by MJ Fletcher
“Chloe, it seems you got to the Artifact before us.” Mom’s voice boomed throughout the entire building. I don’t know how she amplified it but it resonated everywhere. “Yet again I’m impressed, but as you must have realized by now you’re trapped here just as we are. The only difference is that we have people on the outside working on getting in. So it’s only a matter of time before this trap is sprung and you and your little friends are finished. For the last time I extend a sincere invitation for you to join us, I’ll offer the same to your partners in crime. They must be good for something since my incompetent staff can’t ever seem to catch any of you.
“Understand me, daughter. This offer only last for the next fifteen minutes. After that I send my men to collect all of you. And if we don’t get you, then the gremlins we have been harassing surely will. What’s it to be, Chloe?” The voice cut out and power drained away as she stopped transmitting.
“We need to get to the others now.” I pushed Slade, nodded, and started running down the hallway. We all moved as fast as we could. Luckily, we didn’t come across any of the First Kind. But then my mom had generously given us fifteen minutes and I intended to make good use of the time. We made the final turn on the stairs and rushed forward to where I had seen Nightshade’s signature. I pushed the door open and stepped in and found myself facing glowing twin blades of crimson and blue energy. I sighed along with Jess and Faith when they realized it was me. They dropped the energy weapons and Jess grabbed and hugged me, and then did the same to the others in quick succession. I looked around the room and didn’t see Nightshade anywhere.
“Where’s Nightshade?”
“He stuck us in here and took off insisting he had some unfinished business to take care of, though I have no idea what he was talking about.” Jess threw her hands up in frustration and I couldn’t blame her. This plan was turning into a debacle of gigantic proportions.
“The explosion earlier, was that you or the First Kind?” I asked giving the room a quick scan to see if there might be another exit we could use.
“That was us after we got separated from you guys. We ran into a nest of gremlins and Nightshade overpowered some old Engineer gears that tore a hole through a couple of rooms. It kept the gremlins off our butts for a while. After we ran into that guy Charles, we came here.”
I turned to Jess, tilting my head. “You mean Charlie?”
“Yeah, that one. He and Nightshade really went at it bad, though Nightshade called him Charles. Why?”
I lowered my head and grabbed the back of my neck squeezing it. I’m such an idiot. If I could, I would kick my own ass. Now it made sense why Nightshade had known Charlie at the race and why he had been mad when we went to find Henna without him. How could I have been so blind?
I shook my head. “Damn it, Charlie is the unfinished business,”
“What? Why?” Jess looked confused.
“When Lauren Harkness was killed how did the First Kind know where to find the team? Everyone blamed their team leader but there were other members and one of them went missing... his name was Charles.”
“Oh damn it. Nightshade’s going to kill him,” Jess whispered.
“Or get himself killed.” I grabbed the sides of my head and squeezed. I could throttle myself for not putting it together earlier.
“It’s his choice. We need to concentrate on getting the Artifact out of here.” Slade clutched the bag to him as if he intended to protect it with his life.
I shot a lethal look at him. “We aren’t leaving anyone behind. Is that clear?”
Jess came to stand beside me. “What did Aunt Talia mean about this being a trap?”
I quickly explained our predicament.
“Do we have a plan?” Faith moved closer and they all turned to me waiting for an answer. And of course I had one but I couldn’t promise it would work. “We need to get Nightshade, and then find the two-way portal that Slade thinks might be a way out.”
“What about the Artifact?” Faith asked.
“We already took care of that,” I said.
“You really found it?” Faith smiled.
“Yes, we got it and we’ll get it out of here along with all of us.”
“I’m going to make sure of that.” Slade patted the map bag secured across his chest. Faith’s eyes followed his hand and her smile widened.
Jess tapped Slade on the shoulder. “This portal that we need to find, any idea what it looks like?”
“Not exactly, but it would be surrounded by Impossible Engineer technology and most likely be in a contained area.”
“I may know where it is,” Jess said. “When we were fighting off the gremlins and Nightshade blew up the wall, I caught a glimpse of a long hallway with a single doorway at the far end. The walls leading to it were lined with gears and levers.”
“That could be it,” Slade beamed and clapped his hands together.
“Do you think you could lead us back to it?” Finally a bit of good news that had me smiling.
Jess nodded. “I think so.”
“Great,” I said eager to get things rolling. ”Okay, you guys make your way to the portal and see if it is still active. I’m going to go find Nightshade.”
“What? No.” Slade took a step back as if I’d struck him.
“I’m not leaving Nightshade behind.”
“I’ll go with you,” Edgar volunteered and stood, Val clutching his hand.
“Edgar?” Val tugged on his arm, her eyes full of fear.
“I won’t leave him here, Val. He didn’t think twice of coming to rescue you and I won’t ever forget that.” I smiled at Edgar and placed my hand on his shoulder giving it a squeeze.
“Thanks, Edgar, but you need to take care of Val. I’ll make sure I find him.” I winked at Val and she smiled back at me.
