“I’m going to call small groups of the coven into a meeting. If we’re going to find this traitor, then we need to redouble our efforts,” he replied, his demeanor restless. “I want everyone interviewed, Shapeshifters included. I know they’ve got their body cams, but that doesn’t exempt them from this. Astrid, can you conduct these interviews and use that AI of yours?”
Harley nodded. “Yeah, do you have a way on that Smartie thing of yours to figure out who might be lying? A polygraph, maybe?”
“A polygraph wouldn’t work. Those things are notoriously inaccurate and can be easily fooled if you have the know-how. However, I can configure a program that might work.” I nodded, the ideas coming to me at a rapid pace. “I can use Smartie’s internal database to match up the answers that the interviewees give me to the facts that are already stored on his hard drive—locations, times, whereabouts, alibis, etcetera, specifically for the timeframe that Quetzi went missing. If there are any contradictions, Smartie will be able to spot them. He works fast, so it’s definitely manageable. The interviews will be the most time-consuming aspect.”
Alton sat back, his shoulders relaxing slightly. “That sounds like an excellent plan, Astrid. While you figure out the minutiae, I’m going to make the announcement. Kenneth Willow isn’t talking anyway, so we might as well use this room. He can wait his turn, as far as I’m concerned.”
Harley frowned. “He’s still not saying anything?”
“His lips might as well be sealed with that gold on his chest. Not a word about anything. He just keeps telling us that the Cult of Eris is going to make us pay, and we can’t escape it, no matter where we run or how hard we fight. Stirring stuff, as you can imagine,” he said wearily.
“You sure you won’t let me have a go?”
He smiled wryly. “I want him alive, Harley. For now, I think it’s best you stay away. Anyway, after tomorrow he’s the Mage Council’s problem. They’re not happy with our coven security, so they’re coming to pick him up in the morning. They can interrogate him from there, since we’re not getting anywhere. I’m afraid I have to admit defeat on this one.”
“Are they letting the kids stay?”
“It seems so, yes.”
She nodded. “Good… that’s good. I’m making progress on that thing you asked about, so we might have some good news soon. At the very least, we’ll have somewhere safer to put them.”
“Yes, keep me updated on that,” he replied, leaving me entirely out of the loop. Although I could guess what they were talking about—I was able to spot a Kaleido mask at ten paces. They were works of exquisite craftsmanship, but if you knew what to look for, you couldn’t not see them. A slight prickle of energy when standing nearby, and a faint haze around the jawline. In fact, the moment Tarver had been introduced to us, I’d known he wasn’t who he said he was. Harley and Alton’s secrecy only confirmed my suspicions that he was actually Jacob, masquerading as this Tarver character. Not that I was going to tell them that—my knowing would only worry them, and I understood why Alton had given him such a mask. He wanted to protect Jacob, and I wanted the same thing. You may keep your secrets for now.
“I’ll get the questions laid out,” I said brightly. “Give me an hour and we can reconvene, if that works for you?”
Alton cast me a grateful look. “That’s perfect, Astrid. Now, I have a call to make to Krieger.”
* * *
Evening fell on the coven, silvery moonlight glancing in through the windows of the interview room. I tried hard not to look at the clock, but my gaze drifted there regardless. The hands read half past ten. I had been at this since noon, and I was beginning to tire. A yawn stretched my mouth open wide, making Harley imitate the same motions from the chair beside me. Nobody really knew why humans did that—yawning when other people did—but research had shown that it was an echo phenomenon, otherwise known as an automatic imitation of another person. Dogs and chimpanzees apparently suffered from the same impulse, though they’d yet to settle on a conclusion as to why. Another curious human attribute, like falling in love or crying at sad movies.
