by MJ Fletcher
“Any ideas?”
“Plenty, but I don’t want to speculate. For now, I think it is safe to say you need to be on guard at all times,” Gran said.
“You really don’t trust anyone do you?” I asked.
“No,” she said, “that’s why I’m still alive.”
“You think its LaReina making a move?”
“Most likely.”
I didn’t trust LaReina or the League for that matter. But then there was Ronan, something about him made me doubt my stance. Maybe not all the League was so bad. Or maybe it was only him that was good.
“What could any of them do to me?”
“It’s not just you they can hurt. If you fail, they’ll use it as a way to get rid of me as well. You’re a pawn, although one with great value and power of your own.”
Gran was right. I’d seen it happen before. My cousin’s family had been ousted from the Council because of issues with her father. This was a game that had been played for a long time, and I was just the newest player.
Things had changed so much in a few short months. Before it was my friends and I against the world, now it seemed to be me against everyone and that left a cold, empty feeling inside of me. Images of Gremlins pulling me into the darkness floated in the corners of my mind, but then something else came into view.
“Gran,” I bit at my lip before asking, “what do you know about Merric Vale?”
Her eyes grew wide and she leaned forward as if she had seen a ghost. “Why?”
Chapter 42
“Tell me why you want to know about Merric Vale?” Gran’s mouth pulled together into a tight line and her knuckles turned white as she balled her hands into fists.
“He helped me,” I said.
“How?”
“When I lost control of the Artifact, he helped calm me,” I replied.
“Merric Vale is dangerous,” she said.
“Why?”
“Jess,” Gran took a deep breath and slipped her hand through my arm and walked me out of the room and along the corridor. “Merric is something else entirely. You need to stay away from him. It can only end badly.”
“What do you know about him?” I asked.
Gran spoke in a hushed tone. “Rumors mostly.”
“There is something else that you’re not telling me.” I was guessing, but with the way Gran was reacting, I thought it was a safe bet to take the guess.
Her eyes narrowed as if she were considering her options and the edges of her mouth turned up slightly. “Perhaps there is more, but that’s for another time.”
“Tell me what you know, Gran, please.”
Gran lowered her head, running her hand over her chin as she thought about what she was going to say. She nodded her head as though she made a choice and spoke, “Merric Vale appeared out of nowhere ten years ago, and the Council had to convene to deal with his special circumstance.”
“What does that mean?”
“Jess, he had powers none of us had ever seen before and yet he wasn’t Old Kind, not any that we knew anyway. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve dealt with others that aren’t like us. The humans think they are the only ones in the universe, and they are fools to believe it. But he was so close to our kind that it scared many of us. Not to mention he was…” her words trailed off and she bit her lip.
“He was what?”
“Extremely dangerous. He hurt numerous HVO who tried to contain him. His power is unique and overwhelming. You need to stay away from him.”
“What do you think he is?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Gran’s eyes shifted away for a moment as if her own answer had disturbed her.
“Really?”
“I have ideas like everyone else. Perhaps he is an anomaly or something else entirely, a kind we’ve yet to discover or even one of the lost Societies. I honestly don’t know,” Gran said a bit frustrated.
“So the Council just leaves him alone?” I asked wondering how someone with no affiliation was able to exist without any interference, though after seeing his powers I had a pretty good idea why.
“The Council has no idea how to deal with Merric. He is used for several things. Especially when we need to deal with something outside of the Old Kind realm, since he seems to have contacts beyond our kind and into other races with paranormal abilities. He is tolerated. That would be the best way to describe how we deal with him.”
“The Council never tried to remove him?”
“They did once,” she said her voice quiet.
“What happened?” I asked.
“He made us leave, violently.”
“Oh,” I said images of how he had lost control popping into my head.
“Please be careful around him.”
The tone of Gran’s voice changed to softly urgent, and I could tell she was worried about me. I smiled and rested my hand on her shoulder, squeezing it tightly. “I will.”
“Liar,” she said with a smile.
“At least I care enough to lie,” I said with a wink.
“True,” she said and we both laughed lightly.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Slade walked up to us. He was holding the device his father had created.
“Well?” I asked eager to hear what he had discovered, if anything.
“In theory it will remove the Artifact, but my father did underestimate the power level,” Slade said as he turned it over in his hands.
“What does that mean?” Gran asked.
“It could mean that it will only remove a portion of the Artifact or that it might not work at all. But no matter what, it wouldn’t be pleasant, and it could kill you. He didn’t add any safeguards to the process. All he seemed concerned with was the flow of power being removed. This device treats the barer of the Artifact like nothing more than a tool to be used until there is nothing left of it.” Slade shook his head, his mouth tightening in an angry line. “An Impossible Engineer should never make something like this. Not without thinking of the consequences, it’s an Old Kind killer.”
It suddenly hit me. “He thought it was for Chloe, didn’t he.” Chloe was my cousin who Slade had dated. His father had blamed her for Slade turning against him.
