Dagger opened the door, sticking only his head in. “Mind if I come in?” he asked.
I gestured to the empty spot beside me on the couch.
“I wanted to apologize,” he started.
“There’s no need. I understand,” I said.
He blew out a pent-up breath. “This is the last place I would have ever brought you. As it turns out, it’s probably the best place we can be right now,” he said.
“Why do you dislike Edge so much?” I asked.
“It’s a long story and one I really don’t want to get into right now. Let’s just say, we have a shared history.” Dagger kept eyeing the spot where Edge had opened the door, as if he were waiting for an attack.
“Do you think he’ll be back soon?” I asked.
“If he’s really going to go find out where Rainy and Matheson are, it will take him a little time,” Dagger said.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Some of the Coven members have left, so there are plenty of rooms now. I put together some sandwiches in the kitchen. Hungry?” he asked.
My stomach rumbled at the mention of food, so I let him lead me to the kitchen. Dagger nodded to Jessa and she slipped inside the den and closed the door.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“One of us will stay in the den until Edge comes back. Just in case,” he replied.
I knew what he meant. Someone would be there just in case Edge came back with Enforcers.
I grabbed a sandwich from the kitchen and ate it on the way to one of the vacant rooms. I’d left Dagger talking with someone, mouthing the word ‘shower’ at him as I darted out of the room.
Julie was standing in the hallway propped up along the doorjamb to an empty room. “This one’s yours,” she told me. “There are some clothes the others left behind. I grabbed what I thought would fit you.” She pointed to the stack on the bed.
“Thanks, Julie. I appreciate it.” I watched as she twisted her hands in thought.
“You can trust him. Edge…I mean,” she blurted.
“What’s the deal between Edge and Dagger?” I asked.
“That’s not my story to tell,” she said, turning away.
Pushing her to give me answers would only make her clam up more. Maybe a little more time was needed before someone started spilling the information that was being guarded so tightly. I closed the door, grabbed the stack of clothes, and then headed for the shower.
The hot water did nothing to solve my problems, but I smelled better so that was at least something. The jeans and button up shirt that Julie left for me were a little loose on me, but they were clean.
The day was slipping away. I wandered outside and inhaled the crisp air. The sun was setting, washing everything with hues of soft golden light. The birds were flying back to their homes in the trees. Their wings rustled in the breeze as they twittered and swooped in the last of the warm sunshine.
Jessa was sitting by herself on the porch swing. A steaming cup of coffee was clasped between her hands as she looked out across the yard. I slid onto the swing beside her. Neither of us spoke. We just watched the birds and enjoyed the silence until the sun dropped and the moon began to rise.
A soft shimmer appeared all around the perimeter of the house. The bubble of protection was coated in moonlight. Stars began to appear in the night sky, twinkling brighter as the sky darkened to velvet black.
The screen door bumped closed. Julie sat down on the porch steps and joined in on our stargazing. All three of us found some sort of peace with the night.
That is, until the ground began to shudder.
“What is that?” I asked.
Julie jumped up from the steps. “Get inside…quick!” She shoved Jessa and me through the door and slammed it shut behind her. “Hurry!” She prodded us forward, all but shoving us to Edge’s den.
The door flung open and Dagger pulled us all through.
Edge was hanging onto the desk, bent over trying to catch his breath.
“How much time,” Dagger asked him.
“Not much. It’s worse than you thought. The Triad doesn’t have them. The Nomads do,” Edge said as he took in a deep breath and stood up straight. “The Triad is going crazy. They are tearing apart every member’s library.” He gestured to his books.
Edge looked at Dagger. “Tell the other’s to leave. Wipe their memories of this place before they go.”
Dagger ran out of the room. It had to be bad, if Dagger was taking orders from Edge.
Edge grabbed his keyboard and began typing so fast his hands became a blur. Something popped up under the heavy rug in the middle of the room. He darted around the desk and pulled the carpet back.
“You have to get in,” he said, grabbing my arm. Fear danced in his eyes as he shoved me down the stairs in the opening. “You next,” he said, grabbing Jessa and pushing her in with me. Julie darted past him and came down the stairs pushing us further down into a small hallway. Edge looked down at us. “Do not speak. Do not move. Do nothing until I come and get you,” he said as he began to close the door.
“Wait! What about Dagger?” I called out.
“Right here,” Dagger said as he slid in before the door closed.
I went to speak and Dagger shook his head no as he pointed at the floor above us.
Things started falling on the floor above our heads. Glass was breaking and the ground shook us around. Men were hollering. Edge’s voice was the loudest.
“Get out of my house. What do you think you are doing, ransacking my library!” he shouted.
“We’re under the direct orders from the Council,” a deep voice answered.
“Oh? And did they say as to why they want my library torn apart?” Edge growled.
I wouldn’t want to be the ones that voice was directed at.
“We don’t question the Council, and neither should you,” the voice boomed.
“I don’t follow your rules, Anton. You better start talking, or I’ll kill you where you stand,” Edge threatened.
“You wouldn’t dare,” the man replied.
