A moment later, sparks of bronzed electricity gathered around the Bestiary cages, spiraling up in mystical tendrils. As if a gust of wind had swept them away, they surged toward the central stem and got sucked into the inner workings. The wires and fiber-optics lit up like it was the Fourth of July, electricity bristling through every vein, as if someone had just defibrillated the entire thing. It popped and crackled with a thousand tiny explosions, bronzed particles dissipating into the atmosphere, until, finally, the Bestiary lights flickered to life and the central stem began to thrum. The power had come back.
I sank down against the wall, able to breathe again. Holding my head in my hands, I looked up at the lights. I’d never been so grateful to see lit-up bulbs before. It also made me realize just how quiet the Bestiary had been without the whirr of the central stem constantly pulsing away in the background. It was nice to hear it again and feel the vibrations running through the floor beneath me.
“Do you realize what we have just done?” Tobe stared at the central stem. “We have just prevented a devastating attack upon, not only the coven, but the rest of the magical world. I cannot even begin to imagine what would have happened if we had not. I shall be able to think of little else for the foreseeable future.”
I looked to Wade, who seemed to be putting the last of the runaways in its box, with Santana and Raffe backing him up. They’d done just as much as we had to prevent this from taking a downward spiral real fast. And they looked exhausted.
Finch smiled. “I knew it would work.”
“Looks like some of that underhanded stuff you did here came to some good,” I replied, my body drenched in a cold sweat.
“You should be glad that Katherine didn’t get her hands on it first. I’m not saying getting arrested was a good thing, but at least she didn’t get those sketches.” He folded his arms across his chest and looked up at the towering central atrium.
Not far from where we’d left him, Raffe darted across the room and stooped to pick something up beside the base of the stem. A second later, he came running toward us with something clutched in his hands. It looked like nothing more than a smoking jumble of plastic, all mixed up with a few still-glowing crystals and a tangle of molten wires, but I sensed it was far more than that. Finch confirmed my suspicions as he took the smoldering item out of Raffe’s hands and held it up to the light.
“Yep, just what I thought. This is one half of the Gemini device.”
Raffe gaped at it. “It fell off the atrium.”
Behind him, Santana walked toward us, her phone pressed to her ear. She ended the call shortly afterward, her face set in a grim expression. “I like fireworks as much as the next girl, but I needed my brown pants for that one.” She shook it off in true Santana style. “I’ve just been on the phone with Astrid. She’s sending security magicals to do an in-house and outside perimeter sweep for Thessaly Crux. She’s sending medical staff to come and look at the personnel in here, who got electrocuted by those initial blasts. She’s already pulled up Thessaly’s file, and she’s looking through it now. She’ll phone back when she’s got more info.”
“What would we do without you?” I flashed her a smile.
“Flap about, probably,” she replied. “So, who got the lights back on?”
I nodded toward Finch. “That was all Finch’s doing, believe it or not. He knew what to do to destroy that heap of junk over there. It was messing with the atrium, but he knew a way to get it to overload and break off.”
Despite everything, Finch had somehow managed to prove himself. He’d asked me to trust him, and I had. And he hadn’t let me down. It surprised me, but I was also secretly pleased. That nagging doubt in the back of my head had gotten so loud, to the point where I was certain he’d somehow twist everything and turn on us, letting the Bestiary collapse for old time’s sake. I’d been very wrong, and that was a tricky pill to swallow. Even Tobe seemed a little sheepish about the whole thing.
“Thanks, Finch,” I said. “We’d be totally screwed if you hadn’t stepped in like that.” I got up from my spot on the floor and moved toward him. I didn’t know whether to go in for a handshake or a hug, so I settled for standing there awkwardly, just looking at him, instead.
He shrugged. “I only did it so I could get this lighter filled. Tobe, can you help a guy out? I need that neurotoxin for what we’ve got coming up.”
Wade came hurtling around the corner, his cheeks red. “Is everyone okay?”