“Chloe, I know Mapmakers aren’t the best fighters, though mapping makes us good trackers, so I’m going with you. Besides, Nightshade and I have been friends since we were young and I’m not leaving him here.” Edgar tried, though unsuccessfully, to give me his most imposing expression. I had to keep myself from laughing; he looked so... so Edgar. The problem was that he was serious and determined, which meant he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Faith,” I called turning to her and she walked over next to me. I pointed to Val. “You’re going to be responsible for Val until we get back. And nothing, and I mean nothing, better happen to her. We clear?” Faith frowned though quickly masked it with a smile. For a moment the itch at the back of my skull returned nagging at me once again. I dismissed it, having no time to give it thought.
Faith nodded. “Understood, Chloe.”
I walked over to Jess, grabbing her by the elbow and urging her aside away from the others. “Do you have any idea of where he might have gone?”
“Charlie headed to the west side of the building. I imagine that’s where Nightshade went. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Her eyes spoke volumes as she grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
“No, Edgar and I will be fine. Get to the portal and if you can get it working... get the hell out of here.” I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
“What about Faith?” Jess narrowed her eyes as she cast a quick glance at Faith.
“What about her?”
Jess tilted her head and glared at me as if I was missing something and then quietly said, “Nothing.”
It was easy to see that she was lying, though I didn’t have time to confront her about it now. I assumed that she was probably still upset that Faith was interested in Nightshade.
“Edgar, let’s go,” I called out and headed for the door. I glanced back and saw him kissing Val, and then he jogged over to me.
“The plan?” he asked.
“Making it up as we go.” I grinned.
“So the usual.” He chuckled and we stepped out into the dank hallway.
We crept along the wall to the end of the corridor and then started toward the West
side of the building. It seemed deserted, though that didn’t mean we weren’t going to remain cautious. I figured mom was biding time till the rest of her troops were able to break past the lock and overrun us. I suppose it was a smart maneuver on her part, strength in numbers and all that sort of thing. And it did give us the freedom to move around without interference and possibly make our escape.
We made good progress and in no time found ourselves on the other side of the building. A corridor stretched out ahead of us, a long banister running along one side that looked to be part of an overhang to a level or room below.
I pointed to it to let Edgar know that I was going in for a peek. I moved slowly toward the edge of the railing, keeping to the shadows and when I reached it I slowly stuck my head out to peer down. The floor below was a large antechamber, possibly a library at one time since the walls were lined with shelves. A few dusty and beaten old books still occupied some of them. Two large tables sat in the middle of the room and wouldn’t you know it, Ms. True was sitting there talking to someone else in the room. I hunched down to get a better view through the banister posts. The gross rug beneath my feet lay in tatters. I shoved it quietly off to the side since it would be my luck to trip over it.
“It’ll be an hour or two at most before they break through the wall.” Ms. True said, going through a stack of books piled in front of her.
“I don’t like it.”
Damn I knew that voice and sure enough Caleb Darker came into view.
“Talia gives her daughter far too much room to maneuver. The girl shouldn’t be underestimated; you of all people know that.” Darker had stopped stalking the room to glare at Ms. True.
“You don’t need to remind me, Caleb. I wear the memory on my face every day.” She slid her finger along the scar.
“The girl already has the Artifact and what does Talia have us do? Wait and for what? I tell you she is giving the girl time to come up with a plan.” Darker’s voice had grown angrier with each word.
“If you haven’t noticed, Chloe is as trapped as we are. We’ll get her and the Artifact.” True continued to flip through the old books as if she had all the time in the world to enjoy them.
“Her daughter clouds her judgment. She should never have been charged with this; she should have killed the girl by now.”
My blood chilled at how casually he mentioned my mother murdering me.
“I wouldn’t question orders if I was you,” True advised. “You know what happens to those who do?”
“Yes, I know how ruthless our fearless leader can be.”
Did the maniacal Caleb Darker just shudder? Who could their leader be that instilled such fear in them?
“Then I would watch your tongue,” True warned sternly.
Both of them turned at the sound of a door opening and Charlie and Jasper soon came into view.
“Lady Talia requires your presence, Caleb,” Charlie said.
I focused on Jasper standing next to him and got the oddest sensation that there was something I should know or recall. I couldn’t remember how he had gotten the drop on me in that alleyway. Why? That should be clear in my mind and yet... I shook my head.
“Fine,” Caleb hissed and stormed out of the room.
I guess he didn’t like my mom ordering him around anymore than I did. I leaned away from the banister wondering if Nightshade was still hunting for Charlie or had he been caught?
“Chloe,” Edgar whispered sneaking up next to me. I raised my finger to my lips, warning him to keep quiet and pointed down at the room below. He nodded in understanding and remained hunched down beside me.
“Ms. True, I was hoping to make a request.” Charlie walked closer to speak with her as Jasper took a seat.
She didn’t look up from the book she was glancing through. “What would that be, Charles?”
“When we find them, I was hoping to be allowed to deal with Nightshade personally.” He grinned as he made his request.
Ms. True finally looked up at him. “I can’t make any promises. You know that Darker very much wants to deal with that one, you do have some history with Nightshade.”
“We certainly do.”