Something big slammed into the floor. “You’re killin’ him…let him go, you’re killin’ him!” a voice above shrieked.
“And I will kill him unless you start talking. Why are you in my library and what are you looking for?” Edge growled.
“Th…th…the book… We were sent to find the book,” the man stammered.
“What book?” Edge shouted.
“The spell book,” the sniveling voice replied.
“What? That book has been missing for years!” Edge yelled.
“I…I know, but the Council said…” the man’s words choked off.
“You tell the Council that I don’t have the book they seek, and if they send anyone else to my home and trash it, then I will come to theirs and do the same.” The sentence ended with another body hitting the floor.
“Get out of my house before I change my mind and kill the both of you!” he roared.
“We’re sorry, Edge…we didn’t mean…the Council…” The man’s words were cut off with a loud bang. Dagger blew out a loud breath, causing me to jump.
“Sorry…that was a little crazy,” Dagger said, shaking his head.
Above us, I could hear things sliding across the floor. Items bumped and slid while we waited to be let out of the hole we’d been shoved into.
The trap door creaked open, revealing Edge’s face.
“Follow the tunnel to the end. I’ll meet you there,” he said before closing us back in.
We made our way through the tunnel until the ground under our feet started to slope uphill. A rickety stair case brought us up through an old stump just inside of the protective bubble surrounding Edge’s house.
“Looks like we’re being evicted,” Jessa said as she pointed towards the house.
Edge was coming and he had a backpack slung over his shoulder.
Edge handed the backpack off to Julie. “We need to get moving b
efore the Triad sends more competent people to check in on me.”
Dagger frowned. “You know they’re going to run back to the Council and tell them what happened.”
Edge shrugged. “I’ve said worse to their faces. They expect it from me.”
“We need to get a move on. If the Nomads have Rainy and Matheson, we’ll need time to find them without getting caught in the process,” Dagger said.
“Finding them won’t be a problem,” Edge said as he approached the protective barrier and stepped through.
“This is gonna suck,” Jessa said as she took a deep breath and walked through.
A smile split her face as turned to look at Julie. “It didn’t make me sick!”
Edge rolled his eyes at her. “The Nomads have become stationary, so they won’t be hard to find.”
“Stationary? That’s a little odd,” Dagger replied.
“I agree. However odd it may be, at least it’s a chance to get Matheson and Rainy back.” Edge’s eyes were no longer on us. He scanned the forest around us, as if expecting someone to jump out from behind a tree.
“I don’t suppose you know where they are?” Dagger asked.
Edge turned to face Dagger. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Good. Let’s go.” Dagger gestured for Edge to lead the way.
Edge didn’t move. “You can’t take Jade with you where you’re going,” he said.
“She’s going with us,” Dagger growled.
“Jade made an agreement to come with me,” Edge replied.
“Yes, but only if we had to go to the Triad and we’re not going to the Triad, so your agreement isn’t necessary now,” Dagger said, stepping closer to Edge.
The two men squared off.
Julie stepped in between them. “Dagger, you know we can’t take her with us. The Nomads are far worse than the Triad. They won’t just lock her up…they’ll kill her on sight,” she pleaded.
“Who are they and why would they kill me on sight?” I asked.
“Because you and I are everything they hate. Light and Dark. Good versus evil. They spend their life handing out Original Coven justice, or their form of it, to all they think have unbalanced the ways of magic,” Edge explained.
“Their way?” Oh great, now there was more than just Light and Dark. Now we had to contend with a whole other batch of crazies.
“They don’t like outsiders very much,” Jessa said, chiming in.
“It doesn’t really matter as to the why, only that there is no way you’re going to step foot in their compound,” Edge said it to me, but looked at Dagger in challenge.
Dagger’s hands clenched into fists as he stood his ground. “If you think I’d let anything happen to her, you’re wrong.”
“It’s not about what you can and can’t do. Taking her anywhere right now is risky. Putting her in such close proximity to that group is a bad idea and you know it.” Julie put her hand on Dagger’s arm. “We have to trust Edge.”
Edge reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. “Each of these is spelled to bring you to the location I have underground. Don’t lose them.” He dropped the coins in Dagger’s hand. “When you’ve rescued Rainy and Matheson, all you will need to do is hold the coin in your hand and turn the centerpiece three times clockwise. Press your thumb to the center and the coin will do the rest.”
“And how do we know that you haven’t set us up?” Dagger asked.
Edge sighed and then gestured for the coins back. “May I?”
Dagger slapped them into his hand.
Edge pulled out a small pocket knife and pressed the blade into his thumb. “By my blood, I vow this will return you to me, wherever I may be.” He closed his eyes and the coins vibrated in response. “Now will you get on your way, before there isn’t anyone left to save?” he asked, handing the coins back to Dagger.
There was nothing left for Dagger to say. Whatever Edge had just done made Julie smile. “Told you to trust him,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
“Okay, now from what I overheard at the Council, the Nomads are completely out of character right now. They’ve camped out at the old Council building and have settled in. They’ve been there for over a month,” Edge told them.
