Harley Merlin 7: Harley Merlin and the Detector Fix

by Forrest, Bella

  “Say we threatened you or something. Make it good, but believable. As in, don’t go too big. And then, plead forgiveness like your life depends on it. While you’re doing that, Krieger will most likely intervene on your behalf and make Levi see why he needs you at the SDC. From there, you keep us in the loop as often as you can—safely—using a burner cell. We need to know what Levi is up to, and what’s going on at the SDC. And how you and the others are, of course. We need eyes in the coven, and all the help we can get while we’re on the outside.”

  I frowned. “What if Levi asks me to spill the beans about where you are?”

  “Give him a fake location.” Finch’s tone made me feel like a dumbass. “Tell him whatever. He’ll send dudes out to find us and find nothing. He’ll get bored of asking, eventually. And he won’t be able to do anything to you, torture-wise, because you’re the sacrificial lamb for this magical detector. You’re untouchable, my friend. You might just be the only kid who can lie to him without getting sent to Purgatory.”

  “And what about you?” I looked back at Harley. “What will you do? Will you lie low for a bit?”

  She shook her head. “While you head back to the SDC, I’m going to go see Wade at Waterfront Park. Finch is coming, too.”

  “I am? Since when?” Finch shot her a look. It was all for show. Now that they were closer, I knew Finch would never let Harley go anywhere on her own. He cared too much. I almost said so out loud, then remembered his last few threats. I probably didn’t have too many lives left.

  “Since now,” she replied. “I need backup, in case anyone followed Wade. You can Shapeshift into someone else, and I’ll keep myself covered up, incognito-style. Black hood, shades, that sort of thing.”

  “Oh yeah, real inconspicuous. Because the people creeping around in shades and hoodies never look like they’re up to something sketchy.” Finch chuckled coldly.

  “I haven’t made my final outfit choice, Finch, but you get the gist. Anyway, this is for Jake’s benefit, not yours,” she said. “Krieger is still worried that the magical detector might not work, so we’ll need as much help as we can get, since we’re the only two constantly out in the field. Essentially, we have to be the contingency plan. We need a backup.”

  “I thought I was your backup?” Finch smirked.

  She sighed dramatically. “We need a backup in case the magical detector doesn’t work, even with your help.” She glanced at me. “Finch and I are going to come up with a way to find Katherine without the detector, so we’re not completely sitting ducks if it doesn’t work. The only way to stop Katherine right now is to rescue Echidna, and we can’t get to the Mother of Monsters without finding Katherine. Chances are, they’re in the same place. We can’t fight that bitch head on, but we can get in her way.”

  “How are we going to find Katherine, though?” I was curious. If the National Council couldn’t find her, why did she think she could? I didn’t mean it in a horrible way. I was genuinely intrigued. Harley always had unusual ideas. I got the feeling this was going to be the same. Another one of her strange, yet useful plans.

  “I was thinking my parents’ Grimoire might help find her,” she replied. She didn’t disappoint. “There was this ‘finding hidden things’ spell inside, the last time I looked. It was probably called something cooler than that, but that was the essence of it. It found missing things. Not like an ordinary tracker spell, but something more powerful. It being more powerful probably means it’s more precise, too, which will be useful when it comes to Katherine.”

  Finch scowled. “You love your tracker spells, don’t you?”

  “Does it still sting, Bro?” She smiled back at him.

  “Right in the pride, Sis. Right in the pride.”

  “I don’t get it.” I looked between them.

  Harley laughed. “Finch got caught after a tracking spell flagged him down. He’d have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for that pesky Rag Team.”

  “Lap it up, Sis. We all make mistakes. At least I’m repenting now.” He paused. “And how’s this for a slice of forgiveness—it’ll save me a couple of Hail Marys at least. I remember, ages ago, Katherine being so pissed off that she couldn’t get her hands on her sister’s Grimoire. She was desperate for it, for some reason. I don’t know if she wanted to destroy it, or what, but she wanted that thing like it was a Furby in the nineties, with Christmas a couple days away. She could never get into the New York Coven to retrieve it, and it’s since been the one thing she hasn’t been able to swipe, though I’m guessing her desire for it hasn’t gone away.”

