And he won’t risk losing her to bend those rules some more. I couldn’t blame him for that. Selfish as it sounded, if there’d been a way for me to spirit the people I loved away to an otherworld, I would’ve done it in a heartbeat. Anything to keep them safe and far away from this prophecy.
“How do we help Persie, Wade?” I turned my head away. “What’s going to happen to our little girl? How do we protect her from something we can’t change?” Tears trickled down my cheeks, and I saw tears glinting in his eyes as I looked back. Both of us were at a loss.
Wade held me closer. “We just have to hope there’s a way. There has to be something we’ve overlooked. No matter how bad things get, we can’t lose hope that Persie will be okay.”
I nodded slowly. “We’ll keep searching, right?”
“You know we will.”
“And… she’ll make it through.” I tried to steel my resolve. “She might be the only one who has the means to get ahead of this. If the prophecy is about her, then she might have some influence over it.”
Wade smiled. “That’s a better way to look at it.”
“But… she’s not like you and me, Wade. She never has been. It’s one of the things that confuses me the most about her, and one of the things I admire most. She’s quiet, she’s peaceful… she doesn’t know how to fight. That’s how it should be, but I can’t help wondering if I’ve made a mistake by wanting her to stay that way. Did I miss the chance to prepare her for this? Have I coddled her too much? Did I not teach her the things I should have?”
“She’s tough in her own way. When pushed, she might surprise us… and Leviathan.” Wade tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and a small smile lit up his pretty green eyes. “It’s always the quiet ones you’ve got to watch out for.”
My phone beeped loudly, the blue screen flashing. I didn’t recognize the caller, but now wasn’t the time to start screening. It could’ve been Erebus or Kaya or someone from our past with more information. Startled, I fumbled for the answer button.
“Hello?”
“Am I speaking to Harley Merlin-Crowley?” an unfamiliar voice replied.
“Yes, speaking.” I frowned up at Wade, who mouthed, Who is it?
“This is Taryn Masters, from the Basani Institute in Galway. I’m calling on behalf of Ms. Victoria Jules, the head huntswoman.” She paused for effect. “I’m afraid your daughter has caused a bit of an upset, and your presence is requested immediately.”
I cast a confused look at Wade. “But my daughter is here, in San Diego. There’s been some mistake.” Nevertheless, my heart began to hammer in my chest.
A brief silence echoed through the speaker. “Your daughter is Persephone Merlin-Crowley, yes? This was the emergency telephone number attached to her biometrics.”
My heart stopped hammering and suddenly sank into the pit of my stomach. “Yes...”
“Then there’s no mistake. We have your daughter here, and Ms. Jules would like to discuss the incident with you.” The woman sounded impatient.
“We’ll be there right away.” I realized how stupid I must’ve sounded. My daughter wasn’t in the SDC, and I hadn’t even known it.
What in the name of Chaos was Persie doing at the freaking Basani Institute? And why did she decide to put herself in even more danger?
Thirty-One
Persie
Broken but buoyant, I found myself being wheeled back through the Basani Institute from the infirmary by Victoria’s own fair hands. I’d tried to refuse, but with jelly legs and muscles that could barely hold up my own body weight without a lot of lolling, I eventually gave in. The medics had been and gone, checking machines and flashing lights in my eyes, coming to the conclusion that I could leave the infirmary to go back to my friends. Now I was getting the grand tour without having to lift a finger. Well, not quite the grand tour, just a labyrinth of the same shiny corridors, cold strip lighting, frosted glass doors, and more of the black suits walking about. Nevertheless, it gave me a wider scope of the Institute. Enormous didn’t cover it.
“Ah, there he is. Right where I left him.” Victoria wheeled me out of an elevator and down the corridor, which led to the outside of the exam hall doors. We’d ended up where we started.
I looked ahead to find Kes perched politely on one of the hard benches. He swung his legs like a little boy, his hands tucked between clamped thighs. Relief washed over him as we approached, but it swiftly morphed into panic as he leapt from his seat.
