by MJ Fletcher
I nearly dropped the bottle of orange juice when the knock sounded at the door. I took a breath, placed the bottle back in the fridge and began walking through the living room of Nightshade’s house to the ornate front door. My hand slipped into my pocket finding my Doorknob. No one knew we were here, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from being cautious.
I swung the door open and found Gavin Brimstone standing in front of me.
He tilted his head and looked me up and down with a critical eye. “Did I wake you?”
“No,” I said. He strode past me into the house. I closed the door and followed after him knowing my period of rest—if you could call it that—was over.
“Where’s Nightshade?”
“In the garage.” I hiked my thumb over my shoulder toward the hallway leading to the garage entrance.
“I got word on your grandmother.”
“Is she alright?” Gran had gone missing a few months ago when the Council had turned against us. I had hoped she was simply in hiding waiting for a good time to contact us.
“She was hiding in the Dying Star Markets. DeAndre Morgan is in contact with her.” Gavin sat on one of the stools at the kitchen island, ran his hand through his hair, and sighed.
Gavin had been my mentor ever since I learned I was a Polymorph. I could tell when something was bothering him. “What is it?”
“There is more going on here than you know, Chloe. I need to bring you up to speed on some things and not all of it is pleasant.”
“At this point, I am used to the strange.” I crossed over to the kitchen counter and yanked the coffee pot out, shaking it toward Gavin. He nodded and I began brewing a pot “Tell me.”
“It involves Nightshade,” he said.
“What involves me?” Nightshade walked into the room. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that had grease marks across it, and his hands were dirty from working on the car.
“It’s time we told Chloe about your friend,” Gavin said.
The comment stopped Nightshade for a moment, and then he proceeded to the sink. He turned on the faucet and quickly washed his hands. He scrubbed them determinedly as if getting rid of more than the dirt. Finishing up, he grabbed a dish rag and dried them as he turned back to face us. “Why?”
“We found her grandmother,” Gavin said.
Nightshade’s brow creased and his shoulders sagged. “Okay.” “Mind telling me what the hell is going on?” I threw my hands up annoyed that I was being intentionally kept out of the loop.
“When you escaped from Storm Reach a few months back—”
“By the skin of our teeth you mean,” I said interrupting him.
“Regardless, you made it out alive,” —Gavin looked back and forth between me and Nightshade— “and you weren’t alone.”
“What?” I shook my head. What was he talking about? Of course I wasn’t alone, my friends made it out with me.
“The prisoner that Nightshade helped to escape,” Gavin reminded.
I’d nearly forgotten about the strange man with the golden eyes. He’d been locked up in a special cell, and we’d blasted a hole through the wall and used it as part of our escape route.
There had been something about the man, something I couldn’t put my finger on at the time. I remembered thinking it was odd that Nightshade had wanted to bring him along with us. But the prisoner had made a point of saying he wouldn’t help the First Kind.
“What about him?” I asked.
“Did I ever tell you the story of how my father died?” Nightshade’s voice was low and steady.
I shook my head again. What did his father have to do with this? I repeated what I recalled him telling me. “He died fighting some Skeleton Key Guild splinter group.”
“My dad commanded a group inside the Guild called the League of Skull & Bones that was responsible for covert action. A husband and wife had gone missing and my father’s team tracked the people who had done it.
“When they got there the woman was already dead and the husband was still locked in combat with them. But he was out of control, his power wild and off the charts. He severely injured my father’s team along with the men who had kidnapped him.
“My dad was able to subdue him, but with the remainder of his team in trouble, he had to make a choice. He ordered his men to take the man, who’d been kidnapped, along with the injured members, back through the portal while he held off the attack. It was brutal. And even though he made it back, the injuries he had sustained were too great. He succumbed to them soon after.” Nightshade shook his head and I slid my hand over his arm and down around his palm, clasping it. He glanced at me and smiled sadly.
“You okay?” I asked, all too familiar with what it felt like to lose your dad.
“I’m fine.” He nodded.
“But what does that have to do with the prisoner?” I asked more curious than ever.
“That prisoner,”—Gavin leaned forward—“was the kidnapped victim.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise. “Why the hell was he in prison?”
“That’s where things get complicated.” Gavin shrugged and nodded in Nightshade’s direction.
“When I saw the prisoner and the familiar way he had been manacled, I thought it might be the man my dad had rescued. After he was brought back, the Guild tried to help him, but his power remained out of control. Something had been done to him; energy was continuously emanating from him. They couldn’t figure out how to stop it. Basically, it was slowly killing him.”
“That’s terrible,” I said wondering how he hadn’t gone mad or had he?
“Yes, it was.” Gavin shook his head. “And so was how they decided to deal with it. He was declared dead and shipped off to Storm Reach and locked in a Time Lock prison cell. That way the power didn’t kill him, and they could try and study him and see what had been done to him.”
“Are you serious?” It disgusted me to think that anyone could do that to another person, let alone someone who had already been traumatized.