  “Did she mention anything in it that she might have wanted, specifically?” Harley’s eyes had widened.

  Finch shook his head. “She just wanted the whole thing. She wanted to look through it. I don’t know if there was something in particular she was after.”

  Harley tapped her chin. “Does Katherine have the same ability as me? Can she read unfinished Grimoires?”

  “Not that I know of, and I doubt she’d have kept that secret from me. You know how she loves to brag.”

  “Well, if there’s something in that Grimoire I might’ve missed that Katherine wants, then it might be something that can be used against her. She’s got to have a weakness, right? Nobody is invincible. Not even Children of Chaos are, since they can be challenged.” Harley nodded, as if to herself. “Yeah, I need to get that Grimoire. But, for that, we’ll need some serious manpower.”

  “Let me guess… Wonderboy?” Finch rolled his eyes. But there was a quiet fondness in his voice. Wade was important to Harley. So Wade was important to Finch by association.

  “You think he’ll be able to help?” I asked. “He might not want to cause any trouble, with all this Levi stuff going on.”

  She smiled. “He’ll help, no matter what.”

  “You’re probably right.” I’d seen Wade and Harley together. He’d have done anything for her. Danger and trouble weren’t obstacles. He helped her whenever she needed it, and she did the same for him. That was why they worked as a couple, even though they were shy about it. They didn’t need to be, since everyone knew. They were super obvious.

  “So, are you really okay with this?” Harley held my gaze. She was giving me one more chance to back out, if I wanted.

  “Yeah, I’ll go.” To be honest, I didn’t have a good feeling about this. But I understood there wasn’t another way. Not a better one, at least. “You’ll be careful, right? You won’t do anything too risky for this Grimoire?”

  “We’ll do what we have to,” she said. That didn’t answer my question, but I knew it was the best answer I was going to get. Giving me the details would only have worried me. She was trying to spare me that.

  “Ooh, actually, I’ve got one more task for you, pal.” Finch clamped his hand on my shoulder.

  “What?” Harley and I replied together.

  “Find out why Levi is keeping a lid on this Echidna thingy, like Harley said he was.” Finch’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “And find out what the National Council members are doing about the mega-bitch. They keep messing up, or worse, not even showing up to the party. The Muppet Babies have gathered more information than the Council up to now, and that’s pretty terrifying. A bunch of rogues being in a better position than the most powerful people in the country. Alarm bells are clanging in my head. And Levi keeping things quiet about Mamma Monster is like one huge, annoying air-raid siren going off on repeat in my noggin. Seriously, it is HOWLING right now. There be a fuzzy little knot in here somewhere, Jakey-boy, and you need to untangle it. How’re your nails?”

  I frowned at him. “Why?”

  “Are they good at unpicking knots, Jakey?”

  “Oh… uh, yeah, I guess.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.” Finch clapped me on the back again, knocking the air out of my lungs. I knew he only did this to assert his dominance. I didn’t fight back because there wasn’t much point. Still, it was getting pretty tired. Shaking it off, I turned t
oward Kenzie, who’d just walked in through the kitchen door.

  “Are you going to help us?” I asked her. She’d been very useful up to now, and the Morph trick was pretty neat. It could come in handy, in the future.

  Kenzie shook her head. “I ain’t part of any coven, and I don’t plan to be. There are only two people in this world I care about—no offense, Finch—and they’re my mom and my kid sister. Nobody else matters. Even if this psycho witch manages to do her thing and get all powerful and zappy, I’ll be looking out for my own. I’ll get us out, without no coven helping us neither.” She shot Finch a warning look. “And I’ll be expecting that talisman soon, Finch.”

  “Sure thing, Power Ranger.”

  Kenzie frowned. “What?”

  “You know—Mighty Morphin’…? Never mind. My humor is wasted on all of you.” Finch pouted. “You’ll get your talisman, don’t worry.”

