by MJ Fletcher
I watched from across the boulevard, my hair pulled up in a bun, and a pair of Edgar’s old goggles pulled over my eyes. I flicked the small levers on the side as the read out on the lenses changed, informing me about the residual, unseen trail of energy that flowed behind Ronan. He’d come through a portal only moments earlier and his Skeleton Key was no longer active, though it let off a strong signal.
I tapped another button and the goggles flashed a tracking symbol over him. Even if I lost sight of him, the goggles would keep tabs on his power signature as long as he remained in their range. That way I didn’t have to worry about being seen.
I walked along the opposite side of the street casually following him. I wanted to know more about Ronan, but every time I asked around about him all I heard was the same information. He was extremely talented and had been recruited to the League out of school. I couldn’t learn anything more and that’s when I decided it was time to get my information first hand.
He finally entered his destination at the Thread and Needle tailor shop near the end of the Boulevard. I stopped and leaned against a lamppost as cars of every make and model zoomed past, disappearing in flashes of light as they activated their portal jumpers and traveled between dimensions.
I’d started following him two days ago after finally tracking him down. So far, he hadn’t done much more than portal jump between a few benign dimensions and chat with a few people. I assumed at some point he would be heading to the League’s personal dimension where I wouldn’t be able to follow him, but at least I could get coordinates on it.
Gran had yet to inform me if my candidacy for the League had been accepted, and I wanted as much information on them as I could get before I walked into the lion’s den.
I crossed my arms over my chest, and waited.
“If you wanted to see me again, there are easier ways than following me,” Ronan said.
I jumped at the sound of his voice so close, and I spun around to see him standing behind me, a suit bag slung over his shoulder and a wry smile spreading across his face.
“Who says I want to see you?”
I wanted to kick myself. How the hell had I let him catch me like that? I was a tracker and good one. He had not only found out I had been tailing him, but he had also crept around behind me. I yanked the goggles off and jammed them into my bag.
“You are following me aren’t you?”
“Maybe I’m just enjoying a day at the Diesel Factories?”
“Perhaps, but you were also in London at the same time as me this morning, or was that another attractive blond I saw across the street when I got my morning tea?”
“You got me,” I shrugged realizing there was no point in denying it.
“Not bad tracking, but I caught you first thing this morning as I was leaving my flat. You might want to work on that,” he said as he walked past me.
“Since I’ve been tracking you for over two days, you might want to brush up on your skills.”
He stopped and glanced back at me, his eyes narrowing. “Two days?”
“Yup, two days,” I confirmed.
“Oh, I didn’t see you.”
“I guess my skills don’t need that much work then, do they?”
“Hmm, I’ve never been tracked that long without realizing it,” he said slightly impressed.
“Good,” I said, and it was my turn to walk away.
“Wait,” he called after me.
I smiled and held my step as he walked to join me.
“Since we both seem to have gotten the better of each other, what say we walk together for a bit, shall we?”
“Works for me.”
“Brilliant,” he said as we fell in step together. “By the way, would you care to tell me why you were following me?”
“Curiosity,” I said.
“You could have called me or asked if you wanted to know something.”
“And I’m sure you would have told me anything I wanted to know.”
“No, of course I would lie about everything.” He laughed and for a moment I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not.
“Why’d you come to me about Nyla?”
“I didn’t think it was right that you didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
“And the League?”
“The League is complicated and like most institutions takes a long and ponderous amount of time to be called into action. With the threat Nyla poses, I thought it best to warn you.”
“Thank you,” I said. I didn’t know yet if LaReina had anything to do with Nyla, but I wanted to believe that Ronan knew nothing about it, if it proved true.
“You’re welcome.”
“Anything else you care to share while you’re in such a giving mood?”
“Nothing involving the League,” he said with a smile.
“What about not involving the League?”
“I’m afraid we would need to know each other much more,” —he tilted his head to the side as he considered his next word carefully— “intimately.”
“Is that so?”
“Most definitely.”
“I don’t do intimate with men I hardly know.”
“Well, that’s something we need to correct.” Ronan stopped and faced me, his hand snatching mine before I could stop him. “Have dinner with me.”
His fingers wrapped around mine, the warmth and strength of them was something I couldn’t ignore—it felt too good.
“You’re nuts,” I said while actually thinking it was me that was nuts. Why not have dinner with him and try to feel even an ounce of normal again?
“That isn’t a no.”
“I don’t have time for this,” I said tugging at my hand, but not fully pulling away from him.
“Make time,” he said.
“I have to go,” I insisted, but a little voice in my head kept urging me to stop and take him up on his offer.
“Very well,” he said.
He brought my hand up to kiss it gently, his lips brushing over the back and, for a moment, he made me forget all the reasons why I avoided relationships.
I stared at him, wondering why this gorgeous man would be interested in someone who so obviously kept everyone at arm’s length. Before I had gotten my scars, I would have taken him up on his proposal in a minute. But I wasn’t that woman anymore, and my scars weren’t simply the ones I had on my body. They went so much deeper.
