by MJ Fletcher
“What did I say?” he asked picking up his goggles and sliding them back on. Val moved to stand over him and leaned down and kissed him.
“Just shut up.” She slipped into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck and we all settled in and began watching the movie marathon.
Nightshade made comments about the stupidity of the characters while Slade chimed in about how he didn’t understand why regular humans used such odd devices. As the night wore on all I could think about was how I didn’t want it to end. I’d missed my friends and family and even though I needed to save my Uncle and sister, I also didn’t want to lose anyone else. My friends were everything to me and that they were willing to risk so much, not for the Old Kind—but for me—meant so much.
After the second movie finished Slade checked his watch and slipped away to make some last minute preparations for tomorrow. Halfway thru the third movie, Val dragged Edgar off for some alone time.
Jess, Nightshade, and I sat on the couch watching the old black and white, mystery movie the Thin Man. I rested against Nightshade’s chest, my fingers intertwined with his while Jess sat the opposite way with her legs draped over mine.
Nightshade leaned his head down pressing his face into my hair and inhaling, as if drinking in the scent of me. I rolled my shoulders, pushing them against his hard chest and imagined myself pulling that damn shirt of his off. His cheek slid down beside my ear and small wisps of hot breath tickled at my neck. I wished it was his lips tingling my skin and damn if he didn’t read my thoughts. His warm lips settled on my neck caressing with the most intoxicating kisses. His fingers slid from mine and traced up my arm, sending sparks shooting through me. It took all my willpower not to turn and attack him.
I repositioned myself so that my shoulder slid beneath his while I slipped one hand behind his back and left the other resting on his stomach. My fingers traced a circle on his shirt, teasing him. I glanced up to see him staring straight ahead watching the movie and pretending not to notice. But his body betrayed him. He was coiled and ready to spring. And since I was all too familiar with what he liked, I had no problem pushing his buttons.
I should have known better. His fingers moved along my shoulder blades, teasing me with that magic touch of his, massaging, digging into my muscles that were always so tense, and then he worked his way up to the nape of my neck and I wanted to moan with how good he was making me feel. And he damn well knew that he wouldn’t stop there if we were alone, he’d massaged all of me, every damn inch and drive me completely nuts with the want of—as Edgar would say—sex. I of course had gotten myself into this situation and had no one to blame but me. But it was a hell of a nice situation to be stuck in.
I pushed even further slipping my thumb just under the hem of his t-shirt and grazing along the line of his jeans wanting to taunt him as much as he was taunting me. He reacted in kind, his hand sliding up beneath to the back of my shirt and with a quick flick of his wrist my bra unsnapped, and I had to stifle a laugh.
“Well, I am going to head to bed.” Nightshade stood up, and I fell on my elbow and gritted my teeth. I was so going to make him pay for that.
“Good night,” Jess said.
I waved, annoyed he’d gotten the upper hand.
He walked out of the room and I watched him wondering how long I should wait before I could go after him. How this man was able to make me act like such a girl I didn’t know, nor did I think I ever would.
“Aren’t you going too?” Jess asked with a grin.
“What do you mean?” I asked trying to act surprised and failing horribly.
“Cuz, just because I’m alone doesn’t mean you need to be. I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” I slid off the couch and thought about rehooking my bra, and then realized that would be dumb since I’d be pulling it out from under my shirt once I was in the hall and heading to join Nightshade.
“Go get some.” She laughed.
“It’s not like that.”
Jess raised an eyebrow at my response.
I realized how dumb I sounded, apparently Edgar was right again “Nevermind.”
“Better answer,” Jess said and laughed as I rushed out of the room.
I was down the hall and hoping I could catch Nightshade before he got to the room. As I turned the corner, he was standing in front of me and I jumped into his arms. Our lips met and he carried me off to bed, though not to sleep.
Chapter Forty-four
Status: Once more unto the breach or something like that.
I ran my fingers along Nightshade’s chest and he ran his through my hair as we lay in silence in bed together. We’d both been up for some time after not getting much sleep. Which neither of us was complaining about, but we hadn’t spoken since waking and we both knew why. It was almost time to start our mission, and if we spoke that would mean our time alone was over.
I broke the silence saying the words I’d said to him when I had thought he was about to die saving me. “I’m yours.”
“I love you,” he said with such strength that it sounded as if he had carved in stone for all eternity, then he lifted my chin and brought his lips to mine.
I don’t believe a kiss ever tasted so perfect and I wanted it to last forever, but I knew that wasn’t possible. I enjoyed it while it lasted and when we finally broke apart, I couldn’t help but worry that it might be the last time we ever kissed.
We got dressed and before we left the room Nightshade took hold of me. “I’m abducting you after all this is done. It will be just you and me, no one else.”
“Where will we go?” I asked eagerly, the thought of making plans for a trip for just the two of us made it seem that we had a future... that we’d both survive.
“My surprise, you wait and see.”
“It better be a good one,” I said poking him in the chest.
“Rest, relaxation, not a care in the world, and plenty of extracurricular activites.”