“Persie! Why are you in a wheelchair? Do I need to call your mom, or my mom, or… this is all my fault. My parents are going to kill me!”
Victoria stopped and came to the side of the chair. “She’s fine. An unfortunate Purge attack, but nothing a bit of rest and a long soak won’t remedy.”
Kes gaped at her. “Oh… phew!”
“And who might you be?” Victoria asked.
“Me? I’m… uh…” Kes sputtered, his eyes blank.
I smiled, totally understanding how a person could lose their ability to speak in front of a woman like her. “This is Kestrel Merlin. My cousin.”
“Two Merlins in one day? This is going to be the strangest daily report I’ve made in a while.” Victoria folded her arms across her chest. “Well, if you happen to take an interest in monster hunting when you’re of age, feel free to come back and try the entrance test.”
Kes’s face brightened. “I will, Ms. Jules!”
“It appears I have a fan,” Victoria whispered to me with half a smile. I chuckled as she went to the double doors and opened them, signaling to someone inside. I realized I’d probably put a hefty delay on the other candidates’ trials, if I hadn’t ruined the day entirely, but I was too tired and elated to think about that now.
A figure bolted out of the exam hall and made a beeline for me: my best friend, her face ashen.
“Oh, thank Chaos!” Genie launched into a python-level squeeze. “I nearly took out a bunch of those hunters when they took you away. I swear, if another one had called me ‘Ma’am’ and urged me to calm down, I would’ve made ice sculptures out of all of them. What happened?”
I squeezed her back as tightly as I could. “You’ll never believe it!”
“Please refrain from threatening to ice my staff, Iphigenia, or I may have to rethink your position here.” Despite her humorless tone, Victoria’s eyes twinkled with the slightest hint of mischief. “I’ll give you a moment.” She put a hand on my shoulder and walked away up the corridor, with Kes staring longingly after her.
“Come on, spill!” Genie urged. “You’ll have to talk loudly, though. That banshee blew up my eardrums.”
“Join the club.” I smiled, gripping the wheelchair handles as I braced to tell her the good news. “She agreed to admit me! A personal invite from the head huntswoman herself.”
Genie squealed. “We’re both in?!”
“We’re both in!”
Kes poked his head around Genie. “Who’s in what?”
“Keep up, kiddo.” She nudged him away. “This is incredible! You and me, we’re going to be monster hunters!” She dove on me and hugged me with just enough restraint to avoid crushing anything that’d already taken a Purge-battering. I clung on, so happy I could barely breathe. Though that might’ve been the hug.
Kes grabbed us both by the arms. “You both got in?! Holy crap, this is insane!” We pulled him into our celebrations, squeezing him until he squirmed away, like we were overzealous grandmas at a family gathering. “I’ll leave you two to the mushy stuff.” Red-cheeked, he pushed his curls out of his eyes. “But so cool, both of you. So, so cool!” He wandered off to stare at some of the trinkets in the display cases along the hall, leaving me and my best friend alone.
“I can’t believe it,” I whispered. “We did it, Genie. We freaking did it.”
She grinned into my shoulder. “The only way for us is up, baby!” Loosening her grip slightly, she lowered her voice. “And I’m sorry about… you know, the scorpion thing. It wa
s a stupid idea.”
“No, it wasn’t. You wanted to help.” I pulled away so I could look at her. Nothing could ruin this celebration. “And, heck, I was tempted for a second. The thing is, I wouldn’t have wanted to succeed if I hadn’t earned it. Does that make any sense? The meds they gave me made my head a little foggy.”
Genie crouched down and put her hands on my knees. “I get it. That’s why I’m sorry. I could’ve gotten us both in major trouble for even bringing that thing here.” She checked to see what Kes was doing, but he was too busy admiring a set of daggers in a display case. “And you didn’t even need it in the end. If it hadn’t been for that Purge, I bet you would’ve made it through anyway. You were killing it in that arena.”
