by MJ Fletcher
I slipped onto the bed beside him and undid the sheet letting it fall open and laid my naked body across his. With my head resting on his chest, I listened to the sound of his heart beating.
“You’re awake,” he said softly.
I didn’t move, I liked hearing his heartbeat. It meant he was alive and well. “Yes, I’m awake.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Why?”
“That the First Kind is about to break down the door, since they seem to do that when we have some alone time?”
“I haven’t heard anything since I woke. I’m not even sure how long we’ve slept.”
“So we’re missing our own war?”
“I’d rather be here.” I slid my arms around him and squeezed.
“No argument there.” His arm shifted over my back and grabbed my hip, and he pulled me along him until we came face to face.
“Can I help?” I smiled and lifted my head just out of his reach of a kiss.
“Yes, we can pick up where we left off.” He craned his neck, trying to catch my mouth with his own.
“We need to get back outside.”
“They’ll be fine for a little longer. I, on the other hand, want to try a few new things.”
“I thought you tried plenty already.” I laughed and tilted my head as he got closer to kissing me.
“That was just a warm up.”
I placed my hands on either side of him and lifted myself off him entirely and looked down with a critical eye. “Warm up? Excuse me that was a hell of a work out.”
“I think you can do better.” His mouth twisted into his crooked grin.
I wanted to punch him. His arms shot out wrapping around my waist and pulled me into him roughly. His lips found mine and he kissed me. I slipped my arm around his neck and pulled him tight against me.
“You’re a real bastard you know that, Nightshade?” I whispered as we released one another.
“I know.” He winked at me.
I rolled off him and pulled the sheets with me. I stood up pulling them around my body, leaving him exposed. “I have a war to win, then I’ll worry about showing you what a real workout is like.” I grinned smugly and headed for the bathroom.
“Promises, promises,” he called after me.
I dressed quickly and couldn’t help but smile when I slid my hoodie on and zipped it up. Yanking my boots on, I laced them up and took a quick glance in the mirror. My hair was combed out and I finally looked like myself again. The black having completely washed out of my hair and my Clark Kent glasses hidden away.
I opened the door to the bathroom and found Nightshade standing without his shirt on buttoning up his pants.
“How is it you always find me shirtless?”
“It’s your best look.” I winked and kissed him quickly before I walked out of the room. “Hurry up or you’ll miss all the fun.”
I hurried down the stairs and found people sitting around the lobby to the inn. At the fireplace in the corner, a group of Guilders sat around talking quietly. I moved in by them and smiled when I caught sight of my cousin.
Jess had her knees pulled up against her chest, her arms wrapped around them and a cup filled with steaming coffee in her hands. She smiled at me when she saw me.
“Is there more coffee?’ I asked with a smile and Jess nodded to one of the other Guilders who ran off to get me a cup.
“We didn’t want to wake you.” Jess nodded her head toward DeAndre who sat across from her. He smiled in my direction.
“We?” he said with a laugh.
“Fine,” Jess said, “I told anyone if they bothered you two, there would be a problem.”
“I think the phrase you used was, I will break your god damn necks, if I remember correctly.” DeAndre sliced his thumb along his throat in a slashing gesture.
Jess shrugged and smiled in my direction.
“Thanks, Cuz,” I said and squeezed her arm as I dropped down in the chair beside her. The Guilder returned, handing me a cup of coffee and I took it greedily putting it to my lips, sipping for a moment, and then sucking it down. The warm liquid rushed into me and I leaned back with a sigh. Damn, I needed that jolt.
“We took the portal,” Jess said.
“That’s great, how are we doing otherwise?”
“We’ve got control of three quarters of the static portals leading into the Hollow. The perimeter around here stretches out for blocks so we’re pretty safe,” she said.
“How many Guilders joined us?”
“A few thousand, but Tower still has a sizable portion.”
“This at least throws the Council into disarray. If Tower’s own Society isn’t fully behind him, how can the Doorknob Society continue to support working with him? This works to our advantage.” I took another sip from my coffee as Nightshade walked downstairs and joined us.
“Do you think DS will finally break from them?” Nightshade leaned against the fireplace.
“If Dante will honor the agreement, then they should join us.” I had a feeling if Dante didn’t keep his word I would be able to get a good portion of DS to join our cause. I was growing more confident in my ability to persuade people to join us.
“He has the HVO locked up tight with Miranda in charge and the Engineers don’t seem to be wavering in their support of him. With the Skeleton Key Guild fractured, it at least helps us. You think Dante will hold up his end?” Nightshade asked.
“I think he is going to takes whatever he thinks is the best deal. And right now we just scored a win. He swore an oath on his Doorknob, if he breaks that I doubt many Society members would continue to follow him.” I finished the coffee and placed the cup on the table beside me.
“I don’t trust him.” Nightshade narrowed his eyes waiting for my retort.
“You don’t trust anyone.”
“You shouldn’t either.”
“Damn, Nightshade, that’s where you’re supposed to say, no baby, I trust you.” I laughed and shook my head.
“Screw that, I don’t have to tell you I trust you. I show you every day that I do.”