Slade looked up his eyes narrowing further. “The bastard wanted to kill her.”
The thought infuriated me just as much as it did Slade.
“I need time to work on it,” Slade said. “I might be able to make it safe, given time.”
I had wanted to use the device to finally be rid of this family curse, but now I wondered if that was what I really wanted. Lately I had felt as if the Artifact was truly a part of me, as though it was calling to me in my dreams. If it was taken from me, what would happen to it?
“You said it removes the Artifact, does it contain it as well?” I asked.
“No, it works in unison with, I believe, a Timelock and, like you had guessed, it does something else,” —he shook his head— “it transfers the Artifact to someone else.”
Chapter 43
“Just like I thought, Nyla wants the Artifact for herself. I’ve known that from the start but that she actually has gotten this close to achieving her goal, is insane.”
“Nyla is anything but insane,” Gran said.
“How is that possible?” I asked.
“I’ve been researching Nyla, and I think she has been planning a move for some time. I’ve been working with a few contacts and from what I can gather, she had been secretly contacting different members of the Quorum. She is looking to gain a foothold and possibly membership.”
“She wants to be one of the leaders of the Guild?” I asked.
“It would seem so and possessing the Artifact would help her cause.”
“How?”
“Why do you think I was made leader?” Gran tilted her head, looking at me.
“You were on the Quorum and had a long career.” I shook my head not believing it could be anything else.
“That helped, but once everyone knew that
you had a hand in defeating the First Kind and you were now in possession of an Artifact, my sway in the Guild skyrocketed. No one had expected me to take control so quickly. It took the other Guilders by surprise. Some of them didn’t like that at all and would be happy to see me fail.”
“Which means I can’t screw up,” I said.
“They’d be willing to kill Jess?” Slade asked.
“The echelon of power among the Old Kind is littered with dead bodies.” Gran sounded as though she was speaking from experience.
“Wonderful, so the people I am supposedly working for might be the ones trying to steal the Artifact and kill me.”
“That about covers it,” Gran said.
“I need to find Nyla and end the threat.”
“That is what the League of Skull & Bones is good at.”
“So am I,” I said.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out and saw the name splashed across the screen.
Ronan.
“Crap,” I said under my breath. I tapped the screen and answered the call. “Hello.”
“Jess, LaReina has called a meeting of the League. You have to come to this or there will be consequences.” Ronan spoke quickly, as if he expected me to hang up on him.
“Where?” I asked.
“In the Hollow, I’ll send you the coordinates.”
“Okay.”
“Jess, you have to bring the device.”
“I know,” I said taking a deep breath as I looked across to Slade, holding it in his massive hands.
“Good, I think we should talk as well.” His voice took on a firm tone. He was angry with me and he had every right to be.
“Afterward, we will.”
“Fine, but don’t think your sneaking out on me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
I tapped the phone, ending the call and pushed out a long, slow breath. I was going to have to speak with Ronan about what happened. But how the hell was I supposed to tell him that I was terrified of someone seeing me scarred and shattered. I’d been hiding myself away since I had gained the Artifact. I kept my friends and family at arm’s length for fear of hurting them. If I couldn’t trust myself with them, how was I supposed to with a man I only just met? Not exactly something most guys are dying to deal with.
“What’s going on?” Slade asked.
“LaReina has ordered a meeting of the League, and I have to bring that,” I said pointing to the device in Slade’s hands.
“You can’t give it to them. Someone could use it against you.” Slade tightened his grip around the device like a father protecting his child.
“I don’t have a choice. LaReina has ordered it, so I have to do it. Otherwise I risk my position and Gran’s as well.”
“Who cares about some stupid power struggle, this is your life.” Slade’s voice grew louder.
“Slade this is her choice,” Gran said her voice low.
“This is crazy. You just said that leaders in the Guild might be involved. Why would we give them the device?”
“Because it is the perfect bait,” I said and I saw Gran smile sadly.
“Very good, Jess, you understand,” Gran said.
“What do you mean bait?” Slade asked.
“If LaReina or someone else in the Guild is working with Nyla, then the device is the perfect bait to draw them out. They need that thing,” —once again I pointed to the object in Slade’s hands— “to get the Artifact from me. This way we get them out in the open, and then I can deal with them.”
“Jess, if it’s with the Guild, I can’t be there to help you. You’ll be alone.” Slade’s eyes begged me to reconsider, but I knew what I had to do.
I crossed the room, patted his cheek, and smiled at him.
“Slade, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. You’re my friend and I know you’re worried, but I can handle myself.”
Slade’s massive shoulders slumped in resignation, and he reluctantly handed me the device.
“I installed some basic safeguards in it just in case,” he said.
I took the device from his hands and slipped it into my pocket, then I stood on the tips of my toes and kissed his cheek. He smirked, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a bear hug, lifting me clear off the ground and forcing me to laugh out loud.
