by MJ Fletcher
“Hey.” Slade appeared beside me and leaned down, kissing me lightly on the lips.
I smiled at the sight of him. He was a handsome guy with a solid build and I sometimes wondered what he saw in me. He slid in beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, hugging me.
“Here you go guys.” Val placed two cups of coffee in front of us and glanced at Slade with sad eyes.
“Slade, did you happen to see Edgar today?” Val asked anxiously.
“Yeah, he was doing work for his dad and then he’s meeting us here.”
A grin burst across Val’s face and she rushed back to work, much happier knowing that Edgar was on the way.
I didn’t waste time getting right to the point. “What happened?”
Slade didn’t waste any time either. “Levi returned this morning. He was injured; a broken arm, some badly bruised ribs and scrapes. He said he had been on the trail of the artifact when he had a run-in with some members of the First Kind.” Slade sipped his drink while I contemplated the news.
“Were they there?” I finally asked.
Slade knew who I was talking about without me needing to explain.
“Darker was one of the ones who attacked him, he didn’t see True anywhere. From everything I can gather no one has seen her since that night at the Library. Maybe she didn’t make it out after all?”
I’d never forget the image of my mother helping True escape through the portal; it was seared in my memory.
“No, she got out, I’m sure of it. Did Levi find anything?”
“Not sure, that’s all the information I could find out.”
“Damn it.” I hit the table, annoyed that we were still so in the dark about what was going on.
“Calm down, we’ll figure it out.” Slade slid his hand over mine, trying to soothe me and I bit my tongue wanting to tell him to just let me be angry. But Slade always felt he was supposed to fix things, maybe because he was an Impossible Engineer and IE's were adapt at building and repairing, putting things together and making them work. Hell, it’s probably why he liked me so much... I was broken and he was looking to fix me.
“I know we will.” I slid my hand out from under his and grabbed my cup to sip my coffee.
“Hey, guys,” Edgar yelled as soon as he opened the door to the Beanery, causing everyone to turn his way. He was dressed as oddly as ever, his ever-present leather satchel at his side with the usual assortment of maps and bits of paper hanging from its edges. His goggles were pushed up into his hair, forcing it to unnatural heights.
He sped toward us just as Val rushed out of the backroom, her head down. They collided with one another, falling to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Val pushed herself up and from the angry set of her mouth I knew she was ready to start yelling until she saw who she was sprawled over. She stared at Edgar for a moment, smiled, and then blushed bright red. Edgar returned her smiled while customers returned to their conversations.
“Why didn’t you answer my texts?” She didn’t make a move to get off of poor Edgar who was trapped beneath her.
“I was helping my dad. I sent you an e-mail,” he explained.
The majority of technology regular people used mystified Edgar. Slade had worked on Edgar’s phone for a full day to get it to connect to a regular cell network in order for him to be able to text Val.
“E-mail is for old people, Edgar, next time text me.” Val stood up and offered Edgar her hand and helped him up. He brushed himself off and Val playfully punched his shoulder and then went back to work. Edgar watched her walk away and then joined us at the table.
“Hey, guys,” Edgar said half-heartedly, his attention remaining on Val.
“Over here, Edgar.” I laughed, snapping my fingers in front of his face.
He blinked, laughed, and slapped my hand away. “Did you guys hear about Mr. Miller?”
Edgar was well connected in the Mapmakers Union and he was always able to get information faster than we could. We filled him in quick on what we already knew about the situation. Val brought over a drink for Edgar and we waited for her to leave before we started discussing it again. It was a strict rule... outsiders were not to know about our world.
“Do you know anything else?” I asked, Edgar’s eyes shifted back and forth and he took a deep breath.
“According to my source, Mr. Miller hit a dead end in his search. He said even the First Kind has feelers out trying to learn something, any little thing. He did say that allegedly they have some information they stole a while back that is helping them in their search.” The First Kind was the splinter group comprised of Old Kind from the different Societies who were making my life hell.
“Do you know what it is?”
“No, I just know that it’s a big deal and that everyone is upset about it. According to the story I heard, the First Kind stole the information and during the robbery they killed a bunch of people.”
I leaned back and wondered what the First Kind could have possibly stolen that would be of help to them.
“Maybe if we find out when they stole it, we could backtrack and figure out what they have,” I suggested. “Did you hear anything else?”
“Just a name of one of the people they killed,” Edgar dipped his head and my stomach began to sink, something was wrong. “Lauren Harkness.”
The name struck me like a slap in the face. I sat back and my mind raced at the thought of what this could mean.
“What is it, did you know her?” Slade asked concerned.
“No, but I know someone who did. She was Nightshade’s girlfriend.”
Chapter 2
Status: I have to call a friend and it’s not going to be pleasant.
“Damn, that Lauren.” Slade put his head back and whistled.
“You knew her?” I had to remind myself that they’d all known one another since they were young, so of course Slade had to have known her.
“I knew of her from around school. Nightshade and Lauren were the IT couple once they got together. I used to see them around from time to time.” He finished and downed the last bit of coffee from his cup.