“You think so?” I smiled, filling up with warm and fuzzies. I’d felt so alive down there in the arena—terrified, sure, but there was nothing like danger to get the blood pumping. I was so proud that I’d done a decent job of monster hunting with zero magic whatsoever. It made getting through the stages I’d completed even more amazing.
She gave my knee a squeeze. “I don’t think I breathed the whole time I was watching you. It was awesome, seeing you hammer those beasts like an action hero.”
Hammer them? Thinking back, a flicker of guilt ignited in my chest. Whacking one of the creatures with a heavy satchel might not have been my gentlest moment. But now that I’d gotten a ticket into the Institute, I’d learn how to capture beasts without the need for brute force. I let that comfort me and returned to my jubilation.
“Do you forgive me for the amulet?” Genie asked sadly. She was evidently having a crisis of morality here, but I didn’t blame her for what she’d done. Her intentions had been good, she’d just gone about it the wrong way.
I shrugged. “Nothing to forgive. Your heart was in the right place, though my mom might need an apology eventually.”
“I’m forming one as we speak.” She gave a nervous chuckle. “I just really wanted us to succeed, no matter what. I promised myself, a long time ago, that I would protect you and stay at your side through thick and thin. So I couldn’t let either one of us fail.”
My heart warmed. “That’s the real reason you used it… You weren’t just testing it out for me.”
“Yeah.” She looked sheepish, which hit me hard. I guessed even someone loaded with powerful abilities had doubts about their skill set occasionally. I covered her hand with mine. I loved this girl, and though she could be impulsive and misguided at times, she always meant well. She’d done it for me, and that deserved gratitude, whether I’d used it or not.
Kes ducked into the conversation. “I definitely missed something here. Are you two not okay?” He glanced between us. “Is Genie the one who put you in the wheelchair?”
I chuckled. “No, so don’t you go spreading rumors. Now, come give your future-monster-hunting cousin a hug so we can carry on the celebrating.”
“Future monster hunters!” Genie lunged forward instead for another cautious hug. “It’s you and me, Persie! This is so cool!”
Kes grinned. “I knew you guys would do it. I never had any doubts. Well, I might’ve had a few, but then I was left on my own for ages to overthink, and you did turn up again in a wheelchair, Persie. Anyway, who cares—you did it!”
“And we owe a debt to our fearless guide.” Genie smiled, her whole body relaxing now that she knew I wasn’t bearing any grudges. I only wished we could stick with the happy atmosphere a while longer, but a black cloud still loomed, and we needed to brace for the downpour.
My laughter ebbed. “There’s one other thing we need to talk about.”
She pulled back. “What?”
I rubbed the achy back of my neck. “It’s just… the entrance test might’ve been the easy part.”
Understanding drifted across her face, eventually forming a grimace. “Let me guess. You’re wondering how we’re going to tell our parents?”
“Oooh, tough one.” Kes nodded in agreement. “That’ll take a PhD in hostile negotiation.”
I wanted to roll my eyes, but he was right. “Getting in means we’re going to be moving here for the duration of our studies.”
“Good luck with that, cuz.” Kes chuckled, but a sharp look from Genie shut him up. “Sorry. Not helpful.”
“What if I told you that I had a bit of information to make the moving-out conversation go a little smoother?” Genie’s eyes flitted toward the floor.
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Before I tell you, just know that the only reason I kept it secret is because it isn’t my secret to tell.” She peered up at me. “But we might need it, if things do turn sour.”
“Okay, you’re scaring me now.” I hated secrets, especially after the whole birthday thing. Genie knew that. So if she’d kept quiet about something, there had to be a really good reason.
Genie sank back on her haunches. “I found college brochures in your mom’s drawer, and they were full of programs for continuing education. Not just magical institutions, either. I think she’s looking at a career change, but she wouldn’t say for sure when I confronted her about it.” She fidgeted uncomfortably. “She made me promise not to say a word. I intended to keep that promise, but then it felt so crappy not saying anything to you about it.”
