Harley Merlin 16: Finch Merlin and the Blood Tie Page 17

  After a few more scrapes and clicks—and a bit of accidental strangling—the Cuff fell away and hit the floor with a thud. I stooped to pick it up and went to the back window, where one of the boards had loosened. Quickly, I slipped the Cuff through the gap and heard it land on the ground outside. By the time anyone happened to find it, we’d be long gone.

  I’d just turned when the door swung open on its creaking hinges. The rusty squeal pierced the air, and Hector added a squeal of his own, like a stuck pig. All my instincts jumped into action, my hand reaching for a broken plank of wood.

  Then I saw her.

  Huntress bounded in, tail wagging. She ran right up to me and paused at my legs. Her blue eyes observed me with a hint of amusement. Were you going to throw that for me?

  You could’ve given me a heads-up that you were back, I replied, setting the weapon down.

  Well, as you can see, I’m guard-free. Though I did bring company. She looked back over her shoulder, where Melody and Luke stepped in uncertainly.

  I bent and ruffled Huntress’s fur, pressing my forehead to hers. You did it. You beauty—you did it!

  “Do you know these people?” Hector stared between me and my friends. “Tell me you know these people.”

  I nodded, still fussing over Huntress. “They’re friends. I didn’t want to freak you out before, but I sent this one to fetch them. I figured we could probably use the help, if we wanted any chance of getting away from here.”

  Hector didn’t relax. “Who are they?”

  Melody went straight up to him and put out a hand. “I’m Melody Winchester, and this is Luke Prescott. Friends of—”

  “Orion,” I cut in. Hector would have a hard time trusting me if he knew that I’d lied about my name. In my defense, I hadn’t known that he was trustworthy when I’d told the lie.

  Melody didn’t break pace. “Yes, we’re friends of Orion here. And we’ve come to offer our assistance, though… we’re not quite sure what the problem is.” She looked back to me in confusion. “We saw blood on Huntress.”

  I raised a hand. “That’d be mine. It’ll make sense in a bit.”

  “Well, I just want you to know that we’re on your side.” Melody turned back to Hector, her hand still poised for a shake. “Think of us as the cavalry, for… whatever’s going on.”

  Hector hesitated before taking Melody’s hand. “In that case, I’m Hector.”

  “Could you take the Cuff off Huntress’s neck while I fill everyone in?” I asked, gesturing to my faithful Familiar. If Hector thought the request was weird, he didn’t show it. He probably no longer believed that Huntress was just a Purge beast I’d bought in the Trench. But he chose to keep trusting me.

  Hector set to work with his pouch, as Huntress sat patiently in front of him. With the click and scratch of his skills in the background, the others settled on the sparse furniture nearest me.

  “So what sort of trouble are you in?” Luke prompted.

  I lowered my voice so Hector wouldn’t hear. “Ovid’s alive. He went behind Kaya’s back and got Davin to resurrect him. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, though I guess that depends on your perspective. If I hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have seen Ovid with my own eyes. Anyway, his guards captured us, and they drew a bunch of blood from me.”

  Melody clamped her hand across her mouth. “Are you serious?”

  “Have you ever known me to joke?” I tried to ignore the heavy weight of all this pressing down on me. “And that’s not all.” I raised my voice again, so Hector wouldn’t get suspicious. “Kaya wants to raise Atlantis to the surface. When she gets there, she wants to take over the world and reveal the existence of magicals. That’s the only way to put it. She wants us to be the ‘superior’ race. I’ll let your imaginations fill in the blanks. Anyway, she’s got her guards swarming all over Atlantis to collect blood from each and every citizen in the queendom so she can raise the city. And that’s how I met Hector. He refused and ran, and now the guards are after him.”

  Luke sank back in the dusty armchair. “This is insane. Completely insane. Does Kaya know about… the other problem?”

  “I doubt it, from what I overheard. Someone wants his toys back, and he’s going to do whatever he can to get them.” I glanced at Hector, worried that he might piece some things together. But Huntress had run interference while we talked, wriggling and squirming as he tried to unpick the Cuff. She was always one step ahead.