“You better be careful. I still need a partner who is going to be completely crazy. If you need anything you call me,” he said as he placed me back on the floor.
“I will,” I assured him with a pat on the arm.
I lifted my arm and accessed my abilities, creating a portal to the Hollow—the home dimension of the Skeleton Key Guild. The crimson door shimmered into existence in front of me and I pushed it open.
“Jess,” Gran said, and I looked over my shoulder at her, “remember you can’t trust anyone.”
“I know,” I said and stepped into the portal.
Chapter 44
I walked out of the portal onto the streets of the Hollow. It was daytime, and the roads were filled with people all in a rush to get where they were going. Each were dressed in their own unique style from one man wearing a monocle and top hat to the young girl in a hoop skirt and a leather jacket cut off at that sleeves to show off her tattooed arms.
The last time I was in the Hollow was after the war. I had returned to reclaim Grimm Manor, the home of my family for generations. It had been used by the First Kind as a base of operations, and I had been none too happy about it. Then again neither were the men they had left behind, who I had quickly dealt with.
I checked my phone, looking over the coordinates for the meeting with the League. The area of the Hollow was familiar to me, though I hadn’t been there often. It was used mostly for Quorum business and wasn’t a place I would visit.
I took my time getting there, walking the streets and enjoying the sounds of normal life. Kids ran past me holding Skeleton Keys and trying to open portals as their mothers ran after them yelling. Cars zipped down the boulevard, disappearing in a blur of crimson as they portal jumped.
I’d always loved coming here as a child. It was one of the few places I felt at home. My grandmother had brought me here after the supposed death of my parents. We stayed at Grimm Manor for weeks while we both tried to come to terms with what had happened.
Gran had always been there for me, no matter what. I wasn’t about to let her down now, even if it meant putting myself in danger to help her, she was worth it. For years she was the only family I had.
I crossed over a street and found myself facing a series of imposing buildings. Three buildings stretched into the afternoon sky. You could almost be fooled into believing they were one building with walking platforms crossing between them at different levels. But the bases were not connected and each had their own entrance.
I walked to the center building and reached out to grab the door knocker. Before my hand ever touched it, the door swung open. Apparently I was expected, so I walked inside.
The floor was marble and polished to a perfect shine. The foyer was open to several levels giving it a cavernous feel. Two large sets of stairs sat at the back of the room, leading up to the other floors. Between the staircases was a lengthy desk that a lone young woman, wearing a plastic smile, sat behind. Her hair was pulled up in a bun and her makeup was perfectly done with bright red lipstick punctuating her bow like mouth.
“May I help you?” she asked, her smile never wavering.
“I’m here for a meeting,” I said as I approached her.
“You’re Ms. Grimm?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“You’re expected. The League of Skull & Bones welcomes you.” She waved toward the stairs to the right of the desk. “One flight up, double doors at the end.”
I walked past her and took the flight of the stairs to the next floor. Red carpet with gold swirls covered the length of the hallway. At the far end was the set of double doors, and I approached them with some trepidation.
When I reached the doors, I held my hand out hovering it over the handle. I closed my eyes for a moment and used my abilities to see if I could sense any power in the handle and the keyhole beneath it, but neither posed a threat. I gripped the handle and pushed the doors open.
“About time you got here,” Ronan snapped.
The room was circular with windows spaced out evenly around it and in the center was a round table with twelve chairs surrounding it. Two doors, one of steel and the other wood, sat across from one another.
Ronan returned to gazing out one of the windows that looked out on the Hollow. I realized he must have watched as I approached. He looked good as usual. His suit was grey with a blue shirt and dark tie. A black belt with a Skeleton Key buckle was cinched tight at his waist. He didn’t look at me. Instead he kept watching out the window.
It bothered me that he wouldn’t meet my eyes. I wanted him to see me and let him know how sorry I was for the way I had treated him. I had enjoyed the kiss more than I had expected, and I wanted him to know that as well.
“Sorry, I had a few things to deal with.” I said.
“Of course.” He nodded.
I hated the tension between us and wanted to break it. “Ronan, we need to talk.”
“We do, but afterwards.”
He still wasn’t looking at me, and it was driving me nuts. I looked around at the empty room. “We’re alone we can talk now.”
“Not here, not about that.”
“Why not?”
“If you don’t remember, you’re the one who said we should wait until after the meeting.”
“Maybe I changed my mind.”
“You’re good at that,” he said.
“What the hell does that mean?”
He turned for the first time and looked directly at me. A coldness crossed his face I hadn’t seen before. I knew he was angry, but how angry I wasn’t sure.
“I think you know what I mean.”
Before I could respond, the metal door swung opened and LaReina entered the room. Her black hair was styled perfectly, and her white top and skirt stood out starkly against her caramel colored skin and showed off a body that most women would envy.
