micah. Bring Tatyana.” He looked to me. “That goes for you, too.”
He darted out of the doorway, with Dylan and Tatyana following after. I was about to make my escape, too, when I spotted a figure moving to the side of the blaze. Isadora huddled in the shadow of the ancient conveyor belt, her glowing wrists giving her away. Katherine was still working her way around the fiery curtain. Isadora was on my side of the blaze, while Katherine remained on the other. I knew this might be the only chance I had to free Isadora. I wasn’t about to leave her behind.
I sprinted toward her and reached for her wrists, but she tugged them back. “It’s no use, Harley.”
“What are you talking about? I have to get you out of here,” I urged. “Come on, you need to come with me.”
She shook her head. “I can’t, Harley. Katherine has cursed me. She has placed a spell upon me that, if broken, will kill me instantly. The moment I run, she will bring the axe down upon my head. I won’t get beyond those fences before she breaks the spell. I’d end my life if I thought it would help, but the curse stops me from even attempting it.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, panicked and horrified that my aunt might commit suicide because of Katherine. I couldn’t lose Isadora, not now. “How did this happen?”
“After that Shapeshifter found us, they never stopped tracking our location,” she replied solemnly. “They found me. I was careless, just for a moment, and they snatched me. Jacob is still safe, though. He’s a smart kid.”
A stab of guilt pierced my heart. It was a painful truth, to realize that my searching for her was ultimately what had led Katherine to her. If I’d just let her stay hidden, the way she’d wanted, then none of this would have happened. Maybe not now, but it might have happened one day. Katherine was determined. She’d have found a way to snatch Isadora, even if I hadn’t gone to her that day. I had to convince myself that it was true.
“He’s safe?”
Isadora nodded. “They won’t find him. He knows how to hide now.”
Before I could ask any more questions about Jacob, Katherine stepped through the sheet of fire as though it were nothing but water. Her eyes sought me out, a triumphant smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. She stalked toward me, her emerald dress flowing behind her like it was an extension of her body. It irked me that I’d picked a similar dress for my pledge. We might have been related by blood, but that was where I wanted the similarities between us to end.
“My dear, sweet niece,” she purred. “What a treat to finally meet you. I have waited such a long time for this moment. Your selfish mother didn’t want me to know you’d even been born, and your oaf of a father was no better. Curious, though, don’t you think? I can’t imagine why they wanted to keep me from you.” A cold laugh bubbled from the back of her throat.
“I have a few ideas,” I shot back. “Murdering someone’s entire family doesn’t tend to get you in the good books. Maybe that’s hard for you to understand, since people like you don’t have any feelings at all.”
She grinned. “Shapeshifters, you mean?”
“You know what I mean, Katherine.”
“Auntie, please. We are family, after all.”
“Hell will freeze over the day I call you Auntie,” I snapped.
“I can arrange for that, if you like? I know a guy.” She held out her palm, a perfect crystal of ice forming above her pale skin. It hovered there for a moment, before zipping straight at my heart. It paused just short, the tip of the crystal pressing into my chest. “I could run this through your heart, and you wouldn’t even realize you were dying. I could do it right now.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Then why don’t you?”
“Delayed gratification, dear Niece. I want to savor the moment of your death, and watch the light go out in your eyes bit by bit,” she replied casually. “I have all the time in the world to end your pathetic existence. Besides, at this moment in time, you’re more use to me alive than dead. In the meantime, I’ve had a little thought. I figured I’d kill every single friend you have, in a myriad of ways. You’ll get to enjoy every show that I put on for you so you’ll know there’s no use in fighting power like mine.”
“I’ll stop you,” I said through gritted teeth. What the heck did she know about me, that she wanted to keep me alive? The Grimoire incident came rattling back into my brain. I guessed that kind of thing would be just up Katherine’s street.
“Is that a promise?”
“I’ll wipe that smirk off your face, one way or another.”
She chuckled. “You are a feisty little thing, aren’t you? You don’t get that from your mother or father. Maybe a little of Auntie Katherine has rubbed off on you, after all,” she mused. “You know, there is an alternative to all of this nastiness. You could always—”
“Join your side? I don’t freaking think so.”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t hurt to ask. Maybe I’ll ask you again once your first few friends are dead. Grief and loss can be a powerful motivator. Even if it’s just a ‘cut your losses’ kind of deal, I’ll still welcome you with open arms.”
“Go to hell,” I spat.
“I’ve already been. Weren’t you listening?”
Raw power thrummed through my veins, starting as a minor pulse and rising to an all-consuming tremor that tore through my body. It surged with such vehemence that I feared it might tear me apart. Every Elemental ability I possessed had gathered inside me, combining in a destructive mix of dark, burning Chaos. It was like holding slippery eels that had no desire to be captured.