I’d managed to work my way through three-quarters of the populace, with no contradictions as of yet. The questions were simple, and the interviews were brief, though hours and hours of endless asking was not as easy as it appeared, and the detector program hadn’t brought up any red flags. In fact, the only useful discovery we’d had was from Alton, telling us that the puncture wounds were indeed similar to those of hypodermic needles, which bolstered our theory. Harley had been helping me out, after Alton had agreed to let her sit in on the interviews. I supposed she wasn’t a threat to these people, as she didn’t want to punch them in the face for being generally unpleasant.
“Who’s next on the list?” I asked.
“Garrett.”
My heart almost stopped. Although, of course, that wasn’t actually possible, not unless I was about to die again. It was more of an arrhythmia, brought on by thoughts of him. Dangerous, really, now that I’d actually contemplated the idea. All of this romance stuff couldn’t be good for a person, not when it could cause increased adrenaline, heart palpitations, and an intense sensation of acute anxiety, with every neuron firing at once. Still, I had to admit it felt quite exciting.
The door opened, and Garrett was ushered inside by one of the officers. I knew the moment I saw him that this wasn’t going to go well. He had that stubborn look on his face. Ordinarily, I found it adorable, but this wasn’t the right setting for an expression like that. Here, I needed cooperation.
“This is ridiculous,” he muttered, as he sat down on the opposite side of the table.
“It won’t take long,” I urged, forcing a smile onto my face.
He shook his head. “Ask me what you want—I’m not answering any of your stupid questions. This is totally ridiculous. Like, what is this? A dictatorship? What’s next—Alton prancing around doing ‘random’ spot checks on people? I’m not standing for it, Astrid. I’m sorry, I’m just not.”
“Come on, Garrett, everyone else is doing this,” Harley interjected.
“I don’t care—I’m not. Alton has already strapped these things to us—isn’t that enough to prove I’m innocent?”
“Please, Garrett,” I said quietly. Alton was watching us through the two-way mirror, and I could only imagine his current response. I admired Garrett’s independent spirit, but I wished he would play along, just this once.
“No, Astrid. I’m not answering Alton’s questions. Check the cameras if you want; I’m not doing this.”
“They’re my questions—does that make a difference?”
He smiled tightly. “Not this time.”
“Please, Garrett. Let’s just get this over with. They’re easy questions, and I know you’ll pass with flying colors.”
“I’m not answering them. Nothing you can say will change my mind.”
Panic made my heartbeat quicken. Alton would burst in here any moment, I knew it. He was probably already fuming in the next room, readying himself to rage at Garrett. Harley seemed to feel it too. Her entire body language had changed, stiffening with tension that didn’t belong to her.
“Garrett, all you have to do is tell us where you were when Quetzi got taken,” I encouraged softly. “That’s all you have to do. Please, for me.”
He leveled his gaze at me. “I’ve told you, I’m not answering these questions, not even for you. I’m sorry, I really am, but I’m not bowing to Alton’s rules—not after the humiliation he’s already put us Shapeshifters through.”
“Are you hiding something?” Harley asked bluntly, saying what I couldn’t.
“No,” he replied, a beat too fast.
“Were you up to something the day that Quetzi went missing?”
“No.”
“Then why won’t you tell us what you were doing?”
“I’m not playing Alton’s messed-up game.”
I fidgeted in my seat, unable to suppress the thoughts that rus
hed into my mind. Are you hiding something, Garrett? It really felt as though he was. His manner, his words, his stubbornness. They all pointed toward deception. I might not have been an Empath, but I knew the signs of a liar—the tics that gave them away, like a poker player in the midst of an important game.
“Are you keeping secrets from me?” I asked, my voice barely louder than a whisper.
His eyes turned suddenly cold. “You’re one to talk.”
“What do you mean?” I recoiled, wounded by his frosty tone.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Forget about it.”
“No, what did you mean?” I pressed, my heart pounding. What did he know? What had he been about to say?
“Nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s this room, it’s winding me up,” he muttered, visibly calming down. He ran a hand through his hair, turning his gaze toward the mirrored panel to the right of him. It definitely seemed like he’d wanted to say something. A revelation that I didn’t want anyone finding out about, maybe? I didn’t know what to be more concerned about—the fact that he might know about my familial ties to Alton, or the fact that he might use it against me, just to irritate my father.