  “But why would she want to seize global control?” Melody interjected. “Why would she create a battleground out of the surface world, when she could simply raise Atlantis and live peaceably? I’m sure that if she sent envoys to the key magical senates, they would have no problem with Atlantis staying on the surface. As long as they didn’t try to… well, dominate. The world’s magicals would probably even be willing to offer assistance in building an interdimensional bubble, like the ones that hide the covens, to keep Atlantis out of harm’s way.”

  I gave a bitter laugh. “You’re preaching to the choir here, Melody. That’s not her plan.”

  “We have to talk some sense into her!” Melody protested.

  “If you think you can, be my guest. But I doubt she’ll listen. Royals are stubborn, especially this bunch. You only have to look at her father to know that.”

  Luke leaned forward. “Well, we have to go back to the palace, anyway. Finch might be the only person left who can persuade Kaya that she’s heading down a dangerous path. He might be able to make her see that this is madness.”

  “Under a love spell? He’d probably get out his pom-poms to cheer her on.” I felt for the guy.

  Melody shook her head wildly. “He might not be under the love spell for much longer! Lux and Erebus are working together to set him free as we speak.”

  I stared at her for a long moment. “Did hell freeze over while I’ve been hiding out here?”

  She flapped a hand at me. “It’s a long story, but they decided to strike up a temporary peace treaty and help Finch. Chaos got involved and gave his Children a stern talking-to, and it lit a fire under them. They’ve got serious consequences to face if they don’t fix what they did.”

  I was left reeling. This was one small glimmer of hope in a storm of doom and gloom. Ovid might’ve been at large, and Kaya might’ve been barking up a crazy tree, but they were right—Finch might still hold some sway over Kaya. And if he didn’t have that spell on him, then he’d have the clarity to persuade her against this destructive idea. If Lux and Erebus could remove the spell. They were Children of Chaos, sure, but they weren’t at their full potential right now. But we had to hope for the best.

  “Then we should get back to the palace.” We had to take any shots we had left before we were fresh out.

  Hector finished with the Cuff on Huntress’s neck and sank back on his haunches. His eyes narrowed. “You mentioned Finch. The prince consort?”

  I nodded slowly. “There aren’t too many guys with that name down here. I doubt there are too many on the surface, either.” I looked Hector square in the eyes—man to man. “We’re friends of his—not Atlanteans. And my name isn’t Orion. It’s Nash.” Hector’s expression didn’t change, so I powered through. “Finch never wanted to marry Kaya. She forced him into it, and now we want to save him. I lied because I didn’t know if I could trust you. Now I know I can.”

  Hector stared back at me for a good while, evidently trying to size us all up. In the end, he sighed wearily. “I understand the need to be cautious, so there are no hard feelings. If you truly are against her plan, then we’re allies.” He glanced at the door nervously, like he expected guards to burst in again. “And if you want to get back to the palace to convince the queen that this idea will cause untold harm to this city and its inhabitants… you’re going to need help.”

  “You want to help us?” Luke sounded surprised.

  Hector patted his pocket, where he’d stowed the little stone that held his daughter’s hologram. “It is my duty to
help you. I don’t want my daughter growing up in a battleground. If you really believe that Finch has a chance of persuading the queen, then you can count on me.”

  “Even if Finch can’t, there’s more we can try.” I let the sudden idea roll out onto my tongue. “We can sabotage her mission from the inside and get someone to the surface to send word to the magicals about bringing help to Atlantis: an energy source, rerouted power from the surface Bestiary, or at least an open avenue of discussion between here and there.” I hadn’t pulled the thought out of nowhere. Hector’s wife had gotten out of this bubble to join her unit of Purge beast hunters, so there had to be an exit somewhere.

  Hector’s eyes shone with hope. “Then I must aid you. I don’t believe in fate, but nor do I believe in coincidence. We crossed paths for a reason. There is only so much running I can do. So why not make a stand of my own?”

