The Mapmakers Union (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 3)

by MJ Fletcher

  “Where?” Faith turned to me.

  I brushed sand off me and didn’t bother to look her way. “I’ve got a plan, though this is part of the mission Edgar and I need to do alone.”

  “But I can help,” Faith insisted grabbing my hand and squeezing it.

  “You already have helped; we can take it from here. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know we’re okay.”

  “Chloe,” —she kept hold of my hand and tugged— “please let me help.”

  “We need to go now,” Edgar said from behind us and I nodded in agreement, then slid my hand out of Faith’s.

  “Text me when you’re safe, please,” Faith called after us and I waved my hand in acknowledgement.

  We left the beach and headed toward the street. I glanced back and saw Faith on her phone, her attention once again focused on the water. I pulled my jacket tight against the cold and wished I had brought a pair of pants. Edgar pointed out a building and I activated my knob and pushed it into the wall opening a portal and Edgar rushed through. I stepped in after him and for a moment I could have sworn I saw Faith across the street watching our every move.

  The warmth of the Reliquary washed over me as I stepped out into the main hall. The moon shined brightly outside the massive windows on both sides of the room. I closed off the portal behind us and Edgar rushed down the hall to the containment room we had set up for artifacts after bringing back the Impossible Engineer device last year.

  I made my way to the great room, slid onto one of the big couches, took a deep breath, and finally looked myself over. While I had started the night thinking I didn’t look too bad, I was now a wreck. My stockings were torn and bloody with scratches dotting the length of my legs. My shirt had tears and pieces of hedge sticking out of it. I yanked off my leather jacket and started picking off the twigs and dirt sticking to me. I didn’t even want to consider what my hair looked like at the moment.

  My entire body was sore and when I lifted my shirts to check I could see the black and blue welts left from my fight with the griffin. I gritted my teeth and gently tested the bruised area and though it hurt I was sure I hadn’t broken any ribs. I knew that feeling well from last time, and though this hurt it wasn’t nearly as bad. I stripped off my stockings and my top shirt and found one of the many bathrooms the Reliquary had. I pulled off the rest of my outfit and finally checked myself out in a mirror. My hair was a disaster. I washed my face quickly scrubbing off my makeup and turned on the water for a hot bath.

  Once the water was high enough I slid my legs in and shivered as the water lapped at each cut. It felt like a razor blade nipping at my skin. But I knew I needed to clean myself up. I sunk down into the tub letting the hot water soak into every inch of me. I held my breath and submerged my head. I used to do a trick like this with dad called The Water Coffin, so I was very good at holding my breath.

  I let my mind wander, thinking over the events of the night. We’d gotten the coordinates we needed but also stolen an artifact, something not part of our plan. That could cause real trouble between the Old Kind, but the bigger question was how did the First Kind find us? None of the pieces fit together, nothing made sense. I had to be missing something and it was probably obvious, so why couldn’t I see it.

  I lifted myself out of the water and rested my head on the edge of the tub. Closing my eyes, I controlled my breathing and ran the images in my head over and over. I kept running into a blind spot, something had happened when Edgar activated the Legend but I couldn’t remember what it was. It was like a blank spot in my mind and I didn’t like it. I pushed it aside and moved forward to Darker; he hadn’t been surprised to see me. He knew I was going to be there and he had asked for the Legend. He knew exactly why we were there, that was more than tracking... he had been informed of our whereabouts. But that would mean one of us was a traitor. I didn’t like the thought at all. These were my friends, the people I relied on more than anyone in the world. How could one of them turn against us?

  If one of us did turn then who could it be? The back of my neck got itchy again, and instead of rubbing it, I let it go. I needed to think this through. I wrote Val off right away, she would never betray us. Jess and Edgar had no reason to turn against the Old Kind. Slade was faithful to a fault with the Impossible Engineers; I had learned that the hard way. Faith was willing to risk herself to help me tonight.

  The image of Faith smiling crept like a phantom into my thoughts. She’d been knocked out of the fight with the griffin. Where had she gone after that? That would have given her time to find the other guard and contact the First Kind. But why would she? Maybe the others were right about her. They hadn’t trusted Faith this whole time, but I had blindly trusted her. That just wasn’t like me, to trust so easily. My head hurt more as my mind reeled. I felt horribly guilty thinking Faith a traitor. But I had to consider all possibilities.

  I ducked under the water once more, opened my mouth, and screamed as loud as I could. Air bubbles poured from my mouth and rushed to the surface. My frustration was getting the better of me but what could I do? My only recourse was to follow the path laid out in front of me.

  I pulled myself up and yanked the stopper out letting the tub drain as I turned on the shower head. I took my time washing out my hair. It was a mess and it felt good to just be doing something so simple. I scrubbed my body as quickly as I could but it still stung like hell. I finished up and stepped out of the shower and toweled off. My undershirt had made it through the night unscathed and I put it on along with my skirt.

  I dried my hair with the towel as much as I could and walked back to the great room. The voices drifted down the hall to me before I got close.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” Dad didn’t sound happy at all.

  “We didn’t have a choice; we knew they were going to be moving the Legend. We needed it to get to the Tavern.” Edgar was doing his best to defend our actions.