I hurriedly pulled my hand away and turned, walking off, anxious, yet reluctant at the same time to put distance between us.
Ronan called after me. “The offer stands, Jess. I’m here when you want me.”
Chapter 17
I stepped through the portal and out into the cool night air of Paris. I glanced around at the city’s beauty and listened to the sounds of the people enjoying the City of Light. I’d always thought it was the City of Lights, it was Edgar who informed me otherwise. It was originally the center of education during the Age of Enlightenment. The city was the first to use gas lamps to the light the Champs-Élysées. I strolled along the streets, Paris never failing to mesmerize. The moon was full and high in the night sky, shining down like a beacon calling home a wayward ship. Paris was home for now and I took comfort in that thought. I stopped along the Seine River and watched the dark water flow and ripple.
“Great job, Jess,” I murmured to myself.
I was in deep waters and trying my best to learn how to swim among the sharks. But what choice did I have? Nyla seemed a tenacious bitch, which meant she was dangerous. She would use whoever she could and stop at nothing to get her way. No one was safe from her megalomaniac intentions. I also didn’t know if the League of Skull & Bones was involved, or if LaReina Graves was a wild card that I was going to have to deal with. I’d thought I might be able to glean something from Ronan Sparrow.
He’d been less than forthcoming and seemed more interested in hitting on me, than talking about the current situation. Not that I minded him hitting on me. As a matter o
f fact, if I was honest with myself, I’d have to admit that I rather enjoyed it. I might not be looking for a relationship, but it didn’t mean I was dead inside. It was nice to discover that I could still attract a man. It didn’t hurt at all that he was drop dead handsome, like model-out-of-a-magazine good looks, and even dressed the part.
He was the type of man I had always assumed I would find myself with someday. Handsome, successful, and confident in what he wanted.
But that was all before I found myself scarred and with Artifact tattoos.
I lifted my arm and pulled back my sleeve. I ran my fingers over the edges of my tattoo and shook my head amazed at how much my life had changed. I was getting good at keeping people at a distance. Yet Ronan hadn’t let the barriers I had created stop him. He was slowly working his way passed every single one and if he kept going he certainly had the potential to get passed them all. Somehow, I didn’t mind, though I didn’t like admitting it. It had been so long since I had considered having any type of normal life or relationship. Maybe it was time I let myself imagine a life after the Artifact.
Ronan had made it obvious that he wanted more from me than simply friendship. Before my scars and the Artifact, he would have been my exact type. Now I wasn’t so sure what type I liked. I wasn’t sure if Ronan was a good fit for me now.
There was also something about him that kept itching at the back of my brain. I wasn’t sure what, and I didn’t know who I could even talk to about it. I’d done such a good job of keeping my friends away that I wasn’t sure who to call to talk with.
Slade was still recovering, and I didn’t want to burden him with something so silly. DeAndre was more like a father, and I doubted it was a conversation he wanted to have. My cousin Chloe would be my first choice, but she was off on a mission.
I was growing tired of being alone. I’d stayed away from my friends because I thought I was protecting them from the Artifact and what it might do to me. But I realized now I was hiding more than anything else. I wasn’t one to hide, and it was something I was going to have to change.
I meandered along the streets of Paris, passing happy couples. I didn’t have a destination in mind. I simply wanted to walk and clear my mind as I worked through my thoughts about Ronan.
I put aside my problems with Nyla and the Artifact and decided tonight I was only going to think about normal problems. I rubbed my hands together as a cold breeze blew down the street. I lifted them to my mouth, cupping them together and blew into them to warm them. I turned down another boulevard and found myself on a cobblestone street. At the other end was a bar with its sign swinging in the breeze, and my shoulders sagged.
“Crap,” I said as I stared at the sign—Cantina.
All my walking had brought me to Merric’s bar. Had I come here on purpose? Did I want to see him?
I walked to the bar, pulled the door open, and entered the Cantina. It was a raucous scene with people cheering on an Old Kind car race on the multiple Impossible Engineer floating screens around the room.
I crossed the room to one of the round bar tables that dotted the center of the room and slipped onto the stool. A screen hovered a few tables away, and the patrons were all enraptured by the race. I’d enjoyed them as well, but I hadn’t paid much attention to the races lately.
“What’ll you have?”
I hadn’t noticed that the barmaid had come up beside me. She was decked out in a leather apron over a short tight skirt and a t-shirt that was cut low and had no sleeves to better show off her multiple tattoos.
“Any specials?” I asked.
“Everything on tap is two dollars during the race. We’ve also got Golden Fire Water from the Dying Stars and Liquid Ice from the outer dimensions.”
“Bring my personal Absinthe,” Merric said as he suddenly appeared behind her.
The barmaid nodded and quickly slipped back through the crowd.
“Absinthe?” I asked after taking a deep breath.