  “What are you thinking?” Melody blinked at him with her usual curiosity. “I should warn you, we were plagued by guards on our way here. If it hadn’t been for Huntress, we likely wouldn’t have made it. And the larger our number, the more risk there is of us getting spotted.”

  I looked to my crafty new ally. “What tricks would your grandpa have up his sleeve if he were here now?”

  Hector rubbed his chin. “There’s one thing. Simple but effective, and essentially risk-free, since I know Atlantis inside and out.”

  Hector turned to his pouch of tools and reached into a fold at the top. I almost laughed at the magic trick he whipped out: Old Faithful, and Finch’s favorite—charmed chalk. It couldn’t have been more ironically perfect.

  “Chalk doors?” Melody did laugh, a sweet sound.

  “You’ve heard of them?” Hector asked.

  I smiled. “We’ve used a few in our time, but our chalk got confiscated when we touched down in Atlantis.”

  “You wouldn’t have had much luck with it, even if they’d let you keep it,” Hector replied, chewing his bottom lip. “There are powerful forces at work in this city, which prevent long-distance travel through chalk doors. It’s supposed to prevent chalk-door travel altogether, but this stick is modified. It’ll allow us to step through in short bursts. I just have to plot our path, and we can go from chalk door to chalk door all the way to the palace.”

  I offered up a sound of appreciation. “Is your grandpa still alive? Because if he is, I’ve got to meet him.”

  Hector dropped his head, and I wished I’d kept my trap shut. “He died some thirty years ago.” Persevering, he walked to the wall and started sketching. “If there is a chance the guards followed your friends here, then we do not have long.”

  Melody, Luke, Huntress, and I went to him. “Ready when you are,” I said.

  He whispered the Aperi Si Ostium spell but added an extra line that I hadn’t heard before: ut nos occultatum. My Latin had gotten rusty over the years. Wracking my brain, a distant memory told me it meant something along the lines of “keep us hidden.” The edges of the chalk fizzled and sank into the safehouse wall. Hector wasted no time pulling the door open and ushering us through. On the other side lay a back alley, running behind some houses. They were nicer than the neighborhood we’d left, so I knew we had gone some distance from where we started.

  He drew another. This time, it landed us in the kitchen of some poor Atlantean grandma. She shrieked, wielding a pan at us. She landed a few solid hits, too. Skirting past her, we sprinted out her front door, etching another door onto the sidewalk outside. Physics wasn’t on our side for the next one, with all five of us collapsing about ten inches shy of a pond in some wealthy Atlantean’s back yard. But we bounced back and kept going, through door after door, until the finish line came into view.

  “This is where we have to walk,” Hector said, his tone nervous. We’d appeared behind thick bushes at the edge of the palace gardens. “The spells here prevent any transportation magic from being used. I can’t get us inside.”

  I glanced around the spiny bush. The door to Ryann’s bedroom was through an obstacle course of rose gardens and hedgerows. I didn’t know if it’d still be ajar, the way we’d left it, but I had to believe it was. It was our only way in.

  I pointed to the door. “We just have to get from here to there. Can you use that hiding spell?” I wasn’t eager about getting singed again, but I could swallow that if it meant getting to the door mostly unscathed.

  Hector shook his head. “It only works if you’re stationary.”

  Melody shuffled up beside me. “I could try a transformation spell. A glamor of sorts to make us blend into the landscape. Anyone who looks our way will be tricked into thinking they see nothing unusual.”

  We had no time to be indecisive. “Do it.”

  “Okay, but we’ll have to stay close to one another for it to work.” Melody closed her eyes and raised her hands. Rainbow magic fluttered out of her, swirling around us. Even her spells were sweet. I noticed the bushes and gardens warp, like an open road on a day so hot the air turned liquid. Aside from that, I didn’t feel any different.

  “Quick. I don’t know how long I can hold this,” Melody murmured. “I’ll stay in the center, and you cluster around me. We’ll move toward the door together. Try not to step too far away.”

  Treading carefully, the five of us started our silent trek to the door. A few random Atlanteans wandered about, but none of them took notice of us. Melody had done a stellar job of hiding us in plain sight. Not that I’d have expected otherwise.