I shook my head in confusion. “But… the SDC means everything to my mom. What else would she do? What else could she do? And why wouldn’t she have said anything?”
“You’ll have to ask her when you see her.” Genie took her phone out of her pocket, the screen flashing steadily. A message popped up on the screen. “Oh, crap… That might be sooner than you thought.”
Kes froze. “They know, don’t they?”
“Worse. They’re on their way.” Genie showed me the message from her dad.
Stay where you are. You are in a lot of trouble, Genie.
I didn’t dare check my own phone. They knew somehow, and now we had to face the consequences. Tilting my head toward the exam hall door, I unleashed a stilted breath. “Anyone starting to wish that banshee had blown out our eardrums?”
Thirty-Two
Persie
Dreaming is happiness. Waiting is life. But I doubted Victor Hugo had meant waiting for his mom to come and put a stake through his happy dream of studying at a monster-hunting school in Ireland.
A torturous wait had ensued after Genie showed me her father’s text. She rolled me back to the Institute’s entrance hall and stopped in front of the mirrors. Victoria had watched us go, but I was grateful she hadn’t followed. If she heard what my mom probably had in store for me, she wouldn’t think so badly about the banshee.
“Where are they?” Kes muttered, shuffling frantically on the polished concrete.
Genie cast him a pointed look. “You want your death sentence to come sooner?”
“I just want it over with,” he replied, his face so pale that his freckles made him look like a speckled egg. “They’re going to be so mad.”
“I want to know who ratted us out.” I wriggled about in the wheelchair to fight the numbness in my backside, wishing I felt more energized. Arguing through the residual exhaustion of a Purge wasn’t my idea of a fun time.
Before anyone could reply, the mirror rippled and a five-strong group stepped out: my parents, Hector, Uncle Finch, and Aunt Ryann. Not a single one of them looked happy to see us. I suddenly understood the phrase “face like thunder,” because a storm was getting ready to burst out of each of their mouths. But who would go first?
Might as well be me…
“I can see you’re all angry, but before you start yelling, let me explain. I—”
My mom cut me off before I could finish. “Not here.” Without another word, she walked behind the wheelchair and pushed me toward the mirror. I tried to put my feet out to stop moving, but my wobbly legs didn’t provide much resistance. I didn’t want to go anywhere until I’d explained myself—in case I never came back.
“If you’d just hear her ou
t, I think you’d understand why—” Genie tried to come to my aid, but my mom gave her the same treatment.
“Not here.” She looked to Hector. “Are we still in agreement?”
He gave a stiff-necked nod.
Agreement? How much could they have discussed since they’d found out? It had only been about thirty minutes between the message and their arrival. Their dour faces made the jelly in my legs wobble up into my stomach, while my hands gripped the armrests in alarm.
My mom carried on pushing me toward the mirror, my dad at her side.
“Why can’t we talk here? What difference does it make?” I said curtly. “I’ve got a heck of a lot to say, so I may as well start now. Or do you have a firing squad waiting for me at the SDC?”
She leaned down close to my ear. “Not. Here.”
After my mom whispered a variation on the spell Kes had used to get us in, the mirror image shifted to a darkened foyer, but it was too hazy to make out the destination. Probably the SDC, but maybe she was taking me on a direct track to some magical military school for wayward children. Regardless, I had no intention of being away from the Institute for long. The adults could discuss it without us if they liked—my mind was already made up.
But it surprised me when we arrived in a place I didn’t recognize at all: a glowing grotto of a hall, filled with bioluminescent gemstones and flickering candles.
“This isn’t the SDC.” I found my voice. Glancing back, I waited for Genie and the others to follow us through, but the mirror rippled back to undulating silver. Evidently, they were going to be getting their tongue-lashings elsewhere. My mom had taken away my cavalry, and she never did anything without careful planning.
Harley Merlin 18: Persie Merlin and Leviathan’s Gift Page 27