“I’ll talk with Lady Talia about it.” She closed the book she had been reading and leaned back with a smile.
“Oh no,” Edgar sighed and I turned to see a look of horror on his face.
“What?” I whispered.
“The book.” He pointed down at Ms. True, and I was glad to see that the title spread in bold lettering across the front.
Legends of the Mapmakers Union
“So?” I looked at him quizzically.
“The legend we recovered... that’s the book on how to control it. All copies were thought to be destroyed during the Great War. But this place predates that. We can’t let them keep that book.” There was a fire in Edgar’s eyes that I only saw when he was in the heat of making one of his maps.
“Okay, we’ll figure something out.” Though I wondered how we’d fit it in between finding Nightshade and making it back to the portal that may or may not work. We would need to steal the book from right under the First Kind’s nose. But hey, no problem.
I shimmied myself to a standing position and signaled for Edgar to follow me back the way we came. I heard a grunt and spun back around to see Edgar tripping over the rug I had moved and crashing into the wall.
He looked up at me and we both froze and listened to the silence that followed. Then the hairs on my neck stood on end and a bolt of crimson energy tore through the railing shattering it into kindling and buckled the floor in the surrounding area. I watched in horror as the floor collapsed under Edgar and he disappeared below.
Chapter 26
Status: Friends, fight and flight.
“What have we here, a little mouse?” Damn True’s sickeningly sweet sarcasm.
I couldn’t see anything through the cloud of smoke but I heard them moving around below. Edgar was still alive, I could hear him groaning, though how badly he was hurt I didn’t know and it worried me.
“Grab him.” The sound of wood and debris being tossed around echoed up at me and then there was a loud grunt from Edgar. My hand instinctively wrapped around my doorknob and I thought about jumping down through the smoke and attempting to rescue Edgar. But I doubted I could handle three opponents on my own. I needed a different plan and I needed one quickly.
“Where are your friends?” Ms. True demanded.
I stayed in the shadows while I glanced past the splintered banister. Charlie had Edgar’s arms in a vice grip behind his back, his shoulder blades nearly touching. He looked dazed and in pain and had a cut on his scalp that was bleeding.
“I don’t know, we got separated.” Edgar coughed and fought for breath.
“Liar.” Ms. True slapped him across the face and a thin line of blood sprayed out of his mouth. “You’re going to tell me where that little bitch is or I’ll make the last few minutes of your life miserable.”
“You obviously haven’t met my girlfriend.” Edgar laughed and even I smiled but Ms. True wasn’t in a jolly mood. She raised her skeleton key, pulsing with power.
A band of crimson energy shot out and whipped around Edgar’s neck squeezing tightly. His eyes bulged and I shook with anger. I didn’t have a choice I needed to make a move or they were going to kill him.
“Are you prepared to die for your friends?” Ms. True sneered.
Edgar choked out every word. “My friends are going to kick your ass.”
“Jasper, go inform Lady Talia we have a prisoner.” Ms. True smirked as she flicked her key tightening the bonds around Edgar. Jasper nodded and walked toward the door and out of my line of vision.
I heard the click of the door opening and then felt a surge of power wash through the room. Jasper flew through the air slamming into the bookshelves on the far side of the room and with a grunt fell limply to the floor.
“What the hell?” Ms. True spun around as Nightshade rushed into the room
trails of power flowing off him. “Get him!” True screamed pointing at Nightshade. Charlie rushed forward bringing up a shield to block Nightshade’s attack. Now the odds were even and I liked that.
I activated an energy whip, and jumped over the remains of the banister. I landed on the tables below cracking my whip against the shield and shattering it.
“My friends are here.” Edgar gagged.
Charlie looked from me to Nightshade and created another defensive shield. His eyes darting back and forth between us as I hopped off to one side and Nightshade circled to the other.
“True?” Charlie’s voice wavered.
Ms. True let out a guttural scream and swung her key violently sending Edgar careening backwards and slamming into the wall with a thud.
“No!” I rushed forward swinging my whip over and over against Charles’s shields creating multiple cracks. Nightshade moved in on the other side and with a roar released a blast of energy that decimated the remaining defenses. He hurdled himself at Charles connecting hard with his jaw and knocking him backwards. He landed another blow just as I felt the rush of power as Ms. True attacked.
I fell backwards under the onslaught of energy bolts. I swung my whip in an arc creating a temporary energy shield. I scrambled back trying to regain my footing. I needed to dispense of her quickly and get to Edgar.
“I’ve been waiting for this for months. I owe you!” True’s eyes flared with vengeance as she continued the ferocious assault.
I needed to distract her. I jumped out of line of the latest barrage and swung my whip at one of the tables catching the end around a leg. I dropped to me knees and pulled with all my strength. The table snapped and flew through the air toward True. She twisted to avoid it, lost her balance, and fell backwards, giving me the chance I needed.
A split second and I was on my feet running toward her. I snapped my whip and caught her hand holding her skeleton key. She yelled from the pain and the key fell to the floor with a dull clinking sound.
“I’ve been waiting for this too.” I stood in front of her my energy whip illuminating the entire area in blue light.