  Twenty yards from our target, we froze. Sentries unfurled from bushes and trees and shadows. They’d been waiting for us. And they were heading in our direction, blocking our path. We stood still, with our goal so close, and a tense moment stretched out. We didn’t know if they could see us or not. But they quickly answered the unspoken question.

  “Nash Calvert, stop where you are.” The head guard pointed at me. The jig was up. “You are to be taken into custody for crimes against the crown.”

  I should’ve kept quiet. But that wasn’t me. “What crimes?”

  “We have received word that you have been indulging in illicit activity to promote dissent against the queen. We are here to arrest you,” the guard replied. Melody dropped the mirage. There was no point in draining her energy when they could clearly see us.

  Faustus got to them, Huntress whispered in my head. I knew she was right. He’d evidently gotten ahead of me and mounted a smear campaign. The slimy weasel. But it stung even more to get caught so close to where we needed to be. Still, I wasn’t about to get shoved back into prison. I was done being someone’s captive.

  “And who gave you that intel? Faustus?” I squared up. “Funny, since he’s the one pulling all the strings. I haven’t done anything against the queen. Faustus, on the other hand—he helped your old king get himself resurrected. He wants to take your queen’s throne from her, and I’m the one standing in his way. He’s trying to distract you, and you’re buying it.”

  The head guard snorted. An ugly, derisive snort. “You expect us to believe such a ridiculous tale? King Ovid’s casket is still on display in the palace gardens. Moreover, Faustus is loyal to the queen. You, however, are not.”

  “How about we go and take a look at that casket, then? I’d bet every buck I have that there’s nothing inside.” I didn’t think much of my chances to convince them, but I had nothing to lose by trying. Since there was no bluff, they couldn’t call it.

  The guard pulled a disgusted face. “We would not dishonor our former king in such a way, nor do we believe a word you say.”

  I shrugged. “Well, you should. It’s the truth.”

  The guard pulled out a stone, similar to the one Hector had shown me containing the hologram of his daughter. Only this time, it bore an image of Hector himself. A futuristic warrant for his arrest. The guard gestured to his pals. “Seize this man, for his act of dissent, while I contend with Mr. Calvert. As for the other two and that… animal, if they wish to associate with a criminal, then they must be pun
ished as well.” He eyed Hector coldly. “You will give your blood to the crown’s service, one way or another.”

  The guards swarmed in and grabbed Hector, wrestling the stick of chalk out of his hand. It crumbled underfoot. My palms went up, and I sent a blast of Air to knock the attackers back. They just bent their heads against it, digging in their heels to stop themselves from flying away. Melody and Luke jumped in straight after, sparks of Chaos flying. Even Huntress dove into the fray, savaging the pant leg of one of the guards with her jaws.

  “Desist!” The head guard jabbed a shiny ring at my head. His Esprit, by the looks of it, charged and ready to fire. Huntress stopped immediately, and the others hesitated. The guards took their opportunity and hauled Hector away from us. He looked straight at me and gave a subtle nod. He’d put his faith in me. I couldn’t let him down. But I couldn’t do anything to save him now. He was about to do something stupid, to open up an avenue for the rest of us to get away.

  Sure enough, I watched him strain to reach something in his back pocket. A hex ball popped out and fell to the dirt. He hit it with a thin stream of Chaos. The ball erupted, and three bursts of purple magic exploded outward, gunning straight for the guards. As they whizzed toward their targets, I realized they were creatures: their mouths opened wide in a bloodcurdling wail as they closed in, like wispy wraiths intent on taking a chunk out of flesh. Their jaws were full of alarmingly sharp teeth that put Huntress’s fangs to shame.

  The head guard smacked the wisps with a mix of Fire and Air. One reared backward with an ear-splitting howl, while the other two stayed on trajectory. And there was nothing anyone could do to stop them. Under attack, the guards launched Elemental assaults on the shadowy wisps, but they sailed through harmlessly. Hector had bought us time, and we had to run with it. Literally.