  “There is one way I can help you.” Kenzie walked over to the kitchen cupboard and reached up to the top shelf. She dragged a plastic storage box out of the dirty hole. My eyes flew wide as she lifted the lid. It was full to the brim with burner cells, SIM cards, and chargers. “You guys talk way too loud. You need to be more careful about that. Not around me, but around others. Folks don’t always come bearing gifts, if you know what I mean.”

  Finch grinned. “You’re a gem, Kenzie.”

  “Ah, save your soppiness for someone with a heart.” A smile twitched her lips. A real one. I could tell she was secretly pleased by Finch’s nice words. I doubted a girl like her heard a lot of kindness.

  “And the coven won’t be able to trace these?” Harley asked, as Kenzie passed her a cell. She gave one to me and one to Finch, too. I turned it over in my hands. I had no idea where she’d managed to get all these phones and stuff from. Harley, on the other hand, didn’t seem massively shocked by the sight.

  Kenzie shook her head. “Nope, they’re way outside any dumb coven system.”

  “You’ve got quite the collection.” Harley smiled. “You get these fresh off the corner trucks?”

  Kenzie chuckled. “Yeah, as a matter of fact. These, too.” She reached out and opened the narrow pantry door. Inside, there were more cells stored in plastic boxes. Hundreds of them. “How d’you know about corner trucks, huh? You look way too smart to be a hood rat.”

  “I was never one myself, but I knew enough of them,” Harley replied.

  “Best way. Once you’re one, there ain’t no turning back.”

  “Is this how you can take care of your mom’s bills?” I nodded in the direction of the living room, where another rerun of SpongeBob was about to start.

  Kenzie nodded. “It makes me what we need to get by. Hopefully, I’ll be able to save a little, once I have that talisman Finch is going to send. Might even start a college fund for my kid sister. Get her out of this place.” A flicker of sadness passed across her eyes, and it hurt me to see. She really wanted to make a change for her mom and sister. And she had to do it solo, with no help. That had to suck.

  “Why can’t you just set up a PI agency or something? Spy on cheating husbands with your Morph powers? Who’d know, right?” Finch said. “It’d be way easier than all of this.”

  “What I did today is as close as I’m gonna get to a coven. If they find me using my Morph abilities, they’ll drag me into one of those places by my earrings. With Mom the way she is, I’m not risking it. You think they’d let her in with me? No chance. They’d probably put her down, like a dog or something, just to get her out the way. Playing the human game is easier, believe me.”

  Harley looked sad. I understood that. It would’ve been awesome to have Kenzie with us, either with the Rag Team or with the Merlin squad, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen. I got it from Kenzie’s side, too. She needed to look out for her family, and they were the only thing that mattered. I’d never had a family, not really, so I was only just starting to learn what that felt like. What caring for folks did to your brain. How it changed things.

  “It’s a shame you can’t get more involved, given what’s at stake with Katherine Shipton.” Harley’s tone was odd. These were persuasion tactics. Harley was usually pretty good at them, but Finch was better, since he was ruthless.

  Kenzie smirked. “It ain’t my fight. I know you get that. I look after my own, that’s all.”

  “It’s everybody’s fight now, Kenzie.” Harley pushed back. “If Katherine wins and becomes a Child of Chaos, the first thing she’ll do is decide who gets to have magic and who doesn’t. Nobody will be safe. There won’t be anywhere to hide, not for you or your family. She won’t care. You won’t be any safer, and there won’t be a single hood rat who can protect you from her, because they’ll either be dead by then, or they’ll be working for her.”

  Kenzie looked like she was about to reply, but Harley cut her off, her expression softer.

  “You can take your time thinking about it. If you need to get in touch, you know how to get ahold of us with the burner phones. I’ve got your number, and you’ve got mine. Use it whenever you need to,” she said. “Katherine is coming for everyone. Keep that in mind, especially as she’s got an eye for rare magicals, like you. I’m not saying this to scare you or try to guilt you into joining. I just want you to know what you’re going to be up against—what we’re all going to be up against.”

  She frowned. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Pocketing her new cellphone, Harley walked out of the kitchen with Finch and me following. We couldn’t waste time on someone who might not join us. I hoped she would, but while the fight was everyone’s fight, it was also every man for himself.

