Harley Merlin 11: Finch Merlin and the Lost Map Read online

  I’d heard a similar spell, once upon a Katherine. Blanche wanted to break Melody apart, making her bones shatter and her blood boil. Scarlet tendrils spiraled from Blanche’s hands and hit Melody in the back, as she swayed on her feet. Her face turned toward me. I saw the exact moment the curse took hold. Or, rather, heard it.

  Melody screamed, her veins lighting up. Silhouetted below her skin, I witnessed her bones starting to glow. Blanche continued chanting over Melody’s increasingly intense screams. She would add magical pressure until Melody’s bones broke, or until I gave up the notebook. Whichever came first.

  Luke gaped inside the bubble. His hands frantically pummeled the membrane, but it didn’t break. Blanche had him helpless. And now, she had Melody in her crippling curse.

  Gremlin, what do I do? I can’t even step forward…

  “Destroy her,” Puffball insisted, still perched on the desk, unseen by anyone but me.

  I grasped every thread of energy I had left and staggered toward Blanche, lifting my palms. All the while, I struggled to ignore Melody’s heartbreaking screams. Blanche was killing her. And I didn’t know how much breath Luke had left.

  “The notebook, or they both die!” Blanche screeched.

  “He’s not worth this,” I gasped. “Davin will double-cross you once he gets what he wants.”

  Blanche smirked. “You won’t talk me out of this. I’m getting my husband back. Davin will resurrect him in exchange for me giving him that. So, give me the notebook, or your friends suffer. Maybe you’ll remember their faces, if you survive this!”

  “You’ll be lucky if you get anything more than a zombie!” I stared at her and formed a fireball. Both of her hands were occupied. All I needed to do was hit her, and both spells would break. She had no free palms to use more Water or Glacier abilities.

  “Your lies won’t convince me. Davin can do it. He’s shown me he’s more than capable,” Blanche replied.

  Stumbling forward, I sent the ball flying. She leaned back, the projectile whizzing straight over her head and crashing through the glass behind her. I tried to make another, but my body had other ideas. My knees gave way and I slumped to the ground, every body part in excruciating pain. One or two ribs were broken, and there was no telling what other damage she’d done with her ice wall.

  “Smash her to pieces! Forget your knees, forget your ribs! Bones heal, so stop being a wimp and get her!” Puffball cried, hopping from foot to foot.

  I barely lifted my head in time to see a shadow leap from the staircase. It darted across the room, tackling Blanche to the ground.

  Mr. Abara had appeared from nowhere. He sank his knee into Blanche’s chest as he snatched out his pouch of coal. Cupping some in both hands, he held her wrists down. Two half-circles of diamond spread from his palms, melding with the wood below. He’d trapped her, cuffing her wrists to the ground.

  But the bubble held, and so did the curse.

  On fumes, I managed to hobble toward her. I felt the burn of my Esprit in my pocket and channeled one last, potent blast of Telekinesis into her. As the blast subsided, Blanche’s head lolled to the side and her eyes rolled upward. Unconscious.

  The bubble exploded, and Luke tumbled down to the ground. He gasped and spluttered for air. I lurched. Mr. Abara was beside me in a heartbeat, his strong arm dragging mine over his shoulder to keep me upright.

  “You all right there, boy?” He peered at me, worried.

  I nodded. “I will be.”

  Melody screamed again. Somehow, the curse still had her in its grip. Her whole body glowed. I could see every vein, every bone, every sinew. Soon, those bones would start to crack, and those veins would open. These curses could progress quickly.

  “We need to help her,” I wheezed.

  Mr. Abara half carried me to her. As I sank beside Melody, I put my hands on her arms, trying to feel out the curse. I could unravel some curses, but my cult days had been more about inflicting than undoing them. Tracking hexes and spying hexes and protective charms were easy. This… was anything but. I sensed the power of the curse bristling off Melody, whispering its secret strength.

  “Can you do something?” Mr. Abara looked down at me.

  “Careful, Finch,” Puffball said, its small ears twitching. “Don’t involve yourself. It’s much too dangerous.”