“A month? This is serious. They never stay anywhere for more that a couple of days and that’s only if an elder is sick,” Julie sputtered.
“The old Council building was a crumbling heap of rubble,” Dagger said.
“Here’s where it gets really weird,” Edge said, leaning in as he spoke.
“They are fixing it up like a fortress. It appears, ladies and gentlemen, as if they are getting ready to take a stand,” he said.
“What’s the closest entrance we can use?” Dagger asked.
“All the outer doorways have been sealed. Only those of us with personal doorways have access to other personal doorways,” Edge explained.
“Are you saying we’re going to have to walk there?” Jessa threw her hands in the air. “That’s like several hundred miles from here, Edge!”
“You’ll just have to make it to the outskirts of the forest. I have a car hidden there that you can use. See you in a few days,” Edge said as he grabbed my hand and we disappeared.
CHAPTER SIX
“Welcome to the Bat Cave,” Edge chuckled.
I blinked my eyes to focus in on my surroundings. He wasn’t kidding. We were standing in a room made of rock.
“Follow me,” he said, taking a torch off the wall and lighting it.
The path in front of us illuminated with flickering light and Edge began walking.
“There’s a series of tunnels in and out of the cave. Don’t wander off on your own until you know which tunnel leads where. We don’t want your untimely death, now do we?” he said as he kept moving.
I shivered in the damp air. What had I gotten myself into? If the Triad or Nomads caught me, I’d be dead. If I went down the wrong tunnel, I’d be dead. What if the others showed up and walked down the wrong path?
“What about when Dagger and everyone gets back? How will they know what tunnel not to take?” I asked.
“When they return, they will come in where we did. The room will be spelled to not let them leave until I get there. Ah, here we are,” Edge said as he placed the torch into a holder bolted to the wall. Once the torch was secured, it went out and a door appeared.
Edge swung the door inward and gestured for me to enter first.
It was set up like his den at home, only bigger. Industrial style lighting hung from the cavernous ceiling above. Thick rugs were placed in different spots on the floor to make it appear homey, and a roaring fireplace big enough to lie down in was chasing off the chill in the room. Chairs were placed in various spots. They looked deep enough to sink into. A matching couch was placed in front of the fireplace. The furniture made the room fell a little homier.
Edge walked over to the side bar and poured two drinks. “I’ll show you around as soon as I meet with Jude.”
A door opened up at the far end of the room. A young man carrying a computer entered. A grin split his face when he noticed us. He looked to be around my age. His sandy blonde hair was short at the sides, longer on top. It stuck up in different directions like he’d used his fingers to comb it. He reminded me of a surfer.
“Edge!” he shouted.
He must be Jude, I thought.
Edge grimaced and pointed to his ears. The young man looked at Edge quizzically. “Oh! Right,” he said, pulling the ear buds out of his ears. Loud music pumped through the tiny speakers as he fumbled to turn it down.
“Edge, I’m glad you’re back,” he said as he walked over and fist bumped him. “You won’t believe the shit coming up on the feed these past couple of days,” he continued.
Edge put a hand up to silence him. The young man sputtered to a stop as Edge tilted his head towards me.
He bounced his light brown eyes between Edge and I. “You never bring company, wh
at’s up?”
“Jade, this is Jude Millar,” Edge introduced.
“Hey, Jade. Nice to meet ya,” he said to me.
“Hey, Jude, nice to meet you, too.” I couldn’t help the smirk that crept up on my face. The Beatles song was now playing on a loop in my head.
“Yeah, I know…my parents, they loved The Beatles.”
I grinned. “I like it. Your name and the song.
“Yeah, you try growing up with the name,” he winked. “So what brings you to the BC?” he asked.
“The BC?”
“The Bat Cave,” he said, laughing with a snort.
“You really call it the Bat Cave?” I asked.
“Sure, why not? Has all the feel of it and we are fighting crime,” Jude smirked.
“Alright, enough,” Edge said.
Edge handed me the glass he’d poured. “Now that the introductions are over with, let’s get down to business, shall we?”
“Oh yeah, sure.” Jude slid his finger along the tablet and turned it just enough to show Edge.
“Looks like our intel system is having a hard time keeping up with the ever-changing plans of the Triad,” Edge said as he contemplated the screen.
“Yeah, but if you look at the last few transmissions, they are still leaning towards finding the book first,” Jude replied.
“Look at the last transmission. It looks like they are getting ready to send a handful of the Enforcers to the old Council location. It seems kind of random, considering there is nothing left of the structure,” Jude said.
“They’re going after the Nomads,” Edge explained.
Jude’s eyebrows shot up. “The Nomads? Dude, seriously?”
“They’ve set up at the old Council and are rebuilding it,” Edge told him.
“The last time they stayed stationary, they were looking for someone. A girl, if I remember correctly.”
I gasped, bringing Jude’s attention to me.
“You? You’re the girl?” He grinned. “Shit just got real, for real!”
“We have a big problem. If the Enforcers are being sent to the Nomads, it can only mean one thing.” Edge sighed.
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