“Think of how it looks to the little ones.” I waved around to the Guild members who were all watching us nervously. “Can’t you see your upsetting the kids?”
“Very funny.”
“She’s right. You shouldn’t fight in front of the Guilders, not in your position,” Jess added leaning back in her chair, a huge grin spreading across her face.
“What the hell does that mean?”
He shot her a look that I remembered well from the days when we routinely wanted to murder one another. Not that we didn’t want to do that half the time now. It was just that the making up part was so much better.
“It means you’re the one who challenged Tower. Everyone is looking to you to lead,” I said.
“Are you kidding me?” Nightshade asked as if he didn’t believe her.
I thought for a moment that Nightshade was going to burst into laughter, but he caught himself in time.
“No, she isn’t,” DeAndre said.
Nightshade shook his head. “That’s ridiculous, all I did was point out the obvious.”
“Which no one else had been willing to do, not to mention the respect your father held in the Guild. People are looking for a leader and you stepped up,” Jess said sternly.
I looked around the room at the faces of the Guilders surrounding us. They were a mixture of young and old, each looking not just at me, but Nightshade as well. He finally found himself in the position I’d been thrust into these last few years.
“I didn’t ask for it,” Nightshade said quietly enough for no one but those around the table to hear.
“Regardless, they think of you as a leader.” The cheerful voice cut through the tension of the moment.
I jumped out of me seat, threw my arms around Rosalita’s neck, and squeezed her tight. “Rosalita.”
“Good to see you too, girl. I wasn’t sure you two were ever going to come out
of that room again.” She winked at me as my face turned what I imagined was the brightest shade of red this side of Mars.
“Is everyone alright?” DeAndre asked his voice tinged with concern.
“I helped those I could, though a few were beyond my skills.” She shook her head and slumped down in a chair.
“What’s going on?” Nightshade asked.
“We’ve taken a lot of casualties,” Jess sighed. “Rosalita’s been helping as much as she can, being a Fixer.”
“What are your orders then, sir?” DeAndre faced Nightshade who didn’t turn away.
James Nightshade was many things, but he wasn’t someone who would turn away from those who needed help.
He looked from DeAndre to the faces around the room and then back. “We take back what’s ours... we take back the Hollow.”
“Yes, sir.” DeAndre stood and clapped Nightshade on the shoulder.
“Call in everyone. We’re going to hit them with everything we have and drive the First Kind out. DeAndre, you’re going to be my second in command. Jess, I want you—”
Jess raised her hand cutting him off, and then she stood and walked to stand beside me. “I’m staying with Chloe, you and I both know she isn’t going to wait around here.”
He looked back and forth between both of us and shook his head laughing. “The two of you do me favor and stay the hell out of trouble.”
“Well that’s unlikely.” I smiled and blew him a kiss.
“I need to make some plans, so come and see me before you leave so I know what you’re up to,” Nightshade said.
I nodded as he and DeAndre walked off to plan their strategy.
“What’s the game plan?” Jess asked.
“That’s a good question,” I replied.
Rosalita spoke up. “We need to worry about Tower’s end game not one battle.”
I thought about everything I knew now, my family was the Key to all of Tower’s plans. And Bodie had left me one last secret to uncover, there was only one thing to do. “We need to go home.”
Jess tilted her head looking at me like I had lost my mind. “Seriously?”
“Yes, we need to get back to Cape May.”
Chapter Thirty-three
Status: Family time never works out for me.
“Girls!” Gran yelled and rushed excitedly down the stairs, her arms outstretched.
She threw them around Jess and me, dragging us into a family bear hug. The Masters’s house in Cape May looked as beautiful as ever, its Victorian peaks stretching into the night sky. There was one noticeable difference, the men sitting on the porch and walking around the house. I didn’t even need to reach out to feel the Lockdown that had been placed on the house. No one with abilities would be getting close to this house without setting off a million alarms.
“This place is sewn up tight,” I commented when she finally released us from her death grip. Jess was rubbing her neck as we walked up the stairs. The guards for the most part were Skeleton Key Guild, but I could sense some Engineers and DS members mixed in.
“It has been since you stowed me away here.” Gran shook her finger at me as she held the door open.
As much as she pretended, I knew she had needed the break. All the planning and schemeing in the Boneyard had taken a toll. It was time for her to take a break while we handled it.
I walked in and smiled thinking of how much time I had spent here. This house had been in the Masters family for generations. Gran and Jess had moved in after we’d lost Nightshade and never left, though no one seemed to mind, least of all me. Grandpa and Grandma Masters were travelers and after Dad’s funeral they told me that they couldn’t imagine staying here anymore. They’d signed it over to me shortly after that. Even Dad’s brother, Uncle Archie thought it was a good idea. Who was I to argue, this was the only home I had ever known and I really didn’t want to lose it, I was grateful for their decision.
“I wanted you safe and it was either here or the Reliquary.”
“No doubt that you two put your lives on the line,” Gran said.