  I shook my head and met Mr. Abara’s concerned eyes. “It’s powerful, and tricky. I can’t undo it without knowing what curse it is, specifically.” I paused. “Although, there’s something I can try.”

  I hunched forward and awkwardly unbuttoned the top of Melody’s musty-looking blouse. Not too far to be improper.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Luke lurched over, soaked from the bubble.

  “Trying to save her,” I replied firmly. I shifted the left side of her shirt over to expose the top of her chest, enough to bare her heart. I’d learned a trick, way back, that’d act like a shot of adrenaline. It might be enough to reset her Chaos and push the curse out.

  I paused at the sight of a red tattoo over Melody’s heart, startled. It looked like it’d been burned into her skin. Not an Apple of Discord, thank Chaos. No, this symbol was composed of three dots with three long, triangular shards pointing toward it, like rays of light, all encompassed in three thin circles. I’d seen the symbol before. It was the symbol of “awen”—created around the time the Primus Anglicus came into being. It represented the trinities in the magical world. The three divisions of the soul: mind, body, spirit. The three realms earthly creatures inhabited: land, sea, sky. The cosmic divisions: underworld, middle world, upper world, a.k.a. the afterlife. It also supposedly represented love, wisdom, and truth.

  I’d seen a symbol like that in my mother’s books, when she set her sights on a woman named… It was right on the tip of my tongue. Odette. Yes, that was it. And that symbol was how Chaos had marked her, always discreetly placed and known by very few.

  “She’s the Librarian,” I whispered. Now, it made sense why she had muscle with her. Now I understood why she needed Luke.

  “What is going on here?” a voice boomed behind us.

  I turned to find Etienne stalking forward.

  “Blanche attacked us for the formula,” I explained rapidly. Melody didn’t have a lot of time. “She’s working for Davin Doncaster. And she’s put a curse on Melody. I was going to shoot Chaos directly into her heart, but if you’ve got any better ideas, I’d love to hear them.”

  Etienne glowered at Blanche, who lay unconscious on the floor. “That snake! I should have known he would try to find a way inside my monastery. I heightened the defensive shields to keep him out, but I ought to have looked within as well.”

  “Etienne, please!” Luke begged. “Help Melody.”

  Etienne ushered me out of the way and took over. “You had the right idea, Finch, but these things require more delicacy.”

  He pressed his palms to her chest and closed his eyes. White light pulsated from his hands into her, shivering along her limbs. It overwhelmed the curse’s reddish glow, until only white light remained. Once it stretched from Melody’s head to her toes, Etienne pulled away.

  “Will she be okay?” Luke asked urgently. He looked shaken.

  Etienne nodded. “I’ve unraveled the curse. All we have to do is wait. I managed to get here just in time, it seems. Any longer and her bones would have crumbled, or Finch would have killed her. Unwittingly, of course.”

  “How did you manage that? You didn’t even know the curse.” I stared at Melody.

  “I am more than the master of this monastery and a former assassin. Although, the latter comes with its share of knowledge.” He smiled proudly. “One can’t be a successful hired killer without knowing their way around a wide variety of dangerous curses—how to inflict and how to undo. Fortunately, I know more than Blanche. It wasn’t so difficult.”

  I sank back on my haunches. “Thank you.”

  “Yes, thank you.” Luke nodded vigorously. “Thank you, with a
ll my heart.”

  “Mr. Abara, would you put these on Blanche? While I rather like the diamond cuffs, they won’t defend against her abilities when she wakes.” Etienne took a pair of Atomic Cuffs from his jacket pocket and handed them to Mr. Abara. “She has violated the sanctity of the monastery, as has Davin Doncaster. Whatever it was they sought, they won’t get it from here.”

  Mr. Abara took the Cuffs and made quick work of clapping them on Blanche’s wrists, then dissolving his diamond.

  “I thought he was your pal?” I asked, blinking away the fog in my eyes. Puffball had vanished, and so had most of the weird effects of the poison.

  Etienne frowned. “Who?”

  “Davin.”

  Etienne snorted. “That devil? I hardly think so. While it is true that I’m somewhat beholden to him, he is no friend of mine. Indeed, I will evade my obligation toward him to the end of my days, if I can.” His eyes narrowed. “Although, I’m curious how you know of our former friendship.”