Edgar’s head was still downcast. He was obviously upset and I hated to ask but I needed to know all I could. “Edgar, you knew her right?”
“Yes.” His shoulders sagged and he finally lifted his head. He didn’t look directly at me, his focus drifting off. “We all used to get together. Lauren was whip smart and one of the few people who could understand me when I started droning on about mapmaking.”
Edgar wasn’t being arrogant with the comment, just stating a fact. He was smarter than most people and keeping up with his mapmaking skills would take someone who knew a lot more than I did about maps.
“Do you know anything about the night she was killed?”
His eyes closed slowly and I hated that I was forcing him to recall a painful memory. “Lauren had been gone for a while on special assignment. I didn’t know what it was about, but Nightshade called me and he was not happy. He said that Lauren was in trouble and he needed a few maps. I gave him what he wanted and he raced off. I offered to go but he said he could handle it. The next day, I found out that she’d died and Nightshade had been injured.”
Sorry seemed such an inadequate consolation when someone suffered loss, but it was all I could think to say. “Sorry.”
Edgar nodded and ran his fingers through his hair and then scratched his head. “Jess was pretty close with Lauren, maybe she knows something?”
I knew that Jess had been friendly with Lauren but we had never really gotten time to talk about it. And since the battle at the Infinity Library, where hell literally broke loose, my life had been a whirlwind. Everyone had wanted a piece of the girl who had fought the First Kind and taken down Mr. Jordan, a sitting member of the council. Jess and I had talked since but I hadn’t told her what Nightshade had shared with me about Lauren. Now I was going to have to talk to someone about her. My choice—for sure—was not going to be Nightshade, so I
would have to contact Jess.
“I’ll text Jess.” I pulled my phone out and wrote a quick text, though hesitated before I hit send. Dredging this up might not be a good thing for her and Nightshade’s budding relationship, but did I have a choice?
When Nightshade had told me about Lauren and that fateful night, I could tell how much he had loved her. I had heard it in the pain in his voice and had seen it in his eyes. I knew Jess had been affected by her death as well, but when we all decided to pursue the First Kind, we promised we would keep everyone in the loop. I hit send and placed my phone on the table.
Slade waved down Val. She brought over refills for each of us and leaned against Edgar, which immediately cheered him up as she chatted with us for a bit. My phone beeped and my stomach turned. I knew who it was and I wasn’t sure I wanted to have the conversation that was going to follow. Val giggled and walked off as I picked it up and read Jess’ response.
“Well?” Edgar asked.
“She’s on her way.” I grabbed my cup and, needing the caffeine, took a deep gulp. How was I supposed to start this conversation? Hey, Cuz, I need to ask you about your dead friend who happens to be your new boyfriend’s deceased girlfriend. Could it get any more complicated? I did not see this going very well. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and make this as easy as possible on us both.
The jangle of the bells over the door made me turn. Jess stepped into the Beanery. Every guy in the place turned to check her out, that’s how beautiful she was. Of course her talent for dressing trendy didn’t hurt either. She wore a black pencil skirt cut a few inches above the knee, with a crimson red, low-cut cami. The snug, dark jacket that accentuated her curves had the guys drooling. And don’t get me started on her perfect long blond hair. She hurried over to us smiling and slid in right next to Edgar, who happily made room for her. I was always amazed at how easily men accommodated Jess.
“Hi all.” She grinned and looked so happy that it almost made me not want to discuss Lauren Harkness with her.
“Let me go get you a coffee,” Edgar offered, jumping up and squeezing past Jess to rush over to Val at the counter.
“I’ll help you,” Slade said and slid out of the booth to join Edgar.
They were both cowards and I was going to make them pay for leaving me to do this on my own.
Jess laughed and turned to me. “Was it something I said?”
“No, they’re just idiots.”
“It’s good to see you, Cuz. We’ve both been so busy that we haven’t had time to talk.”
I got the sense that Jess wanted to tell me something but I didn’t want to get sidetracked so I jumped right in. “We got some news about the First Kind.” I explained to her what we knew about Levi Miller and what the First Kind was looking for.
“What do you think it is?”
“It seems that the First Kind stole something over a year ago and people were killed in the process.” My voice got lower, as if I didn’t want to hear my own words but it didn’t matter since Jess put two and two together and knew where I was going.
Jess’s eyes grew wide and her face drained of color. “Oh no.”
“Edgar heard them mention Lauren Harkness’ name. Whatever they stole the day she died has a connection to the Artifact. Do you know what she was working on?”
Tears pooled in Jess’ eyes. She grabbed a napkin from the table and dabbed at them, trying to stop them from falling.
I slid my hand across the table and grasped hers, giving it a comforting squeeze. She looked down at my hand and then back up at me and managed a smile.
“I—I—I talked to her that day.” She stumbled over her words as if they were hard to get out. “She’d been working on this special project for the Council for two months and they were just about finished. She was happy at what they had discovered. According to her, the find was huge and she couldn’t wait to get home and see Nightshade again. She missed him terribly.” She choked back tears and balled her hands into fists, fighting to contain her emotions.