“All fine. Finch fixed the power problem.” I filled him in on the rest of it as quickly as I could, rendering him speechless. “Where have you been?”
“Slamming all the doors shut and putting the locks back on so none of the beasts could escape,” he wheezed, catching his breath.
“My gratitude, Wade.” Tobe bowed slightly, his amber eyes brimming with concern. “I ought to conduct my own checks of the Bestiary, to ensure that none of my beasts have managed to break free. Although, I’m certain you have done an exemplary job.”
“I did my best.”
Finch shook his head. “Not so fast there, Beast Master. I need the neurotoxin, and I need it now.”
Wade shot him a dark look. “Neurotoxin? No way.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a great idea,” Santana added.
“Worst possible idea,” Raffe chimed in.
“Wait… is that why you were out here prancing around, almost blowing our cover?” Wade’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Hang on, now. Neurotoxin might not be a bad thing, where we’re going. It’s highly effective stuff. I remember from my own experience with that blade of yours, Finch,” I grumbled. “Tobe, if you’ve got a safe way of getting us some, it might actually be really useful. It’d be one more string to our bow, and we need all the strings we can get.”
Tobe sighed with exasperation. “I have such a hard time denying any of you. I will assist you, but I must reiterate that I’m not aiding you for his benefit. I just do not wish to see you end up in Purgatory.” He turned his attention to Finch. “You may collect the neurotoxin you require, but at your own risk. As I am sure you know, Devil’s Tongue Triffids are notoriously dangerous. You seem to know a great deal of things that you should not.”
Finch grinned. “You’re right there, Beast Master. But what’s a guy to do if people leave things lying around?”
Tobe growled. “Do not push your luck. I have a great deal of patience, but it appears to wear thin when it comes to you.”
“Even when I saved your Bestiary?”
“You are still standing, are you not?”
Finch frowned. “Yeah.”
“And you are still in possession of both your head and your bowels, are you not?”
“Yeah.” He looked so confused. I stifled a laugh.
“Then you have received the extent of my gratitude.” Tobe’s amber eyes flashed with a warning. For a split second, all of Finch’s cocky arrogance fell away, leaving an alarmed kid who didn’t know what to do. It was all the more poignant as he was still in Jacob’s form.
“You won’t say anything to anyone, will you, Tobe?” I interrupted, wanting to relieve Finch from his paralysis.
Tobe shook his head. “I will not breathe a word of it.”
I walked right up to him and put my arms around him. The Beast Master embraced me in a tight bear hug. This was the hug I’d thought about giving Finch, but Tobe made a great substitute. He was warmer and furrier and less likely to turn on me. Finch had definitely proven himself today, but that didn’t mean I trusted him completely. It was safer to keep a buffer of caution up when it came to him. That way, if I made it out of this mission alive, and he hadn’t done anything to betray us, I’d be pleasantly surprised. Gotta keep the bar low.
“Thank you, Tobe,” I murmured into his fluff.
“For what?”
“For being on our side.”
He chuckled, the sound rumbling in his throat. “I always endeavor to be on the side of good, Harley. I
t just so happens that the pendulum is swinging in your direction.”
I hoped with all my heart that he was right—that I was doing the right thing, for the right reasons.
Thirteen
Harley
After discreetly making our way out of the Bestiary, leaving Tobe to tie up any loose ends and explain how he’d jumped into action to fix the glitch, we reconvened in the infirmary, well out of sight of any cameras. We stood around the central table in Krieger’s office to draw up our plan of action. The Ephemeras glowed on their fancy golden stands, off to the right of the tabletop. It was hard to take my eyes off them, given the swirling, almost liquid tendrils that churned inside.
Garrett had gone back to LA to give them the results of his “research,” but the rest of the Rag Team was present, Louella and the real Jacob included. Nobody had told Jake that Finch had temporarily used his face to sneak back through the coven. It had been creepy enough to see Finch all gussied up in my form; I wasn’t going to put Jacob through the same thing.