Make sure he’s in it for the right reasons. That’s what my mom had said. Until that moment, I’d never questioned Garrett’s motives. Now, however, my certainty about them had been thrown into turmoil.
“If you don’t do the interview now, Alton will make you do it later,” Harley said, defusing the prickly tension that had gathered like a storm between us.
“Fine, then he can make me do it later,” Garrett replied. He scraped back his chair and stood up, leaving the room without another word. I watched him go, my heart sinking into my stomach. Again, not possible, but the sensation was rather poignant, and eminently convincing. I could almost feel it beating miserably in my abdomen.
“Are you okay?” Harley asked.
I nodded. “I think I need a brief recess, that’s all.”
“We can finish this in the morning. Go and do something else to take your mind off this stuff.”
“Like what?”
She shrugged. “See what else you can find on the Cult of Eris, maybe?”
“Yes… yes, that sounds like a good idea.”
“Want me to come with you?”
I shook my head. “No, I think I need a minute on my own.”
“Okay, well, I’m a phone call away if you change your mind.”
“Thanks, Harley.”
She smiled. “Look, boys are a pain in the ass. Garrett’s pissed at Alton, and he’s taking it out on you. If it had been anyone else in the room, he’d have done the same thing. Don’t worry about it too much, you hear me? He likes you. That’s not going to change.”
“I’ll try not to worry.”
“That’s my girl. They’re not worth it, most of the time.”
Garrett is… At least, I thought he was.
Gathering my things, I ducked out into the hallway. Without bothering to stop and check in with Alton, I set off toward the library. Books always calmed my mind, and research was as good as a massage. Amongst the stacks and the shelves, I could make myself forget about Garrett entirely. If he did know about Alton being my father, did that mean he was going to hold it over me? If he did, I supposed I would learn what type of man he was.
Enough now. No more thoughts of Garrett Kyteler.
As my grandmother, the mighty Ariadne Hepler, had always said, “If you have time to think about boys, then you have too much time on your hands.” Instead of worrying, I would find solace in discovering ways to uncover and destroy the Cult of Eris, along with bringing down Katherine Shipton. That could make me forget about almost anything else. Almost.
Eighteen
Harley
The next morning, torn between helping Astrid out with the rest of the interviews and getting my chance to speak to Nomura, I joined the newcomers in a dawn training session at the preceptors’ private facility. Jacob and I hadn’t had much time to continue our work together, but he seemed happy enough to give it a rest for a couple of days. The blast had thrown his confidence, but he’d get back on the horse when the time came. Even if I had to force him back in the saddle.
Anyway, I figured Astrid wouldn’t be starting until later, and Santana could always sit in the room with her if I wasn’t finished in time. After what Alton had said to me about the Sanguine spell, and the potentially imminent threat of a pretty pissed-off Katherine, I needed to get Nomura’s advice, sooner rather than later. As luck would have it, he was the one overseeing this dawn training session. Well, it wasn’t so much luck as me checking with Alton that he’d be on duty, but still—this was my shot.
“No, not like that,” Nomura instructed as Min-Ho Lee sent a shudder through the ground that almost split it in two. “You have to keep control of what you do at all times. You can’t let your mind wander for even a second.”
She flushed with embarrassment as her friends—Cassie and Sarah—laughed from the sidelines. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“You can’t just let it all pour out of you at once, then watch what happens, like you just did. It’s about visualization and measured force,” he explained. “Let it flow from your hands, but only as much as you need. Otherwise, we may end up having to evacuate the coven.” He cast her an encouraging smile, but the girl was clearly mortified.
“I’m not sure I can do it, preceptor. It all comes out at once, whenever I try it,” Min-Ho mumbled.