With my broken Esprit and my lack of discipline, the violent energy ricocheted out of my searing flesh and into the ground below us. A sinkhole formed in front of Katherine’s feet. She tried to stagger back, but the sinkhole spread out to meet every step she made. I fought to curtail the rapidly expanding edges.
“Just think what I could do for you,” Katherine called from the other side of the gaping crevasse.
Her voice and her words tipped me over the edge. I want nothing from you! my mind screamed.
As soon as the thought passed through my brain, a brutal swell of combined Chaos r
ipped through every cell in my body, before thundering into the earth. As I lost control completely, the sinkhole heaved outward in a final push that took us both down into the dark pit below.
Thirty-Three
Harley
I scrambled to my feet and raised my fists, using a small spark of Fire to cast a glow in the dark space. Walls of earth rose up on all sides, with the factory somewhat shrunken in the distant gap overhead.
On the opposite side of this makeshift arena, a rustle disturbed me. A shadow grew taller in the gloom as Katherine stood. There were barely thirty feet between us, making an out-an-out firefight a dangerous thing. Anything more than a little spark would burn us both, and trying to use my Water abilities would drown us.
Stuck at the bottom of the black pit with Katherine Shipton, I’d somehow managed to level the playing field. At such close quarters, her advantage of impressive shields and powerful waves of energy was gone. We’d both have to be careful with our powers, to stop the whole sinkhole from toppling in on us. If she gives a crap about me surviving, that is. She seemed pretty eager to keep me alive until the bitter end of whatever she was up to, so maybe this wasn’t going to be an execution…
Before I could open my mouth to speak, a shivering snake of Telekinesis swiped me off my feet. I tumbled backward, hitting the dirt with a thud. The spark of Fire sputtered out.
“That’s for ruining a perfectly good dress.” Katherine’s voice echoed from the darkness. “Do you know how hard it is to get Tibetan silk at this time of year? Honestly, couldn’t we have had this little fight up there, where there was room to breathe? It might come as a shock to you, since you’ve no doubt heard of me as this almighty being, but I’m not fond of small, cramped, dirty holes in the ground. I’m not a mole, Harley.”
“You hire them, though, don’t you?” I shot back, as I dragged myself back up.
“What—small, black, furry creatures who dig tunnels? Can’t say I’ve ever hired one. Besides, dear Niece, Familiars aren’t really my cup of tea.”
“Stop calling me that!”
Anger pulsed in my veins, fueling the raw energy within me. A blast of Telekinesis shot out of my hands, thudding into the far wall of the sinkhole with an unsettling spatter of rocks and soil.
“Very sad to see so much potential, so poorly trained,” she mused, her voice somehow all around me. “If you keep going like that, Harley, you’ll bury us both alive. Ooh, unless that’s what you’re going for? Heroic self-sacrifice? Give the Merlin surname a bit of oomph after the negative spin your father put on it? Interesting idea, though it’ll never work. I’ve clawed my way out of deeper holes.”
“Why’s that? Because you’re a life-sucking vampire?”
She laughed, the sound shuddering up my spine. “Oh, my sweet, sweet girl. I’m far worse than that.”
A Telekinetic lasso wrapped around my throat without warning, squeezing tight like a python. In the shadowed gloom of the pit, I hadn’t felt it approach. It wasn’t as though I could read her emotions to try and preempt what she was going to do, and I couldn’t see a freaking thing. A few shadows, maybe, but that was about it.
Feeling my eyes bulge out of my head and my cheeks turn hot as the blood strained to find somewhere to go, I sent out desperate tentacles of my own Telekinesis. They slithered across the rubble-strewn ground, before pausing at a decent-sized boulder. I could feel the weight and shape of it under the edges of my magic. My lungs were burning, my throat all but closed up. With one last-ditch surge of power, I picked up the huge boulder and smashed it down on the back of Katherine’s head. At least, where I hoped her head might be. A groan signaled that my blow had made impact, while the grip of Telekinesis loosened around my throat.
I dragged oxygen into my lungs, inhaling deep gulps of the stale pit air. “I thought you… wanted to leave me for last?”
A ripple of bright green light illuminated Katherine for a few seconds, before the pit faded to black again. I’d managed to hit her, but it didn’t matter. With her ability to self-heal, nothing I did would even make a dent. Still, there was a small satisfaction in knowing I’d whacked her with a hulking great boulder.
A story for the grandkids I’ll never have, once she’s watched the light go out of my eyes. Man, this is a perfect case of “be careful what you wish for.” I’d wanted a family, and boy did I get ‘em.
“That was the plan, but I’m open to improvisation, and you’re really starting to bug me,” she replied. “First you ruined my dress, then you conked me on the head with a rock—not very friendly of you, is it?”