  “Edgar, you know she hasn’t been the same since Nightshade. She’s taking too many risks. I’ve got half a mind to not let her anywhere near the Tavern.” Dad lowered his voice and I knew that voice. It was the one he used when he was seriously upset.

  “I’m watching out for her, Mr. Masters, if I thought she was going too far I would stop her.”

  I heard Dad chuckle. “I think that might end up painfully for you. I hoped she would have come to terms with what happened by now, but it seems as if she is having a harder time then I thought.”

  “It was hard on all of us losing Nightshade.”

  I clenched my jaw and squeezed my eyes closed. I should have realized how much Nightshade’s death hurt Edgar. They had been longtime friends. I had been too busy worrying about myself to consider how anyone else had felt.

  “I know it was, though that coupled with her mother’s betrayal...” Dad’s voice trailed off.

  “Mr. Master’s, do you know why your wife turned against the Old Kind?” Leave it to Edgar to not know when a question was inappropriate.

  “I ask myself that every day, Edgar. Was it something I did or didn’t do, was it my fault? Truthfully, I have no idea, though I wish I did. I wish I had answers for you, myself, and most of all, my daughter. She had to grow up so quickly after her mom left. With my endless traveling and helping me with my magic act, she didn’t have much of a childhood. I should have done a better job of preparing her for life.”

  I bit back the tears that were threatening to spill and listened closely.

  “You didn’t know about the First Kind though,” Edgar said.

  “No, but still I’ve asked so much of her and still do. She shouldn’t be worried about fighting the First Kind; she should worry about where she’s going to college next year.”

  “Her mom would have showed up eventually.”

  “True enough, but I’ll never stop second guessing myself when it comes to all of this. I know we need to find this book, but I’m not sure I want all of you to keep searching.”

  “Mr. Masters, y
ou can to tell us to stop but that won’t make a bit of difference. If it wasn’t our fight, it is now. We lost our friend, and they’re after us. I won’t stop and either will your daughter. Wouldn’t you rather know what we’re doing then not?”

  Dad laughed. “At least you’re honest Edgar. I know you’re right but that doesn’t mean I like it.”

  I wiped my face making sure that that there weren’t any telltale signs of tears and entered the room smiling. “Hi Dad.” I rushed forward and hugged him tightly. He’d been in and out of my life lately, even less since he started hunting down clues on the First Kind.

  “Are you okay?” He took hold of my shoulders and held me a distance from him to take stock. I squirmed involuntarily since he used Dad-vision to see if I had any injuries. It was like x-ray vision only a hell of a lot stronger.

  “Sore and other then my pride being bruised, I’m fine.” I laughed and slipped next to Edgar on the couch “The rock star here made sure of that. You should have seen him in action Dad.” I gave Edgar’s shoulder a loving tap and his face turned bright red.

  “There’s no way you could have returned the Legend?” Dad rubbed his fingers in circles over his temples.

  “Not with so many First Kind around, they would have gotten it. Maybe we could return it now?” I didn’t think that would go over well and wasn’t really sure we could get away with walking into the Mapmakers and handing over their scared artifact without starting a war.

  “No, that’s too risky. It could make the situation worse. With the First Kind trying to activate it remotely it’s probably safest here for the moment. Once we get the book and figure out how to stop them, then we can return it,”

  The smile on Edgar’s face was huge and he let out a low whistle of approval.

  Dad chuckled and sat down across from us. “How long before you can make a run at the Tavern?”

  “I’ve been looking over the calculations and they are tremendously intricate. I mean some of the most elegantly designed work I’ve ever seen. They actually use a portal that skirts across a white dwarf star to hide your energy trail; it’s beautiful.” Edgar looked from my dad to me while his hands danced in the air to emphasize his point.

  “That’s very nice, Edgar, so how long?” Dad smiled trying to remain patient.

  “Since we aren’t going to use the Legend itself just the coordinates, it’ll take me about a month to get it all mapped out and ready for us.” He nodded as if confirming his own estimate.

  “That should give us plenty of time to prepare.” I pulled my legs onto the couch and leaned against Edgar.

  “I suppose,” Dad said with reluctance.

  He still didn’t like the idea of us being the ones going to the Tavern, but we didn’t have much choice. All members of the Old Kind were being watched like hawks by their own groups and one another. And with my family’s reputation, I’m sure Dad had more than a couple of people on his trail.

  “What kind of power signature will the portal give off?” Dad asked.

  “I’d say mighty powerful with the calculations I’m seeing. We’ll have to hide the signature somehow.” Edgar shrugged as if it was a minor blip.

  “So the plan you have to take our place won’t work,” I smirked at Dad as he leaned back in his seat, knowing he was trying to figure out a way to go instead of us “You gave us this mission, you have to let us see it through. We can do this dad.”

  “What about the First Kind? They’ll be watching you even closer now.”

  “I can handle them,” I said.

  Dad rolled his eyes at the comment. “Pretty cocky.”

  “No, confident. I’ve dealt with them before and I will again. Besides if we do this right, they won’t even know what’s happened until it’s too late.”