  There was only one clear thing to take away from that—Harley’s persuasion skills were definitely getting better. Even I would’ve followed her after that, if I weren’t already.

  Nine

  Jacob

  I burst out of a portal into the infirmary. Everyone’s heads snapped up. They stared at me in shock, eyes bugging out of their faces. I guessed it was a pretty dramatic entrance for me. I wasn’t normally the kind of guy who went for that sort of thing. But this was necessary.

  Nobody was expecting it, a mix of confusion and happiness on their faces. That was nicer than disappointment, though. They were probably desperate to get Harley back, but they looked pleased to see me anyway. Second prize, so to speak.

  “Jacob!” Louella cried. She leapt at me like a spider monkey and threw her arms around me. My cheeks went fiery hot. Not in a flirty way—in an embarrassed way. Louella had never hugged me like this before. I didn’t even have a chance to hug her back. My arms were sort of frozen, hanging limp at my sides.

  “What the heck are you doing here, man?” Dylan barged past Louella and clapped me on the back. It hurt. A lot. I could’ve sworn he kept forgetting how strong he was. One friendly pat from him was like a hammer between my shoulder blades.

  “You not pleased to see me?” I flashed a nervous smile.

  “Of course we are.” Tatyana put her arms around me, and I damn near died. She smelled like heaven. Actual heaven. Vanilla and chocolate and all the good smells. My throat closed up as I put my hands gingerly on her back. I didn’t dare squeeze her, not with Dylan watching. And not with my cheeks on actual fire. “We just weren’t expecting you. We’ve been worried sick!”

  Raffe nodded and edged closer. “Yeah, Levi’s going to have a freaking field day when he sees you. No Harley or Finch?” He patted me on the back. I was still trying to get my breath back after Tatyana. That woman… I couldn’t even remember why I was here. It’d gone kind of foggy in my head.

  “Are you okay? Are they okay?” Krieger chimed in from the other side of his desk. His familiar voice cleared my head. I was glad to see these guys again. Still, the fact that Santana and Isadora weren’t here was weird. Astrid and Garrett were absent, too, but at least they weren’t locked up. Garrett was probably still in LA, and Astrid was probably busy elsewhere. Wade wasn’t here
either, but Harley had said he might not be, since he’d gone to Waterfront Park. I hated seeing the Rag Team in pieces. It was always better when the gang was all here.

  I dragged in a breath. “I managed to get away from them, yeah. They made me help them because they needed my portal stuff. I don’t even know where we came from. Finch blindfolded me and they took me somewhere, but I got away and came here.”

  The silence stretched. I could’ve heard a pin drop.

  The next moment, they exploded into laughter. Big, hearty laughs. Even Krieger was grinning.

  Tatyana put her hand on my shoulder. “So that’s the story they told you to go with, is it?”

  I glanced at them. “I know I’m not the most convincing actor, but… yeah. That’s the cover story I’ve got to tell Levi.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with Levi,” Krieger replied. “I have a use for you that he will be eager to hear, and I’m hopeful it will keep you out of harm’s way. Will you accompany me to the director’s office?”

  I shrugged. “Might as well.”

  * * *

  I hadn’t expected O’Halloran to be here. He seemed to have been promoted to Levi’s bodyguard. Not that a position like that was much of a promotion. But I supposed Levi had a growing list of enemies, so it was probably a good idea for him to have some beefy security.

  I stood close to Krieger. If O’Halloran was Levi’s protector, Krieger was mine. He might not have had the muscle, but he had the brains. He’d get me out of this. Harley had been sure about it, so that gave me some confidence. Enough to not crumple under the pressure, anyway. Levi was a total worm, but he was still kind of scary.

  “Explain yourself,” Levi said. “I’m running short on patience right now, so I suggest you don’t test it.”

  I kept my cool. “Finch forced me to portal him and Harley out of here. They want to help with the Katherine situation. They just don’t want to end up behind bars. I’m not involved in what they’re doing, though. I was just the getaway driver—the unwilling getaway driver.”