She hurled a refreshed snap of Telekinesis at me, but my own rose to meet it, forcing it away with a bristle of energy that sounded like a thunderclap. White sparks showered off the tendrils, revealing the occasional glimpse of Katherine’s manic face in the near distance.
Lassos of Telekinesis whipped through the gap between us, a scuffle of feet kicking rocks and skittering stones as we both ducked and dove away from one another’s powers. I thought about giving Air a try, but after my pledge fumble and the break in my Esprit, I figured it was best not to risk it. That was a surefire way to get us both smothered in twenty feet of soil and concrete, if I didn’t end up bringing the entire weight of the factory down on us, too.
“You know this is futile, right?” Katherine announced, as she paused and put up a shield between us.
“What’s the matter? Getting tired?”
“No, I’m just way too busy for this kind of nonsense. Bonding with my niece is, naturally, very important to me, but I can’t be giving all of my time to these silly games. I’m an independent businesswoman with a very tight deadline to meet. You’ll have to take a raincheck.” I could hear the satisfied smirk on her face. You think you’re hilarious, don’t you?
“You mean completing those five rituals?”
A sharp intake of breath pierced the dull acoustics. “What did you say?”
“That tight deadline—it wouldn’t have anything to do with those five rituals you’re looking to complete, would it? Finch told me that’s what you need to do to become a Child of Chaos.” I waited for a moment, trying to listen for a change in her emotions. “Tell me, Katherine, when you write out that naughty-and-nice list of yours, like a messed-up magical Santa, which one will I go on? I’m dying to know—am I worthy, in your eyes? Do I automatically get a spot, since I’m family? Finch thinks he’ll get to keep his powers, so it only seems right that I do, too. I’m half Shipton, remember?”
The atmosphere felt very still, as though all of the air had been drawn out of the sinkhole. In the darkness, I could hear her pacing like a wild animal. My muscles braced for the strike that didn’t come, my eyes narrowed at the gloom to try and make out her figure. Too far?
“Finch would never breathe a word to you, Harley. Nice try with the subterfuge, but I’m not buying it. He’s an obedient son, just like his father was an obedient—and very tender—lover. I’ve got fond memories of Hiram Merlin. We could’ve been something together. Still, he let me down. Easier to bend people to your will than expect true loyalty.”
“No, you don’t like a challenge, do you?” I shot back. “I bet you hate it even more when you come in second place. That must have stung, right? To know that he preferred your sister? It can’t be all that satisfying when you have to force somebody to love you by binding them with a crazy-ass spell. I mean, come on, you went to some extreme lengths, didn’t you?”
I knew it was a risky tactic to taunt her like that, but I needed to buy myself a sliver of time. Her angry silence gave me the breather I needed to scour my brain for memories of Nomura’s lessons on how to use my powers without my Esprit. I’d complained so much during those sessions, but now I was grateful I’d been forced into them. Nomura was right: we couldn’t rely on trinkets to channel our energy into something great. We had to do it regardless. We had to know our own strength and enhance it with the Esprits rather than use them as a crutch.
Funny what being
face-to-face with a nutjob will make a girl understand.
Gathering a controlled ball of Fire between my palms, I shot it at Katherine. It hurtled through the air, though I didn’t bother to wait and see where it landed. Even if I missed Katherine herself, it would’ve hit the shelf of rock behind her. That was good enough for me. All I needed to do was distract her while I harnessed the most terrifying power in my arsenal.
With jagged bolts of white light emerging from beneath my hands, I turned them downward, mustering a whorl of ice-cold Air beneath me. It puffed up like a haphazard cushion, lifting me up a short way. Amassing more and more, using my rage to give it strength, I pushed down hard with my hands, feeling the give and resistance of the air pocket as it exploded with sudden violence. I shot upward like a bullet out of a gun, sailing way too high out of the gap above. I landed with a sickening crack on the concrete floor of the factory, knocking the wind clean out of myself as I faceplanted on the ground.
Got to work on that precision, Merlin. Not too shabby, though.
Wasting no time, I slammed my palms down against the hard concrete and sent a rumble of Earth energy through the stone, urging it all the way down into the walls of the sinkhole. I squeezed my eyes shut, my entire body drenched in sweat, my muscles shaking with the effort. I kept my hands pressed to the floor, even when my lungs began to scream, and my nerves began to sear with white-hot electricity beyond my control. A roar exited my throat, mixing with the tremor of the earthquake that would bury Katherine twenty feet under the soil. My howl didn’t stop until the sinkhole had crumpled in on itself completely.
As soon as it was done, I rolled over onto my back and panted so hard I thought my chest might burst. The others appeared in the doorway of the factory, gaping at me in shock. Wade sprinted toward me, but I waved him away, picking my broken body up off the floor with shaking legs.
“I came back for you, but you’d—”
Harley Merlin 3: Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals Page 33