  I shrugged. “He might have mentioned you once, while I tried to rip his head off. Something about you owing him your life.” It was a lie, but I still had to divert his suspicions.

  “It sounds as if he is no friend of yours, either.” Etienne cracked a half-smile.

  “I guillotined him recently, if that gives you an idea of how I feel about him. But he managed to spring right back. You know how he is.” I sighed bitterly. “He sided with Katherine. He tried to kill people I care about. I’d guillotine him again and wipe my ass with his fancy suits with no shame whatsoever.”

  Etienne chuckled darkly. “Then it looks as though you and I are of one mind.”

  So, Etienne wasn’t in business with Davin. That caused a wave of relief, to find out Etienne’s villainy had stopped at an assassin’s past and not spread into the present.

  To be honest, I was more pissed off that I’d suspected just about everyone except the one person who turned out to be the spy. Go figure. Blanche had evidently been learning from the Katherine-to-Imogene playbook. And it was obvious who’d taught her.

  Luke pushed through us and scooped Melody into his arms. He cradled her like a little girl, smoothing back the sweaty tendrils of her hair. She was out cold, but the white light had faded from her body.

  “Mr. Abara, if you could bring Blanche? We must see that she is securely incarcerated before I make the arrangements to have her dealt with.” Etienne walked to the staircase without looking back. Mr. Abara followed, carrying a limp Blanche, her Cuffs clanking as they went.

  I felt like a bit of a third wheel, left with Luke and Melody. But I couldn’t just dive back into the map-making. The orange poison had worn off, by the looks of it. No melting dome of glass, no Puffball.

  Melody blinked her eyes open. She stared up at Luke and me in surprise.

  “You’re awake,” Luke whispered, his voice shaking with relief.

  She nodded. “What happened? I don’t remember anything after the curse hit.”

  “I’ll tell you everything once you’ve rested.” Luke smoothed his thumb across her cheek.

  Awkward…

  “Finch?” She managed a smile in my direction. “Did you save the notebook?”

  “What do you take me for? An amateur?” I brandished it at her.

  “Thank goodness. I was so worried.” She sagged into Luke’s arms.

  “So, you’re the new repository for all Chaos knowledge, huh?” I chuckled, while Melody and Luke exchanged a shocked glance. “A heads-up would’ve been nice. The Librarian, all wrapped up in a jacket made of teddy-bear hides. Honestly, I need to stop wondering if my life could get any stranger. The answer is always yes.”

  Never had truer words been spoken. But the spy was in safe hands, the notebook and the formula’s secret were still in mine, Etienne wasn’t Davin’s sidekick, and, you know what, I started to wonder if I might actually get out of this thing in one piece.

  I began to laugh uncontrollably. And once I started, I couldn’t stop.

  Thirty-One

  Finch

  Melody blinked in confusion. “How do you know about me?”

  “You can’t know. Nobody can,” Luke jumped in, on his white horse.

  “Neat little tattoo on your chest, Melody,” I replied. My body ached, and pain stabbed my chest every time I breathed, but it hurt no more than a bad cold would. Adrenaline still pulsed through my veins, which helped take the edge off. Once that was gone, the real agony would start. So, I had some time.

  “My chest?” She scrambled to close her buttons.

  “I only unbuttoned a few because I was going to jumpstart your Chaos in hopes it’d break the curse. Etienne undid it instead—the curse, I mean, not your shirt.” My cheeks warmed under Luke’s stern gaze and Melody’s mortified face.

  She nodded, visibly relaxing. “That doesn’t answer my question. How would you know what it meant? It’s not exactly common knowledge. I didn’t even know about it until Chaos itself seared it into me.”

  “I’ve seen it before. I’d prefer not to say where,” I said quietly. “I just know it was on the last Librarian. The symbol of awen, right?”

  “That’s right,” she replied with a small, sad smile. “You know about it from your mother, don’t you?”