Nomura nodded. “You won’t get it right away, but it’s about persistence. Sarah, why don’t you come and give it a try with your speed? You’re a Supersonic, yes?”
She blanched. “I’d rather not, preceptor.”
“Regardless, come and give it a go,” he insisted.
Glancing back at Cassie, who shared in my Empath abilities, Sarah stepped toward Nomura. He positioned her in front of the white line that had been drawn on the floor and rested his hand on her shoulder for a second.
“What do you want me to do?”
He pointed to the far side of the room. “I want to see what you’re capable of. Come on.”
“Do you want me to clap like a seal, too?” she muttered. I could tell her nerves were making her lippy; she was hiding her insecurity behind rudeness.
“No, just the running will do, and if you speak to me like that again I’ll make you run all day. On my count. Ready?”
“I guess so.”
“One… two… three!”
The girl disappeared in the blink of an eye, a gust of wind sweeping back and hitting me in the face. A slight blur tore across the room, but you had to look closely for it. Everyone else turned to watch as Sarah McCormick appeared on the opposite side of the training room in less than two seconds flat. I gaped at her. I’d figured Supersonic had something to do with breaking glass, but this made sense, too. She darted back to the white line, disappearing and reappearing a second later at Nomura’s side.
“How the heck did they catch you?” I blurted out.
She shot me a sour look. “They laid traps. Don’t think I didn’t try.”
“Couldn’t you have run away from Katherine?”
“And go where, exactly? Anyway, they put cuffs on me to stop me from using my abilities. Katherine’s people only took them off when she wanted to see what I could do—inside a bubble thing, of course, so I couldn’t make a break for it.” Aside from the preteen attitude problem, Sarah was impressive. I’d never seen anything like it. She seemed tough. The foster system had hardened her, too.
“And what about you, Cassie?” I turned to the third member of the triad. “You’re an Empath and a Morph, right?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what that means.”
“You can put your consciousness in an animal, and sense what other people are feeling, right?”
“Then yeah, I guess that’s me in a neat little box.” I got the feeling that Cassie was nicer than she appeared, but fear had tu
rned her wary and bitter, making her adapt to the attitude of the two girls who were always stuck to her side.
“Can we see the Morph ability?” I looked to Nomura for consent.
“I’m interested to see what else Sarah can do first, but Cassie, you’ll be next,” he replied.
Sarah sighed loudly. “Let me guess, you want to see me break something with my voice? Same as everyone else?”
“If you could.”
She stepped up to a pitcher of water that had been set on a trestle table and braced her hands against the vinyl surface of the tabletop. Narrowing her eyes, she opened her mouth. A high-pitched shriek shivered out of her throat, my hands snapping to my ears to try and block out the sound. I half-expected an escaped Banshee from the Bestiary to appear, bringing an omen of death with it. Instead, the pitcher shuddered violently, before it exploded into a thousand tiny shards, sending water and glass in all directions. Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone standing close enough to get hurt, and the shards bypassed Sarah completely, bending around the shrill scream of her voice.
Nomura whistled. “Impressive. Your control is very good indeed.”
Sarah flashed a hint of a smile. “I’ve had my whole life to practice.”
“It’s not like she has to control a powerful Element. Her Fire is weak,” Min-Ho muttered sourly, folding her arms across her chest. “Running and screaming is so much easier.”
“No, it’s not,” Sarah protested.
“She doesn’t even have an Esprit yet!” Min-Ho’s was a jade hair barrette shaped like a seahorse, while Cassie’s appeared to be a gold necklace with a green stone in the middle.
“All of you have abilities of equal difficulty, and having an Esprit isn’t a sign of progression. It can take years to find one,” Nomura interjected. “No matter how much of a natural you might be, every skill requires practice and dedication to master. There is no such thing as an ‘easy’ ability or a ‘weak’ ability. You would do well to learn that, if you don’t take anything else away from these training sessions.”
Harley Merlin 4: Harley Merlin and the First Ritual Page 20