“Wow, now you’ve given me the determination to kick everybody’s ass and be done with this so we can go away.”
“Damn straight,” he said and we both laughed and hurried out of the room.
We made our way down to the Great Room of the Reliquary. There we found our friends waiting for us. The mood was somber and most acknowledged us with only a brief nod or wave.
Edgar sat scribbling on his Maps with Val sitting beside him, her arm around his shoulders. Slade stood by the fireplace checking the tool belt around his waist repeatedly. Gavin and Henna stood arm in arm in silence. Jess was dressed in all black and stood next to the window staring out on the Dimension that the Reliquary had appeared in this morning.
“Is everyone ready?” I asked and they each nodded in turn.
“How do we start?” Edgar asked looking up from his Map.
“Rosalita,” I said.
She walked into the room, as if hearing my summons, a long dress flowing down to her ankles, both of her arms covered in her ever present numerous bracelets and her white hair braided.
“It’s time,” I said.
Rosalita raised her hand, a Skeleton Key glowed crimson, and she flicked her wrist. The sound of a lock clicking echoed around the room and three pedestals rose up from the center of the floor.
At the top of each was a different Artifact; the Legend of the Mapmakers, The Looking Glass of the HVO and the Tool of the Impossible Engineers.
“Are those who seek to wield the Artifacts prepared?” Rosalita asked.
Slade stepped forward, Henna kissed Gavin quickly, and joined him. Edgar stood to join them, and Val grabbed his arm holding onto him.
“Val, let me go,” Edgar said softly.
“No,” was her only response.
Edgar placed his hand over hers and smiled. He reached out with his other hand and took hold of her chin. “Val, it’s going to be fine. You have to let me go.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You have to.”
; Val searched the room looking for help from any of us. Her eyes locked with mine. “Chloe, tell him he shouldn’t do it.”
“I can’t, Val.”
“Please,” she pleaded with me.
Jess was suddenly beside them, her hand grasping both of theirs, and Val turned to face her.
“I’ll protect him,” Jess said.
“You promise?”
“With my life.”
“Okay,” she said her voice quivering and yanked Edgar to her to kiss him, and then she ran from the room.
“You okay?” Jess asked Edgar.
“Yes.” He nodded and walked over to join the others, though stopped briefly and he glanced over his shoulder. “Thanks, Jess.”
Rosalita’s voice rang out, loud and clear, “You each must accept the task of wielding an Artifact knowing the risks. Do you accept?”
Slade, Henna and Edgar nodded in agreement.
“Then step forward and take your Artifact.”
Slade’s fingers wrapped around the handle of the Impossible Engineer Tool which morphed from one shape to another under his touch, from a hammer, to a multi-tool, to a gear until it finally settled in the shape of a wrench.
The energy in the room jumped just by him holding it in his hand. I took a deep breath and clenched my fists at the trememndous weight of the situation before us.
Henna was next, stepping up and lifting my Looking Glass off the pedestal. The power of the mirror called out to me, but I kept my abilities in check. I needed an HVO Detective Inspector to wield it. I had to concentrate on getting Erin out before Mr. Tower activated the Doorknob Society Artifact and attached it to her. I couldn’t be worried about wielding another Artifact during battle. Edgar was last to approach his Artifact and before his hand touched the Map, golden light surrounded him and the power in the room sprang to life. Edgar was powerful, the most powerful Mapmaker I’d ever met. When he had the Mapmakers Legend with him, it was truly awe inspiring.
“Do you think we can get to the other Artifacts before he uses them?” Jess asked in a whisper standing beside me.
“I damn well hope so.”
“We’ll rescue them,” she said adamantly.
I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that for once luck would be on our side and we’d all manage to make it through without a single casualty, but a little voice warned me that wasn’t likely.
Jess added just as adamantly, “Or die trying.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“You’re ready to begin,” Rosalita said. “Emory and Mr. Miller contacted us a few minutes ago, they’ve begun their part.”
“Then it’s time we did ours,” I said. “Edgar, supply everyone with their set of coordinates please.”
It took only a brief time for Edgar to do as I asked, and then he nodded letting me know when it was done.
“Slade and Nightshade get moving, Gavin and Henna you as well.”
“You got it, boss,” Nightshade said with that cocky smile of his, and then he and Slade left the room.
I was grateful for the familiar smug smile he sent me. It let me know how determined he was to not only fight but to survive. It made me feel a bit better, though it didn’t stop me from wanting to run after him, hug him tight, and tell him that he damn well better survive because he had promised to take me away, just the two of us when all this was over. And I was looking forward to it, just him and me without a care in the world. Yeah, that’s right I was praying for a miracle.
“We’ll see you at the rendevouz, good luck.” Gavin nodded and Henna walked up and grabbed my hand.
“We’ll beat them, Chloe, we all believe in you.” She kissed me on the cheek and they were both gone. I looked back to Edgar and Jess, my team for this operation. I’d planned it so each team would have a Polymorph and a member wielding an Artifact. I would love to have had Nightshade with me. But I had to give us the best chance of winning, even if it meant splitting us all up.