  I sighed. “Yes. She had her eye on the last Librarian. I only saw a few of her notes, but that symbol took center stage. Did you know the last Librarian? Is that how you took her place?” I scratched my head. “I don’t know how Librarian succession works.”

  “I didn’t know her at all. I didn’t know such things as Librarians existed.” Melody sat up and leaned against Luke’s shoulder. “But, when Odette died, the whole knowledge of Chaos transferred into me. It happened in the middle of the night, during an Awakening episode. That’s what they call it.”

  My eyes widened. This was some crazy stuff, even by my standards. “Who are ‘they’? And what in the name of Frank Sinatra is an Awakening?”

  She chuckled. “They are the soldiers of Chaos, who put the information in my head. The Children and demi-Children. An Awakening opens one’s mind for a vast quantity of knowledge to be poured inside. I don’t remember much, but it felt as if I lived a thousand lives in a few minutes. So, now, my mind is filled with all my memories, billions of thoughts and information from people I don’t know, and knowledge from Chaos itself that I never knew existed. There are gaps, of course, but I know more than anyone living. I don’t say that to toot my own horn—it’s just the truth.”

  “That’s why she struggles to know what to say and what not to say, while she’s still learning how to be the Librarian,” Luke interjected. “It’s like trying to hold back a dam that has thousands of cracks in it. Things inevitably slip out.”

  “Exactly,” Melody agreed shyly. “My mind has been overloaded, so it gets difficult to keep a lid on it sometimes. Words just… come out in bursts. Not the important, secret stuff, of course. That’s under lock and key up here.” She tapped the side of her head.

  “My sister went through something like that, on a smaller scale.” I remembered Harley in the New York Coven after pressing that handprint on the door to the Grimoire. A massive memory dump had surged into her head. I guessed that was a fraction of what Melody had received.

  Melody smiled. “I know.”

  “You do?” I frowned.

  “When information is drawn into a magical’s mind, it feels like a book being checked out. I can trace it to find out who has it, if that makes sense.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Fitting with the whole ‘librarian’ metaphor.”

  “I’d just become the Librarian then, so every sensation was fresh and overwhelming. I felt that information dump as if it happened to me,” she went on. “That must have been about a year ago now, maybe slightly more.”

  “The timeline fits,” I replied. “Is that when Captain Hothead started to work for you?”

  Luke scowled. “And I was just starting to tolerate you.”

  “Aww,
I’m touched.” I flashed him a grin.

  “Only a few people in the upper echelons of magical society know what I am, and they sent Luke to watch over me. It’s essential that my identity is protected, or I’d be targeted in an instant,” Melody explained, looking up into Luke’s eyes.

  Guilt twisted my stomach. “Like Odette, you mean?”

  “Yes, like her. She didn’t have anyone to protect her, not really. I suppose that’s why the upper echelons decided to assign a bodyguard, after what happened to her.” Melody looked back at me. “Even with Katherine gone, there are still dangerous people in this world.”

  “You don’t have to tell me. We just handcuffed one of their minions.” Davin wasn’t going to like hearing that he’d been foiled. But at least we had Etienne protecting this monastery from his old pal. When we had to step outside the comforting shield, things might get hairy again.

  “There are others, too, not just Davin. Wherever there is humanity, there is evil. Wherever there is power, there are those who would do anything to take it.” Melody nestled further into Luke, as if being near him could save her from all of it. “And for someone like me, there will always be someone else who wants to use me for their own ends.”

  “That’s rough.” I stared down at the floor, uncomfortable. “You’re still only a small fry. I bet you feel like your life’s over, huh? Well, life as you knew it?”

  Luke shot me a hard look that said, What the hell is wrong with you? Honestly, I didn’t know. I guessed I had a case of verbal diarrhea, too. I blamed the poison and the adrenaline.

  She nodded. “I’m still learning to cope.”

  Just then, the African gray flapped through the smashed-up ceiling. In all the insanity, I hadn’t noticed Kenzie-the-pigeon leaving. But she must have, to slip into something a little more talkative. Unless the ordinary parrot had just snuck in.

  “Kenzie?” I whispered to the bird as it landed beside me.

  “Numbskull!” it croaked back. Yep, this was Kenzie all right.