“Did she mention what it was?”
“She was always talking about musty old things, she was geeky like that. Lauren loved old books or discovering some long forgotten facts. It’s why she was picked for the research team. All I remember was that she called it a Chronicle and I only recall that because of the Chronicles of the First Kind.”
The Chronicles were a myth amongst our people. They were supposedly the written word of the first of our kind, laying down our laws and origins. Only scraps of them existed today and those were so closely guarded you’d have to be crazy to try and go near them.
“If it was an actual Chronicle, that’s what they could be using to help them find the Artifact, and if it points the way to an Artifact, then the First Kind could get to it before the Impossible Engineers.”
“Do you know what the Artifact is?” Jess asked, clearing the tears from her eyes.
“Slade has been trying to find out. All we can figure out so far is that it’s some kind of tool. At least we think it is but without proof,” —I shrugged—“who knows.”
“We can’t let them get to it first.” Jess was adamant and I knew she’d be willing to do whatever it took and whatever I asked to make sure we beat them to it.
“Anything you can remember about what Lauren told you might help, or anything she might have told anyone else.” I let it hang in the air between us. She knew who I was referring to and she looked down at the table and sighed.
“He healed really well.” She didn’t mention Nightshade by name but we both knew who she was referring to.
“I’m glad.”
“I’ve tried to talk to him about what happened but he won’t tell me anything. All he says is that Caleb caught him with a shot and that he doesn’t remember anything after that.” Her gaze rested on me and it was obvious that she thought there was more to it than that... and she was looking for me to fill in the gaps.
“That’s what happened,” I lied, not that I wanted to but if Nightshade didn’t want to take credit for saving my life, who was I to stop him. I also didn’t want to confess my heart-stopping reaction to him almost dying in my arms and least of all I didn’t want to confess how I had kissed him.
“It scarred him pretty bad.”
“The blast he took was massive,” I said, remembering the immense power racing toward me.
“I meant Lauren’s death; he still has trouble with it.”
How well I knew that recalling how he had choked out the words when he had described her death to me.
“We’ve been spending a lot of time together,” Jess admitted. “It’s been nice. He seems much better and much more focused lately. I’m afraid if I bring this up it might upset him.” She bit her lip and ran her finger over the edge of Edgar’s empty coffee cup.
“I’m sorry, Jess, I wish there was another way.”
“So do I,” she said with a sense of sadness that nagged at my heart.
Slade and Edgar returned with Jess’ drink and slid back into their seats.
“You two do know your dead meat right?” I laughed as they tried to act casual.
“What did we do?” Edgar’s eyes went wide and he threw his hands up in mock surrender.
“Real smooth operators, guys, how long did it actually take you to get that coffee?”
“We just wanted to make sure they got it right,” Slade offered as a pathetic defense.
“Val doesn’t know how to do her job and it takes two big strong men to carry one little cup of coffee?”
Jess laughed at my sarcastic comment and so did I. Edgar began to chuckle and soon we were all bent over the table in hysterics.
“Okay,” Edgar fessed up and offered an apology. “Sorry we bolted on you.”
“I don’t bite guys,” Jess sighed and finally took a sip of her super extra special drink they had gotten her.
I repeated what Jess had told me about the Chronicle and both of them had the same reaction as I had. It ma
de them nervous as hell.
“Jess was also going to talk with Nightshade and see if he remembers anything,” I said.
“She’s probably the best person to talk to him about it,” Edgar said. “He was giving me hell last weekend about not getting him the new map he wanted quickly enough.”
“You talked to him last weekend?” I hadn’t realized Edgar and Nightshade had been talking since the battle. I knew they were friends but apparently I didn’t realize how close.
“Yeah, he’s working on his car and needs a new map, plus he had to pick up those parts from Slade.” Edgar jerked his thumb toward Slade.
“You saw him too?” Slade hadn’t said anything to me about seeing Nightshade or that they had talked.
“Yeah, he came by the Impossible Engineer Hall about a month ago and asked me to make some special parts for his car. They were nothing like I had ever done before so it was a challenge I enjoyed taking on.” He shrugged his shoulders, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“I didn’t realize you had become so close.” I couldn’t keep the bite out of my tone as I stared at Slade. He on the other hand found his coffee cup the most interesting thing in the Universe.
Edgar turned the subject to some new project he was working on. I didn’t pay much attention. I was too busy thinking about how everyone had apparently seen Nightshade these last few months... everyone, that was, except me. Edgar with his maps and Slade with his stupid car, even Val had seen him last night. But I guess I was too much of a pain for Mister Wonderful to bother with.
Then there was him and Jess, or was there? I knew she had feelings for him, but had he reciprocated? I didn’t recall seeing them together in the last two months, but then I really hadn’t seen Nightshade. Maybe things had changed. It certainly seemed as if everyone thought of them as a couple. I suppose they could be a couple, and if they were, good for them. I didn’t care what Nightshade did with his free time. I was too busy being happy with Slade.