“Not the swill humans drink, but my own special brand.”
Merric pulled out a stool and sat down across from me. He rested his arms on the table and kept his eyes focused on me.
“I’m sure it’s great,” I said not really sure of what else I should say. Hell, I didn’t even know how or why I wound up here. But here I was back in the Cantina talking with Merric again.
“I think you’ll enjoy it,” he said.
He didn’t waste any words, speaking quickly and succinctly. I wanted him to draw things out and give me a moment to gather my thoughts, but he was too busy staring at me to let that happen.
“How is the race going?” I asked stretching for something to talk about.
“People seem to be enjoying it,” he said.
The barmaid returned with a gorgeous silver serving tray. On it sat a long necked crystal bottle filled with green liquid, a pitcher of ice water and two glasses that were larger on the bottom than at the top. A silver spoon with three patterned lines in its center was also on the tray along with a small container of sugar cubes. She placed it on the table and nodded to Merric as she walked away.
“Absinthe is a unique liquor.” Merric took the first glass and took the crystal bottle of green liquid and poured it into the glasses until their bulbous bottoms were filled. “You don’t drink Absinthe immediately, you need to prepare it.”
“Prepare it?”
“Yes, the alcohol content and contents are so strong they need to be cut to truly appreciate the drink.” He picked up the spoon and positioned it over the rim. He then took a sugar cube and placed it on the spoon.
“Sugar?” I asked.
“It helps to take away the bitterness of the wormwood,” he said as he lifted the pitcher of water and poured it very slowly, letting only a few drops of the cold liquid hit the sugar cube.
The water began to dissolve the cube and drip slowly into the green liquid below. The green drink began to shift and change as he added more water. It seemed to almost be alive.
“That’s pretty cool,” I said.
“The thing to remember is that although the alcohol and sugar is what most people focus on. The cold water is what makes Absinthe drinkable, without the most basic element it would be useless.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said as he finished a last slow drip of water.
The green liquid spun around the glass in a swirl of brilliant color until I could swear I saw a tiny green mermaid inside.
“But that is what most people forget. Simple things are what makes everything work, Jessica.”
“I suppose you’re right.” I had a feeling he was talking about more than the drink.
“Taste it,” he said pushing the glass toward me.
I slipped my fingers around the cool glass and lifted it to my lips, letting the green drink pass over them and down my throat. It reminded me of a strong wine my grandmother had me taste when we first visited Paris. But there was something else to it as well, a powerful bouquet of taste that followed.
“It’s good,” I said licking my lips as I placed the glass on the table.
“Now why don’t you tell me why you’re really here,” Merric said as he poured the cold water over the spoon above his own glass.
“No reason, I was out walking and I happened by,” I said with a shrug and took another sip of Absinthe.
Merric held the water pitcher in his hand, keeping up the constant drip of water on the sugar cube. But his eyes remained on me the entire time.
“Ok, well, it’s just that a lot is going on right now,” I said.
“Tell me,” he said.
“It turns out this bitch Nyla Foxglove is gunning for me. She has been coming after my friends, and I think she wants me for the Artifact, but that isn’t entirely clear yet.” The words spilled out of my mouth so fast that I realized too late I was telling him everything. But for some reason when I was around him, I felt calm, comfortable, as if I’d come home.
“That does seem problematic,”
he said.
“She’s the one who got the Timelock, isn’t she?”
Merric lifted his glass of Absinthe and drank a healthy gulp, and then placed it back on the table.
“Did the list I gave you help?” he asked avoiding my question.
“It lead me right back to Nyla. She had me and my partner attacked.” I wanted to get a reaction from him, but he remained the same, calm and cool, as though nothing bothered him.
“What are you going to do next?”
“I am going to find her,” I said.
“By yourself?” he asked, and I thought I heard a hint of concern in his voice.
“No.” I didn’t say anything about the League of Skull & Bones. I was still unsure how that was going to work, but I did know that Ronan was willing to help.
“Anyone in particular?”
“Yes,” I said still avoiding using his name.
“Care to share?” he asked taking another sip.
“Ronan Sparrow,” I said finally. The man was like a living statue no matter what I said he showed no reaction. I wanted to change that, I wanted something, anything out of him.
“Ronan,” he nodded his head. “I’ve heard of him. He works for the League of Skull & Bones.”
“You certainly seem to know a lot.”
“As I’ve said it’s my business to know things.”
“What else do you know?”
“I know you’re trying to join the League,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“What? How?”
“Do we need to go over that again?”
“No, it’s just—never mind.”
“You should be careful, Jessica,” Merric said.
“I’ve already got people after me. How much more careful can I be?”
“There are worse things than death.” He took another drink before adding, “Trust me.”
“What happened to you Merric?” I asked bluntly.
He raised his gaze and stared into my eyes. I had no idea what he saw in mine, but, for a brief moment, his was filled with pain, then suddenly his statue like visage returned.