“So, after the duplicate has safely been sent to Alaska, we’ll portal to Salem, where we’ll meet Naima in Azarius,” I said, pointing to a picture of the dive bar that Astrid had brought. She’d made a whole folder on what we were going to do, though she’d promised to shred the evidence as soon as we were gone. There couldn’t be a single trace left for Levi to find.
“That’s right,” Astrid replied, with a satisfied nod.
“That means we need to get our disguises on the go. Finch?” I looked at him. He’d been way less catty since coming back from the Bestiary, even though everyone had relaxed around him. After the miracle he’d pulled back there, there was more gratitude than suspicion between the Rag Team and my half-brother. Apart from Wade, that is, but he was always concerned when it came to me.
“I’ve got them all in order and ready to go. It didn’t take long. I had a lot of time to think in my cell. Child’s play, really,” Finch replied, his arms folded defensively across his chest. “I’ve picked two siblings, presumed dead after a mission that went wrong in the Arctic Circle. I remember the story on the news, so it sort of stuck. There were polar bears involved—not pretty. But no bodies were found, just blood. It’s an easy cover. And they’re definitely dead. A hunter out there said there’s no way they could have survived. So there won’t be any surprises.”
“Do these siblings have names?” I prompted.
“Yeah, Volla and Pieter Mazinov. Volla was renowned for her abilities with Water and Earth, and Pieter was known for his skill with Fire. I thought they’d come in handy, since you’ve got the Elementals down, and I can just borrow the Fire from you, thanks to these babies.” He tipped his head at the Ephemeras. “I didn’t know we’d have these, so I was just going to BS my way through it and get you a Kaleido mask. But this works even better. I can give my Shifter skill to you, to make a better impersonation of Volla, and I can use your Fire in case anyone asks me to show what I’ve got. So to speak.”
I was beyond glad that Krieger had managed to get hold of a couple of the Ephemeras. The last person I’d heard of who had one was Jacob’s mother. His father had gifted her one with his Portal power inside, so she could make a quick getaway if she needed to. It had saved Jacob’s life. I hoped it could do a similar thing for us, keeping us from getting skewered by Katherine.
“And these siblings—what else can you tell us?” Tatyana asked. “I’m not too familiar with them, though the surname rings a bell.”
“It should. They were wanted criminals, until recently. They were trying to steal a cache of ancient weaponry when they were mauled to death. We can use their identities to get into the cult, no problem. Their rap sheet will come up, and Naima will be thrilled to have us. We’ll be just her kind of people.”
I nodded. “That’s good to hear. Dr. Krieger, can you help us out?”
“I most certainly can. So, if I have this correct, Finch’s Shapeshifter ability is going into one and your Fire ability is going into the other?”
“You got it,” I replied.
“Very well, then. If both of you could come over here, we’ll begin.” He gestured to the Ephemeras, and we walked over to the table. “If you give me a moment, I’ll program the first Ephemera to receive your Fire, Harley.” He tinkered with the first orb, pressing tiny buttons in a sequence I didn’t understand. A moment later, the whole thing lit up red. “Please place your hand here.” He pointed to a flat golden panel on the side of the orb, which seemed to form the shape of a hand. Tiny needles had risen from inside the metal, and I got the feeling I knew what they were for.
“It’s going to hurt, isn’t it?” I asked.
Krieger smiled. “No more than an injection.”
Great, I hate needles. With a grimace, I placed my hand against the designated area and felt the tiny needles sink into my skin with a sharp bite. A pulse of energy shot down my arm and entered the orb, filling the swirling mist with bright scarlet light that throbbed with power. The needles retracted, and I pulled my hand away.
“Did it do it?”
Krieger nodded. “I believe so.” He fiddled with a few more buttons, which reduced the baseball-sized orb down to the size of a marble. The glow inside slowly faded to a dull pulsation, which could easily be hidden beneath our clothes or worn as a piece of jewelry around our necks. “I’ve provided a small cloaking shield around the orb so that it won’t be detected by any magical machines. This will not affect its use.” He handed the small orb over to Finch, who slid it into his pocket.