“Absolutely. Tower had just become one of the leaders of the Guild and he had a hand in the decision. I wonder now why he wanted him locked away.”
Gavin was right. Tower wouldn’t keep the man around without a good reason. Somehow he was important, the only question was how important?
“Have you talked to him? Where is he?” I asked anxious to know more.
“He’s being held at the Diesel Factories, in a secure location,” Gavin said. “I have Henna watching him. After the rescue, he wasn’t very forthcoming. But that’s changed as of late.”
“Why’s that?”
“He’s been asking for someone,” Nightshade said and gave my hand a squeeze.
His reassuring squeeze had me even more curious and also concerned. “Who?”
“Your grandmother.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“He’s been asking for her for a few days now,” Nightshade confirmed.
“And I’m just hearing about this now!” I shouted yanking my hand out of Nightshade’s and standing to glare between the two men.
“We didn’t know where she was,” Gavin explained. “And you already had enough going on.”
I was on him quickly, my finger jabbing at his chest repeatedly. “Not your damn decision Gavin.” I whirled on Nightshade, my hair whipping around and catching me in the chin. “And you knew about this?”
“I did.”
“And you kept it from me?” I replied.
“You’re mad—I get that—but I’m not sorry for trying to help you stay focused on finding your sister. Without knowing where your grandmother was, it didn’t matter anyway.”
“Well, you two seem to have this all worked out. Maybe I should let you run things.”
“It’s not like that, Masters.” Nightshade reached out to take my arm.
I pulled back, walked across the room, and snatched my hoodie off the back of the sofa. “Let’s go.”
“Where?” Gavin
asked.
“You’re taking me to see him right now.”
“Chloe?”
“It wasn’t a request, Gavin.”
Chapter Four
Status: What a twisted tale I live.
It was midafternoon and the streets of the Diesel Factories were barren. We walked down the main avenue and all around us were stores locked up and an occasional person walking alone. However, as soon as someone saw us they would turn and head in the opposite direction. The massive smoke stacks that hovered above still billowed, though not all of them were active, and the constant hum of portal energy was lower than I had ever felt.
“It feels dead.” It was the best way to describe the feeling of what was once such a vibrant place.
“The Council has enacted emergency measures—curfews and patrols—looking for traitors.... namely you. That is why this is such an enormously bad idea.”
Gavin had been saying that repeatedly for the last several minutes, but I didn’t care. I wanted to meet this prisoner who was of so much interest to Mr. Tower and for some reason wanted to meet with my grandmother.
“We’ll be quick,” Nightshade said.
I was still annoyed with him. But I also couldn’t judge him too harshly. This prisoner had been, in part, the reason Nightshade’s father died. I knew from personal experience what that can do to someone. I wanted to tell him we were going to be fine but not now, not here. It could wait until later when we had time to talk. I wanted us to be at a place where we had no secrets, where it was just us... together and happy.
“It’s this way.” Gavin gave a nod.
He took us down a series of alleyways that lead us deep into the bowels of the Factories. I’d been coming here for years, thought I knew the place, but the massiveness of it surprised me. It appeared as if new buildings were popping up every day, while other structures would disappear only to show up someplace else months later. The Factories are an intersection of time and space, and that means more than a few crazy things happen here.
We stopped in the middle of an alleyway, high brick walls on both sides of us. Right next to me a set of wooden planks leaned precariously against the wall, looking as if they might fall on my head at any moment.
Gavin stretched out his arm and tapped one of the boards. It shuddered, and then did what I figured it would... it fell straight at me. Instead of cracking my skull each falling board disappeared in a storm of dust before reaching me, revealing a metal door in the wall.
Gavin placed his hand on the door and closed his eyes. His power flowed out from him, pouring over the door until it completely covered it. I could sense every movement he made. There was a complex lock placed over the entrance and I could only imagine what terrible things awaited those who couldn’t unlock it properly.
The familiar click of the lock popping echoed throughout the alley and the door swung slowly inward.
“Stop right there,” the powerful female voice warned.
“It’s me,” Gavin yelled back.
Silver light flowed like mist from inside, a figure emerging from it. Henna stepped forward, her Silver Star raised in front of her shining brightly. She lowered it when she caught sight of Gavin, and smiled. Jet black hair rested over her slim shoulders and a form fitting outfit defined an athletic body. She rushed forward and threw her arms around Gavin’s neck and kissed him.
He lifted her off the floor and spun her around, then placed her on her feet and hugged her tight. I had to remind myself it was moments like these that really mattered. My life had continually revolved around fighting and death. I needed a reminder every now and then that there was much more to life, better moments, memory making moments, and I wanted to taste as much of those moments as possible.
“Hello, Chloe.” Henna smiled in greeting and I gave a wave as I walked in. “I gather they finally told you.”
“That they did.” The room held a plethora of packing crates stacked from floor to ceiling and covered in cobwebs and dust. A clean small table and chair at the other end was the only proof that someone now occupied it.