  “You have a plan?” he asked.

  “You bet I do.”

  “And this one will work, right?”

  “I believe it will,” I assured him.

  Dad smiled at me and leaned back in his chair. “Okay, just keep me in the loop about everything. Is that understood?”

  “Of course, Dad.”

  “What’s first?”

  “First, I put my team together.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Status: Time to have a talk...

  “What do you want?” Slade leaned against the door frame of his front door. I stood on the porch clutching my bag against my stomach and taking a deep breath. “Can we talk?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Slade,” —I bit my lip and shifted back and forth on my feet— “look it wasn’t what you think.”

  “So you didn’t hook up with Nightshade?”

  “He kissed me—that’s it—it was in the moment.”

  “And now you wear his jacket and you’re telling me nothing else happened. I don’t believe you, Chloe. Something was going on between you two, it always was. You didn’t think I noticed the way you two looked at one another and the way you would always back each other up? But I trusted you and you betrayed that trust.” Slade crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at me.

  “What do you want, Slade, do you want to hear that I was cheating on you? I wasn’t. I’m such a loser when it comes to relationships that I didn’t even realize I had any feelings for Nightshade until it was too late.”

  “So you did have feelings for him?”

  “Yes, I did. Okay? If you haven’t noticed, I’m not perfect like you. I’m awkward and make mistakes and I don’t have the ideal family. I’m like Humpty Dumpty after he fell off the wall and I’m not sure if I can ever put the pieces back together again. Nightshade was like me, so we understood each other. The fact is,” —I lowered my head and closed my eyes— “I knew I would never be good enough for you.”

  “Is that what you think? You think I wanted some perfect girlfriend. I like you because of who you are, even though I know you don’t let me see the real you all the time. I was willing to wait till you were ready to share that part of you with me. Maybe I couldn’t understand you the way Nightshade did, but I was willing to try.”

  I looked up at him. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  “Nightshade and I never got along. There were times where we tolerated each other but we were like oil and water. Ever since that fateful day all I’ve done is envy him; he did what I should have. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking choosing the artifact over you.” Slade slid his hand anxiously through his hair and let out a long breath. “The fact is I didn’t just let you down, I let myself down. Nightshade was a pain-in-the-ass and it killed me that I envied him, but now it’s even worse because not only did he sacrifice himself for you. You actually had feelings for him and how the hell can I fight a ghost?”

  “Slade, you know we’re just friends there’s nothing to fight against.” I reached out and grasped his hand squeezing it gently.

  “Right,” he mumbled and he nodded in resignation.

  “I want us to be able to get passed this.”

  “Chloe, I know you want us to be friends but after this I’m just not sure. I thought I could handle it but now,” —he fisted his hands, his knuckles turning white— “I’m not sure.”

  “Slade.”

  “Maybe you should go.”

  “Please, we can get passed this.”

  “Maybe you can; I don’t know about me.” His eyes were downcast as he turned and closed the door.

  I reached out about to knock, demand that he talk to me and settle this when I stopped, pulled my arm back, and stepped away from the house. I wasn’t happy about Slade’s choice, but it was his to make. I’d been so angry with him this whole time that I’d never considered how this might have affected him. I didn’t want to be that girl that kept old boyfriends around as back-ups. If he wanted to help me, he knew where to find me. Plus, I knew what it was like when you needed space and no one would give it to you. I was willing to give him the time he needed.

  The air was brisk and I kept my leather jacket zipped
up against the cold. My hands were buried in the pockets and I kept my head down only bringing my eyes up from time to time to see where I was going. As I turned the corner toward home, I saw someone standing on the curb near the end of the street. It was a woman and even though she was draped in a long trench coat her figure and stance were familiar. I lifted my head and looked directly at her. A scarf was wrapped around her face, leaving only an opening for her striking eyes; eyes I hadn’t seen in some time... Ms. True.

  My fingers wrapped around my doorknob and a jolt of power hit me as I activated it. She turned and dashed off in the opposite direction. I let out the closest thing to a growl I could muster and gave chase. A little voice in the back of my head was screamed trap. My heart on the other hand thumped in my chest, telling me to go get her. I turned the corner and skidded to halt to find Ms. True standing only a few feet away.

  “Well, if it isn’t my most gifted student,” she sneered, her scarf now pulled down revealing her face.

  Energy seeped from my pocket as I prepared to attack.

  She lifted her hand wagging her long finger back and forth and pointing out all the nearby people. “We wouldn’t want any innocent bystanders getting hurt now would we?”

  “What do you want?”

  “Unlike the inept Old Kind, you’ve become something of a thorn in our side. I’ve been sent to offer you a truce.”

  “Liar.”

  “No, against my better judgment some people seem to think that you might still see things our way.” Her lip curled up, she obviously wasn’t of the same mind.

  “Tell my mother any chance of that died with Nightshade.”

  She smiled. “This offer isn’t from your mother.”

  “What?” I’d assumed my mother was trying one of her mind trips on me yet again.

  “You don’t honestly believe that your mother is in charge of the First Kind do you? She may be among the hierarchy, but even she answers to someone.”