“My turn, I guess?” Finch smiled sardonically.
“If you would,” Krieger replied as he prepared the orb. Meanwhile, I stared down at my hand and saw the tiny pinpricks—eleven in total. They’d heal up pretty quickly, by the looks of it. Already, they were starting to fade.
Finch followed the same procedure, placing his hand on the orb and letting the tiny needles do their work, his arm spasming as a bolt of his Shapeshifter ability poured into the orb. The glass ball inside lit up with a silvery light that looked like the beginning of a thunderstorm, then Finch took his hand away and let Krieger shrink the orb down. Once the cloaking shield had been implemented, Krieger handed the small golden orb to me. I took it gratefully and unhooked the chain of Imogene’s gift, slipping the orb onto it via a small hole in the top, then reattaching it around my neck. It fit neatly beside my pendant, which Krieger had altered with a complex morphing spell to look like a simple silver disc at the end of a silver chain, identical to one that Volla Mazinov had worn in many pictures. The two things brought me comfort for the trials to come. The St. Christopher medallion was helping, too, and it already matched a similar item Volla had worn.
“Now, while Ephemeras can normally only be used once, I have managed to tweak these to give longer endurance to the abilities inside,” Krieger said. “Keep an eye on the gems inside. Once they start to dim, it means the power is ebbing, and they will cease to work once the light goes out. So, we will just have to hope they work as they should.”
I’d almost forgotten that part. “How long will a Shift last, if I use it?”
“Given your heightened skill with all that Chaos energy, and my alterations, I would imagine it can continue for a week, if you remain in your Volla form for as long as possible and shift back and forth only once or twice. It may even last longer than that, but it isn’t an exact science.” Krieger’s tone was anxious, which only made me more nervous.
“I’ll wait a bit, then, until I shift. We don’t want to use up time we might need later. Plus, I could do with knowing who we’re impersonating a little better.” I glanced at Astrid. “What can you tell us about the Mazinovs?”
She took out Smartie and placed it on the table. Her hands moved quickly over the screen, drawing up files and photos that would help us blend in. From one of the images, a young man and a young woman stared back, both dressed in thick hunting gear with rifles slung over their shoulders. They were good looking, the woman with short w
hite-blonde hair that had been styled up in textured spikes, while the young man had a mane of golden curls. Their eyes were the same shade of cobalt blue, and they both stood tall, with lean muscles and broad shoulders. A video clip played shortly afterward, showing them walking toward the camera with a definite swagger. Ah crap, this is going to be tough.
“They spoke with faint Russian accents, which Tatyana can help you with,” Astrid said. “They’d traveled a lot, so their accents weren’t thick. They were known to be very charming and flirtatious, and an instant hit with any men or women they encountered. There were a lot of broken hearts when it was declared that they were MIA.”
Finch grinned. “Not hard for me. I can do charm.”
“That won’t get you far if you don’t speak like them,” Tatyana interjected. “Russian accents aren’t as easy as you might think. This isn’t James Bond.”
Finch shrugged. “I’ve always been good with accents.”
“If you’re still struggling, I can come up with a voice bug to alter your speech,” Astrid said, noting my discomfort. This was all getting a bit too real. “I already had some prepared, just in case. Smartie will need a few minutes to collect data on the voices of these siblings, then I can download it to the bugs. They’ll have to be injected into your necks, and you won’t be able to turn them off unless I do so remotely.”
Finch and I exchanged a glance. “We’ll go with the bugs,” he said. I cast him a grateful look for taking one for the team. “I’ve got to say, I’m looking forward to using a bit of Fire.”
“You can only do so once or twice,” Krieger repeated, his brow furrowed.
“Yeah, yeah, I know the score. I’m just saying.”
I smiled at him. “You some kind of pyromaniac? Should I be worried?”
“I used to like to burn things when I was a kid. Does that make me a pyromaniac?”
Harley Merlin 6: Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris Page 10