“You two ready for this?” I asked.
“You bet your ass I am?” Jess replied.
“Ready,” Edgar said.
“Let’s finish it.”
Chapter Forty-five
Status: Great, I get to go to the place of all my nightmares.
The Badlands... a dimension so scarred by the early war with the First Kind that it resulted in a pocket of terrible explosions of energy and power. I’d been here once before, when we had hunted the Impossible Engineers Artifact. This was the place I’d lost Nightshade to the First Kind. I was damned if I’d let there be a repeat performance.
We stepped out of the portal from the Reliquary onto the scorched plains of the Badlands and it sent a shiver up my spine. I had never wanted to come back here, never thought I would have to, but I did. This was where the original portal lockout for the First Kind had been created. Now Mr. Tower was back to reopen it.
“How’s it looking?” I asked Edgar and he grabbed his goggles and pulled them down over his eyes. He clicked the buttons on the side and the gears whirred to life flipping through a series of different lenses until he found the one he wanted.
“The battle has begun just as we expected,” he replied.
“How many did you send against the First Kind?” Jess asked straining her eyes, trying to see in the distance where Edgar was viewing the fight.
“The Mapmakers opened over a thousand portals letting in every Skeleton Key, Doorknob Society, HVO and Engineer members on our side.”
“Do they know they’re a distraction?” Jess asked.
“No,” I said. “I want both sides to believe the big battle is where the action is taking place. Edgar’s coordinates led us to the Bridge. Where Mr. Tower is and where we need to get too.”
“How far is it?” Jess slipped her Skeleton Key into her hand.
“We popped out about a mile from it,” —Edgar pointed in the opposite direction of the battle— “that way. I placed us outside of all the energy fields I had sensed around the Bridge. We should be able to approach undetected up to a certain point.”
“That’s comforting.” Jess laughed and we began walking toward our destination.
“We need to be careful of the Bridge as well,” Edgar said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’s powerful and throwing around a lot of energy. It is moored to this dimension but it also sits In Between, that’s the only way it can open a portal to Accadia. If it were to lose its hold in this dimension, it could be catastrophic.”
“Okay like how catastrophic?”
“I would estimate it would lay waste to this dimension and any that were connected to it by open portals.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t that bad.
“Good to know,” I sighed thinking that was one more problem we didn’t need.
Dark clouds rolled in the distance with the rumble of fighting echoing from far away, and the howls of Gremlins who’d claimed the dimension as their own joining in. What was already a nightmare was getting worse with each step.
The hairs on my neck stood on edge as we got closer to the coordinates for the Bridge. Rising on the horizon was an energy shield that was hidden and inside it was a set of buildings lined up in a row leading to a tall tower that had a bridge attached to the side, hanging out in the open —a bridge to nowhere—which was just what we were looking for.
“That’s got to be it.” I pointed to the Bridge and building.
“I’m not liking the look of those buildings around it.’” Jess motioned toward the other structures. “Perfect place for an ambush.”
“Agreed, but we knew that coming in,” I reminded her.
“Well then, let’s go get ambushed.” Edgar smiled and marched forward, Jess and I rushing to catch up with him.
We crept up as close to the energy shield as we could. Edgar pulled his goggles down over his eyes again and flipped through the lenses to get a better look.
“It’s got several layers of defenses on the shield. Most are S
keleton Key Guild locks but there are also a few Impossible Engineers and Doorknob Society tricks.” He pushed the goggles up and scratched at his hair.
“You take the Guild layers and I’ll work on the others,” Edgar instructed.
We both nodded and lifted our devices, pointing them at the shield, and activated them. Tendrils of power flew out and grazed along the barrier. I closed my eyes and felt my way around the traps that were attached to the shield and began the process of trying to unlock them.
It was slow going as the booby traps were complex and well thought out. I wanted to rush through as even from this distance I could feel the level of power being used in the tower at the center of the shield.
It wasn’t long before the first of the DS traps fell under my powers, allowing my senses to reach further into the barrier. I pushed ahead searching for something familiar. That’s when I felt it... my sister’s power signature. I hadn’t known it long but that was one talent I had, remembering the signatures I’d encountered.
I powered ahead breaking the next lock and feeling closer to my sister. I took the chance and concentrated on her, focusing my thoughts only on Erin. My mind penetrated the barrier and floated through the mini city and up toward the top of the tower, up to Erin. I entered and, even though an astral image, I could feel the power of the Bridge building to a crescendo.
The sounds of someone crying softly called to me and I followed them to a room just beside the Bridge. I passed through the door and found Erin sitted on a bed, her knees pulled up against her chest and her arms wrapped around them.
Standing near the door was Faith. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, her hair shorter than the last time I saw her, and she was flipping her Dooknob in her hand. The outline of the Impossible Engineer suit was visible along her skin, but the outfit itself had begun the process of bonding to her skin and turning invisible.
“She isn’t coming for you.” Faith smiled.
“You lied to me,” Erin sobbed.
“Of course I did you brat, I want your damn sister dead more than anything.”