I wondered now if perhaps my sister’s name should be on the deed with me. It’s not as if anyone had even known she existed at the time. My baby sister Erin, who I knew nothing about, and she now resided somewhere in one these rooms. I wondered if she was sitting at the top of the steps peeking down like I had as a child when I was trying to catch a peek of Santa Claus. Or maybe she was sleeping peacefully in my attic bedroom.
“We’ve been busy, Gran,” Jess sighed and tossed her bag and jacket onto the table next to the doorway as she strolled back toward the kitchen.
“So I’ve heard.” Gran looped her arm through mine and we walked down the hallway together.
“Where is she?” I asked eager to know.
Gran squeezed my hand. “I gave her your dad’s room.”
I smiled knowing that would have made Dad happy. I had to bite back my bitter thoughts that he had never gotten to know that he had another daughter.
“How is she?” I wasn’t sure what to expect or what I wanted to hear. But even asking the question made my stomach ache.
“She seems okay, very nervous, but that’s to be expected. I think it went better after I showed her pictures of your mother when she was younger.” Gran slipped away from me and walked over to the tea pot she had on the stove pouring herself a cup. Jess was already at work on the coffeemaker brewing a pot for us.
“That’s good, right?” This was one area I was completely clueless in. It wasn’t like I had ever had a sister until a few months ago.
“It’s a start.” Gran nodded and walked out into the living room pushing aside the piles of old photos on the coffee table to make room for us.
I pulled out two coffee mugs and Jess poured our drinks and we went to join Gran. I slipped down on the couch opposite Gran and Jess sat beside me. I knew I was supposed to be looking for some secret Bodie had left me. But I was tired and for a moment I wanted to be a normal family. I needed to talk with Gran and I had a feeling she had more to tell me about the Grimm family curse.
“Is this Dad?” Jess reached out pulling a photo from the stack of pictures.
It was old and well-worn and Mom was in the photo with him. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen, her older brother’s arm hanging over her shoulder.
“Yes, that’s him and Talia when he graduated the Paladin Academy.” Gran smiled a bit but it was filled with sadness. She’d lost both her children and I couldn’t imagine how that must feel.
“He looks happy.” Jess traced her fingers over her father’s face.
I felt a pang of guilt. It was my fault he had been captured. I’d let him go after Tower, when I should have known better.
“He was happy.” Gran paused, as if memories disturbed her. “They were very close. He loved his sister very much and she was devastated when we lost him. We all were.” Gran lowered her head and took a quick sip of her tea, trying to hide her face for a moment.
“I remember Mom telling me stories about Uncle Thomas when I was a kid.” I moved closer beside Jess and examined the picture of my mother looking so young and beautiful. Uncle Thomas was handsome and seemed so happy.
“I remember that too. Aunt Talia always used to tell me how much he loved me. I loved hearing that.” Jess laughed, a sad sound, and placed the photo back on the table.
“Our family has suffered terribly thanks to the First Kind.” Gran’s mouth slid into a grimace.
I took the opportunity to broach the subject. “They have a vendetta against us,” I said and Gran’s eyes shifted uncomfortably.
“What do you mean?” Her face softened.
I had already seen too much. Gran knew something. “I know all about the curse now, Gran.”
Gran looked away. “Then you know more than me.”
“Is this about my dad?” Jess asked.
“Yes,” Gran said.
“I think its time Jess knew everything, Gran,” I said.
Gran nodded her head and I took a deep breath and then explained what I knew about the Artifact. “Our families, the Grimm and the Masters, are the ones responsible for defeating the First Kind. Tower is planning on using us to unlock Accadia and return the First Kind to power. Your father isn’t cursed like the family believed.”
Gran looked away, her eyes rimmed with tears at the mention of her son.
“He has been bonded to the Skeleton Key Guild Artifact. In effect... he has become the Artifact.”
“This is nuts.” Jess leaned back on the couch and pushed out a long breath.
“No argument here,” I replied.
“How can he contain the Artifact? Your mom couldn’t when she tried,” Jess said.
“That’s the problem, he can’t. Without a Timelock device of the Impossible Engineers, the power will burn him up sooner or later,” I explained.
“Tower intends to use him long before that happens.” Edgar walked into the room his head down and staring at the map he held in his hands.
“Edgar!” I hopped up and hugged him.
“What do you know about it, Edgar?” Jess asked anxiously.
“I finished my research on the Bridge that’s why I’m here. If I’ve figured this out correctly, Tower needs a massive infusion of DS and Guild energy to open the portal. So much that it would most likely kill anyone attempting to do it. He’s going to use Jess’ dad to help open the portal.” Edgar finally looked up from the map.
Jess’ mouth dropped open. “You mean he’s going to drain him like a wet rag?”
“Exactly, it’ll kill him,” Edgar confirmed.
“But doesn’t Tower need all the Artifacts to use the Bridge? I mean isn’t that why he’s been searching for them all these years?” Jess asked.
“No, the other Artifacts act as anchors mooring the Bridge to whichever dimension it’s located in. The ones that open it are the Doorknob Society and Skeleton Key Guild Artifacts. If you only have those two you can still open a portal to Accadia. It’s dangerous because the Bridge can tear a hole in reality if it isn’t anchored properly. But it is possible.”