“Where are we?”
“An Impossible Engineers shipping depot, mostly automated so we don’t have to worry about anyone getting in our way.” Gavin walked forward pointing at a row of the crates that appeared to conceal another door.
“That’s where he is?” I asked.
Gavin nodded. “Be careful.”
I walked to the door. “You know me.”
Gavin groaned. “That’s what worries me.”
I maneuvered my way around the crates and reached the door. I didn’t hesitate, I grabbed hold of the knob and the hairs on my neck stood on edge. Power flowed from within the room at an amazing rate. I gave the knob a sharp twist, eager to enter, and pushed the door open.
The room was small, the walls barren with a bed hugging a corner and a square table beside it. The man stood off to one side as still as could be, his back facing the door.
I said the only thing I could think of, “Hello.”
His head shifted slightly and he peered at me over his shoulder. “You were at Storm Reach.” He wasn’t asking just stating a fact.
“I was.”
“Where is Maura Grimm?”
There wasn’t an ounce of emotion in his voice. It was as if a dead man was speaking and a shiver went through me. “Why do you want her?”
“What business is it of yours?” He turned quickly.
I almost took a step back, but years of training had taught me to hold my ground. And besides I really wanted to get a look at him. He wasn’t as thin as he had been, which meant he had been eating well. His hair was pulled back into a long braid and his beard was now neatly trimmed close to his face. He wore a long Henley shirt, a pair of jeans, and boots. He clasped his hands behind his back.
“I’m making it my business.” This man may have been through a lot but I wasn’t about to put another family member of mine at risk. For all I knew this guy was a nut job.
“You talk tough for someone so young.”
“You don’t look that old to me, pal.” He didn’t appear much older than any of us. I imagined that had to do with the Timelock they’d placed on the cell he had been held in. I wondered if he had any clue to just how much time had truly passed.
“Time is subjective, when you don’t have much of it.”
“Tell me why you want to speak with Ms. Grimm.”
“You really don’t know do you? Do you or your friends know anything about me? Or was your crazy break out not even planned?”
“You think we’re criminals?”
“You were breaking out of Storm Reach. What else would you expect me think?”
“We’re about as much criminals as you are, which is to say not at all.”
“Were you breaking out to avoid the people who had taken over?”
I jumped at the question. “What do you know about them?”
He tilted his head slightly, his face twisting into an odd expression. “Do I know you?”
“First time I saw you was at Storm Reach.”
“You seem so,” —he stepped toward me— “familiar.”
I held my ground not moving, but my hand had slipped around the edges of my Doorknob. “Sorry.” I smiled and shrugged. “I have no idea who you are.”
His eyes opened wide and he stumbled back away from me until he hit the wall.
“No, no, no,” His eyes shot frantically around the room like an animal suddenly realizing he’d been captured. “That’s a lie, it has to be a lie.”
He was losing it and I was starting to think that Nightshade was right about this being a really bad idea. But that stubborn side of me wanted answers. “What are you talking about?”
“She was lying. I know she was. It can’t be true. It just can’t.” He shook his head, more like whipped it from side to side, as if he could make whatever demons were haunting him disappear.
It would have been smart of me to get the hell out of there, but
I never claimed to be smart. I needed to know what this crazy man wanted with my family. I stood firm and spoke. “Tell me what you want with Maura Grimm.”
“You,” —he shook his head at me— I don’t know you.” He pointed at me and demanded, “What’s your name?”
I hesitated to give this loon my name.
“Who are you?” he snapped.
I figured I better appease him. It just might calm him down. “My name is Chloe.”
He stared wide-eyed at me for a moment, and then said softly, “Masters.” His shoulders slumped and the agitation drained out of him. “Your father is Elijah Masters and your mother is Talia Grimm.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
“It’s simple.” He slid down along the wall staring at me all the way until he was sitting on the floor. “I introduced your parents to one another.”
“No, you didn’t.” I gritted my teeth. I had known the story of how my parents met since I was little. I wasn’t about to fall for any trick this man was trying to pull to get to my grandmother.
“Why’s that?”
“The man who introduced my parents is dead,” I answered defiantly.
“You know this for sure?”
“That I do.”
“Who told you?”
“My parents.”
He shook his head. “They thought I was dead, everyone did.”
I took a deep breath and shifted my weight from one foot to the other. This was very, very bad. “No, that can’t be possible,” It was my turn to shake my head and deny what was happening. “Who are you?”
“You know who I am, Chloe.” He stared at me with sadness in his eyes “Say it.”
My mind spun like a top too confused to acknowledge anything, and then I forced myself to really take a good look at him, a really hard look. His face at one time might have been handsome, but now seemed burdened with sorrow. His gold eyes lacked any warmth and his mouth... something about his mouth jarred me. My hands began to shake. This couldn’t be possible.
“You’re Thomas Grimm,” I trembled as I said, “my uncle.”
Chapter Five
Status: This is like bad on a whole new level.
